Alex Carr's The Jaguars' Spot column for Wed., Jan. 13, 2010

The Jaguars' Spot

By Alex Carr

I need a girl!

          I’m looking for a girl. Not just any girl. A special girl. She has to have a fantastic personality. She has to get along well with others. She has to be really sweet-looking and have a face with which a camera could fall in love. And, above all, she has to be able to take direction.

          Perhaps I should clarify.

          A few weeks back I wrote a screenplay called “Boy on the Moon” as an extra credit project for Mr. Dolan’s English class. It’s about a teen who feels alienated from everyone, especially his family, and how he deals with it. Anyway, Dolan really liked it so I asked him if I could turn it into a movie and enter it in this year’s San Diego School District iVIE film competition. And that’s why I need a girl -- to be in the movie.

          (I also need a boy to play the lead character but, for some reason, that didn’t seem like it would be as good a title for this column! Then I’d have to name next week’s column “Unforeseen Consequences”!)

          A few years back I won an iVIE Special Achievement award when I was at the Upper Elementary school. That was pretty cool because I was competing against high school students. I was also part of the team that won VCHS its first and still only iVIE first place trophy. Since then, that movie has been shown countless times all over Southern California. I would like to bring that trophy back to VCHS this year.

          I’ve already assembled quite a team including VCHS sophomore Jeremy Halligan as camera operator and special effects wizard (we’re actually going to show him sitting on the Moon!) and even several adults and teachers to play the boy’s family.

          So, if you are interested in being part of this excellent team, talk to me on campus or send an email to the address below.

Take the time!:

          I hope you DO know that finals are next week. Let’s break it down for freshmen:

          Monday (Jan. 18) there’s no school in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Then, Tuesday, we have TWO three-hour finals in our first and fourth period classes (although you might finish earlier, especially if your finals are in PE and AP Cafeteria Appreciation). On Wednesday, we again have two three-hour finals, this time in our second and fifth period classes. Then, on Thursday, we finish it off with three-hour finals in our third and sixth period classes. Friday is the day between semesters so there’s no school. That’s also the day my dad says I can have a HUGE Xbox party which he says will also be my LAST Xbox party if I blow my finals!

          Tough week, but there IS some good news here: Teachers generally don’t give out homework that whole week so you’ll have just that much more time to study for finals and, hopefully, get some rest. Being tired for finals will undo all that cramming you did.

          Also, remember that these tests will have a big effect on your high school career, which can, in turn, have a big effect on your life’s career (not to mention MY Xbox career!).

Tell me about it!:

          VCHS ASB president Kord Roberts told me it’s time to start thinking about ordering caps and gowns for, believe it or not, graduation! That may seem like a long ways away but it is coming up fast. With the end of the semester coming up next week, you need to order them by Thursday or Friday (Jan. 14 or 15).

          Got a great item for this column? Tell me about it! Catch me on campus or go to my web page and shoot me an e-mail (www.carrfamily.com/alex).