Au The Shins May 3 d io concert at the C Variety Play- house received ua mixed reviews is l 2from their high- o V ly expectant audience. n W h o w o u l d r a t h e r t w a i t f o r a movie to 4come out on DVD than see it now in the e theatres? Alex Daniels. Ra n gt im t rum e st o s R Teacher Dave Winter knows from experience the high cost of thinking The 8Grady but not expressing your drama and 6feelings to the people you appreciate the music program most. staged Ragtime this spring to rave re- erie ag views. Grady’s first n musical in six years e leads us to ask that M the next one come much sooner. Nexus’ calendar brings you the dates you 1need to know for the best summer concerts, festivals, holidays and special events. 7 nexusVolume 1 Issue 2 May-June 2005 Cover photo by Dave Winter From the staff Straight Harrison Martin- [Design Editor] Senior year has left me battered and exhausted so I will leave you with from a quote, “Yeah, I bought all that I could at this bank, and then I got the rest from this guy Ralph in an alley.” the Don P.J. McGlynn-Section Editor [Menagerie] Part of Grady’s mission statement is to “We’re going to go to Home Depot. “appreciate and embrace diversity,” something Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get the school is very proud of having. Walking some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe down Grady’s halls, our diversity is easy to see. Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don’t know, I Individuals of different race, religion, ethnicity, don’t know if we’ll have enough time.” gender and socio-economic class intermingle on their way to class. But step into any given Grady Duy Lam-Section Editor [Visual] magnet class, and this diversity is drastically 180 school days later and summer reduced. The racial balance suddenly leans heavily break is finally here. However, before toward the Caucasian end, which is otherwise a you know it, school will be back and minority at Grady. Socio-economic diversity is close you find out that you have a quiz on to gone. the book you had forgotten to read. For the past three years, I have taken classes Alex Daniels-Section Editor [Visual] with different groups of the same 50 or so students. We’ve managed to squeeze in anoth- We are not a diverse group, and our magnet classes er quality issue for you guys. Rest don’t represent the diversity that Grady claims to assured, with full color and a batch of have. full-time staffers coming next year, Don’t get me wrong, the magnet program at the best is yet to come. Grady is a great thing. It provides an academic path of excellence for its students’ four years at Grady Chloe Blalock-Section Editor [Audio] by putting them in challenging and interesting “The problem with people who classes. Unfortunately, it diverts resources away have no vices is that generally from the rest of the school who would benefit from you can be pretty sure they’re the special attention the magnet program offers. going to have some pretty I appreciate everything that the magnet program annoying virtues.”~Elizabeth Taylor has done for me and my classmates, but the Alastair Carter-Boff-Section Editor [Audio] system in inherently unfair. I can’t do anything to make the magnet program He who fights with monsters more diverse, but I can do my part to improve might take care lest he thereby the communication and interaction of all Grady become a monster. And if you students. When we started Nexus this semester, gaze for long into an abyss, we wanted the writing to be a true representation the abyss gazes also into you. of Grady High School, not just its magnet students. Jeffrey Carpenter-Section Editor [Rostrum] So far we have failed in this endeavor. I want Nexus Everyone should appreciate the to be something that all of Grady enjoys and feels a little things in life. People in this part of. Not just a select privileged few. Help me to country take too much for grant- make this publication what it can be. Bring diversity ed and don’t think about where to a new Grady publication with your submissions. their good fortune came from. –Micah Weiss-Managing Editor Nexus: a publication of The Southerner Volume 1 Issue 2 Contributing Writers: Jessica Advertising: Nexus is a non-profit Nexus is a submission-based pub- Baer, Justin Biggs, Alice Bufkin, Scott organization that relies on adver- lication that relies on your submis- Douglas, Kevin Hill, Sarah Marriner, tising to generate renue to cover sions for its content. Nexus accepts Max Meinhart, Sarah Muntzing, Rob- printing costs. Nexus is read by ap- submissions for all of its sections and ert Sanders, William VanDerKloot, proximately 1,500 people and is a features (submissions may be edited Thomas Walker, Omari Wallace great way to publicize. To advertise for length or content). Submission Advisor: Dave Winter with Nexus, contact Dave Winter at forms are located in the Southerner Print Staff: Alvin Hambick, Harlon [email protected]. room, or can be obtained from Mr. Heard, Michael Jackson, Adlai McClure, Winter. For more information, or to Charlotte Napper, Benjamin Shaw Nexus is a bimonthly publication of: turn a submission in, please contact Founding Editors: Harrison Martin, Henry W. Grady High School Mr. Winter or any member of the Russell Owens, and Micah Weiss 929 Charles Allen Drive NE staff at [email protected]. Atlanta, GA 30309 audio Rooney [Rooney] Rooney has been around for a few years but has gained recent Music claims popularity via The O.C. Their claim to fame song is “Shakin,’” one’s identity with an upbeat sound and music elitism limits experience unique guitar riff. Once you hear the track, you will instantly fall in BY ALASTAIR CARTER-BOFF Review love with it. Best called “SoCal” guitar-driven pop, Rooney is a nice vacation from boring music. u s i c -Max Meinhart M can often help define a person. Their attitude, friends, style and personality may all be Bona Drag [Morrissey] influenced by the genres of music they Bona Drag shows the more listen to. You can see this very clearly at any abstract side of Morrissey’s high school. Most of the kids that listen to rap and lyrical genius. More of a R & B tend to clump together, as do the students compilation presented in album who listen to rock music and all the other factions form, it still flows exceptionally that exist in a high school. The groups do not generally well. A great intro to Morrissey’s associate with one another, although there may be post-Smiths work, the naysayers certain crossovers. It’s almost like musical segregation, of Morrissey’s solo career should as if an unwritten rule won’t allow the groups to be forced to listen to this album. intermingle. This refusal to interact with one another I never thought I’d be moved by often causes closed-mindedness. This takes all of a song about a Ouija board. the enjoyment out of listening to music, there is no -Jessica Baer variety without experimentation and change. If these groups would get to know each Lost and Found [Will Smith] other, that unwritten rule of society Smith’s latest album is one to would be broken, and high schools help restore the faith of his fans. could operate in harmony. He offers the gentler half of his persona in the song “Mr. Nice Guy,” showing the public there’s more to him than “Sumertime.” But the release can be f monotonous and reminiscent Music in o of the Will Smith of the ‘90s. c Overall, the LP is worthy of the u “Will” to buy. -Rusell Owens s The Shins Tuesday, May 3, The Variety Playhouse hosted a sold-out show for The Shins. Since being featured on the soundtrack of the recent box-office hit Garden State, The Shins Their play list and music performance was have enjoyed a steady rise in popularity. Opening adequate and enjoyable, but the complete lack of for them were the Brunettes, a New Zealand-based stage presence left something to be desired. Their group of seven playing their first show in Georgia. wavering enthusiasm was mirrored by the crowd. The Brunettes’ set was brief and mostly A homogeneous crowd only added to the boring unvarying, with a laidback indie sound similar to shadow cast upon Tuesday’s show. The show closed the Shins. Their entourage of bandmates, however, with a predictable encore, and while the Brunettes brought character and personality to the stage, came to watch with the audience, they were not and their New Zealand accents and interspersed enough to salvage our hopes. In a sentence, the instrument collection kept the crowd engaged and Shins are excellent on CD, but their live show is cheering happily in anticipation of the Shins. more dead than alive. The Shins, however, were a mild disappointment. -Chloe Blalock 2 [NEXUS] May- June, 2005 Live at the BBC [Pixies] audio A quality introduction to the Pixies is hard to find. Most of the “Best Of’s” are unable to do them justice, being based more Releases the Pixies’ radio time, andthus leaving out chunks of Pixies history. Although shorter than Oasis [Don’t Believe the Truth] 5.31.05 greatest hits CDs, this is better Cheyenne Jackson [All Shook Up] 5.31.05 able to cover Pixies history.