Category: Arts & Culture

  • Frozen Spaghetti

    The sunset is the warning call for my supper

    I had been yearning for it all these hours

    Mum had just gone shopping

    I wonder what is in place of those frozen chimichangas

    Could that possibly be frozen spaghetti?

    Oh, why yes it is!

    I can already feel the steam

    The delicious smell of garlic tomato sauce irks my stomach to a growling

    I cannot wait five more seconds

    Ripping the hot tray out of the microwave

    The whole house is filled with the aroma of my favorite meal

    Carefully I pull back the plastic wrap

    I am not interested in cancer

  • Eloquence and Elegance

    Eloquence and Elegance

    On February 12, 2018, Kehinde Wiley (artist of the president’s) and Amy Sherald (artist the first lady’s) released the National Presidential Portraits of the Obama couple. Unveiled in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., each painting has its own hidden symbols and powerful backgrounds.

    In former president Barack Obama’s portrait, Wiley depicts Obama sitting in a chair, elbows on knees, leaning forward with a profound and wise expression. Notable as a classic Wiley technique, the former president is painted inside some emerging green foliage. Wiley is most popularly known for painting young black people in stylized portraits that are deliberate throwbacks icons of western civilization.

    Not only are the formal elements of his paintings significant but there is also a plethora of hidden symbols and easter eggs. The radiant and lush background details symbolize different aspects of Obama’s life story. The jasmine represents his birthplace of Hawaii, the African blue lilies express his father’s Kenyan heritage, and the chrysanthemums are the official flower of Chicago. During the unveiling, Wiley said, “There is a fight between him and his plants in the foreground. Who gets to be the star of the show: the story or the man who inhabits that story?”

    Amy Sherald, a fellow African American Baltimore based portraitist, had the honor of painting former first lady Michelle Obama. In this painting of the first lady, she is depicted in an elegant floor length gown, chin in her hand, staring directly at the audience with a calm and level dreamy gaze.

    Sherald is known for her stylized, archetypal portrayals of African Americans.The symbolism is also strong in Mrs. Obama’s painting. The extravagant and geometric dress was chosen to depict Mrs. Obama’s eloquence and professional attitude. This is also mirrored in her skin tone. The first lady is pictured in grayscale for one reason being it is a common trait in Sherald’s paintings, and the second reason because her race was never a stifling factor in her role as first lady. It is a cultural statement about the construction of race in that, “By taking black and white and mixing them together… saying there are not black people, there are not white people, there are grey people.”

    These portraits are not only a powerful declaration of black elegance and power, but are incredibly individual and unique in comparison to other presidential portraits. Each image radiates one another’s personality through detailed techniques and the artist’s statements.

  • Den of Thieves!

    Den of Thieves!

    An L.A crime saga which follows the intersecting and often personally connected lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank of downtown Los Angeles. Many known faces star in the movie, such as Gerald Butler, 50 Cent, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and many more. While watching the movie, one may not know what to expect, but if you like an action packed movie, you’ll be into this.

    In fact, Long Beach Poly High School was mentioned a couple times throughout the movie. Represent!  Yup, it’s true, they talk a little on our outstanding football team. The movie is centered around the Los Angeles County. Although Hawthorne, Long Beach, San Pedro, and Compton were all mentioned in the movie.

    So far, it made 58.3 million USD in the box office. In the NY Times review, they stated that “With almost compulsive detail, ‘Den of Thieves’ rattles off title cards identifying places and major characters, some of whose names sound like Los Angeles suburbs. The would-be regional authenticity is marred by obviously off-location work. It’s no surprise when the ubiquitous Georgia peach logo surfaces in the credits.” On Rotten Tomatoes, this film recieved 39% so watch at your own risk. The ending will have you surprised and in awe.

  • Putting Talent to the Test!

    The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee came to Poly’s auditorium the weekend of February 9-11. This comedic musical follows a middle school spelling bee and the lives of the young competitors. There were two casts for a number of roles, and both were amazing and brought their own unique interpretation to the characters.

    The spelling bee is run by Rona Lisa Peretti (Emma Waters and Marisa Imbroane), the third annual spelling bee winner, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Carlos Necochea) who provided hilarious example sentences for each contestant’s word. There to comfort the spellers and escort them off stage was Mitch Mahoney (Jeremy Padrones, Choir student teacher) who was serving his community service and delivered a soulful and astounding performance of “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor”.

    Nico Fife and Max Noble played the role of Leaf Coneybear, a homeschooled boy who came in third in his spelling bee and only got to compete because the other two people could not. When he spells his words he is in a trance that somehow allows him to get the word right, in spite of showing no previous signs of exceptional intelligence which is shown in his song, “I’m Not That Smart”.

    The Characer’s, Logianne Schwartzand Grubenierre (Adrianna Luna and Mika Dyo) was the youngest and most politically aware competitor with an adorable lisp who has two gay dads (Dane Camacho and Josiah Hon who provided a hilarious performance). She sings a song about her motivation for winning the bee in “Woe is Me.”

    Chip Tolentino (Vincent Zamora) won the previous spelling bee and went to Nationals. He was eliminated early in this bee due to a hilariously unfortunate situation caused by Leaf’s sister Marigold. He goes on to deliver a song of lament chock full of comedy while selling concessions during the snack break called “My Unfortunate Distraction.”

    Marcy Park (Gabriella Kaiser and Toni Bravo) is a typical overachiever who attends Catholic school. She gave an amazing performance full of dancing and incredible vocals called “I speak Six Languages” where she goes into detail about all of her abilities.

    Olive Ostrovsky (Amanda Angeles and Mara Stanford) and William Barfee (Andy Martinez) were the final two spellers with Barfee taking the trophy. Olive has a mom who is in India (Marisa Imbroane and Jovanni Pham) and a workaholic father (Dane Camacho) and sings a heart tugging song called “The I Love You Song” which takes place in her head.

    According to Linda Bon, Poly’s drama teacher, a Musical Theatre West scout came to the show and said Poly’s performing arts department is on par with the other performing art schools in the area.

    One unique thing about this show is that audience volunteers have the opportunity to be picked as spellers in the show. One of the funniest volunteers was Albert Shaheen, a chemistry teacher at Poly.

    All of the characters were easy to get attached to causing the audience to be sad when a speller was eliminated. Between the top notch acting, singing, dancing and nonstop comedy, Poly’s first musical was an overall success and they hope to have more in the following years.

  • Behind the Crime Scenes!

    Behind the Crime Scenes!

    When I first thought of this article,  it was because I was     curious to see what our Poly CSO’s do with their lives outside of school. Have you ever been curious as to what your teachers do in their spare time? Surely they have something they like to do aside from all that grading

    The gate worker and security guard Mike Castillo has been working for poly for the past two years. He is someone students often walk past, but seldom ever greet.

    Castillo, when he isn’t keeping poly’s campus beautiful, coaches youth basketball and youth football. “I was a jock in high school, I guess in that way, I still am.” Castillo said, smiling in remembrance of his past self.

    Nowadays, Castillo’s joy and passion comes not from sports alone, but his family. “My kids are my everything. I’m very soon to be a Grandpa, so I have that to look forward to.” he remarked with a small chuckle.

    Jeff Eyanson (the CSO pictured) has been a part of the Jackrabbit family for 28 years. During 8 of which he has been working toward receiving his doctorate. He was able to find the time to study while he worked. “I was able to work in between the cracks of time. I was able to do a lot of research while I’m at the main gate.”

    All that hard work will soon pay off for Eyanson, “I can see the end of the tunnel.” he said with a wide grin. As of now, Eyanson already teaches youth baseball and colleges courses twice a week in San Diego. He plans to remain working at poly as well as teaching online courses, “Is there anywhere else to go? I went here, stood here for 28 years. My son will go to high school here. Once a Jackrabbit, always a Jackrabbit.”

    Looking back to his years as a student here on campus, Eyanson can only remember being one thing: Busy. “I was in all kinds of clubs, student council, I was assistant coach for volleyball my senior year, and I was coach for 13 years after. We won CIF in 2000.”

  • Valentines Day Horoscopes!

    Aries: Goes for someone way out of their league

    Taurus: Is still dating their middle school crush

    Gemini: Falls i

    n love with a new person every week

    Cancer: Makes you meet their mom before the first date

    Leo: Breaks up with you due to contrasting beliefs

    Virgo: Is perpetually stuck in the friend-zone

    Libra: Asks you out through a DM

    Scorpio: Constantly asking if you still like them

    Sagittarius: Claims they’re “just not ready”

    Capricorn: Plans an elaborate surprise to ask you out

    Aquarius: Avoids you until you awkwardly drift

    Comic sketched by Ella Christensen

    Pisces: Plays hard to get-ends up alone

  • 60th Annual Grammy Recap!

    60th Annual Grammy Recap!

    To those who produce music, it is a dream to be nominated for a Grammy. 2017 consisted of amazing new music from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Childish Gambino, Lorde and many more. On January 28th, the 60th Annual Grammys were held at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. The show wrestled with a range of social and political topics including immigration, racial injustice, and the #MeToo movement by many influencers of our time.

    Many remarkable moments happened throughout the show. Kendrick Lamar opened the show with U2 with his song “XXX,” as he raps about poverty and revenge. A #MeToo moment was brought into the spotlight by Kesha and many fellow female artists that attended that night standing behind her in this overwhelming, powerful, emotional movement. For those who aren’t aware, the #MeToo movement brings widespread awareness and prevalence to sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. The women in white performed “Praying,” a ballad off of her first studio album, “Rainbow.” Performances from Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Rihanna, SZA, and Sam Smith took the stage by storm, with hit singles released last year.

    The nominations this year among the musicians, rappers were going head to head in each of the category. For Bruno Mars, it was the highlight of his career thus far. An upbeat master of singalong bops, which also makes you want to groove with the move. Mr. Mars won all six of the awards he was nominated for, including the top prizes of: album, record, and song of the year. The provocative and critically admired rapper from Compton, CA, Kendrick Lamar, was the next most awarded artist whose five wins included awards from the rap categories. For those who didn’t go home with a Grammy in hand, it was an honor to be nominated, which clearly indicates how worthy and impactful their music was and still is in many lives.

  • What High Schoolers Are Really Wearing

    What High Schoolers Are Really Wearing

    Often, the clothing that a typical high schooler chooses to wear is a broader statement of their personality. Being able to personify oneself nonverbally is ideal for the antisocial community of teenagers that overwhelms a school campus. Thrifting has always been an extremely popular way to obtain fashionable clothing for Long Beach Poly kids. Being a student here myself, I can certainly say that about 70% of my closet is thrifted, consignment, or handed down to me. But whether the clothes were $2 or $200, what matters is the person wearing it. Are they comfortable? Do they approve of themselves? Do they care what other people think? Are they dressing that way for someone other than themselves?

    The featured kids above are a few members of the eclectic group of students at Poly high school. On the far left is senior, Clara Donovan, wearing a thrifted floor length floral dress with a black cardigan to cover up from the cold breeze that mocks the 80 degree winter weather we are having.  “Yeah! I look good today!” she exclaimed when I told her she’d be in the newspaper for a fashion article. Clara epitomizes the eclectic, unique teenager that Poly is known for.

    In the center photo, is Scott Volland, a PACE visionary, known for his classic and preppy style he skillfully exhibits everyday. Volland’s Fit of the Day contains a light knit sweater over a button up, collared shirt and beige corduroy pants concluded with some slip on shoes and a modish scarf.

    And finally, on the far right is the girls water polo player, Darby Huff who excitedly said, “Oh! Cool! It’ll be in the newspaper” in regards to my photographing her outfit. Huff is truly a woman of the water, and it’s shown in her notorious Hawaiian shirt, “finest pair of mom jeans you have ever seen,” and faded vans. Huff stated that she actually “got my shirt  in Greece during my month long club water polo trip. I was at a bar with my teammates and there was a band playing and some girl took her shirt off and threw it but it didn’t make it to the stage–only into my hands! I tried to give it back, but I couldn’t find her, so I just kept it!”

    Overall, these kiddos have a keen eye for fashion and know exactly how to style themselves.  In this modern age for recklessness through style, these are a few of the  special ones.

  • New Year, Same Me!

     

  • Horoscopes!

    Aries: Ares

    Taurus: Demeter

    Gemini: Hermes

    Cancer: Hera

    Leo: Apollo

    Virgo: Artemis

    Libra: Aphrodite

    Scorpio: Hades

    Sagittarius: Zeus

    Capricorn: Athena

    Aquarius: Poseidon

    Pisces: Hestia

  • Poly’s Got Jazz!

    On November 2, 2017, Long Beach Poly’s Jazz program performed their annual fall concert at Hughes middle school.

    The night began with a performance from a Jazz C. Junior, Maya Cheav played the piano for Jazz C. “The concert was great. You wouldn’t believe the amount of talent at this school,” said Cheav. Jazz C performed four songs: “Second Line,” “Avalon,” “Sugar Train,” and “Tenor Madness.”

    Next in line was Jazz B, performing “Cheesecake,” “Butterfat,” “Teach Me Tonight,” and “Smackdown.”

    “We performed four songs, all pretty different. Two swing, one funk, and one ballad,” said senior Blake Leigh, who played the piano for Jazz B. “I think that the band’s hard work really showed in our performance.”

    Jazz A2 was second to last to perform. Drummer, junior Marcelo Murillo played for Jazz A and commented, “I felt as though from the beginning of our first rehearsal of the tunes, we struggled as a group. Then overtime, through practicing as a group and on our own, we developed the songs and shaped the music in a way that sounded amazing. On the whole, the concert sounded great.”

    Jazz A2 performed the songs: “Hey That’s Nacho Cheese”, “Body and Soul”, and “I’ll Be Seeing You”.

    Jazz A closed out the event with more spectacular performances.  Senior Kyle Van Lant played the saxophone for Jazz A. “We played New Mambo, Count Bubba, Duck Ankles, Helen’s Heart, and the Trolley song, which Jacob Wolff arranged. I had a ton of fun; we really pulled through at the performance, as did all the other groups,” said Van Lant.

  • A “Broad” Understanding of Art

    Founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, Los Angeles is home to the renowned art museum named The Broad. The iconic museum features exhibits from all corners of the Earth. The most current being Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirrors. A few very lucky Poly students and teachers have been able to visit this collection. The Broad is known for over 2,000 pieces of contemporary and postwar art pieces. Since opening in September 2015, The Broad has welcomed more than 1.6 million visitors.

    Poly’s only Art History teacher, Christine Tram, said The Broad is one of her favorite places to go in her free time.

    Christine Tram
    The photo above features one of Kusama’s Infinity Rooms titled Dot Obsession. This work was inspired by the Kusama’s visual transformation from Love to Polka Dots.

    The Broad museum is also home to one of today’s most famous contemporary artists: Jeff Koons. He is most well known for his Balloon Dog piece and his Rabbit artwork which is now on display at the Los Angeles museum.

    At  this particular museum, contemporary and pop art styles are extremely popular. Many are familiar with  the artist Barbara Krueger who addresses media and politics in their native tongue: tabloid, sensational, authoritative, and direct.

    The Broad is worth spending a day in LA with your closest art-loving pals.