Come on, girls — okay, maybe even guys — who had a favorite boy band in the 90’s? You made wallpapers out of their posters, had all of their CD’s (cassette tapes?), and cherished anything to do with them. Remember when *NSYNC, Hanson and The Backstreet Boys were considered the greatest things to hit the planet? Well, boy bands have made their return from the grave in the form of such groups as Big Time Rush, The Wanted, and — of course — One Direction.
With a hit TV show, a record deal with world-renowned producers, and a second world tour in the works, Big Time Rush is continually proving themselves as a committed boy band. They were assembled as part of a TV show and after two seasons, have garnered immense popularity. Big Time Rush has blown out of control with their exponentially growing fan base, as evidenced by their show’s impressive ratings. ‘Big Time Movie’ was released on March 10th, 2012, and Season 3 is currently in the works.
An older and much more smoother boy band, hailing from the United Kingdom, is wooing the North American masses with their hit song “Glad You Came”. The Wanted was formed in 2009, and is quickly taking over the charts with an impressive selection of club bangers. Having made their first American television debut on the Ellen DeGeneres show, and with an album to be released on April 24th, this seems like only the beginning of The Wanted. Not only are these boys good looking, but they also share a manager with the one and only Justin Bieber, leading to speculation of a possible collaboration.
‘One Thing’ by One Direction.
Arguably the most popular boy band to date also hails from the U.K.: It’s One Direction! The band was formed under the mentorship of Simon Cowell as part of the U.K.’s ‘The X Factor’. After being eliminated as solo performers, Cowell gave them a chance to return as a group. After The X Factor’s most popular season yet, Cowell signed them to his record company, SyCo Records. Their success has followed them to Canada, where they were the first U.K. group in history to debut at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with their debut studio album, ‘Up All Night’, selling 35,000 copies in its first week. It’s no surprise; Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik all have a different look and sound to keep you ‘Up All Night’ listening to their songs (badum-tssh!)
In the nineties, the time of the Backstreet Boys, the formula for boy bands went something like this: a group of good-looking, charismatic boys — check! — smooth dance moves — check! — and catchy songs — check, check, check! All three groups have the formula down pat. Whether you like it or not, boy bands are making a triumphant return and are capturing the hearts of fans around the world, one country at a time.
For all intents and purposes of this story, let us presume that there is an afterlife. No fighting now, or Zeus will smite you with a lightning bolt and God will flood your country or something.
You are now dead. While your human body lies on the ground slowly rotting and pickling in the sun, your beautiful soul rises and passes on from the world. Suddenly, you find yourself floating atop fluffy white clouds and at the end of the longest line that has ever existed. It appears that your life was deemed worthy enough to gain passage into Heaven! Congratulations! Good job! Pat yourself on the back, you soon-to-be-angel, you! You smile to yourself and breathe a sigh of relief before looking around again.
Your appearance has gone unnoticed by your fellow pre-Heaven brethren. You frown a bit, having expected much more celebration. Where are the cheers? Where are the smiles? Where is the excitement? You hear too much crying and mumbling.
Bodies stand in close quarters all around the off-white expanse. Upon closer inspection, you can see the twists and turns of the line.
Ahead of you is a fairly tall boy looking no older than nineteen. He turns around and notices you for the first time. He grins.
“Shdyd?“
“Uh…”
This line is made up of everyone who has died. This includes those who do not speak English! You begin to panic as you realize the possibility that another English-speaking person could be hundreds of thousands of people away. The boy stares at you expectantly.
“I don’t—” you begin. He laughs.
“‘Shdyd’ is a term here. It means So How Did You Die?” A few folks in front of him turn at the sentence, seemingly sizing you up. You stammer uncomfortably for a few seconds before the boy interrupts.
“I fought a tiger.”
The crowd nods in approval.
“At the zoo.”
The crowd goes silent at the thought of his stupidity.
“I also had cancer.”
The crowd oohs and aahs, and he is patted on the back with vigour. This sparks others in the line to recount their death days, each battling to have the most impressive story.
You begin to wonder, as a woman recounts her spontaneous combustion, how impressive your death will be to retell. You find your thoughts clouded of the event. As you attempt to regain the memories, you also realize that you bear no marks from it. Sweet.
This causes you to search your body for other signs of change. Unfortunately there are no mirrors here (to prevent that pesky sin Pride from rearing its ugly head, you rationalize). You can clearly see that you are in your favourite finery though! You check your face for any traces of imperfection, only to find that your glasses are missing. Your vision was fixed! Thanks, death!
With your newly healed eyesight, you turn away from the throngs of people boasting about their juggling knives and acts of sacrifice and focus on a twitching girl in her mid-twenties. Golly gee, you think she looks absolutely stunning in that white dress! Oh, no. It’s a wedding dress. A wedding dress stained with tears. A sad, heart-dropping story and hours of sympathy lie in that direction. You lock eyes. She hiccups out a sob a slight second slower than your heel turn. You hunch your shoulders and sigh, turning back towards the woman.
“Hello…”
The woman pauses. You stare into surprised, bloodshot eyes that begin to well with tears. She returns to her dampened dress and you hear the sound of her muffled cries. You reach to pat her shoulder but she leans away. As you slowly make your way back to the line, you hear a single shaky word between the heaves.
“Why?”
Straightening up, you are once again standing in your spot, successfully hiding the single tear that rolled down your cheek. You realize, absentmindedly shaking as a young boy shares the story of his brutal murder, that death isn’t always seen in a celebratory light here.
Again, you try to recount the tale of your own death. You find it numbing. Not pleasant, but not painful. You’ve accepted your death, it seems. You recall your life. Sporadic instances. The feel of your bed on a Saturday morning. The ringing of a telephone. A pile of work. The glimpse of a smile. Walking on an empty sidewalk. The satisfaction in a yawn. The sound of a laugh. The taste of fresh fruit. The clammy warmth of a hand. The crunch of tires skirting on gravel. A scream.
Somehow you have reached the front of the line. Years must have passed, you think. In fact, the exact amount of time you lived has passed, but you have no way of knowing that.
A figure stands before a large empty field of white. It nods towards you, motioning you forward. This is it.
Eyes shut, you breathe and step across, feeling a calm breeze ruffle your clothes. You relax at the touch, anticipating what awaits past the glaring white. A smile curls onto your lips as the wind drops. Your eyes are open halfway before the ground beneath your feet slips. Your heart stops as you are sent tumbling into the black abyss.
The following is a list of food myths that have developed over time and the explanations as to why they aren’t actually myths! Check ‘em out and maybe it’ll change your diet and food choice decisions!
10. Jell-O is made from animal bones: Oh yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s true! Gelatin, the main ingredient in Jell-O, is made from the boiled bones, skin, ligaments, and tendons of cows and pigs slaughtered for meat. Have you ever boiled a chicken and let it cool? You’ll get a wonderful layer of gelatin floating on the top once it’s all cooled… which is exactly how they get the gelatin for Jell-O! Yummy!
9. Cherries can reduce pain and inflammation: A growing body of scientific research shows that inflammation contributes to diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, and obesity, all of which cherries can reduce! According to research done at Michigan State University, cherries have the potential to not only control inflammation, but relieve pain more effectively than aspirin! Increase those cherries in your diet, people!
8. Parsley takes away bad breath: This is definitely true! Take a few leaves of parsley, clean them with water and simply chew them. This prevents bad breath, as parsley is rich in chlorophyll and other natural substances that prevent harmful bacteria from growing in the mouth, which in turn causes bad breath.
7. Drinking water helps you lose weight: According to some research, water consumption sparks the body to produce more heat, boosting metabolism and burning more calories. As well, drinking more water simply helps people become less likely to drink a lot of high-calorie sugar-filled beverages, as their stomachs will already be pretty full.
6. Red food colorants are made from ground up insects: According to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, cochineal is used in a variety of sauces, flavoured milks, confectionary, cakes, dips, dairy desserts, ice creams, and yogurts. The cochineal insects became one of the main sources of red dye from the 15th century and stuck in favour because they were a “natural” source. Large companies like Starbucks have proved to have this red dye in some of their most popular drinks, like the Strawberry Frappuccinos!
5. Canned tuna is healthier than fresh tuna: Due to their high mercury levels, fresh tuna is in fact less healthier than canned tuna. Canned tuna, unlike fresh tuna, undergoes many filtration processes and only the main pieces of the fish are packed in the can to be consumed. Preservatives are added, but when compared to the cons of the fresh tuna, the canned tuna is definitely “the catch of the day.”
4. Skipping breakfast causes weight gain: Forgoing the first meal of the day actually tricks your brain into thinking you want higher-calorie foods- foods that can make you gain weight… or at least increase your risk for weight gain. So think twice before you decided to rush out of the house tomorrow morning without eating a proper meal!
3. Honey is one of the few foods that doesn’t spoil: Nope, it’s not because bees have magical powers. It’s because nothing will grow in naturally antibiotic and antiviral honey as long as the moisture content remains relatively under 20%. As soon as you add water to your honey, natural air-born yeasts can become active and cause your honey to eventually expire. Other than that, your honey virtually has no expiration date! Winnie the Pooh must be one happy camper…
2. Milk loses half its vitamin B content after standing for 2 hours: When kept in daylight, milk loses half of its vitamin B content simply because of the interfering factors from the light… don’t leave your milk out for too long!
1. Eating slowly helps you lose weight faster: Research from the University of Rhode Island has proved that eating slower allows fullness and enjoyment to register in the brain before too much food is consumed. Also, when eating, focus on the meal. Try not to multitask and eat while watching TV or while on your computer. This distracts the brain, which prevents it from sending a signal to your body that it is full and that you should stop eating. This results in over-eating, which results in being at risk for weight gain.
There you have it! Hopefully this article will help you make smarter diet choices from now on, because I’m pretty sure no one likes to eat animals bones!
A ScienceDaily study indicates that the world’s oceans are turning acidic faster today due to human carbon emissions than during the four major extinctions of the last 300 million years. This is the first study conducted by surveying the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification.
The study’s findings may present concern for ocean life. If industrial carbon emissions continue at their current rate, oceanic organisms such as coral reefs, oysters, and salmon may be wiped out. During past cases of high ocean acidification levels, new marine species evolved to replace those that became extinct.
The oceans absorb excess carbon dioxide from the air, which reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid. This acid can be neutralized by fossil shells found on the seafloor. However, if the ocean absorbs a high level of CO2 too quickly, the carbonate ions in corals, mollusks, and plankton needed for reef and shell-building will be depleted.
Researches from five countries found evidence that only one period in the last 300 million years has had as drastic a change in the ocean’s acidification rate as today: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) period, which occurred approximately 56 million years ago.
In the early 1990s, scientists found a layer of mud from the PETM period wedged between deposits of white plankton fossils on the seafloor off Antarctica. They estimated that within a span of 5000 years, the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere doubled, increasing the average global temperature by approximately 6 degrees Celsius.
This resulted in half of all species of benthic foraminifers, a phylum of single-celled organisms that live at the bottom of the ocean, going extinct. Losing 5 to 10 per cent of species over less than 20 000 years is an anomaly.
Atmospheric CO2 levels have risen about 30 per cent in the last hundred years. Ocean pH has fallen by 0.1 unit, to 8.1. This acidification rate is at least 10 times faster than 56 million years ago. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the pH level may fall another 0.3 units by the end of the century. If this occurs, it is possible that there will be ocean changes similar to those that occurred during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum period.
In past occurrences of a rapid rise in acid levels, many marine species disappeared. During the end of the Permian period about 250 million years ago, massive volcanic eruptions in present-day Russia lead to a rise in atmospheric carbon, and the extinction of 96 per cent of marine life.
A 2011 study of the coral reefs off Papua New Guinea published in the journal Nature Climate Change found that when pH levels dropped below 7.8 per cent, reef diversity declined by 40 per cent.
The authors of the study urge governments to look at their findings to make environmental decisions appropriate for preserving ocean life. Though it may take decades before the effects of high acidification levels in oceans are revealed, it will be near impossible to reverse the problem.
So much for Edward, Bella, and Jacob or Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The movie currently taking over the big screen is The Hunger Games! This could prove to be a great distraction for all teenagers who are waiting for Breaking Dawn: Part 2 to be released late November. Many people think that The Hunger Games may just be another movie based on widely successful books, which is true, but the mastermind behind The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins, appeals to people of all ages.
The Hunger Games takes place in a dystopian world named Panem. Panem consists of a wealthy central state called the Capitol and twelve districts. District 12 is where the books starts. The Capitol rules the twelve districts almost tyrannically (as punishment for a rebellion against the capitol, District 13 was destroyed). Every year, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event in which the participants (or “tributes”) must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol until only one remains. 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, is a girl from District 12 who volunteers to be a tribute after her 12 year-old-sister Primrose’s name was drawn via lottery. District 12’s other tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), who becomes Katniss’ unexpected romantic interest.
Featuring upcoming breakout stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and heartthrob Liam Hensworth, the film will be sure to keep its viewers entertained. The movie hit theatres March 23, while the second one has been slated for release in November 2013. If you have had time to see the movie, I advise you also pick up the books (if you haven’t already). Once you read one, I guarantee you’ll want to read more. So fans, do you think The Hunger Games will be the next Twilight? Are you planning on watching The Games?
The Mary Ward Planet is a student-based newspaper designed to cater to all the students at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. Through the hard work and dedication of the teachers and students on staff, the Planet produces 3 seasonal issues per year.
