Next Stop, Mars!

In the most recent of space related news, NASA launched their largest rover to date, on Saturday. As the rest of the U.S. was catching up on sleep after Black Friday, an Atlas V rocket hurtled into space to release the extraterrestrial explorer, nicknamed Curiosity, and begin a 345 million mile journey to Mars. Once it arrives, it will be tasked with collecting data about the microbial makeup of the surface of the fourth rock from the sun. It will also measure weather while on Mars, and hopefully the combination of this data will allow scientists to draw more conclusions about the possibility of life on Mars.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/science/space/nasas-curiosity-rover-sets-off-for-mars-mission.html

Fatal Accident in Marlborough on Rt 66

There has been a fatal accident in Marlborough on Rt 66 near the Hebron town line. Sources say a motorcycle collided with a car.

(Story courtesy of Hendrik Bilek)

Coldplay "Mylo Xyloto" Review

The same group that made Fix You, Every Teardrop is a Waterfall and Viva la Vida has just released their newest album. Coldplay released "Mylo Xyloto" on Thanksgiving 2011 and its the groups third album to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200. Coldplay has included some of their most popular recent singles, "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" and "Paradise", into this album. They even included "Princess of China" featuring Rhianna.

The eye-catching album cover is inspired by the 1970's New York City graffiti and fits the sense of freedom and liberty that the artist took when creating the songs. These songs touch upon many humanistic and transcending messages of hope and prosperity. For example the song "Us Against the World", captures the sense of chois and delicate nature of the world and how its inhabitants are the main force that will make the world prosper or come to its end. In the song Every "Teardrop is a Waterfall", it inspires the listener to find the inner sense of hope for everyone. If you take these songs for their face value they are great songs to listen to, evoking images of skiing videos accompanied by a plethora of time lapses scenic shots and slow-motion jumps. But if you dive into the deeper meaning and lyrics of the song you find that you are caught in the middle of a powerful ad humanistic message.

The British alternative rock band's last 2 albums brought a lot of attention and popularity to the band and lead to much anticipation to the this album. The band is very unique and has their own sense of direction and inspiration. But to compare it to some other groups they are much like the band Muse which released The Resistance and the band Long-View which released Further. Coldplay would fall into the category of alternative rock however I believe that they created their own subcategory that only Coldplay can fit into. This album would get a 5/5 because the music is positive and powerful. The future of the band looks bright and they have yet to hit any brick wall that might slow them down. They only thing that might slow them down is the pessimistic and negative view of some listens who have the idea that Coldplay is a bad band. They are mistaken and haven't heard this album yet.

Sources:

Coldplay

What Hi-Fi

Stories from an Old Salt

James Henry, 98 and of Mystic, has just written a autobiography called "In a Fisherman's Language", which is a 29 chapter book covering the entirety of his life from boyhood to lobster fisher and captain of 3 ships through his career to old age. However, James Henry was illiterate until age 96, which was when he moved to Academy Point Senior Home in Mystic. He learned to read during his 96th and 97th years of life and now he wrote his book. The website is www.fisherman'slanguaage.com

Source: Fox CT/ CT now.com

Pepper Spray Apology

One of the Chancellors of UC Davis, Linda Katehi, apologized to a crowd of students, faculty and parents for the handling of a situation last Friday. The incident was that campus police officers were pepper spraying individuals who were protesting as a part of the 'Occupy' movement, which protests things such as corporate greed. The protesters were blocking a sidewalk by sitting down. The police officers sprayed the protesters to make them move out of the way. A spokesperson for the college said that although Katehi wanted the protesters moved, but not in a forceful way like this was. Despite the apology, many want Katehi to resign.

Source: Courant.com

RHAM Athletics Have a Losing Trifecta

Over the weekend, three of RHAM High School's sports teams played some of their first games in their post seasons at the state-wide level. Boys' soccer, girls' soccer, and volleyball all made it to states, and they played their hardest in games spanning over the last three days. It is unfortunate to say that all three teams lost before claiming victorious titles in their post seasons. While disappointed, many fans are still happy for their teams progress. Senior class president Jacob Grover said, "We may have lost these games, but we'll never lose school spirit".

UCONN Huskies Cause Public Disappointment

On Saturday the 19th, the UCONN Huskies Football Team had a 34-20 loss to the Louisville Cardinals. The game has caused upset in that Rentschler Field had its lowest attendance in over two years. Also, it was said that the Huskies played a poor game, ruining many opportunities for scoring and progression of the ball. UCONN coach Paul Pasqualoni said that there was no excuse for the way that his team played in the game.

(Story courtesy of courant.com)

Volleyball semi-finals

The RHAM Sachems volleyball team took on the Indians of Farmington in an exciting show down on Thursday November, 17.  The Game Itself had the fans holding there breath in anticipation of the first serve.  The first set was won by RHAM in decisive fashion  25-10.  The Kills by Sarah Veilleux sent the RHAM fans into a frenzy egging on our chants drowning out the sounds of the Farmington fans.  The second set was very close a nail biter but Farmingto came out on top with a 25-23 set win.  The fans did not give up though.  Screaming and yelling ensued.  The third set was no better then the second set.  The Indians rallying behind there fans pulled off a 25-16 set win.  The nervous energy in the RHAM section was heavy in the air.  To try to get life back into the fans Patrick Straton got up and did a RHAM roller coaster.  After that the fans got back into the game with full force putting energy into the gym.  Lead on by there captains excellent play and key kills by Sarah and an excellent block by Briana Geoghegan the Sachems were on the move for a comeback.  They won the fourth set 25-22.  With the sets tied at 2 a piece it was time for the final set.  The RHAM fans and the Farmington fans were battling it out in the stand the chants and yells reverberating of the walls and shaking the stands.  The two respective teams took there sides of the court and play resumed.  The fifth set is only played to 15 in high school volleyball.  The Sachems were rallying for points going up 10-3.  A timeout called by Farmington allowed the fans a chance to yell for there teams.  The sachems re-took there side of the court with the ringing chant of lets go sachems filling the air. Back on the court Francesca Mack helped lead RHAM with dominating play on the front line.  The Sachems completed the comeback winning the set  15-5.  The gym exploded on the final point.  The RHAM fans stormed the court just to be stopped by the security.  That did not stop the celebration, once we were allowed we ran to our volleyball team.  Hugs everywhere and cheers could be heard throughout the city.  RHAM will continue its march in the state at the championship vs. East-Lyme on Saturday.  Joining will be the RHAM fans.

New CL&P CEO

Jeff Butler, chief operating officer of Connecticut Light and power has officially resigned from his position. This news comes after the recent snow storm brought criticism to the company's slow restoration of power after the storm. Butler did not show up to any of the post storm debriefings. Butler joined CL&P in 2009 after he left Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco. The new CEO of the company is Leon Olivier and is effective immediately.

Sources: CBS New York

Shots Fired at the White House

21 Year old Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, an Idaho resident, was arrested last Wednesday because he was possibly shooting at the White House with a semi-automatic rifle the Friday prior. The suspect's family said that he had an obsession with President Obama. Even though Ortega- Hernandez has gotten in trouble with the law before, the Secret Service didn't have his name on file for threatening the President. The man was allegedly looking suspicious on that same Friday, though police didn't arrest him at that time. The United States Park Police looked around in the Occupy D.C. site for the man, though they didn't find him there. However, the Secret Service were told where he was by a hotel worker. Pennsylvania State Police were sent out to get Ortega-Hernandez. As for a motive, Sgt. David Schlosser of the U.S. Park Police said that the suspects motives for doing this won't be clear "until we can talk to this guy."

Source: The New York Times

Turkey: Missing, Believed Deflated

Tom the Turkey, the Thanksgiving mascot for Miller Foods in Avon, has been stolen. Capri Frank of Miller Foods says that the turkey was unplugged and deflated before leaving the premises. This theft is being investigated by Avon police. As are other turkeys, Tom is brown with orange and red markings. As is appropriate to the situation, Miller Foods will give a fresh turkey to whoever returns Tom.

Source: The Hartford Courant

Occupiers on the Move

The protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement are taking a two week journey to travel by foot to Washington D.C. They plan to stay at volunteering locations during the night, if not camping. They will pass through states such as Pennsylvania , Delaware and Maryland. They plan to be in the Capitol city by 11/23. They want to arrive by this date so that their presence will influence a congressional committee that is deciding whether or not to keep Bush tax cuts. The organization, who protest against corporate greed, says that the cuts only benefit the rich.

Source: The Seattle Times

Connecticut Man Lost Winning Lottery Ticket

A winning lottery ticket was supposedly sold at the Belltown Superette, located in Stamford, CT. According to the store's owner Suni Patel, it was purchased by a sanitation worker. The person has not yet claimed the prize. If he can find or prove that he had that ticket, he wins the biggest prise in CT Lotto history: $254 million. The winner might not know that they won, for there was Winter Storm Alfred last month. The winner has until 4/30/12 to claim their prize. The winning numbers, if anyone is curious, were 12, 14, 34, 39, 46, 36.

Source: ABC News

Greyson Chance Reveiw

Greyson Chance is a 14 year old kid who started out just like Justin Bieber did but unlike him Greyson has his own beat that changes with each song. His songs have a mix of country and hip hop and the beat of his songs are easy and fun to follow. A couple of his songs are about leaving a girl and learning how to turn away and get a new perspective which is close to Justin Bieber but the beats in his songs are stronger, unlike justin Bieber who had a lot of duets and his beats were softer. Gryeson Chance has a more mature voice then most 14 year olds. Another artist that Greyson could be compared to is Usher, mostly because when Usher does his songs he has a lot of deep beats and does a lot of songs himself. So Greyson Chance is a good artist for mostly teenagers because they can relate to him the most, and his songs will draw you in in the first couple of sentences. I would give Greyson Chance a 4 out of 5

Doctor Arrested for "Involuntary Manslaughter"

More than two years ago, the pop star Michael Jackson passed away. It was not until Monday, November 7th, that a verdict was reached. It was ruled by the court that Mr. Murray, Jackson's doctor, had been practicing reckless medical treatment. He apparently "used anaesthetic propofol without adequate safeguards" which was the cause for death in this case. It was reported that this anesthetic was given to Jackson to help him cope with insomnia. His lack of sleep was interfering with his ability to perform live concerts, which gives reason to the large amounts of sedatives and anesthetics he was taking. During the trial, Murray claimed to have given Jackson less anesthetic on the day of Jackson's death than on previous days. One proposed scenario depicted Jackson treating himself with the medication, causing his own death, a theory the jury rejected.

thehindu.com

Occupy Wallstreet Update

The Occupy Wallstreet protests have been gaining momentum over the past few months. Already most major cities in the U.S. have seen protests from the Occupy protests. It has recently spread outside of the U.S., to places such as Canada and Britain.

On Guy Fawkes Day, a holiday in Britain which commemorates the man who tried to blow up the Parliamentary building, protesters marched to parliament to send them a message. Although the message wasn't exactly spoken, Parliament should remember that government can be overthrown by the masses.

There were also protesters outside of St. Paul's Cathedral in London; protesters preaching against social inequality and big-corporation greed. Apparently the Cathedral has been a venue for protesters for the past couple of weeks as the Occupy protests have been increasing in size.

businessweek.com

RHAM High School Fall Concert

Friday November 4th the RHAM High School auditorium was home to a special event. The symphonic band, wind ensemble, encore and chamber singers entertained an audience with a night full of music. The concert was originally planed for the 1st but was delayed due to the recent snow storm. The night also featured a brass quintet, saxophone quartet, clarinet trio, flute trio and a combined choirs and wind ensemble performance. The last piece preformed by the combined group was called Hymn to the Fallen and was a tribute to all who died on September 11th 2001.