Author: Daphne Psaledakis

Sending Off Clarence Clemons

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog about a Bruce Springsteen concert I had attended over Thanksgiving Break. Earlier this week, I wrote about a true friend, and I had finally been lucky enough to find one.

For those of you who don’t know, Clarence Clemons, otherwise know as “The Big Man” or “C”, recently passed away on June 18th, 2011, at the age of 69. The Big Man was the lead tenor saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s “E Street Band”, and the two were as close as brothers, at least to the eye of the public.

At “C’s” funeral, on June 21st, 2011, Bruce Springsteen released a eulogy for his best friend, which has since been released to the public, and is available here.

In his eulogy, Springsteen talks about his friend, protector, confidant, and idol, not as someone of the past, but as someone who he will see again soon, “where we will once again pick up that work, and get it done.”

In my post about friendship, I spoke about what it means to have a true friend, and what a true friend is like. Today, while passing time in my Journalism teacher’s classroom, he recommended I read Bruce Springsteen’s eulogy for Clarence Clemons, because of my previous interest in Springsteen.

I immediately took his advice and began to read, and quite on accident I found the perfect example of friendship. The relationship between Springsteen and the Big Man was one of true friendship, at least to my eyes. And I recommend that you all read it as well, and find your true meaning of friendship within their beautiful example.

Enjoy!

Finals

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Right now the Upper Campus is filled with students stressing out, worrying, and complaining. Why? Finals begin on Friday, and everyone is feeling the effects of their prolonged procrastination.

Teachers repeatedly remind us to study and get some sleep, all the while stacking homework on us as if playing with building blocks. Last minute tests are hurriedly being completed, and review sessions take up the majority of class time.

On Friday, every student, with the exception of maybe two or three, will cram into their assigned classroom, silent and exhausted from a full night of studying. They will spend the next two hours on their English final, and then be released to lunch.

In the afternoon, those with an art final will stick around, while those lucky enough to be done for the day take off. Whether it’s back to their dorm room or their home doesn’t make a difference.

The finals will continue on Saturday, with History, and a day off on Sunday. On Monday, the school will reconvene and knock out he last three.

And then finally, at the end of an exhausting week, we will all be released for break. For that amazing three week Christmas break everyone has been looking forward to since the start of the school year. And I can’t wait.

Friends Who Last Forever

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There are different types of friends, as many of you probably know. Last year, I was friends with someone who I expected to be close with for years to come. This year, we have barely talked. When I confronted her about this, she said she just didn’t care to.

It was at this point that I realized that some people, even if you might be close to them, aren’t going to stick around through everything. Looking back, I can see how she would cut me down and embarrass me in public, or make me feel bad about something. That’s not a true friend.

This year, I have been lucky to find someone who I know will stick around. Every day at lunch, we have our lunch date, almost without fail. We talk about everything that comes to mind, from boys and friends to food and sports.

She boosts my self-confidence by threatening to no longer talk to me, which of course has changed my thought process tremendously since the beginning of the year finally found my best friend.

A.P. World History

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For those of you who go to the Ojai Valley School, you will have heard of Mr. Alvarez. For those of you don’t, Fred Alvarez is the Humanities, A.P. World History, World History, and Journalism teacher.

The double faced mug sitting on the bookshelf in the corner of his classroom, printed with both “Mr. Muffin” and “Mr. Evil,” says it all. Mr. Alvarez’s classes are among the hardest.

Last year, I was in the Freshman Humanities class. He tortured us, assigning a reading journal almost every night. Extra Credit was rare, and when it did come along, it was in the form of fishing or writing a song.

Humanities is that class you talk about, complain about, go to sleep thinking about, and secretly love.

A.P. World History is very similar. At the beginning of the year, Mr. Alvarez warned us of the insurmountable amounts of reading we would have as homework.

He was not kidding.

The majority of class stopped reading after Chapter 4. We are now on Chapter 12. Every Wednesday is “Essay Day”, where we assigned a prompt and given a little over an hour to complete an essay, which will then be picked apart, criticized, and graded by the class. Public humiliation at it’s finest.

Despite the ridiculous amounts of reading and essay writing, I learn the most from those classes. I walk in the door excited about the next 45 minutes, and I have fun. A.P. World History challenges me to do the best I can.

Rodriguez

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The majority of you have probably never heard of a man named Sixto Rodriguez. Neither had I until a couple days ago.

Sixto Rodriguez was born July 10, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, immigrants from Mexico, named him Sixto because he was the sixth child in his family.

Little did he know, his upbringing as a part of the inner city poor would influence his life in more ways than he could imagine.

Rodriguez, who worked construction, was performing in a bar one night when he was discovered as an American folk singer. He signed with a small label named Impact, and produced the single “I’ll Slip Away.”

A couple years later, Rodriguez signed with Sussex Records, and produced both of his albums, “Cold Fact” and “Coming From Reality.” For some reason, most likely because of his Hispanic heritage, Rodriguez’ career in North America flopped.

Sussex Records dropped him, two weeks before Christmas, a premonition which came true from his song “Cause.”

Little did he know, Rodriguez was a super star in conservative South Africa. The story goes that an American girl came to South Africa to visit her boyfriend, with “Cold Facts” in tow. What proceeded from there was boot-legging and importing of copies.

When the copies ran dry, Australian record company Blue Goose Music bought the rights to his back catalogue, and released his two albums.

Rodriguez had become an icon of South African culture. Children ran around on the streets singing his songs. His music opened their eyes to something else, with songs like “I Wonder” helping along the realization that there was a way to fight the South African government: through music.

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The Boss

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We sat at the top of the stadium, with a clear view of the stage and the thousands of fans surrounding it. A grandfather, walking up the stairs with his two grand-kids, who couldn’t be more than four years old.

The family sitting two rows in front, who dance to every song and know every word, to all the songs, by heart.

They are all here to see the legend, Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen, November 19th, 2012

The fans with backstage passes eventually come out of the wings, and the lights dim. All that’s left is the twinkling of cell phone lights and the roar of the crowd, erupting with anticipation.

And then Bruce Springsteen walks out, and if at all possible, the crowd gets even louder. I can feel the chants and applause in the pit of my stomach.

Springsteen walks up onto the stage, and grabs the mike, saying something about how happy he is to be at the Mile High City. With emphasis on the “high.”

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Thanksgiving Break

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Tomorrow is the final day before Thanksgiving Break, and the school is riddled with anticipation. A suitcase sitting in the hallway of the dorm, flight plans being turned in… The school is packing up.

For me, Thanksgiving break is the first time I get to see my brothers, after three months of eery calmness from not having them around.

Thanksgiving break is also a time for me to see my dad, and for us to spend time as a family.

This Thanksgiving, our plans our secret. My dad has sorted out one of his “Papa Adventures,” and according to him it will be the biggest one yet. I’m excited, but you know. It’ll either be really good or really bad. Hopefully it’s the former.

Last Thanksgiving break was a bit of a nightmare. My mom took me and my brothers down to Denver for my brother’s hockey tournament. Spending a week in a hotel room with two little brothers is NOT fun. Emphasis on the not.

For one, they don’t feel the need to have any sort of manners, whatsoever, when around me. It’s just lovely. The hotel room did not smell good by the end of the week.

I’m excited about this Thanksgiving because even though we will all be in a hotel room, we won’t be at a hockey tournament. Which is a huge improvement.

And as soon as I know what the “Papa Adventure” is, I’ll let you know.

The Pressure of Dreams

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For those of you who don’t know, I wrote a blog a little while ago called “My Best Friend.” The subject of the blog is my horse, Time, who is indeed my best friend. He listens to me, whether he wants to or not, and doesn’t pass judgment.

A couple weeks ago, Time and I participated in a Don Sachey clinic. It was extremely fun, and also very frustrating.

My horse does this thing sometimes, where he locks his neck and basically makes it impossible for me to do anything with him.

It makes me want to stomp my feet and scream. Almost like I’m four years old again.

But that’s beside the point. Riding has always been an escape for me, a time when I don’t have to face the reality that is everyday life. I’ve been riding since I was two, and my dream has always been to go the Olympics with it.

WIth those kind of dreams, it’s hard to escape the pressure that accompanies them.

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Skyfall

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This weekend, I went over to my friends house. Friday night we got our nails done, Saturday we went shopping. It was so much fun, and the perfect weekend. It felt amazing to get off campus, even if it was just for a little while.

But on Sunday, we spent hours trying to figure out what to do. We wanted to go to Ventura to see a movie, but there was no one to drive us.

So we ended up going to the Ojai Playhouse instead, to see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall.

Skyfall is different from the other James Bond in that the characted is flawed. Bond is not the super-hero agent, invincible and undeterable, but instead has a hinderance, which repeatedly gets in his way.

Instead of ruining the Bond character, this flaw instead made him more relatable and personable to the audience. Bond went from the unattainable “perfect” human being, to one of us with mad spy skills.

Another great aspect of the film was the bad guy, Silva. He plays an almost Joker-like character. He was also incredibly smart, and creepily evil. It would not surprise me to see him appear in a little kids nightmare.

The film focused more on the characters within, and creating personalities for them, instead of using an outside issue, which can be both good an bad.

For one, it makes the film a bit more believable. On the other hand, one may wonder if they are perhaps running out if ideas for the legendary 007.

One more aspect of the movie which I will point out are the opening credits. Normally when they appear on the scene I groan, and get antsy. Although I did do this at first, my attention was quickly captured by what was playing before me.

They used the setting so perfectly in the opening credits, and the transition went so smoothly from the first scene, that it seemed almost as if it were an extension of what had just taken place.

The pictures fade in and out, creating a sense of mystery, intrigue, and danger. The occasional provocative woman’s body reminds the viewer of thee famous, and possibly even infamous, Bond girl. The opening credits were remarkable.

All in all, Skyfall was a great movie, one that I highly recommend you watch.

In My Free Time…

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Everyone has a favorite pastime, something they do when all else fails. Mine is watching movies. And let me be clear on something – I’ve watched a lot of movies.

It’s because of the amount of movies I’ve watched that I’ve decided to make this post.

To be honest, I’m not a very big fan of most the movies which are in theaters these days. There are a few here and there that get a laugh out of me, but other than that they just aren’t as good as others out there.

For example, The Dictator. This is by far not my kind of movie. I went to go see it when it was out with some friends, and despite the racism, sexism, and just plain offensiveness of this film, I actually found it quite funny.

A movie along the same lines which I didn’t particularly enjoy was 21 Jump Street. I mean, it’s funny, it’s got Channing Tatum in it (obvious plus), and it’s a good concept. But let’s face it. How many other movies are out there with the exact same story line? The answer is way too many.

Act of Valor came out last year, and I went to see it with my dad while my brothers were with my mom. This was a hard movie to watch, but that very possibly could have just been me. I have a tendency to be a bit squeamish at times. All in all though, I thought this was a good movie. An aspect of it which I found particularly interesting and appealing was the fact that the actors were real Marines. It added an element of reality.

Almost everyone has heard of the romance Dirty Dancing, and I’ll admit to having a small crush on Patrick Swayze. This film is decent. It has everything one could want in a romance. Dancing, rebelling against parents, guy from the wrong side of the tracks… You get the idea. But although I do love this movie, I don’t find it to be very original. At least not anymore.

The Rebound however is a movie I enjoyed quite a bit. It was funny, and although it was predictable, there was an element of difference to it. And I love Catherine Zeta-Jones. Especially in her other movie, No Reservations.

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