Since receiving the parts and directions for their robot in early January the Robotics Team, under the supervision of Mr. Olsen and Mr. Wahi from Como along with Mr. Young and Mr. Nelson who represented General Dynamics, have been spending the past months hard at work. They have been building their robot, programming it, testing it, and rebuilding it. With a grant of $9000 dollars from General Motors the team was able to afford the necessary supplies, and under the direction of Mr. Wahi and Mr. Olsen the team has been preparing their robot for the competition.

The team was formed last year, so they do not have quite as much experience as many of the other teams that would be competing at the Regional Competition. Despite their apparent inexperience, the Como Park Robotics Team had an impressive record for its short existence. At last years Regional Competition, the team’s first competition, they placed 9^th.

The competition that the Team had prepared for was held over Spring Break. FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Ten-thousand Lakes 2010 Regional competition was held from Thursday April 1^st-Saturday April 2^nd in the Williams Arena of the University of Minnesota. The competition was a three day event. The first day consisted of practice rounds, it was a chance for the teams to work out any problems with their robots and try them out in the “field”. The second day and with the start of the third were the Qualifying Rounds. This is where three teams were randomly grouped together, and competed against other teams of three robots. The point of the game was for the robots to get a soccer ball into the opposing team’s goal.

The Como Park Robotics Team had built a defensive robot to play a kind of “goalie”. The competition was filled with problems that the team faced. “The other team’s offensive robots” that the Como Team was paired up with “were not very good” said Student Captain C. Dale, “and we faced some technical difficulties”. The “technical difficulties” were some serious malfunctions that occurred. During the last two games of the Qualifying Rounds the Como Robot’s chain detached itself from the wheels. In the end the Como team was unable to make it past the Qualifying Rounds, and we finished placing 62^nd out of 63 teams.

This loss did not dishearten the Robotics team, since they still had a very good past few months. In the time it took to build the robot the members of the team bonded and were able to make friends with one another. They still look forward to, and remain hopeful, for next year. “They’ll need more people next year,” says Student Captain C. Dale, who will be graduating this year, “that was the biggest difference between our team and all the others”

If any of you have a way of scanning your art so it can be put on our website please email it to ReverendHoffman@gmail.com with “School Art” as the subject.

Soon we will have something set up with the school so we will be able to scan the pictures in for you but until then you will all have have to find your own means of making digital copies.

Also anything sent in must unfortunately be school appropriate, so nothing to racy kids.

“Shutter Island” is set in 1954 and is centered around U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a female patient from the Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane, located in an old civil war fort on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Daniels is a WWII veteran who lost his wife two years before when a man, Andrew Laeddis, burned his apartment building to the ground. Laeddis was a patient at Ashecliff, and his disappearance months before sparked Daniels’ interest in the institution. During his stay on the island he uncovers mysterious information about the hospital as his mental stability deteriorates. His vivid dreams, along with his dreamlike hallucinations, lead to his irrationality and paranoia, which Dicaprio pulls of very well.

“Shutter Island” is truly a psychological drama, and it keeps you interested and on your toes. Leonardo DiCaprio once again showed his ability to control a mature and serious role, and does an excellent and convincing job portraying Daniels as the stay on the island provides a mental strain on the character. Ben Kingsley, as Ashecliff’s head psychiatrist, and Dicaprio’s interactions throughout the movie create an intriguing dynamic between two polar opposites. The soundtrack itself added an intense air to the film, though the music playing as he approaches the island was a little much at times.

Though parts of the plot proved to be predictable, it was held up by good writing, excellent acting, masterful (if at times cliché) directing, and the overall storyline left this writer extremely satisfied. Let there be no doubts, however, that this movie is not a horror film. It is a psychological drama/suspense, and if you want to see a horror film then this movie shouldn’t be at the top of your list. That being said, if you’d like to see a suspense film that will have you thinking until you figure out the ending and even then thinking some more, this movie is highly recommended to you.

The Como Choir group is leaving March 11th for New York to perform and see the thrilling attractions of the city. They’ve been fundraising since last year for this trip, and anyone in the choir was able to sign up. For five days they will be touring Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and many other city highlights. The group will also be attending a Broadway musical and a boat cruise on the last day of their trip. The goal of the trip is to perform Beethoven’s Mass in C major at Carnegie Hall, which is a 54 minute piece! Everyone is excited to sing along with college and professional choir groups as well as an orchestra.
They will be conducted by the famous conductor and composer John Rutter. The group consists of about 30 students led by our very own choir teacher, Carol Whitney. During their trip they’ll even be staying at a five star hotel. This is an amazing opportunity for all choir students attending, and we’re all excited to hear the stories they come back with. Best wishes on their performances!

Inside Carnegie Hall

“MINNEAPOLIS!” growls Adam D, guitarist of the metal band Killswitch Engage. Killswitch was the headliner in a three band lineup at First Ave & 7^th street entry along with The Devil Wears Prada, a Christian metal band, and Dark Tranquility, a Swedish metal band.

Dark Tranquility opened the show on stage with subtle synthesizers, loud vocals, and every band member swinging their heads in harmony. They delivered a mix of thrash and black metal to the show to a number of fans.

The Devil Wears Prada, known for their heavy breakdowns, was the second band on the list for the show. Their performance resulted in massive circle pits and excessive (and quite violent) head-banging, satisfying their large Minnesota fan base.

Halfway through the show, one of their guitarists was experiencing technical difficulties and they had to pause the show for a few minutes while the keyboardist and drummer took turns comically fiddling around on their instruments.

Killswitch Engage’s Lead vocalist Howard Jones did not appear at the show due to illness, however, that did not halt the brutal performance that Killswitch brought to the show. Lead vocalist and front-man, Phil Labonte, from the metal band, All That Remains, did the vocals in place of Howard Jones. “WE ARE NOW KNOWN AS… PHILSWITCH ENGAGE!” Adam D comically growled into his mic.

It was announced that Howard was ill a week prior to the Minneapolis show, and the details as to Howard’s “illness” are unclear. The member of Killswitch stated “It became overwhelmingly obvious to all of us around Howard that he is in no condition to be on tour right now and that he needed to get off the road and get himself better. It’s a personal matter and while we understand everyone’s curiosity and concern for Howard and the band, we appreciate everyone respecting Howard’s privacy at this time.”

Phil Labonte, vocalist from All That Remains and good friend of Killswitch, was excited to fill in for Howard and yelled into the mic “We really do feel that our fans are the best fans in the world.” The band also thanked Labonte for pitching in, saying “We can’t thank Phil enough for helping us out when we needed it the most.”

Killswitch closed the show with an epic encore performance of Dio’s Holy Diver. Phil and Adam D thanked the crowd and the show was a success.

America is used to Hollywood’s obsession with post apocalyptic settings seen in many the movies of the past decade. Every other movie there is to see seems to portray how humanity survives on the barren and barbaric landscape of a ravaged world. Like many of the most recent film directed by the Hughes Brothers such as Menace II Society, and Dead Presidents, The Book of Eli, continues this post apocalyptic trend in a film starring Denzel Washington (American Gangster, Malcolm X), Gary Oldman (The Fifth Element, The Dark Knight), and Mila Kunis (That 70’s Show, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

The Book of Eli follows lone wanderer Eli (Washington) as he travels west across the desert wasteland of the United States. The year is 2043, thirty years after the war which resulted in an extreme climate shift, ripping a hole in the ozone and exposing the earth to stronger, more dangerous rays from the sun. Eli is one of the few still alive who can remember the “world that came before”, as a generation has grown up in a savage world without literacy, easy access to necessities, or ethics. He meets the young and curious Solara (Kunis), and clashes with her step father Carnegie (Oldman), the malevolent dictator of a town. Eli has in his possession something that has the power to save humanity, or a powerful tool to control it if in the wrong hands.

Though the world created in this film has several unique and interesting aspects to it, the fact is that this world has been seen before. Despite the portrait of a decaying desert world being fairly generic, it was still well done, and the back story includes a few interesting twists which unwind themselves later in the story. Where the story began to weaken, the excellent performances by Washington and Oldman helped to keep the film together. The weakest aspect of the movie was Kunis’ character and her overall performance in the film.

If nothing else, The Book of Eli is an action film, and in that regard it doesn’t disappoint. The fight scenes in the film, though preposterous, are still well done and are very visually pleasing.

The concert began with Men’s Choir and Women’s Choir. These choirs are made to be taken as an introduction to singing, or in the case of someone like Maddy Hickel, who’d been singing for many years before she entered Como as a freshman last fall, an introduction the Como Park Music Department. For being a young group of girls, women’s choir has shocked the school with dedication to the music.

The audience loved the booming low voices of the young men in Men’s Choir. Also with many students new to singing, the bass wasn’t overpowering and the tenors could sing their parts. With an accompaniment by Miriam Dennis, the boys sounded similar to how they looked – wonderful in their robes.

Some questions arose during the Donna choir’s performance. It’s traceable that the attendance for the Donna choir’s hour long class with Ms. Whitney is generally sparse. Though the girls were pushing themselves, as they haven’t practiced as much as would be advisable before a concert, they still fell flat – and a few voices ended up being very sharp.

He concert continued with a uplifting performance by the jazz choir. The group has a more personal feel, fewer members, each one of them singing into their own microphone. The melodies were beautiful; the solos (by Leakhena Prak, Maddie Berger and Dan Heuer) were unforgettable. A range from soprano to deep bass, the jazz choir is nearly perfectly mixed as far as voices this year.

The Concert Choir, naturally, blew the audience away. The powerful voices were loud, honest and confidant. With Sam Brown being the prominent voice above the rest of the ladies, and Erik Sateren and Adam Reece as the undertones for the men, there’s nothing that can really go wrong.

The concert ended when all choirs got on stage and sang as a whole. It was a lovely ending with plenty of black and gold for all of the parents, friends and other relatives in the audience.

The next endeavor the Theater Department will take on is the formation of a successful Improvisational Club. The club will meet every Friday after school from January 15^th until an ending date is determined. What the club does is a lot like what happens on the show who’s line is it anyway – the members play a bunch of games and try to be funny. “It’s pretty much just us screwing around, nothing intimidating,” said Sean O’Connell. He has been doing improv for about five years, three years with Como, and though he has fun at Como’s Improv club meetings, the results of the past few years have been mildly disappointing. There has not been an Improv show since 2006, a year before the 2010 Seniors were even at Como. No one who currently attends Como can remember the good days of comedy in our theater department, and that’s partially why the Improv Club attendance has been so sparse. The past few years, there have been between three and eight members at each Improv meeting. This year there will hopefully be a boost in attendance.

The Club would like you to know that the environment at each meeting is relaxed and friendly. New comers are welcomed – The senior members were all new to improve at one point, too, and some of the best times were had when they were learning how to be funny. “We’ll probably keep the club going until the choirs go to New York,” said Sean O’Connell. “So we have a few months to get our group in shape.” The choirs leave for New York in the middle of March, and until then, every Friday after school in the auditorium is dedicated to new and old improvisational artists.

Last Thursday, Dec. 15th, we attended the Donna Di Cantare theater performance of “It’s my party.” Altogether it was a pretty good show.

Some things that stuck out in our mind were the humor and the unexpected musical selections. Casondra Flores played “Fantasia,” the deceitful host of the Halloween party. Even though Casondra was the main character, everyone else’s roles were almost equally important. While the singing was solid, the acting is what really captured my attention.

In the play, mysterious events had bothered the teens throughout the party. After several characters went missing, who was to blame? A scene in the play reveals Fantasia as a not so conventional party host who has been behind the disappearances of her party guests; giving the play quite the twist.

By the end of the play, only the murderer was left standing. The script takes a shocking turn when the victims come back as the living-dead to kill “Casondra,” along with a phenomenal ending of the recreation of thriller.

Altogether, this was a very fun experience for us. For everyone who did not attend “you missed a great play.”

November 6

The box: A family receives a box that promises to deliver it owner a million dollars with the press of a button. There is but only one catch; someone, somewhere in the world will die!

A Christmas carol: The famous story of scrooge being visited by the ghost of Christmas past is back, but this time in 3D!

Endgame: An action-thrilled movie that takes place in South Africa, 1985. With the imprisonment of nelson Mandela, the country plunging in to a race war, and the secret talks that take place in a rural English house what is to be expected next.

The fourth kind: When a UFO is sighted, it’s called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it’s called an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it’s called an encounter of the third kind. In modern day Nome, Alaska people have mysteriously disappeared since the 1960’s. This is called an encounter of the “fourth kind”.

Men who stare at goats: This movie takes place in Iraq, when a desperate reporter stumbles upon the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, who claims to be a former secret U.S. military psychic soldier who was reactivated post-9/11.

Precious: A story about an illiterate high school girl who is pregnant with her father’s child for the second time. She is abused at home and teased by her classmates for being fat yet still find the strength to turn her life around.

Pirate radio: In 1966 — British pop music’s finest era — the BBC played only two hours of rock and roll every week. But pirate radio blasted rock and pop from the high seas 24 hours a day. And 25 million people — more than half the population of Britain — listened to these pirates every single day.

November 13

2012: Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. A global cataclysm that brings an end to the world

Dare: Three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be.

The messenger: A U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service (bears the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers) fall for the women he is assigned to tell the bad news of her husband.

Women in trouble: A serpentine day in the life of ten seemingly disparate women: a porn star, a flight attendant, a psychiatrist, a masseuse, a bartender, a pair of call girls, etc.

November 20

Planet 51: An American astronaut believing himself to be the first person ever to set foot on Planet 51 gets the shock of his life in this animated adventure.

Twilight saga: new moon: It’s back! The romance story about a mortal and a vampire soars to a new level. Following Bella’s ill-fated 18th birthday party, Edward Cullen and his family abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect her from the dangers. In a race against the clock, Bella learns the secret of the Quileute’s and Edward’s true motivation for leaving her.

Broken embraces: A follow-up to Spanish enfant terrible. A past scandal suddenly resurfaces when the news arrives that the producer of one of Harry’s old movies has died.

Fix: Inspired by actual events, film follows documentary filmmakers Bella and Milo as they race across Los Angeles on a twelve hour mission to get Milo’s brother Leo to rehab before he’s given a three year prison sentence.

Mammoth: She’s an emergency-room surgeon; he’s a listless, Internet game designer. They have a family: A seven-year-old daughter Jackie is practically being raised by a 24/7 Filipino caregiver, Gloria, who dotes on her incessantly and Gloria’s two geographically estranged sons. Step by step, the actions that take place while abroad create a domino effect and alter everyone’s lives in irreversible ways.

November 25

Ninja assassin: An action-packed tale of a skilled assassin who was trained by a mythical secret society, and patiently a waits the day he will avenge the death of his best friend.

Old dogs: Two best friends — one unlucky-in-love divorcee and the other a fun-loving bachelor — have their lives turned upside down when they’re unexpectedly charged with the care of six-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives

The princess and the frog: An animated musical comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. A classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana, a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana.