Title: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Studio: Nintendo

Release Date: March 20, 2020

Available: Cartridge, online download

When Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out for the Switch on March 20, 2020 the public was raving about the graphics and gameplay. Personally, I was excited for it, but I could not play it at the time. Once I did get the game, everything was up to snuff and more. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, like other Animal Crossing games, is a, mostly, freeform experience. You can walk around your community, fish, catch bugs, collect seashells, dig for fossils, and interact with your neighbors. As you do this, you accumulate money (otherwise known as ‘bells’), which lets you get a bigger house and fill it with decorations. You can also customize the island with tools and objects. 

Instead of moving to a new town, Animal Crossing: New Horizons puts you on a “deserted” island. You’re a customer of Nook Inc.’s Deserted Island Getaway Package, where you and two random animal friends settle on an uninhabited island. This means you start with tents instead of houses, and you can craft items instead of simply buying them. 

Everything takes place in real time. When you play during the day, it’ll be daytime in the game. When you play at night, it’ll be nighttime. The seasons also change with the year, though you can choose to live on an island in the southern hemisphere for reversed seasons. There is a common misconception that changing the time on your switch console to time travel in Animal Crossing is considered cheating, but it is simply up to the player whether or not they want to take advantage of this feature.

The controls are quite different from anything else I’ve played, but this was also my first game on the Nintendo Switch Console, so that definitely is to blame for that. The graphics are something to show-off as well. Every individual leaf on the trees shutter in the wind, the shadows are accurate to the lighting, the creatures have incredible detail, compared to past games, and 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is fun, relaxing, and simply very chill. You won’t feel pressure while playing, and you probably won’t get much of a sense of competition. If you’re looking for structured goals and a distinct progression towards a specific end, you won’t find it in this game. What you will find is a big island you can customize and develop and trim to your heart’s content, with plenty of things to build, buy, and place wherever you’d like. 

Of course, Tom Nook and his nephews, Timmy and Tommy, are still there to help you get used to your new island lifestyle, so you can sell fish, bugs, and seashells, and buy tools from them, in addition to building your own tools. In fact, after a few days on your deserted island, the tents are replaced with houses, the Resident Services tent is joined by the classic Nook’s Cranny shop that is run by Nook’s nephews, and you’ll have a full-fledged museum where you can donate fossils, creatures, and art. The player is able to turn the deserted island into their very own Animal Crossing town.   

Therefore, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a well thought out, endearing, and possibly the best game from the Animal Crossing series. The details are immaculate and the characters are vivid. Perfecto.

Title: Ocean Eyes

Creator: Adam Young (Owl City)

Published By: Public Universal Records

Release Date: July 28, 2009

Available: Spotify, iTtunes, Amazon, Target

Owl City’s electronic music album titled Ocean Eyes is a truly wondrous and beautiful collection of songs. The album is filled with emotion as Adam Young, the man behind the music, sings about the different ups and downs he’s experienced during his lifetime. The complex, synthesized music sets the mood while Adam’s clean vocals overlay it with a light tone. The album sounds overall poetic but strange and dream-like with the electronic synthesizers. It is truly one of the best electronic pop albums I have ever listened to.

Ocean Eyes was originally released in 2009 by Public Universal Records, with the vinyl version released the same year and the deluxe version in 2010. The music in this album is very poetic and emotional, as many of the songs are about love, heartbreak, loss, and thoughts. This piece of art is not plain at all with its alien-like sound mixed in with its interesting themes. Some other electronic music artists that I’ve heard don’t seem to be nearly as interesting as this specific album. It all sounds the same, repeating the same things over and over again. However, Adam conveys these themes (along with other ones) in such an abstract way that at one point Ocean Eyes was the second most bought album in America. The songs are also relatable, as Adam sings about common things that many people can connect with such as fear, anxiety, wonder, love, etc. For example, the track “The Saltwater Room” is about whether or not he and a girl are actually in love. It is a little more complex than just a typical “I love you” type of song.
Ocean Eyes is a really nice change in what I am used to hearing. Even though this specific collection of songs is outstanding in many ways, though, it does have its downsides. It can be pretty repetitive musically and fast-paced, which is not something that people usually like in a music album. Most of the tracks are not very long, making the album seem shorter, as there are only fourteen songs on it in total. The synthesized rhythms on many of the songs seem overused, too, with many of them sounding somewhat similar. Otherwise, Ocean Eyes is actually pretty entertaining, with very few flaws. It is definitely worth your time in listening to it.

Title: BioShock

Studio: Irrational Games(formerly known as 2k Studios)

Release Date: August 21, 2007

Available: PS3, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One

A gruesome, bloody, violence-filled first-person shooter game, BioShock is an action-packed adventure. A horror based game, BioShock is lots of gory fun. With easy-to-use controls and a unique plot, the game allows a full immersion for the player. BioShock is the horror-shooter game that sets the standard for all other first person horror shooter games, refusing to hold back on the gore and violence. The first of the BioShock trilogy, BioShock came out in 2007, produced by Irrational Games, known as 2K Studios from 2006 to 2007. Irrational Games have released many horror and shooter games, becoming very good at developing these games. However, BioShock is unique. The game starts with a plane crash, the reason unknown. Jack, the main character, is the only survivor and the player, as Jack, swims to a lighthouse, filled with a memorial to a city called Rapture. Jack goes down and enters a type of pod, travelling down to the underwater city of Rapture. The beautiful city is falling apart, destruction seen everywhere. When the pod docks, Jack watches as some woman murders another man. After the murder, a man named Atlas speaks through the radio and explains what is happening, calling the woman a “splicer” and explaining what happened. He then begs Jack to help him save his family from a man named Andrew Ryan. And then the player is off, fighting splicers, big daddies, and other villains to save Atlas’s family.There are three different endings to the game, depending on choices the player makes in the game, so it allows for very enjoyable game-play.  The mechanics are extremely simple and easy to use, letting any gamer who can handle the violence and horror and gore to be able to play. The player uses weapons such as a wrench or a shotgun and plasmids, powers fueled by Eves, to fight and kill splicers, Big Daddies, and other evils. In addition, the player can toss bodies with the telekinesis plasmid, damaging the environment, and loot bodies or the environment, making the game more realistic and intriguing to play. The plot can be as complex or simple as the player makes it, build as the player finds audible devices throughout the game. This keeps the plot in the background, making the game much easier to understand. However, while the game is amazing, there are a few complaints. The game is very quick to get through, making the experience kind of short. You can easily finish it in a few days, and it becomes a hassle to always switch back and forth between weapons and plasmids-a power made from Atom in the game. The movement of the main character is slightly choppy but overall the game is amazing and fun. While the game does have some downsides, BioShock is an action packed adventure, full of violence and fun for teenagers and up.

Title: Grey’s Anatomy

Main actors: Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers, and Chandra Wilson.

Network (streaming site): Netflix, and originally ABC.

Where the show originally aired: the television network, ABC

Most recent episode date: November 12, 2020

Tv show review: Grey’s Anatomy is an entertaining medical show, with a few inaccurate counterparts.

Grey’s Anatomy, a very popular show among medical fanatics, and stay at home parents alike. The show is narrated by and portrays the life of protagonist Meredith Grey, for which the show is, most likely, named. The show was created by the American television producer, screenwriter, and author Shonda Rhimes, who is also responsible for a tv show called “Scandal”, which tells the story of Olivia Pope, a lawyer in Washington DC, who also advises the president, and over time develops a very close relationship with said president. In addition to “Scandal”, Rhimes has also created the spin off to “Grey’s Anatomy”, which is known as “Private Practice”.

Season One showcases the many mistakes that a new doctor might make when starting at a hospital, despite this Grey’s Anatomy has also been labeled incredibly medically inaccurate, this is because of the insane amount of exaggeration that takes place surrounding each medical case that is seen in the entire seventeen season (currently) series. Inaccuracies aside, this show is still successful in showing that each doctor has a certain problem or problems, and that even the most skilled surgeons can make mistakes sometimes, even if in real life they would face serious consequences for some of the “mistakes” that are made on the show; like making a mistake that ultimately cost a patient their life (season 6, episode 6), this probably does happen, but it is extremely rare and is most certainly not handled lightly.

One of the biggest inaccuracies that is apparent in Grey’s Anatomy is that the interns don’t face consequences for all of the shenanigans that they get into on a daily basis, like cutting a wire that is attached to a heart pump that is vital for keeping a patient alive (season 2, episode 27). this most certainly would not happen, and even on the rare occasion that it did happen in real life, the doctor who was responsible would probably be fired and stripped of their medical license as well as any other credentials that make them a doctor, not to mention anyone else who was involved would face serious repercussions for their assistance of such an unspeakable act. While there are several things about medicine that the show gets right, like the look of the organs inside of a patient’s body, there are a few things that are not right in the slightest, and there are some ways that the show breaks the Hippocratic oath entirely. However, this is not meant to be accurate, and it is not the end of the world if Shonda Rhimes gets a few things wrong, because this is a work of fiction that is only supposed to be entertaining.

I honestly went into writing this thinking that I had a positive mindset regarding this show, but in reality I actually have mixed feelings regarding the show. from an entertainment standpoint I would say it is a brilliantly created show and very entertaining, but from a medical standpoint everything seems to be greatly exaggerated, and far from perfect. My final verdict is this; the show is successful in all that it set out to do. Obviously it is not a medical documentary, but that is not what it was originally supposed to be. It set out to entertain its audience, and to act on a feeling of nostalgia from the showrunners perspective, and in my opinion that is exactly what this show did.

Title: Blonde

Artist: Frank Ocean 

Label: BOYS DON’T CRY

Release Date: August 20, 2016

Genre: contemporary r&b, psychedelic pop 

Available: Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, iHeartRadio,Deezer

Blonde is one of the most significant albums of the decade and something everyone needs to give a listen to in their lives. After the release of his first studio album, Channel Orange,in 2012, Frank Ocean seemingly went off the map for four years. Being overlooked and stuck in his contract with the record company Def Jam, Frank made the visual Album Endless,which was really just a live stream of Frank building a staircase, with music playing in the background, so technically he released an album, thus ending his contract with the company. This is where Frank basically uses that decoy to showcase and release his new album, Blonde,independently on August 20, 2016. Doing this, Frank finesses his now former record label Def Jam for twenty million dollars.

Blonde is a contemporary r&b album that tackles themes such as love, drugs, depression, and heartbreak. The album kicks off with the opening track ¨Nikes.¨ In ¨Nikes,¨ Frank talks about the feeling of being used for his money in relationships. Frank reveals his feelings of past relationships with the song ¨Ivy,¨ where he talks about the feeling of a failed relationship and the heartbreak that follows. With each song and the more you listen to it, it is very clear how much emotion is put into the album. The production and just theme of the entire album is so grand and perfect at the same time. In songs such as ¨Nights,¨ Frank is somehow able to use a beat switch to mark the exact midpoint of the album, switching it to an even more emotional and tear shedding album that will send goosebumps throughout your body that will leave you wondering where Frank Ocean has been all your life. 

The more you actually listen to Blonde the more you can just feel everything in it. With the instrumentals in each song and Franks pouring his heart out in songs like ¨Godspeed,¨ where he talks about always loving someone no matter what, but you are also letting them go from your life. It was no wonder it had three different nominations of the year. Blonde is definitely an album people have to listen to and is something I have always enjoyed. The only problem that would be in the album is that the album isn’t exactly just something you can listen to in the background. You kind of have to sit down and take time to listen to it to enjoy it, but even then it is something that is gonna be appreciated and praised for generations.

Above: Alternate album cover for Blonde

Carter High School’s Girls Volleyball team recently won the title of District Champions at the end of their season. According to the Coach, Mrs. Rachel Myers, the volleyball team was highly committed to being successful this year, and even upped the intensity of their practices and training. She stated, “I am ecstatic that the Carter Lady Hornets are District Champions. This has been a long time coming and finally fell the right way for us. We have been working hard for four years to achieve this goal.” The Lady Hornets advanced to the Regional Match where they were named Regional Runner-Ups. The team is “still on cloud nine about it,” says senior Kallie Powell. Powell claimed that they practiced very hard this summer. They had practice everyday, even on weekends, and added several new drills that helped them work on fundamentals. She exclaimed, “it is something I will remember forever.” Myers and Powell, along with the rest of the team reflect on the great times they had this season. Myers claimed that, “Just being able to be a part of these girls and their losses and victories for the last four years is a highlight of my life. Being able to watch these players come in as freshmen and grow into the beautiful young ladies that they are is the best experience.” Powell explained that one of her favorite memories from this season was senior night, “It truly made me realize how much I loved playing at Carter with all my friends. We beat our number one rivalry and had a huge crowd which made us all feel so loved.” The Lady Hornets were victorious this year and they hope to be for many more years. This was the first time the Carter High School Volleyball team won districts and played in the regional championship game. The Carter Hornets are officially making history and breaking records.

Title: Out of Body

Artist: NEEDTOBREATHE

Label: New Elektra

Release Date: August 28, 2020

Available: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, CD, Vinyl

NEEDTOBREATHE, an American Christian rock band just this year came out with a brand new album, Out of Body. Their folksy, backwoods sounding songs are perfect for sitting around the fire or driving through the mountains. The album consists of twelve songs and can be streamed through all streaming networks. NEEDTOBREATHE created this latest album without one of their main band members, Bo Rinehart, brother of lead singer Bear Rinehart.

 NEEDTOBREATHE has released many other albums and have been together for 22 years. However, with the absence of band member Bo Rinehart, NEEDTOBREATHE presents a new era and new sound without him. NEEDTOBREATHE was originated in South Carolina, but features band member Josh Lovelace, a Knoxville native. NEEDTOBREATHE has been very popular among churches and teens since the release of their album, The Heat, in 2007. Since then, they have been highly successful in the realm of folk, country, gospel, and rock music.

Out of Body features twelve amazingly written songs, however a few stand out more than others. “Out of Body,” a song on the album, is a personal favorite and feels reminiscent of their previous albums. Their rock sound is very prevalent in this song and is different from the very slow and soft songs on the rest of the album. Another favorite of mine is “Seasons.” This song is beautifully written, and honestly just makes you want to cry. Although this could be a tear-jerker, it is definitely worth a listen.

Although some may enjoy listening to slow, Christian music, it is not my favorite. NEEDTOBREATHE’s “Mercy’s Shore” is a beautiful song, but if you prefer upbeat, happy music, this may not be your cup of tea. The song portrays a wonderful message of never being alone and always having a higher power on your side, however it sounds more like a lullaby then something you want to dance to. It is necessary to have slow songs on a Christian album, but this is the song I would skip, only because it’s not my favorite style of music.

Overall, NEEDTOBREATHE did an amazing job at capturing several emotions within one album. They created a variety of songs so that there is one for everybody’s taste in music. If you love listening to folksy Christian music, this album is absolutely perfect. It’s beautifully written and amazingly performed.

Mrs. Gilbert is a science teacher at Carter High School. Over the years, she has learned many teaching styles and how to help her students the best way possible. The classes she teaches are: Honors Biology 1, Honors Biology 2, and Virtual Biology. She had this to say about virtual class: “It is extra work on a teacher because you have to record and be sure you get everything online for your students.” She also said it’s different for the students because some of them are tech savvy and can submit their assignments easily, however others may struggle on getting things turned in to their teacher. Mrs. Gilbert doesn’t worry about having to quarantine or school ending early because she’ll figure it out with the experience she has with teaching. She thinks that they will allow the teachers to keep teaching instead of cutting off school like they did last year. She said her personal teaching style changes depending on the feedback that the students give her on the presentation and what they struggle with understanding. If it is not a complete change then she will just “attack” it differently to help the students figure it out. She will go back and change things if needed to benefit her future students. Layla Smith, a sophomore at Carter High School, had many good things to say about Mrs. Gilbert. Layla is one of Mrs. Gilbert’s students. Layla said that Mrs. Gilbert’s teaching style makes it easier for her to learn because she is more involved. She said, “If you’re struggling or when she’s teaching something she makes sure that you understand it before she moves on.” She said she likes that there is always something to do in her class. Things like that will help the people that are hands on learners. Her class is structured very well, is beneficial, and built for success.

Paying $1.75 for water is ridiculous. All bottled drinks in the Carter High vending machines have gone up 50 cents. When the Carter store’s(right across from the vending machines)prices are at reasonable prices($1 for a yoohoo), there is no reason to raise only the drink prices for the vending machines. Last year at Carter High School, the drink prices were already $1.25(which is ridiculous enough), but raising them 50 cents is just insane. Just because there’s a water fountain doesn’t mean it’s as good as the vending machines; the water isn’t even cold. The Carter store doesn’t even open until lunch; the vending machines are definitely taking advantage of the students! In my opinion, Carter High School should try and get these prices changed.

Imagine what the world would be like with no snacks, chaos would ensue! It’s a great thing we do have snacks and we won’t run out for a really long time. We have our very own snack store right here in Carter High School, it’s called the Carter Corner. This store sells delicious snacks such as chips, candy, and so much more. The Carter Corner is run by Mrs. Wilson, a business education teacher, with the help of a couple of her students. Many students and even teachers love the Carter Corner. One student, John Shippers, stated “The Carter Corner is a solid place to stop off and grab a snack or something for lunch.” Although many students like the Carter Corner students are also sometimes understandably displeased with it. “It’s sometimes a little frustrating though, with some disinterested people working in there, but it serves its purpose and it serves it well.” John said. Mrs. Wilson was also interviewed when asked “How does the Carter Corner Store affect the Carter community?” she stated, “Carter’s Corner gives students the opportunity to purchase a snack if they’re hungry but more importantly gives my Retail Operations and Marketing 2 students hands-on experience in a retail setting to learn.” This is a lesser thought of side of Carter Corner, showing the experience the students get from working in the Carter Corner. “The best thing about Carter’s Corner is the hands-on learning opportunities it gives my Retail Operations and Marketing 2 students. We are able to tie things to real life experiences we are learning.” She said.