Flaming Success!

Lauren Adler

Staff Writer

If you didn’t get a chance to see the Mask and Zany production of Flaming Idiots by Tom Rooney, then you truly missed out on an incredible performance. The show, directed by New Hope Solebury High School senior Hope King, ran from November 8th to 10th and included an array of talented. The comic story focuses on two restaurant entrepreneurs--Phili (sophomore Cameron Parker) and Carla (senior Aidan Lear)--who plan on doing whatever it takes, and I mean whatever it takes, to see their business become a hit. With the hope to make this restaurant a huge success they hire a unique staff, including Bernadette the deaf chief (senior Tara Chumbley), Eugene the aspiring big-nosed actor who waits tables on the side (sophomore Caleb Ferraez), and the foreign Ernesto Santiago (sophomore Daniel Scanlon). The show also included unforgettable characters such as Louie, (senior Jessica Rolke), Jayne Fryman (sophomore Meghan Siano) and last but not least Officer Task, played by sophomore Blake Paulson. From the seemingly endless number of ridiculous and hilarious scenes, this show was a huge comic success! Not only did my eyes never leave the stage, but a smile never left my face. 

The cast clearly put in a lot of effort to produce an amazing show, and the hard work truly paid off.

Aidan Lear, who played Carla, stated: “Although sometimes the long hours spent to put on this production felt endless, it is by far one of the most amazing productions I have yet been a part of.”

She also mentioned that she is “so thankful to everyone that came out to see the show and hopes that everyone enjoyed it!”

In case you missed the amazing production don't worry! Mrs. Pittner is selling copies of the show in both regular DVD and Blu ray, which I would highly recommend if you want to see the detailed facial expressions of the characters on stage. All profits will go straight towards the Mask and Zany theater program to support future shows and productions. From the shows hilarious one-liners to its overall spectacular performance, Flaming Idiots is definitely a production that will not be forgotten.

Carrie Underwood Makes Country History with Album Cry Pretty

Juliana Covino
Staff Writer

After time away from the spotlight country singer Carrie Underwood resurfaces with her sixth and most personal album so far.
The country pop star is back with her newest studio album, Cry Pretty, making history as the first woman to bring four country albums to Billboard's Top 200 Chart. Within the 13-song collection, Underwood shares songs about private battles (“Drinking Alone”), emotional wreckage (“Love Wins”), and upbeat sing-along tracks (“Southbound”). Underwood also teamed up with Ludacris to co-write a new song, "The Champion", which opened the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2018.
The album was released on Sept. 14 and surpassed Cardi B’s album, Invasion of Privacy, in sales which launched at No. 1 with 255,000 units. The album streams on all music services and can buy be bought for $10.82 or single tracks for $1.29.
Underwood says to her fans that, "The title refers to when emotions take over and you just can’t hold them back...It really speaks to a lot of things that have happened in the past year and I hope when you hear it, you can relate those feelings to those times in your life."
Underwood has been through a lot the past year receiving more than 40 stitches on her face after an accident outside her house. She has been quite silent on social media for the majority of the year until she announced the new album on her Instagram in April.
        The Cry Pretty Tour 360 starts in Spring 2019 and will kick off on May 1 in Greensboro, NC, and will play 55 arenas across the U.S. and Canada. Tickets for the Cry Pretty Tour can be found on numerous ticket websites or Carrie Underwood’s official website.

Quavo’s solo album was a let down

Dan Flavin, Nate Donohoe, and Roberto Escamilla
Staff Writers

Member of popular rap group Migos, Quavo, takes matters in his own hands and goes solo with his new album Quavo Huncho.
After an underwhelming release of Culture II nine months earlier that didn’t receive good feedback, Quavo is back. He started off strong with “Biggest Alley Oop” as the intro track. The track had a well produced unorthodox beat that set the album off on a strong foot. The other noticeable tracks were, “Rerun (feat. Travis Scott)” and “Lose It (feat. Lil Baby).” “Rerun” had an ominous vibe that has become a trademark for Travis. They used an immense amount of auto-tune, but they used it well. It didn’t sound like they needed it. It sounded like they used it as a tool to expand the sound. The track with “Lil Baby” was an okay track until “Lil Baby” came in and elevated the song to be one of the highlights of the album.
The album is far from perfect. Most tracks just sounded average, if not worse. Most songs in the middle of the project just sounded like he copy pasted the same line over and over again. The unique sound that the Migos started, largely in part to Quavo, was lost and he just sounded like a mediocre artist with a good production team. He sounded like he didn’t try to make good music he tried to make good money. If that was his goal he achieved it. Quavo Huncho sold 99,000 copies and charted second on the Billboard Top 100 list.
Quavo’s solo debut Quavo Huncho was a bottom tier album of the year. Other than some highlight features that carried their songs it wasn’t good. A repetitive flow and lack of creativity made the album feel flat. The album receives a 4/10.

Banksy painting shredded after being sold for 1.4 million

Caroline Donado
Editor-in-Chief

The street artist identified exclusively by his pseudonym, Banksy, is known internationally for his spray-painted social commentaries. One of his most famous works depicts a small girl reaching towards a heart-shaped balloon--a painting that was auctioned for $l.4 million on Oct. 5 at Sotheby’s in London, England. As the winning bid was confirmed, the painting proceeded to shred itself to pieces.
Banksy, short after, posted a video on Instagram, beginning with the caption: “A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever put up for auction...” He shows himself constructing the shredder and the crowd’s reaction when the painting self-destructed. Sotheby’s has denied any involvement despite some believing that it was a promotional stunt.
There were also questions whether Banksy himself was present since his Instagram video is taken by an individual in the crowd. After the painted was shredded, some witnessed a man with sunglasses and a hat leaving the premises. However, the speculation that the artist was at the auction remains a mystery.
Alex Branczik, the senior director of Sotheby’s, stated that this was “the first time in auction history that a work of art automatically shredded itself after coming under the hammer.” This is argued to be a piece of art history and will cause this painting and all of Banksy’s future paintings to increase in value. Although the artwork remains shredded, the buyer has decided to go through with their purchase for the offered $1.4 million.

‘Drip Harder’ Review: The long-awaited album from two artists just getting started

Dan Flavin, Roberto Escamilla, Nate Donohoe
Staff Writers
The long-anticipated collaborative album between rappers Lil Baby and Gunna, Drip Harder, released on Oct. 10 and it is worth the listen.
The positives of the album undoubtedly outweigh the negatives. Highlight tracks like “Business is Business” and “I Am” have a bouncy beat and smooth flow that we have all come to love about the duo. The lead single “Drip Too Hard”, released a month before the full album. It is a song of the year candidate because of its catchy chorus and how easy it is to put on repeat. The duo  pulled the biggest feature in the rap game with Drake on the outro track “Never Recover” produced by legend Tay Keith.
Of course there are negative that come with any album. “Drip Harder’s” downfall was production. The mixing on the album was not good with  tracks sounding muddy or too quiet. “Never Recover”, for example, was well mixed during Drake's verse, but when Gunna started it felt like something in the song was clashing and the vocals no longer sounded clear. The bottom tier tracks were “Deep End” and “Style Stealer.” Both tracks felt forced and off from the  usual style.
Drip Harder Sold 130k charting fourth on the billboard top 100. Compared to other albums that dropped on the same day like Mudboy by Seck Wes(29k) it did really well.
Overall, the album  was great, most songs were above average, but there was not  a song to push it over the edge. The top songs, “I Am,” “Business and Business,” and “Never Recover (feat. Drake)” make one forget about most of the project’s negatives. The collaboration of Gunna and Lil Baby is just getting started and is exciting to  see how they can improve, but for now their first collab will receive a 8/10.

Deadpool 2: Hey everyone, he dies in this one!

Justin Horak and Devon Beacham
Staff Writers

No, really, our title is not a spoiler!

Bringing together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from a brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Deadpool 2 makes an appearance in all theaters for comedy and action lovers to enjoy.
     With the first Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds, crossing $500 million at the global box office in less than two weeks, 20th Century Fox was “sitting pretty” considering the movie cost a mere $58 million to make. The second Deadpool was released on May 10 with the budget of $110 million was Cher-album-from-the-80’s  successful, raking in over $600 million worldwide in its first three weeks.
     With excellent reviews from multiple critics, Deadpool 2 is on everyone’s “movie to see” radar. The Washington Post wrote, “The script for Deadpool 2 is loaded with winky, fourth-wall-piercing eruptions of meta, the kind of humor that can make even the slow-witted and literal-minded feel devilishly clever.” 94% of Google users liked this movie and it earned 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
     With it's witty script and meticulously chosen cast, Deadpool 2 is an awesome film--unlike most sequels. The movie stays true to its roots and does an excellent job of colliding action and comedy all into one. It ends with a true plot twist and is everything but expected.
     Overall, the film is very enjoyable for those who enjoy action, comedy, and superheroes. If you appreciate hilarious comedies and action packed scenes, Deadpool 2 is the recommended movie for you!

Kurt Cobain’s wife sued for murder plot

Caroline Donado

Co-editor in chief

Courtney Love is a controversial figure in the view of many Nirvana fans; there are numerous conspiracy theories that accuse her of the murder of her husband, Kurt Cobain. Now, she is being sued for being part of a plan to kill her daughter’s ex-husband in order to gain possession of the acoustic guitar Kurt played in his  famous MTV Unplugged performance.

     After their daughter Frances Bean Cobain divorced from Isaiah Silva, it was settled that Silva would keep the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he  claimed was a gift he received from  Kurt Cobain as a wedding present to welcome him into the family. Silva, however, stated that Frances and Courtney wished to get the guitar back and sent three men to his house to forcibly take it from him. The three he names are Sam Lufti, Courtney’s manager; Ross Butler, an actor and Yan Yukhtman, a chauffeur.

     Love has said to TMZ that "It's not [Silva's] to take,” and that the guitar is a “treasured heirloom of the family.” The guitar also happens to be worth millions of dollars.

     Silva claims that the men illegally entered his house in the middle of the night, claiming they were the police. They proceeded to threaten and assault him to learn the location of the guitar. Afterwards, they attempted to force Silva into the back of a car; however, one of Silva’s bandmates called the police before he could be kidnapped.

     Court records state: “It is believed, based upon facts and evidence, that Silva would have been taken to a secondary crime scene and murdered on June 3, 2016.” The three supposedly hacked into Silva’s iMessage to "[make] it appear Silva was despondent and on a mental precipice contemplating suicide."     Lufti has also frequently harassed and threatened Silva, his family and friends, driving Silva to file a temporary restraining order against him in 2016. The suit states that Lufti told Silva that Love and Courtney agreed to compensate him with $120,000 if he could get Silva to sign an agreement to surrender the guitar, which may be his primary motive for pursuing Silva so aggressively. When the police arrived on the scene, Silva claims that the men forced him into agreeing with their story that they were playing a prank on him. Various emails and texts show that Lufti threatened Silva: “This agreement is your one and only choice, consider it your lifeline.” The matters have yet to play out in court, but a source close to Love and Cobain says, “Frances and the family are prepared to fight with a fury of unprecedented legal force and they will prevail.” As of now, Silva still remains in possession of the guitar.