It was an incredible feat for two 17-year olds, particularly considering they had only been making music for a year. While their success engendered its share of haters, the doubts were instantly quelled upon the release of their debut album, Skinny Jeanz & A Mic. A critical and commercial success, the LA Times praised Ben J and Legacy’s innate “catchiness and charisma,” while XXL magazine hailed the Boyz as “the breath of fresh air that rap needs.”

While the  world may have initially known them as jerks, the group’s second smash single, the Ray J-aided slow jam, “Tie Me Down” went multi-platinum and was the groups second Top 5 record at rhythmic radio. Revealing their pop gifts and versatility, the collaboration still dominates radio even a year after its initial release. They were up for a BET Award for best group and even snagged Teen Choice Award nomination. Subsequent tours with Chris Brown and Sean Kingston revealed the hysterical fervor of the group’s fan base. Several mall performances even worked the crowd into such a frenzy that law enforcement had to shut them down.

But it’s 2011, and rather than the rest on their laurels, Ben J and Legacy are back with their sophomore album, Too Cool To Care for May 10th release on Shotty/Asylum/Warner Bros. Records. The new album reflects the group’s continued evolution, as they harness different genres (electro, alternative rock, R&B) and blend them with their hip-hop roots and trademark wit and confidence. As they said from the start: New Boyz do new things. “We still support the movement, but we wanted to show our creativity without being tied to jerkin’,” Legacy said. “Too Cool To Care is about how we’ve always gotten criticism from those who want to hate on our fashion or our style. But we’ve always done our thing. The album has crazy pop tracks, rock songs, and electronic songs. We’re testing our boundaries.”

“Break My Bank” combines the best of both worlds: fluid raps layered atop island crooner and labelmate lyaz’s instantly memor able hook. The result is a summer jam that conjures palm trees, white sand beaches, fluorescent waters and pink drinks with umbrellas in them. An instant smash, in just two weeks the single was added to 50 radio station playlists and closed in on pace to be Asylum’s fastest record to #1 on any airplay chart.

Their first single “Backseat” is their attempt to bridge all these influences. Produced by Indie-dance duo The Cataracts and featuring their starlet Dev, the song marks the group’s foray into pop territory while keeping roots in hip-hop inspired fun. The “Escalade-based bager,” described by Entertainment Weekly on its rise up the charts, “is how dance parties start–and how babies accidentally get made.”

Elsewhere on the album, the group proves they can step away from the house-party functions and into a glitzy nightclub, concocting electro-club bangers like “Zonin.” But don’t be misled by the eclecticism. Even hardcore hip-hop heads, who view skinny jeans as the sign of the apocalypse, will be converted by the DJ Khalil-produced “Tough Kids” with its rapid-fire raps, raw boom-bap drums and Hendrix-style guitars.

“We wanted to show that we’ve grown up a little bit It’s not something out of left field, but want to show the world that we’re the New Boyz and we always do new things,” said Ben J. “The first album was more jerkin’ oriented. It let the world know who we are. This album is focused on expressing ourselves to the girls. We’re always trying to get the ladies.”

Their first album made them voices of their generation, but their second explains exactly who the New Boyz are. They’re children of the iPod age, able to switch style as easily as they switch their skinny jeans. The notions of traditional hip-hop mean nothing to them. They’re dedicated to pushing past genre and aesthetic boundaries. They’re perennially on the quest for the new. And if you don’t like it, that’s all good–they’re Too Cool To Care.

But the fun doesn’t completely mask the quarter’s work ethic and serious commitment to working toward power-pop greatness. One clear standout in their growing catalog is “Catching Up,” a call to action-themed track that became a fan favorite after the band performed it in the set of their Suddenly headline tour in the summer of 2010. It appears on the new album, and these particular lyrics definitely have the ring of “mission statement” about them, too. “I’m done hanging out/Talking ’bout what I want/No fun sitting here/Thinking maybe next year,” sings lead vocalist Zach Porter. “I don’t wanna be/Looking back at 23/Saying to myself: Got a lot of catching up to do.”

Older listeners accustomed to pondering what they might regret in middle age or on their deathbeds might laugh to think of Porter imagining the regrets he could end up harboring at age 23–which for him, like the other members of Allstar Weekend, is still three years down the line. But the band members were conscious about keeping the threshold for possible disappointment and remorse that young.

“That was a lyric that we were actually discussing: Should it be ‘I don’t want to be looking back at 23,’ or 33, or 43? But we kept it young, at 23. Because I’ve seen so many of my friends now–after high school, after we set what we wanted to do with our lives and we went to our colleges and whatnot–that are just kind of doing nothing.. Either they lost their sense of direction or were maybe too scared to actually go after something in their life that they really desire. ‘Catching Up’ is a wake up call to people to step out of that comfort zone, take a risk, and go for what you really want.”

If youth is often said to be wasted on the young, it’s definitely not being wasted on Allstar Weekend, who have somehow managed to be both determined and carefree in going for the gold. They started the band while attending the same San Diego high school–though some of the close friendships date back to middle school–and happened into a series of lucky breaks, making their own luck all the while.

Break number one, in their minds, was landing their managers, Stefanie and Richard Reines, while they were still in high school. This carries both practical and symbolic importance, since these managers also happened to be founders of the group’s favorite indie record label, Drive-Thru Records, a Los Angeles-based imprint that had signed a good number of the band members’ favorite local pop-punk groups. At the same time, Allstar Weekend knew that striving after indie cred was not the path for them, when, however had they might rock, their hooks were so unabashedly pop and their instincts so unabashedly commercial.

Break number two came when they made a fateful decision to drive up to L.A. from San Diego, on a whim. “Every time we’d walk out of one of those venues in San Diego, there’d always be people handing out free CDs  and flyers. So we started handing out at various shows,” says Quiseng. “We ended up handing a flyer to a casting director at Disney, who gave it to someone from Radio Disney. And then overnight we got this email saying: ‘We checked out you stuff online and enjoyed it. I have this competition, and I need one more band. Do you want to come into the studios and join the contest?’ We went in and we were super-nervous, talking over each other. But hearing our song blasting on the radio in Zach’s car was such an experience, I can’t even explain how much we were freaking out.”

And then, Quiseng hastens to add, “We actually ended up losing the competition”–but, as Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, and other famous contest losers would tell you, that’s not always such a fatal thing. The Radio Disney exposure led to a series of showcases for major labels, and going with Hollywood Records, “where we wanted to be from the beginning,” was big break number three.

Allstar Weekend  have continued to be embraced by Radio Disney in a huge way. The station’s studio is “practically out home away from home,” says Quiseng. But, of course, the group differs from a great deal of the other fare heard there, first of all by beingt a band, not a solo artist, and then by not being attached to any TV or movie property. Their level of musical accomplishment at the mutual age of 20 is so great that it may be hard for some observers to believe they really are a self-made outfit, and not something put together by some mad, brilliant Svengali. But, as far as they’ve come, they’re not that far removed from their parents’ garages, in years or in spirit.

And before they were a garage band, they were a bedroom band. Because  before Allstar Weekend even formed, singer Porter and guitarist Nathan Darmody had joined forces just to become songwriters. The fact that writing was first love, and remains an ongoing one, may account for the ultimate underlying strength of Allstar Weekend as a song- and not image-based band. It also gives Allstar Weekend the gift of longevity as a band that will long outlast their beginnings at Disney.

“I think some people forming bands go out wanting to make a statement, or become a character, or embody some kind of image,” says Porter. “But we were never trying to be a grunge band, not trying to be a metal band, not trying to be an indie-rock band. Before we were even a band, Nathan and I wanted to be songwriters, and we’re still trying to write catchy songs that people can relate to, and just be who we are.

Among the four of them they agree that guitarist Darmody and drummer Michael Martinez are the most natural, long-standing, and accomplished musicians of the group. Bassist Quiseng admits: “I had dabbled in guitar, but I had never picked up a bass. I just really wanted to be in the band with these guys because they were close friends. So Nathan taught me everything I know, or at least showed me the basics of playing bass, and I just practiced and practiced until I was ready to join them.” Porter had done a similar amount of work to excel as the band’s frontman. “I wasn’t born a singer,” he says. “I remember for years, my parents told me, ‘Zach, this is a pipe dream. You need something to fall back on.’ But I kept at it. It’s a matter of drive and determination and passion.”

Those are all qualities that show up in spades in the 11 songs on Suddenly Yours–along with, of course, the aforementioned fun. The album’s first single, “Come Down With Love,” is one of Allstar Weekend’s hardest-rocking tracks yet, and one–befitting the virus metaphor–with a distinctive ear-worm quality. “I think it’s a more powerful song than we’ve ever written before,” says Porter, “and will definitely be a big step in how people view us,” That song, which the band recently sang to Demi Lovato on the Disney Channel’s hit sitcome Sonny With a Chance, is one of four never-before-heard songs that didn’t appear on the previous EP.

The other newbie tracks are “Catching Up,” the love-struck “Can’t Sleep Tonight,” and “Here With You.” The last number, whih Allstar Weekend have been known to break out acoustically in radio visits and other more intimate settings, is a sincere-sounding but slightly tongue-in-cheek ode to a Masxim pin-upgirl that Porter had on his wall in high school. (“As soon as I moved out, my brother stold the poster,” the singer points out.)

Other songs here are already familiar to diehard fans, like “Dance Forever,” a hit digital download from its initial release on Suddenly EP last summer. It’s a no-brainer to guess that that breakout song is, well, danceable, but the influence of their childhood heroes, blink-182, is more impossible as becoming superheroes. In the tune, addressing his own innate modesty in the face of these no-so-fantastical fantasies, Porter sings, “I’m only five-foot-eight…” But, he jokes, not only have they achieved most of the other goals in the song, but “I’m five-foot-eight and a half now. I’ve stepped up my game!”

The album’s closer, “The Weekend,” may seem like a simple party-pleaser of a rocker, but the band’s seize-the-day philosophy is embedded even in a song that initially sounds like it’s only about seizing a Saturday. “The general theme, besides the weekend, is that whether or not you like what you’re doing in school or like you job, there are always going to be times where you can be yourself,” says Porter. “And it may not be in you job, but there will be moments in life where you can shine as the person you really are. I think people maybe forget that or don’t even know that.”

Allstar Weekend’s ultimate aspiration is to be unforgettable, themselves. For the time being, they stay after every concert to meet every last fan who can stick around–a process that can last as long as four or five hours. These epic meet-’n'-greets are a ritual they won’t be able to do forever, but “it’s really important to do it now,” says Porter. “Because every night on this headlining tour that we’ve been doing, our goal above everything is to make it a night that everyone there can remember the rest of their lives. And having that face-to-face interaction is vital to that, so we take it really seriously.”

“We’re so busy now and we have such little interaction with our old friends or even our family while we’re on the road, the fans are the ones that can almost relate to us the easiest, or understand us the most, at this point. They’re the ones who see us the most! So it’s a really great relationship.” Right now, to a fan base that has emerged almost instantaneously, Allstar Weekend are “suddenly yours,” but they’re counting on that developing into “forever yours.”

This is a sample rendition, but is likely to be the final version of the front of the FDHS Savings Card.

An example of what the back of our card may look like. Offers shown will not necessarily appear on the final card.

FDHS is proud to announce their first annual FDHS Savings Card will be arriving soon. The card will benefit businesses and consumers alike and is being created as a fundraiser for the yearbook staff.

“Times have been hard for everyone over the last couple of years,” said James Roller, FDHS’s yearbook adviser. “Even our yearbook has been hit hard as a result of the economy. Yearbook orders are lower than at any other time since I began advising here in the 99-00 school year, both business and personal ads much harder to sell and are, too, at an all time low. We really have to struggled to meet our publication costs.”

“It dawned on me we would need to change our fundraising strategy if we were going to continue to try to produce the quality of book we have traditionally created. My kids’ elementary school has offered a savings card ever since my now 18 year-old first enrolled. I knew as a parent and consumer that their savings card was a great deal, and we buy one every year. Since FDHS did not have such an offer in place, that seemed like a natural way to help not only the yearbook staff, but, honestly, local businesses and members of our community alike,” said Roller.

For Businesses

Currently, FDHS is in the process of discussing their card with local businesses to provide them an opportunity to be included. The yearbook staff is looking to include twenty or more savings offers on the card, and as of the date of this writing, they are about halfway there, with a number of agreements pending.

The yearbook staff hopes to begin offering the card for sale before the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

Business that might like to be included on the card (either this year or in future years), should contact Mr. Roller. They can also simply download the FDHS Merchant Agreement and mail or fax in to FDHS.

“Our goal for our business partners with this card is to give people in our community an incentive to visit our partners. As a FDHS Savings Card holder, say I am deciding on a place to eat. I know I have an offer at Wendy’s, but not one for Chick-fil-a. I certainly have a greater reason now to spend my money at Wendy’s instead,” said Roller.

“With our annual Savings Card in the hands of hundreds of people in the Fort Dorchester community, businesses included on our card will have a competitive advantage over their competitors. It is as simple as that,” Roller continued.

The deadline to submit a Merchant Agreement for this year’s card is April 22.

For the Community

Clearly, what the Savings Card offers is twenty or more discounts or other savings offers that are valid on a daily basis until 8/1/2012.

That is over a year of savings at places like Kangaroo Gas Stations, Wendy’s, Chili’s, Wonder Wash, Brat’s Tanning, and Arby’s.

In addition, FDHS’s yearbook staff is currently in discussions with places like Tanger Outlet and reaching out to business owners who have students at Fort Dorchester to provide even more value for our card holders.

“The great thing about our Savings Card is that these offers are not just one-time discounts. Unless indicated otherwise, these offers can be used at all of these businesses every day until August 2012.  That will be a very real benefit for anyone who uses our Savings Card,” Roller said.

The cost of the card will only be $20 and will have the following restrictions:

• Must Present at Time of Order

• Equal or Lesser Value with Buy one, Get One offers
• Not Valid With Other Offers, Coupons, or Specials
• Not Transferable
• Limit One Offer Per Card Per Person Per Day
• Subject to Change Without Notice
• Additional Terms and Conditions May Apply

“We hope to include at least 20 offers on our Savings Card this year. At this point, we are almost there between the agreements we already have on hand and those pending with whom we are currently in discussions.  In addition, we have just sent a voice message to the homes of all Fort Dorchester students to make sure we don’t leave out any business owner who feels they could benefit from being on our card. When this collection of offers is finalized, we feel we will really have something of value to offer both those businesses and our card holders. Really it is a win-win-win situation,”  Roller said.

FDHS’s savings card is expected to go on sale beginning May 2.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”)

Writers: Moira Buffini (“Tamara Drewe”); Based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Imogen Poots, Judi Dench

MPAA Rating: PG-13

In a bold new feature version o Jane Eyre, director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) infuse a contemporary immediacy into Charlotte Bronte’s timeless, classic story. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the iconic lead roles of the romantic drama, the heroine of which continues to inspire new generations of devoted readers and viewers.

In the 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre (played by Ms. Wasikowska) suddenly flees Thornfield Hall, the vast and isolated estate where she works as a governess for Adele Varens (Romy Settbon Moore), a child under the custody of Thornfield’s brooding master, Edward Rochester (Mr. Fassbender). The imposing residence- and Rochester’s own imposing nature- have sorely tested her resilience. With nowhere else to go, she is extended a helping hand by clergyman St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell of Focus Features’ The Eagle) and his family. As she recuperates in the Rivers’ Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past…

Aged 10, the orphaned Jane (played by Amelia Clarkson) is mistreated and then cast out of her childhood home Gateshead by her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed (Golden Globe Award winner Sally Hawkins). Consigned to the charity school Lowood, Jane encounters further harsh treatment but receives an education and meets Helen Burns (Freya Parks), a poor child who impresses Jane as a soulful and contented person. The two become firm friends. When Helen falls fatally ill, the loss devastates Jane, yet strengthens her resolve to stand up for herself and make the just choices in life.

As a teenager, Jane arrives at Thornfield. She is treated with kindness and respect by housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax (Academy Award winner Judi Dench). Jane’s interest is piqued by Rochester, who engages her in games of wit and storytelling, and divulges to her some of his innermost thoughts. But his dark moods are troubling to Jane, as are strange goings-on in the house- especially the off-limits attic. She dares to intuit a deep connection with Rochester, and she is not wrong; but once she uncovers the terrible secret that he had hoped to hide from her forever, she flees, finding a home with the Rivers family When St. John Rivers makes Jane a surprising proposal, she realizes that she must return to Thornfield- to secure her own future and finally, to conquer what haunts both her and Rochester.

A Classic Novel, A Unique New Adaption: Jane Eyre Revisited

For over 150 years, Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre has been one of the world’s most popular books. A mainstay of school reading lists. It has been translated into virtually every language. A story with protagonist whom Bronte saw as “a heroine as plain and small as myself,” it continues to inspire generations and to influence storytellers.

The power of the story and the popularity of the 1847 novel have led to a host of adaptations of the book; there have been 18 feature versions (dating back to 1910, and most recently 1996), and 9 telefilm versions. The team behind what would become the 2011 version, Jane Eyre, was motivated to reach a world filmgoing audience while also honoring the novel.

Producer Alison Owen, an Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner, offers, “If you say to someone, ‘What’s the definitive film version of Jane Eyre?’ no one really has an answer. Having made a number of movies from or about women’s fiction, I wondered, ‘Why not?’”

“We’re a company that is rapidily building a healthy reputation for being able to successfully convert well-known written works into big- and small-screen entertainment. Taking on Bronte seemed like the natural next step up the literary ladder,” adds produre Paul Trijbits. “It’s a book we already knew had an enormous fan base, so the responsibility was also a major consideration. We wanted to move this interpretation forward into the 21st Century whilst maintaining the story’s haunting beauty.”

Owen and Trijbits’ Ruby Film & Television began on the project, which they took to one of the U.K.’s most prolific film funding organizations, BBC Films, to begin the development process.

Owen adds, “It’s timely in that Charlotte Bronte, seen as ‘the darker sister’ when compared to Emily and Anne Bronte, is being rediscovered much like Jane Austen was nearly 20 years ago.”

“As a producer, I make sure to have general meeting with my favorite writers all the time; right after I’d thought about Jane Eyre, I was meeting with Moira Buffini. I happened to mention it and it turned out to be one of Moira’s favorite books, if not her favorite.”

Buffini seized on the chance to adapt the book, and she and Owen quickly outlined their vision for a full-on-big-screen approach to the story. They knew it had to differ from adaptations that had gone before. Buffini’s approach was to draw out the gothic elements of the story, and make them engines of the piece.

“Moira wanted to make it dark and spooky on an intensely romantic journey. That was her take, which I wholly supported,” recalls Owen.

Further, as the novel would be adapted into a two-hour movie, Owen found that “what was brilliant about the script Moira delivered was the structure she’d chosen. The book is quite difficult in some ways to translate to film. Everyone remembers the sections of Jane’s childhood, of Jane being a governess at Thornfield and falling in love with Mr. Rochester, and then bolting.

“But from then on, there’s another set of characters introduced- the Rivers family. You can do that in a novel, but it’s harder to do two-thirds of the way throught a movie. Moira’s stroke of genius was that instead of abbreviating or loosing this part entirely, which previously adaptations have done, she put it right at the beginning – and turned the novel’s early sections of the young Jane at Lowood and her initial days at Thornfield into flashbacks. Therefore, midway through the third act, we catch up with Jane and you get the emotional punch of being in real time at the end as she comes to terms with everyone and everything.”

Buffini comments, “I hope this will please the many who love the book; while we may not be faithful to the original structure, our version does include every key stage of Jane’s story. Giving  the complete picture was also meant to help the uninitiated- those coming to this story for the first time- to understand and identify with Jane all the more.”

CHARLOTTE BRONTE: AUTHOR OF THE NOVEL

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was born in Thornton, Bradford in Yorkshire, the third of six children.

Her mother died in 1821. In 1824, she enrolled at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge. There, she and her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Emily, were mistreated and malnourished. They were taken out of the school the following year, but the damage had been done and Maria and Elizabeth died of consumption.

In 1829, Ms. Bronte began to write such stories as The Search After Happiness, History of the Year, and the Angrian and Glass Town sagas. The latter chronicles encompassed correspondences and writings of fictional characters in their towns and kingdoms.

Educated at Roe Head, she returned to teach there from 1835 to 1835. She subsequently spent time in Brussels, studying with her surviving sister Emily, and then teaching English.

A book of poems was published in 1846 under two pseudonyms; Ms. Bronte had contributed 19 poems to it. She had also by then written a novel, The Professor, which went unpublished; and began work on the novel Jane Eyre. Published in 1847, the latter quickly became a bestseller. Her subsequent novels included Shirley (1849, but not published until 1857) and Villette (1853).

Ms. Bronte married Arthur Nicholls in 1854; she died nine months later, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church.

KEY PLAYERS: CAST AND CREW

Mia Wasikowska: Star of Tomorrow, Today

Just one year ago, only the savviest talen spotters would have recognized the name “Mia Wasikowska” among a list of up-and-coming actresses. But having previously appeared in several shorts, television programs and indie features, Wasikowska suddenly is everywhere. She stars as Alice in Tom Burton’s worldwide hit, Alice in Wonderland; was nominated as one of MTV’s 2010 “Best Female Breakout Stars”; plays a lead role in Gus Van Sant’s upcoming Restless; made the cover of Vanity Fair; played the pivotal role of Joni- so named bu her lesbian parents, after Joni Mitchell- in Lisa Cholodenko’s Oscar-nominated Focus Features release, The Kids are All Right; and plays the inspiring literary heroine in Cary Joji Fuckunaga’s Jane Eyre. And all that before she turns 21. Indeed, Wasikowska’s rapid fame has even caught her by surprise – “It feels really weird seeing me on a movie poster,” she told UK’s The Guardian.

Michael Fassbender: A Classic Character

In Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender brings a new twist to the character of Edward Rochester, a figure who remains as enigmatic and unforgettable as he was in 1847 when Charlotte Bronte’s novel was first published. Indeed, Fassbender joins a long line of celebrated actors, including Orson Welles and George C. Scott, who’ve put on Rochester is a brusque, brooding, but ultimately good man. In her Elle profile of Fassbender, Karen Durbin includes the actor’s take on this literary titan: “A Byronic character burnt by experience, arrogant but also eloquent and introspective. He’s world-weary and jaded, sensual, self-destructive; yet there’s a good sense of humor in there, and at the end of the day a good heart. He sees the freshness and beauty in Jane when everybody else looks past her.”

Judi Dench: From Stage to Screen

Dame Judi Dench, who plays Mrs. Fairfax in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s new film Jane Eyre – based on Charlotte Bronte’s book – is one of the most acclaimed screen actresses of the past decade; however, Dench was and is a reluctant movie star. Essentially a late bloomer when it comes to film acting, Dench told The Times of London, “I’m more comfortable on stage, where there is an audience to tell a story to, as opposed to a film set where you are not in charge at all. On stage you can hear an audience’s reactions. Within two minutes of a play starting you know how the evening will go. On film you’re more reliant on the director. The moment he leaves you, you’re like a child learning to walk.” Dench has taken huge strides as a cinematic performer – with an Oscar to show for it – but her mastery of screen acting is undoubtedly rooted in the confidence she gained from her work on stage.

Cary Joji Fukunaga: Beginnings

As the story goes, after attending a screening of the restored version of Orson Welles’ Classic Touch of Evil, Jane Eyre director Cary Joji Fukunaga met the great editor Walter Murch, who oversaw the restoration. Murch invited Fukunaga, who had grown up in East Bay and attended U.C. Santa Cruz, to sti in on the sound mix for The Talented Mister Ripley and then gave the erstwhile directo simple, sage advice: “Travel.” “There was no reason I should be rushing out to intern at a company just because I wanted to make movies,” recalled Fukunaga to Time Out New York. “I should be having experiences in the world and be able to comment on them when I ended up directing films.” So, before attending graduate film school at NYU, Fukunaga spent a year traveling the world, returning with an internationalist cinematic agenda. He told Filmmaker magazine, “I love what Michael Winterbottom’s been doing recently. He’s making films all over the world and investigating all these different cultures. Ideally, that’s what I’d like to do.” Fukunaga’s first filmic border crossing was to Mexico, where he made Victoria Para Chino, a riveting, tragic short about 17 illegal Mexican immigrants who die of suffocation while being smuggled across the border to Victoria, Texas. With a budget of only $5,000, Fukunaga made us feel not only the desperate, stifling heat of the immigrants’ locked trailer but also the larger social injustices that resulted in this tragic true story. The film went to numerous festivals, including Sundance, won a silver medal at the Student Academy Awards and announced Fukunaga as one of the film world’s most promising young directors- a status he cemented with his breakthrough feature debut, Focus’ 2009 release Sin Nombre.

But, this offer (Personal Yearbook Pages) will end very soon. February 14, to be exact. This means that you all will NOT be able to add 4 pages of personalized pages to  your yearbook AFTER that date. Patriots, jump on this amazing offer. 15 dollars for a customized yearbook.

Be creative, and make this yearbook, YOURbook.

Make sure you “LIKE” Fort Dorchester Yearbook on Facebook to be able to see any updates on this year’s yearbook.

If you are asking, “What are Personal Yearbook Pages?”, then here is the answer: Personal Yearbook Pages are 4 personalized pages that are created by YOU, and are placed inside YOUR yearbook. These 4 pages can be pictures of your friends and you, or of your hobbies; it can be anything that you want it to be. These 4 pages belong to you, so be creative.

There are multiple ways that one can create these pages. The first way is to log onto WWW.YEARBOOKYOURSELF.COM, and follow the instructions. The other way is to go to LAB 124 on FEBRUARY 1, 2011, and get some hands-on experience with creating the pages (and if you need help, there will be yearbook staff to give you assistance).

For this great opportunity, of course the price is crazy? Wrong. The price for this personalization is only 15 dollars. 15 dollars! That is cheap! Patriots, jump on this opportunity before it slips out of your hands.

The deadline for Personal Yearbook Pages is February 10, 2011.

One last thing: make sure you “LIKE” FDHS Yearbook on Facebook, and pay attention to the announcements.

Diddy Dirty Money

We’re abroad on tour when I met her, the woman of my dreams. We spend the night together, but never get her name. When I wake up, she’s gone.

I’m fatuated with her, really blown away, A couple of months go by, and I bump into her again on tour overseas. We get together, and we’re inseparable for three months. We go to New York, Miami, and all the places where I get it poppin’.

Then, suddenly, we have a misunderstanding and she just breaks out on me. But absence makes the heart grow fonder. We’re two different parts of the world and she’s remembering all the good times while I’m thinking if I had another chance I wouldn’t lose her again. One night in London, I get offstage at 9:45pm and I hear that she’s in Paris. It’s one of the foggiest nights, so I can’t take my plane, I can’t drive. The only way I can get to her is the last train to Paris…

This episode, inspired by a real-life encounter from his past, is the starting point of the new album Last Train to Paris by the Sean “Puffy” Combs’ new group Diddy-Dirty Money. With dark, atmospheric beats and a cinematic back story, the new project represents an entirely new side of the rap impresario. Fans may think they know him, but as he prepares to unleash his latest smash, they are about to experience an entirely nwe Combs, and an entirely new sound. Diddy-Dirty Money is about to redefine dance music for the new decade.

Europe didn’t just provide an evocative backdrop for the story that is Last Train to Paris, it also inspired the sound. Though Combs is known for his contribution to hip hop, he is also passionate fan of dance music, often traveling to global hot spots liek Ibiza and Berlin to take in new sounds emerging from techno scene. Blending elements of UK grime, Mediterranean techno and the 808s of American hip hop, the album represents a new sound that Combs calls “train music.”

COMBS QUOTE TRAIN MUSIC

No stranger to the finer things, Combs amassed a crew of some of the top names in music to help him bring his vision to life. TI, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne all lend guests vocals, but the biggest contribution comes from band member Dawn Richard and Kalenna. “Dawn and I aren’t background singers simply standing next to Diddy,” says Kalenna. “Diddy-Dirty Money isn’t just more of the same. It’s an organic group that grew out of a shared passion for music.”

Kalenna started writing songs at 11, when she would accompany her father- a rapper and army man- into the studio. As a military daughter, she moved ofter, living in diverse locations including Alaska, Germany and Hawaii. In music, she found a hone for herself even as “home” was constantly changing. “Growing up, I understood how music can take you away and help you escape,” she says. “At the same time I began learning how music brings people together; how it can heal and comfort.” She eventually channeled her talent for songwriting into a successful career penning hits for Jill Scott, Jennifer Lopez, Timbaland and multi-platnium producer Rodney Jerkins.

Dawn Richard will be recognizable to fans as a member of the group Danity Kane, formed via the MTV series Making the Band 3. The New Orleans native grew up watching her father perform. A musician, choir director and former member of R&B group Chocolate Milk, he instilled in her a love of music, even as her tastes evolved. “I was more into alternative music,” she says, naming influences including The Cranberries, Sheryl Crow and Green Day. “I saw myself as the leader of a rock band with pink haire, singing the music I love.”

When Combs paired Richard and Kalenna together to write songs for Danity Kane in 2009, he know immediately that he had a powerful new songwriting team, describing them as “kindred spirits.” With so many far-reaching influences between them, combining forces as Dirty Money is nothing less than “divine intervention,” says Richard. “We mirror each other. We’re all perfectionists with a strong work ethic. We push and challenge each other.”

The trio’s unmatched creative chemistry reveals itself in the latest blockbuster single “Hello Good Morning”. The group premiered the single in front of 25 million viewers on American Idol on March 31st. The high-energy track, with its urgent, atmospheric beats, was perfectly suited to an explosive performance with spectacular special effects. Idol producers even issued a warning to viewers about the intense strobe lights used onstage.

Ross, who also lent vocals to the lead single “Angels,” is just another member of the extende4d Dirty Money family. Lil Wayne was passionate about the new sound being crafted, and dropped verses on “Strobe Lights,” a teasing, funky club banger, and “Shades,” a trippy track also featuring Bilal. Mario Winans produced the 80s-influenced “Give My All To You” while Rodney Jerkins produced the international party jam “I Want Your Love.”

“I’ll even take off my shades,” sings (yes, sings) Combs on “Twisted,” hinting at a new emtional core to his sound. The multilayerd track represents some of the many influences of Last Train. With a soaring synth riff that reflects the head-trip that is falling in love, he recalls a post-millennial Prince. Other tracks veer from tribal drums to church organs to gritty instrumentals, all combining to form the new sound.

While Combs has had unsurpassed success in many different realms, from fashion to spirits to film, the lush soundscape of Last Train represents a renewed commitment to music from the the multitalented impresario. By opening up a chapter of his own life to tell the story, he’s crafted an album that is expressive and exciting. Sure, this album will make you dance, but Dirty Money is more than just dance music. It’s a movement.

           Sadly, on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died in his home from cardiac arrest. It was a shock and was greatly upsetting to family, fans, and friends. “The King of Pop” would no longer dance or sing again.

            Even though Michael Jackson has died, his legacy can still be celebrated and remembered. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is Ubisoft’s new video game. This game is made for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and the PSP.

            In this game, up to four players can participate at one time. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is a dancing game, similar to the “Just Dance” video game series. Players have to follow Michael’s dance moves accordingly.

            This game includes twenty five of Michael’s legendary songs. Some of these songs include “Thriller”, “Black or White”, “Billie Jean”, and many more. This is the first game that has been made official since the videogame “Moonwalker” of 1989.

            Fans are already raving about the brand new game. Many people are anxious to learn Jackson’s legendary moves. “Michael Jackson: The Experience” is already in stores for interested gamers.

22 year-old Harry Butler disagrees with this stereotype. “Look man, music is music, okay? Like we all have to understand that we’re all brothers, I mean I’m still down with OPP, I live the Hard Knock Life, why does rap music have to be a “black” thing? Dude i was in the club the other day. Right when i walked in there, everybody was looking at me like i was crazy for being the white boy in the ‘black club’.”

Others have opposing feelings toward rap music and hip hop culture. “Hip hop… Rap music all that needs to be outlawed. I want to be able to go to sleep without having the fear of some Snoop Doggy Doggs or Gucci men runnin’ these peaceful streets. I can’t even believe they call it music. Makes me sick!” Clayton Bigsby had these words for hip hop.

Either way you look at it, we all can agree, hip hop is a culture like rock n roll that causes controversy with people.

Marines Celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday with a ball. They do this to remember the history of the Marine Corps and to remember the fallen Marines that no one else remembers. Even Marines that aren’t active duty go to this Marine Corps Ball, and there is several locations where it takes place in each state. Every Marine has a story and every Marine shares their story at the ball. This day, November 10th is the best day to be a Marine because you get to spend time with all your brothers that you probably haven’t seen in a while.

On November 10, 2010 was the 235th birthday and the 235th year the Marine Corps has defended America from invaders. In 1952 congress wrote in there law that the Marine Corps will be the most ready when the Nation is the least ready. Marine are ready to fight and defend this country in any clime and place at anytime and you can see that from the Korean war where there was freezing temperatures to the present battle in Afghanistan where it can drop 100 degrees from day to night.

Every Marine celebrates the birth date even if they are deployed. Major Simmons said “he remembered on the 9th of November the company chief cook told him Major we got to do something for this birthday at least have a cake. Among the items that got kicked out of the door of the helicopter along with sea ration’s barbwire and ammunition was some white cake mix the master sargent fired up one of his field ranges and baked a cake in flat sheets and iced it with strawberry jam  we called are marine out of the line at a squad at a time and fed them a three inch square of cake. I could still see that white cake those dirty hands, it was more like a sacrament then a celebration the sacrament of brotherhood, three days later we turned over the perimeter to the army and climbed aboard the trucks before November was over we would be in a much tougher fight, Chosin Reservoir. For many of my marines that would be the last Marine Corps birthday ever.”

A message from an 84-year-old World War II Marine:
“My personal desire is to call each and every former, retired and active duty Marine and wish each of them a Happy 235th Birthday for our beloved Corps. That is financially and logistically impossible. Happy Birthday Marines, wherever you are. Semper Fidelis.”
Cpl. James… D. Broome

Marine Corps Birthday from the Commadant and Sgt. Major