ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Sandy Relief

T-shirts are still

on sale!

Yearbooks can be

purchased until

January 14.

A terrible shoot-

ing has rocked the

nation.

DECEMBER

2012

THE PANTHIANETTE

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2

Some people have

been preparing for the

end of the Mayan Calen-

dar by storing food, buy-

ing gas masks, and

building underground

shelters. But if you are

like most people and

find that you have not

prepared for this at all,

other than looking for-

ward to a two-week

break, the best advice is

to ignore the doomsday

hype and follow the ad-

vice of the British: Keep

Calm and Carry On.

December 21, 2012, is

the last day of school

before Winter Break, a

break well-deserved by

all at Hermitage. How-

ever, one other thing

could possibly occur on

that day: the end of the

world. That’s right, you

read that last sentence

correctly... THE END

OF THE WORLD!

Some people believe

that on December 21,

2012 the ancient Mayan

civilization predicted the

world’s end when they

created the Mayan Long

Calendar.

The ancient Mayans

made four calendars, but

it is their Long Calendar

(which measures time

into the future or past)

that has people excited,

anxious, and scared to

death. The Long Calen-

dar covers 5,125 years

and started on or about

August 11, 3114 BC. It

ends on or about De-

cember 21, 2012; hence,

the rumor. Also encour-

aging doomsday

beliefs, December

21 is the Winter

Solstice, the short-

est day of the year,

and the day the

sun lines with the

plane of the Milky

Way Galaxy.

Before panic sets

in, be assured that

scientists believe

nothing out of the

ordinary will occur

on that day. They be-

lieve the Mayan calen-

dar is cyclical, not line-

ar, and just like we end a

calendar on December

31 of every year ,we start

a new calendar on Janu-

ary 1 of the next. The

Winter Solstice occurs

every year, and no one

seems that excited about

it. The aligning of the

Sun with the Milky Way

could or could not hap-

pen on December 21,

2012 (scientist believe it

could happen around

that time but aren’t cer-

tain exactly).

The Electronic Newspaper of Hermitage High School Henrico, VA

The Panthianette

The Mayan calendar that contains

the supposed predictions.

By Sara Schmieder

In This Issue

2012 Christmas Music Albums Tacky Lights Tour Am I Right? The Candy Cane Compassion Corner

EXPLAINING THOSE E-O-W RUMORS

By Meaghan Green

With Christmas songs coming on the radio a week before Thanksgiving this year, it was clear that Holiday mu-

sic would be a bestseller. A handful of celebrities decided to cash in on this act and make new Christmas al-

bums of their own, though very few actually have any new songs. Below, I’ve compiled the most notable.

Check them out and see if you find anything that hasn’t been crooned countlessly by Frank Sinatra or butch-

ered by remakes already.

1. Glee Holiday Album, Volume Three: How could Glee possibly resist? They’ve already put in their two cents

about every other popular song that exists, so why not Christmas? It isn’t anything too new, with classics like

“Silent Night” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” but they did do an interesting collaboration with

singer/songwriter Bon Iver. They combined “White Christmas” with his hit, “Skinny Love.” However, unless

you’re a Glee fan, you probably won’t get much out of this

album.

2. Christmas In The Sand by Colbie Caillet: If I’m being hon-

est, I don’t quite understand this one. Specifically the fact

that her album cover is a picture of her in a swimsuit with a

weird snowflake animation creeping in the corner. I sup-

pose it was a good idea though, because Caillet’s voice type is perfect for this type of music, and it comes out

sounding very sweet and nostalgic with songs like “Auld Lang Syne” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” In fact,

almost all of the classics are on this CD.

3. This Christmas by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: Sandra Dee and Danny… stop. I hate to say it,

but Travolta sounds like a weird little elf on this album and Newton-John brings absolutely nothing new. I

THE PANTHIANETTE

2012 CHRISTMAS ALBUMS TO

LOOK FOR AND LISTEN TO

PAGE 2

Cast of the hit show Glee

4. Cheers, It’s Christmas (Blake Shelton), On This Winter’s Night (Lady Antebellum), and Christmas (Scotty

McCreery): I put these three together as typical country Christmas albums that come out every year like

clockwork. Lady Antebellum has many fans so I don’t doubt it will be a hit, but the song selection was

very standard and nothing stood out. McCreery brought a country vibe to all of his songs, which was en-

joyable, but it is notable that his selections had a more Christian focus. Blake Shelton’s was the most inter-

esting, only because he chose to do a total of eight collaborations with names

such as Miranda Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé, and Trypta-Phunk.

5. CeeLo’s Magic Moment by Ceelo Green. Based on the cover, Cee-

Lo in a fur coat riding through the air in a Mercedes, I expected this album to be

hokey, but it turned out surprisingly enjoyable. Like Colbie Caillet, CeeLo’s

voice is perfect for Christmas music and he chose interesting songs like “You’re A Mean One, Mr.

Grinch” and “River.” This is the first album on the list I would actually recommend everyone buy.

Take a moment and think about how long it takes for your family to put up the Christmas decorations. On aver-

age, a day? Maybe two? Well there are some families in Richmond that take up to seven months! That’s right, I’m

talking about the crazy and original houses that can be “seen from space” on the Tacky Lights Tour. For families

like Bobby Phifer’s, it is a complete way of life. Their house, which is decked out in over a million lights, has also

been combined with the neighboring house owned by Bobby’s mother. With his father just passing recently, the

houses have become a dedication and a way to add some Christmas cheer. Along with the lights display is a me-

chanical doll room that is visible from the driveway. Cute dolls can be seen opening and shutting their eyes to the

soft Christmas music outside. There is definitely spirit in the air. Many houses in Virginia have made it onto the

honorable list of the Tacky Lights Tour by conveying that same feeling. In order to even be considered for the tour

though, a house must contain at least 40,000 visible lights.

PAGE 3 THE PANTHIANETTE VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2012

2012 CHRISTMAS ALBUMS (CONT.)

13840 Sage Brook Road

8461 Lucord Lane

5624 Chamberlayne Avenue

9606 Asbury Court

1604 Shadymist Court

1130 Randolph Street

Here is a short list of notable houses on the tour. For more houses check out the Tacky Tour’s website: www.tackyrichmond.com

<— The Phifer’s house

The Tacky Lights House Tour By Carly Shaia

Ceelo Green

Candy canes, in their original form, are far from the can-

dy we love today. They had no stripes of color, no hook,

and no minty flavor. As you can imagine, this has

brought up many questions as to how the candy cane

evolved. Some say the first candy canes were made by a

German choirmaster to keep children quiet during long

church services. Others say the hook was formed so that

the candies could be hung on Christmas trees, a newly

emerging trend at the time. There is even the belief that

candy canes were used as secret Christian symbols dur-

ing religious oppression. In this theory, the red and white

stripes symbolized Christ’s blood and purity. Even the

meaning behind the hook has been speculated, that it was

curved to make it look like a shepherd’s hook or like the letter J for Jesus. Unfortunately,

none of these questions or ideas can be proven. Yet, if you taste one of these simple treats,

you’re sure to understand why they’ve stayed around so long.

Am I Right?

By Sarah Worthy

I hate gifts that are Christmas-themed. I’m looking at you, Aunts. When is a Christ-

mas mug ever going to be useful besides in December? If you’re going to get me a

present that’s only temporarily useful, then you might as well buy me an expired

coupon. The worst part about getting Christmas presents you don’t like is that you

have to try really hard to like them in the moment. I don’t know how excited I can

get about an iTunes gift card for the third year in a row. Also, Christmas sweaters: is

that really acceptable now? No, it’s not.

Am I right?

THE ORIGIN OF THE CANDY CANE

The Panthianette Volume 3 Issue 2 December 2012

Am I Right: Part Deux By Meaghan Thompson

It was a week before Thanksgiving, and I was driving to the grocery store, try-ing desperately to find something on the radio to listen to. You know those days when all the music on your CDs is annoying you? Then suddenly, I flipped to Lite 98 and BAM! Christmas music all over the place. It is December 9th as I write this and it still irritates me. I’m over here, gearing up for a ridiculously large Thanksgiving meal and you are forcing me to stare St. Nick straight in his jolly face. It ruins it! The spirit of Christmas has to slowly come over you when you see the red and green lights on all the houses or the pretty wrapping pa-per in the stores. If I’m not ready for it, it’s disorienting! La la la, Santa Claus is coming to tooowwwnnn…. in 41 DAYS?! Really, Lite 98? Stop trying to com-pete with Q94 and go back to playing old Taylor Swift songs, at least until De-cember. Am I right?

The Panthianette, Volume 3 Issue 2, December 2012

Compassion Corner Panthers, your holiday message is best said in clichés: Increase

the Peace, Make Love Not War, and Show a Little Tenderness.

Also, please do not buy puppies or kittens as presents while

thousands of healthy animals languish in shelters waiting for

good homes! Visit petfinder.com for more information.