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Grace Clark Performs her Senior Project Live at “Music for the Mind”

McClatchy, applaud and grab some tissues for Grace Clark’s (‘18) concert, “Music for the Mind.” The concert was held on February 23rd in the Black Box Theater at 7pm. The night began with Grace Clark’s speech about her inspiration, music, and her senior project. Her main inspiration was her mother, who was a songwriter, musician, and singer. Her mother introduced her to other inspirations like Sara Bareilles and Marc Broussard. Grace also explained that she wrote her first song at nine years old.

Later in life, Grace was also inspired by her teachers and classes. She is involved in many types of activism, including feminism, civil rights, environmentalism, among others.

“Seeing people my age speak out and lead a movement for progress makes me think that I can participate,” according to Clark. Clark intended her concert to be open to the community and to McClatchy students.

Clark credits her inspiration for the mental health side of her project to her Mother. Her Mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar depression, and took her own life a year ago.

“I saw how much pain that stigma causes.” Clark explains. The concert was to raise awareness on the stigma and funds for mental health advocacy.

Grace’s “Music for the Mind” project included her writing and recording 5 new songs. All of her songs are available on her released EP, 17. The EP costs $5, with 100% of the profits going to the Steinberg Institute, a Sacramento-based group devoted to mental health advocacy. Later, Deborah Anderluh, a member from the Steinberg institute, talked about the group’s history and their appreciation for CKM. They were impressed with the senior projects they’d seen.

Each song has its story and inspiration. When you close your eyes, Clark’s lyrics paint a story along with the music. Again, tissues are a must when listening closely. After she finished, everyone headed over to the counter, where Clark was signing EPs. Of course, there was a line.

The audience was primarily upperclassmen, from Clark’s closest friends to classmates.

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Jeff’s Genre-Swap Covers Playlist

This Playlist is made up of covers of songs which are very different from the originals, often switching genres! The majority of these are “vintage covers” meaning they are done in a style from an earlier time period.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Radioactive”

Postmodern Jukebox took Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” and made it into a vintage jazz/beatbox song. While jazz, beatboxing, and the modern Top 40 hit “Radioactive” might seem like an odd combo, Postmodern Jukebox’s expert performance is still astounding.

 

Rancid’s acoustic cover of “Fall Back Down”

“Fall Back Down” was a song by the punk band Rancid, released in 2003. The original version featured electric guitars and shouted lyrics, both common among punk rock music. The acoustic version, however, had more soft-spoken lyrics and a calmer tone. It showed a more gentle-sounding version of the song, allowing the central theme of friendship in hard times to shine through.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “I Kissed a Girl”

This is a 1950s style Doo Wop cover of “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. While the premise of the song would likely have been considered taboo in the 1950s, this cover nonetheless seems to fit the song perfectly.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Hey Ya”

This is a vintage 60s soul style cover of “Hey Ya” by Outkast. This cover impressively manages to take the lyrics of the original and puts them to a much slower, smoother tempo, creating a very different sound that still stays in line with the original song.

 

Orkestra Obsolete’s cover of “Blue Monday”

“Blue Monday” by the band New Order, was released in 1983. According to the BBC, “its cutting-edge electronic groove changed pop music forever.” Then, in 2016, the Orkestra Obsolete performed a cover of the song using only instruments from the 1930s to make it.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Thrift Shop”

This is a vintage “grandpa style” cover of Macklemore’s 2012 song “Thrift shop”. It poses a humorously jarring contrast to the original rap version.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”

This is a Vintage 1912 Waltz style cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Like many other PMJ covers, this takes the fast tempo and energetic lyrics of the original song and slows it down, creating a very different experience.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “All The Small Things”

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of Blink-182’s 1999 song, “All the Small Things”, which is made exponentially better due to the amazing vocals of Puddles the Sad Clown.

 

Robyn Adele Anderson’s cover of “Clint Eastwood”

This is a 1940s-style cover of “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz. This cover keeps the beat and lyrics of the original while replacing the modern instruments with piano, saxophone, and other 1940s-era instruments.

 

Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Don’t Stop Believin’”

This vintage cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” features many different singers and musicians associated with the Postmodern Jukebox. In spite of using many different singers, this cover manages to maintain a constant, upbeat tone throughout. It also features an impressive one-take music video.

 

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The Pros of Homecoming

Dances are fun. It is a way to destress from all the schoolwork your teachers pile on you for no reason, and it is a way to hangout with friends, or meet new ones outside of school. It’s much better than sitting at home, bored, not being able to do anything or play video games with anyone, because most of your friends are out dancing at Homecoming. We need social interaction! Yes, dances have a lot of people and it can get pretty hot in there since everyone is sweating. However, that is why there are places around the edge of the room where the it isn’t too congested with people, making it the best place overall. There are tables with comfortable seats where there aren’t a lot of people. Plus the Homecoming venue has pretty good air conditioning. It’s much better than sitting home and learning how to weave baskets underwater while juggling. First off, that’s impossible, and second, when am I ever going to need to know how to do that?
Even if you aren’t the best dancer, there are a lot of people who don’t know how to dance, and you can always just sway to the music. Or you can sing along, nobody is going to care if you are a terrible singer, because nobody is paying attention. Just make sure not to get caught in the big scary mosh pit…who am I kidding? It’s pretty awesome in there: being with your friends, listening to music, and just hanging out. Just as long as you don’t stay in there for too long, especially if you are a small person like me. Every once in awhile you will see some nice dancing skills, aside from the constant twerking–you will also see the occasional break dancer with some pretty nice dancing skills.
Every High Schooler should go to Homecoming at least once in their high school life. Because there are only a few opportunities to go to danes, especially if you are a underclassmen. If you don’t want to dance, or if you’re just waiting for that one slow song so you can ask the person you’ve been wanting to ask to dance, you can just sit and talk to friends, as a lot of people do. You can just sit and talk for these four hours, without having to worry about any distractions. This is great because it’s hard to live without distractions nowadays. Finally, you can just chill and relax with some friends. Plus it’s fun to just sit and watch people dance, or create your own list of: Best and Worst Dressed of Homecoming 2017.
Homecoming is a fun way to hangout with your friends and dance the night away. Plus, it’s relatively cheap to get in, compared to Prom. As long as you don’t pay attention to the ridiculous prices of the food and drinks at the actual event, it’s fine. It’s basically an American tradition, at least in the movies. So go live like you’re in a teen high school drama, let loose, and have fun. That’s what high school is all about. Homecoming can be one of those things that you’ll end up remembering for the rest of your life. It might not be as bad as you think.

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¡Canciones!

This playlist features a variety of different artists, from Marc Anthony to Selena Quintanilla. Their music is a form of Salsa and Cumbia, which can vary from upbeat to slow songs!

1.) Flor Palida by Marc Anthony
This happy and upbeat song includes Anthony is singing about a woman who he wants to be with to show her the world.

2.) Ahora Quien by Marc Anthony
In this slow song Anthony explains his love for a woman and asks how she would like to be treated.

3.) Amor Prohibido by Selena Quintanilla
Selena explains her love for life in this upbeat and very beautiful song.

4.) Como la Flor by Selena Quintanilla
Selena explains the difficult situation of having a lover but she see’s that it’s the best thing for her to leave him now before too long.

5.) Que Precio Tiene el Cielo by Marc Anthony
This song is upbeat and he songs to a woman that he loves. He says not to give up on their love, like it’s the price of the sky.

6.) Vivir mi Vida by Marc Anthony
Also very upbeat; Anthony says to live your life happily, to just to not care and love your life without any doubts.

7.) Bailando by Enrique Inglesias
This also a very happy song, just to dance and let loose.

8.) Despacito by Luis Fonsi (Ft. Daddy Yankee)
Fonsi wants to see the world with a lady, very slowly they will dance and go places together. This song is very pretty and popular.

9.) Suavemente by Elvis Crespo
This upbeat song explains his love for a women. He sings softly that he wants all of her love.

10.) Maria by Ricky Martin
He is singing about a woman who is very special to him and how he wants to love her before he dies.