Final Bound

therightliberal2 Comments

Today Manchester United clinched itself a place in the Champions League Final. They will face Barcelona on May 28th at Wembley Stadium.

United pulled off a 4-1 win which is an incredible feat. What makes it even more impressive is that United started many of its bench players. Sir Alex Ferguson decided that it would be best to rest some of his key players for the season deciding game against Chelsea this Saturday.

Schalke had won 5-2 against last years champions, Inter Milan. For United to win 6-1 on aggregate goals…well to be honest it is shocking. I believe in United’s quality but this was something else.

Ferguson made 9 changes from his original squad that beat Schalke in the first leg. After the game he said that the team, “Did me proud.”

The win sets up a rematch from 2009 where United lost to Barca. Although I am hopeful that United can beat Barca, I am very unsure. Barca moves the ball so well and has so much talent that they are virtually impossible to stop.

If United wants to beat Barca they need to play very tight in the midfield as well as in the defence. They cannot allow Barca to dictate the tempo of the game by holding the ball. Whoever is playing out on the left must also find a way to shut down Messi, and I wish them the best of luck. I do not envy any footballer who has to face that man.

United has the talent to win the final but they will have to pull out a performance of the ages to do so. Glory Glory!

News of the Week

theycallmedameLeave a comment

I hate being sick.

I really, truly hate it.

This week, I went to school a total of two days. I forgot to submit three assignments, and the majority of my time was spent accidentally spacing out.

I went to a doctor who prescribed me anti-biotics because I have some virus that’s intent on having me fail school; so that’s fun. But before they could prescribe me anything, they wanted to make sure I didn’t have strep throat. By doing this, they shoved an abnormally long Q-tip into my mouth and scraped it against the back of my throat. It. Sucked.

So that’s the news of the week: my sickness that has been enveloping me since Sunday night. I just hope it goes away by Monday.

Vogue’s Anna Wintour’s Claim to Fame

Paloma SpencerLeave a comment

Anna Wintour is an inspiration, an icon of fashion, power, and success; the epitome of a successful, independent woman.

Anna Wintour is an abusive, power hungry woman; the epitome of an unintelligent, horrid woman.

These two descriptions of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour are quite the opposite. However, it seems that these are the exact definitions she obtains. Simply put, people either love her or hate her.

If you don’t already know, Anna Wintour is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue. Wintour arrived in New York City in her teenage years, destined to be something great. She climbed the social ladders in both journalism and fashion, and in 1988 claimed her current role as editor-in-chief of the infamous magazine, Vogue.

Well, I choose the first description.

I believe she is a role model, a mentor. She is a headstrong woman who battled her way into her position at Vogue through numerous obstacles and setbacks. The one trait I admire most about Wintour is her courage. Wintour constantly tried new things. When given the position of Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Wintour created several new magazines to add to the brand name, such as Men’s Vogue and Teen Vogue. Although the only survivor was Teen Vogue, Wintour was not afraid of failure, and from her courage came a magazine enjoyed by millions of teenagers each month.

Throughout her life, Wintour has faced harsh criticism claiming that she is a pure “devil” in her job. For example, the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” is inspired by Wintour.

Although Wintour might not be warm and cuddly at times, the question stands of “Why should she have to be?”

Wintour is successful because of her drive, her personality, her strength, so why should she have to change that?

She is honest, straightforward, and strict. Her success was derived from this, and not because she was a timid, controllable woman.

AP Week and My Mom

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Sometimes, I think my mom should’ve been born my little sister. I love her to death but sometimes she can be very dogmatic.

This weekend is Mother’s Day and my mom has been meaning to come up and take me away for Saturday and bring me back on Sunday. However, the thing is the weekend that she wants to come is the weekend between the two AP weeks.

Furthermore, that weekend is a packed weekend for me. Friday, I would have just finished my APUSH exam. Saturday, I would have taken three SAT II tests. That Sunday afternoon, I would be taking a AP Biology final just to take a AP Biology exam the following day.

My mom wants to take me out to dinner and stay at a hotel with me during this hectic week, only to make it more hectic and taking time away from studying. The funny thing is, this is the first time that my mom has wanted to take me out for Mothers’s Day while I was away at boarding school. The one time that she wants to take me out is the busiest time of my academic career.

I told her I cannot do this weekend. However, she refuses to understand the pressure that is mounted on my shoulders.

Sigh.

Beirut

yourgingerkidLeave a comment

I’ve been here at the Ojai Valley School for five years now. During those four years spent at the upper campus, there have been countless moments that have been so deeply engrained into my fondest of memories. From exclusive dances on the girls dorm lawn to laying under the stars with good friends, debating the purpose of our existence, this school has grown to shape the person that I am today more than any other single influence. And throughout my time here, there has been one artist that has done the same.

Beirut is the extended band of Zach Condon from New Mexico. Zach plays the ukulele, trumpet, euphonium, mandolin, accordion, various keyboard instruments, and a modified conch shell and the rest of his band plays instruments from the cello to the glockenspiel. It’s needless to say that they create a unique sound.

How can you not enjoy his voice? It’s so beautiful. This man, this band has stayed in my top favorite artists for four years now. All of their songs are timeless. They’re what inspired me to play ukulele, and I can not boast that I know every ukulele song of theirs by heart. I actually just took an hour break off writing this to practice their songs and attempt to sing, and the singing honestly did not go well.

Every time I hear Postcards From Italy, I think of former OVS student Tony Lim and Jeung Soo trying to sing me it over the phone on an early Sunday morning and every time I hear Elephant Gun I think of Andrew Town and Austin Jacobson performing it live at our festival of talent. Every single moment connected with their songs is wonderful in its own way, and couldn’t ever be overplayed or irritating to me.

If you haven’t downloaded any of their music, you seriously should consider it. Not only are they amazing tracks, but the live recording are even more spectacular. It’s rare to find an artist so universal. Here’s a link to download one of their albums for free.

Or if you don’t wish to download it, at least watch the street performance above. It will wash you away like this:

Strugglin’

sennymcfly1 Comment

Bro! So AP exams have been happening for a little under a week now. My first one is over, thank Jesus. But, I still have another one on Friday. Stress is killer of course but you know what’s really annoying? The fact that my Senioritis has kicked in times one trillion and 72. Last year I always thought Senioritis wouldn’t be so bad. I was wrong. Seriously, I just do not want to do anything but sit in my bed and watch Bones. It’s really upsetting too because it’s the end of the year and I have a lot to catch up on. *Cough* Blogs *Cough*.

I’m just strugglin’ man. Here’s what will happen, I’ll sit down at my computer, I’ll think of an idea and get really inspired. Then when I start to write I get super creative and come up with these crazy thoughts. But, when I run out of time to finish what I start, it never ends getting done. The worst part is, on the weekends I get more done than I do during the actual school week. I’ll spend hours studying on the weekend, but by the time Monday comes I’m too burned out to do any other work. It’s ridonkulous. Gosh dern it’s frustrating!

So, what do I do? I want to graduate man, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m scared!

Math Down, The Rest Is History!

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Yesterday was grueling.


My morning began with YouTube videos by khanacademy (who is BRILLIANT by the way) on solids of revolution. My favorite breakfast of waffles and milk didn’t manage to make my morning any better.

I dragged my legs as I forced myself to the Lecture Hall. I sighed as I saw the cold metal door knob and my opaque reflection on the still glass door. Then I went in.

It was torture. Hours and hours of math. I panicked. I think I did horribly.

With a bad mood, I went to the cafeteria to grab lunch before my track meet. With my Princeton Review AP U.S. History Exam book in hand, I trudged to the big, yellow Ojai Valley School bus.

The meet got a lot off my shoulders and I managed to get a lot of studying done. I met my friends at Cate School, Denali and Blake, both friends from 8th grade and that got a lot of stress and grief from my AP exam earlier that day. It helped me realize that I shouldn’t stress but I should try my best for the next test because I can’t change the my previous test score but I can try to get the best score for my next AP test.

Next:

Tomorrow, A.P. U.S. History.

Wish me luck!

London’s Bubble Tea

weirdjennyLeave a comment

nullBubble tea is a kind of tea that we use fruit teas or milk teas and mix in chewy tapioca balls that you can suck up through a big straw. Bubble tea is originally found in Taiwan in early 1989’s.

This drink has spread throughout the world rapidly since then. You can find it in Japan, China, Korea…and even Chinatown in America. Bubble tea is also called boba tea, which we can order it from Goldenmoon. Today this delicious drink has spread to Europe.

A London banker, Assad Khan, has traveled to New York several years ago, and he has fallen in love with this fabulous drink while he first drank it in Chinatown. This discovery made him come up the idea to bring this kind of tea to London. In order to open a bubble tea shop in London, Assad came to Taiwan first to learn the process of making the tea. Finally, he went back to London and open the London’s first bubble tea shop, Bubbleology, in April, 2011.

Assad insists that the tea, the tapioca balls, all materials, and even the machine have to come directly from Taiwan. Now, he can sell over 500 cups of tea a day. Due to the high popularity of the tea, Assad has planned to open three other branches in the next few months.

Battle of the Bands!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Eight. Jazz music encompassed me in an anxious din. The sweet, soulful voice of a freshman from Thatcher filled my ears-then stopped. The judges gave generous reviews.

Seven more to go. Again, the judges had accolades for the performers. Only kind words.

Six.

Five. Four. Three. Two…

It was our turn.

We were practicing backstage, doing our vocal warm ups and melting the pressure away. We didn’t sound too shabby. And my voice didn’t give out like I thought it would. We were going over the song one last time, making sure that-

“Maddie, Serry, Lindsey?” a frantic boy called.

We all nodded, the nerves flooded back, flushed into my weary veins. The clamminess returned once again to my hands and my knees were hit with a pang of unease as he led us behind the curtain, ready to push us under the unforgiving spotlight.

Easy notes of the piano gently filled the auditorium. I felt them in my fingers. Maddie’s velvet voice started us off and I felt a bit more confident. Throughout the song, I was nervous. Where should I put my hands? How should I stand? Where do I look?

The song was over soon enough and we all linked fingers while we waited for the judges to deliberate.

We had gotten marked down by the Thacher judge for having teachers playing the piano and the bass. We got the same score by a girl that hated me in 8th grade and-I believe-still hates me to this day. At first, I was a bit angry about the scores. But in the end, I didn’t care. I got to see my friends, Maddie, Lindsey, and Lucy snag third place out of the entire competition and I got a feel for what it was like to participate in such a big event. We didn’t receive horrible scores either.

For those of you who did not get the chance to hear us sing yesterday, you will get another chance to hear us sing the same song, Emotions by Destiny’s Child, at the graduation recital! Now, you can’t miss that because it’s mandatory!

Here’s my favorite cover of the song:

Facebook posts found tornado items

weirdjennyLeave a comment

null

Due to the terrible tornado strikes in the mid-west of America, many lives are lost and many properties are lost too. Recently, a group on Facebook has created a page to try to link the victims with their lost documents, photos, and other personal items they have lost in the tornadoes. The page was created on April 27, and had more than 50000 “likes” and more than 600 images of found items. The page’s creator, Patty Bullion, said the inspiration for it came when the worst of Wednesday’s storm flew past about 10 miles from her home in northern Alabama.
“When it went over us, it literally just started raining pictures,” she said. “We got parts of Bibles, hymnals. … I just started saying, ‘There are parts of people’s lives falling out of the sky.” They found a signed year book page, which shows a group of boy eyeing on a female student. Many of these item are very important memories for those people. “If they’ve lost everything and could just get one picture back, I know that would mean a lot to me.” said Patty Bullion.