Mickey Mouse is the most iconic Disney character since 1928, when Walt Disney released his first Mickey cartoons, “Plane Crazy” and the classic “Steamboat Willie.” The game has 36 different mini-levels inspired by classic Mickey films in which he must go through the film and collect the film strips. In Epic Mickey, the Mouse himself is dragged into the magical world of Wasteland, a cartoon-based world inhabited by forgotten cartoons and mystical workers called gremlins.

After being saved by Gus the Gremlin from certain doom at the hands of a mad scientist’s evil machine, Mickey finds out that the paintbrush he grabbed before entering Wasteland is incredibly powerful there. The two main controls that use the paintbrush are Paint (obviously) and Thinner. When Mickey comes to an object with a certain glow to it he can either make it disappear (with Thinner) or repair it in some way (with Paint). Paint and Thinner can also be used to battle enemies Mickey will come upon throughout the game.

When using these powers Mickey attracts the attention of supernatural guides called Guardians. Every time Mickey uses the Paint, for example, a little block will fill up with a blue color under the health bar. Once the block is fully blue, a blue Guardian will appear, or if Mickey uses Thinner, the block will be green and will attract a green Guardian. Both types are very useful and can show Mickey things he would not see otherwise, and also help during fights with aforementioned enemies.

Like I said before, I am not a super-gamer, so if there are problems, I am not exactly the best person to criticize them. But, something I have noticed and read about during my pre-purchase research, is that the camera angles can be really annoying. Epic Mickey uses both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, and while he moves with the analogue stick on the Nunchuk, the camera is controlled by the d-pad on the remote. “A” is used for pretty much everything, and switching all the time is tedious.

For all it’s problems, Epic Mickey has a really cool storyline and some traditional characters. The “benevolent and just ruler of Wasteland,” as Gus calls him, is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney’s predecessor to Mickey Mouse. The entire reason Mickey ends up in Wasteland is that he wandered into the sorcerer Yen Sid’s house by mistake. This name might not sound familiar, unless you are major fan of Fantasia, in which Yen Sid (Disney spelled backwards) was Mickey’s boss in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Likewise, several of the broomsticks from Fantasia make an appearance as minor enemies.

Like the Fable games for Xbox, Mickey’s actions will affect the storyline and the outcome of the game. For instance, if Mickey decides to go down one hallway, often times he will not be able to go back, and never see what is down the others.

The soundtrack and themes for Epic Mickey are pretty cool. As the game is a more dark portrayal of the innocent Mickey Mouse, the music illustrates that. From the broken down theme park’s off-key carnival song to the boiler room’s steaming clangs and bangs, the songs characterize the setting quite well.

Overall, I would recommend Epic Mickey to great fans of Disney, and people who won’t be too nit-picky to play a game without being too bugged by third person camera angles.

If you have a front wheel drive car you’re pretty well off. Front-wheel drive cars handle better on slick roads so you’re less likely to end up in the ditch. It’s always good to have snow tires for your car too. Even putting them on just the front will help.You can pick up some used tires for 25 bucks at triple T.

If you have a rear wheel drive car or a small rear wheel drive truck you may have problems with the rear end being to light. Every time you take a corner it might just want to go in circles. A good way to give you more traction is to weigh down the back so the wheels stay planted. You could put sand bags or anything heavy in your trunk or truck bed. If nothing else, use snow. Once again snow tires help.

When you first start driving, you are more than likely to end up in the ditch. Your driving skills ,or lack of them, aren’t always the reason that you may slide off the road. Sometimes the roads are too bad for the best of drivers. It is more a question of “when” than “if” you will end up in the ditch.There maybe a few things you’re going to want to have with you in case of such a situation. A simple first aid kit is a good idea to have with you. It doesn’t have to be an emergency field surgical kit and a hand book title “So You Want To Be a Surgeon.” Just a few band aids, maybe some gauze and disinfectant wouldn’t hurt. It isn’t too far fetched to think a new driver’s first winter might send them off the road. That 1982 rusted death trap of a first car that had the air bag cut from the steering wheel after the first six accidents it was in, might not be the indestructible capsule you think it is.

There are also some other things that you should always have in your car for emergency situations, and to help make things easier. An ice scraper is great to have most winter mornings, but a card of some sort like a school I.D. or credit card works well too. If you don’t want to worry about it in the mornings then lay a damp towel over your wind shield and all ice will be stuck to that instead. Unfortunately it may freeze to your wind shield wipers if your not careful so try to keep it off of them. If you are stuck in the snow, or even in traffic, and might be there for a little while it is good to keep blankets or extra clothing to keep you warm, extra gasoline, flares or reflective roadside triangles, a flash light, water to keep hydrated and a change of proper winter foot wear for those of you who insist on wearing slip-ons December-February. Always remember that if you are on the side of the road to stay in your car with your seat belt on or in a safe spot away from the accident in case another driver does the same as you did and hits your car.

1. What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci
This is a great book about Claire Mackenzie, a high school student in the isolated town of Hackett Island, which is appropriately by itself on an island of the same name. Claire, who missed a year of middle school while dealing with leukemia, is now a cheerleader, part of the in-crowd, dating the most popular guy around and is sufficiently hiding her true self; an anorexic guitar player who is struck by nightmares and an alcoholic mother.

When Lani Garver comes to Hackett Island, her world is turned upside down. First of all, no one really knows if Lani is straight or gay. But more importantly, no one knows if Lani is a boy or a girl. Claire and Lani grow to be pretty close, and Lani even convinces her to go to therapy for her eating disorder. However, Claire’s boyfriend and cheer buddies do not like this new development in Claire, and trouble is soon afoot.

*WARNING!* This is a great book for people who like cliffhanger endings, and if you don’t like them, my suggestion is to stay away from Carol Plum-Ucci in general.

2. Unwind by Neal Schusterman
If there was a second civil war on the subject of abortion, which side would you be on? Unwind takes place several decades after this war called “the Heartland War” which passed the Bill of Life, which was a compromise between the Pro-life and Pro-choice armies. To quote the book, “The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent my choose to retroactively “abort” a child on condition that the child’s life doesn’t end.” This process of “aborting” a child is called unwinding, and is the bane of all teenagers until they turn 18.

Unwind follows the story of three teens doomed to life on the run after being proclaimed as unwinds. Connor, Risa and Lev go through many a fiasco, including posing as students in a school, picking up a “storked” (abandoned on a doorstep) baby, joining a resistance, and ultimately fighting to stay alive.

Unwind is a wonderful book that will make you laugh, cry and question your ideals- not to mention realize how much we take life for granted.

3. Freshman by Michael Gerber
Hart Fox is one of the smartest kids at his school, and his 18-year-old life’s goal is to beat his arch-rival in getting into his dream school: Ivy League participant Stutts. On the day he finds out which one of them will make it into Stutts, he is shocked to learn that his spot has been taken by the school dunce, Trip Darlington. Trip’s father, the absolutely loaded Burlington Darlington III, is running for governor, and Trip’s going to a great school is one more thing to make him look better than the opponent.

Hart is outraged and after some negotiations manages to get himself in, tuition paid, all of the courses he wants… with one downfall: he must do all of Trip’s homework as well. Of course Trip won’t make it easy, as he has an instant dislike for Hart. Freshman is telling how Hart survives his freshman year as an outsider whose eyeballs are in the wrong sockets.

Freshman is a funny book all around. From its cover, a parody of a Facebook page; to the quirky characters, and even the involvement of a vampire, I can honestly say this is one of my all time favorite books.

4. The Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer
Bloody Jack is the first in a fantastic series about Mary “Jack” Faber, an 18th century London street urchin who finds work on a ship. Concealing the fact that she is a girl, 13 year old “Jacky” makes friends with the other five ship’s boys (Willy, Jaimy, Tink, Benjy and Davy) on the HMS Dolphin. The six establish their trust and love for each other by forming a “Brotherhood” and getting a blue anchor tattooed on their left hips.

Throughout the books, Jacky gets into various amounts of trouble, like getting discovered as a female and being sent to a finishing school stateside (The Curse of the Blue Tattoo), being kidnapped from said school and being sold into slavery (In the Belly of the Bloodhound), and in every book getting closer to marrying her true love, fellow ship’s boy James Emerson Fletcher.

These books are good for both dudeskis and dudeskas, as they involve just enough romance and action to even it out. The series includes Bloody Jack, The Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Under the Jolly Roger, In the Belly of the Bloodhound, Mississippi Jack, My Bonny Light Horseman, The Rapture of the Deep, and The Wake of the Lorelei Lee.

*WARNING!* This series is ever-expanding, so don’t take it on unless you are willing for commitment.

5. The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
It would be great to have wings, wouldn’t it? Not exactly. For mutant teens Max and Fang, along with their flock, Iggy, Angel, Nudge and Gasman, wings don’t help at all. Maximum Ride is about the Flock, a group of kids who were experimented on by scientists at a facility called “the School.” They escape with the help of Jeb Batchelder, a scientist who raised them with kindness, and they are plunged into the lives of fugitives, always on the run from human/lupine creatures called “Erasers.”

But that’s not all. For one, each of the children seems to have some sort of experiment induced superpowers: Angel can read minds, Fang can blend into the darkness with uncanny ability, Nudge can both draw metal to her and is super-tech savvy, blind Iggy is slowly regaining his sight and can “feel” colors, and Gasman, well, you can probably guess what he does. Maximum herself has “the Voice,” an internal voice that tells her things, some more helpful than others.

Secondly, Angel picks up an adorable little Cairn terrier along the course of the first book. He surprises them all when he speaks, and quickly becomes a part of the flock.

Maximum Ride includes several books, titled Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever, Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Maximum Ride: The Final Warning, MAX: A maximum Ride Novel and Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel. This series is one of my favorites and is still expanding, with the next book Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel coming out in February of 2011. I would recommend it to everyone, as (like Bloody Jack) it is a great blend of genres.

Here are a few small issues I would like to mention.

The bathrooms in the entire school are kind of gross. Again, this is not an insult to the custodians, but a friendly reminder of how nasty bathrooms can get. Firstly, the toilets, as we are talking about bathrooms here. Pretty much any public bathroom in the United States today has those nice little disposable seat covers in a box above the toilet. In fact, I know some people who won’t even use the bathrooms without them. This would be a great addition to our school. They can’t be all that expensive, and I know I would feel a lot better when… erm… nature calls. Secondly, the bathrooms smell. I know, I know, they are bathrooms, and there are certain odors that go along with any room carrying that name, but would it be that hard to buy some Febreeze, or maybe just a Glade plug-in every now and then?

Another thing that could be improved is the state of the commons, or our lack of one. A commons, for those who do not know, is basically a fancy word for a lounge. A student lounge? That seems like a pretty nifty idea, if I do say so myself. The LMC is a great place to socialize, but some people are actually trying to work on assignments. The cafeteria, or the gym are areas given to go for privilege, but many students don’t want to go to either of these designated areas. Why? The answer in my case is quite simple. Neither of those places has cushy chairs. A simple solution: turn an area of relatively empty space into a cozy little nook for students to hang out.

Then, there is the topic of the senior hallway. Every other hallway in the entire school has some sort of color. They may not be everyone’s favorite color, but at least they are not beige. There is a very simple solution to this problem. PAINT THE LOCKERS. Give Art Club something to do. Though I know that this idea has a very slim-to-none chance of ever getting by the school board, it would be pretty cool if the seniors could decorate the outside of their lockers with things that aren’t sport or club related. Maybe a small poster of a favorite band, or a picture of their dog, or even a CHEESEBURGER for goodness sake–something to add a little COLOR to the school.

My final subject is an addition to the last, only instead of the senior hallway, it includes pretty much every classroom excepting Wallin and Wojo’s rooms. If no one has caught on yet, I am addressing the deficiency of color in our classrooms. I have lost track of the days I have sat down and sighed at the whiteness of the walls. There is a certain feeling you get when you look at a specific colored walls. SPICE IT UP! Green, blue, LAVENDER.

The state of our school could be somewhat better, and these are several things that could be taken into consideration.

Featuring: Mandy Moore [A Walk to Remember and License To Wed], Tom Wilkinson[Duplicity and Valkyrie], Billy Crudup [Eat Pray Love ].

Dedication is a movie about a children’s story writer [Crudup, as Henry] who has just lost his best friend and fellow children’s story illustrator [Wilkinson, as Rudy] of his books. After the loss of Rudy, Henry is now forced to look for a new illustrator for his children’s books. But who will put up with his crap? He and Rudy were best friends, Rudy had to put up with him [and his strange quirks].

With the not so subtle prodding of his publisher, Arthur Planck to finish his newest Marty the Beaver Book; he enlists the help of Lucy [Moore] an illustrator, to illustrate his books for him.

Henry and Lucy definitely don’t hit it off, to say the very least. After meeting the charming Henry, Lucy decides that it’s not worth the money. But eventually Henry starts to grow on her. Henry is a obsessive-compulsive, antisocial, awkward children’s story writer. He is just a very strange man, in general you really can’t explain him.

In the movie you find out that he had a troubled childhood, but you never really find out what happened. His troubled upbringing made him into the man he is now.

He has a lot of really great quotes in the movie, especially life quotes. Here is one such life quote:

Henry: Life is nothing but the echo of joy disappearing into the great chasm of misery.

1.) Witch*
2.) Vampire*
3.) Zombie*
4.) Ghost*
5.) Current Celebrity*
6.) Superhero
7.) Princess
8.) Knight
9.) Werewolf
10.) Sports Player?

It is October, and therefore, many people are thinking of Halloween. The question, of course, is “Just what should I be for Halloween?” Some students at BRFHS may already have their costumes picked out, but for those who are still wondering about what to wear, here are a few tried-and-true ideas, and on the top five, some fun ways to spice them up!

1.Witch: Galinda or Elphaba?

Almost everyone can say that they have seen a witch on Halloween. Also, upon surveying the masses, it was discovered that this costume is thought to be the most common. For the most part, witches will be seen walking around with their pointy hats, dark robes and the occasional wand. However, there is always the option to change it up. Would it be more interesting to be a Galinda, the good witch, or an Elphaba, the wicked witch? After deciding which direction to go, the choices are endless! Glitter, or green makeup? Pointy hat v. tiara? Have fun!

2.Vampire: Not just for goth kids anymore.

After the recent Twilight craze, the next Halloween costume is appropriately vampires. Now, any good Dracula fan knows, there are many different variations on the vampire theme. One possibility is going the old time route, with a blood-red cloak, fangs and slicked back hair, or changing it up, playing Edward Cullen. Again, this is open for a lot of creativity!

3. Zombie: Braaaaaaaiiiiiiiins… eerm.

Zombies are a touchy subject. They are not quite cool enough to make Twilight, but are apparently worthy of a cult following. No kidding. There is a real cult called the “Zombie Mob” and they have parades; and with chapters in San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia and even as close as Minneapolis. They are rather fascinating, not to mention great inspiration for zombie Halloween costumes. Their website, for any of those curious, is www.eatbrains.com. Undead Undertone: To create realistic looking nastiness on your face (like this dude: http://costumes.lovetoknow.com/Image:Zombie_costumes.jpg), melt a chocolate covered cherry and stick it on your face. If placed on the forehead, it will literally look like your frontal lobe is leaking out of your face.

4. Ghost: Just a sheet with eyeholes, or something more?

More artistic Trick or Treaters could have a lot of fun with this one. On a variation from the classic white sheet with holes cut for eyes, maybe try changing the color of the sheet to something more fun, like tie-dye. (Oooohhh…. Hippie Ghost will get you….) Or, even better, skip the sheet altogether and just get doused in baby powder. While it will most likely be messy, the powder will be more realistic, and standing in front of a fan will make the ghost “evaporate” when the baby powder blows off it. Just make sure not to let it all blow off.

5.Current Celebrity: The possibilities are neverending.

Lady GaGa. Ke$ha. Michael Jackson (too soon?) Gene Simmons. Sarah Palin. Some of these ideas are simple, some might require more work. For instance, Sarah Palin would only require an updo, a feminine dress suit and a really funny northern accent (hmm… not much difference from residents of Black River Falls). Michael Jackson would need more work, like a tightfitting jacket, black leather pants, slicked back hair, strappy boots, a disappearing nose (again, too soon?) and some hair gel. And best of all, Lady GaGa. While it might look like she just wears whatever she feels like, there is a lot of work put into those outfits. Meat-dress anyone?

Open campus, for those who do not know is defined on Dictionary.com as… well, it is currently not defined on Dictionary.com, and so I’ll give you my own (layman’s terms) explanation.  Open campus is when you can leave the premises of the school for certain times, in our case, lunch.  It is a super privilege that Black River Falls High School has not had until now. 

So, Dear Reader, you are probably wondering where I am going with this.  Open campus is only granted to members of the senior class who are currently on Privilege.*  Seniors not on Privilege will be treated as regular students and not allowed to leave the campus.  It is my opinion (and this is an opinion piece, right? Wait… please don’t answer that) that for at least the first week of Privilege, all seniors be granted the right of open campus.

I can just see the expressions on the faces of the administration and/or parents reading this.  Why on earth would this crazy girl think that letting the full force of the Class of 2011 loose on poor little defenseless Black River Falls be a good idea?!?! Well, Dear Reader, there is, in fact, a method to my madness.  You see, if a… shall we say, less than exemplary… student is given a gift so momentous as being able to leave and get Mickey D’s for lunch for one week, and then is plunged back into the terribleness of school lunch (no offense, workers of the lunch crew, we appreciate your hard work very much, its just that as teenagers, our job is to be annoying and picky) they will really want to get on Privilege next chance they get. That, Dear Reader, is called MOTIVATION.

Ahh!  I get it now!  You say.  See, method, madness, it all fits now doesn’t it?  So, recap! The powers that be give students right of open campus for ONE WEEK. After said week is up, right is revoked for those not on Privilege.  Those less than worthy will strive to become worthy before the next Privilege opportunity passes (MOTIVATION at work).  Then, our ending result is a graduating class of happy, high graded students who were responsible and afforded responsibilities.  Now. Just think, this will all be because of open campus.

* Privilege, for you freshmen, or just ignorant students who haven’t been paying attention for the years you were previously in high school, is the ability to go to places other than your focus-teacher-of-the-day during the focus block at the end of the day. I.E.: the computer lab/LMC, the “Falls Café” or the Gym.