The Silver Flame

Beloved Tai

2009-03-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

On November 1st, 2008 Tai Lam of Silver Spring Maryland was on the Metro Ride-On bus on his way home with his brother and a few friends when he was shot to death. An altercation had taken place on bus between three to four gang-members (MS-13) and some of the people on the bus. When the men exited the bus, one held the door open and Hector Mauricio Hernandez, a member of the gang, shot into the bus, killing Lam and wounding two other. Tai Lam was a freshman at Montgomery Blair High School and his brother, Lam Cao is a junior at the same school. Tai was an innocent bystander and said and did nothing to provoke the violence of the men who shot into the bus. Tai was an honors student and described by teachers, family, and friends as a sweet, sweet kid who loved to have fun and be with his friends. Before his death, Tai was running for homecoming lord at his school. Two weeks after his death, the school announced his victory at the homecoming game. Tai's family, friends, school, and community has to suffer a loss due to the violence of others. Tai's young life was cut short and he is missed greatly. Tai would be 15 on April 5th of this year, so friends have organized a memorial for him to honor his birthday in downtown Silver Spring. It is clear that Tai will never be forgotten and rightfully so. He was a wonderful child who touched many hearts, including mine.

Spring Shopping List

2009-03-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

Chunky Heels
Black tipped oxford heels
Cute clutch purse
Anything pink or orange
Fresh perfume
Anything Plaid!
Maybelline New York Colossal Volum' Express Mascara
Moon's Reflection eye shadow from M.A.C.
Punk Rose Sneaks
Fresh Pair of Sunglasses (preferably chunky)
A new shorter hair cut (to finally feel the breeze of spring!)

A Youtube Sensation

2009-03-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

Being a Youtube phenomena is a lot of work. Ask 19-year-old Mitchell Davis, who is currently 43rd most subscribed of all time on Youtube.com. Davis goes by the username LiveLavaLive on youtube.com. The Ohio native has more to offer than his well-known comedic nature. He's also a surprisingly good artist with a taste for photography and film. Clips like Eternal Sunshine, Sunday Yacht and Monday Yacht, Mitchell's Memories, and Photos With Mitchell one and two are some examples of his skills with the camera. Youtube users comment on his more artistic videos, applauding him for his ability to make something as simple as street lights in the night or water running beautiful or amazing. One fan tells Davis "You can take normal little things like a bunch of blurry lights, and make it absloutly amazing =)". But his fans are still in love with his more comedic clips. His most viewed clip, as of now is Usher/MCMB which is one of his many "random clips" he makes just for fun. One of the many things that make his videos so funny and appealing is his recording style. Davis uses what many youtubers call the roll and cut style. The roll and cut style is when someone films themselves in little sections at a time, sometimes even cutting themselves and getting themselves at different angles. Youtubers love this, but it's time consuming. You can see examples of Youtubers who use the roll and cut style when watching Fred (number one subscribed of all time on Youtube), Nigahiga, and others. Davis' best friend Kyle periodically shows up in some of the clips including Q&A, The Party Music, and Learning With Kyle. Davis also has another career cut out for him; he has his own clothing line. The clothing line consists of sweatshirts, headbands, and t-shirts that have the logo LiveLavaLive and other references to his youtube clips. One shirt says "This is Awkward. But I like it" referencing to a line in one of his "random" clips 50 Cent. Davis all in all has his future made out for him. With his many fans, artistic skills, and funny nature, this kid's gonna go far.

For more Mitchell Davis, see bottom of screen.

A Real Spekatacle

2009-02-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

To find your next favorite musical artist, you don't have to have a musical epiphany or search the seven seas for something that just warms your heart. Sometimes simply taking time out to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with your younger cousins will do. That's just what I did. At the beginning through just about the end, the music in the movie was all scores by Harry Gregson-Williams. But the last song in the actual movie and all the songs in the credits were songs sung by fairly well-known artists (written especially for the movie, of course). The song that really caught my eye was The Call sung by Regina Spektor. Once I got home, I spent long hours (or maybe a half an hour) looking for the song because at the time, I only knew the title of it. I won't get into the long drawn-out process of finding the song, but once I did I listened to it about 12 times until deciding to look into more songs by Spektor. Spektor is Russian-born singer who, at a young age, was taught to play piano by her musical parents in Moscow. Her family moved to the Bronx, New York where the young artist continued her studies in classical music at the Manhattan School of Music. She soon began writing her own songs and her musical pursuits continued throughout college and graduated from Purchase College. Spektor self-released two albums in 2001; Soviet Kitsch and Songs. She then toured with the Strokes and her music career took off. Spektor's musical style is somewhere between Indie Pop and Alternative. Her catchy beats and wonderful piano skills bring a touch of her background to the music. Spektor's song writing skills can be seen at its best in songs like Samson and Fidelity. I greatly admire her talent and fell in love with her songs. Apparently, I am not the only one because itunes has decided to keep The Call off the market unless your planning to buy the whole Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian album. Despite that fact, the popularity of that particular song is still the highest out of all on the CD. Spektor with her young and unique sounds, keeps her fans coming.

What a Beautiful Month

2009-02-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

Spring is coming and thats means no more warm, fuzzy sweaters or winter pea coats. Some would say "Horrah!" to the switch in clothes and others would say "Great. Just when I finally found the perfect scarf to wear with my pea coat." Have no fear. Here are some highly recommended spring fashion-musts that can help you get through another fashion-filled season.

-Floral is back! Try to mix floral into your pallet this spring. i.e. A cute pastel-colored shirt with a floral patterened pair of denim shorts

-Sorry bohemian girls, bangles are out this spring. But beaded is a good option. i.e. a blue and red beaded bracelet would go good with a casual purple dress.

-Chunky sandals, high healed, lots of strap go great with tights.

-Gwen Steffani is all set for spring with her red red red lipstick. Pair it with a an off-white, sleeveless dress. Just be careful to not to let the red get on the dress.

-Converse will never die. Instead of high chucks, a nice low pair of chucks with some short shorts and a funky tee. They come in every single pattern, color, and design on the planet so you are sure to find one to your liking.

-Earthy designs and tones are no longer cliche. Earthy doesn't necessarily have to be green or blue. Different tones of brown, grays, blue, and green can be used. Try some flowing and loose shirt this spring paired with tighter bottoms.

-Orange is back. Gets some neon orange and pair it with a darker blue or purple. The colors will make a good combination.

If you need more fashion advice go to

http://www.teenvogue.com/beauty

A Transformation

2009-02-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

Humble as she is, this woman has no reason to be. Anne Hathaway, one of Hollywood's premier actresses, recently broken-up with long time beau Rafaello Follieri. This break-up provoked a metamorphosis in the 26-year-old actress causing a change in lifestyle, interests, and of course fashion. "I realized that the past five years of my life have been spent accumulating things I like, but never asked if I loved." Hathaway tells Vogue magazine. Hathaway slowly began picking up pieces and fragments of her old life and began shaping herself a new one. One that involved Death Cab For Cutie, kickboxing with David Kirsch, and an new magnificent wardrobe. Her recent movie, Rachael Getting Married where she plays a narcissist who almost ruins her sister wedding, puts her beyond the look-out for list, but into the she's-a-keeper list. She is quickly moving up the in her career and her costars and workers have nothing but good words to say about. "Annie walks this fine line between being unbelievably intelligent and well read in her manner and being this wild little girl." Bridesmaid costar Kate Hudson quotes in Vogue magazine. As she moves up in her career, so does her fashion sense. Though not born glamorous, Hathaway still managed to become fashionably in-tune. Her break-up and professional triumph turned her into a woman that is comfortable being glamorous but most important, comfortable with her self. "I am really going to embarrass myself today." Hathaway tells Vogue, "I'm treating myself to something I should have treated myself to a year ago."

Sleep- The More the Merrier

2009-02-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Sleep- what is its purpose? Sleep is the bodies way of rebooting and renewing itself. It is said that sleep is the best healer of all, both physical and mental. That's where the saying "Sleep on it" comes in. Dreams can help you work out your problems and fears. We face our worst fears in dreams and have some of our greatest ideas. Madame C.J. Walker had dreamed her hair products that made her the first African American woman to become a millionaire. It's pretty obvious how important sleep is, so why are teenagers getting so little nowadays? Because we have to get up so early.
Teenagers are wired to stay up late and sleep late, even the morning birds. Toddlers and younger children seem to be wired to sleep early and wake up early. So this question crosses many people's mind: Why do the younger kids start school later? Sadly, there are many answers to that. One being that a lot of elementary school students are picked up by their older sibling. If the Board of Education decided to switch the two times, the elementary schools would have to wait around for their siblings to finish their school day. Daycare is not an option for many parents, especially considering the current economic situation. Another factor is the after school activities that many high schoolers participate in, especially sports. Most after school buses come around 4:15 p.m. according to expectation, so students have to be out of their activity by that time. If high school starting time was switched with elementary schools, the after school time would be shortened thus giving students less time for their after school activities. These are just some of the many issues facing those who object to the early morning call high schoolers deal with. But there are solutions to these issues, though they are not easily done. The solutions include extending bus times, moving schedules down, and forcing many people to take later hours.
But some people consider it worth the effort. One high school student sums it up, saying "I don't think we [high school students] should have classes that early...nobody is really awake." The student then points out that they wouldn't have the ability to retain any information from their first classes of the day thus the demographics of that class would suffer, as would the students' grades. There is scientific evidence pointing to the fact that if a person's brain is not fully in gear, it cannot fully retain the information given to it. But the worst part for many high schoolers is not the hour or how early it is, but just how dark and cold it is in the dead of winter. It's bad enough getting up that early in the day, but having to get up when the house is cold and it's pitch black outside doesn't help a person's mood. Many students come from far away and have to get up before the crack of dawn, so no matter what season or time of year it is, they'll still wake up to pitch black. With all this in mind, is it really beneficial to drag high school students out of their nice, warm beds so early in the morning? There's no doubt that most high schools students don't believe so, but there is a small number that think that the early morning benefits them. "It prepares us for our future jobs which might require us [students] to get up at that early." One students point out, "We have to swallow our early morning drowsiness and train our brains to work at that time." This opinion is not widely shared and the cons out way the pros. In all, opinions seem to point towards change.
So with all of that in mind and all the issues we face if we plan to change the schedule, we shouldn't ask ourselves "Can we do this?", but more along the lines of "Is it worth it?". In the end, question can only be answered by the high school students of today.