The James Logan Courier

By Patrick Pilapil, Courier Staff Writer

4 out of 5 stars

Almost nobody believed Jay-Z was really retiring after his 2003 release of "The Black Album". So after only a three-year hiatus, the Def Jam CEO releases "Kingdom Come", the most anticipated hip-hop album of the year. Although this isn't the classic everyone expected, Jay-Z still delievers one of the best rap albums of the year.

ACTIVITIES:
Come support the boys soccer teams tomorrow, when they play against Richmond. Jv at 5 pm, varsity at 7 pm.

The cross country banquet is Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the Student Union starting at 7 pm.

Interested in track & field? Come to the Weight Room to sign up Monday, Wednesday, Friday after school.

By Carmen Shiu, Courier Entertainment Editor

Fans of the MTV reality TV show, "Laguna Beach," can now enjoy 15 of the songs that are played on the show from season one to season three. On top of the songs, there are also four clips of dialog straight from the show. The soundtrack, "Summer Can Last Forever," was released last month.



Drop by the Courier's office, Room 509, for a free Laguna Beach poster or sticker while supplies last, and to register for a drawing to win a free copy of the new CD, Summer Can Last Forever. Deadline for entry: Dec. 7. Drawing: Dec. 8.

By Carmen Shiu, Entertainment Editor

The cover of Gwen Stefani's second solo album, "The Sweet Escape," which will release on Tuesday, hints at a new direction for the singer. Indeed, on the new disc, Stefani calms down a little compared to her debut, "Love.Angel.Music.Baby.," that she released two years ago.

With five of the twelve songs produced by the Neptunes, this one has its pros and cons.

By Michael Deeds
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

BOISE, Idaho — Before you lift a hand to smack the latest emo buzz band for its nauseating name, please allow Cute Is What We Aim For singer Shaant Hacikyan to explain.

"Dude. We hate it," insists Hacikyan, who became the band's elder statesman when he turned 20 recently. "We hate the name with a passion."

Wha — really?

Apple Computer Inc. (MCT)

Top 10 albums on iTunes Music Store for Nov. 28:

1. "Daughtry (Bonus Track)," Daughtry
2. "Kingdom Come," Jay-Z
3. "U218 Singles," U2
4. "Wintersong," Sarah McLachlan
5. "The Blue Carpet Treatment," Snoop Dogg
6. "Happy Feet (Music from the Motion Picture)," various artists
7. "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me," Brand New
8. "9," Damien Rice
9. "Doctor's Advocate," The Game
10. "Konvicted," Akon

For more information, please visit the iTunes Web site at www.apple.com/itunes/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

Pop:

SNOOP DOGG "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment" (Geffen, 3 stars)
Snoop Dogg has been pop culture's most cuddly gangsta rapper for so long that it's easy to forget that there's more to him than the guy who played Huggy Bear in "Starsky & Hutch." Part of the problem has been that the smooth-drawling rapper has been sleepwalking though his last several albums as he drifted from the chilling intensity he brought to his early work with Dr. Dre.

From wikipedia:
Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, although he is less well known for his poetry. Swift published all of his works under pseudonyms — such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier — or anonymously.

Read Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, one of 15 of his works in various formats and languages, available free from Project Gutenberg.


Jonathan Swift