Category: Arts & Culture

7:05am. The sun begins to climb over the jagged peaks of Abalone Cove.

“Jump!”

The word reverberates in the still air, as I leap from the rocks and plunge into the churning waters of the Pacific Ocean. Adrenaline rushes through me as millions of icy needles sting my exposed flesh. For an eternity, a penetrating sense of blue surrounds me, before my lungs strain and I break the surface. Seaweed-like hair sticks to my face and I expel the water from my mouth. The taste of salt is overwhelming.

Now comes the hard part. “Swim!” I hear Katie yell and I barely understand her, the waves are deafening. My limbs struggle to acclimate to the tug of water, the cold that seems to penetrate my bones. I swim frantically, knowing the ocean’s capacity for cruelty. The salt stings my eyes as I struggle against the pull of the current. Fumbling, my finers grasp the smooth, slippery rock and I haul myself up over the ledge. I collapse, drained but ecstatic. Katie offers me a hand and I gladly take it. She smiles, beckoning towards the rocky expanse before us.

The tide pools teem with hermit crabs, urchins, and sea anemone. Sunlight reflects off the undisturbed water. While exploring, I think less about the anxiety of slipping and more about the exhilaration of leaping. I leave feeling utterly alive, knowing that I have to embrace the risk of slipping in order to dive into the vast ocean of opportunity.

I first learned about The Funeral Portrait about seven months ago when I was emailed their debut album, For the Dearly Departed, mp3s. I was skeptical after doing a bit of research, because TFP is the definition of an unknown band. Because of their limited fan base, I assumed mediocrity. I can tell you right now that I never could have been more wrong.
As I hit the play button to song one, “Casanova (C’est La Vie),” a catchy riff filled my ears. A light background of cymbal accompanies the perfect balance of guitar and synthesizer until all fades away into a melancholy chord. At this point, a musty, semi-deep voice sings out, “I’d rather bury you alive than bear the burden that you keep ‘cause you’re a poison in my veins. I’ll never say surrender.” A quick transition leads the listener into the gloriously upbeat sounds of pop rock that features clever guitar work mixed with strategic drumming that adds excellent splashes of sound. The most curious voice leads the entire ensemble, weaving and winding with a Serj Tankian-esque timbre and five-star range.
“Wax Romantic,” the closing song to this masterpiece, starts out more as a tribute to the metalcore scene, featuring vicious screams and a driving, punk-reminiscent drumbeat. However, this doesn’t last long; within thirty seconds, The Funeral Portrait returns to their trademark sound that draws from pond on p, ska, and polka but always stay true to the instrumental intelligences of rock and metal. Next comes the catchy chorus that they are so excellent at crafting: “this is the part where I apologize for everything I’ve done, and when my world is torn asunder, will you go underneath with me?”
The Funeral Portrait is one of my greatest musical discoveries. Their music is brilliantly written, and the members are at heart true musicians. If they play their cards right, they will become the next big rock band.
Their music can be found on Youtube and iTunes.

In a world filled with music, it is an inevitable choice, as a musician, which route to take: the way of rock and pop or the classical path. Senior Eddie Oliver has chosen the classical way, as a percussionist. He specializes in mallet instuments and the vibraphone. Olver is a performer in the A2 Jazz Band, and he also plays timpani and bells in the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.
Classical artists are performing a style of music that was begun far before pop music, and therefore, they still deserve notice.
“Advice I would give to aspiring musicians would be to practice a lot. You can accomplish so much if you actually try and stick with it,” said Oliver.
Oliver began taking piano lessons at the age of eight, and continued his musical education by joining the school band in 4th grade. He began percussion in the 7th grade by playing the xylophone, and has not stopped since.
Currently, he is working on an ambitious set list for the Jazz Band and is arranging a mallet quartet for a ragtime piece by Scott Joplin for the Solo/Ensemble Festival in April. However, the most diffficult thing he is working on now is playing a vibraphone concerto with Symphonic Winds.
Oliver is planning to be a music major in college, though he is not yet sure what university he will attend.
“I would just like to thank Milan Moliere and Lathell Powel, Tristan Buckreis, and Tom Hughes,” Oliver said. “Without any of those individuals I would not be the musician or even the person I am today; they have helped me tremendously throughout the years.”

To Think

To think that once upon a time
When fairy tales were on our minds
When jump-rope rhymes and skipping time
Were all
That mattered.

To think that not so long ago
Our parents cried and laughed and smiled
Living the life that we now live
And we ignore that they
Are people, too.

To think that when we are sad and lonely
Other people are sad and lonely, too.

To think that you are the only one
Who feels that way
When your next-door neighbor thinks
They are the only one
Who feels
Alone.

To think that once upon time
Happy lives were everywhere
And now
You are sad
And they are gone.

To think that when we are sad
The world keeps spinning.

To think.
Think.
Thi―.

Watch

turnkey’s eyes spies by hinge of door
ordered to watch forevermore
is said by logic did i not obey
so be it on cold floor must i lay
air deeply thick by my obliging breath
not have mattered had I succeeded at death

Numb

they ask—how do you feel?
–I feel numb, I say
but they always want to know—
what does that mean?
I’ll shrug my shoulders
and brush it off
as all who are numb will do
what I always want to say
but can’t
for the numb speak only in their minds
is that I am beyond my sorrows
my deepest depression
nothing can touch me now
I float above life with only fear
fear of waking up to reality.

love is falling out

love is falling out;
vision cracks and falters,
the voices are inaudible
because they drown the depths
of a poisonous world,
I burn my fingertips in the sun
to forget your touch…
a prolonged past numbness pays me a visit
and separates our holding hands so easily,
This grasp was insecure
Because love is falling out.

In recent years, science fiction has stormed onto the entertainment scene. Whether it be movies and television, books, or even video games, sci-fi has managed to capture the hearts of its broad audience.
Science fiction is a fictional genre that deals with imaginative, yet realistic science themes such as time travel, space travel, parallel universes, futuristic technology, extraterrestrial life and post-apocalyptic worlds. While it has always been in the entertainment landscape, sci-fi has truly hit its stride within the last two decades.
From Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan to George Lucas and Christopher Nolan, the genre has quite a history. Isaac Asimov’s works such as The Foundation Trilogy, I,Robot, and The Caves of Steel paved the way for some of the great sci-fi books that we know today. Dune, The Hunger Games and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy are all deeply influenced by early sci-fi authors.
Now, as is the case with many books, they are translated into live-action film. This is the case for many sci-fi books as well. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jurassic Park and Contact are just a few out of the many sci-fi books to become major motion pictures. Sci-fi movies don’t only come from film adaptations, however. Many hit sci-fi movies such as the Star Wars series, Alien, and Avatar all started out as original ideas. Also, just as movies adapt screenplays from books, TV shows adapt ideas from movies. In fact, Terry Gillam’s Twelve Monkeys is currently airing a spinoff show with the same title on the SyFy network. Other movie to TV show adaptations include Starman and The War of the Worlds.
One last aspect in which science fiction has truly cemented itself is the video game department. Sci-fi has the perfect amount of epicness for the video game format. Science fiction video games have been there since the beginning. From the Halo and Mass Effect franchises to Bioshock and Destiny, sci-fi video games have thrived ever since their conception.
So, if you haven’t already, give science fiction a try. Whether its through reading, watching or playing, sci-fi has a place for everyone.
Recommended Books: Dune, Black Science, I, Robot.
Recommended Movies: Avatar, Interstellar, Star Trek movies.
Recommended TV shows: Acension, 12 Monkeys.
Recommended video games: Halo series, Destiny, Mass Effect series.

Stars

Look up at the night sky, and what do you see? Thousands upon thousands of dots of white light, a star studded night, and you could almost take flight because they just…feel…so…close, comforting, all…the same. No. Look deeper. Burning masses of white, yellow, blue, red, countless miles across, so vast you could never comprehend their depth. Oh, and what these stars have seen! The creation of planets, the slow deaths of their neighbors, the ebb and the flow of the world, the push and the pull, constantly changing, rearranging, the universe in their hands, the power to tip the scales with a movement in either direction… and some will be long dead by the time we recognize their light. I look before me tonight, and I see my own galaxy, a sea of black, 140 eyes shining bright as stars, all united but so very different, because we are the stars and we are the planets, all made of the same dust but no less unique, and we grow brighter the darker the sky, distant lights in a lost generation. Here, of all places, we have the power to shift the scales, to really be heard, to raise our voices and sing out loud, because we are the future and we are made of the past, we are the songs sung at two in the morning because maybe there’s still hope in the world, we are the single word that changes the meaning of a sentence, we have the fire of the stars in our hearts, and we, as different as we all are, have the power to change the world.

Fields

Stars shine and gleam
across the horizon,
over the fields of white daises,
like pearls in the moonlight.

Poly Vocal Jazz One was informed of their acceptance into the annual Monterey New Generation Jazz Festival on Jan. 30.
The Monterey New Generation Jazz Festival, which takes place from March 27 through 29, is the “Super Bowl of jazz education,” where over 1300 of the Nation’s top jazz musicians―whether they are in vocal ensembles, bands, or combos in the middle school, high school, or collegiate levels ―are chosen to compete against one another in this intense 3 day festival.
“This will definitely be a new experience for us,” says Senior Kandise Le Blanc, “Though Poly’s never competed in the Monterey Jazz Festival, it’ll definitely be an opportunity for us to showcase our talents, as well as expose ourselves to our potential competitors’ performances.”
The finalists of the New Generation Jazz Festival are then chosen to compete in the prestigious 58th Monterey Bay Jazz Festival, which takes place in September the following year.
“I’m confident in the ability and talent of this group,” says Mr.Dokko, the director of Vocal Jazz One, “If anything, this will serve as an opportunity for the group to grow as an ensemble before our main competition in Reno.”
Following Monterey, the Reno Jazz festival will take place on April 23-25, where Poly’s Vocal Jazz One group will once again compete,
“It’s going to be a great experience singing with such a great group of talented singers,” says Sophomore Jovanh Pham, the youngest member of the group, “I’m ecstatic.”

The 87th annual Academy Awards, best known as The Oscars, premieres on February 22 on ABC. For the sake of brevity, my predictions for the winners will only cover the categories of Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture. Without further ado…
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything will win. Redmayne’s portrayal of a young but debilitating Stephen Hawking showcased both emotional depth and a caring accuracy that none of the other nominees can measure up to. However, Michael Keaton’s raw performance in Birdman or Steve Carell’s career-transcending performance in Foxcatcher deserve mention.
Best Actress: Julianne Moore will easily take this category. Her performance as an linguistics professor who struggles to keep her life together after she is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s in Still Alice places her well above the competition. Marion Cotillard’s nomination in the French film Two Days, One Night and Rosamund Pike’s nomination in Gone Girl (the film’s only representation for the awards) are notable nonetheless.
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons has this category locked down. His performance as an intense, almost sadistic jazz conductor in Whiplash is simply more bombastic and impressive than the other nominees. Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher and Ethan Hawke in Boyhood are the closest runner-ups.
Best Supporting Actress: Much like J.K. Simmons, Patricia Arquette has this category tied up. Her turn as an underappreciated single mother in Boyhood has made her the clear frontrunner.
Best Director: The running is split between Alejandro Iñárritu for Birdman and Richard Linklater for Boyhood. Although both directors were innovative and experimental with their movies, Linklater has the edge for managing to create a cohesive and impactful film over a span of 12 years. Wes Anderson deserves a mention for his wonderfully realized vision in The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Best Picture: This race, like Best Director, is between Birdman and Boyhood. The award will ultimately go to Boyhood for being able to execute its ambitious concept with passion and grace. However, Birdman, American Sniper or The Theory of Everything have a very real chance of pulling an upset.
2014 was a great year for movies and the nominees for this year reflect that. Be sure to tune in for the Oscars on the 22nd.