Category: Arts and Entertainment

By Gabrielle Bauman –

Penn Manor has a dark, dirty little secret – we play D&D.

That’s right, Dungeons and Dragons. The ultimate nerd activity, the point of no

return where any person admitting participating in the activity faces ostracization by their peers and being preached at by their pastors. Pop culture often portrays it as something only overweight older men living in their mother’s basement do.

Despite all of the stereotypes, however, Penn Manor has a small, very quiet base of players.

They behave like wild animals — skittish at first, but with some coaxing will admit that they play DnD. But they do play, and it’s not what others will lead you to believe. It’s a bit like a secret club, with its own code phrase – you admit that you play first to gain into their confidence.

Dungeons and Dragons, or DnD, is a fantasy role playing game where players create characters and work with other characters to go on quests and solve problems with the in-game world. It is played the old fashioned way: with pen and paper, and players rely on their imagination to create the fantastic world around them.

The player can really be whoever they want to be, from a gnome berserker to a half-orc thief. The possibilities are really only limited to the player’s creativity.

One Penn Manor student had something to say about his experience with the game “It is so much fun.”

It isn’t just for boys either, “It’s not gender segregated at all. Our group is like half girls and half boys.”

Tabletop roleplaying games tend to have a bad reputation in popular press and culture. In 1979 James Dallas Egbert III, 16, went missing. Later it was discovered that he had attempted suicide, and following his failure had hid out at a friend’s house for a month. The fictionalized book and movie Mazes and Monsters was based off this event, and the press mostly took the story of the teen who had had a psychotic break while playing a Live Action Role Play game as fact.

Following that there was a moral panic by parents groups and christian organizations. The Christian organizations claimed that the role play involved and the pretend interaction with monsters constituted devil worship. In an article by Chick Publications, a christian website, “Dungeons and Dragons is a tragic and tangled subject. It is essentially a feeding program for occultism and witchcraft. ” The same website has this comic, which portrays the game as sinister. The conclusions made by the author of the comic are based on the audience’s ignorance of the subject, harking back to the moral panic over Harry Potter.

According to Conservapedia, the conservative Christian version of Wikipedia that screens editors beforehand, “the possibility exists that such an experience may not be beneficial or appropriate for everyone… Due to the nature of roleplaying games, a great deal depends upon the individual group in question; a given game of Dungeons and Dragons might be benign from a Christian standpoint, or it might involve activities and ideas that a Christian would find profoundly distasteful.”

To be clear: There is no reliable research to back up the claim that roleplaying games cause players to lose touch from reality. There is nothing reliable supporting the idea that roleplaying gamers are antisocial.

Actually, it’s the opposite of that. In order to solve the problems presented by the situation, players have to work together — sink or swim. Just like online video games, Dungeons and Dragons can build friendships.

One local player was adamant about DnD having anything to do with the occult, as it has been blamed.

“They don’t play DnD obviously,” said the student. ” I’m tired of people just judging something that they don’t know anything about. Half the people don’t even know what it is.”

Another agreed, “It’s not what people think it is.”

The treatment that D&D experienced in the early 1980s echoes the argument against violent videogames now. Any player of a first person shooter can identify with the frustration of their parents misunderstanding the thing they love.

The reputation has kept some students away, but others show some interest in playing the game, “I would love to play it if I had a group to go to” said one Penn Manor junior.

The reputation of the game may be unnecessary in today’s world. Skyrim, a game extremely popular among Penn Manor’s students (and the source of endless sweetroll and arrow-to-the-knee jokes) is simply the next logical step from tabletop role playing games. Think about it. In Skyrim, players run around fighting monsters and doing quests for non player characters in need. The player can go to many exotic locales, save the day, and slay dragons. Just like DnD.

But should that stigma even be there? That’s the question that Penn Manor should be asking itself.

More at: 4c3ofsp4des

By David Mohimani and Connor Hughes –

The 54th Grammy’s aired Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The show was headlined with performances by Lil Wayne, Bruce Springstein, Kate Hudson, Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj and last but certainly not least, Adele.

Adele did a little more than just perform, she took home the most Grammy’s on the night with six including the big three: song, record, and album of the year.

In the history of the Grammy’s, only two performers have ever won more awards in one night then Adele: Michael Jackson and Santana. Only five other performers have won six in one night.  That feat puts Adele in some special company.

The British singing sensation was unquestionably the star of the show.

“I love her,” said Penn Manor senior Katie Melrath. “Her voice sounded amazing even after vocal surgery.”

Last November, the 23-year-old pop superstar underwent vocal cord microsurgery to stop recurrent bleeding from a benign polyp, a problem that had caused her to cancel tour dates, Celebrity Circuit reported.

Adele’s story warmed hearts, however an ominous cloud hung over the 54th installment of music’s top honors, the death of Whitney Houston.

Houston passed away Saturday night in her LA hotel room, the cause of death has yet to be determined. Houston was famous for her tumultuous relationship with husband Bobby Brown as well as her continual struggle with addiction. Houston’s death came as a shock especially because she was seen at an LA night club just the night before.

Even with all the turmoil that surrounded Houston’s life, she will undoubtedly be remembered most for her angelic voice.

Kate Hudson gave a moving tribute to the fallen superstar performing Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You.”, many believed that Hudson was holding back tears by the end of the performance. Hudson cited Houston as an inspiration for her career.

Probably the biggest surprise of the night was the Wisconsin-based band Bon Iver, whom took home the award for Best New Artist. They beat out the likes of  Nicki Minaj, The Band Perry, J. Cole and Skrillex .

Nicki Minaj undoubtedly had the craziest performance of the night.  Her extremely odd performance included an excerpt from the “The Exorcist” and a stage show that had her levitating on stage, with a church-like background, with hooded choir members and religious images.

You can never predict what Nicki Minaj will do next, and she always finds a way to shock the viewer.  But some students felt that her performance was too far over-the-top.

“She’s replusive and disgusting,” said Penn Manor junior Jordan Williams. “There should be classy people only at the Grammy’s.”

Despite some questionable performances, overall the Grammy’s played out as most typical award shows do some crazy, some sad, some surprising, some snubs, some good, some Gaga (Lady Gaga of course), and a whole lot of talent in one room for a truly special event.

By David Mohimani –

After eight seasons as the star of Fox’s hit thriller “24,” Kiefer Sutherland is back on primetime playing Martin Bohm in the newest Fox show “Touch.”

Sutherland plays a single parent who lost his wife during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he has an 11-year-old son who is not only mute but autistic as well, a theme that tugs at the heartstrings of any parent who has a child with a disability.

The show centers around Sutherland’s relationship with his son and his desperate desire to connect with his son, a son who not only does not speak but also hates being touched even the slightest bit. Jake, however, has a fascination with numbers.

In the pilot, Sutherland is deemed incapable of maintaining the needs

of his son and Jake is sent to foster care.

Sutherland then learns that his son’s fascination with numbers is more than it appears. Jake has the incredible ability to connect everything in the world to numbers. He uses his numbers to communicate. Sutherland realizes his purpose is to try and decipher the messages his son is writing.

The show is directed and created by Tim Kring who was also responsible for the NBC show “Heroes.”

Touch got off to a positive start when it released a sneak preview episode  Jan. 25 with 12 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 (granted, against a repeat episode of Modern Family on ABC), making it Fox’s highest-rated drama opening in three years. Granted some of the draw was most likely due to the fact that people were very interested in seeing Sutherland’s return to TV.

“24” spanned over nine years and won multiple awards including sixty-eight Emmy nominations and winning 20 Emmys.

“Touch” has a lot to live up to but the reviews so far have been positive however we were unable to find a single Penn Manor student who has watched the special preview.

The show will begin to air weekly starting on March 19 and is ordered for 13 episodes.

By Julia Norton –

Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe will be forever remembered as two of the most iconic actresses of all time. Older actors of today such as Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are also well known for their good acting and diverse roles. But are there any famous actors of this generation that can measure up to them?

Penn Manor junior Zach Sinz does not seem to think so. He believes advances in modern technology have had a significant effect on how much pressure is put on actors to be the best.

“I do not think actors of today are as talented as older actors because years ago they did not have as much equipment to cover up things,” said Sinz. “Today the actors can look bad or do something wrong and it is able to be fixed using the technology we have today.”

Many of the young actors today are only famous because of connections they have. Emma Roberts, for example, probably wouldn’t have become the icon she is today if her aunt was not Julia Roberts.

Ben Nogueras, a junior at Penn Manor High School, thinks this may be part of the reason why this generation’s actors are not as talented.

“A lot of the younger people have everything laid out for them because of who their relatives are. These actors do not have to face the struggles that other great actors did because of their connections,” said Nogueras. “Advanced actors like Clooney are disappearing and no one is replacing them.”

Not everyone agrees that popular actors have gone downhill. Penn Manor junior Cobi Kremer thinks they’ve improved tremendously.

“I think actors today are much more talented than older actors because there are more opportunities for them to learn. They have better acting classes and other stuff they probably did not have back then,” said Kremer.

The most popular young actors of today were listed on latesttopten.com. Their “Top 10 Most Talented & Best Young Actors and Actresses in Hollywood Film Industry” list includes Dakota Fanning, Robert Pattinson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Roberts, Daniel Radcliffe, Kristen Stewart, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Cera, Emma Watson and Shia LaBeouf.

While Dakota Fanning and Shia LaBeouf are well known for multiple films, Mia Wasikowska is known for little besides Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, although they can be seen in other films, are only really known for being the stars of the Harry Potter film series.

Perhaps the whole idea of actors of the past having more talent than actors of the present is based purely off of personal preference. However, it is definitely something to consider.

By Corey Fry –

This week on MTV, Mike Judge’s popular animated series, Beavis and Butthead made a return. On Thursday night the show aired in Jersey Shore‘s previous time slot after their latest season ended.

Beavis and Buttheadis a crudely drawn animated series centered around the lives of two hormone-driven, metal-loving 14 year old boys. The premise of the series was to follow the actions of the two barely-literate delinquents as

they embarked on short adventures in their fictional town of Highland, Texas.  Each episode features the duo sitting idly on a couch spectating on music videos and cable television shows.

The show was a hit when it originally aired in the early 90’s, its first season premiered in 1993 and the show continued for 8 seasons until it was canceled in November, 1997.

“I felt like television was becoming too smart,” Judge said at the 2011 ComiCon.

In their debut episode, “Werewolves of Highland”, the boys took shots at series’ such as Teen Mom, The Twilight Saga, and Jersey Shore. Music videos by Skrillex and MGMT were included as well.

“I don’t think its going to be as good as before, but I still plan on watching it,” said Beavis and Butthead fan Chad Gates.

Thursday’s showing received modest ratings, scoring an 8.0 on metacritic.  Beavis and Butthead will continue to air on Thursday nights at 10:00.

By Chris Fleming –

The 90 minute premiere of The Walking Dead’s second season kicked off with a total of 7.3 million viewers on October 16, a new record.

The new season will have an hour long episode each week for six weeks. The last six episodes will start airing again on Sunday, February 12.

Season one of The Walking Dead held the record from its premiere last year.  Season one contained only six episodes and the new season is going to have a total of 13 episodes, according to mediadecoder.com.

“It’s such a good series,” said Alex Sorce,” I wish season one had more episodes though.”

The beginning of the first season starts off with the main character, Deputy Rick Grimes, getting shot and going into a coma.  Once he finally wakes up in the hospital, he soon realizes that zombies or “walkers” have taken over his city. When he arrives at home, his son and wife are missing and he is afraid that the zombies have gotten to them.  He soon notices the pictures on the walls and family photo books are missing so he assumes they got away safely.  Deputy Grimes goes on to Atlanta because he hears that there is a safe spot. Will the rumor end up being true?

All the suspense and excitement of The Walking Dead seems to be catching peoples attention at Penn Manor.

“The end of every episode leaves me curious and craving for more.” said Penn Manor senior Brian Le.

“I like The Walking Dead a lot.  It’s a fresh new idea that sets this series apart from other series.” said senior Ryland Overly.

The TV series is based on events that some people believe could happen if a zombie apocalypse ever occurred.  It’s obvious that some characters in the show become greedy while others try to help each other out.  Throughout the series, some characters lose their cool and start to believe that there is nothing out there that can save them.  The anxiety causes them to take their anger out on someone else.  The group leader, Deputy Grimes is always trying to keep his cool and keep track of everyone.

“I’ve heard good [stuff] about The Walking Dead, but never found the time to watch it,” said Logan White.

“I’m so glad that season two is finally here,” said senior Bob Warfel,” I look forward to Sunday nights.”

Season two has already released the first two episodes and will continue to for the next couple of Sunday nights at 9pm on AMC. Episodes are available to watch on Netflix and On Demand.

By Brandon Schuman –

The 2011 Turkey Hill Fall Fest started off slow but was rocking by the end.

Many Penn Manor students flocked to the Overlook Community Campus to enjoy a day of free music and fun Saturday.

“I’m not a big country music guy, but it was fun,” said Penn Manor senior Landon Alecxih.

The weather was bitter and rainy but hundreds stuck it out. Bradley Gaskin, a budding star, opened the festivities. He had a hard time getting the crowd’s attention, but that could be attributed to the weather more than the artist.

American Idol alumna Lauren Alaina came on stage after Gaskin. She didn’t seem to capture the audience’s imagination very much. She sang a few original songs but failed to really separate herself.

Randy Houser, a more established artist, finally got the audience into the show. His rousing performance of his hit song Boots On brought the crowd into a frenzy.

“I like that song, it’s very catchy,” said senior Abby Barley. “I sing to it in my car.”

Next up on stage was country duo Steel Magnolia.

There was only one problem.

Joshua Scott Jones, the group’s male stalwart, had just entered drug and alcohol rehabilitation. His female counterpart and fiance, Meghan Linsey, was left to brave the stormy weather on her own. Jones’ voice was notably missed from the stage.

Last but certainly not least, Rodney Atkins took the stage. He immediately got the crowd on his side. His songs echoed throughout the Overlook Community Campus. The number one country song in the world, Take a Back Road, brought the audience to their feet.

“It’s the best song ever,” said Barley.

The day may have been sloppy and rainy, but the music was crisp and clean.