We all know about cars.  Some more than others.  But did you know how many uses there are for duct tape on your car?!  I was walking into the grocery store the other day and I saw a car with its right head light was held on by duct tape.  This inspired me.  So here I am, writing an article on duct tape uses for cars.  Below are some ways you can use duct tape to fix your car.

1.  If some paint comes off your car, use some colored duct tape and it will be as good as new.

2.  If your window gets cracked, use some duct tape to hold it together.

3.  If your window falls off but is still intact, use some duct tape to put it back on.

4.  If you window falls off and shatters into a million pieces, you can make a new window out of duct tape.

5.  If your tire pops, repair the hole with some duct tape.

6.  If your seat starts to tear, use some duct tape to cover up the hole.

7.  If the roof of your car gets busted off in an awesome action sequence, use some duct tape to build a new roof.

8.  If the hood of your car flies off, takes out the roof of your car and the window, use some duct tape to rebuild the car.

9.  If a car door busts off, build a new one with duct tape.

10.  If your car’s hood rips off, takes out your roof and windows, does three barrel rolls in an awesome action sequence, that in turn takes out your doors, smashes into a fruit stand and dents a parking meter, leave a note on a piece of duct tape apologizing for the mess and run.

by Sam H.

    Every now and then, I see girls with bangs. What’s up with bangs? I have bangs and my friends have bangs. Are bangs the new style? Bangs have been around since my grandma was a child. I like bangs because they look cute and stylish.  Some of my friends have bangs to hide acne, but that only makes acne worse. Many celebrities have bangs also! I’m determined to find out why people have bangs around Howard Middle School!

8th grade: Gabrielle R.- “I think they look good on some people, and some people can pull it off.”

Ms. Sflanga- “People with small foreheads shouldn’t wear bangs. It depends on the structure of your face.”

8th grade: Stephanie L.-”They look good, I look good with them.”

8th grade: Jennifer M.-”They are stylish and cute.”

8th grade: Gabriella S.- “They are cute and fly.”

I have concluded that people don’t only use bangs because they are cute, but also people have bangs just to fit in. Bangs are cute, but only some people can pull it off, definitely not those with small foreheads!

-Jacqueline B.

The film, New Moon, is a drama that takes place in Forks, Washington. New Moon, stars Kristin Stewart as Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black.

The main focus of the movie is about 3 main characters: Bella, Jacob, and Edward. Bella and Jacob are close friends and there is a close relationship between Edward and Bella, leaning towards romantic. Jacob is a werewolf who is trying to conceal his identity. A love triangle exists between Jacob, Bella and Edward. 

During the story, Edward has to leave Bella because he’s afraid that he’s going to hurt her and ruin her life. After Edward leaves, Bella becomes crazy. Charlie, Bella’s dad, tells her that if she doesn’t forget about Edward and start acting normal, he’s going to have to send her back to Arizona. In order to act normal, Bella goes to the movies with one of her classmates.

During the movie,  Bella realizes that when she is in danger of something, she hallucinates and hears Edward’s voice. Bella wants to keep hearing Edward’s voice, so she intentionally and continuously puts herself in danger. Later, Bella becomes closer to her friend, Jacob. Eventually, Jacob starts to act weird around Bella and she confronts him about it. Jacob confesses to Bella, in a twist of events that he is in fact, a werewolf. After he tells Bella, Jacob promises to protect her and says that he will never hurt her like Edward did.

Later, Bella decides that she’s going to go cliff diving in order to hear Edward’s beautiful voice again. Thankfully, Jacob saves Bella from losing her life.  Eventually, there is a deceptive phone call where Jacob leads Edward to believe that Bella is dead. This phone call reveals Jacob’s feelings for Bella, he is in love with her. Edward flies to Italy in an attempt to self inflict the same fate that he believes Bella has endured. The ending is a secret that you must see for yourself!

I think that they did a really good job at acting. The background was very cool because it looked like a place where a vampire or werewolf would acually go, it was like an animal in the wild. When Jacob turned into a werewolf, it looked very realistic. You couldn’t even tell that it was fake because the effects were so real.

I thought the film was absolutey awesome and way better than Twilight. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it an 8. I would recommend this to everyone that is a vampire or science fiction fan. The quality of the costumes and settings made the film seem very authentic.

-Stephanie L.

   The Chocolate Nutcracker is a take on Peter Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker that takes place in Harlem during the 1950’s.  In the story we follow a girl named Claire who dreams about herself and a chocolate nutcracker (which she recieved from Uncle Al) traveling the world, seeing all different ethnicities.  This ballet includes many different types of music such as ballet (obviously), tap, modern, jazz, gospel and hip-hop.

   The original Nutcracker was created by Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky (the director of The Sleeping Beauty), Marius Petipa (a choreographer), and Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (A very famous composer).  It premiered on December 17, 1892.  It’s been a huge hit ever since.

   Now that I’ve covered the good, let’s move to the not so good.  First of all, this play is supposed to take place in the 1950’s, yet at one point, they played the black Eyed Peas, and at another, they played Rhiana.  Secondly, the costumes were weird.  One kid was dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (the red one to be more specific).  Plus, guys should not wear tights.  It should be just a general rule.  Finally, some of the scenes were too distracting.  During one scene, there was this awesome disco ball spinning.  But the problem was, I didn’t even notice people were dancing.  I thought It was some sort of groovy (yes, groovy) intermissi0n or something.

Over all it was a very good ballet.  The dancing was very good and the music was excellent.

By Sam H.

Do you remember when you were a little kid and you would send letters to Santa? You would write “Dear Santa” and then write what you would want for Christmas. You’d put it in the envelope and write “to Santa Claus” and then send it away. Ever since my parents told me that it was them giving me the presents from Santa, I wondered where my letters went. So, I researched letters to Santa Claus and a web site popped up talking about Santa Claus, Indiana.

Santa Claus, Indiana is a town in Spencer County. The population is a little over 2,000 people. On a cold December in 1852, the townspeople were holding their monthly meeting at the church; even the kids were quietly sitting at the meeting.  Then a cold gust opened the doors- the adults froze. They all heard the same thing… sleigh bells! The children all yelled almost at the same time “Santa Claus, Santa Claus!” Ever since then, the little nameless town was called Santa Claus. This tiny town’s street names and the whole city is decorated year- round for Christmas .

The town’s very small post office gets more Santa mail at Christmas than they recieve from regular mail in the rest of the year. Mark Bulleit is one of the people who responds back to the children who sent letters to Santa.

It’s a good thing that the cold December night happened, or else we would still be wondering where our letters went. This Christmas, if your little brother or sister sends a letter to the North Pole you can tell them that it will definitely get to Santa Claus.

http://ezinearticles.com/?letters-to-santa-claus—where-do-they-actually-go?&id=78331

Have you ever opened up a present on Christmas and found it to be an ugly sweater??? Well, from personal experience I have. These sweaters are sold everywhere and can also be found online. These hideous sweaters usually have reindeers, santas, or snowflakes on them…ughhhhhh! Also, did you know people actually throw parties and contests for the ugliest sweater? Yup, it’s true. I really wish I understood why, but from research, throwing ugly sweater parties started in the 80’s and it boosted the economy in a strange way. These parties are very popular in the United States. Millions of people find this idea interesing. More than a hundred people in the United States have parties for ugly sweaters every day and every Christmas. They have sweaters for everybody, including moms, dads,children, and even DOGS!!!!!!! There are a lot of diffrent websites to visit if you’re interested in learning more about these sweaters. Here are a few:  www.uglychristmassweaters.com, www.uglysweaterparty.com, and www.uglysweater.org                     by Ashleigh B.

How would you study during Christmas break but still enjoy your break?

Ask Alexis: Well I personally wouldn’t study over the break.  But a way I would study and still enjoy my break is to get a group of my older cousins and we would sit and study together. But I don’t know about your cousins, but my cousins know how to make studying fun!    

Harrison Says: I don’t really know what there is to study about over break.  Yeah maybe midterms, but there’s a week after we get back to study for them.  With a week for review beforehand I’d relax, not forgetting your subjects, but relaxing nonetheless.

Say you’re going to a friend’s house and their religion is different than yours. Would you not go, or still go and try new things?

Ask Alexis: I’m always open to new things. I feel you should be too. But always consult your parents and their parents so you’ll know what you’re doing and how to do it before you go and do somthing you’ll regret or your friend regrets.

Harrison Says: More religion, more holidays, more presents.  Simple as that.  Open your mind to new things, it’s generally a fun way to live.

How do you split the holidays between divorced or seperated parents?

Ask Alexis: There are a couple diffrent things you can do. You can switch up years, like one year you go with your dad and the next with your mom., You can spend Christmas eve with one, then spend Christmas day with the other. Or you can spend Christmas day with one and  Christmas evening with the other. 

Harrison says: Every year my parents would switch up, most of the time, but enough to keep it consistent.  Sometimes we visited family friends together even though they’re seperated, it all depends.  Go with the flow.

12,21,2012… If you follow the Mayan beliefs then we are not all necessarily done, as the movie 2012 would have you think.  The world is not set to end, but instead it will be the beginning of a new age. The Mayans actually believed that one day we will all make a transition from humans to their freaky godly design. However, if human energy at that time is driven by fear, then we will see an apocolypse.  If human energry is positive, 2012 will bring peace and harmony.    

In my opinion all this is weird and it’s not going to happen because there is no such things as Mayan gods to me. But let all the people who want to believe, believe. 

For those of you who do not know who the Mayans, they are the makers of the 365 day calender, they created the concept of zero, they made nice pottery, and are believers of so-to-speak “galactic day.” All this in my opinion, WON`T HAPPEN, but who knows, maybe we will reach peace without ever having hate.

For more info click here.

by Alex V.

LOVE!

Love is here, 

                                     in the air.                                     

Love  is there,

and everywere.

Love hurts,

it causes pain. 

Just don’t be ashamed, 

about your feelings.

When I see you I get butterflies,

it’s like I’m flying from morning 

till night.

How I feel about you it kills

me inside.

It’s something I can’t deny.

It’s like a rollercoaster ride.

Every time you pass by. 

Love is something that has been

here for years.

It’s timeless.

My feelings for you are sincere and

forever shall be here! 

      Written By          - Janaili M.

Published By      – Fitzroya N.