Issue 5, Volume 10

A photo by Lisa Bellano on display at the exhibition.

L to R: Danny, Alanna, Lisa, Sam, and Melissa

All

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os b

y K

atie

Glo

ver Every year, for the last ten years, the Evergreen Cul-

tural Center has put together an art show that celebrates thetalented Grade 12 artists in School District 43. Each year afew artists from Best have displayed their artwork in to theprestigious show; however this year has been Best’s mostsuccessful; six grade 12’s had their impressive artwork ac-cepted.

Getting into the ‘Emerging Talent’ show is certaintynot easy, but Sam Bertolone, Lisa Bellano, Cassy Burt,Alanna MacRitchie, Danny Wilkinson and Melissa Wong,managed to have their artwork accepted. To be consideredfor this show, artists need a letter of recommendation fromtheir art teacher, need to promise to pursue their interest inart, and need an amazing piece of artwork. Each artist is al-lowed to submit three pieces which are then judged by theorganizers. Amazingly, many of the students from Best hadall three of their pieces accepted. As all the Charles Beststudents who submitted art were accepted, Mr. Scott wasbeaming: “This is our biggest year; we have never had somany students submit or so many students accepted. We arevery proud.”

On January 21, 2006, opening night, many of Best’sartists dressed up and attended the show. Opening nightwas extremely crowded. Many of Best’s art teachers and theadministration came to congratulate the artists.

When looking at the students’ artwork, it is not hardto see why so many people from Best were accepted; thestudents from our school have created beautiful pieces rang-ing from breathtaking photographs to stunning sculptures.

The artists themselves were extremely pleased withtheir accomplish-ments. “This is re-ally exciting; it is re-ally a unique oppor-tunity,” explainsDanny Wilkinsonwho had two of hisphotographs ac-cepted. For some,being accepted intothis show was a

long awaited dream come true. “In 2000 my sister was in thisshow and for the past seven years, I have been waiting forthis moment,” says Melissa Wong, who had paintings andsculptures accepted.

At the end of opening night, each artist was praisedby Best’s staff and given a rose, a school pen and a note ofcongratulations. Mrs. O’Neil states, “I am very proud of allour students and the time and effort they put in. I am alsoproud of all the teachers for all the work they put in at Best.”

For any who would like to check out the fantasticartwork, the show will continue to run until February 17, 2006.The show was an excellent opportunity for all the studentsinvolved and extremely inspiring. Alanna MacRitchie ex-plains, “Having my artwork in this great show inspires me tocontinue pursing photography.”

By Echo Reporter Katie Glover

Sam Bertolone shows off her artwork. Danny Wilkinson at the exhibition.

Monday February 19, 2007

Melissa Wong and her art.

Record Number of Students Display WRecord Number of Students Display WRecord Number of Students Display WRecord Number of Students Display WRecord Number of Students Display Work at Emerging ork at Emerging ork at Emerging ork at Emerging ork at Emerging Artists ExhibitArtists ExhibitArtists ExhibitArtists ExhibitArtists Exhibit

Page 2 Monday, February 19th, 2007

Marc Jacobs, Chanel,Valentino. Their fashions are eve-rywhere. From the red carpets ofHollywood to the beautifully pol-ished runways of Paris and Milan,designer clothing has always rep-resented the glamorous lives livedby the “crème de la crème” of oursociety. Looking around ourschool, I can’t help but wonderwhere the students have gone andhow they were replaced bywannabe models and actors? Weare at school, not an awards showor an A-list night club.

School: The place where youstudy so that you can get into otherschools and study some more.School has little to do with spend-ing two hundred dollars on a pairof shoes or a hair cut. How is it thathigh heels and designer hand bagshave gone from rare luxury items topart of a common school uniform?

With a training wage thatmakes slavery look good, where isall of this money coming from? Themajority of the students sportingdesigner logos don’t have jobs,never mind the will to even baby-sit occasionally. Credit cards, eitherstolen from parents or supplied bythem, are being used carelessly bykids who don’t pay their own bills.The click-clacking of their highheels has grown louder and louderin the hallways over the years, andwith that, their parents hard-earnedcash has flown from their pockets.

High school is not a fashionshow. You do not need to pose be-side your physics classroom in yourbest Angelina Jolie face. Wearingvacuum sealed jeans and over-

priced tank tops will (hopefully) nothelp you do well in class, so whywear them? To impress the boy youhave a crush on, or because peo-ple in movies do the samething?The media has completelydistorted the idea that school is forlearning and transformed schoolinto a competition between cliquesfor the best dressed student. I can’thelp but wonder if we really havebeen brainwashed by shows like“Laguna Beach” and “One TreeHill.” The high school kids that wesee on television wear designerclothes and have professionalsperfecting their makeup after eachtake. They get paid millions and aregiven millions more in free productsand services from professionals.It’s time to give up. Why? Becausewe aren’t in a thirty year olds sadattempt at a realistic teenage life.Aswhat I used to think was a “nor-mal” high school student,sweatpants and old, oversizedsweaters are abundant in my ward-robe.

Sitting in the not so comfort-able desks of our school, I try tocompensate by wearing elasticwaist bands and spandex. Unlikemany of the fashions worn by fel-low students, it’s a great combina-tion.

Perhaps it is my appreciationfor clothes that look sloppy andoutdated that increases my disbe-lief that some high schoolers skipclass to get their hair highlightedor religiously jump into a tanningbooth for the ever popular orangelook. My advice: Stop trying sohard. Wearing skirts in winter withopen-toed pumps might make youlook good, but who cares? It’sschool, not a TV show.

At Home. . .At Home. . .At Home. . .At Home. . .At Home. . .By Echo ColumnistKim Hession

Once upon a time, whenthere was no TV or internet (Yes, atime like that did exist), peoplewould actually have conversationswith each other. They would sitdown and write letters, sometimeseven in full sentences with correctlyspelled words. Now we want thingsdone quickly and efficiently, pref-erably with as little effort as possi-ble. I’ve come to terms with the factthat many of us don’t feel the needto pick up a phone anymore, or (Godforbid) write a letter, but I find itdifficult to accept that typing threeextra letters in a word is a difficultfeat. Okay, so maybe it’s not thebiggest deal in the world if you ab-breviate some of those big scarywords, but when entire sentencesare cut down to a mere eight let-ters, something’s gone wrong. Casein point: ROTFLOL. Now while Irealize and appreciate that this isn’tthe most popular online phrase, themere fact that it exists strikes a chordwith me, so I proceed. First of all,no one “rolls on the floor laughingout loud” at anything anyone sayson MSN. If anyone has said that toyou, you are being lied to. Further-more, were these abbreviations notinvented to make online conversa-tion easier? If they were, then thatoperation has failed miserably. Per-

To become rich, you don’tnecessarily have to be smart. Walk-ing proof of this theory is world-renowned soccer player DavidBeckham. While earning $32.5million (including endorse-ments) so far this year with RealMadrid, the 30 year old cannoteven do math.

I’m not talking aboutgrade 12 or university math, butgrade one math. That’s right,grade one math. Beckhamcouldn’t help his six year oldchild do his homework. Whenasked about this, he said; “Ithink it was maths, actually. It’sdone totally differently to whatI was teached when I was atschool, and you know, I waslike, ‘Oh my God, I can’t dothis.”

I’m pretty sure three plusthree still equals six. He musthave failed English too, becausehe wasn’t “teached” math, he was“taught” math. Though he may bea little slow with books, he is quickto roll in the cash. Beckham’s new-est contract happens to be a $250million five year deal with the LosAngeles Galaxy of the MLS league.Fifty million dollars a year! It’s pre-posterous! What I would do withfifty million dollars? Some of the

highest paid athletes usually getpaid more than average people willmake in their lifetime. Professionalgolfer Tiger Woods cashed in onhis success last year, raking in over$90 million (over that span in win-nings and endorsements). Is mak-

ing this large sum of money right?In a materialistic, egocentric worldwhere people strive for fame andfortune, many forget about theworld around them. In developingcountries throughout the world,many people struggle to feed theirfamilies, let alone keep them undercover. Children and adults aroundthe world are dying of diseases and

starvation, while athletes such asBeckham and Woods are makingmillions of dollars at a time for play-ing games. Is this humane? I’mnot saying that athletes shouldn’tmake the “big bucks,” but why notdonate a chunk of that $50million?Sponsor a charity, or forgo

the $100 million mansion, andsettle for the $25 million housein Malibu. Do something worth-while that will help the worldaround them. Is it fair that theseathletes make so much?

Is the demand for star ath-letes so vast? Are fans that en-courage this partly responsible?As long as we keep paying hun-dreds of dollars to see a sportsevent, or keep buying the namebrand items, owners will keeppaying their star players millionsof dollars.

Does this say anythingabout our society? What are ourpriorities? Should we help thestarving and homeless peopleon the streets, or should we goand spend a hundred dollars ona hockey game and make another

athlete rich? The sensible thing todo would be to help the underprivi-leged, but not everyone is so sen-sible.

As much as I love sports, itis inconceivable the dollars theseathletes make. Athletes, men andwomen, are earning more now thanever, and as long as we supportthem, they will earn even more.

Have “Abbreves” Gone 2 Far?Have “Abbreves” Gone 2 Far?Have “Abbreves” Gone 2 Far?Have “Abbreves” Gone 2 Far?Have “Abbreves” Gone 2 Far?sonally, I find it much easier to readactual sentences than to have totranslate a jumble of letters. Sincewe have sufficiently destroyed thewritten word, why not move on tospoken? Considering we can’t evenbring ourselves to type big words,why would we even attempt to saythem aloud? Let’s talk about“hardcore” shall we? Note that Isaid H-A-R-D-C-O-R-E. None ofthis h-core business. I mean reallypeople, it’s not a hard word. Greet-ings have gone from a stop-and-say-hello, to an awkward head nod,to a completely unnecessary eye-brow raise. Evolution says that westarted as monkeys and developedinto the modern “intelligent being”.If we keep this going, we’re goingto end up right back where westarted: monkeys. We don’t havethe patience to properly get toknow each other anymore. Youwould probably learn more about aperson by taking the time to write aletter than you would shootingmeaningless emails back and forth.

Of course I don’t expect eve-ryone to start writing letters to peo-ple who live eight blocks away;we’re far too dependent on tech-nology to be making that leap. It’sjust a nice thought though isn’tit?Think about it, because yourgrandchildren may be monkeys ifyou don’t.

By Echo ColumnistZane Jiwa By Echo Columnist

Devon Henderson

...And ...And ...And ...And ...And AbroadAbroadAbroadAbroadAbroad

EDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALS

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSMonday, February 19th 2007 Page 3

On January 30 the Charles Best Grads of 2011 attended theirfuture school for a quick introduction to high school life. The leadershipstudents showed the grade 8’s around on the walkabout. Many of thekids were blown away by the size of the school. Some were nervousabout their first day of school; others couldn’t wait. The middle schoolstudents toured the classrooms, the cafeteria, the gyms the library andthe other elective areas . The walkthrough lasted three hours but waspacked with information and activities.The grade 8 walkabout is atradition and this is the tour’s fifth consecutive year. This introductionmakes the start of grade 9 so much easier. When September rolls aroundthe newest members of the student body won’t be intimidated by theunexpected.

On December 22nd, Charles Bestheld its annual Holiday Talent Showbefore sending students off to theirwinter breaks. Normally this event,despite being atalent competi-tion, is notjudged and awinner is neverdeclared. Thistime, however,I’ll rate my topthree perform-ances in noparticular or-der.

Lucky:Lucky, aka

Best’s resi-dent beat-boxer extraordinaire, daz-zled the crowd with his variety ofpopular beats which included Ush-er’s “Yeah” and “If Your MotherOnly Knew” by Rahzel. Throughouthis performance, the crowd stoodawestruck and cheered his phatbeats. After taking a sip of water andapologizing for “not being able tosing well,” Lucky continued withsome more awe-inspiring oral per-cussion, a routine in stark contrastto the rest of the show and the onlyperformance that could be classifiedas serious R&B. As a result, Luckystood out as a very different per-former from the rest of the entertain-ers. Overall, Lucky put on the mostoriginal performance of the after-noon and one that I’m sure Beststudents will not forget anytime soon.

Super Extreme:Despite that only 1 of the 5 mem-

bers of the band are from Charles

SpeakOut: SpeakOut: SpeakOut: SpeakOut: SpeakOut: What are you doing to make this VWhat are you doing to make this VWhat are you doing to make this VWhat are you doing to make this VWhat are you doing to make this Valentine’alentine’alentine’alentine’alentine’s Day Special?s Day Special?s Day Special?s Day Special?s Day Special?

Best (bassist Mike Noble), SuperExtreme put on an epic performance.The band played two of five songsfrom their recently released self-ti-

tled demo CD: “Fireless Light” and“Demon Inside Man.” They playedthe second song after a raucouschant of “One More Song” from thecrowd. The guitar duo of FujiMooney and Matt Primeau (both ofPort Moody Secondary) along withthe bass backing ofCharles BestianMike Noble was elec-tric. As the guitar-ists belted out gut-wrenching riffs andjaw dropping solos,drummer JamesMarshall (who at-tends the Art Insti-tute of Vancouver),laid down some spellbinding beats and rocked out like ababoon receiving electroshocktherapy, and yes ladies, he’s single.The only complaint was that JamesLoucks’ vocals weren’t loud enough

and couldn’t be heard over the gui-tars, but his emotion and energytranslated into a very good perform-ance by the band. Noble, who is themost recent addition to the band,was very excited about the opportu-nity to play in front of his class-mates. “The best compliment of theshow was when someone asked me,“Whose songs did you cover?” andwhen these are the songs we wrote,it’s pretty rad to get a reception likethat.”

The Tangent Dukes:Chris LeRose and David Zima,

both in Grade 12, make up the Tan-gent Dukes who played their origi-nal song “Swan Andreas,” a tributeto the popular video-game “GrandTheft Auto: San Andreas.” The songis written from the viewpoint of thegame’s main character CJ, a gangmember on the harsh streets of SanAndreas. LeRose’s witty lyrics andsolid keyboarding along with Zima’sguitar riffing and humourous rap-

ping made thisone of the standout perform-ances of the af-ternoon.

HonourableMention:

A talent showat Charles Bestcannot passwithout mentionof the Math De-

partment’s annual antics which in-cluded a “Blast From The Past” Fash-ion Show and a choreographeddance to a number of songs includ-ing “I’m Too Sexy.” Other notable

On January 10th, while the grade 9’s attended Advisory, grades 10 to12, were called down to the gym to watch a very important presentation,that focused on describing car crashes to students,Curtis Sim, gr.12.The guest speaker, a paramedic who attends car crashes, explainedwhat happens every tenth of a second in an incident. He discussed howthe car becomes disfigured, and what the driver and passengersexperience.Many will remember the more gruesome facts. Anotherdreadful thought is that no one ever dies instantly.This truth wasstressed to the audience. Some students found parts of the presenta-tion very disturbing, even though it was very educational. “I thoughtit was very repetitive having already seen it in grade 10,” Caitie Manncommented. “Still very informative and I will keep putting off gettingmy ‘L’…” When asked what students thought about the presentation,a grade 10 student replied, “It was informative and enjoyable at the sametime, the pinkie part was funny.”Mr.Roos thought the presentation tobe very powerful.He worries that young people think ‘incidents’ likethe ones shown can’t or won’t ever happen to them. He hopes thestudents get the message and take on better driving habits.

Future Grade 9’Future Grade 9’Future Grade 9’Future Grade 9’Future Grade 9’s Vs Vs Vs Vs Visit Bestisit Bestisit Bestisit Bestisit BestBy Echo Reporter Josh Bloomfield

ICBC Car Crash Presentation ICBC Car Crash Presentation ICBC Car Crash Presentation ICBC Car Crash Presentation ICBC Car Crash PresentationBy Echo Reporter Cynthia Assen

By Echo Reporter Brendan Batchelor

Christmas TChristmas TChristmas TChristmas TChristmas Talent Show alent Show alent Show alent Show alent Show FeaturesFeaturesFeaturesFeaturesFeatures Outstanding Performances Outstanding Performances Outstanding Performances Outstanding Performances Outstanding Performancesperformances included Chris LeRoseand Paul Methot’s parody of FiftyCent’s “In Da Club” entitled “In DaTub,” a belly-dancing number byAmira Tmar, and a heart warmingrendition of “The Christmas Song”

by Julia Clissold and MelanieArevalo.

Overall the talent show was a funevent that was enjoyed by all and avery good way to kick off the Christ-mas holidays.

“Give everyone lots ofsmooches.” Curtis Sim, gr.12

“I’m going to dress up as Santaand give everyone presents.”Chris Larose, gr. 12

“Going to the school dance.”Kelly Kraan, gr.10

“I’m going to sit in the dark andcut the bottom of my feet.”Anton Young, gr.11

“I’m going to paint my face whitefall asleep in my bathtub whilelistening to My ChemicalRomance.”Stephanie Carrasco, gr. 11

VVVVValentine’alentine’alentine’alentine’alentine’s Day Dances Day Dances Day Dances Day Dances Day Dance

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS Page 4February 19th, 2007

The Best Players’ perform-ance of Grease last year was anenormous success, with classiccharacters, interesting set pieces,and great songs (albeit harder tounderstand with uncooperativemicrophones). Their 2007 produc-tion, Alice in Wonderland, a com-bination of the original Alice andit’s sequel, Through the LookingGlass, and What Alice FoundThere, promises to be an evengrander undertaking, featuring alarger and more colourful cast ofcharacters.

For such a large play, you canbet there’d be a large number ofstudents seeking to be involved.Upwards of 60 students showed upto take a shot at being a part ofAlice’s cast. Those who auditionedpresented Mr. Case – the show’sdirector – with a hard task; select-

Actors TActors TActors TActors TActors Turnout for ‘Alice’urnout for ‘Alice’urnout for ‘Alice’urnout for ‘Alice’urnout for ‘Alice’ AuditionsAuditionsAuditionsAuditionsAuditionsBy Echo ReporterMatthew Newton

Stage TStage TStage TStage TStage Transforms Into ransforms Into ransforms Into ransforms Into ransforms Into Amsterdam Club for Charity CabaretAmsterdam Club for Charity CabaretAmsterdam Club for Charity CabaretAmsterdam Club for Charity CabaretAmsterdam Club for Charity Cabaret

ing the cast from among the numer-ous hopefuls.

Much of the audition in-volved group work, a tactic bothtime-efficient and easier on thenerves than a solo audition mighthave been. To start, Mr. Case askedeveryone to walk around the room,making eye contact with the peo-ple they passed. He then added el-ements to the mix, giving directionsto go with their steps. For example,at one point, students were askedto “float” around the room, andfreeze after a certain number ofsteps, wait a certain number ofbeats, and then resume. This wasto determine whether they couldadjust their movement and timingwhile taking directions.

After working with eachother to arrange themselves in acircle with a consistent boy-girl ra-tio (which wasn’t easy, due to thesmall number of guys in the room),the actors broke into groups to

On Friday, January 12th twoclubs, SPIIN (Students PromotingInternational Improvement Now!)and Greendot, joined together tohost the second annual GlobalAwareness Fair. Led by grade 12members Melissa Wong and BlakeStilitis, the fair was held in the smallgym from 9:30 to 2:30, allowing stu-dents from every block to enjoy theeducational fair. Various organiza-tions set up booths around thegym, including CIDA, Free theChlidren, Volunteer Response Cen-tre, One day Day Vancouver, andthe Red Cross. Many other organi-zations were expected to take partbut were unable to come becauseof the flu. The fair attracted manystudents. All the Planning 10 stu-dents attended as part of their class,so to complete an aspect of theirportfolio. “It was pretty empty atthe beginning, but then it filled uprapidly,” commented grade 12 stu-dent Yayuk Joffres. The Red Crossonce again lent their Land MineGame. A huge, hand-painted can-vas, the Land Mine Game is meantto show how land mines affect theday-to-day lives of people in wartorn countries by randomly select-ing squares to have landmines.Itdemonstrates the randomness and

Best Students TBest Students TBest Students TBest Students TBest Students TackleackleackleackleackleGlobal IssuesGlobal IssuesGlobal IssuesGlobal IssuesGlobal Issues

By Echo ReporterLauren Jeanneau

When we think of cabaret,our minds can visualize the 1950’s,Moulin Rouge, extravagance andglamour. But how about the ‘RedLight Club?’

Set in Amsterdam in the late1920’s, post the stock market crash,‘The Red Light Club’ musical fea-tured stunning showgirls, contem-porary music, and provocativedance numbers for the evening en-tertainment.

As their final project, theActing 12 class wrote, staged andproduced their original perform-ance, in a mere four weeks. The playconsisted of dialogue, singing, anddancing. The final production wasquite risqué and far different fromanything else drama classes haveput on; efforts left a memorable im-pression on the audience.

Another positive differencefrom this show was that all of theticket proceeds went to the Chil-dren’s hospital. Entry was permit-ted only by donation, and MahtCarolei, who remained in charac-ter as the old-fashioned beggar, en-couraged these charity contribu-tions.

Audience participation made

the performance all the much morereal; tables were placed on the stagefor the audience to sit at, so to feelas if they were in the club them-selves.

Every cast member played avital role in the performance, as therewere several different plots to thestory. Scenes included disagree-ments between witty club ownerDevon Henderson and slimy MCJonathan Dick. There was also anuproar between the naïve bartenderOscar Rodriguez, and the intimi-dating mafia boss Duncan Webster.There was even a secret love affairbetween the characters of Leah Yeeand Cassy Burt! And while theshowgirl’s performances provided

momentary breaks from all of thedrama, it was the comedy relief ofChris LeRose’s flamboyant char-acter that really lightened the mood.LeRose played the role of a buffbut very gay bouncer whose dreamto be on the stage finally comestrue.

He certainly left the crowd inhysterics after his final act.Webster, who played a mafia bossjokes, “Cabaret was a very culturalhit!”

If the theatrics, drama, anddance were not enough to capti-vate the audience, there were alsomany songs to sing along to.Stephanie Carrasco and MJWilson both took the stage for solo

performances.The entire castalso sang “Fe-ver” as the finalscene.

Undoubt-edly, the mostmemorable per-formances be-longed to thes h o w g i r l s :Rebecca Innis,R o b y n n eM c P h e r s o n ,Julia Clissold,

and Leah Yee. They portrayed a veryrealistic sense of the era, singing twoimpressive numbers, and performingthree edgyd a n c e s .Carrasco, whojoined up withthe showgirlsas the storymoved on,was relievedwhen it wasover: “We allput a lot ofwork into theprocess and itreally paid offin the end.”

W h i l e

unfairness of a person steppingon a piece of land that contains aland mine.

New this year was the raf-fle. Tickets were sold at four tick-ets for a dollar, and prizes weredonated by Mrs. O’Neil, EscapeEsthetics, and Sandy Wong.Thanks to the raffle, SPIIN wasable to raise almost $100 for theirSierra Leone school-buildingproject. “All our [SPIIN’s]fundraising efforts this year willbe going to the Sierra LeoneSchool Building Project,” statedDena Javadi. The club is workingwith Free The Children to fundthe building of a school in SierraLeone. So far, they have raisedabout $500 for the cause, andthey hope to raise enough to fundthe building of an entire class-room for the school.By the endof the fair, the clubs’ membersseemed content with the re-sponse to the fair. “We wantedto raise awareness about local andglobal issues that students canget involved in,” explained SPIINand Greendot member SteffiWafforn.

“Right now, we just hopethat some of the younger stu-dents will carry on with the fair inthe future.”

As do we.

the impressive effort and dedica-tion of these student actors is cer-tainly commended, it would nothave been a success if not forMr. Case and director CharleneAgnew, an SFU black box theatrestudent, who really brought thestudent’s ideas to life.

Together, they created frui-tion that an audience of nearly 80people came enjoyed.

The performances of thisoutrageous play were all top-notch, and the edgy air of thisplay was necessary and clearlyeffective, because the spectacu-lar era that truly once was, wasperfectly portrayed in this show.

playact Alice’s trickily-worded,slightly bizarre Jabberwock poem.Some groups read along with ac-tions or choreographed movement,others acted the story out, andsome did a combination of the two.

Next, the group resumed theircircle and began reading short sec-tions of the play in groups of three,with each of the three playing ei-ther Alice, Tweedledee, orTweedledum. The script gave manythe opportunity to showcase theirskills. After resuming the circle, itwas time for the potential cast mem-bers to stand on their own. Every-one took turns reciting a line fromthe play, without the aid of a script,although Maht Carolei was onbook should they need the line fedto them. After all 60-plus candidateshad performed the line, the audi-tion was over. It ended at around5:00; the high number of hopefulsmade for an extended process.

On Wednesday, January 17th,two days after the audition,Alice in Wonderland’s castwas announced, via a listposted on the make uproom door. A large numberof students were chosen,and there will be an oppor-tunity to act as backgroundperformers for those whowish to still be involved.Zeb Mason will serve asstage manager, ChrisLeRose was selected toplay the Mad Hatter, PaulMethot will be the Chesh-ire Cat, Jonathon Dick willbe the White Rabbit,Duncan Webster will be thehookah-smoking Caterpil-lar, and Heather Burgesswill star as the play’s titularheroine.

By Echo ReporterLeanne Feichtinger

Monday, February 19th, 2007 Page 5

After working for ninemonths on his first novel, DavidRussell, otherwise known as Mr.Mushens, had his book “DeadlyLessons” released on November30th. Deciding to write a novel,Mushens took a few months off ofwork to do something he had beenaspiring to do for some time.Starting off as means to pitchscreenplays, Mr. Mushens soonrealized his passion for novelwriting.Published by the RendezVousPress in Toronto, “Deadly Lessons”is a murder mystery book set in aschool. I recently had the chanceto sit down with the busy authorand ask him a few questions.

Echo: When was your booklaunched?Mushens: “Officially, it waslaunched on November 30th. Itstarted distributing later that weekand it’s been in some bookstoresfor a week.”

Echo: Why is your novel publishedunder the pen name David Russell?Mushens: “It goes back abouttwenty years. When I did somework in radio, my last name“Mushens” on a microphonesounded a little sloppy, so the

program director said that I shoulduse a different name. He asked memy middle name, which is Russell,and he said David Russell soundsgreat! As an actor and a writer, themore time you use your name, themore time your name is used, andpeople start to get to know you thatway.”

Echo: What was you motivation towrite a book?Mushens: “My motivation to writea book came after I tried to pitch ascript to a couple of TV shows.Because I hadn’t had anythingproduced she [the producer] saidto me that if I was a publishedauthor, it would be way easier topitch [a script]. She suggestedwriting a book and that’s what Idid. I actually found I like writingbooks better than writing screenplays.”

Echo: How long did it take you tofinish the book?Mushens: “The initial draft,bearing in mind I was on a leave ofabsence from work, took aboutnine months to write.I was away from work for about halfa year.”

Echo: The genre is sort of mysteryand crime, why?

By Echo Reporter Zane Jiwa

Author David Mushens Reveals His “Deadly Lessons”Author David Mushens Reveals His “Deadly Lessons”Author David Mushens Reveals His “Deadly Lessons”Author David Mushens Reveals His “Deadly Lessons”Author David Mushens Reveals His “Deadly Lessons”Mushens: “Because it’s a genre Ilike. That’s what I read a lot when Ihave time. I am a big murderm y s t e r y ,c o u r t r o o mfan, so it is acombinationof the two.”

Echo: What isthe hardestpart aboutwriting? Is itnot enought i m e ?Thinking ofideas?M u s h e n s :“Now, it’s notenough time.When Istarted thefirst one in2001 andwrote until 2002, I was on a leave ofabsence and then working parttime.Now, I work full time, and have achild, so time is the real thing.When you can find time to sit downand do it is the hardest part.”

Echo: The book is set in a school.When writing this book, did youmodel any of the characters afterstudents you have known?

Mushens: “It’s funny, because I getthis question a lot because I workin a school and it takes place in aschool. The characters are more

based ontypes ofstudents Ihave had.When thestudent gotmurdered, Iw a s n ’ tthinking ofanyone; Iw a sthinking ofa type ofperson.”

Echo:Do youhave aw r i t i n gr o u t i n e ?

Some writers like to write in the darkor work at a certain time,Mushens: “No, not specifically, butI have certain requirements. I can’twrite in a messy space. Sometimes,every fifteen minutes a paper hasto be put away, everything is justright. There is not a ritual per say,but I have to have a clean space.”

Echo: Is there any advice youwould give an aspiring writer?

Mushens: “Hah, have another wayto make a living. Just kidding ofcourse. You have to be disciplinedand make time to write. I’m verypassionate about writing. Becauseit’s done individually and there isn’tanyone to push you, so it’s adiscipline thing.”

Echo: What’s more important toyou, the success of the book orhow it was written?Mushens: “Hmm, that’s a toughone. I don’t know. I don’t need tobe rich and famous; I would likepeople to enjoy it and to besuccessful enough so [when] Ipitch the next one, the [publisher]is willing to look at it.”

Echo: Is there going to be a sequel?Mushens: “There is. When I soldthe book to the publisher, Isuggested that it could potentiallybe a series of books. However, thesequel has gone much, much moreslowly. I can’t dream about when itwill be published, but my intent isto have finished the book by SpringBreak.”

Echo: Is there anything else youwant to add?Mushens: “Only that it’s meant tobe good, clean fun and nobodyshould read in to anything, becauseI am not a homicidal maniac.”

:

Welcome to the world ofWinston Patrick, a formerLegal Aid lawyer turnedhigh school communica-tions/law teacher. Tired ofthe hustle and bustle of thelaw profession, Winstonsettles down in a comfort-able East Vancouver HighSchool and soon finds him-self trapped in a tangledweb of crime and passion.

Written by DavidRussell, the writing pseu-donym of Best’s very own Mr.Mushens, this mystery is a bit dry inthe beginning, evolves into a storythat draws the reader in and gripsthem. Russell creates a truly brilliantcharacter in Winston Patrick-achronic insomniac who has severalfairly odd relationships with policeofficers, fellow teachers and his ex-wife. Patrick is an intriguing, well-rounded character, and one withwhich readers can easily relate.

After reading the prologue, Iwas thoroughly confused. The pro-logue occurred in another countryand there was absolutely no sign ofWinston Patrick.Thankfully, Russellquickly began to develop the plotand I was back on track. The begin-ning of the story lacked a hook, butonce the main story line fell intoplace, I was intrigued. When a fellowteacher, who is being blackmailedby a student confides in Patrick, hefeels compelled to defend his co-

CD ReviewsCD ReviewsCD ReviewsCD ReviewsCD Reviews

By Echo ColumnistBrendan Batchelor

By Echo ColumnistBrendan Batchelor

The most recent release from MattHeafy and his boys is quite a drasticchange from their previous offering,Ascendancy, which combinedscreaming vocals with blisteringguitar riffs. While the brilliant guitarwork is still intact on The Crusade,there is one major improvement: sing-ing. Heafy, the lead guitarist andvocalist, has taken a more traditionalthrash metal approach to the latestalbum, belting out the lyrics like ayoung James Hetfield. This album isa huge step up, and after puttingaway the guttural approach to theirmusic, the band will now attract alarger demographic. The standouttrack is the album opener “Ignition,”which begins with a heart poundingintro before breaking into a circa1985 Metallica-esque verse. Thissong also conveys a distinct politi-cal message: “Our leaders preach ifwe disagree/We’re the traitors ofsociety.” This may turn away somelisteners but one thing is certain,Trivium has found their sound andThe Crusade seriously rocks.

4.5/5

Amy Lee is back with an entirelynew cast after the departure of herprevious band members. I smell anew Axl Rose; and, The Open Dooris about as horrible as his signaturespandex short shorts. While no oneis disputing that Amy Lee is a fan-tastic singer, she has very, verypoor taste in musicians. With riffsthat even a beginner could play andguitar progressions that reek of n00b,this is an utterly dreadful album. Theonly redeeming quality is Lee’s afore-mentioned vocal chops which un-fortunately cannot salvage therecord. The two best songs on thisalbum are the opening track “SweetSacrifice,” which contains a simplebut surprisingly catchy guitar riff,and the single “Call Me WhenYou’re Sober” which includes a verybearable intro featuring Lee singingand playing the piano, but this songgoes down hill as does the rest of therecord. I’ll call Amy Lee when I’msober if she calls me when she’s asolo artist.

2/5

Gwen is probably one of the fewdecent celebrities in Hollywood, astark contrast to those conceitedcelebs that have their head up theirrears.

I have to give her credit for origi-nality despite what I found to be hermost ear-bleeding album yet. Indeed,I was surprised to have disliked hersecond solo CD as much as I did.Gwen Stefani, known for her catchytunes and music videos, failed tolive up to the expectations set on herlast CD.

Although a greatly inspired songwriter and an independent woman,her latest creation disappointed me,containing few likable songs. Hervoice, a whining wail, made me wantto shrivel up and cry. Worst of allwere the repetitive lyrics. Someoneshould pass Gwen a dictionary orthesaurus – something to improveher vocabulary.

It was sad that her exceptionalrhythm was combined with on goingscreams. I do not advise anyone tobuy this CD.

2/5

By Echo ColumnistNicole Ugali

worker in court. Winston also facesthe challenge of defending himselfto his boss, co-workers and theparents of his students. The furiousparents will go to great lengths toprevent their children from beingtaught by Patrick, who is defendinga teacher accused of a sexual rela-

tionship and themurder of one of hisstudents.

I wasn’t surethis book would in-trigue me verymuch, mainly due tothe lack of romance;however, certainchapters left me flip-ping pages. Others,however, left meyawning and my

eyes watering. At the height of themurder investigation, I wanted de-tails about the investigation, notdescriptions of Patrick’s long morn-ing runs. One thing the story did notlack was imagery of the east side ofVancouver; most chapters includedexcruciating details of Winston’sruns, which were used to describehis surroundings. Russell wouldeventually throw in another hook:such as a second and third homi-cide, and then for the next four chap-ters I was again completely en-thralled. I never knew what wascoming next. There was no stere-otyped killer; it was a truemystery.Although the plot was in-consistent, the climax was fascinat-ing and the conclusion cleared upmy confusion regarding the pro-logue. I felt this book was a verygood first novel and look forward toreading Russell’s next creation.

By Echo ColumnistLeslie Bouillet

Best Best Best Best Best AuthorAuthorAuthorAuthorAuthorWWWWWrites Killerrites Killerrites Killerrites Killerrites KillerNovelNovelNovelNovelNovel

ENTERTENTERTENTERTENTERTENTERTAINMENTAINMENTAINMENTAINMENTAINMENT

VVVVVALENTINES FEAALENTINES FEAALENTINES FEAALENTINES FEAALENTINES FEATURETURETURETURETUREPage 6 Monday, February 19th, 2007

By Echo ColumnistElizabeth The

TTTTTop 4 Classic Romantic Filmsop 4 Classic Romantic Filmsop 4 Classic Romantic Filmsop 4 Classic Romantic Filmsop 4 Classic Romantic Films

At our age, it’s sometimeshard for us to differentiate betweenthe feelings lust and love. So here’sa quick Echo quiz to help you de-fine the feeling.

1) You go over to your loveinterest’s house, but it turns out thatthey are extremely sick. You:

a) Get out of there as fast asyou can; you don’t want to getsick.b) Stick around for a minute,but leave as soon as you have thechance to escape. After all, youcan’t make out with someone who’ssick anyway. c) Stay with them justto make sure that they are feelingokay and bring them some chickennoodle soup the next chance youget.

2) In the next year, you seeyourself:

a) Making out with somehot Australian on the gondola inWhistler.b) Still with your currentlove interest, but it’s hard to imag-ine you two that far into thefuture.c) In the arms of your cur-rent love interest. It’s hard not to

see youselves together in a year’stime

.3) If your love interest says the “L”word for the first time, you replywith a:

a) ”…thanks.” b)“You, too?” c) “I loveyou, too!”

4) If someone waspointing a gun at yourlove interest you would:

a) Scream and runfor your life. b) Run andtry to find someone tohelp him or her.c) Jump inbetween the gun andyour love interest.

5) If your love in-terest was under the in-fluence, you would

a) Leave them to make adrunken fool of themselves. b) Takeadvantage of them. c) Take care ofthem.

6) For a romantic date with your loveinterest, you:

a) Don’t do anything! Whyshould you do something for them?

If anything, they should do some-thing for you. b) Take them to amovie. c) Spend all day making athree-course dinner, followed by aromantic walk in the park.

7) Your love interest’s parents kickthem out, you say:

a) “You probably deservedit!” b) “Come and stay at my placeuntil things blow over”c) “Youshould go home and try to workthings out, if you can’t, my houseis always open to you.

8) Your love interest is driving reck-lessly, you:

a) Tell them to pull over soyou can get out of the car. b) Laughand try to enjoy the ride. c) Tellthem to drive more carefully be-cause you don’t want to see themget hurt.

9) Your love interest buys you areally ugly t-shirt, you:

a) Ask for the receipt, so youcan return it. b) Keep it but onlybecause you don’t want to hurt heirfeelings c) Keep it and wear it allthe time! So what if it’s ugly, when-ever you wear it, it reminds you ofthem.

10) Your love interest’s best friendhits on you, you:

a) Flirt back; their bestfriend is really cute! b) Tell them tostop, and then tell your love inter-est. They don’t need a friend likethat. c) Don’t flirt back and don’ttell your love interest. They’ll onlybe hurt that their best friend didthat to them

If your answers were mostlyA: You probably don’t care

about your “love interest” in thefirst place. Seems like you tookmore time taking this test thanyou’ve spent thinking about them.Do yourself a favor and get out ofyour relationship ASAP.

B: You clearly care aboutthem, but you are still more con-cerned about yourself. Your lustmay bloom into love one day, butas for now, your feelings are notlove.

C: You are in love. It’s a greatfeeling isn’t it?! You would put yourlove in front of yourself any day.

“Love is patient, love is kind.It does not envy. Love is neverboastful, nor conceited, nor rude;it is not self-seeking, nor easily an-gered. It keeps no record of wrong-doing. It does not delight in evil,but rejoices in the truth. It alwaysprotects, trusts, hopes, and pre-serves. There is nothing love can-not face; there is no limit to itsfaith, hope, and endurance. In aword, there are three things thatlast forever: faith, hope, and love;but the greatest of them all is love.”(Corinthians 13:4-7)

By Echo ColumnistKathryn Majdanski

Lust or Love? The Perfect Match or Merely Desperation?Lust or Love? The Perfect Match or Merely Desperation?Lust or Love? The Perfect Match or Merely Desperation?Lust or Love? The Perfect Match or Merely Desperation?Lust or Love? The Perfect Match or Merely Desperation?

1. Avoid dorky petnames like “Pookey.’ It shows thatyou have gotten a little too com-fortable, and quite frankly, it’s re-ally embarrassing having someonecalling you Pookey in public.

2. Please, try to refrainfrom using the “L” word. For most,it has significant meaning. My tworules for the use of that specialword are either don’t say it until iteats away at you or say it whenyou think the other person feelsthe same way. Do not say it as soon

as you think you love the other per-son because chances are that it isjust lust and the strong feeling willsoon fade.

3. Don’t pick fightswith your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’sfamily. Try to start off on the rightfoot. Be kind, be polite, and remem-ber your crush’s family is alwaysright.

4. DON’T BE ASKANK! This goes for you tooboys. Girls: Guys do not respect afemale who puts out; they like thethrill of the chase. Leave them chas-ing after you, rather than skipping

the line then enjoying the ride.Boys: It’s way cooler to respect awoman than to treat her as just an-other notch on your belt. Girlswon’t even acknowledge you;your reputation will precede you.

Oh and trying too hard comes offas creepy.

5. Nagging is unneces-sary. Your boyfriend/girlfriend al-ready has a mother, leave the nag-ging to them.

By Echo ColumnistKathryn Majdanski

The 6 “Don’ts” of Dating The 6 “Don’ts” of Dating The 6 “Don’ts” of Dating The 6 “Don’ts” of Dating The 6 “Don’ts” of Dating

Love is in the air, meaning thatit’s the perfect time to spend anenchanted evening with your sig-nificant other and a romantic tear-jerker! In true Hollywood fashion,these films cover the plight, pur-suit, parry and power of love.

CasablancaThey’ll always have Paris,

and we’ll always have Rick andIsla. Casablanca weaves a lovestory within the tapestry of war, andheroism. Nightclub owner RickBlaine (Humphrey Bogart) finds hisold flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) intown with resistance leader VictorLaszlo. Sparks fly between theformer couple and old feelings arerekindled. The chemistry behind theBogart and Bergman is dynamic onthe silver screen. In the bittersweetfinale, you feel for Isla as she is tornbetween what her mind and herheart is telling her. Can true loverealy overcome all obstacles?

Gone With The WindSet against the backdrop of

the Civil War in the AmericanSouth, Gone With The Wind con-tinues to charm audiences with theturbulent romance between thespoiled and manipulative ScarlettO’Hara (Vivien Leigh) and the dash-

ing and coy Rhett Butler (Clark Ga-ble). The film entraps you throughits stunning visual, its spellbind-ing score and the irresistible attrac-tion between the leads. Frankly mydears, this sweeping epic is worthviewing!

An Affair To RememberHandsome playboy Nicky

Ferrante (Cary Grant) and nightclub singer Terry McKay (DeborahKerr) fall in love onboard a cruiseship from Europe to New York. De-spite their engagements to otherpeople, they make a pact to reuniteat the top of the Empire State Build-ing, but cruel fate steps in beforethey can meet. With balanced ele-ments of comedy and drama, AnAffair To Remember is endearingfrom the voyage’s beginning to theend. Best of all, it has the charmingCary Grant!

Lady And The TrampWhen Lady, a pampered,

uptown Cocker Spaniel, flees fromher home, she meets a streetwisedowntown Mutt named Tramp.Together, they embark on excitingadventures, and soon, their friend-ship blossoms into an amiablecourtship. Who could possibly for-get the famous spaghetti scenebetween the two lovestruckpooches?

6. NO RULES! Whatgives you the right to tell your boy-friend/girlfriend what they can orcannot do. They have their ownminds, and you will not changethat. Being controlled sucks.

Canucks Mid-Season Report: What If Luongo Goes Down?Canucks Mid-Season Report: What If Luongo Goes Down?Canucks Mid-Season Report: What If Luongo Goes Down?Canucks Mid-Season Report: What If Luongo Goes Down?Canucks Mid-Season Report: What If Luongo Goes Down?By Echo Reporters: MikeNoble and Farhan Devji

By Echo Reporter:Farhan DevjiOn Thursday, January 18th, the

Charles Best wrestling team headedto Kamloops to participate in theWestern Canada Age Class Cham-pionships. This was the team’s firstcompetition in 2007. Coming off animpressive showing at the War OnThe Floor tournament early Decem-ber , the tight-knit group was lookingto improve their encouraging per-formance. Fourteen of the wrestlersfrom the squad made the trip to theinterior, in what Mr. Coops describedas a “good team-building experience.”The players not only displayed greatperformance, but they had a lot offun doing it. Each member wrestledto their best of their abilities, leavingeverything on the mat. JimmyMahaffey was the only Blue Devil tomedal in Kamloops but many othersalso turned in some great matches.Ian Lee and Rebecca Innis bothplaced 5th in their respective cat-egories and Scyler Santimeau wassingled out by Coach Coops as oneof the top performers. Teams from allover B.C. and Alberta also competed

in the tournament.On February 1st,the Best team headed to the island toparticipate in the Annual Port AlberniInvite. This was the team’s finaltournament prior to the zones. Thesquad turned in another great per-formance with Callum Bremnerleading the way. Callum earned asilver medal in the 74 kg category.Two of the team’s most consistentwrestlers were once again at theirbest as Jimmy Mahaffey and RebeccaInnis both placed 3rd in their respec-tive categories. Joshua Lewis alsoplaced 3rd in the Juvenile Boys class.A great deal of the team’s successthis year is due to the addition ofassistant coach Mr. Jeaggle, whohas been essential in the wrestlers’development and as Coach Coopsexplains, has also been of great as-sistance to him: “It’s been great forme, I’ve had assistant coaches in thepast but I’ve never had a teacher inthe building so it’s been great forpractices and organization.” Aftertwo more fantastic showings, thefuture looks bright for this youngCharles Best wrestling team. Theyhave a few wrestlers who have agreat opportunity to place atprovincials and even though theyhave 6 graduates, they also haveabout 8 or 9 new wrestlers coming inwho will without doubt keep up thehigh level of competition for manyyears to come.

A:Henrik Sedin: Although Henrik’sgoal tally is less than stellar; he isamong the league leaders in assistsand has drastically improved hisface-off percentage. He has beenone of Vancouver’s mostconsistent players on any givennight. Henrik is on pace to establisha new career high in points and hasfinally established himself as abonafide number one center.Daniel Sedin: Along with hisbrother, Daniel has beenVancouver’s most consistentplayer. He leads the team in goalsand has become the team’s go-to-guy in all critical situations. Danielis an offensive threat every time hetouches the puck and is well on hisway to establishing himself as apure sniper.Roberto Luongo: The all-star hasbeen everything and more than theCanucks expected when theyacquired him in the off-season. The‘Nucks finally have a goalie that cansingle handledly steal a game forthe team, something he has doneon numerous occasions. Robertois well on his way to shattering hisprevious career high in wins. Withthe heavy workload Lu hasreceived to the mid-point of thisseason, the question remains: Willhe be able to keep up his incredibleplay down the stretch and into theplayoffs?Kevin Bieksa: When Brian Burkedrafted Kevin Bieksa, he said toremember his name. This seasonBieksa has proven why. He hasbeen Vancouver’s top defensemanin all situations. Paired alongsideWillie Mitchell, the two have shutdown the opposing teams’ topplayers every night. The

intimidating defenseman has alsofilled the offensive void left byJovanovski’s departure as he isVancouver’s top point producerfrom the back end.

B:Mattias Ohlund: The addition ofshutdown defenseman WillieMitchell has freed Ohlund to playmore of an offensive style. Thenative of Pitea, Sweden has quietlyput up decent numbers from theback end while maintaining his soliddefensive play. Matty-O iscontinually one of Vancouver’smost reliable defensemen.Trevor Linden: Though he startedoff the year with fans and mediacalling for his retirement, therejuvenated Trevor Linden hasbeen one of the team’s mostimpressive players of late. Trevorhas received a significant increasein ice time and currently findshimself on the first power play unit.Captain Canuck has alreadyequalled his goal total from lastseason, and he seems to havefound a home playing alongsideBrendan Morrison and Matt Cooke.Willie Mitchell: He’s what theCanucks have lacked for a longtime: a mean defensive defenseman

who is capable of shutting downany player in the NHL. But don’tbe confused with his approach onthe ice, as his positive attitude andconstant smile in the dressing roomhas had a snowballing effect on therest of the team.Sami Salo: Whenever Sami Salohas been in the line-up, he has beenquite effective. He leads the teamin plus-minus with an impressive+11 rating. Opposing teams mustalways respect his rocket of a shotfrom the point, which frees up morespace for his team-mates. TheFinnish- MacInnis has been one ofVancouver’s most reliabledefensemen.Taylor Pyatt: Pyatt has alreadysurpassed his goal and point totalsfrom last year with the Sabres. Hehas turned into a poor-man’s ToddBertuzzi with a lethal snap shot. Forthe majority of the season, Pyatthas fit in nicely playing with theSedins. Pyatt has a surprisinglydeceiving skating style and a greatmixture of size and grit.

C+:Brendan Morrison: Ever sinceBertuzzi’s departure this summer,Morrison has been centering thesecond line; and consequently, hehasn’t produced the points he’sused to. To date he has 24 pointsand is minus 12, Last year he had32 points and +3 at the halfwaypoint.Ryan Kesler :The $1.9 Milliondollar third liner has been pumpingout the points recently when theCanucks need them, but earlier inthe season he was slacking and thenumbers did not justify hiscontract. Due to his workload andeffort and recent point increase,Kesler barely squeezes in thiscategory.

Alexandre Burrows :Burrows musthave broken a few mirrors in the offseason because he’s been on astring of bad luck. After having fourgoals disallowed for variousreasons, Burrows finally got his firstgoal of the season against theCalgary Flames. Arguably the darkhorse of the Canucks and one oftheir top prospects, Burrows is asolid third line grinder, but he hasyet to elevate his offensive game.

C:Markus Naslund:Captain Canuckhas lost his smile. On paper,Naslund isn’t doing too badly. Heis third in points behind the Sedin’sand a very good +4, but he’sbecome very inconsistent onoffence, and a shell of his former90+ point self. Up until justrecently, Naslund seemed to belacking confidence. He is slowlyimproving, but the C on his chestisn’t the only C he has.Lukas Krajicek : The other playeracquired in the Luongo – Bertuzzisummer block buster was Krajicek,replacing the departing BryanAllen. Albeit not as hard hitting andintense as Allen, Krajicek, despitesome consistency errors can holddown the fort when it’s needed. Healso has the team worst plus minuswith a -13. Something a defensemanshould not have.Josh Green: A solid checker, butthis grinder is still very green whenit comes to offence. Pun intended.He has the same potential asBurrows, but he has yet to show itthis year and hasonly a few points thus far. He hadbetter pick up his game within thenext half of the season, or else he’llbe destined to be a third line grinderfor the rest of his career.

C-:Jan Bulis: During the off season,Bulis was signed and instantlyhailed as a replacement for Bertuzziand Carter. Sadly enough, Bulisturned out to be the next MarkMessier in terms of production,with only 15 points this season.Also with trade rumours floatingaround, Bulis may become a badmemory for Vancouver faster thanyou can say Antoine Vermette.Rory Fitzpatrick: Despitepotentially starting with ScottNeidermayer in the 2007 All-StarGame, the Vote for Rory campaignfell short, much like Fitzpatrick’stenure with the Canucks. Fitzpatrickhas been sidelined with injuries formost of the season, but for thegames he has played, he hasn’tdone very much to make adifference. So maybe a “StartGetting Points Rory” campaignneeds to be formed.

F:Marc Chouinard: TheChouinardian one has not risenhigher than 4th line. Chouinard’spredicted breakout season is notgoing as planned. The Canuckssigned him hoping he woukd followup his career-high point seasonwith another 30+ season, but thosehopes have since died withChouinard being injured and onlyachieving 3 points in his given icetime.

By Echo Reporter:Kelsey Davis

Senior Girls Having “Hoop Dreamz”Senior Girls Having “Hoop Dreamz”Senior Girls Having “Hoop Dreamz”Senior Girls Having “Hoop Dreamz”Senior Girls Having “Hoop Dreamz”

SPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTS Page 7February 19, 2007

The Charles Best Senior GirlsBasketball team has had a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs dur-ing their 2007 season.

The Charles Best Devils havebounced back and forth betweenwins and losses during their leagueplay, pulling out some of their great-est games in the past two weeks.

Most recently, the girls took onMaple Ridges’ Garibaldi Second-ary, pulling out a “big win,” ac-cording to senior co-captain Rand

Abood.Following the Garibaldi win, the

Devil s took on Coquitlam’s Pinetreeand once again added another “W”to their record.

Charles Besthas also domi-nated in tourna-ment play, plac-ing third inthree of fourtournamentsduring their2007 season.They recentlyplaced 3rd in theCAVS Classictourney, on theweekend of the13th and 14th ofJanuary.

Prior toC h r i s t m a sbreak, the girlstraveled to sev-eral away tour-naments in-c l u d i n gPenticton andVancouver Is-land.

“I think our team can do well in therest of the season. We’re all cuties!How can we not!” said Devils point

guard Rand Abood. Abood hasplayed strong all year, with the helpof power forward Heather Tait, andco-captain Lauren Parker. LisaSeidel has also been a stand-out so

far in the sea-son, for hera w e s o m ework ethic insome veryt o u g hmatches.

T h egirls’ seasonc o n t i n u e sinto thismonth withg a m e sagainst theprovinciallyranked PortMoody Bluesand RiversideRapids fastapproaching.F o l l o w i n gleague, thegirls will beplaying in theregional com-

petition and hopefully advancingto the Fraser Valley Championships.

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Page 8

In general, the highschool population doesn’t tendto have enough respect forcheerleaders. Theircompetitions are not as widelyembraced as say a basketballgame, they get told thatcheerleading is not a sport andthey always seem to have to provethemselves. On January 16, 2007;Dr. Charles Best held a mid-seasonfriendly exhibition competition forcheer teams throughout thedistrict. After a lot of preparation,Port Moody Dance Team kicked offthe competition with anentertaining routine. After thedancers had had their turn, thecheer squads took up their placeson the ugly blue matting. CharlesBest and Port Moody JV squadswent first, performing the parts oftheir routines that they hadprepared and then College ParkElementary took the stage much tothe delight of the audience. The

twenty or so fifth graders and theiradorable routine was a highlightand the crowd cheered loudly.

Up next was the high schoolcompetition, and this was what thecrowd had been waiting for.Riverside, with a noticeably smallersquad than their competition, wentfirst. They should have been gladto go first because despite musicflaws that proved to be setbacksfor both Port Moody and Best.Riverside was still inferior to therival schools. Port Moody had afew problems with their music and,therefore, a few problems with theirstunts. Despite the technicaldifficulties it was evident to thecrowd that they were Best’s biggest

SPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTS Friday, February 19th, 2007

BestBestBestBestBestHostsHostsHostsHostsHostsFriendlyFriendlyFriendlyFriendlyFriendlyCheerCheerCheerCheerCheer

Through a month and ahalf of play, it has become evi-dent that the Blue Devils seniorboys’ basketball team certainlypossesses the talent to makethem one of the best in the prov-ince. What has become evenmore evidentis that they areone of themost incon-sistent teamsin the prov-ince. Through25 games sofar, the boyssit at an unim-pressive 15-10, with thrill-ing victoriesagainst peren-nial power-houses

T e r r yFox andSeaquam butalso stunningdefeats to tra-d i t i o n a l l yweak schoolssuch asMcMath andDelta’s AASands.

Given all of the pre-seasonhype they were receiving, thisrollercoaster style of play is sim-ply unacceptable. “Best hasnever been an elite program untilthis year,” said Coach Hyde, theteam’s head coach. “Now, we’re

getting recognition from newspa-pers, from the provincial rankings,by word of mouth; we want to proveto everyone that we can play withthe big boys.”

Fine words to be sure, but sofar all the team has proven is that itcan turn things on when it wants to

and turn them off in a hurry on anygiven night.

This year was considered bymany (including Basketball BC’sranking experts) to be the year forBest. Though Team BC membersDavid Joyce and Sam Freeman are

both still juniors, it is the last yearof eligibility for impact seniorsKarim Hemmings, Scott Redwood,Josh Kim, Adam “The Trey-Drop-per” Cutbill, and Chris “TheBeast” Seidel. Which begs thequestion: if not now, then when?

Coach Hyde re-mains optimis-tic. “Oh, forsure we’re in-consistent. It’sstill early in theseason andwe’ve alreadybeat some stel-lar teams. True,we’ve lost tosome weakerteams, but it’spart of the learn-ing process,right? I’d rathersacrifice con-sistency nowfor consistencylater, when itmatters. Allthat I’m worriedabout is makingthe Fraser Val-leys.” That tar-get definitely

seems achievable so far as the BlueDevils find themselves 2 (includ-ing two marginally close losses) inleague play. Usual powerhouseteams within the district such asCentennial, Pitt Meadows, andMaple Ridge are in the midst of re-

building years, which gives CharlesBest an excellent chance at quali-fying in the districtplayoffs. In pre-season provincialrankings the BlueDevils were listedas an honorablemention, which isno small feat for asmall school fromone of the tough-est – if not thetoughest – zonesin the province.

And whyshouldn’t it betheir year? Attimes this season,the team haslooked dominant.Sam Freeman is aprovincial teamstar and DavidJoyce is a hugepresence in thepost. Scott Red-wood remains thesmartest (and mostverbal) player onthe court whileteam captain ChrisSeidel, always asolid defensiveplayer, has really turned it up anotch offensively. KarimHemmings mans the point, distrib-uting the ball well and hitting keyshots when the team needs a lift.Key players off the bench includeJordan Nijjer, Stephan Saad, andManny Haider. The team’s inten-sity, when they want it to be, is elec-

tric. So why can’t they maintainthat intensity?

“ Idon’t know,”said three-pointspecialist AdamCutbill. “Whenwe play well, wecan beat mostteams. Theproblem is thatwhen a game isan exhibition ort o u r n a m e n tgame the teamdoesn’t seem toget as focusedmentally. Wealso play gamesback to backand everyonegets tired by theend of it. Weneed to startplaying everygame like aleague game.”

With their recent0-3 last placeshowing at theVancouver Col-lege EmeraldTournament, we

can only hope that the team re-mains confident and continuestheir strong league play. In all fair-ness, it’s probably a little bit tooearly in the regular season to becounting them out just yet, butone still has to wonder. If theycan’t get it done this season,could next season be better?

High Hopes Remain for Senior Boys Basketball THigh Hopes Remain for Senior Boys Basketball THigh Hopes Remain for Senior Boys Basketball THigh Hopes Remain for Senior Boys Basketball THigh Hopes Remain for Senior Boys Basketball TeameameameameamBy Echo ReporterChris Tse

competition. Finally Best took tothe mats. A musical flaw alsoappeared and the flustered squaddropped some stunts in an effortto get back with the beat of theirmusic. Once the music startedover the squad resynchronized tolive up to the hype that surroundsthem. Although problems arose,the cheerleading squads werethere to have fun and to get backinto the drift of things. “It was afriendly way to prepare forupcoming competitions,” saidBest cheerleader AmberMacdonald, “It helped us get readyfor the rest of the season.”

MVP’MVP’MVP’MVP’MVP’s For Februarys For Februarys For Februarys For Februarys For February

To friends and teachers, RandAbood is known for beingloud, comedic and superoutgoing. As a starter on theSenior Girls Basketball team,she is recognized for many ofthe same things. Playing herfourth year for the Devils,Abood has made herpresence known as much onthe court as off. She hasdominated on offence thisseason as the team’s pointguard, recording 28 points ina single game at the McNaireTournament and scoring theAll Star trophy. Abood alsopulled in a MVP award after astand out performance in aWest Vancouver Tournament.She also finds herself in aleadership role, taking on theposition of co-captain of thesenior squad. Rand has anunbelievable attitude on andoff the court and always findsa way to keep the atmospherehumorous and bubbly.

This month’s male MVP is DavidJoyce. This junior starts atpower forward for the seniorboys’ basketball team and hasproven his worth as a postpresence many times. ThoughDavid has not playedcompetitive basketball for verylong, his tenure with theprovincial U-16 team lastsummer and BC’s Nike Centrefor Performance have refinedhis raw potential andathleticism into the smoothgame of a dominant player.While Joyce often finds himselfin foul trouble, when he playshe is nearly unstoppable, as isevidenced by an eighteenpoint, 19 rebound performanceagainst the Notre DameJugglers. Joyce’s fiercecompetitiveness and drive tomake himself better have alsoworn off on the rest of thesenior boys’ team, which islargely why the boys findthemselves third in the league.

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CompetitonCompetitonCompetitonCompetitonCompetitonBy Echo ReporterJordyn Delville-Pratt