Valiant Site! Super Exciting Site!
By Paul P.

Dragonball is the anime cartoon thought up by Akira Toriyama. Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT are the two latest of the series.
These shows are made up of martial arts battles mixed with yelling, and strange hand movements that result in energy attacks that can destroy entire planets!
Characters scream a lot when powering up or blasting something.
Cartoon Network is showing Dragonball Z right now, and just began showing the new episodes from FUNimation, the most hated of words among hardcore DB fans.
FUNi edits the original series to take out the violence and bad language. The voices are messed up too.
Most characters sound like they're incredibly stupid, have sore throats, or sound like women.
As the episode starts, you await the beautiful song of Cha La Head Cha La, but instead, you are yelled at by people saying, "ROCK THE DRAGON!"
Horrible guitar riffs also replace the great background music.
Another thing that really gets on my nerves, is the fact that all the names are changed!
Everything has been shortened so that the six year old viewers, for whom the series was never meant, can understand it.
Cool names like "Genki-Dama," "Makkanasappo," "Tenshinhan" and "Kienzan" are shortened to "Spirit Bomb" and "Special Beam Cannon."
But enough about that, let's get to the review!
Planet Namek, at http://www.planetnamek.com, is the best site on the web for Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT. Informative, cool, and always humorous, Planet Namek delivers just what the doctor ordered.
The three webmasters go by the names, Mr. E, Kaio, and Skullmac. The humor section is the funniest thing I've ever read!
Cool features include Amusing Multimedia, Kaio's Korner, Humorous Stories, Weird Fusions and Things You Will Never Hear in DBZ.
My personal favorite is Odd E-Mails, where the crazy E-Mails that show up in the Planet Namek mailbox are compiled.
All eleven of the sections in the information part of the site are too long to explain in detail, but let's just say that if you read it all, you wouldn't even need to see any episodes of DB, DBZ, or DBGT. Every detail is written out beautifully.
The Episode Guide is the most helpful thing ever created It's a beginning to end account of all three cartoons, from the first to the last episode.
The movie guide gives a rating to all the DBZ movies.
The Biographies section has most of the characters and what their roles in the story are.
They also have a section called Battle Guide, which tallies casualities and other battle statistics.
The Universe section shows the importance of every planet ever mentioned in DB/DBZ/DBGT.
The Multimedia section has movie clips, sound files, pictures, images of full comics, and a computer decorations section.
The movie clips include things from the funny, Fat Gogeta, to the action packed, Goku Keinzans Buu.
The Computer Gallery is the newest section on the site. It has wallpaper for your desktop, and skins for WinAmp and MacAmp.
The Game Mods (Modifications) section has Skins, which replace body textures, making people in the game look like Dragonball characters.
Maps are also one of the simpler types of mods. Generally, a map changes the layout of a game level to match that of another place (i.e. Namek, the Tenkaichi Budoukai Arena).
Other maps (such as StarCraft maps) change a few basic aspects of game play to match the story or character names of Dragonball.
These maps are generally created for games such as StarCraft, and 3-D games such as Doom, Quake, and Half-Life.
TCPs (Total Conversion Packs) are game mods in the truest sense of the word. They change every aspect of a game, from character models and sprites, to music and sound, to levels, game physics, and more! These are generally created for 3-D games such as Doom, Quake, and Half-Life.
There is currently one mod for Doom, three for Half-Life, four for Quake 1, 2, and 3, none of The Sims or Jedi Knight. StarCraft has the most mods at a whopping 161.
The picture gallery has pictures from most of the episodes of DB/DBZ/DBGT. This has got to be the biggest library of pictures I've ever seen! You could spend days looking at all 752 pictures.
The Scans have pictures relating to the series or of the characters. The Screen Captures are actual scenes from the show, made into picture format.
The Fans section is full of things for... um . . . Fans! The Chat Room, Message Board and Free E-Mail are self-explanatory.
The Fan Art and Fanfic sections are for the creative and talented people that make pictures and stories for Planet Namek.
That wraps up this review, go check out Planet Namek today!

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Students give three cheers for Bring It On
Review by Alyson K. and Kim C.

"Bring it On" is an altogether funny, competitive, and sassy movie about two cheerleading teams who are competing to be number one.
The Torros are five time national champions, but this year real competition arrived in the form of the East Compton Clovers, who will compete in the nationals for the first time.
The Clovers have never been able to raise enough money to attend, but this year they have a new coach who is determined to go.
What follows is the exciting saga of their competition.
"Bring it On" was popular with Peacock students. Opinion was pretty evenly divided on which team they liked better, the Torros or the Clovers.
Brandon C.: "It was ok/good!" Torros had the best cheers.
Bobby G. commented "It was good." "Torros were better."
Christa C. was more enthusiastic: "It was awesome! The Torros were so much better."
Her classmate, Racheal R., agreed: "Awesome! Torros were better because they worked harder."
Ashley H., however, preferred the Clovers whom she thought "were so much better."
Cara G. liked the ending. So did Kaitlyn L.
Liz I. thought that "Bring It On" was the best movie she'd seen all year.
Lindsay M., however, thought it "was good," but not as good as she expected." She preferred the Clovers.
Steff J. noted that the movie was funny.
Tracy A., however, was very disappointed. "I thought that it looked good in the previews," she commented, "but when I saw it in the movies, it stunk." "Clovers were the best team."
We highly recommend "Bring it On" to people who especially like cheerleading and dance, or who just enjoy movies about competition.

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Titan A.E., is a super space adventure
By Melissa M.

Over the summer I saw the movie, "Titan A.E." It was a great adventure movie mixed with awesome computer animation.
It starts out as a bunch of aliens called Drejs (pronounced Dre-G s) attack Earth.
Drejs are made up of all energy and have no personality.
Everyone has to be evacuated from earth because of the Drejs invasion.
Before a boy named Cale (Matt Damon) leaves, his father gives him a ring.
Several years later, Cale meets a girl, Akima (Drew Barrymore) a man, Korso (Bill Pullman) who was a friend of Cale's dad, and a whole bunch of other strange characters.
Cale learns that the ring his father gave him genetically printed a map on his hand.
This map will lead them to a ship, the Titan, which has enough power to create a whole new planet to live on and to destroy the Drejs.
The Drejs learn that the secret of the Titan and the race is on. I won't tell anymore because I don't want to give the ending away.
"Titan A.E." is a great movie and you should see it.

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Bring It On blows your mind
By Carl L.,
News Editor

The "complex" world of cheerleading is brought to light in the new comedy Bring It On.
The movie revolves around the beautiful Torrance, who takes over as the team captain for the Torros, the Rancho Carne High School squad in San Diego California.
Torrance however discovers that her predecessor had been stealing their choreography from the East Compton Clovers, a black hip-hop squad from Los Angeles who is out for revenge.
The whole movie is more or less completely about Torrance coming up with new moves for the team and the brief love connection between her and one of her teammate's brothers.
The movie has many cheap laughs and predictable dialogue, although it does have fantastic choreographed scenes that blow your mind.
All in all it's a movie worth seeing.

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Is Mountain Dew hair the height of style?
By Matt C.,
Op-Ed Editor

Over the summer I was thinking, I really like George W. Bush's chances for election. But then, it hit me. Cheetah spotted hair.
Even the simplest of minds can do this one. First off, if you have dark hair, you will have to bleach your hair till it's a shade of orange/blonde.
Then, you take some black, brown, and some light brown and spot your hair. It's as simple as that.
Take your Black dye and make the main spot, then with your brown and light brown highlight and accentuate it. This will pretty much only work on shorter hair.
Other ideas are White Tiger hair. For tiger hair, just bleach it to a white then you could take black dye and stripe it.
Polka Dots are an interesting choice. Or if you have bleached your hair white, you could try an American flag, a Spanish flag, or even a self made flag.
The possibilities are endless.
If you dye your hair like a Mountain Dew can I will personally congratulate you on being a god of perfect hair.

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What Lies Beneath is the ultimate summer movie
By Sunny B.

If you want to see a great horror film, then you should see "What Lies Beneath."
Harrison Ford and Michelle Phieffer star in the summer smash hit. The movie is about the brilliant Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife Claire Spencer (Michelle Phieffer).
Norman makes one mistake that Claire is unaware of. Afterwards, their daughter moves to college, and that's when the troubles begin.
Claire begins to hear strange whispers and starts seeing someone through the reflection of water and mirrors.
She thinks that she is seeing a ghost. Claire gathers clues and put together the pieces of the puzzle, until she figures out who is behind the whole thing.
"What Lies Beneath" has been at the top of the box office for two straight weeks.
I thought the movie was one of the best I have ever seen. I saw it twice. Now it's time for you to go see it.
So, to recap one man's simple mistake, one mistake, no biggie, right? Or, is it? Go see the movie and find out. It is rated PG 13.

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The Emmy Awards reward the best on T.V.
By Ashley D.

The Emmy awards ceremony was an incredible night for all who viewed it. The host, Gary Shandling, was very humorous and made the show extraordinary.
It was a great competition, but in the end, the cast and crew from the show The West Wing won the most awards.
Many famous stars entered the Shrine auditorium in L.A. that day. These included million-dollar Survivor winner Richard Hatch, newlyweds Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Pitt, and standup comedian Chris Rock.
Gary Shandling's backstage appearances were definitely up to his comedic standards. As an entrance to the show, ABC put on an outstanding "Survivor" skit to say that he was the host. The skit made fun of the show and the people in it, including exSurvivor, Sue.
The only performer, Wayne Brady, did a great job. Though he made fun of other hit T.V. shows, his performance made for a great, long laugh. He sang to some popular tunes from the old days making the words up as he went. The audience liked it so much they gave him a standing ovation.
Believe it or not NBC's The West Wing, a boring drama series about a government in conflict, won nine Emmys.
Surprisingly, HBO's The Sopranos was nominated eighteen times and won only once.
Michael J. Fox won a much deserved Emmy for his acting in ABC's Spin City. Fox, who retired from the series this year suffers from a serious muscular disease commonly known as Parkinson's disease.
NBC's sitcom, Will and Grace won best comedy series. Also, Sela Ward unexpectedly defeated two of The Sopranos' leading ladies to win best actress for her performance in the ABC drama, Once and Again.
One of CBS's only Emmy's came with Actress Patricia Heaton's award for her work in the hit comedy, Everybody loves Raymond.

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2gether
By Nicole B.

2gether is a band made up of five very talented guys, Chad, Jerry, QT, Mickey, and Doug. They originally started off in a MTV movie also called 2gether.
They were a band trying to make fun of the whole concept of the stereotype boy band, but now they have become a boy band and a very successful one at that.
2gether has had two major hits. The most recent one is "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up." Their new album includes songs such as "5gether, "U&U&Me" & "I Wanna Know Your Name" along with ballads such as, "You're the only one that's real" and "Regular Guy."
Some people consider this album fun and easy to dance to, while others say it's relaxing and hilarious.
2gether has a series on MTV at 9:30 on Tuesdays where they sing most of the songs off of their new album.

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Rapper EMINEM tops student poll
By Elysia B.

One hundred fifty seven Peacock students were interviewed to see who they thought were the top ten music artists of the year 20002001.
There were twenty-seven names suggested, but only ten received multiple votes. Here they are:
1. EMINEM 17
2. *NSYNC 14
3. Nelly 11
4. Slip Knot 10
5. Papa Roach 7
6. Destiny's Child 7
7. Sisquo 7
8. Backstreet Boys 7
9. JayZ 7
10. Britney Spears 6

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*N'SYNC's chart burning CD
By Lara P.

*N'sync has hit the top. The five young men, JC, Lance, Joey, Chris and Justin, who make up this group come from all over the country.
Their latest CD, No Strings Attached, has gone far up the charts and produced several hits.
Along with a music video, the song "Bye Bye Bye" was one of the first songs to become a hit. The song was and still is on the radio and TV constantly.
Another song that became popular quickly is "Its Gonna be Me."

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Crash Team Racing
By Nikki A.

CTR (Crash Team Racing) is a great Playstation game. There are a lot of characters and tracks you can choose from. You can race for fun or go on a quest.
There are also some hints. If you press R1 (jump) at a ramp, you go turbo. Get as many question mark boxes as you can, because they help.
It has excellent graphics, and the sound is adjustable. Control of the game is good, but some turns are hard to make. The game play is varied, making the game fun for all ages.
Overall rating:9
Graphics:10
Sound:9
Play control:9
Game play:10
Fun factor:9
S.R.P.:$30-$40
number of players:1-4
challenges: easy, medium, hard

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Oops!
By Paige P.

A review of the Britney Spears CD, "Oops!...I Did it again," must include both the good and the bad.
The production quality of this CD is very good. All but one song sounds good. "Dear Diary" is the problem. It is not right for Britney. It is too slow for her, she should be moving and jumping in her songs.
Overall, this CD is a nine out of ten. Britney's excellent voice is what makes this an awesome album.

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NFL QB Club 2001 may be the best game ever
By Michael K.,
Entertainment Editor

With football season starting I felt the need to review a football game. I found a great game, NFL Quarterback Club 2001.
This is one of the best football games I've ever played. The graphics are superb and the game play is awesome.
In most ways NFL QB Club 2001 is like QB Club games of the past, but with some new features. There are many new plays, and the rosters are up to date.
There are also all the new stadiums and new uniforms.
Some of this game's unique options include the ability to create new teams, make player trades, design uniforms and other things related with managing teams.
Another cool option is the simulator mode. It includes every Super Bowlyou play as the losing team and try to make them win.
There is also the practice mode where you can refine your skills before you play.
There is, of course, the usual season and playoff mode as with other games.
Since the controls are easy to learn and the game never becomes boring, this game is a good buy.
If you buy it, however, just make sure you don't spend all your time playing it. Get out and do the real thing!
Overall Rating..10
Graphics..10
Sound..9
Play Control.9
Game Play...10
Price$50-60
Number of Players..1-4
ChallengeRookie- Pro-All Pro

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