Justin Timberlake's Peformance

Justin Timberlake wore his suit and tie and left audiences amazed Thursday night during his sold out concert at the TD Garden. Timberlake kept the audience singing and dancing along the whole night with his high energy show.   

Timberlake performed non-stop for 2 ½ hours, and didn’t break a sweat. He performed with ease, never missing a beat or step. Since November 2013, Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience world tour has been putting on concerts across America.  The tour will continue over the summer in Europe.  This is Timberlake’s third headlining tour, the first time he has been headlining since 2007. 

The performance included songs such as, “Suit and Tie,” “Take back the Night”, “Let it Groove”, “TKO”, “Mirrors”, and many more from his 20/20 Experience album.  But Justin treated the audience to his old songs “Cry me a River”, “What Goes Around”, “Like I Love You”, “Seniorita”, and the famous “Sexyback”.The singing and dancing stopped only for a brief intermission, (where Timberlake did a costume change) and cracked jokes about New England weather and his band members.  When he talked about Boston’s resilience after the marathon bombings, the crowd cheered on even louder than before.

On the stage with Timberlake were the band, The Tennessee Kids, numerous dancers, and back up singers.  The back of the stage had a huge white screen that was used for the show’s visual effects, background videos and an impressive light show. The visual effects were one of the highlights of the whole concert.  The performances and stage gave a classic appeal, which relates to many of his new songs. He glided through his songs without any hesitations, he looked comfortable on stage and he never slowed down. The whole show was amazing and Timberlake’s performance was exciting and gripping.

Timberlake will return to the TD Garden July 19^th.   


By: Anna Garofalo 

 

Review: “The LEGO Movie”

          “The LEGO Movie’s” theme song sums up the movie perfectly: “Everything is awesome.” The movie opens with Emmet (Chris Pratt), a perfectly normal LEGO construction worker who only wants other people to like him. Emmet’s perfectly normal life soon becomes anything but. He finds the magical Piece of Resistance, a woman whisks him away to a different world, and brings him to a mysterious old man who informs him he is the “special” foretold by a prophecy. Sound familiar? (coughcoughTheMatrixcoughcough)

            Emmet must use the piece of resistance to stop evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from gluing all the LEGO pieces together. With help from Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Emmet meets up with the other Master Builders, which include Batman, Superman, Abraham Lincoln, and Robin Hood, among others.

            The animation is amazing. Everything is made of LEGOs. When something catches on fire, there are pieces of LEGO fire everywhere. If something explodes, little LEGO bricks fly into the sky. “The LEGO Movie” makes the animation entertaining in and of itself.

            “The LEGO Movie” has everything a successful movie needs: humor, good plot, good voice acting, and good voice animation. It will entertain and delight viewers of all ages, and is well worth the price of a movie ticket.

By: Emma Morrison

Opinion Article

Headphones are a the simple, convenient invention that allow people to listen to their music without disturbing the people around them. There are many different varieties of headphones: over the ear, in ear, sport, even wireless. Of course, when choosing headphones many decisions go into picking just the perfect pair for your sensitive ears. First, you must consider the sound quality, then the comfort, then of course the price. You want to make sure that when you blast your music and close yourself into your own world that you have the opportunity to understand your music and enjoy it. Unfortunately, the thing most people don’t take the time to consider what it sounds like to the people around them.

Your music is very personal. The bands you listen to, the genre of music you particularly enjoy, and even the artists within the genres. Now in a given crowd, your music most likely differs from the people around you. For example, if you are rocking out and blasting Kanye’s new hit single, the person sitting next to you, who we will say in this situation enjoys classical, probably does not want to rock out with you. As I am sure, if the situation were flipped, you probably would not want to sit there trapped listening to Mozart blasting through their Beats headphones… ha.

Now, how is this relevant to me? Here in the wonderful environment that is Melrose High School, there are quite a few people who have taken their music choices and decided to push it upon everyone else. Now, I know what you are all saying: “Headphones aren’t even allowed!!!” Yes, the tragedy, but that rule doesn’t apply to hallways or certain teachers’ discretion. Walking through the hallways doesn’t bother me as much because I can avoid the full blown concerts that people decide to put on. But sitting in class, taking a test, minding my own business, and attempting to focus on a test, like the good students we all are… *cough cough*… I really do not need to suffer through Riff Raffs ‘sick’ new album. I would honestly much rather suffer through a pre-calculus test in silence.

Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand the "headphones in, world out" rule. When I walk home you can bet I have my headphones in; all I focus on is the sound of the music. I most likely have it on full blast, too. Now before you sit here and cuss at your computer screen or the newspaper open in your lap and decide to call me a hypocrite including some other names I am not allowed to write in this little rant, hear me out. I understand that not everyone likes the music I do, I do not expect that, and even if they did, I still would not want to sit and listen to it being paraded through your headphones in the middle of the test.

What I am trying to say in this article is that, in my opinion, there is a time to rock to sox off and there is time to not. “Well, how can I tell if it is an appropriate time to do that?” you may ask, and that, my friend, is precisely the question I was hoping you would inquire about:
The Golden Rule to Listening to Music with Headphones: OPEN YOUR EYES. LOOK AROUND. I cannot stress this enough, but all it has to do with is people. When you are walking home alone and you are in the middle of nowhere, completely alone then go ahead and bump those funky beats. But if you are in the middle of a test, then half volume is completely alright, heck, even 60-75% if you have good headphones. But please, PLEASE, be considerate to the people sitting around you. Now if you are not sure if it is too loud, then take the headphones off, listen real hard, and if you can hear your music with them 5 feet away from your face then guess what… it is TOO LOUD. If you cannot hear it, then you are fine *gives applause*.

Headphones are a glorious invention. Portable music that allows us to momentarily block everything out, but as you are doing that, make sure people don’t need to, in turn, block you out in the process. You were not hired as the DJ for the day, so please do not act like it.

By: Madison Forsberg

February Poem of the Month!

Walt Whitman (1819–1892).  Leaves of Grass.  1900. 

180. When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer 

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;	5
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Taste Test: Bagels!!!

Bagels. Everyone loves bagels. Whether you are like me and eat 5-6 bagels a week or you live under a rock and only eat 1-2 a week, we all love them. Warm or room temperature, with cream cheese, butter or plain, bagels are a satisfying breakfast, lunch or dinner food. A lot of companies produce bagels, some specialize in it, and others merely make it on the side. I have had a lot of bagels in my time from a lot of different places. And I was curious as to which one was the best. I chose three popular bagel shops in or near Melrose and tested them out. To keep everything even and fair, I tested plain bagels with plain cream cheese from every shop.

First up: Brueggers. Located on Main Street, Melrose, this bagel shop offers many bagels as well as sandwiches and salads. I ordered a plain bagel as usual with plain cream cheese. The bagel was slightly warm because it was fresh that morning. The bagel itself was warm and soft on the inside but perfectly crunchy on the outside. The plain cream cheese compliments the bagel nicely and over all the combination is very nice.

Second, I tested Finagle-a-bagel. Their bagels are slightly larger than the ones at Brueggers, but not as thick. The products were complimentary as well. The overall package is good. Not absolutely amazing but good. The cafe offers other bagel like foods, like sandwiches and salads.

Third, I tested Bagel World. Their bagels are very good. Much like the others, they are well complimented by their cream cheese. The bagels are of average size and are filling for a meal.

By now you can probably tell which bagel I liked most. Out of convenience, being located right in Melrose, and because of the great taste, Brueggers, to me, is the best bagel!!

By: Elisa Lemack

Drama Club's Competition Show

The drama club at Melrose High School is entering a competition that brings together schools from all over the state. They must perform a 40 minute play of their choice which is separate from the 5 minutes at the beginning to set up and take down the set.

Mr. Daly, a history teacher at MHS is the head of our school’s production and even wrote the play that will be performed. “It is an original piece called ‘Hide and Seek’. It is a show that I actually wrote in high school and preformed my senior year. Four years ago we did re-writes to it and this year students came to me after reading the play and asked if we could perform it again.” Mr. Daly was inspired to write the play when a student in his freshmen year art class passed away from a drunk-driving accident.

The play tells the story of Kate, a girl who is coming to terms with a recent drunk driving accident she was in, that killed her best friend Sarah. It also shows how other girls in the school are dealing with it. “The students felt like it was something that still spoke to the generation. We did some re-writes to it, taking the 90’s out of it and now taking the 2000’s out of it. It includes reoccurring themes that are relatable for high school students,” says Daly.

Francesca Rizzo a cast member describes the play as “really moving; it shows what it is like behind the scenes at the high school. It includes a lot of problems kids go through like depression, anxiety and stress. I feel like at the high school level we all have some form of those things and if we don’t, then we know someone who does.” Rizzo plays the role of Abby, a close friend of Sarah’s. “She is very blunt with everything; it almost is like she doesn’t have a filter, but she is very understanding .”

The competition works by having a bunch of schools competing at different sites and at the end, 3 from each site are picked to move on to the next round. The only rules are that the play cannot be a musical and can only be performed by high school students.

“We get up as early as 5:30 to get on the bus and go to the location we are performing at. The first show starts around 9am and basically every hour there is a new play. Afterwards there is a dinner, dancing and awards. We go home around 11pm." Daly explains. 

By: Laura Lombardi

Featured Student: Paris Peterson

Paris Peterson is a junior at Melrose High who has recently entered a short film contest with a three minute film about the common fire hazards which happen in everyone's households. The video includes acting from his friends and some easy steps anyone should take to prevent house fires. Paris entered this contest after his TV teacher made it an assignment to make a fire safety video, and encouraged the students to enter the contest held by the State Department of Fire Services. Prizes for the contest include gift cards and other benefits for the high school's TV production. Even before entering the contest, Paris always had an interest in film making. "It's definitely something I've been looking into ever since I started acting in student films. There's a lot of freedom in the field. Something I'm attracted to," Paris says.

His involvement with film making started when he was a kid living in South Boston, improvising skits with his siblings and filming them. Paris also enjoyed acting in the skits, so he began theatre. When he moved to Melrose in third grade, him and his brother, Dakota, started making skate videos. Paris's involvement with theatre and film making has had a huge influence on working on his own material. Not only does Paris enjoy film making, he also enjoys acting in his friends' films. Acting in these films for colleges led Paris to begin making films himself. Paris says that "taking the knowledge from that and TV class have driven me in a new direction of thinking cinematically. Experience can only lead to improvement." In addition to his brother Dakota, who is currently in college for ion, Paris's uncle and cousins are in the filmmaking business. After the competition is over, Paris is going to Iceland with friends this summer and hopes to make a short film while there. "Regardless of me winning, bringing audiences something meaningful through film is what I plan to do for quite some time."

By: Megan Wolley