March Madness

The bell rings and students file out of classrooms heading to their next class. Its just another ordinary day at EBHS, but hold on a minute something is different. Almost everyone is wearing pyjamas. Everywhere you look fleece pants, sweatpants, flanel pyjamas, footsie pyjamas. Did everyone oversleep today?

Nope, march madness has simply returned to EBHS. Its time for crazy costumes, face paint, shamrocks, and school spirit once again. Its time for fierce competition between the classes; for the freshman to get smushed and the seniors to rein triumphant. Most of all however, its time for the junior class to step up.

The current March Madness standings place the junior class in fourth just ahead of the freshman and below the faculty. As upperclassmen this standing is beyond pathetic and the old excuse, "Why try, its rigged anyway," isn't going to work anymore. If it was really rigged, why are we loosing?

Many juniors dress up in the craziest costumes and make march madness as fun as possible, but others simply don't even try. Perhaps its because they are too shy or because they don't have any school pride-true EBHS is falling down-but I say, "Shut the Shamrock Up!" March Madness is a chance to have some fun in school and beat the monotony of the long month of March-and for the upperclassmen to crush freshman. SO COME ON JUNIORS! LET THOSE SHAMROCKS SHINE!

Dairy Cows at Daybreak

The following is a fictional story:

East Bridgewater residents were astonished to find ten cows grazing on the high school's football field early Monday morning.

The cows had escaped from the nearby barn at Peaceful Meadows in Whitman. The management there believes that the cows wandered out of their barn around midnight via a side door carelessly left open by a new trainee. "After they got out, I guess they just wandered around town looking for a good grazing spot," said manager Susan LaGlace, "They've had quite the adventure!"

For the cows their grazing elysium was EBHS football field. They were discovered there, happily feasting, by student Kelly Moore when she arrived for school at 6:30. Moore had arrived early to take a make-up chemistry test and discovered the cattle after she parked her car in the back lot. "I was just thinking ok, I know its early, but I can't be hallucinating cows. Can I?" said Kelly.

After realizing that this was indeed not a dream, Kelly did the only thing she could do, she called the fire department. After arriving, the fire fighters were baffled by the unusual task they had been set. They had to contain the cows before school started, so they herded the cows into the adjacent, enclosed tennis courts. The resourceful fire fighters used boards, ladders, trucks and any thing else handy to guide the scared cows. Students arriving for school were befuddled by the sight of the heifers wandering among the tennis nets.

Soon, the fire department received a panicked call from the Peaceful Meadow staff searching for the bodacious bovines. By 10:00 all the cows had been boarded onto the barn's cattle car and were headed home. "They are back at their stable safe and sound, sleeping off their late-night escapade," said barn manager Ary Holstein, "I don't think they'll be up for another adventure for a long time."

Canine Crusader (Hourglass Story)

The following a fictional story:

A local dog did her civic duty Thursday night when she stopped a criminal from fleeing the scene of a bank robbery in Hanover.

The suspect, 35 year old George Smith, held up Petco in Hanover, demanding $100,000. He was wearing a Halloween costume and carrying a dictionary disguised as a bomb. After receiving his ransom, Smith tried to make his getaway.

Luckily, Artemis, a four year old, Samoyed was shopping with her owner. Perceiving the threat, Artemis charged and took down the suspect, without any previous training. She then proceeded to hold down Smith until the police arrived.

The police recount the incident:

Eight AM Thursday morning Smith entered the Hanover Petco dressed as a giant banana and carrying a standard Webster's dictionary. He then proceeded to the first cashier and demanded the money from all the registers and the safe. When the cashier refused, he told her that the dictionary was actually a bomb. The cashier than got the manager, who gave Smith the money.

Thinking that he had gotten away with the perfect crime, George sprinted out the door towards his 2011 Chevy Camaro. Suddenly, the brave Artemis broke away from her owner a sprinted after the suspect. After catching up to him, she clamped down onto his arm and refused to let go-a technique used by police dogs, but never taught to Artemis. The Samoyed managed to hold her quarry until the police arrived and arrested Smith.

Artemis will be presented an award Sunday by Governor Patrick for her bravery.

The Last Great Race on Earth

The air is filled with tension. People are cheering. Dogs are barking and straining against their harnesses. Suddenly, BANG! The team lurches forward; the dogs running at their best, enjoying every minute of it.

It's that time of year again. This Saturday at 10 AM 62 teams embark from Anchorage Alaska on a 1,131 mile odyssey to Nome. That's right the Iditarod is about to kick off.

A tradition since 1973, the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race embodies the Alaskan spirit and honors the brave dog teams that helped settle the area. It tests the endurance of both the dogs and musher as they travel across vast, beautiful, and dangerous landscape. Nicknamed "The Last Great Race on Earth" it attracts spectators and mushers alike from all over the world. It is truly a phenomenon.

The race will be broadcast on the local station, GCI Cable 1. However, for those of us living in the lower 48, the entire race broadcast can be found on http://iditarod.com/ by signing up for the Iditarod Insider-$19.95 for the video or GPS tracker or $39.95 for both.

What is Dog Showing?

Dog handlers and dog lovers alike tuned into CNBC last night to watch the ever exciting action of the 135th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in Madison Square Garden.

Not many people can understand the attraction to such an event. After all its not the Red Sox or Patriots. As a dog handler in 4-H I believe that you can not really appreciate the excitement of the dog showing world until you are immersed in it.

Dog showing is all about the preparation, not only for your dog, but also for yourself. Firstly, the dog needs to be trained. True enough conformation is not an obedience based event, but your dog still needs to be well behaved and responsive to your commands. (esp. since your only leash and collar is a thin showmanship lead). It also needs to tolerate stacking, (setting up your dog in the best position to showcase the breed's qualities) and the judge's inspection. In addition, every dog needs to be ableto free-stack (the dog sets itself up). Then, comes the grooming. The amount of time and difficulty of grooming is specific to each breed. However, even terriers whose coats are meant to be working, hardy coats need hours of grooming. Your doggy's do must be as close to the breed standard as possible (sorry no crazy hair dye) while still showcasing your dog's best qualities. Your dog's coat can make or break you. I take my hat off to Standard Poodle handlers who spend all day on their dogs. Finally, you have to train yourself. A handler's job is to showcase their dog and make sure the judge notices them. In order to do this you must exhibit your dog while staying out of the judge's way. Your dog should be between you and the judge at all times. For example, don't reach over your dog when stacking it. One dog show announcer summed it up, "A good handler should be invisible."

After all that preparation its time to show your stuff in the ring. Once you actually get in the ring the air is full of tension, competition, and excitement. This feeling can even be felt by spectators hoping their favorite breed will win. But win or loose, dog showing is a great way to see all your favorite dogs, learn about dogs, and meet fellow dog lovers.

Being Human: "Where The Wild Things Are"

One of my favorite clips from Being Human.

New Orginal Series?

The beginning of the new year saw some new "original" series added to American television such as Being Human, Skins, and the upcoming X-Factor. While some praised the new shows, others despised and degraded them from almost the minute they premiered. Fierce criticism could be found plastered all over facebook in the form of status posts, page comments, and even flair. What could cause such an intense hatred of a show that had just aired its first episode? The answer is that these shows had in actuality, been on air for years and already had avid fans.

The programs were actually successful British creations that Hollywood had Americanized and brought here. The issue is that with that many Americans were already watching those shows on the Internet or TV stations such as BBC America. After falling in love with the story and picking their favorite characters/actors, the fans took Hollywood's actions as a personal insult. They are outraged because Hollywood calls the new version "originals", rarely, if ever, giving the original actors and writers credit. Furthermore, Hollywood usually edits the scripts to make them more "American" changing characters' backgrounds and names, dialing down some themes, and sometimes even changing the show's name. Di-hard fans consider this blasphemy. When the original scripts were so addictive and amazing, why change them? And come on let's just face it, British accents make everything ten times cooler.

Now, as it is pretty obvious, I have also contracted Anglophenia. My favorite BBC America show is Being Human; a show about a ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf who all live together and struggle to be normal.....to be human. Dynamic characters and suspenseful plots keep myself and thousands of other fans tuned in to BBC America every Supernatural Saturday. Seeing its success in both the UK and US; the syfy channel decided to create their own version. The name of every character was changed as was the background of my favorite character Mitchell, the vampire. Mitchell was a soldier in World War I who allowed himself to be turned as long as his comrades were spared. The US "Aiden" was a Revolutionary War soldier. My question is, "Wasn't the US in World War I as well?" I could barely watch the preview trailer and haven't even tried to watch the show.

In closing, I'd just like to leave you with one thought. The UK has also borrowed a few of our shows (ex: CSI: Miami, the Vampire Diaries, and Glee), but they air the originals. Why don't we do the same?