In the age of over processed yet convenient foods, and the nagging urge to eat healthier, a television show emerges that makes America really think. English chef and media personality, Jamie Oliver, comes to network television with his ground breaking new show, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” a show that examines what exactly the American people eat.

In the beginning of the season viewers were shocked, along with Oliver, to find that elementary school students of Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the country, don’t even know the names of the most common fruits and vegetables. Facts such as these really draw attention to how healthy United States really is.

While Jamie Oliver is revolutionizing America’s food epidemic, on school lunch program at time, one may ask how Grand Blanc High School measures up. When asked in a recent interview, Dining Service Director, Karen Smith, claimed that she was “absolutely,” confident that students at GBHS are capable of getting nutritional value from foods served in the cafeteria

Of course any good food service supervisor would claim that their food was nutritious. However, based on recent attempts to make healthier options available for students it seems that GBHS may be right on track. The information that Smith gave the Banner on the topic of healthier eating in the GBHS cafeteria appears to be very promising.

The 2009 school year marked a new beginning for our dining service, besides the facelifts and improvements to the lunch lines; there may be some changes that students were not even aware of. Among these many changes, trans fats have been completely eliminated from all menu items, proper portion sizes have been executed, and increased fresh fruits and vegetables are offered daily. The cafeteria staff is urged to encourage students to make healthy, balanced meals, and many items are marked with the “balanced choice” sticker, to help students make healthier choices.

While GBHS is clearly making great attempts to make healthier options for students, one must ask the question of whether or not it really is enough. The foods that the school is trying to make healthier are, after all, things like French fries and pizza. Now it is true that the school serves fruits and vegetables, but they also serve up their fair share of junk foods such as Hot Cheetos, mozzarella sticks, and candy bars.

GBHS may offer healthy choices to students, but the fact of the matter is that the unhealthy options often times have a better appeal than the healthy options, making the task of eating strictly nutritious somewhat difficult. The day that Grand Blanc High School becomes a school that truly promotes healthy eating will be the day they stop beating around the bush, trying to make the bad somewhat better, and get rid of unhealthy food all together.

Kiss didn’t name the song “Detroit Rock City” for nothing. Detroit is going to see some huge names come to town for the summer season concerts this year. From John Mayer to Lady GaGa, some of the biggest names in the business will be coming close enough for you to see them.

Since for most high school students summer is the time to hit up as many concerts as possible before that school bell rings again in September, this is just a preview of some of the shows that will be lighting up arenas like DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadowbrooke, the Palace of Auburn Hills, and the Fillmore.

With this many concerts accessible, the only thing that should worry most students is how they are going to afford all these tickets. Students will have the opportunity to see everything from guitar god Eric Clapton, and country superstar Brad Paisley, to hard rock festival Carnival of Madness.

Alternative Rock legends U2 will be playing Spartan Stadium and students can see actress Zooey Deschanel at Royal Oak under the moniker She & Him. There’s no one like the Scorpions, and they will be touring for the very last time this summer, so if you’re a fan this is your last chance to see them live.
But whether you like rap, pop, or country Detroit is definitely the place to be this summer, don’t miss out on the chance to hear your favorite music live.

May
22- Imogen Heap at the Fillmore
29- 50 Cent at Chene Park

June
6- She & Him at Royal Oak
11- Brad paisley at DTE
13- The Music of Queen at DTE
14- The New Pornographers at the Crofoot
15- The Bamboozle Festival at DTE
16- MGMT at the Fillmore, Jordin Sparks at Royal Oak
18- The Backstreet Boys at DTE, Adam Lambert and Orianthi at Royal Oak
19- Sheryl Crow & Colbie Caillait at DTE
20- Blake Shelton at DTE, Jeff Beck at the Fillmore
23- Dave Matthews Band at DTE
24- Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, Bret Michaels at DTE
25- Passion Pit at Royal Oak
27- Styx, Foreigner and Kansas at DTE
30- U2 at Spartan Stadium

July
1- The Scorpions at DTE
2- Modest Mouse at Royal Oak
3- Eric Clapton at DTE
11- Iron Maiden at DTE, Hole at the Fillmore
14- The Doobie Brothers and Chicago at DTE
15- Boyz II Men at DTE
20- Jack Johnson at DTE
21- Lilith Fair at DTE
22- Tom Petty at the Palace
24- Justin Nozuka at the Fillmore
28- John Mayer at DTE
29- Brooks and Dunn at DTE
30- Vans Warped Tour at Comerica Park
31- Kings of Leon at DTE

August
1-Beach Boys at DTE
7- Carnival of Madness: Shinedown, Sevendust, Puddle of Mudd, Chevelle at DTE
15- Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston at the Palace, Paramore at Meadowbrook, Lady Antebellum at the Midland County Fair
20- REO Speedwagon & Pat Benatar at DTE
22- Rihanna and Ke$sha at DTE
21- Blondie and Cheap Trick at DTE
23- Green Day & A.F.I. at DTE

September
1- Jonas Brothers at DTE
4- Lady GaGa at the Palace
17- Alice in Chains, Mastodon, Deftones
18- Sugarland at DTE

Cover Painting done by: Anthony Ausgang

MGMT gained fame through singles such as dance anthem “Kids” and vivacious “Electric Feel.” Songs like these are no where to be found on Congratulations. This album is a whole new chapter for MGMT, as was foreshadowed by tracks like “Love Always Remains” and “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters.”

This isn’t an easy album to like; it takes a couple listens of the entire thing. This is how the album was meant to be, as MGMT said. The band did not release singles, because they wanted it to be listened to as a whole, instead of getting the feel of it through individual pieces.

Some might say that Congratulations is boring, but others say it is a work of art. When it comes down to it, it really depends on how much patience and time you’re willing to put into liking this album. One who listens to a few songs quickly without thought will most likely not care for it. One who sits down, listens to the album all the way through, really thinks about all the songs together and the thought behind making them, and does it again the next day, might find that it grows on them.

MGMT really took their whole persona and put it into a collection of layered guitars, drums, synths, and Andrew Vanwyngarden’s echoing vocals. While in Oracular Spectacular lyrics were mostly about fame and getting to the point of recognition, Congratulations is more of Vanwyngarden and Goldwasser sitting back and watching their success unfold.

“It’s Working” starts the album off with a punchy ’70s feel, slightly cheesy, but it works (pun intended.) “Song for Dan Treacy” follows with a similar sense, cheery and positive, hinting at a punk influence, as expressed throughout the whole album. “Someone’s Missing” is up next and is immediately likable with Vanwyngardens warbling high piched vocals. This song is emotional at first then becomes more playful as it progresses. About halfway through it moves to be an upbeat almost danceable track, one of the best on the album. “Flash Delirium” follows, the closest mimic to “Electric Feel,” but lacking much of the energy, and leads right into “I Found A Whistle,” another highly likable track beginning with guitar and finishing strongly with Vanwyngardens astonishing voice. “Siberian Breaks” is a highly criticized 12 minute ballad that takes so many different turns that one isn’t sure how many songs have played by the time it finishes. “Brian Eno” picks up the pace with a garage-punk vibe, a risky tribute to the near God himself. “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is slower, a slightly boring track, a failed attempt at alternative musical drama. “Congratulation” finishes the album on a strong note, a well-deserved pat on the back, a tropical song that is extremely enjoyable to listen to.

The bottom line is, MGMT did exactly what they wanted with this album, they had their fame, now they’re having their fun, and isn’t that exactly what they said they would do in “Time To Pretend?” We’ve got the vision/Now let’s have some fun.

Delicious Sound: Michaelson will make your day with her light sound.

Thanks to Pandora, the Bobcat Banner has had a new type of music on our hands for the past few weeks. And I do not mean the fictional planet that is home to the Na’vi.

If you’re into soft beats with mellow lyrics that are so catchy they are stuck in your head for the rest of they day, then Ingrid Michaelson is the girl for you.

This indie-pop singer songwriter’s music has been featured in several popular television shows, such as Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, and One Tree Hill.

If curious about what Michaelson sounds like, Pandora has classified her with popular artists such as Ben Folds, Jason Mraz, Meiko, Matt Nathanson, Kate Nash, and Regina Spektor.

“If you are chilly, here take my sweater/ you’re head is aching. I’ll make it better./ ‘Cause I love the way you call me, baby/ And you take me the way I am…” from her song “The Way I Am” is one of her mosy popular songs on iTunes as of the moment.

Born to artistic parents, a composer and a sculpter, Michaelson fell right into the music scene when she started the piano at four. Throughout school, she grew in the theater and choir scenes. Eventually leading to her own, individual career in music.

Michaelson long time relationship with the piano is apparent in all of her songs, the piano creating a melodic rhythm drawing you into not only her song but her unique voice as well.

While many of her songs deal with love, and what artist doesn’t spend majority of their time singing about love and heartbreak, Michaelson brings a new twist to classic love stories. Her music will have you singing or humming alone all day.

In 2005, Elizabeth Kostova’s debut novel, The Historian was the fastest selling debut novel in U.S. history. As a result, she faced quite a daunting task with her second book, The Swan Thieves.

This contemporary “thriller” revolves around a painter named Robert Oliver who inexplicably attacks a painting in Washington’s National Gallery with his only explanation being, “I did it for her,” before he falls into complete silence. The narrator of the story is Oliver’s psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, who is in fact, a painter himself.

The plot develops as Marlow investigates the women in Oliver’s past in an attempt to understand the artist’s genius and subsequent madness. Throughout the novel, Kostova brilliantly blends the plot with letters written by 19th century French Impressionist painters in an exhibition of meticulously researched historical description.

This novel provides fascinating insight into an artistic movement that is often overlooked due to its ubiquitousness in today’s culture. Kostova emphasizes the rebelliousness and brilliance of the Impressionist artists. Additionally, anyone the least bit interested in art will find Kostova’s portrait of Oliver and particularly the female painter of the 19th century fascinating.

However, Kostova’s main character was for the most part wooden, whereas the 19th century characters were passionate and beautifully developed. The psychiatrist’s narrative sections include just enough to provide important plot details. This may just be a lack of depth given to the male character because the narrative provided by Oliver’s ex-wife was complex and gave a great understanding into the difficult task Oliver faced by being both a genius and a man.

Conclusively, The Swan Thieves is a great historical fiction novel though the “thriller” aspect of it was horribly predictable; the solution to the central mystery being apparent from the beginning caused the story line to drag at times. However, as soon as Kostova begins writing from the historical perspective she is simply amazing.
This book will definitely entice readers to learn more about fine art and lovers of words will find Kostova’s unique writing style immensely refreshing. As someone who loves both history and art, I would give this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

Cafeteria Workers serve students in the Outtakes line

When lunch time finally comes in the seemingly endless first hours of school, students quickly hurry to the cafeteria, debating on what today’s lunch will consist of. With the seven different lines available, the options seem endless. However, an entirely different option is bringing lunch from home, which seems to be more common these days.

Taking a trip to one of the more popular lines, “Outtakes,” is normally part of the average student’s lunch period due to the mass amounts of snack foods and drinks available. Mostly holding foods such as cookies and chips, it doesn’t seem to be the healthiest option of the lines, even though few do take the plunge and add a healthy salad or wrap to their meal. If the right foods are chosen from Outtakes, it could be a reasonably healthy every day lunch.

Another line that seems to be growing among the cafeteria is “Crust and stuff.” It’s greasy pizza and fries are any teenagers dream meal. The amount of calories is over the top for this line, whether there are healthy alternatives or not. It’s rare that a student comes to a line full of greasy food and also gets apples or a small salad, but the option is available in almost every one of the lines in the cafeteria.

The food in the lunchroom may be diverse and inexpensive, but that doesn’t stop students from packing their own lunch from home. Each day, more and more brown paper bags are appearing throughout the lunchroom. Some may be clueless as to why students would bring their own lunch instead of simply buying one for a few dollars, but packed lunches can be one the resourceful to avoid spending money and eating greasy foods.

Packed lunch or not, the smart choice is to choose something healthy instead of venturing off to Outtakes and buying two cookies for a dollar. It all depends on opinion when it comes to lunch time, but if students have learned anything in health class, they’ll know to stay away from lines such as “Crust and Stuff,” and choose them only once in a while to maintain a healthy balance of foods. So next time lunch seems to be a difficult decision, remember to evaluate every option and choose wisely.

Although Grand Blanc is trying to take steps to a healthier food system for its students, unless students embrace these healthier options provided for them, we are not going to make any progress.
Some students, such as junior Nicole Cottrell and junior Christine Mason, have already given up on eating lunch at school and instead bring their lunch every day.
“The school food just leaves me feeling gross after I eat it,” explained Cottrell.
“It’s not good for you at all, and I feel sick even if I only eat it once in a while,” added Mason, “I can’t imagine having to eat it everyday.”
But Cottrell and Mason make up only a small population of the student body that bring their lunch in attempt to be healthy. Junior Justin Wetenhall also brings his lunch every day but for reasons other than to be healthy.
“I feel like society is pushing this health fad on us a little too much,” said Wetenhall, “I really miss the salt and white buns!”
Junior Robby Rariden’s method at lunch is to just find the shortest line and go with that.
“The food really doesn’t taste that good, but I can’t stand the long lunch lines,” Rariden claimed.
Finding the shortest lunch line seems to be the most popular trend amongst the student body when making a decision on what to eat for lunch. And if not that, most students seem to go with whatever tastes the best. Neither of these decision making processes lead to the so called “healthy” options that are now being offered at GBHS.
“I would bring my lunch but it’s just too much of a hassle for me,” admits junior Joey Brown, “buying lunch is more convenient, and I wish that they were healthier.”
Most students are well aware of the fact that they aren’t making the healthiest of choices despite the nutritional upgrades that the cafeteria has made. They know that school lunches still aren’t always the best for you depending on what you get, but they are powerless in that they have limited options when it comes to the healthy choices.
What it all boils down to is that at the end of the day, a teenager is a teenager. And it’s in their nature to want to eat the classic “teen favorites” such as french fries and cookies over salads and sides of vegetables. So, yes, Grand Blanc has provided the tools to a healthier life style regarding one’s eating habits. Now it’s just up to its students to make the adult decision to use them.

For the past five weeks, the mere mention of the words “chocolate” or “pop” can cause either a deep discussion about one’s faith, or a deep desire to plug one’s ears and avoid the topic. Every year, millions of people across the globe participate in the Christian celebration of Lent for 40 days leading up to Easter.
Yes, that big party called Mardi Gras in New Orleans is actually religious (despite recent practices that suggest otherwise, with the use of beads). And those delicious, fattening jelly donuts (Paczkis) are used to celebrate the coming fast, when Catholics and some Protestant denominations vow to give an item up for the Lenten season (such as pop, chocolate, sweets, gum, fast food, junk food, etc.).

So how are Grand Blanc High School’s students doing with keeping their pledges?

Junior Magdalena Babinska, who gave up chocolate, joked, “Well, I haven’t cheated yet!”

Cheating of course, can be any number of things. There is the great debate among Catholics of the acknowledgement of the “Mini Easter” which allows one to indulge in their forbidden item, only for one day, once a week, as if it were a mini-Easter-Sunday celebration.

And, when you count up all the days of the Lenten season, not including Sundays, the number does, in fact, total forty days. Having gone to a Catholic school for many years myself, I was often told by teachers that, “Jesus didn’t get to indulge every Sunday while he was in the desert, so why should you?”
Having given up Facebook for Lent this year, a mini-Easter sure would be nice.

And even Bobcat Banner Copy Editor, Sarah Campbell, has been struggling (although she has yet to cheat) with her choice to give up chocolate.
Just like some Muslim women choose to wear a hijab, fasting during Lent is strongly encouraged, but not required. It is simply a choice you make, and for those that do, you live with for forty days, and forty nights.

Banneroo 2010

Get ready for Banneroo 2010. Don’t miss out! Details will be provided over the high school announcements and here on bobcatbanner.com as they come. Stay updated and keep checking! Coming soon April 29!

Some movies leave you walking out of the theatre with a thought sort of like, “What the hell just happened, and how did it all come together and make sense?” Psychological thriller Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese, takes this feeling and magnifies it times 10.

In Shutter Island, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) travel to Ashecliff Hospital, located on Shutter Island, in order to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients there, a criminally insane woman named Rachel Solando. As the movie progresses, Daniels begins to discover Shutter Island’s secrets one-by-one, and his true motivations for taking on the case are revealed.

Shutter Island is a great movie for numerous reasons, but the thing that really sticks out throughout the movie is the atmosphere. The entire movie is overlaid with a sort of grainy filter, giving it a sort of 1950’s TV feel, which is when the movie takes place. This grain coupled with the dark and gloom of the entire movie makes for an experience that made me push my coat over my eyes more than once.

Even though the basic storyline of Shutter Island can be summed up within a few sentences, the movie’s actual plot is not only deep, but even its twists have twists. In a world full of criminally-insane patients and isolated physicians, I was never really sure which part of Shutter Island I could believe, and even when I thought I had the ending pegged, a ridiculous twist blew my mind away.

Although Shutter Island isn’t “classic” movie material, it is definitely one of the strongest psychological thrillers out there. From plot turns and twists that will make you mull them over for a couple of days, to lighting and video quality that will make you afraid of the dark, Shutter Island delivers a strong performance and gives a boost to the now-dulling psychological thriller genre.