Volume 10, Issue 4February 4th, 2007

By Echo ReporterJosh Armstrong

On Saturday, January19th dozens of studentsjoined together on thecorner of Granville andRobson to demonstrateagainst the current genocideand civil war in Darfur,Sudan, where over 500, 000citizens have been killed andover two million have beendisplaced from their homes,attempting to escapegovernment persecution.

The studentprotest was a great success.Even though it was cold,raining and windy, theexperience was well worthfrozen fingers and faces.Students spent the morninginforming passersby andsoliciting signatures to besent to the Canadiangovernment. While manypeople simply walked by ordeclined our offer to explainthe conflict, anyone whohad the time to stop andlisten to the students wasglad to sign. In total, over athousand signatures werecollected. The action peakedat noon when a CTVcameraman arrived at thebase of operations (the tablestudents had set up andtaken up shop at) and beganto interview several of us.

Students, in the timeleading up to and during therally wore black and redarmbands, showing‘sincerity and remorse for thepeople of Darfur who aresuffering from displacementand violence. Though wewill never understand theplight of the people inDarfur, we must do our bestto help them, because if

anyone in the world can,it is the wealthier nations.Recently, petitions withinand outside the school topressure the government tosend aid into the Darfurregion have resulted in afrenzy of signings, whichwill eventually be sent to ourMember of Parliament tohelp put a stop to thegenocide in Darfur. Thepetition’s goal is to have true

peacekeepers sent intoSudan who will actually helpin the fight against thegovernment instead of beingforced to stand idly by whilepeople are killed.

In Sudan, the militaryand other, even larger militiaforces such as theJanjaweed, a militia groupsupporting the government,are controlledpredominantly by Arabic

Muslims, while the peoplebeing hunted are thesouthern, black Sudanese.The black Sudanese havebeen forming their ownmilitia groups such as theSLM (Sudan LiberationMovement) and JEM(Justice and EqualityMovement) to protectthemselves, but even thesehave not been able to helpagainst the better trained

Social Justice Class Protests Darfur GenocideSocial Justice Class Protests Darfur GenocideSocial Justice Class Protests Darfur GenocideSocial Justice Class Protests Darfur GenocideSocial Justice Class Protests Darfur Genocide

and equipped governmenttroops, and recently civilianlosses have grown to astaggering 500 people a day.Even U.N. trucks carryingsupplies have been hit bythe government financedmilitias, yet these troops’hands are tied by a UNmandate that forbids militaryintervention

After hearing theuniversal promise of never

letting genocide happenever again after theholocaust, it must beagonising for people like ourrecent visitor Mr.Ehrlich, avictim of similar oppression,to witness anothergeneration fail to addressthis issue, even afterStephen Harper and GeorgeBush have both openlydeclared that Darfur isGenocide.

Six-YSix-YSix-YSix-YSix-Yearearearearear-Old Girl Kills Father For Hannah Montanna T-Old Girl Kills Father For Hannah Montanna T-Old Girl Kills Father For Hannah Montanna T-Old Girl Kills Father For Hannah Montanna T-Old Girl Kills Father For Hannah Montanna TicketsicketsicketsicketsicketsBy Echo columnistDevon Henderson

EDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALS

As all of Best’s studentsare probably aware, MuchMusichas been “banned” from the caf-eteria. As all of Best’s studentsare certainly aware, MuchMusicis still constantly on in the caf,regardless of any rules put inplace. In response to the difficul-ties encountered while trying toenforce the ban, Charles Best’sadministration plans to utilize anew tool in it’s War on Music: theCafeteria Patrol.

The Patrol, consisting offour of BC’s top rent-a-cops, willmonitor Best’s eatery around theclock, to ensure that the studentsare protected from the influenceof music videos. RobbieSpurgeon, commander of the elite

squadron, has high confidence inthe team’s arsenal: “We at theCafPat – Cafeteria Patrol for short– have all underwent full RCMPtraining, and are licensed to wieldbatons in case of riots, tasers incase of confused Polish men, andHoly Water-filled Super Soakersin case things get out of hand,but that’s merely a preventativeprecaution.”

As for the motivation be-hind the instatement of theCafPat, Best’s staff refused tocomment, but Spurgeon offeredto shed some light on the matter.“MuchMusic is a horrible televi-sion channel that brainwashesteenagers into unhealthy behav-ioural patterns. By ensuring thatTSN is playing at all times, we cantake the issue of temptation to evil

and transfer it into issues we per-ceive as more manageable.Whereas The O.C. will cause themajority of students to feel im-poverished, professional sportswill merely alienate the non-jockdemographic, farther fuellingany feelings of athletic inferior-ity, and cause tension betweenSenators fans andCanuckleheads, the result ofwhich could be violent outburststhat we are more than qualifiedto supervise.”

As a new semester begins,so does a new chapter in the his-tory of Best’s student eatery.

Although the CafPat’s for-mation comes as a surprise, eve-ryone at The Echo supportsthem wholeheartedly.

Pre-teen sensationMiley Cyrus, more commonlyknown as Hannah Montana,announced a world-wide Bestof Both Worlds tour lastOctober and since then, ticketsales have been through theroof. Many professionalscalpers have been buyingtickets at regular price and thenselling them online for upwardsof $2,000. One six year old inTexas - let’s call her Suzie - evenwrote a fake essay about herfather dying in Iraq to wintickets to the show.Unfortunately, when thecompany holding the contestlearned that the essay was alie, they took the tickets awayfrom the little angel. This is anoutrage.

Many blame the mother forher six-year old daughter’sactions. They believe that sheis an out of control pageantmom who forced the child’shand to write the essay so thatshe would be a lock to win.Well I ask, what’s wrong withthat? If junior wants to go to aconcert, it is the parent’sobligation to ensure their

offspring’s happiness. Whateverlittle Suzie wants, little Suzie shouldget; that’s parenting at its best.After all, the alternative is muchworse. Either Mom forces herdaughter to crush the competitionwith her heart-wrenching essay orMom unfairly makes her daughterwait in line with lesser-beings andthen just accept defeat on the ticketfront like everyone else.Disgusting. Honestly, that doesn’tmake sense. Suzie is far superior tothe other children, and her littlewhite lie didn’t hurt anyone.

On that note, the alleged“lie” wasn’t even that bad to beginwith. Pretending that your dad diedin Iraq is completely fair when thereare Hannah Montana tickets atstake. After all, it’s not like peopleare actually dying in Iraq and theirfamilies are suffering at home. Evenif that was true, I’m sure the familiesin question would understand whatSuzie was going through; she musthave suffered more than theywould understand.

Furthermore, where is theproof that mom made Suzie writethe essay? Everyone else shouldjust accept that Suzie is a geniusand a brilliant writer who won thehearts of the Hannah Montana’sMost Excellent and Intellectual

World Tour committee. Obviously,no one has considered thepossibility that Suzie’s momdidn’t even know that herdaughter was entering the contestbecause she was far too busyreading a very enticing Russiannovel. Just because the otherlame kindergarteners weren’tintelligent enough to think of anessay topic like Suzie’s doesn’tmean that Suzie should bepunished. After all, it’s not herfault that the other kids wroteabout how much they loveHannah Montana or what they didlast summer; they just weren’toriginal enough.

Clearly, some people justdon’t understand the affect thatthe poetic lyrics of HannahMontana have on her fans. Thetheme song to her TV show alonespeaks to the hearts of millions. Ifsomething meant that much toyou, and has had such asignificant impact on your life,would you not do what Suzie did?Don’t forget, Suzie is better andfar more deserving than the otherkids. Because really, what did theother kids do? Pay with their ownm o n e y ? !HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..ridiculous….

Armed Patrols Come to BestArmed Patrols Come to BestArmed Patrols Come to BestArmed Patrols Come to BestArmed Patrols Come to BestBy Echo columnistMatthew Newton

Page 2Monday, February 4th, 2008

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS Page 3Monday,February 4th, 2008

On the afternoon of December 21st

2007, a horde of students swarmedthe small gym for the Annual TalentShow: a two-hour medley of song,dance, gymnastics, and more per-formed bystudents andstaff.

The shows t a r t e dslowly whenS t u d e n tCouncil Presi-dent ChelseaPescitelli’sq u e s t i o n ,“Who’s ex-cited abouttoday’s Tal-ent Show?”was met withonly a smat-tering of un-enthusiasticcheers. How-ever, thecrowd soonloosened upgreeting bassplayer SteviePan withchants of“ S t e v i e !S t e v i e !Stevie!” andlater clapping along with the one-man band Luc Picard who had re-corded other musical instrumentsbefore the show so he could drumand sing. Jeff Cornwall and KalleFalkenholt drew the most laughsfrom the audience with their “dra-matic” Pokémon performance. In ad-dition, Shanelle Bellano andNastassja Dorotich sang The Christ-mas Song accompanied by Lauren

Henderson on the piano. DuncanWebster and Meg Cooney followedwith their impressive acoustic ver-sion of OutKast’s Hey Ya! MelanieLedlin, Stephanie Carrasco, andSoojee Hahn all sang outstandingsolos while bands Tetris and The

Beak Squad both provided solidmusical numbers.

Grade 10 student Ryan Greenallwas impressed with the vocal skillsdemonstrated during those perform-ances. “I expected them to be good,”he said, “but not that good.” Otheraudience members enjoyed Shan-non Ko and Allysha Lu’s dance andgymnast Andrea Priala’s routine.

The production finished with the

annual performance bythe Math Department.The act, an ensembleof teachers imitatingVan Halen and theBeastie Boys, createda massive buzz among

the bewilderedstudent body.“It scared me,”Grade 9N a t a s h aMednikova ad-mitted whilesoccer super-star, KresmirUkalovic, de-scribed thepiece as “ridicu-lous.” RadkoKundo, a Grade9 critic, specifi-cally added,“Mr. Smith re-ally needs tostop exposinghis chest.”

The showd e f i n i t e l yproved thatCharles Beststudents havetalent, but it wasfar from perfect.Several audi-ence membersleft before it was

even halfway through.The show lagged atseveral points due tomultiple troubles withthe sound system.Grade 9 JamesO’Brien probablysummed it up the best:“Some of it was good,”he said, “and some of itwas bad.”

By Echo ReporterOmar Chu

TTTTTalent Show alent Show alent Show alent Show alent Show Acts Span From the Outstanding to the Acts Span From the Outstanding to the Acts Span From the Outstanding to the Acts Span From the Outstanding to the Acts Span From the Outstanding to the AnnoyingAnnoyingAnnoyingAnnoyingAnnoying

The Best Annual Ping PongTournament kicked off January 8th

in a fierce competitive frenzy.For many veterans, it is the high-

light of their year while rookies areonly just discovering the joy of thegame.

“I joined because they gave mea sheet,” said beginner KevinBruno.

Winning the tournament, how-ever, is a demanding task that can-not be accomplished by the averageplayer. Michael Geary, a regular atOpen Gyms this year, told the Echothat the competition is a lot betterthan those he normally plays.

“There’s a lot of good players,”he said.

Two groups are divided into stu-dents with C lunch blocks and thosewith D block lunches.

After spending a record seventyyears teaching in School District 43,thirty-two of which were spent atCharles Best, Mr. Ewert has decidedto dissolveinto retire-ment. Beingthe originalinventor ofgrammar aswe know it,Ewert willprove to be ahuge loss tothe school’sEnglish de-p a r t m e n t .W i t h o u tEwert, students will have to settlefor teachers like Mr. Murray, who,when told of Ewert’s retirement,broke down into a fit of tears. Hewasn’t the only one.

“My entire teaching career, I haveaspired to be only half as good asEwert,” blubbered English teacherMr. Case. “He’s just so brilliant.”

However, Ewert would not beswayed by these pleas, and firmlystood by his choice to fade away.His plans for retirement are sure to

be enough to keep him occupied inthe absence of unmarked expositoryessays. The following is a copy ofthe “To Do” list Ewert has compiledfor his retirement:

1) Personally fill in the gapingholes of Shakespeare’s al-leged “masterpiece”Othello by rewriting theentire play.

2) Exile all grammaticallyincorrect people in theworld onto a small island bythe name of “Mauritius”.

3) Start up a “Save OurStory and Structure Text-books!” campaign.

4) Go to Disneyland.Finding a replacement for

Ewert has proved difficultfor the Charles Best administration,and it wasn’t until Ewert put in hisown suggestion that they finallyfound a suitable substitute. Afterhearing of his student’s shockinglyaccurate impersonation of him, Ewertinsisted that star pupil Jonathan Dickfills his shoes as the world’s great-est English teacher.

“He’s almost as insane as I am,”stated Ewert. “Almost.”

So goodbye Mr. Ewert, and goodluck Jonathan.

Ewert’Ewert’Ewert’Ewert’Ewert’s Retirements Retirements Retirements Retirements RetirementLeaves a Gaping HoleLeaves a Gaping HoleLeaves a Gaping HoleLeaves a Gaping HoleLeaves a Gaping HoleBy Echo ColumnistDevon Henderson

Ping Pong Rivalries IntensifyPing Pong Rivalries IntensifyPing Pong Rivalries IntensifyPing Pong Rivalries IntensifyPing Pong Rivalries Intensify

By Echo ReporterOmar Chu

The champions from each groupwill face off January 23rd.

That’s where Geary has his eyesfirmly set. “I joined to dominate,”he declared.

Unfortunately for Mike, he didnot follow through. Instead, Dylan,Manny, Adam and Esteban quali-fied for the C Block semi-final whileD Block semi-finalists includedAndy, Kresimir, Wesley and TeddCarr.

Jorgan Tennant returns the ball.

Luc Picard rocks out.

Stephanie Carrasco nails her solo.

Stevie Pan’s Bass

Mr. Smith from “Math Halen”

Shannon Ko and Allysha Lu

Jeff Cornwall and Kalle Falkenholt

Duncan Webster drums for his band Tetris.

The Beastie Boys of the Math Department.

Page 4 NewsNewsNewsNewsNews Monday, February, 4th

What’s Your New YearsResolution?

What’s Your Biggest Phobia?

Beyond the Mat - Beyond the GymnastBeyond the Mat - Beyond the GymnastBeyond the Mat - Beyond the GymnastBeyond the Mat - Beyond the GymnastBeyond the Mat - Beyond the Gymnast STUDENT PROFILE: DANNY CHAMBERS STUDENT PROFILE: DANNY CHAMBERS STUDENT PROFILE: DANNY CHAMBERS STUDENT PROFILE: DANNY CHAMBERS STUDENT PROFILE: DANNY CHAMBERS

By Echo columnistJon Ng

Most would consider gym-nastics an agility oriented activityinvolving back-flipping onto inchthin bars, contorting their bodieswhile dangling from rings, or rotat-ing 540° in a salto without losingany momentum. A known gymnastof Dr. Charles Best Secondary,Grade 12 student Danny Chambers,is not surprisingly all that and more.His work in gymnastics has landedhim not only personal, but alsostunt work for three-time AcademyAward winner Steven Spielbergamong others.

At the tender age of 8, Dannyset a goal to become a gymnast andhave fun in the process. “I saw thisperson do a back flip at acampground, and I just tried tocopy him. Eventually, I got it,” ex-plains Danny. His positive humbleattitude has enabled him to not onlyachieve his goal, but to excel in theprocess. After three years of hardwork at Surrey Gymnastics Society,Danny made the cut for Canada’s2001 National Age Group Gymnas-tics Team, a team filled with the mosttalented gymnasts under 13. “It wasfor sure a great honour to be se-lected to perform on the NationalTeam,” says Danny when describ-ing his thoughts on being part ofthe Canadian National Team. “All

my hard work training a vigoroustwenty hours a week was recog-nized.” Danny’s hard work finallypaid off in the 2007 Canada WinterGames, which took place inWhitehorse, Yukon, where he se-cured a 3rd place finish on the rings,and his BC’s boy’s gymnasticssquad placed first overall. Later thesame year, at the National Gymnas-tics Competition in Regina, Sas-katchewan, Danny placed 3rd over-all at the junior level. Danny’s

strong performance did not go un-noticed, and he was awarded theTop Male Gymnast of BC 2007 byOwen Walstrom, stuntman for “I,Robot” and “Fantastic Four”.

Anyone that knows DannyChambers is most definitely awareof his commitment to gymnastics,but few know of his life as a stuntman. “I’ve honestly never thoughtabout it. No one ever brings it up,so I don’t really think about it,” saysDanny when asked why many of

his peers do not know of his stuntwork. “The experiences were unfor-gettable. Having a car explode infront of me and flipping into eleva-tors and acting like a secret agentwas a ton of fun.” At the age of 12,Danny started getting recognitionfrom his instructors who creditedhim on his flipping acrobatics. Even-tually, they convinced Danny’s par-ents to allow him to audition for on-screen stunt work for an upcomingtelevision series—“Taken,” pro-

duced by Steven Spielberg who di-rected “Jaws,”

“E.T.” and “Saving PrivateRyan”. “In my scene, I had to fetcha soccer ball from the street, but apsychic trips me before I reach thestreet. Then as I get up, a car blowsup on the road where the ball was,”recites Danny thinking back to theset of Taken. The following year,Danny performed another explo-sion stunt for the grim reaper com-edy series “Dead Like Me” whichwas created by Bryan Fuller, thebrains behind “Heroes.” “Prettymuch what I did was me and an-other guy walk into a washroom ofa fancy restaurant with an M-80.We end up blowing up the toilet,and it was very real,” explainedDanny. “I still have a scar on myknuckle to prove it.”

Danny’s gymnastic/stuntman lifestyle went on an indefinitehiatus at the start of the 07/08 se-mester. He states that, due to pur-suing a career in stunt work andacademic focus, Danny has retiredfrom the Surrey Gymnastics Soci-ety. “Grade 12’s a big year, but alsoI think I just felt it was time to moveforward in life,” reveals Danny.When asked whether he would re-turn to gymnastics, Danny replied:“I don’t think I’ll be returning. Thattime has past, but hey, you neverknow.”

Brandon HakeRachel Cooper Jamie Evans Conrad Podgorny

Jackaline Parker and Lorelle Bremner

Marcel BurglerDillen PetelColin Cuccione

“To beat Fifa 08’ on PS3 on legendary.”

“To continue being awesome!”“To stop leaving all my homework

until the last minute”

“To lose three lbs around thethighs and tone my butt so it can lookgood in those lulu lemon pants”

“Dusters” “Spiders”“Needles”

“Getting my hand stuck in a vending machine.”

By Ted Carr

Chambers at the 2007 Canada Games in Whitehorse

Page 52007: The 2007: The 2007: The 2007: The 2007: The YYYYYear In Reviewear In Reviewear In Reviewear In Reviewear In Review

1. Crank That- Soulja BoiIf you ever want to know howto sky-rocket a song right tonumber one, do onething…make up a dance. Muchlike the Macarena and SpiceGirls’ Stop, this is one dance wewill be doing into 2008 andbeyond.

Echo’Echo’Echo’Echo’Echo’s Ts Ts Ts Ts Top 5 Songs of 2007op 5 Songs of 2007op 5 Songs of 2007op 5 Songs of 2007op 5 Songs of 20072. Before He Cheats-

Carrie Underwood She’s gorgeous, got a great

county-pop voice and is not afraidto give a cheater exactly what hedeserves. Not only did she sing a hitsong, she gave girls everywhere aplot for vengeance: “slash a hole inall four tires

3. Umbrella- RihannaPossibly the catchiest song of the

year. With easy to sing to lyrics anda hot music video, this song shot tothe top of the charts and music lov-ing hearts everywhere.Vancouverites especially liked it, asit featured our favourite accessory.

4. The Way I Are-Timberland ft Keri HilsonA personal favourite of mine, its asong famous for not needing anylyrics, the music and beat werejust that good. Short, sweet andgreat to dance to, this song putsinger Timberland on the map.

5. How to Save a Life- TheFrayMaking its début as the Grey’sAnatomy season two themesong, How to Save a Life rockedto number one everywhere. Withit’s touching, relatable lyrics, andsoulful piano, this song of theyear is impossible to not to fallin love with.

By Echo Columnist Kelsey Davis

When it comes to this year’smost embarrassing and shamefulentertainment news, only one wordis needed to sum up the entireyear…Spears. In spite of all therehab reports, DUI arrests and jailtime served by America’s most up-standing celebrities, nodrugged-up starlet hastopped the headlines morethan Britney Spears didin 2007.

Here is a look, in brief,at her most impressive ac-complishments on record.

Early 2007: In celebra-tion of her new divorce,Britney is partying andflashing her private partsaround town. Though so-ciety frowns upon thischoice of behaviour, wemust applaud her for hav-ing enough self esteem toleave the house wearingsomething so… skanky.

Feb. 18th, 2007: Britney shavesoff her platinum blond hair in retali-ation of the barber who would not doit for her. t Sweeny Todd, wouldhave been helpful right at this point.

Feb. 20th, 2007: After denying herobvious issues,Spears finallymade her way overto rehab for arecord stay of 3whole days (takethat LindsayLohan). Spearslater celebratedher accomplish-ment with a digni-fied night at theclubs.

March 20th,2007: After a sur-prising fail thefirst time around(shocker), Brit

signs on for a month at Promiserehab centre. Heads up Brit, it’s justa name, not a guarantee.

September 9th, 2007: Her cata-strophic performance at the VideoMusic Awards had the audiencebegging for her old “classics” back.Never seeing her perform againwould be far too soon.

October 18th, 2007: Britney losesvisitation rights of her two children.It took Brit a few moments to remem-ber she had children, but when shecame to, it was apparent she wasvery upset (this lasted for a whole 3days.) I don’t know what’s worse forthose children, an alcoholic, drugaddicted, bald mother or, KevinFederline.

January 3rd, 2008: Although thecourt suggested putting the chil-dren in a box and giving them to thenext person that walked by (because

Most Embarrassing Story of 2007: Britney SpearsMost Embarrassing Story of 2007: Britney SpearsMost Embarrassing Story of 2007: Britney SpearsMost Embarrassing Story of 2007: Britney SpearsMost Embarrassing Story of 2007: Britney Spears

really, wouldn’t that be better foreveryone?), they chose to denyBritney full custody of the boys.The children celebrated by burn-ing all evidence of mom…including

a misplaced school girl outfit.

So welcome 2008. Britney hasno husband, no kids, her career isdown the toilet and old habits seemto be catching up to her. The onegood news for Britney in the NewYear…her platinum hair has grownback in. Personally, I think it lookedbetter shaved.

And if all of the above is notenough Spears for you, Brit Junioris already on her way to followingin her sister’s magnificent foot-steps. Sixteen- year -old Jamie LynnSpears is pregnant and planningon keeping the child. God help thenext off-spring of the Spears girls.

A glimmer of hope shines in thedistance for the new little treasurehowever…his or her father is not“K Fed.”

Icing on the cake…Mamma/Grandmamma Spears is writing abook on parenting.

By Echo Columnist Kelsey Davis

1. SuperbadAn absolutely brilliant take on

the lives of two senior geeks, want-ing to make a big impression ashigh school winds down. Thismovie showed exactly what guysthink about and did it with flawlesshumour and comedic timing. Thiswas the movie teen guys and girlseverywhere fell in love with.

2. Transformers:Based on the popular robotic

toys, Transformers made the topof every top 5 movie list in NorthAmerica. With its classic cars, bothold and new, hot young stars, fastpaced plot and non-stop actionsequences, this movie defiantlylived up to its huge 2007 hype.This is one action movie not justmeant for guys!

3. Harry Potter and theOrder of the Phoenix

Despite 870 pages of text, thefifth movie was the shortest, butbest on record. With the anticipa-tion of Harry’s first “love” scene,this film sky-rocketed to the top ofthe box-office as Harry fans cametogether for a movie packed full oflove, action and triumph and awhole lot of Potter!

4. Pirates of the Carib-bean: At World’s End

The most anticipated new re-lease of 2007, “Pirates” lived to upits hype as fans finally discoveredthe fate of Jack, Will and Elizabeth.With everything from a ship full ofJacks, to a marriage proposal, thismovie gave fans everything theywanted and a little bit more…thepossibility of a fourth film.

5. Knocked UpThough not Oscar worthy, this

was the funniest movie of the year,with the story of a one night standgone terribly wrong. Audience’severywhere didn’t have a chanceto catch their breath, as the laughsnever stopped coming. Heart-warming and hilarious, this moviesimply couldn’t be left out of the2007 top 5 list.

Fashion Predictions and TFashion Predictions and TFashion Predictions and TFashion Predictions and TFashion Predictions and Trends for 2008rends for 2008rends for 2008rends for 2008rends for 20081.) Black and Blue arethis season’s colors!Anything from royalblue dresses to jacketsand blouses.

2.) Quarter sleeves areback! Match any bangle

bracelet to a three-quartersleeve shirt or jacket toattrack eyes!

3.) Leather is said to bethe new bling. Shoes,belts, boots, totes andeven trench coats.

4.) The 50’s are back, high-waisted jeans make acomeback.

5.) Long coats, sweaters,shirts, anything long.

6.) Blazers are back!

7.) Corset Belts, any longshirt with a fitting beltacross your waist.

8.) Oversized bags are out.For 2008, oversizedhandheld clutches will bethe new oversized bag.

9.) Bangs are huge rightnow! Thinking aboutmaking some changes?Make a hairappointment.

10.) Bright red lips.They’ll never get old.

By Echo Columnist Lorena Russo

Monday , February 4th, 2008

Echo’Echo’Echo’Echo’Echo’s Ts Ts Ts Ts Top 5 Movies of 2007op 5 Movies of 2007op 5 Movies of 2007op 5 Movies of 2007op 5 Movies of 2007By Echo Columnist Kelsey Davis

Monday, February 4th, 2007Page 6

Juno: Juno: Juno: Juno: Juno: AAAAA Canadian Gem Canadian Gem Canadian Gem Canadian Gem Canadian GemBy Echo Columnist Ted Carr

Restricted by a meagre 2.5million dollar budget, “Juno”turned out to be a lot better than Ianticipated. Expecting to see amovie about the hardships and thestruggles that a pregnant teenagerfaces, I was thrilled upon realizing“Juno” is a comedy, a flawlessscreenplay, jam-packed with hilari-ous one-liners.Ellen Page playsJuno, a cute high school studentwho indulges in unprotected sexwith her best friend PaulB l e e k e r( M i c h a e lCera), only tofind herselfdrinking a 2Ljug of sunnydelight twomonths laterto build upenough urinefor a thirdp r e g n a n c ytest so shecan confirmthat she is in-deed, preg-nant. Surpris-ingly uncon-cerned aboutthe whole or-deal, Junosimply de-cides she’ll give up her baby foradoption rather than abort it. Afterspotting a couple’s ad in the PennySaver section of the paper, Junocontacts Vanessa (Jennifer Garner)and Mark Loring (Jason Bateman)to become the selected future par-ents for the newborn.

A crush seems to developbetween Mark and Juno, but all af-fection is lost when Mark admitsthat he has intentions of divorcinghis wife. Now wondering aboutwhether or not two people can stayhappy together forever, Juno turnsto her Dad (J.K. Simmons) for guid-ance. After a quick “father daugh-ter talk,” Juno realizes that she hasalready found the love of her life,and although the relationship be-tween Bleeker and Juno does not

evolve mucht h r o u g h o u tthe movie, thetime spent to-gether onscreen is tim-idly passion-ate. Ellen Pageand MichaelCera look somuch like a realcouple onscreen that Iwouldn’t besurprised ifthe twotwenty yearolds starteddating in reallife!

“ Juno”is definitely amovie to see

with the whole family but don’t for-get a box of Kleenex for your mom!With characters that are so true tolife and a story line that’s both wittyand sincere, “Juno” is a masterpiecein the eyes of just about everyonewho’s seen it.

5/5

“In Rainbows” byRadioheadBy Echo Columnist Ted Carr

In comparison to the band’sprevious albums, “The Con” intro-duces indie/alternative’s local Van-couver/Montreal duo, Tegan andSara on a more personal level. Al-though their overall style of har-monic tones and repetitious noteformations remain the same, “TheCon” delivers a more mature, inti-mate side of the band, pushingthem away from any sort of restric-tive label. With memorable songssuch as “Back in Your Head” theirmost recent album consists ofcatchy, foot-tapping tunes en-twined with lyrics so honest andclever, anyone can relate to and

“The Con” byTegan and SaraBy Echo ColumnistTara Staples

To fully appreciate thesoundtrack, one must first see themovie “Juno” and I would know.Before seeing the movie, I thoughtthis album a disappointment, de-spite all the hype over the film.However, after watching the movie,I came to appreciate and under-stand why the songs had beenchosen: They fit beautifully withthe movies images. As “Juno” is

“Juno” SountrackBy Echo Columnist Ted Carr

an indie film, it comes to no sur-prise that the songs are both origi-nal and obscure. Kimya Dawsonmakes her presence felt on thisalbum with four bizarre songsabout everything from deliveringpaintings in her song “TireSwing” to the smell of her ownpoop in “Loose Lips.” Kimya’sband Antsy Pants is also featuredon the album, however, theysound like an elementary schoolband with Kimya on lead vocals.The soundtrack also containssome classic/cover songs too, in-cluding “Superstar” (made fa-mous by The Carpenters, coveredby Sonic Youth), “I’m StickingWith You” by The Velvet Under-ground, “A Well Respected Man”by The Kinks, “All The YoungDudes” by Mott the Hoople, andBuddy Holly’s “Dearest.” CatPower did a beautiful cover ofJohn Baptiste’s “Sea of Love”which complimented the moviesromantic moments. The two maincharacters, Michael Cera andEllen Page, share a duet called“Anyone Else But You,” a strangelove song originally sung byMoldy Peaches which was usedas the final song in the movie butis not the album. All in all, “Juno”is a great soundtrack, but as analbum alone, it’s nothing morethan a collection of indie coversongs and a few old time classics.

3/5

enjoy. Tracks on the album includeguest performances by artists MattSharp of The Rentals, HunterBurgan of AFI, and Jason McGerrof Death Cab for Cutie, creating arare collection of insightful collabo-rations about love, loss and theneed for closure. This fifteen trackLP also includes an additional videodocumentary for each song, reveal-ing the band’s dedicated, innova-tive process throughout the album.“The Con” is an overall gem thatbegs to be included in any musicfan’s collection.

4.5/5

When it comes to project-ing a handful of talent on a com-pact disc in this desperate-for-good-music day-and-age,Radiohead comes through and re-leased one of the best albums of2007.

“In Rainbows” is a collec-tion of soulful melodies and poign-ant lyrics strung together withYorke’s gentle voice. Not only wasthe release of the album a historicevent in the music industry, withone of the top bands in the worldreleasing their seventh albumwithout a record label or a setprice, but it has also been coinedthe best album of 2007 by morethan a dozen well known publica-tions. Released over the Internet,“In Rainbows” was available fordownload on their website with a“pay what you want” attitude to-wards the price, and their successas a band immediately becameobvious. People were willingly

donating an average of $10.00,when they could have paid a cent!

There is not a song on thisalbum that lost my attention orfailed to catch it. The creativity inthe vocalizing and backgroundmusic effects were enough to makeme want to listen to this album twicein a row. In a recent interview withNME, Yorke said “It’s about thatanonymous fear thing, sitting intraffic, thinking, ‘I’m sure I’m sup-posed to be doing somethingelse’...”

Much of the album featuresthought provoking lyrics on eclec-tic themes.For instance, the lyricsof the song “House of Cards” isabout two cheating spouses. Thesong “Videotape,” however, has asad and lonely melody with lyricsbased on arriving at the “pearlygates” and having it all onvideotape. It begins with a. Yorkesings, “This is one for the gooddays…and I have it all here…” earlyon in the song and slowly wraps itup with lyrics that symbolize a finalfarewell. Radiohead has provedthat they can write insightful lyricson divergent themes.

The reflective mood set bythis album and its lyrics might justbe enough to change yours.Though many of the songs havebeen performed live throughout theyears, all have been modified to per-fection on this CD. You can nolonger download the album from

their website, but you and I bothknow it’s still possible to buy itonline from a variety of websites orin stores.

And although the album wasonce free for download onRadioheads website, In Rainbowsis undeniably worth purchasing.

5/5

Reviewing of the CD’Reviewing of the CD’Reviewing of the CD’Reviewing of the CD’Reviewing of the CD’sssssEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainment

SportsSportsSportsSportsSportsMonday,February 4, 2008 Page 7

Half way through a horrendousseason, the Junior Boy’s Basket-ball team is looking to turn a seasonof misfortune around. CoachKenny Jamison, who takes valu-able time out of his Simon FraserUniversity Schedule to coach theteam, says the team “Still has thepotential, and will turn it around forthe second half of the season.”Through the first twelve games,the team, consisting of mostlygrade ten’s, quite frankly doesn’tlook strong enough to change theirfate. Basically, it would not be wiseto hold your breath. However, thisis definitely not the mindset theteam has. “My expectation fromthe start of the season was to makethe playoffs, and that has notchanged,” Coach Jamison ex-plained before a recent team prac-tice.

Omar Chu, one of the most con-

The Best wrestling team keepson getting better and better. Fol-lowing a strong performance at theSFU War on the Floor Tourna-ment, the wrestlers took their gameto Kamloops to compete in the BCAge Class Tournament. Six Beststudents finished in the top six intheir weight class in Kamloops, atournament that featured teamsfrom across Western Canada. CamWhittemore and Amanda Hooperfinished the highest with silvermedals while Josh Cullen wasn’tfar behind with a Bronze. After notplacing at War on the Floor, AngeloManousiadis “practiced harder”and finished with a well-earned 5th

Place. Stephanie Glover and HannaSeekarow rounded out the top six

sistent players thus far, agreeswith the coach, saying, “We havea talented team, but we have notreached our potential yet. I thinkwe still have time to turn aroundand win some games.” ClaytonWalters, listed as one of the“standout” players by the coach,agreed with this statement, add-ing, “Our team could start winninggames if we stay disciplined andstart playing with more intensity.”Although it will take more than afew more wins to get back into theplayoff race, the goal is still withinreach. “If we play very hard andcome in with confidence, yes wecan still make the playoffs,”Walters added. “Our strength isthree point shooting, so we needto use that to our advantage.”Practicing a few times a week, thejunior team is working hard to-wards their goal, and promises notto disappoint. There is light at theend of the tunnel, let’s hope it’snot a train.

with their six place finishes.Whitmore felt “pretty good”

about his performance, but is deter-mined to “beat that guy before theend of the season.” Representingthe other side of the spectrum, rookieJoey Uzelac, said the trip was “amaz-ing” despite winning only one of hismatches. When asked why, he said,“Well, first of all it’s a whole lotbetter than being at school.”

Top Five War on the Floorfinishers included LauraMacmillan, who took the team’sonly Gold Medal and silver medalistsCameron Whittemore, HannaSookarow, Stephanie Glover andAmanda Hooper. Josh Cullen,Skylar Santimeau, Lauren Ang, andKristen Chong came fourth in theirweight class while Nick Hayes-Watts pulled himself into fifth place.

Ryan Budd 510Mr.Napoletano 499Shayne Lachlan 498Cody Johnson 498Samantha Hof 495Arthur Crossman 482Manny Haider 481Katelyn Hicks 477Aiden Seeley 475Alicia Lynn 473Brendan Batchelor 472Matthew Kirk 471

Mr. Murray 470Mike Noble 468Mike Child 466Mr. House 464Mr. Wiebe 462Tommy Kirkley 451Sanjay Gupta 450Mersad Youssefi 449Colid Schmidt 448Josh Seddon 445Omar Chu 430Tatiana Lascano 429

Echo Hockey Pool StandingsEcho Hockey Pool StandingsEcho Hockey Pool StandingsEcho Hockey Pool StandingsEcho Hockey Pool Standings

Halfway through the season theVancouver Canucks appear to be acontender for Lord Stanley’s cup.The team has played surprisinglywell despite crucial injuries to keyplayers Kevin Bieska, BrendanMorrison, and Sami Salo. WithTaylor Pyatt and Alex Edler step-ping up their game, the injurieshaven’t proved to be a big setbackfor the Canucks. With the twins onfire and all star goalie Luongo, theCanucks have been overwhelmingopponents often taking the full twopoints. Both Henrik Sedin andLuongo are to represent the Van-couver Canucks at the upcoming

all-star game. With some goodcoaching decisions and line adjust-ments, it would be unfair to criticizethe Canucks; after all, they have thewins and points to overcome theirperceived soft play and averageshots per game.

However, despite their currentposition in the standings theCanucks will be unlikely to defeatteams like Anaheim and Calgary inthe post season.

There is no doubt that while agreat goalie is a requirement for ateam to do well in the playoffs,Luongo alone cannot advance theCanucks far into the playoffs. Theteam should learn from their mis-takes and realize having the 6th worst

By Echo Reporter:Omar Chu

Looking to ReboundLooking to ReboundLooking to ReboundLooking to ReboundLooking to ReboundBy Echo Hall ofFamer Zane Jiwa

By Echo Reporter:Mersad Youssefi

Injuries No Barrier for the CanucksInjuries No Barrier for the CanucksInjuries No Barrier for the CanucksInjuries No Barrier for the CanucksInjuries No Barrier for the Canucks

Best WBest WBest WBest WBest Wrestling Trestling Trestling Trestling Trestling Team Fights Their Weam Fights Their Weam Fights Their Weam Fights Their Weam Fights Their Way Through Kamloopsay Through Kamloopsay Through Kamloopsay Through Kamloopsay Through Kamloops

Photo B

y Cam

Whittem

ore

offense in theleague isn’t go-ing to cut it. Asgreat as theSedins havebeen, they willnever be able toprovide all of theoffense for theCanucks.

If the Canuckswant to get pastthe secondround in theplayoffs, theywill need to be-come much moredangerous of-fensively.

The Canucksneed to get a

sniper who can find the net andscore the much needed goal at theright time.

Possibly, a player who can re-place Markus Naslund as the teamsniper. Maybe a player like MarianHossa or Ilya Kovalchuk would bea great contributor to offense. Hossais a long shot to hit the trade marketwith rumours of a contract exten-sion with the Thrashers. However,the Canucks General Managershould try everything in his powerto bring Hossa to Van City.

Nevertheless, the VancouverCanucks will definitely not be strid-ing for anything less than theStanley Cup this campaign.

To be a good team in anysport at any level, you need to beable to battle through adversity.The way teams handle themselveswhen everything isn’t picture per-fect really determines what typeof character lies inside the dress-ing room. In the recent Pitt Mead-ows Air Show 2008 tournament,the Charles Best Senior BoysBasketball team may not haveplaced as high as they would haveliked; however, they did make sev-eral positive strides and continueto battle through the misfortunethey have seen early in the sea-son.

After losing to rival Herit-age Woods in their seasonopener, and putting forth a embar-rassing performance in the STMChancellor Tournament, it ap-peared as though the 2007/2008Charles Best Senior Boys basket-ball team wasn’t what is washyped up to be. At the time, here’swhat Coach J.J. Hyde and someof the players had to say:

“We were brutal,” saidCoach J.J. Hyde. “I’m not happyat all with the way we’re playingright now; we need to work ondefensive intensity and execu-tion.”

“We need to play betterdefense,” said senior guard anddefensive specialist JordanNijjer.

“We need to play up to ourpotential for the whole 40 minutes,minimize our turnovers and con-sistently crash the offensive anddefensive boards,” agreed start-ing point guard Stephan Saad,who played more than 110 con-secutive minutes at one point thisseason.

With key injuries to star sen-ior sensation Sam Freeman - whorecently committed to join the Uni-versity College of the Fraser Val-ley Cascades in the fall - andManny Haider early in the season,the Blue Devils lost several gamesto inferior opponents and rapidlyfound themselves absent from theBC Provincial AAA Rankings. Thegeneral consensus within the

group was that the team neededto tighten up defensively if theywanted to turn things around andin the Jan 17-19 Pitt Meadowstournament, that’s what they did.

In their opening game of thetournament against 14th rankedSeaquam, the Blue Devils over-came a 17 point deficit at the halfto defeat the Seahawks 81-76 in adouble overtime thriller. After be-ing completely dominated in thefirst half, the Blue Devils came outin the second with a new foundlevel of intensity on the defensiveend which caused several turno-vers and seemed to spark their of-fensive game.

Manny Haider hit threeclutch three-pointers in the 3rdquarter before he fouled-out,which facilitated Best’s lastminute comeback and Sam Free-man was his usual self, dropping28 points with ease. Otherstandouts were Jordan Nijjer whoquietly scored 15 points and DavidJoyce, who was a beast on theboards and was consequentlynamed the player of the game. It’s

safe to say that Joyce shared thesentiments as everyone involvedwith the team when he said: “Thiswas the best we’ve ever playedas a team,” only minutes after thegame.

Fresh off their exhilaratingdouble overtime victory, the BlueDevils squared up against theMaple Ridge Ramblers in thequarter-final match-up. Goinginto the half with a comfortablelead, it seemed as though Bestwas destined for a semi-finalmatch-up against the hometownPitt Meadows Marauders. How-ever in the second half, compla-cency kicked in as the Blue Dev-ils took their foot off the accelera-tor. As a result, Maple Ridge“pulled a Best” as they put to-gether a late comeback en routeto their 71-61 victory. With hisgroin not even 100% healed, SamFreeman suffered a hyper ex-tended elbow late in the fourthquarter which perhaps sealed thedeal for Maple Ridge.

Bruised and battered, SamFreeman still led the Charles Best

squad in their final game of thetournament by hitting seven three-pointers in the second half as theyovercame another hefty deficit todefeat the Claremont Spartans andclinch 5th place out of 12 teams.Along with his two player of thegame awards, David Joyce wasrecognized as a tournament all-star.

Three-point specialistManny Haider sheds some lighton what we should expect fromhere on out.

“Despite our injuries, theguys stepped up and made thegames close. We have not yetshown what our team can do aswe have only played one leaguegame with all of our starters. Ex-pect the best to come.”

It seems as though Best’sdefensive issues are now allsorted out, but if they want a le-gitimate shot to make theProvincials this season, onething’s for certain, they’re goingto need to learn how to play a com-plete 40 minute game.

Bruised Blue Devils Battle Through Rough StartBruised Blue Devils Battle Through Rough StartBruised Blue Devils Battle Through Rough StartBruised Blue Devils Battle Through Rough StartBruised Blue Devils Battle Through Rough StartBy: Senior Boys BasketballReporter Farhan Devji

Sam Freeman posterizes a Heritage Woods defender in Best’s season opener.

Jordan Nijer takes it to the rim.

Manny Haider throws up a trey.

Photos by Farhan Devji