TTHHEE TTAATTTTOOOO BRISTOL PRESS MAKING A PERMANENT IMPRESSION SINCE 1994 VOLUME 8 No. 13 Take an ‘Adult Swim’ By JOE KEO Swim” has it all. kids. (Parents, pay attention to The Tattoo Saturday’s lineup consists the disclaimer at the beginning of mostly popular imported of every show.) Tired of corny kid cartoons? Japanese animation, known as Sunday’s package of anima- No worry — the Cartoon “anime” by hardcore fans. It tion is on the more comedic Network’s “Adult Swim” will airs from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. side than the smash-bang please the older audience of Some of the cartoons slated for action shows on Saturdays. The animation lovers and cartoon the Saturday night block Sunday “Adult Swim” block fanatics. include “Yu Yu Hakusho,” runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Adding an adult twist to the “Cowboy Bebop,” and “Gundam is comprised of funny shows network’s already fun-packed 0083.” such as “Home Movies,” “The arsenal, “Adult Swim” is a block Brak Show,” and “Aqua Teen of cartoons targeted for ages 18 Hunger Force.” through 34. It airs late night on This bundle of cartoons Saturdays and Sundays. explode with hilarious and hys- Daytime television is stuffed On the tube terical situations that can even with boring and unrealistic make your great-grandparents soap operas (why do they call break out on the floor laughing. them soap operas anyway?) or “Yu Yu Hakusho” is a show Sunday’s grown-up humor cartoons mostly aimed at pre- about a teenage boy who dies and Saturday’s kick-butt atti- schoolers and innocent tod- and comes back to life as an tude combined creates a great dlers who have yet to develop evil-fighting ghost detective. weekend for true cartoon fans. minds of their own. “Cowboy Bebop” is a tale of With the addition of the pop- “Bob the Builder,” “Blue’s bounty hunters who wander ular “Adult Swim,” the Cartoon Clues,” “The Big Comfy Couch,” the universe in search of good Network is no doubt seeing a Joe Keo / The Tattoo “The Teletubbies” — the list of pay and some food. ratings boost. With the help of kiddie shows goes on. “Gundam 0083” is about its other programs like The young viewers soon huge robots piloted by humans “Toonami,” “Boomerang,” the become zombies who think the who fight in order to keep channel seems to have a bright world revolves around a blue peace between Earth and its future ahead. dog and a dude with a green space colonies. To view “Adult Swim,” check striped shirt. These cartoons are built on your local listings or go online Teen mayor rules It’s different for older view- a lot of imagination and are at www.adultswim.com for ers. We like action and excite- packed with thrilling action more information. Bristol view- By KAISHI LEE the $1,875-a-year, part-time mayoral post. ment, and even some slapstick and witty dialogue. But they ers can watch the show at the The Tattoo He also won the Democratic nomination comedy. contain some violence and above times on standard cable with a write-in vote. Look no further. “Adult unsuitable content for younger channel 52. Don’t ask Christopher Portman to pick up “In the past, I saw that we recycled the a six-pack on the way home from work same individuals and I felt it was time that because the mayor of Mercer, Penn. is strictly a younger individual come in with a fresh a soda pop man. new perceptive and create a new vision for After all, he’s only 19. our town,” Portman said. The mayor can, however, perform mar- Located in northwestern Pennsylvania riages, oversee the police department and on the Ohio border, Mercer is a small bor- break tie votes on the town council. ough with 2,391 residents. “I decided to run for mayor as I wanted Portman ran a successful grassroots cam- to give back to my community and bring paign, sending out letters into the commu- new innovative ideas to the borough coun- nity soliciting campaign donations. cil,” said Portman, who was sworn in as “I got a wonderful response.” Portman mayor of Mercer, Penn. on Jan 3. said. Make no mistake, though, Portman is just He raised about $2,000 which went into another American teenager, who fishes purchasing yard signs, flyers, buttons and with his girlfriend’s dad, is a huge fan of pens. Major League Baseball and lives with his “I went door to door, meeting as many parents and twin brothers. residents as possible, talking and sharing But he’s appeared on national television with them my goals and plans for the bor- and stories about him have appeared in at ough. I also stood outside polling places on least six different languages in more than a Election Day handing out my flyers,” he dozen countries, making him one of the said. best known small-town mayors in the world. Portman said teens should play an active He’s certainly known at Westminster role in politics. College, where he’s majoring in broadcast “We are the future of our nations,” he communications and minoring in political said. science. “So my feeling is why not start now and “Many students know who I am because understand the government giving us a of the media coverage but for the most part broader base for the future.” when I’m at college, I’m a college student.” He said his own aspirations go beyond Portman said. serving as Mercer’s mayor. “Some of my college friends are now “I would like to be a political analyst used to the television cameras,” he said. after college and then run for state repre- “They usually say, ‘Well here are those cam- sentative, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, governor eras again. I bet they’re here for Chris.’” of Pennsylvania and one day run for presi- Portman defeated 55-year-old dent of the United States,” Portman said. Joe Keo / The Tattoo Councilman Kenneth Vernon and John But, he added, “That is a dream, not a Kish, 19, in the Republican primary to win goal.” Destined to be a classic By KAISHI LEE Jackson), assigns Obi-Wan and Anakin to pro- Xtremely rewarding The Tattoo tect her. Obi-Wan pursues the assassin, a bounty Nine teen journalists from For the uninitiated, all the frenzy over Star hunter called Jango Fett (Temeura Morrison), The Tattoo scooped up Wars is baffling and inexplicable. to Genosis, a world which develops clones. They squirm at the greenish gnome-like blob statewide awards in the Meanwhile, Anakin accompanies Amidala to Connecticut Society of of Yoda, scorn the weird names like Obi-Wan Naboo. Naturally, both fall in love. Kenobi and Count Dooku and prefer to stay Professional Journalists’ annu- home watching television (it’s free anyway). al contest recently. Thankfully, I’m not one of them. The Tattoo’s student writers Star Wars is not just some sci-fi movie, it’s a At the movies: claimed top honors in the SPJ phenomenon. Plus, the excitement over the film arts and entertainment catego- is cross-generational. ry and shared a first-place win I admit that the most-anticipated movie of all Star Wars for a feature series with Bristol time may have evolved to be a marketing deliri- um, a triumph of hype. Press reporters and correspon- But it’s inspired a cult following that waited Later, Anakin and Padmé leave for dents who worked with them to 16 long years for the drab Episode 1: The Tatooine, to learn more about Anakin’s moth- cover ESPN’s X Trials last year. Phantom Menace to hit the silver screen. Ok, it er. Then, Obi-Wan discovers a disturbing plot “The writers went to Tattoo staff and alumni Sarah and Katie Jordan, Jennifer was crap, but we loyal fans were satisfied and that exposes the villains Count Dooku (Lord extremes to cover every possi- Plonski, Hila and Sam Yosafi, Mike Nguyen and Amanda still live, speak and breathe in the galaxy. of the Ring’s Christopher Lee) and the Sith ble angle of the X Trials in Lehmert at the X Trials last summer. Indeed, in 1977, Star Wars, with its good-ver- Lord Dark Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). Bristol last summer,” the judges sus-evil and internecine-thick plot, became an The cosmically bad dialogue aside, this inter- noted. writers Katie Jordan and won prizes this spring for car- inextricable part of modern culture. Undeniably, Tattoo writers Katie Jordan, Nguyen placed second for their toons they drew for The Tattoo. “may the force be with you” was the youth-speak galactic adventure gives me no fault to pick on. Nor, in fact, does it give me time to breathe or Sarah Jordan, Mike Nguyen, work on a package of stories They each nabbed honorable of the time. about safety in extreme sports. mentions in the Scholastic So, I waited with bated breath and shivered think with its non-stop bombardment of thrills Sam Yosafi, and Sara Greene, as the music swelled to a deafening crescendo and antics and fantastical creatures and all from Bristol Eastern High Nguyen and Sarah Jordan Press Forum’s annual contest and the title of the second prequel to the Star panoramic vistas. School, Jen Plonski of won an honorable mention in for New England student jour- Wars trilogy: Episode 2: Attack of the Clones As director, Lucas impresses with his imagi- Chippens Hill Middle School the SPJ investigative category nalists. blazed across the screen. nation and energy. True, his work has lost some for a two-story package about One of Keo’s Daily Sketch of its crude charm and sense of wonder (remem- and Kaishi Lee, a Singapore Episode 1 traced the childhood of Anakin teen, shared the award with an alleged bomb threat against cartoons entered addressed Skywalker, who has a connection to The Force, ber 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s The Return of the Jedi). Press staff writers Jackie Eastern called “Memo details “American Taliban” John the lifeline that binds everyone. He would later Majerus and Steve Collins, who school response to threats.” Walker Lindh. Keo said he felt grow up to sire the twins, Luke and Princess So much has been written about his latest space odyssey my feeling of déjà vu will be com- serve as volunteer advisors to In the nation’s top scholastic compelled to comment on the Leia, and renounce the Jedi cause to embrace journalism contest, Nguyen and issue through his drawing. the dark side of Darth Vader. It covered how the mon, and, besides, the techno-guru has taken a The Tattoo and Press corre- plucky nine-year-old slave (Jake Lloyd) was break to fine-tuning his special effects. The pay- spondents (and former Tattoo Katie Jordan this spring won “It was an issue that found, and freed, by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, off is tremendous: the mind-blowing visual staffers) Joe Wilbur and Gold Key awards from the touched home,” he said. “As a when the latter stopped over at planet Tatooine. effects are stunning. Amanda Lehmert. National Newspaper citizen I must respond with my Attack of the Clones opens with a bang and Christensen’s first foray into a blockbuster is Association Foundation and reaction.” promising. Fans will no doubt await his turn as In the SPJ arts and enter- takes place 10 years after the events of The tainment category, five Tattoo the Quill and Scroll Society. In that regional contest, The Phantom Menace. Described by director, the foreboding and vicious Darth Vader. With Tattoo won a special prize for experience and more movies, he is poised to take writers – Plonski, Nguyen, Nguyen, a junior, won in the George Lucas, as “a love story,” it is however Yosafi and Danielle Letourneau sports story category for a pro- its X Trials coverage as well as more darker and intense. After spending a flight as the Next Big Thing. How do you slap a static label on an actor and Cassie Nowak of Bristol file on stunt bike rider Jamie three first places and two other decade under the tutelage of his mentor, Obi-Wan Bestwick, who competed in the honorable mentions. Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), Anakin (newcomer who has defied categorization and moves from Central High School – took first Hayden Christensen), is anxious to be acknowl- stage and cinema to singing (Moulin Rouge) with place. It was the fifth year in a X Trials in Bristol last summer. The Tattoo also captured a edged as a full-fledged Jedi. Knowing that chameleon ease? McGregor is excellent and man- row The Tattoo has claimed the Jordan, a freshman, won in national award this year from Anakin may be tempted into the Dark Side, Obi- ages to recite his lines not only without laughing, top prize in that category. the editorial cartoon category the Suburban Newspapers of Wan advises patience. but with gravitas. for “Officer Stan’s reinforce- America for “Best Young As always, Yoda (Frank Oz), the tiny, rubbery, The students produced a package of stories and photo- ments,” a whimsical play on People’s Coverage.” The group, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), former- frog-like creature, is delightful. Even as a which has 2,000 member ly the Queen of Naboo and now a Senator, younger, fresher frog, the grand old sage has an graphs that offered dueling words about a police officer arrives on the planet of Coruscant, the affectionate spot in all fans’ hearts. reviews of The Haunted who got a sheet of office paper papers, is based in Michigan. Republic’s capital, to voice out on the seced- Star Wars is spectacular entertainment. No Graveyard Halloween attraction reinforcements insted of back- All of the winning stories ing systems in the empire. When an assassi- less. But, certainly, no more. Still, considering at Lake Compounce. up when he called for help. and cartoons are available on nation attempt is made on Padmé, peace-lov- what we’ve seen so far, it has all the earmarks of In the investigative series Two other staffers, Plonski The Tattoo’s Internet site at: ing Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. a classic. category of the contest, Tattoo and Eastern freshman Joe Keo, www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

WWW.READTHETATTOO.COM The best teen journalism in America. For questions, comments or to join, contact advisors Steve Collins and Jackie Majerus at 523-9632.