Today is my first day back in the real world and I have to tell you I miss Springfest. The only thing I don’t miss is the rain and the mud. I got there Wednesday and did the whole primitive camping thing which was nice since I could set up an awesome camp. I got to see so many awesome bands including(though not limited to) Scythian, Tornado Rider, Donna The Buffalo, and a new favorite of mine Redheaded Stepchild.

Scythian is definitely my favorite band at any of the Suwanee music festivals. They played a new song for us which was a real treat. Scythian’s fiddle is phenomenal. I literally danced a hole in the ground at each of their show, and in one of them my knee popped out of place and I just popped it back in and started dancing again. Tornado Rider showed up in the crowd during one of the shows and then on stage. Scythian along with Rashud and some other guests played their own rendition of an old classic Wipeout.

Tornado Rider is probably the most ridiculous band you have never heard of.  The singer bounces around stage and into the crowd playing a cello. The entire band wears the most ridiculous outfits conceivable. The most memorable is the red longjohns complete with a classic buttflap for flashing audiences. My favorite part about this band is their drummer, he is the happiest drummer I have ever seen. He always has a smile on even when he is sweating like crazy underneath a heavy costume while drumming.

Springfest and Magfest are what I look forward to all year long. It is difficult to return to working in a cubicle afterward. Oh well only 7 months till Magfest! Also make sure to look for a new village at the next Springfest called “The 27 Club”

David Appelman

            The Twilight phenomenon, with well over 1.7 million books sold, is coming to the teenage population near you, so you better watch out.

Symptoms may include: unusual speed and veracity in relationship to reading, an intense desire to meet/fall in love with a vampire, and a total disregard for all human boys everywhere. Less serious side effects may include: giggling, heart flutters and an over all swooning appearance.

Though this may seem silly at first, this epidemic has led to an overall decrease in high school relationships, boyfriends left to pine on Saturday nights while their girlfriends fall evermore into love with Edward, this stories impossible heartthrob.

And why has this book captured the attention of girls (and some boys) everywhere? What special quality does this teenage romance have that all the others do not?

These books are not worth the excitement deemed them by readers; they lack the quality of the classics and an original plotline. It’s the age-old love story with vampires. Anne Rice did it first; it just wasn’t to the liking of the teenage population.

Stephenie Meyer is a fine writer, her books are okay, but nothing about them is exceptional nor do they deserve such a reaction. All they do is play off teenage girls notion of prince charming.

So get a life, and pick up a real book.

            Flirty sexy images of women so ideal no one can compare to films and magazines. Young girls everywhere idolize these unrealistic testaments to beauty. Everything they do, is seen and influences the youth. So are the scandals of Hollywood beauties leading the youth to disaster?

            To achieve the level of skin and bones that these women have, girls all over the world turn to dangerous eating disorders. In fact, according to eating disorders specialist Barton J. Blinder, M.D. anorexia has been observed in children as young as four. Imagine that! At four girls should be running around playing not having a care in the world about body image, but in today’s society this is no longer the case. They starve their growing body’s to be the image of perfection, not even really knowing why they want to.

            This increase in eating disorders falls also on the parents. Indulging and promoting the idea of women having only one ‘beautiful’ size and shape. The women whose bodies are made more of silicon and botox injections than actual natural human flesh can’t be expected to teach their children that they are perfect as they are. They put out carbon copies of themselves, instilling in their four year olds that even at that age they should have the nice curves, the no body fat, and the nicely made up face.

            With role models like Britney Spears and the Disney stars with a fondness for nude photos how can we expect girls to ever get a healthy and respectful view of themselves. All they see is everything they are not, so they learn to imitate it. The girls that idolize Britney will first pick up her fashion, than her views, and soon start having sex and get pregnant before they are twenty.

            We as a society need to alter this mentality. Women are not the sculpted playing things of men and of the media. The younger generations need to be taught more than how to get a guy and what make up looks good. They need to find themselves and we need to help!

            He has been Cedric Diggery in the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series. Then he became the impossible perfect Edward Cullen, the vampire heartthrob of the adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.  As a previously unknown actor, handsome Robert Pattinson is taking Hollywood and its’ fans by storm.

            Pattinson, a British actor, embraced his American accent in the recently released film Twilight. He captured the darkly expressive nature of the world’s new favorite vampire. Much like Mr. Darcy from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, Pattinson portrays the brooding love with an authenticity that is astounding.

            His acting, though not yet on pare with some of the world’s best, still has a great deal of potential and promise many great things to come. He completely understands the need to become the character and this is evident in all of his cinematic endeavors.

            Pattinson also stars in a small film called Little Ashes, which though he is not the dark and brooding Edward, he will no doubt woo the arts of all who watch. Now that he has captured America’s interest his career will be one of many feats all under the careful scrutiny of millions of newfound fans.

Gay Rights Activist. Friend. Lover. Unifier. Politician. Fighter. Icon. Inspiration. Hero. His life changed history, and his courage changed lives.

We have all read the books. We know the story forwards and back. We have all been Bella and we have all loved Edward. But Twilight has only ever been in the black and white lines of text. However, September 21 at 12:01 in the morning Stephenie Meyer’s masterpiece will breath for the first time on the big screen.

This new media representation is both a widely anticipated and feared event. Can any director truly capture the romantic tension and full scope of Twilight’s award winning characters? Who can get into trouble like Bella and love like Edward? That seems an impossible feat. But my dear Twilight fans, you have nothing to fear. Twilight the movie is every bit as tantalizing and delicious as the original. (With in reason.)

Though many movies of books rip apart the text to produce and almost unrecognizable tale, this movie keeps to the integrity of the piece. Events transpire in the logical telling of the story, conveying with little deviation the nature of Bella’s tale.

Visually this movie both excites the senses and evokes emotion, creating the perfect rollercoaster of anger, love, and danger. The supernatural nature of the vampires provides easy contrast with the seemingly calm town surroundings.

This movie brings to life the world that we have come to imagine. The characters take on the tangibility of the finally visualized. Our beloved characters appear before us unchanged by translation conveying this modern Pride and Prejudice. Their performances do credit to both Stephenie Meyer’s vision and the authenticity of the people we have grown to love. The chemistry between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) was astounding. It truly illustrated the irrevocable nature of their connection. You could almost see the love they struggled with.

The other characters did an equally commendable job. All fit their original versions in personality, (we all have our own visual ideas of them.) They worked together to create this dynamic piece.

Being partial to literature as I am, I cannot say that the movie is in anyway better than the book. But I can tell you that the movie makes a sincere and noticeable effort to remain authentic in the most crucial of areas. I wholeheartedly recommend this film to all Twilight fans and even just avid moviegoers. Read the book and adore it. Watch the movie and love it.

GO SEE IT!!!

The Naked Brothers Band - Operation MoJo airs this Saturday Nov. 22 at 8pm (est)

A nip here and a tuck there and you have got the body of your dreams, the face for all to desire. But is your perfect exterior worth the risk?

In this world of instant change, where a new look can be just around the corner it pays to know what is worth it not just for your pocket book but also for your health.

            Here are 10 plastic surgery procedures you should avoid at all cost.

1. Mesotherapy and Lipodissolve –In this procedure you are inject with a cerium that is suppose to dissolve that fat. This procedure is not FDA approved and doesn’t have any actual proof that it works.

2. Cosmetic Foot Surgery – This procedure ranges for an injection to complete reshaping of the foot to make it appear sexier. The complications include infection, nerve injury, prolonged swelling of a toe, and even chronic pain with walking.

3. Permanent Filler Injection – This procedure is used to fill out lips and wrinkles, but unlike the temporary version this one remains in your body for a longer period, making change impossible. What is done is done in this case. Also they have a tendency to ‘drift’, which can leave you with a distorted, look.

4. Injection for Breast Augmentation – In this procedure you pump your breasts full of fillers to make them appear plumper. However the relocation of fat into the breasts can mimic or mask breast cancer. Also the fat can calcify into a large mass of behind the breasts. The procedure also costs $4000 and is only temporary.

5. Cosmetic Leg Lengthening Surgery – In this procedure you get a few inches of height for two broken legs and weeks of bone stretching. This procedure is extremely painful. Also it costs about $40,000 per inch and you usually only gain about 3 inches.

6. Buttocks Implants – To get a rounder more voluptuous rear end people are having solid silicone implants placed behind their bottoms. One of the key problems is a high chance of infection not to mention break down after constant use.

7. Tattooed Makeup – Though skipping the morning makeup routine can seem worth it once your makeup is tattooed on, there isn’t much you can do. Removing tattooed makeup is very difficult because it deals with the most delicate tissue. Also beware botch jobs from untrained practitioners; they can leave you with a face you don’t even recognize.

8. Extreme Facial Procedures – these procedures include liposuction of the face, which can result in a hollow looking face and skin lifts that pull the skin to taught on the face. These procedures leave the face looking distorted and not in anyway attractive.

9. Combination of Mastopexy/Breast Implants – These two procedures that are now being preformed at the same time have to very different aims. Mastopexy is meant to tighten up tissues and is often used in breast reductions. Breast implants/augmentations are the opposite, adding to the size of the breasts. Other problems are the possibility of infection, implant exposure, asymmetry of the breasts, loss of nipple sensation, the inability to breast-feed, healing problems and other complications.

10. Untrained Hands – Plastic surgery of all sorts is a complex and difficult field that requires trained and strong hands. Be sure to really research whom you are getting to help you create your perfect look so as to avoid botch jobs.

The Naked Brothers Band Mystery Girl movie was pretty good. In the beginning Rosalina won a violin competition, and the prize she received was a 6-month music Cruise around the world to different countries. She only told Cooper because he ended up figuring it out. Rosalina told Nat she didn’t win anything. Nat found out that there was a scene in their new musical movie where he had to kiss a mystery girl. Three of the Naked Brothers Band’s members later found out that she was Miranda Cosgrove (big surprise).  Alex was stressing over page 94, which was another kiss scene, which to Alex’s relief turned out to be a major typo, which he had to do with his tomboy friend Juanita. Later on Nat ended up finding out that Rosalina actually won this huge prize, because she told him she didn’t win anything he rather upset at the surprising deceit. They had a sort of battle of wills throughout the movie and gave each other the cold shoulder. One kiss and some flirting with Miranda took place before Nat realized his mistake. Nat apologized to her and had everyone in the band go outside Rosalina’s house and play a song he wrote for her called “Your Smile.” They kissed and made up.

Brittany Spears is at it again, one of her latest videos shows her fighting against being womanized. She does this mind you while playing different kick-butt women in totally hip outfits. These revealing outfits totally show that she is not put her to be gawked at. I am so glad that somebody can get totally naked and help get men to stop thinking of women as pieces of meat. Had Brittany Spears not made this video portraying her self as all of these different scantily clad women I don’t think that I could have gone on working in the same office as men. I know that now they will respect me for me.

Speaking of Spears just a little update the younger Spear sister she is preggers again…PSYCHE who knows perhaps a cover up abortion is on the way? Who knows with young mothers?