The James Logan Courier

By Eric Brown, Courier Music Critic

Last Saturday night, the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco was alive with tension and anticipation. Tickets to the sold-out Cold War Kids show were being scalped for amounts far exceeding face value and fans were expecting a passionate and intimate show at the superb venue.

As the lights went down for opener Alec Ounsworth the crowd had a positive energy that is rarely seen in response to opening bands. I was unfamiliar with Alec Ounsworth, but the lead singer of the ensemble eventually introduced himself as Alec and noted that he and his companions were playing material from his solo project, and two other projects, Flashy Python and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

By Shamal Asnani, Courier Film Critic

If you are someone sitting at home waiting for a new movie to pop into your DVD player, you will need to wait no further than February 16, which marks the DVD and Blu Ray release of Law Abiding Citizen.

Gerard Butler portrays the main character, Clyde Shelton. Shelton is an engineer, who had the unfortunate experience of watching his wife and daughter be murdered right before his eyes. His mental wounds are only worsened, after learning that the man responsible for his family’s murder will only face a prison conviction that is extremely light.

By Zola Boyd, Courier Staff Writer

Recently I had the chance to dine at Red Chili in Hayward, a Thai restaurant located in the shopping center on the corner of Mission and Industrial.

Upon walking in, the atmosphere was quite pleasant - fancy but not snobby - but the sappy slow jams playing faintly in the background were more annoying than ambient. Fortunately, Red chili has a menu with a multitude of options for both carnivores and herbivores.

For our appetizer, spring rolls were the first choice. They were so-so, and they kind of tasted like paper. I wouldn't recommend those.

By Zola Boyd, Courier Staff Writer

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is the latest surreal trip through the uniquely brilliant mind of director Terry Gilliam.

Called "disjointed" and "confusing" by some critics, it is a film about the power of the imagination, and its scenes fade in to one another like fragments of thoughts and dreams.

By Olivia Guitron, Courier Staff Writer

One of my favorite bands, Never Shout Never, just released its very first CD on Tuesday.

The "band" is really just singer/songwriter/musician Christofer Drew Ingle. His new album has many different themes for music, which include love, lost, his parent's divorce, and much more. The songs in his new album are: "Love Is Our Weapon, Jane Doe, Can't Stand It, Sacrilegious, I Love You 5, California, What is Love?, The Past," and, in the version of the album especially made for iTunes, "Fifteen" and "Damn Dog."

By Olivia Guitron, Courier Staff Writer

Nicholas Sparks is a great writer, one whose books will inspire many, and create more readers. His novel, A Walk to Remember, is really touching, right from the start. Sparks has a way with stories and words, and this novel is no different. If you had read his previous novels, then this book is just right, because it shows one of Spark’s most inspiring, touching, and beautiful moments that he has written so far.

It starts with the main character, Landon Carter, as an old man remembering his past and telling the tale of his teenage years when he was 17. Landon was a typical teen in 1958, falling “in love” with various girls in his school, making fun of the minister of his town, who believed that fornicators would rot in hell. His life switches around when he has to find a date to the dance, but his options become limited. So he decides, in the end, to forcefully go out with the minister’s daughter, Jamie Sullivan.

By Michael Aquino, Courier Staff Writer

To many avid video-gamers such as myself, all of the Blizzard franchise games have some place in my childhood and heart. Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo--I had grown up with these, and perhaps my abilities had been inherited from my parents. My mom and dad were hardcore players back when Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was the hit, way back in 1995. In fact, they were winners of 2-on-2 tournaments--I guess it would be natural for their firstborn to have a knack for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

By Ranjana Prasad, Courier Staff Writer

In 1978, two guys came across a great recipe for deep dish pizza and opened the first BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria in Santa Ana, California. The pizza became a hit and more BJ’s were opened along the southern coast of California. Later on it expanded up north and finally has spread to Newark.

This restaurant is a great place to dine for a date, or with the family and friends. It’s a lively place to go.

By Ranjana Prasad, Courier Staff Writer

“First comes marriage. Then comes divorce. And then...Divorced...with benefits.”

Meryl Streep plays a divorced mother of three grown kid and owns a bakery/restaurant in the film It's Complicated.

She has been divorced for ten years and meets her ex–husband for dinner at their son’s graduation and from there things go a little crazy. Her ex–husband Jake, played by Alec Baldwin is already married to a much younger woman, Agnes, who is played by Lake Bell. Now Meryl Streep, who plays the character of Jane, is technically the other women or mistress since she is having an affair with her ex.

By Eric Brown, Courier Music Editor

In the canon of nineties rock music, Weezer has its own unique niche. While Nirvana and Pearl Jam championed angst-ridden cynicism of stadium-sized proportions and Radiohead and Beck pushed the envelope of accepted musical techniques Weezer was at work creating its own, admittedly less impressive, trademark—nerd rock.

By Krystyna Wolny, Courier Staff Writer

Kesha, or to be more creative, Ke$ha is a new upcoming artist in the music world that has become an insta-star. And though Kesha is new to the solo artist scene, many might have heard her in Flo Rida’s single “Right Round”. Her hit single “Tik Tok” is currently being played on almost every radio station in the country. It’s also rumored that her single sold about 610,000 copies, making it the biggest selling single week of a song ever by a female artist.

By Krislyn Perez, Courier Staff Writer

If you’re a lover of gossip, Los Angeles and great storylines, then Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy is just for you. The name Lauren Conrad may seem familiar to you and that is due to her starring in MTV’s hit series The Hills.

Conrad’s novel revolves around the lives of two best friends named Jane Roberts and Scarlett Harp, who are both nineteen years old. They have just moved to Los Angeles together for two very different reasons: Scarlett, to attend University of Southern California and Jane, to intern for top event planner, Fiona Chen.

On a night out at the club, Scarlett and Jane are noticed by reality TV producer, Trevor Lord. Trevor approaches the girls and asks them to be apart of L.A. Candy, a “reality version of Sex and the City.”

By Julie Mendoza, Courier Staff Writer

Violet and Claire, written by Francesca Lia Block, is a short novel about two girls who meet by chance. While Violet attempts to finish writing a script for a movie that would begin her career she meets Claire, her complete opposite.

Violet is an independent teenager. She’s not interested in her immature peers or overrated high school. People her age, with no stories to tell or adventurous experiences, aren’t interesting enough to put in her script.

It’s until Violet meets Claire she finds a strange fascination with everything. Claire is the perfect character for her city documentation. She’s blonde, bubbly, and completely unaware of the reality around her.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)


"Guitar Hero's" previous single-band releases, devoted to Aerosmith and Metallica, were already of questionable quality before "Rock Band" kicked the bar out of the atmosphere with "The Beatles: Rock Band."

Though a perfectly tenable game for reasons to be detailed later, "Guitar Hero: Van Halen" doesn't brighten the picture. Depending on your opinion of Val Halen's present-day relevance and your tolerance for "Guitar Hero" releases in the span of a single year, it might even constitute a leap backward.

By Zola Boyd, Courier Staff Writer

Recently I had the chance to try a new restaurant in Aptos, California, near Santa Cruz. Located in the Seascape Resort, the Sanderlings restaurant specializes in seafood but features an array of different dishes and wines for those over the age of twenty one. Unfortunately, though, my dining experience was far from spectacular.

By Shamal Asnani, Courier Films Editor

One of the first movies to be released in the New Year is Daybreakers, which was released January 8.

Although the movie's main focus involves vampires, Daybreakers definitely provides a different type of entertainment than other vampire related movies, such as Twilight. The movie takes place in the year 2019, when a plague has spread across a large percentage of the American population, turning them into vampires.

By Beatrice Esteban, Courier Staff Writer

Filipino food has always been a favorite of mine – and not just because I’m Filipino. There’s something about the diversity offered by Filipino food that I find difficult to parallel. The soups can be had in so many different ways: one can drink it straight as soup, mix it with rice, or even add other foods to enhance the flavor. The meats can be dipped in a variety of different sauces and cooked with a plethora of methods. It is quite possible that two people can order the same exact dish and have completely dissimilar experiences with it.

By Denise Martin and Joe Flint
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Simon Cowell is on the move.

"American Idol's" star judge and Fox plan to launch a U.S. version of his wildly popular British music talent show "The X Factor" in 2011, people close to the situation said. As a result, this year may be Cowell's last with a full-time presence on the nation's most popular television series, which begins its ninth season Tuesday.

By Geoff Boucher
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — With the exception of James Dean, who made only three films, there might be no pop-culture icon who has done more with less than the late Jimi Hendrix. The ultimate guitar hero released just three studio albums before his death in 1970, but new generations of music fans keep plugging into his amplified legacy.

The volume of Hendrix's music is about to get turned up.

By Laurel Brodzinsky, Courier Staff Writer

Lev Grossman’s novel, The Magicians, would feel familiar to any avid fantasy reader. A boy discovers he has a talent for magic and goes to a magic school. He has extraordinary adventures in secret lands, and lives in a segregated magical society. Trauma happens, but he goes on to have more adventures. The book has many references to Harry Potter, Narnia, and other fantasy standards, but it also has something more.

The Magicians uses sex, drugs, alcohol, and depression to create a feeling of misery, listlessness and sorrow over the loss of innocence not usually emphasized in fantasy. The characters here are normal people who make normal mistakes, they are not heroes off to save the world, stand up for truth and virtue, and have the good guys never lose anything. People looking for the easy get away of an easy to read fantasy book will not find it in The Magicians- most likely you will feel depressed and empty at the end.

By Brandie Moore, Courier Books Editor

Charles Force was Michael, Pure of Heart, one of the archangels who had voluntarily chosen exile from Heaven to help his brethren who had been cast out during Lucifer's revolt and cursed to live their lives on earth as the Blue Bloods. He was a vampire only by choice, not sin. Her mother, Allegra Van Alen, was the only other vampire who shared this distinction. Allegra was Gabrielle, the Uncorrupted, the Virtuous. Michael and Gabrielle had a long and entangled history. They were vampire twins, blood-bound to each other, and had been born brother and sister in this cycle. The bond was an immortal vow between Blue Bloods, but Gabrielle had forsaken the vow when she had taken Schuyler's Red Blood father, her human familiar, as husband instead.

Masquerade is the second book in Melissa de la Cruz' vampire-themed Blue Blood series, a.k.a The Van Alen series.

In this book, the main character, Schuyler, and her best friend/human conduit Oliver go to Venice to find her grandfather, Lawrence. She needs his help to prove to the blue bloods, vampires that feed on humans, that the silver bloods, who feed on blue bloods, are back.

By Olivia Guitron, Courier Staff Writer

Tucker Max is so hilarious in his book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which is made primarily of his stories that happened to him since about 2000. Tucker has his own website (www.tuckermax.com) where he has a blog in which he writes about the crazy situations he and his friends get into. Many of his stories involve drinking to excess, or him drinking into an almost passing-out stage. He is the kind of guy that has relations with too many girls to count, and can’t even remember their names the next day, because he was either drunk, or didn’t care.

By Ranjana Prasad, Courier Staff Writer

Reel Culture, published by Zest Books, is a great book about fifty classic movies you should know about, classics meaning Superman, The Godfather, The Wizard of Oz, and 47 more.

The book has great information these great films that are relatively old in the teen-aged mind, yet are important to see because they are often referenced in our everyday lives.

I spoke with author, Mimi O’Connor this week, and she said she wrote this book so young people would know more about these old movies. She said that she noticed that classic movies were consistently referred to in her everyday work, so she decided to write a book about these great classics.

By Jeffry Bartash
MarketWatch (MCT)

LAS VEGAS — Are people really ready to don funny glasses to watch three-dimensional television in their homes? The answer is a resounding "yes," according to the electronics and entertainment industries.

A technology developed in the 1920s, 3-D has often been ignored or ridiculed. For years it was used in cheesy monster movies or similar B-movies and required viewers to wear cheap, eye-straining plastic glasses.

"3-D has had a bumpy ride," Samsung America President Tim Baxter acknowledged.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)

It's always exciting when a game like "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" takes complete liberty not only with the franchise that bore it, but also the system on which it runs.

It's also a downer when problems that have regularly haunted the franchise creep in yet again and debilitate the mood to a potentially eject button-pressing degree.

"Memories" purports to re-imagine the original "Silent Hill" game by resurrecting its main character and introductory plot. Harry Mason has once again awoken in a snowbound town after a car accident knocked him unconscious, and once again, his daughter has mysteriously disappeared.

By Shamal Asnani, Courier Film Critic

Any fans of the legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes, should be excited to hear that December 25 marked the release date for the film adaptation of the detective. Robert Downey, Jr. stars as the movie’s title character, with Jude law portraying Dr. Watson. The movie begins with the arrest of Lord Blackwood, after his attempt to sacrifice a human being in order to perform a ritual. Months later, Blackwood insists that Holmes be present to witness his hanging. Moments before he is hung, Blackwood explains to the detective that three more deaths will occur after his hanging, and reassures Holmes that nothing can be done to prevent these deaths either.

By Krystyna Wolny, Courier Staff Writer

Many can agree that Lady Gaga is one of the most bizarre celebrities out there nowadays, but it’s her music that goes along with her image. Her new album, The Fame Monster, came out on November 18th. I recently bought it and was surprised at how different it sounded compared to her previous CD.

By Brandie Moore, Courier Books Editor

Dimitri. There he was again, popping back into my mind. I had no clue if he really would be lurking near his hometown, but I had nothing else to go on at this point. Again, that weird feeling came over me. My mind blurred Dimitri's face with that of the Strigoi I'd just killed: pale skin, red-ringed eyes. "No, I sternly told myself. Don't focus on that yet. Don't panic. Until I faced Dimitri the Strigoi, I would gain the most strength from remembering the Dimitri I loved, with his deep brown eyes, warm hands, fierce embrace.

Here it is everyone! Book four of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. It was a long wait, but oh so worth it. Just when you thought these books couldn't get better, they bring out the next one and the cycle repeats.

By Brandie Moore, Courier Books Editor

Across the street, Schuyler saw a cab pull up to the curb, and a tall blond guy stepped out of it. Just as he emerged, another cab barreled down the street on the opposite side. It was swerving recklessly, and at first it looked like it would miss him, but at the last moment, the boy threw himself in its path and disappeared underneath its wheels. The taxicab never even stopped, just kept going as if nothing happened. "Oh my God!" Schuyler screamed. The guy had been hit - she was sure of it - he'd been run over - he was surely dead. "Did you see that?" she asked, frantically looking around for Oliver, who seemed to have disappeared. Schuyler ran across the street, fully expecting to see a dead body, but the boy was standing right in front of her, counting the change in his wallet. He slammed the door shut and sent his taxi on its way. He was whole and unhurt.

Book one in Melissa De La Cruz' Blue Bloods saga is another vampire book, but it has a different twist on how we all know and see vampires. Unlike most vampires we know, in Cruz' book, instead of being bitten and turning into a vampire you are either born a vampire or a human. Another difference is instead of living forever these vampires live a regular human life and their memories lives on through different human bodies.

By Krislyn Perez, Courier Staff Writer

Christopher John Francis Boone is the main character and narrator of Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Christopher is fifteen years old and a mathematical genius. He is autistic; he loves and needs order. Christopher absolutely hates to be touched and understands very little about human emotions. He loves animals and has a pet rat named Toby.

His mother died a few years ago of a heart attack. Christopher often goes on late night walks and one night finds Mrs. Shears dog, Wellington, with a garden fork sticking out of him; Mrs. Shears is Christopher’s neighbor. Christopher decides that it is his duty to investigate the murder, just like Sherlock Holmes investigated many murders.

By Olivia Guitron, Courier Staff Writer

One of Dan Brown’s first books, Angels and Demons was published about three years before his greatest, yet controversial, novel about the Illuminati and the Roman Catholic church, The Da Vinci Code.

Angels and Demons has proved its marketability by being turned into a movie last year. Although the novel Angels and Demons is set in a time before the events of The Da Vinci Code, the film version is set after.

By Michael Aquino, Courier Staff Writer

On the chilly night of December 14th, invited by a friend to the event, I attended the first musical-symphony event I had really ever seen. I was really unsure of what to expect. What was I supposed to be anticipating for James Logan's Winter Concert?

Honestly. I had the assumption that this would be just some bunch of kids playing instruments and playing lullabies to put me to sleep. I thought it might have been one of the worst times ever and that I would eternally hold a grudge against such symphonic performances forever after.

I was so wrong.

By Jericho Faustino, Courier Staff Writer

The highly anticipated Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 is finally here and is quickly taking over online servers as the game to be reckoned with.

The latest in the infamous Call of Duty franchise, "Modern Warfare 2" has already been regarded by gamers as one of the hottest games, EVER. You can't blame them for that assumption, especially with an action packed campaign, a Cooperative game mode called Special Ops, and online play where all hell brakes loose.