The Needle Drop, online resources prove to be excellent source of music

By Thomas Hair Online Copy Editor Music is infinite in the 21st century. There are infinitely many genres, infinitely many artists and infinitely many ways to access and share the music itself. Though most people have different tastes, nearly everbody likes music of some sort, whether it be hip-hop, post-rock, thrash metal, free jazz or anything else. In this day and age, when there is infinite music instantly at your fingertips via the internet, there is little excuse to continue to listen to garbage music, or even to keep listening to the same exact music over and over and over. As a self-proclaimed music enthusiast, I am constantly on the lookout for original new artists and am…

Spielberg brings textbooks to life

By Jordan Thompson Staff Writer E.T. ‘phoned’ our hearts while Jurassic Park immortalized our imaginations, and yet Steven Spielberg is still not finished decorating the entertainment industry with his name. In December of 2012, he plans to bring to life a piece of American history and introduce it in a way that no classroom ever could. Spielberg has dug up the story of Abraham Lincoln so that he may restore it to life for a generation who appreciates adventure as much as they enjoy reality drama. Lincoln has been a project of Abeyance for Spielberg and shoved beneath War Horse and The Adventures of Tin Tin, his two most recent films. But Spielberg has silently…

Seniors shine in Days of Our Coppell Lives

By Kristen Shepard Staff Writer On Monday and Tuesday night, the Coppell High School auditorium curtains unveiled two hours of laughs, smiles and sheer talent in this year’s senior talent show, Days of our Coppell Lives. Even before the show, the audience bubbled with anticipation for the night’s acts, as the auditorium filled up with a primarily student audience. “I can’t wait for the show tonight. I’m so excited to see Lesli Adkins, Zane Zoda, Clayton Dalrymple and all my other senior friends,” junior Keaton Looney said. “Next year I look forward to maybe being an MC; they really look like they’re having a blast.” When the curtains finally opened, Scooby and the Gang kicked off…

Music trends of 2011

By Tanner McCord Staff Writer Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Beyonce; all well known artists in current music contributed to make this year a huge year in music. Several long anticipated albums have been released, and almost as many new artists have been brought up the ranks of musical fame. Several rap artists released their first albums including Wiz Khalifa, and Big Sean and Mac Miller’s first album is being pre ordered on iTunes right now. Returning artists such as Kanye West and Jay-Z released their dual act “Watch the Throne” and of course Lil Wayne dropped his long awaited “Tha Carter IV.” Vanilla Ice even released an album this year. One big shock in the…

CHS grad’s entertainment business set in Motion

By Dyer Whitt Staff Writer Emerging onto the entertainment scene, three former CHS students are combining their skills in music, photography, and video to form what is now known as Motion Entertainment Company (Motion). Motion is a combination of services including professionally integrated photography, audio and video production, and graphic design. Motion features select artists such as Jay Fresh, Cherisse, and soon-to-be-signed Will Jet’son. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the group is that it brought three Coppell High School graduates together with their desires of finding a path within the entertainment industry. Jordan Michael Johnson, known by his stage name, “Jay Fresh,” founded Motion in 2008 when he began to consider his career opportunities…

Ghosts of entertainment past

By Madison Ford Entertainment Editor Lizzie McGuire is pregnant and Louis Stevens fights Transformers. While in reality it is the actors who played these childhood icons, Hilary Duff and Shia Labeouf, respectively, who are now expecting a child or staring in summer blockbusters, the transformation of youthful idols can cause some to reflect on the entertainment of their childhood. As the stars of childhood entertainment have evolved, so has the industry itself. Shows once focusing on the everyday lives of children and young adults now expose the struggles of juggling fame and normalcy. The excitement over a release of a colored Gameboy has been replaced for apprehension over the latest iTouch upgrade. “Honestly I think…

Scream 4 offers revamped killer, recycled thrills

Erin Blatney Staff Writer The Ghostface killer is back with a vengeance in Wes Craven’s newest installment to the Scream franchise, Scream 4. With tons of edge-of-your-seat scenes and blood galore, it is the perfect slasher film for today’s generation. Craven, the man behind the three other Scream movies, takes Scream 4 back to where it all started: the small town of Woodsboro, 10 years after the original killer began his spree. Main character Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, returns to her hometown on a book tour and her presence sets off a string of murders around the town by the notorious Ghostface. No time is wasted when it comes to gore, and barely…

The Strokes make all the right moves with Angles

After not releasing any new music for nearly five years, fans of The Strokes were elated to hear that the New York-based group was recording its fourth studio album. That was back in 2009, and finally in March, The Strokes dropped Angles, an album that sees the band forgetting the past and moving in to the future. The Strokes, made up of Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti, got its big break in 2001 with the release of its first album, Is This It. Its success started off slow, garnering more attention in Europe before America joined the bandwagon. Two more albums and one extensive break later, consisting of…

Panic! At the Disco return with Vices & Virtues

In its six years of existence, Panic! At the Disco has gone through two line-up changes, removed the iconic exclamation point from their name, replaced it again and released two successful albums. With its third album, Vices & Virtues, Panic! has gone back to their original roots of making catchy pop-punk songs and has done it well. Made up of Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith, P!ATD is down to only two of the four original members. The first to leave from the original line-up was bassist Brent Wilson in 2006, then Ryan Ross and Wilson’s replacement, Jon Walker, left in 2009. Ross was one of the key songwriters in the band, but Urie and Smith…

Tron: Legacy review

Staff Writer It should be noted that the author viewed the film in 2D as opposed to 3D or the Imax versions of the film. “The Grid: a digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see. And then one day… I got in.” So begins Tron: Legacy, Disney’s sequel of the 1982 classic Tron. Picking up some 20 years after the original, the film stars Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn, the original movies protagonists son. Hoping to find his long lost father, Kevin Flynn (reprised by Jeff Bridges), at the…