SLAMMIN

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Hello readers to the first and probably last issue of SLAMMIN, magazine for all the bored teenagers in the Austin, Texas area. SLAMMIN is a magazine with a blened genre of entertainment and preferences by teen-

agers.

In this magazine, you will find a sense of being a teen, and experience the lives of average teens. Check out “Blown out of Proportion” where ACL is becoming overrun by musicians not even from Austin. You can even read “A Life with the Blues” about a man who’s lived with music and expresses himself with music. You’ll see Austin teenagers in a new light by the time you finish reading the maga-zine.

Thanks to the following people for making this magazine possible: Ms. Young, Marc English, Cesar Gonzales, Analicia Garcia, Danni Biddle, Cuong Nguyen, Frank Webster and the staff members.

Thank you, the reader, for taking the time to read this magazine.

ContentsTable of

20 Who are you?

16 Sexy Vs. Fab

19 Things to enjoy in Austin

6 How Real Can it Get?

5 Contributors Page

28 LASA; Home of the Bobcats?

30 Life of a Foreigner

10 A Wii Problem

8 The Face of Reality

27 World of Silence

24 A Life with the Blues

12 Blown out of Proportion

18 Electronics most teenagers can’t live without

4 Table of Contents

4 DECEMBER 09

3 Letter from the Editors

ContributorsBrachelle W.

Excitement EditorI’m in charge of the exciting elements in our magazine, for example, the colors and fonts. I’m in the LBJ Drill team and like to dance: anything from modern to hip-

hop. I was on born on August 31.

Aaron W.Designer

Aaron is the Design Editor for SLAMMIN magazine, he is also responsible for all music-related articles.

Recently, he celebrated his 1,264,000th birthday and has written numerous other works such as the first 8 books of the Holy Bible, which his teacher gave him

a B- on. I was on December 25.

Brittney B.Writer

I’m Brittney y’all, so come one and listen to me talk because I write stuff for our magazine. I’m loud, love to make people laugh, text, and talk. I have a lot of prob-

lems keeping focused on school work because im the type

to party instead of working. I was born on May 4.

Peter H.Co-Editor

I’m an innocent youth, and I like to get along with every-one. I am the Co-Editor, and correct any mistakes I find in

the magazine to the best of my ability. If anybody wants to

know, I was born in October 12.

How the Real Chance of Love is by: Brittney B.

Is there a better way to find love rather than giving out cute pet nick-names, and making people of the opposite gender compete with other people for a date to prove they really love you? I don’t think so, Ah-mad Givens who plays Real and Kamal Givens who plays Chance, have a right idea, no wonder their show The Real Chance of love has thousands of viewers.

When you have a boyfriend/

girlfriend or get married to someone what do you start calling them? Cutie pie, Honey bun, Sweet-heart, why not be cre-ative and give nicknames like Hotwings or Spanish Fly? Is there a better way to find love without hav-ing someone interview the person for you? How do you know if that’s the right person for you unless someone makes sure you have things in common and a personality that you will love? It is a waste of your time going out on dates every night try-ing to get to know some-one, when someone else can do it for you and you can skip all the awkward dates. How do you know

someone really loves you if they don’t show you and prove it? Real and Chance had the great idea of making the girls do competitions to win a date. How do you know if the girls are really there for you unless they fight for your heart? Re-lationships on real-ity TV shows always work out. New York from I Love NewY-ork found love with Taylor made. If you went around your school and asked your friends if their parents are together, most likely the an-swer would be no. The real chance of love is so real, Its so real and filled with everyday life sintua-

tions.Who couldn’t start questing for love by in-

viting people into their house? How will you get

HOW REAL CAN IT GET?

6 DECEMBER 09

OPINIONS

Top picture: Real and Cornfed kissing. Bottom picture: Chance and Cali kissing.

HOW REAL CAN IT GET?

if you don’t live with them? Real and Chance were very smart with this show. By bringing the girls into one house, Real and Chance got to see what the girls really look and act like, unlike normal people not on reality TV. Most people on dates are so fake with you. When you ask them out, they get all dressed up and good looking for that ideal night. Then, when you see them in their home environment… let’s just say there is a whole other side of them you didn’t want to see. Everyone say The Real Chance of Love is fake. There is nothing fake about it. Its two celebrity guys who are looking for love. Think about it. If you were a celebrity and people were always in your face, you wouldn’t have time to search for someone. So what if they had to have a sec-ond season? They just didn’t find love the first time. The show is not scripted, but sometimes rehearsed, but who doesn’t? I know I sometimes spend time in the mirror pretending the special boy I want to ask out is in front of me. They just don’t want to screw up and look stu-pid in front of the girls that

love them. Real Chance of Love is so real, and they are doing things that we should be doing in order to find love. So if you want to start a real relationship like Real and Chance, watch the show. Its as real as it gets. §

All Celebrities need someone to Love...

FOR THE LOVE OF RAY J- Talented Singer William Raymond is looking for love, but it’s hard looking for someone if you’re always on the move.

THE FLAVOR OF LOVE- William Jona-than Drayton Jr. also known as Flava Flav is one of America’s famous rappers who was ready to set aside his busy life and find love.

MEGAN WANTS A MILLONAIRE- Megan Hauserman, looking for love, but for the key into Megan’s heart you have to have a great personal-ity and money!

DECEMBER 09 7

The FACE of REALITY Tyler Perry’s Movie Compares to Life By:Brachelle W.

I can do bad all by myself but when someone messes my life up for me there’s

no way to leave everything be-hind and start all over again. Tyler Perry’s new movie “I can do bad all by my-self ” showed the up and downs of how some people live. Bad things can always turn the other way around if everyone put in and help. Everyone needs some-one to love and care for them.I think this movie is a way to tell, show, and help some people live and grow up through life with so much hurt that some-one else did to them. It always starts with your child hood and your parents. Your parents play a big role in it. Just like how the movie shows the fam-ily structure can always have something to do with the af-fect on someone’s life, like the kids in the movie . They didn’t have a father figure, they had a mother but wasn’t there for them, then she died, had a grand-ma who took care of them but died without them knowing. They didn’t have anyone who wanted them, not even their aunt. Sadly, this stuff is true because the parents are not taking responsibility of taking care of their kids and not trying to put them in a different environ-ment that they grew up in, so things wouldn’t happen to their kids like what happen in the movie the kids aunt didn’t want them because of

her boyfriend then she came home one night from work and she seen him trying to rape her niece and he try to lie about it. She knew he was lying because when she was a little girl, her own father had raped her and her mother wouldn’t believe her. So if you don’t put your kids in a different environment your kids will have a very strong possible chance of experiencing the same things done to them that happened to you. So if you’re a teen parent and your doing things like smoke,

drinking and all that bad stuff, I think you should stop and think about all the bad things that hap-pened to you when you were little and decide if you want your chil-dren to go through the same stuff you went through or worst. Like in the movie the girl had to steal some needles for her brother so he could take his insulin because without it he would died but she got caught and they thought she was stealing the needles so she can get drugged

This is a picture was capture from the tyler perry movie”I can do bad all by myself”. This picture shows the three kids breaking in madeas house

trying to seal a few of her personal belongings and she caught them

8 DECEMBER 09

OPINIONS

Cont. on Page 9

up on some crack like her moth-er. Do you see how people are quick to judge someone’s kids just because of their parent’s history. Life is life. Life is free, hopeful, unpredictable and it’s not going to be easy. “No mat-ter what the situation is always keep your head up and keep your faith,” said Tyler Perry. Some people think Tyler Perry’s movies play Repetitive racial slurs and the same embarrassing, black stereotypes. I think he is just showing how people do think and be races in the real world because people are still races to this day forward. People also ask the ques-tion “Is it possible to show people of color without all of the drama?” yes it is pos-sible but everyone act the way they do because of what people do to them or how they was raised. So I think the parents should do a better job of showing their children to be respectful and act in a good way. So the mov-ie is not racist or stereotypical, its just ev-eryday life and every-one does it. So you should be aware of how people

judge you if you say some-thing that you don’t think is races but others might take it in another way. §

“Do you see how people are quick to judge some-

one’s kids just because of their parent’s history.”

Other Movies that Relate to Every-

day Life

This movie relates to life because it’s a movie based on how some marriages end

up.

This movie relates to life because it shows how some children are forced to be with one of their parents that don’t

treat them right.

This movie relates to life because it also shows you how some marriages don’t go

right.

DECEMBER 09 9

Ever since the inven-tion of the first video game in 1958, the wild-est fantasies of gamers have come true. The world of gaming has now evolved to three D graphics, and virtual re-ality has become a step closer. World of War-craft, Pac-Man, Sonic, Mario, and other video games have overtaken sweat induced physical

activities. Games have gotten a bad reputation over the years for not being healthy for young kids as they grow up, new gamesthat require physical activity, such as DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), Guitar Hero, WiiSports and WiiFit, have become major hits. These video games have replaced physical activities and

are much more fun than a dull workout. Many people may think otherwise, as how can video games actu-ally make you move? However, exergaming (a portmanteau of ex-ercise, and gaming,) is what the U.S. needs, as Americans are al-ready more obese than Europeans. According to OrganizedWisdom.

com, obesity contrib-utes to cancer, heart problems, and diabetes. Some schools are now incorporating DDR machines into their P.E. curriculum. At least 1000 schools in 10 states of the U.S. use DDR to combat obe-sity and diabetes West Virginia, for example has devoted itself to

VIDEO GAME

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10 DECEMBER 09

A WII PROBLEM By: Peter H.

Excercising has never been so entertaining, and with a new revolution of gaming for everyone.

Even U.S. soldiers are using the Wii.The Wii Game Console (Left)The Wii Remote (Right)

OPINIONS

Cont. on Page 11

-putting the game in 765 public schools, while at least 180 middle schools already have it. West Virginia’s University of Medi-cine announced the results of their multi-year study for obesity in the US. The study had found significant health benefits for overweight children who played the game weekly, which included improved blood pres-sure, better fitness and endothelial function, which is the arter-ies’ ability to deliver oxygen to blood. Even Hawaii is planning to do the same, and put the game into their 265 public schools. Real exer-cise is more danger-ous than exergaming (the act of exercising while playing video games) according to my sources. Accord-ing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also known as the CDC, statistics show that over 3.8 million children, ages fourteen to eighteen suffer from sport, or sport-related inju-ries, and that’s only in the U.S. Most of the injuries are mild, but however some of those injuries could turn serious. Medicine Plus reveals that the most common sport

injuries are sprains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, fractures, dis-locations, and strain-ing of the tendons. However, according to PubMed.com, the injuries for the Wii only include strain-ing of the wrists, and there have only been 39 reported accidents in a two year span. Believe it or not, video games are beneficial to children. Two re-searchers, Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green, from the Uni-versity of Rochester in New York have even stated that video games boost visual skills. What’s more is that the experi-ments done by those researchers show that a gamer can process 30% more visual in-formation than a non-gamer which means that a gamer can spot more things in his/her range of view. Video games can also be a key to socializing as well. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and Ameri-can Life Project, it was shown that nearly two-thirds of people that play video games play together with their friends or family. This shows that video games could help oth-ers socialize as the sur-vey also stated that

a quarter of gamers play with friends they met on the internet. A possible solution that could meet every-body’s needs could be to allow gamers 1 hour and a half of playing their games, and an hour of play outside each day. This way, gamers can still play their games, but are also staying fit. Over-all, video games can be used as an alterna-tive to the struggles of actual exercise. §

Best Video Games For Excercise

1. The Wii

Picture Courtesty of Cian Ginty

2. DDR

Copyright 2006 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Photographer: Rachel Denny Clow

The Wii offers hand to hand fun with your friends and family. With the Wii Fit, and the new Wii Sports Resorts game pack. The Wii has got-ten more interesting, and will make sure you shed a some pounds, and gives you an ex-perience of virtual fun.

What’s better than danc-ing to the flashing lights, and crazy color, plus a fast rythym to dance to. With every motion you do, you actually sweat while lis-tening to a great song.

DECEMBER 09 11

Blown out of

Proportion

12 DECEMBER 09

By: Aaron W

Austin is to music like cookies are to milk. Some Austinites have even claimed that the Austin-music com-

bination has been around longer than cook-ies and milk. Austin has always had a strong music scene, starting with clubs like An-tone’s and Stubbs downtown, which have led to many successful careers such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson and, hell, even a Jewish rapper (Matisyahu, in cas e you didn’t know). We’ve built our reputation on these artists. The music scene of Austin has even become a main reason for people to come here as tourists and even to stay. We have two annual concerts-both of which receive international attention-South By South-west and Austin City Limits. Yet, ACL drags by another year, and I see the famil-iar hype and bands that I do every year and I can’t help but think: “What happened?” In 1976, PBS released a show called ACL, a show that featured Texan artists who created what is now Austin’s root mu-sic. Songs like the blues, rock n’ roll, and western swing all filled the program and has made it the longest running concert pro-gram on TV. Needless to say, we Austinites are all too proud of this program, so in 2002, we decided to make a music festival named after this legendary piece of Austin pride. The original intention of ACL was to follow the program’s idea and feature new artists from Austin and give them a shot at fame, but the ACL you see today is much more dif-ferent then what its really supposed to be. Here’s my increasingly growing problem with ACL. The music festival’s biggest feature in 2002 was Asleep at the Wheel, a western swing band, headed up by local celebrity Ray Benson. This year, we have big international bands like

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Coheed and Cambria that don’t even live in Aus-tin or have any connection to the city for that matter. Bands such as these have no place at this music festival. Why do I complain like this? ACL was never intended for famous bands who aren’t even southern. The point of ACL was to have unknown bands get a chance to prove their stuff. Artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson didn’t become famous by being ignored and swept to the side by the spotlight of another more famous artist, it was thanks to Stubbs and Antone’s that they were able to rise to the musical scene and become legends in their musical genre. ACL was intended for giving small timers who deserve fame a shot at it, but every year the big names and hot bands sweep the unknowns to the side. And while ticket sales say that people prefer ACL to have big time artists, I say that the music festivals func-tion is the reason it was created, and ACL is drifting away from this reason pretty fast.

Eric Johnson, a local artist who made it huge on the music scene becuase of Austin clubs

OPINIONS

I think it’s nice our city can have Coldplay and the Foo Fighters at our festivals. But now I see the fes-tival is more about the big names than the local bands. If the Yeah Yeah Yeahs really want to come to Austin, I’m sure they would attract a crowd, there are tons of people in Austin who can appreci-ate their talent, me included. But the Yeah Yeah Yeahs shouldn’t perform at ACL simply because they don’t belong at this music concert. SXSW is the place for bands such as these, or they can have tour that goes through Aus-tin, its not that hard. I can only compare ACL’s current state to the state of a festival in Austin that was known as Aquaf-est. Aquafest was around when my dad was my age and lasted until 1998. The fest was to promote Texas highland lakes and Texas bands, it was exactly like ACL except boats and water instead of dust and porta-potties. Aquafest’s problem was that it soon dropped the local flavor and got big bands and big stages in replacement. When this happened, less and less people came to it every year and eventually the entire festival folded into bankruptcy. Sound familiar? ACL seems to get less and

less local and more

commercial every year. The differ-ence between ACL and Auquafest is that ACL doesn’t have extra events like boat races, which could make it less of a crowd pleaser, the only thing that ACL has is concerts, making it less attrac-tive to some people. If you look at Auquafest’s final years, the execu-tives nad producers realized that the festival was failing more and more. They decided that it was best to make it more local again to get business, but it was too late at that point. It seems ACL may suf-fer from a similar fate if it does not act now. Lastly, and admit this right now, the big bands only come to Austin because is a cool, hip thing to do. What will happen when the big bands decide that ACL is a part of the past, or that it’s just not worth going to for a certain reason any-more? Daytime music festivals can be a pain for musicians and audi-ence members alike, no musician wants to necessarily be on a dusty stage in the sweltering heat at 1 in the afternoon. Lots of people, hate that. ACL is only a fledgling when it comes to music festivals and I find it impressive that bands already complain about the heat and dust, the Fratellis lead singer, Jon, is quoted “Who the f!ck has

a concert at 1 o’clock?” And he has a point, ACL can’t last long if enough musicians say this. It seems that the big names will stick around as long its practical, but my point is, there are a lot more music festivals out there and how long can ACL stick around when the concert has nothing but dust and heat. Either the Big names will leave or stay and if music festivals in Austin tell us anything (Aquafest), we need more to offer or the bands will leave. But I know that the small timers and un-knowns will always come because even though we’ve had new bands every year, you can always find the same small local bands every year and if the big names go, we can give more spotlight to the small

A drawing of Stevie Ray Vaughan at work. Vaughan made his name in Austin with the help of clubs such as Antones and Stubbs to help him get attention, ACL is meant to help local artisits like these clubs helped Vaughan.

Ray Benson (left) of Asleep at the Wheel has played all 8 years of ACL fest and has waned in popu-larity as he has been taken over by other bands that aren’t even from Austin. Willie Nelson (top) was the first artist ever to play on the Austin City Limits show.

All native Austin Bands

Ghostland Observatory-top

Okkervil River - middle

Wilco - bottom

I love ACL and I love that Austin can pull these sorts of concerts off and I’m proud to live in this city, but if ACL wants to be alive in 5-10 years, its going to need sturdier legs to walk on than bands who come be-cause it’s the cool thing to do, ACL was not made for that. It made for the unknowns out there who have lots of talent but no at-tention. It makes me sad only a few people know who Asleep at the Wheel is or Ok-kervil River, even when both of these bands not only have mountains of talent, but are completely local and show up to ACL every year. People will eventually lose interest in the big names and hot hits, I know some music enthusiasts that already are. It’s been a long time since we’ve produced a Stevie Ray Vaughan and that’s because we given any spotlights to these local bands. It sad-dens me because Austin has so much musical talent and all people can think of is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs com-ing this year. I know we have bands that are just as talented as they are but almost completely unknown. This is the kind of attitude that it takes to produce another famous texas musicianACL is fun, and but before it moves into the same trends as previous festivals, I advise it take a step back and think about what its purpose is. It’s not just the festivals fault either, Austinites need to get more involved in what our city has to offer in music, or lose our special name as the Live Music Capitol of the World. So, when you go to ACL this year, remember what the Festival is actually about, and try to pay attention to the lesser known. §

DECEMBER 09 15

16 DECEMBER 09

Total Cost: $26.50

Sexy v.s fab

$20Dress

$6.50Belt

By: Bra chelle W.

The difference be-tween sexy and fab is that sexy is show-ing the shape of your body, and using your feminine charms. While being fab is working an outfit even if the outfit isn’t as fancy like from Nordstrom or JC Penney

You can buy name brand clothing that

are the same at differ-ent stores with a low-er prices where you can spend less. They also are good quality, so you can keep your outfitts in your ward-robe for a while. so it will be less and worth

you time to spend.

Which styl e fits your person ality?

DECEMBER 09 17

Total Cost: $16.99

Sexy v.s fab

$13.00Dress

$3.99Belt

VERDICT

By: Bra chelle W.

Belt: GO SEXYYou can wear this belt

with different shirts and other sexy outfits.

You can also wear with all your outfits

for all the seasons.

Dress:GO BOTHBoth dresses can be fitted and show your curves being sexy, and fab at the same

time.

Which styl e fits your person ality?

the SLAMMIN 5

.

Electronics most teenagers can’t live without

18 DECEMBER 09

By: Peter H.

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1.CELL-PHONES With the new IPhone, and the Palm Pre being released in stores. People are lining up to get their cell phones. Most teenag-ers in this day and day cannot live without their cell phones. There’s also the application that you can download for your phone and more 3G phones are becoming more common.

2. COM-PUTERS/LAPTOPS The Apple Macbook Pro, the Sony VAIO series, and the HP Pavilion computers are gaining more recogni-tion. Teenagers are using more computers each day, as prices on older models lower down. The internet is a necessity for middle school students and up, which is why people are start-ing to find entertainment and usefulness in the 3. MP3 PLAYERS/

IPODS An 8 GB IPod Nano, a Walkman, and Zune music players are becoming more common. It would be strange not to have a music player in this day and age. There’s even a 64 GB IPod Touch released on the mar-kets now. Even cell phones have MP3 players in them be-cause everyone wants to lis-ten to their music these days.

5. TELEVISION Television headsets have always been with us ever since we were children. Cartoons, re-ality TV, and movies broadcast them-selves everyday thanks to this life sav-ing problem. Where we be without the television and the programs we watch daily? It seems the television headseat will always be a timeless treasure.

4. STEREO SYSTEMS Can you actually listen to mu-sic without a stereo system? Sure you can use your head-phones, but that would take the fun out of the loud speakers, and music. This is why stationary accessories are still in because the IDock for the IPod had been released. Louder music hasa high appeal with teenagers and with up and coming rock stars.

DECEMBER 09 19

Top Five THINGS YOU MUST ENJOY IN AUSTIN.

Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex (MYE)

Located in east Austin, The MYE is filled with fun family

activites such as; skating, bowl-ing, arcade, movie thearte, and a

play scape for the little ones.

Highland Mall

Waterloo Ice House

You don’t just want food! Austin gives you with food and entera-

taimnent. Take a seat at The Water-loo ice house and enjoy the mouth

watering burgers and the great bands.

HoopZone

If you want to get away from your parents, where do you go?

Austin has a great Teen club where you can just , dance, eat, hangout with your friends,and

relax!

View the history of Texas. See the many images and

eye catching displays, maybe even relax in the

Imax theatre.

Bob Bullock Museum

Get your shop on at the most popular Highland Mall. Great food, shops,

people, hangouts, and great over atmoshphere.

http://www.waterlooicehouse.com

http://www.myec.net/index.html

http://www.highlandmall.com hhttp://hoop-zone.org

http://www.thestoryoftexas.com

By: Brittney B.

20 DECEMBER 09

Who

Are

You

DECEMBER 09 21

You are at a party, how do you dance?

1) When I’m not making out with the preps, I’m probably bouncing on my heels 2) Jump up and down and look for cute guys!!!!!!! 3) Hit the Frankie! B!tch!!!!!!!! 4) What party? 5) I would sketch everyone at the party!!! 6) I don’t even know how I got here, man 7) MOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8) I would dance…. but I’m not in the mood…… 9) I’m probably trying to learn all the songs on my trumpet

What is your favorite TV channel?

1) Discovery!!!!!!! 2) BET 3) MTV 4) ESPN 5) I would watch TV….. but Im not in the mood 6) CANT WATCH TV!!!! MUST TRUMPET UNTIL HEAD EXPLODES!!!! 7) TV is for conformists 8) Uhhhhh…. Is MASH still on man? 9) I would sketch the TV!aWhat do you do during lunch

1) Chillin in the band hall 2) Library stuff 3) Retouch makeup 4) SWEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5) I would eat lunch…...but Im not in the mood 6) Eating brownies………. Want some? They’re really good… 7) I’ll tell you what I’m NOT doing. Conforming!!!! 8) Art Room!!! 9) Get myself some chicken at Churches!!!!

If you had a 100 dollar shopping spree, what would you buy 1) New art supplies!!! 2) Malls are for conformists… 3) Upgrade my calculator 4) New pair of J’s 5) I would shop….. but im not in the mood 6) Get my trumpet cleaned!!! 7) Abercrombie!!!!!!!! YAY!!! 8) I need some new weights, 150 lbs doesn’t cut it anymore… 9) I could use some more brownies….

DECEMBER 09 21

By: Aaron W.

22 DECEMBER 09

Dream Job!!!!!1.) Rap artist2.) Artist!!!!!!!!!!!!!3.) Jobs are for conformists4.) Microbiologist5.) I would get a job….But I’m not in the mood6.) Football player7.) Join an orchestra!!!!8.) Hairstylist!!!9.) I think I might already havv e job…..maybe……

Favorite Class

1) Lunch2) Art3) Education is for conformists 4) Athletics5) Band6) Calculus!!!!7) I would learn stuff……but Im not in the mood8) Wait…they have classes here?9) The one with all of the cute guys

Car

1) Cadillac2) Driving is for Conformists…. I have a skateboard3) I don’t drive, my mom drives me.4) A big car to keep my Tuba in 5) A pickup truck for all my weights6) I would drive….but Im not in the mood7) Something I could draw all over8) Something cute!9) 1970’s Volkswagen Van

Art Freak

nerd

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Answers

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band nerd

emo

punk

Gangsta

JockDECEMBER 09 23

24 DECEMBER 09

By Aaron Weintraub

Life with the Blues

Every student atthe Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) has heard of the infamous FrankWebster. Frank Webster teaches 8th grade English at Kealing Middle

School, and may be more popular than half the teachers at LASA, which most Kealing students go to as their high school choice. He is mos likely best known for his musical story. Everyone knows Webster has a story or two up his sleeve to tell to his classes about his music experiences. I decided to sit down with Mr. Webster to find out about all his experience and the music he has spent his

life studying and playing.

A

FEATURES

DECEMBER 09 25

Life with the Blues

When I was 15, I went to a James Cot-ton concert in Ohio.” Little did hr know that this concert would change his life forever. After seeing James Cotton, Webster decided to dedicate his life to the art and rtudy of the blues. “I picked up some BB King, some Muddy Waters and of course some James Cotton, and y’know, I started hanging out with whatever music scene I could find, and I was exposed to a lot of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and there’s a lot of blues in what they did as well, Muddy Waters to me was no different than Jimi Hendrix or Jim-my Page.” But the most important step in his musical life was moving to Austin and most importantly, hanging out at the bluse club, Antones. “I would walk in the back door every night, usually 10:00 or midnight, I’d have my guitar with me, and I never had to pay for a show” he remembers Every night Webster was able to meet his heroes, everyone from Muddy Waters to Jimmy Vaughan. To Webster, it was an education to get to go Antones every night when it was, to him, it was like his dreams had come true, being able to meet the worlds greatest blues stars was easier than ever. But Frank left Antones after a pe-riod of time. “Antones isn’t a blues club anymore,” he says “Even before Clifford Antone died, he went to jail on some drug charges and some other people took over for the booking of the club, and club pretty much changed.” If there is a good show in town, Webster says he will go. These count as blues or folk concerts. Frank has met numerous celebrities over

the years at both Antones and around the United States Spending time with celebrities gave Webster a chance to learn more about them than most ever will. For example, he learned Pinetop used to play the guitar but got cut in a fight and now plays only piano. Along with meeting nad visiting with Pintop, Jimmie Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, and of course Cilfford Antone, Webster also got to jam with Kevin Eubanks, who plays night-ly with Jay Leno on the Jay Leno show. Webster has formed some bands of his own including the River City Ribbon Jays.He’s met all of his heroes. He’s played in all sorts of bands with all sorts of music. And through all of this he’s finally been able to find what he truly loves, teaching. Though it would seem that after all the cebrities he’s met and all the clibs he’s been to, Web-ster says there was no transition from his music life to his teaching one.It seems that the English teacher has not much to turn to. But when asked this ques-tion, I find that he has plenty of ideas up his sleeve“BB-King isn’t in great health, Pinetop is what? 94 years old, not in great health. Coco Taylor died last year. Clifford Antone has been dead. You have to grab a hold be-fore it [the Blues] is gone” And that’s exactly what Webster is trying to do. In the past four years of his teaching career he has started a group of musically talented students who perform in a group know as the After School Special. It was only this past year that the After School Special started playing gigs in the school.

But while every single year the old 8th graders go on to high school and the band has to start fresh every year. Webster doesn’t mind. “While starting over would sound frustrating, but that’s also the fun in it too” he says. Most of these kids have never played in a band. Its fun to teach them the ropes, and its an experience they’ll never forget.”Webster also plans on taking out one of his old electives, Film II, and replacing it with lyrics writing. Kids will be able to write songs in every available style everything from a rock ballad to a hate rap. Webster says he plans bring in songwriters of all sorts of genrescountry, blues, and rock alike. After 20 years of education of his own, Webster is ready to keep blues alive by teaching students of his own. And as each year goes by, there are students that who their lessons and start bands of their own and become musically active people in their own respect.“The best way to learn is from ex-amples,” Webster said “I learned that way, and I want them to learn that way too.” §

Webster’s Inspirations

Top: Lead Belly

Middle: Muddy Waters

Bottom: left: James Cotton right: Son House

26 DECEMBER 09

FEATURES

WORLD OF SILENCE Writen & Illustration by Brachelle .W.

Full volume, baby, Cesar G. remembers telling his best friend. And suddenly…

.....POW

....the sound slowly started drifting away.

Cesar and millions other people became deaf in at least one ear from listening to loud music. It’s called acoustic trauma, which is when you gradual loss hearing over a period of time from the exposure to loud mu-sic. This can lead to temporary or per-manent a loss of hearing. To prevent from becoming deaf you would have to listen to devices with the sound pressure of a decibel lower than 80. As they ask how he be-came deaf, he tells his story of how one of hid ear phones piec-es blew off in English class. “It wasn’t like a boom, it was like a bomb,” Cesar remembers. When the ear piece blew off, he noticed he couldn’t hear when people tried to ask him what was that sound. Once he notice he couldn’t here he started panicking like a run-ning rooster while asking, “What’s wrong with my ear, it’s numb.” Slowly after that, he started getting the symptoms of becoming deaf. The symptoms he had started to experience included hearing hiss-ing noises in his ear, having to tell people to repeat their selves and having to turn up the TV to full vol-ume. But when he started experienc-ing the symptoms he didn’t want to go to the doctor. He didn’t want to go to the doctor because he thought

it would go away and he will be ok. “No, I don’t want to go to the doctor, my parents don’t even know this day forward, said Cesar.” Unfortunately due to this cause Cesar still has been deaf for one year and today forward. Cesar says he finds it very funny how people try to whis-per something in his ear, when

he tells them for the first time that he can’t hear in his right ear. From his experience Cesar learned not to play his music too loud. Now Cesar can hear a lot more in is right ear. He said, “he could not see his self deaf for the rest of his life.”§

He couldn’t hear, he started panicking like a running rooster while asking, “What’s wrong with my ear, it’s numb.”

DECEMBER 09 27

28 DECEMBER 09

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Bedichek Middle School students received basic education so they aren’t used to the amount of academically challenging work. “The work is no where near as similar as LASA work, we didn’t really get any work that we had to really put thought into,” said Brachelle. Most stu-

dents attending LASA are from Kealing, Fulmore, or any other well highly advanced school. Students attending LASA from kealing already have the ideal on the work expectation and how to manage their time. Kealing had teachers who expected them to learn the basics and much more.

Mikisa H. a former Kealing stu-dent says “”I do believe Kealing did prepare me academically, for LASA. It help develops study habits and although it did stress me out, it helped me understand the challenges that LASA may throw at me. Stopping to think, she laughs “some of the things we do here at LASA is already things we covered at Kealing.” On the other hand Bedichek only taught the basics to get the students prepared for their home high schools such as Crockett, Bowie, or Akins. “Assuming ev-eryone is going to our home high school,” says Analicia with a little attitude , “we were taught regular work, based on our home high schools that also teachs the

Receiving her certificates of completion from Bedi-chek Middle School, Analicia G., thought, “This is it…here comes the new beginning.” Soon she

would be starting high school at the Liberal Arts and Sci-ence Academy (LASA), a magnet school for high achiev-ing students, with two of her best friends Brachelle W. and Danni B. After the two weeks of LASA “boot camp” (A camp that helped coming freshman get an idea of what LASA would be like) the friends felt mentally prepared for the 2009-10 school year. Three months in LASA and this is what they have to say “I miss Bedichek, it wasn’t hard!”

Left: Brachelle W. Middle: Ananlicia G. Right: Danni B. Former Bobcats hanging out in the LBJ/LASA cafeateria.

Liberal Arts and Science Academy: Home of the Bobcats?Written and Art By: Brittney B.

DECEMBER 09 29

basics, looking up, getting louder as she speaks” Its not fair!, Ke-aling does have an advantage and I never thought about how big an advantage until now!” An advantage indeed, students at Kealing were taught such subjects as geometry and algebra 2. “I think they have a big advantage because they already doing mag-net work compared to just regular

middle schoolers,” said Brachelle.Students at Bedichek were not even taught algebra one until 8th grade year, and it was only specific people were chosen to at-tend the class. “I was one of the students who took algebra un-like my besties, but even though I was considered academically high in middle school, I came to LASA and felt just horrible compared to the kealing kids,” Analicia explained. A basic day at Bedichek was hanging in the cafeteria until the bell rang; walk really slow so we were late to our classes, because most of our teachers wouldn’t count it or care. We would hang in the halls until our security guards came. Pretty much our day was work-sheets, reviews,talking to friends, and if you were sneaky enough text!, and if you walked into a

Bedichek class you would noticed that everyone, and I mean every-one!, even the nerdiest kid in the classroom was sneaky enough” said Analicia looking up, stroll-ing down memory lane, Witch is a big chance from a day at LASA! I walk in the cafeteria, finish the homework I didn’t fin-ish last night!, and unlike Bedi-chek the teachers do care if I’m

on time so I get to class on time everyday! We non-stop work the whole p e r i o d witch I’m not used

to and after school when I get home I pull out homework! And you don’t even want to get me started on weekends! I forgot what the term social life meant!”“Ah... A day at Kealing!” Mikisa says it’s basically the same thing. It’s a little different just because you know its high school, but the basic idea is very similar.”A regular day of middle school for Bedichek Students is hav-ing fun and worksheets. A regular day of school for Ke-aling magnet program stu-dents is pretty much the same! Great to say the students from Bedichek; Brachelle W., Dan-ni B, and Analicia G, are making it trough LASA with the educa-tion they received and are adapt-ing greatly to the new challenges that are being thrown at them. §

Rankings from parents in Austin, Texas.

Kealing- 6 out 10

Bedichek- 3 out of 10

Fulmore- 3out of 10

Ann Richards- 10 out 10

Mendez- 1 out of 10

Burnett- 1 out of 10

Pearce- 1 out of 10

Covington- 4 out of 10

Webb- 2 out 10

Small- 8 out of 10

Murchison- 8 out of 10

Lamar- 4 out 10

Martin- 2 out 10

Dobie- 3 out of 10

Bailey- 9 out of 10

Garcia- 2 out of 10

Sources: www. greatschools.net

“Its not fair!, Kealing does have an advantage and I never thought about how big an advantage until now!”

Liberal Arts and Science Academy: Home of the Bobcats?Written and Art By: Brittney B.

Cuong Nguyen felt like most of his fellow students: terrified and exhilarated. The only difference was that he was approximately 10,000 miles away from his home country. There is nobody there for him, and now has to look after himself. Today, Cuong Nguyen attends the University of Texas at Arlington, and is still an upholding student. He’s waiting for another two years or so until he can graduate with his master degree. “In the US, adapting to the new lifestyle and new culture, and financial system…. are my difficul-

ties,” Nguyen said. Now he is required to speak a different lan-guage, and new things he had to adapt to although Vietnamese, and Viet-namese culture were what he understood best. Each day, numer-ous people depart from countries such as Mexico, China, Germany, and etc arrive in the U.S. Many people from different backgrounds are going to the U.S. for ethical reasons like freedom, and civil rights. Some come for study and some come for a chance of new life. And some people like Cuong come for both.

Nguyen’s motivation for coming to the U.S. was finding a better educa-tion, and chances for an occupation. “It means new life and new opportunities to study and freedom,” Nguyen said. And that is what Cuong believes and why he came to the U.S. According to the Department of Homeland Security sta-tistics, the approximate number of permanent immigrants coming from Vietnam arriving in the U.S. is 31, 500 each year. That is only a part of the amount of permanent im-migrants arriving to the

U.S. Who left their home countries in hopes of find-ing peace, and a better place to live. Cuong saw the departure in a positive light, as he can explore more of the benefits America could offer up to him. “I felt so excited because of new people, new cul-ture, in the U.S,” Nguyen explained. But Cuong felt excitement not only because the U.S. contains a very diverse popula-tion, but for cultures to intertwine, and con-nect. In America, there are different people who came here for the same reasons or because their

By: Peter H.

30 DECEMBER 09

A calm and collected person, Cuong Nguyen studies hard to get his master’s degree.

Cont. on Page 31

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LIFE OF A FOREIGNER

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ancestors came because of their ideals. For example, look at the Chinese faction in the U.S. there are now Chinatowns because of them. Or the Mexican group, which are the closest to the U.S. and brought over their cuisine, and traditions. Like most immigrants Cuong Nguyen had trouble with the English language. However he tried his best during the years he spent in Vietnam. Cuong Nguyen actually did have help, and bought materials such as an English gram-mar self-help book and an English to Vietnamese dictionary. “Yes, I did have some trouble, and I did was broken English, and the pronunciation was different than what I have learned, “Cuong said. Cuong still has some trouble with pronunciations, but he is certainly improving, and doing better with the English language. Cuong learned only this certain amount of English yet makes commended scored on his college exams. Perhaps the reason why he did so well in school and in tests was probably due to prior experience for example, by working first hand with other Asian Americans in the in the field of economy, and busi-ness.

According to the Asian Chamber of Commerce, “The Chamber has the … purpose of promoting trade between Houston and Asia and to foster economic development … Houston area Asian-American communities.” In other words the organization “Asian Chamber of Commerce” supports the needs of students from Asia, and helps them adapt to the U.S. Nguyen joined this prestigious organization when he was starting out in the U.S. Meeting the members of this orga-nization helped him about business, and economic strategies. He had also first-hand experience on how the economic system of the U.S. went. Even now Nguyen is progres-sively moving on to a new life. Although it’s been four years since he’s been in the U.S, it’s been four years packed with hard work, and struggle. Even Cuong himself said

that living in the U.S. was harder than what he expected. He still met with his obstacles head on, and tried his best. “In the US, adapting to the new lifestyle and new culture, and fi-nancial system, “Cuong explained. Cuongs’ difficulties in the U.S. are practically the same as any other person coming to the U.S. for the first time. Adapting to change is hard, but Cuong dealt with them, and what’s different about him is that he did not give up, and perse-vere. Cuong Nguyen also has mo-ments of up’s and down’s but he has something to look forward to.Nguyen has been in the U.S. for some time, and attending school in the U.S. as well. After years of studying in Vietnam, Cuong felt like he was ready for some-thing more challenging. So he went to the land full of opportu-nities, and submerged himself in more rigorous curriculum than in Vietnam. “If someone can do it, you can do it too; mabe it takes longer, but set your goal and try to achieve it. That’s what I have been doing,” Cuong said. §

DECEMBER 09 31

Pictures Courtesy of Cuong Nguyen

“I joined an organi-zation called “Asian Chamber of Com-merce” There were so many people like me “Cuong said.

1. Sight-seeing with friends in London, England.

2. Leaning on a rail, Cuong views over Niagara Falls.

3. Even in Jamaica, Cuong manages to make new friends.

WORLD TRAVELER Cuong goes......