The Bird is the Word: Sophisticated Schoolyard Shenanigans
By Leo Milmet
the clock struck midnight.
he was alone on the balcony.
all the people who had disturbed the peace
were long gone.
and there was peace.
quiet.
the contrasting lights of the moonlight and his cigarette
drew more of his attention than any care in the world.
it was midnight on a breezy summer night,
and he sat, contemplating his life.
to his surprise, he felt
joy.
Editor: Holden Hartle
By Leo Milmet
in the dark
i see the light.
you.
you’re the light.
you’re my flashlight
in the constant power outage of life.
sometimes the light you shine is white and bright, and
almost appears to
restore the power.
other times it’s just a glimmer of light,
no larger than a rosebud,
a soft petal of light
with a narrow focus, and not much flood.
that’s okay.
i don’t trip and fall in the dark, and i know that’s
got something to do with you.
Editor: Luke Langlois
How Much Symbolism is Too Much?
By Holden Hartle
I have the pleasure of taking a class with Mr. Griffin. He introduced the idea of symbolism to me when I was a freshman, and now I am reintroduced to it as a senior. He has opened my eyes to a whole new way of reading a story. Currently in class we are discussing short stories. Some ideas are far fetched–like a card game representing the Irish economy. The discussions we have in class explore the story beneath the story, as Mr. Griffin likes to put it.
For example, we read the story A&P by John Updike, in which a teenager quits his job as a cashier to go chase some girls in bikinis. At least, this is the story on the surface level. If you go one level deeper, the story is kind of a coming-of-age story, as the cashier quits his job because it proves that he can be autonomous. You can even go one step deeper and look at the lighting of the story. The “fake” lighting inside the store conveys the illusion that the teenager can actually go out and get these girls, but when he steps into the sunlight, or the “real” lighting, he is met with “reality” and the fact that he can’t get those girls.
But when does symbolism go too far? How deep can you look into a story before your symbolic interpretation just becomes wrong? Well, as with most cases, there are two sides to the story. One side can argue that whatever the reader can extrapolate from the story as symbolism should be taken as such, but the other side may argue that sometimes the author may just want to write something for the sake of writing it. Not all pieces of literature have to have symbolism. The common example is when an author writes, “The curtains were painted blue.” Mr. Griffin and I may look at this sentence and say that the curtains convey the protagonist’s sadness, and possibly his loneliness, when in fact the author may have just written that the curtains were blue, with no intended symbolism whatsoever.
There is another side of the story that raises an interesting question. Sometimes, symbolism reveals secrets about the author, regardless of whether or not they put it in consciously. If we use the curtain example again, what if we were to say that the curtains are blue because the author was feeling depressed at that point in time. Is that fair to say? In my opinion, no. It is unfair to extrapolate symbolism and relate it to the author, because you could stretch an idea to the point that you could say the author is a sexist for using a color primarily associated with boys.
So, yes, Mr. Griffin and the AP Literature class have a grand ol’ time “over analyzing” passages, but there is a point where symbolic analysis becomes too much. Personally, I believe that the author and the piece should remain separate entities. You, as the reader, can take whatever you want out of the story, but what you take from the story shouldn’t fall back onto the author. This has been Holden Rants About a Topic That Isn’t Really Relevant But is Still Kind of Interesting: Part 1.
Editor: AJ Patencio
By Leo Milmet, Extreme Buffy Enthusiast
Warning: There are spoilers for all 7 seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in this post. Also, this post is designed for people who are very familiar with the series — there will be references to certain scenes, lines, etc. that simply may not make sense if you aren’t at least a casual fan of Buffy. I have tried to minimize this while also speaking to die-hard fans of the series such as myself.
I previously revealed my choices for #25-11 on my list of the top 25 Buffy The Vampire Slayer episodes. Now we’re down to the top 10! I love this show so much. I could go on about it all day, but as I fear that this post may get a little long, I’ll shut up and get on with my choices!
10. “Fool For Love” (Season 5, Episode 7) — It’s very rare that a single episode has such a long-lasting major impact, but “Fool For Love” is relevant from the moment it begins all the way until the series’s final moments. This episode is, as vampire Spike might say, “bloody brilliant.” Its exploration of what it means to be a Slayer is one of the more important themes throughout the series, executed nowhere better than here. While watching the show up to this point, one may have always had the thought remaining in the back of their head, “What if Buffy were to be severely injured or killed just by having an off day with a totally normal, regular vampire? Everybody makes mistakes, right?” Well, yes. Buffy is bested in a fight by a totally normal vampire in the opening scene of “Fool For Love,” prompting her on a journey of self-exploration that leads her to Spike, who knows about Slayers. Funnily enough, no one knows more about Slayers than vampires, especially those who have killed multiple Slayers, such as Spike. He was always a layered character, but I feel his “William the Bloody” moments showed the complexities of how one changes when becoming a vampire. I believe Spike ultimately is able to act benevolently because of who he was as a human — an awkward but oh so well-meaning romantic. In “Fool For Love,” we are treated to a deconstruction of Spike the man, Spike the monster, and most interestingly and importantly, Spike the tragic hero. Spike is one of the most layered, fully developed characters in the series, and this episode is one of two reasons why.
9. “Lies My Parents Told Me” (Season 7, Episode 17) — This episode is the other reason why I love Spike so much. He’s a human in the world of vampires; he’s a vampire in the world of humans. Now, it seems harder and harder for him to prove that he really isn’t beyond redemption. However, this episode is also about Buffy’s transformation into becoming a leader. Sometimes a leader must lead by defying her advisors, including Giles (who is trying to see things the most rationally but ultimately cannot be persuaded by his own bias against Spike and his firm opinion that demons are irredeemable). Buffy must confront the idea that sometimes leaders do need to know how to break the moral boundaries when the time is right. However, the discussion of this episode is “Is this the right time?” And that idea is the basis for one of the most revealing episodes in the entire series. Giles’s sometimes-harsh “leadership” tactics are finally shown to be somewhat misguided, and it is in this episode where his mentor-mentee relationship with Buffy is finally destroyed; they are now equals.
8. “Hush” (Season 4, Episode 10) — If I had to single out a single, incredibly valuable strength of this show, I’d have to say “dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.” Then, Buffy creator Joss Whedon comes along with a largely dialogue-free episode that is one of the most horrifying (and also one of the silliest) of the entire series. The Gentlemen are truly terrifying in its use of silence. The lyrical melody hummed by a small child in a dream sequence, reminiscent of A Nightmare on Elm Street’s famous “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you,” sets off the tone about how the loss of verbal communication can actually help Buffy and Riley cement their feelings for each other. The Gentlemen are also the perfect villains for a show like Buffy. They come from an old fairy tale and represent the demonic nature of the sins of the past: patriarchy, slavery, and more. They even steal the hearts of their victims, a reference to the destruction one person can create by metaphorically breaking someone’s heart. It’s surprising even for Buffy villains how layered these guys can be (more so considering they exist in one episode, without a single line of dialogue between them all). And the fact that Buffy is the “princess” who stops The Gentlemen by screaming is perfect. This episode, with almost no dialogue, was the only Buffy episode ever to be nominated for a writing Emmy.
7. “Innocence” (Season 2, Episode 13) — This is where Buffy stops being a silly ‘90s vampire show that happens to be laden with amazing characters and great metaphors about teenage life and becomes a truly legendary show. The pain that Angelus will cause Buffy is so clear here, and he’s only just begun. The Judge is a very good villain as well. Though he has little flair or personality (and almost no character development over the two episodes in which he appears), he has lots of thematic and symbolic meaning. His place here is mainly twofold: giving Buffy a corporeal villain to fight that poses a larger threat and is more powerful than a vampire, and reminding the audience of Angel’s soullessness. We have entered the golden age of Buffy! The title reflects the literal innocence of everyone at this time in their life (just before and after they lose their virginity), especially Buffy’s vulnerability in her deep yet very innocent love for Angel and her incapability of killing him at the end of the episode. “Dream on, schoolgirl. Your boyfriend is dead.” With that line, we enter the golden age of Buffy.
6. “Graduation Day, Part 2” (Season 3, Episode 22) — This episode is the perfect climax of the greatest season of Buffy. Buffy learns, from Faith, about the nature of being the Slayer. This episode marks several ascensions: the students are ascending in graduating high school; the mayor is ascending into a demon; et cetera, but more important are the sacrifices that must be made to achieve ascension. The end battle is epic, with major stakes that lead to the tragic deaths of many important characters (the secretly gay football player Larry Blaisdell being one of the most heart-wrenching for me; he had one season of being allowed to be his gay self and STILL be the star footballer, and then he died. I’m crying a few tears as I write this.)
5. “Earshot” (Season 3, Episode 18) — This is maybe the most relatable episode in the entire series, one of the most strikingly real and deafeningly alarming episodes ever on television. In the post-Columbine era, this thing reminded us that maybe direct mass murder isn’t even the scariest thing in our crazy world; maybe that distinct honor goes to how humans as a group can bring specific people to their breaking point. This episode draws us in with a murder-mystery premise and some of the best dialogue in the entire season. I love it for how relevant it has stayed for almost twenty years since it was created. I love it for how well-written it is.
4. “Once More, With Feeling” (Season 6, Episode 7) — “The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.” — Dawn Summers (as written by Joss Whedon). Everything about this episode is perfect. I mean, the idea of people singing out their most deep-seated painful thoughts and secrets is perfection. Sweet is the greatest one-off villain on the entire show, and he’s even more impressive given his rather small amount of screen time. Every single scene in this episode is rich with character. Buffy feels like she is “Going Through the Motions”; for the first time in her life, she doesn’t give a damn about anything going on in the world. She is singing a Disney-like song about being very depressed and giving up hope in general. Sweet leads her on the path of admitting all of her secrets, ending with the revelation to her friends about how they took her out of a literal heaven when they brought her back from death. Tara and Giles, who never really had much in common before, are in similar roles here, trying to save a person they love from going down a very dark path. For Tara, it’s Willow with her magic, and for Giles, it’s Buffy with her post-resurrection depression and dependence on his help. Spike is also conflicted. He feels deep lust for Buffy (which later proves uncontrollable in “Seeing Red”), who won’t give him the time of day but often tortures him with her presence. These are deep, nuanced characters. The songs are all great; the depressing and non-Disney-like meaning of “Going Through The Motions” contrasts with its natural Disneyish charm; “Standing” is an emotional, introspective soft-rock ballad about Giles’s role in Buffy’s life now that she is an adult; “Under Your Spell” is a love song that glimmers with ironic truths; “What You Feel” is a jazzy, gleeful crowd-pleaser ironic in its intent; “Rest In Peace” is a hard-rock song about the anger that can come with love; “Walk Through The Fire” is a harmonic masterpiece about characters overcoming their fears.
3. “The Body” (Season 5, Episode 16) — In the middle of a very good season of television, we suddenly have this literally musicless interruption that discusses the profound impact death can have on loved ones. This episode tackles profound emotions in every character. It is absolutely perfect in its handling of every single character’s reaction to this loss. Anya’s reaction to Joyce’s death is heartbreaking; she’s never felt anything like this before in her life. The impact of a sudden, very tough loss like Joyce’s on the lives of other people is immense, and that’s what the show captures here. It treats the brutal realities of death in all their horrible simplicity. It has no conventional Buffy-like plot; it is just the characters we have grown to love dealing with all the issues, big and small, that are brought on by death. It is realistic in a way that even few non-fantasy films and TV shows can even aspire to. I love this episode; it’s painful, real, and (sometimes) darkly comedic — just like the loss of a real loved one. And the ending, with its brutal reminder that the real, normal world is still there, waiting for Buffy’s return is heartbreaking. Buffy has to return to the real world because so many lives depend on her existence. Now it’s time to go back to the real world, holding your bleeding heart in your hands and placing it back in your chest so that you can keep going on. Wow.
2. “The Gift” (Season 5, Episode 22) — “The Gift” made me bawl. A lot. “The Gift” begins with a tragic reminder of Buffy’s past, a simple little vampire fight with almost no emotional stakes attached to it. And then she goes back inside and argues with Giles over whether he’s allowed to kill her sister. Dawn is all Buffy has left; her mother is dead; her finances are in serious trouble; her life revolves around killing soulless demons that will murder people unless she stops them. She is a necessary human sacrifice to keep the forces of evil at bay; the First Slayer said that “death is your gift” because the only thing Buffy can do to stop the endless trauma that pokes at her is die. That sucks. The moral discussion between Giles and Buffy is my favorite scene in the episode; two people, both trained to think rationally– even during the apocalypse — disagree on how far they can go to save the world. It’s about the personal versus the rational; the emotional versus the logical. It is logical to kill one person to save the rest of the world, but most of us probably couldn’t pull the trigger ourselves; we couldn’t have such a thing on our conscience, especially when that person is closely related to us. How could we kill everything we still love about ourselves in human form and stay alive in the metaphorical sense of the world?
1. “Passion” (Season 2, Episode 17) — I first saw this episode at the age of eleven, I was lying in bed while watching it. I didn’t sleep that night. This episode is witty, tragic, intense, thoughtful, philosophical, gutsy, morose, operatic, brutal, and most of all, shocking. Angel is an intense, thematically rich villain. Angel, Buffy’s former lover who has lost a soul, talks about passion. Passion is the beating heart in all of us. One could even say that passion is what makes up one’s soul — or, in Angel’s case, one’s lack of a soul. This episode is about the passions of all of the characters. Angel’s horrifying obsession with Buffy is downright painful to watch, especially because the episode is narrated by — and told from the perspective of — Angel. Buffy’s passion is her love and caring for a man she finds sympathetic — a man who lives in the dark while still having a conscience — until he loses his soul, and all hell breaks loose. She feels the need to neutralize Angel without killing him; she still believes that the man she loves is inside somehow. Giles’s passion is one of the most interesting; it ebbs and flows through the episode from passionate love for Jenny to an intense hatred for Angel. One last little side note: I’ve heard (but can’t quite confirm) that before Buffy, David Boreanaz wasn’t pursuing acting; he was apparently discovered by a friend of one of the casting directors who lived nearby and watched Boreanaz walk his dog and saw in Boreanaz everything they were looking for in Angel. If that’s true, then I must truly tip my hat to David Boreanaz. While this would explain some wooden acting early in season one, for Boreanaz to be able to do anything resembling the kind of work he does here with so little acting experience is…well, it’s breathtaking. His performance here is captivating; he embodies this cold, soulless, darkly comedic, slightly melodramatic (yet also intensely passionate) character of Angelus (Angel, when he has no soul, is sometimes referred to as Angelus) to a degree that many seasoned actors would be jealous of.
So that’s my top 10! Hope you all enjoyed this little Buffy geek-out session. And if you haven’t seen the show, just go watch it. It’s the greatest thing ever. Like, now. Like, WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE GO WATCH IT!!!!!!!
Editor: Makena Behnke
By Luke Langlois
Today, I am going to share a resource with you. If you were to collect one million bucket lists, you would likely read of people’s desires to “travel the world” many, many times. However, the U.S Bureau of Consular Affairs, a branch of the Department of State, would most likely tell “world travelers” to hold their horses. You see, the Bureau has a little something called the Travel Advisories, the links for which can be found below. These websites gives the world’s countries a 1-4 ranking, based on how suitable a nation is for American travelers.
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Level 3: Reconsider Travel
Level 4: Do Not Travel
Let me break down these ranks. A Level 1 country is normally safe to travel to; you would just need to take the usual precautions. Level 2 countries are also usually fine places to travel. They are marked as such due to a slightly higher rate of petty street crimes or an increased risk of terrorist activities. Level 3 countries are not the ideal travel destinations. They usually are marked as having high rates of crime or increased risk of terrorist activity, which is relatively similar to a Level 2 nation. However, Level 3 countries are set apart from Level 2 due to domestic strife. For example, Haiti is marked as Level 3 due to political and civil unrest; the high rates of crime are a result of this. Traveling to Level 4 countries is an extreme risk. If you are bent on traveling to a Level 4 nation, expect resistance at every step of the way. It is important to note, though, that people are only explicitly banned from traveling to the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea; everywhere else is “fair game.” The Bureau, quite literally, recommends that travelers write their wills, as well as check on their life insurance, before they travel to a Level 4 country. Level 4 countries are usually rampant in crime, especially towards outsiders from the west. Level 4 countries are, most likely, experiencing deadly domestic conflict, or are under the rule of a violent dictator. Some of the Level 4 countries are even in the midst of a civil war. There are only eleven countries with this designation. The Bureau advises those that travel to Level 4 countries to stay in certain, safer, locations within the nation. These areas tend to be densely populated regions that are somewhat under control of the local government, which makes it easier for a response in case something were to happen to the traveler. There is much more to be seen on the website itself, but this hopefully has given you a good idea of the rankings system.
I am not a traveler, but I enjoy checking the Travel Advisories every once in a while to see what is going on in the world. You see, the media does not tend to focus on domestic foreign affairs unless they’re large and publicized issues that Americans are interested in. To get an idea of what is going on in the world, you would have to really pay attention to the media, or you would have to find international outlets. While nations with stability have credible news sources, many nations do not have seriously credible sources of news. In short, seeing the state of countries around the world is not an easy thing to do. With this resource, you can see the world at a glance. If you at all are curious, check out the Bureau’s websites below. There’s always something to learn.
https://travelmaps.state.gov/TSGMap/
A map view of the world, with rankings.
A list view of the world, with rankings.
Editor: Holden Hartle
By Jeremy Cheng, Pokemon Master
Before Thanksgiving, Nintendo published two new games for the Nintendo Switch called Let’s Go Pikachu! and Let’s Go Eevee! Check out the picture below.
They are both very similar games with a few small differences. Let’s talk about those differences.
Players will get either Pikachu or Eevee, depending on the version that you play.
When choosing Pikachu, we can yell, “Pikachu, I choose you!”
The Pikachu and Eevee that you get at the beginning are not going to “evolve” like most Pokemon do. But, the Pikachu and Eevee that you catch in the wild can evolve.
When using Pikachu and Eevee to enter a battle, the characters are not going to throw a Poke ball to release the Pokemon like in previous versions. Pikachu and Eevee will stand on the player character’s shoulders and jump into the battlefield.
Usually, Pikachu stands on the character’s shoulder, while Eevee sits on character’s head.
The Pikachu and Eevee you get at the beginning are called Partner Pokemon. They can learn special skills that other Pokemon are not able to learn.
In the older versions of the Pokemon games, when players want to catch Pokemon, players have to fight with the Pokemon that they want to catch and throw the Poke ball. In these two versions of the game, players only need to throw the ball. Like in Pokemon Go, there is no battle needed.
The first difference of these games is the outfits. In these games, players can buy different outfits for their partner Pokemon. The clothes that you can buy depend on the version you play.
Secondly, there are some Pokemon that only appear in one version of the game which means that players of both versions have to make Pokemon trades if they want to collect all the Pokemon. It provides a chance for players to be able to interact with other players and gives the game a community.
Players who have played Pokemon Go on the phone can transfer their Pokemon from Pokemon Go to Let’s go Pikachu or Let’s go Eevee.
There is an accessory called the Poke Ball Plus. Players can use Poke Ball Plus to walk their Pokemon in real life. Crazy!
As for me, I prefer Let’s Go Pikachu. When I was young, I imagined that I could have a Pikachu just like Ash, the famous character of the TV show who has the first generation Pikachu. This game lets me realize my childhood dream.
Editor: Luke Langlois
By Blogger-Interviewer Leo Milmet
Welcome to How To Get Through High School: An Interview with an Academic Intellectual of Palm Valley School. In it, I interview the incredibly successful Ben Snyder, senior at Palm Valley School, and I, along with the reader, learn a bit about who Ben is and what makes him successful? Ben Snyder and I sit down and talk about school and life. My questions for Ben are written in italics, while his answers are in normal font.
Leo: What is your full name?
Ben: Benjamin Thomas Snyder.
Leo: Why am I interviewing you?
Ben: Because you perceive me as academically successful. I get good grades. Most recently, I got the AP Scholar with Distinction award and I’m a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist.
Leo: What are your hopes? Your dreams? Your ambitions in the future that motivate you?
Ben: That’s something I’ve been trying to figure out for a while. Recently, I’ve focused on physics. That’s developing as a passion of mine. It’s a most fundamental science. I’m a very logical person, and that’s just what intrigues me the most and gets me the most excited.
Leo: How do you find motivation?
Ben: My academic motivation stems from values entrenched in me from a young age. It’s just what you get. You did your homework to the best of your ability, you tried your best, and as I grew older, I learned why I was doing this. It was for my future. I’m still exploring, and I don’t know ultimately what I want to do with my life, so I want to get to a good college that puts forth opportunities for me to find my true passion that I can apply to earning a living as well. I’m still exploring.
Leo: What is your number one piece of advice for students going into high school next year?
Ben: Figure out what works for you. Every situation is unique, so whatever you’re doing has to work for you, what I mean by this is whatever goal you’re trying to accomplish and whatever you want to get out of high school–and that’s definitely not limited to academics. It could be socially, it could be, um, introspective, it could be, just buckling down and getting through it so you get a degree, or it could just be wandering through it because you don’t know what to do yet. It’s all unique to the person.
Leo: What is your number one piece of advice for students who are just going into Advanced Placement courses?
Ben: Don’t put coursework ahead of your well-being.
Leo: How do you manage time effectively, balancing out extracurriculars, AP courses, regular courses, the play, clubs, etc. with free time? APs generally give over an hour of homework each night, and other activities also take up a bunch of time, so how do you do it?
Ben: First of all, the hour-a-night thing about AP courses isn’t true for this school. They don’t always give an hour a night. For me personally, I like to tackle one thing at a time; I’m bad at multitasking, and it stresses me out when I multitask. Attack one assignment or objective at a time. That’s not always an option, but still keeping organized is what you need to do. I feel that in a way it’s kind of unfair because in some aspects I have a compulsion for order, and y’know, there’s like a… for instance, because I developed the habit of writing everything down in my planner and crossing it off when finished, I have a compulsion to do it even if it’s not necessary, so that I’m never aggravated by having to do it. If I forget to write something [an assignment] down, and I’ve already done it, I don’t do it, obviously, but for the most part, I write things down. For me, the things that I am organized about come natural to me, and the things I’m not, it really takes it out of me. If I have to keep my room organized, it’s exhausting.
Leo: Does being left-brained give you an academic advantage?
Ben: No, because there are creative elements to the school system. For example, I marvel at how someone like Amanda (Amanda Laule, a Palm Valley senior) can understand the passages she reads.
Leo: What, specifically, are 2-3 things everyone should do to be successful in school, as a baseline?
Ben: Pay attention to teachers in class. Lectures. Also, give yourself breaks. If you really don’t feel like doing homework, it probably won’t be your best work, but I still recommend doing it, but after a break.
Leo: What are some more habits of successful students that you would suggest to people who want to become better students?
Ben: From what I’ve observed from my peers, it’s the people who care the most about academics and the people who prioritize getting work done.
Leo: How do you thrive within the system?
Ben: I mostly just work within it. I do what is asked of me, for the most part.
Leo: Any secret suggestions to high schoolers to minimize the stress of high school?
Ben: No, I don’t know any secrets. It’s gonna be there if you really care.
Leo: Any regrets about your high school experience that could educate others on what to do or what not to do?
Ben: I wish I had started thinking about college earlier. That’s about it.
Leo: How do you balance the pressures of AP courses and exams and SATs and the pressures of college application work?
Ben: Just…I find time. I mean, I have to sacrifice, like, I don’t get to study for regular tests or quizzes. I pretty much just find the time whenever I can.
Leo: What tools do you use to help yourself stay centered?
Ben: I keep my personal interests intact. Y’know, for me, I play basketball. Do whatever you like.
Leo: What are the easiest APs you took? The hardest?
Ben: Easiest for me was AP Calculus AB. The hardest, for me, it was AP US History.
Leo: What are your secrets to college application essays? To essays in general?
Ben: I don’t know. I’d love those secrets if someone has them, because I kinda struggle with introspection sometimes.
Leo: What are your biggest successes? Your biggest failures? How could you have avoided your failures?
Ben: I think the failures I’ve cared most about is the performance of the basketball team. We underperformed, I think, last year, compared to what we could’ve accomplished. I actually care a lot about that.
Leo: What makes you interesting as a person, and how did these character traits help or hinder you as a student? How might you grow these more desirable character traits and how might you temper the undesirable ones?
Ben: I’m an introvert, um, like my sense of humor is…unexpected. Introversion probably helped me because I didn’t feel as much of a desire to be social in my free time, but at the same time, I still have interests to distract me, so…
Leo: Any more keys to your being so successful?
Ben: I’ve probably already said this, but paying attention in class to teachers, I think, is the most important.
Thanks very much, Ben. You’re an incredible guy. Have a good day.
Editor: Bella Bier
By Makena Behnke
new music for a new holiday–even though these are not holiday-related songs, you may still enjoy them over your two-week break. this playlist includes a multitude of different genres from different time periods. enjoy:
Editor: AJ Patencio
By Game-Reviewer James Zheng
A great graphic quality, a realistic sense of hitting, a diversity of abilities from game characters, all these are key elements to decide if a fighting game is truly extraordinary. All these qualities apply to one of the most classic and famous fighting games in the whole world, King of the Fighters. This series has continued updating for nine years. The very first work of KOF (King of the Fighters) was born in 1994; from there it gradually became an overwhelmingly popular fighting game. SNK Playmore released more versions each year until 2003.
SNK Playmore had a long and tortuous course in the development of King of the Fighters. While they were trying to release the seventh work of KOF they had to fight off a piracy version and fake simulators of their games. SNK Playmore rose again and then pushed out their thirteenth work–KOF XIII–as an announcement to the world that SNK Playmore is back.
There are three parts which make this particular work so fantastic. First, the animated artistic style mixes with 3D modeling. The characters are incredible even if the whole game is a 2D fighting game. If you play a special movement (a characteristic ability besides punch and kick), the animation may include fire, sparkles, and lightning. Secondly, because there are so many characters from which to choose, the game offers plenty of fighting combos. Some of them also have a characteristic background that creates a story. Thirdly, this game would not fail in the sense of playability, which refers to a factor that decides if this game gets boring. Since this game requires so much skill, it might take you a long time to master a certain character, but do not get me wrong. What I said does not mean every single character is extremely hard. They all have the basic and advanced fighting skills waiting for you to dig them out.
Depending on your preference of using keyboard or controller (I would suggest that controller is better) to play the game, you can play KOF on Xbox or PC system. The game is sold for $20 on Steam.
Editor: Makena Behnke
A Short Story by Holden Hartle
Nomen opened his eyes this morning and rubbed the blurriness away. He rolled over, grabbed his glasses, and slid them on top of his nose. He rose out of bed and went through his normal morning routine, which began with his usual shower. He then brushed his teeth. These were always quintessential pieces of his morning.
His next process was to select his outfit, a process that was equally as important as his cleaning. He was always very pragmatic when choosing his outfit. Nomen paid close attention to which color shirt went with the ripped jeans he had just bought. Then, it was a question of which socks would go with both of those. Today he chose a white graphic tee with the new ripped jeans, along with a standard pair of white crew socks. This outfit was a popular, yet simple, trend that his friends were following.
The final thing he needed to top off his outfit was the “Hi My Name Is” sticker. Everyone wears one. It is how people identify you. How else should they? Actually speaking to people and learning their story is much too difficult and time consuming. He places a new one on his outfit every day, and this day was no different. But the name he wrote on the nametag remained the same, Victor. He didn’t care for his own name very much, so he made his own, and that is how people knew him. No one other than his parents would ever know that he was anything but Victor, the kid that wears trendy clothing.
It was time for school. Victor received his driver’s license a few months ago, and could drive himself to school. This meant that the car was another thing he needed to keep clean and tidy for the world to see.
His red car, practically sparkling, cruised into the school parking lot. He parked in his designated parking spot. His face was neutral beforehand, but when he parked his car, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, like an actor before reciting a monologue. He breathed out, opened his eyes, and was in character.
Victor grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and proceeded to the front steps of the school and headed to his locker. As he was putting his books away, he felt a tap on his right shoulder. As he turned his head to the right, Victor heard in his left ear, “Ha! Gotcha!” It was John, as per his nametag. He had been friends with Victor since the beginning of the school year, as they coincidentally had a few classes together. John was part of the “trendy-clothes club” and was wearing a Supreme t-shirt with a pair of designer jeans.
Victor retorted with a joking smack on John’s arm. They had a brief conversation about the hot new girl, Emily, and then proceeded to their first-period class.
Victor had to get through a whole five periods before lunch, and that might as well have been an eternity. Each day that Victor showed up to school, it was harder and harder to maintain appearances. A part of him knew that he wanted to drop the nametag and just be Nomen, but for one, that’s a really nerdy name, and two, he was sure everyone would drop him as a friend if they knew the real him. As Nomen, his world would come crashing down.
From time to time, Victor would look out the window. Rain clouds were gradually coagulating, creating a gloomy mood among the various classrooms, but everyone maintained their persona nonetheless.
One eternity later, it was lunch. Victor walked to his locker and met up with John before finding a place to sit. John moved slowly, so most of the indoor seats were taken, meaning that the pair had to sit outside. As they exited the double doors into the courtyard, the clouds were on the verge of bursting with tears. The pair found a table and started eating, talking about various people and what they were wearing.
It began to rain. What started as just a few drops quickly turned into a barrage of droplets. As the rain began to increase, the adhesive on Victor’s nametag began to come off. Victor’s nervous sweat and rain began to mix. Victor ran into the bathroom to try and salvage the situation. He was furiously attempting to stick his nametag back onto his shirt, but to no avail. There was no hope. He was Nomen now. He was a nerd. His friends would drop him. His outfit could be washed and dried, but his nametag couldn’t.
Nomen hit the bathroom wall with a closed fist and sank to the floor. People were going to ask what his name was, and he had to say Nomen. Who wants to be known as Nomen? Nomen silently cursed his parents for doing this to him.
After a while of sitting in the bathroom, Nomen realized that maybe this wasn’t the worst thing. Maybe it was better to be left in the dark, searching for who you want to be, rather than being the person that everyone expects.
Editor: Luke Langlois