Aries: Starting a riot
Taurus: Watching romance movies while crying
Gemini: At the beach with their friends
Cancer: Having dinner about to be proposed to and says no
Leo: On a date at Disneyland
Virgo: Working
Libra: Deciding whether to go on a date or stay at home and eat chocolate
Scorpio: At Disneyland but is flirting with the characters
Sagittarius: Over it
Capricorn: Got stood up
Aquarius: Home…alone….
Pisces: Found out they are being cheated on
Michael Gray has a YouTube channel called 2gether Tuesday, where he posts motivational videos for students, and others to view. From videos ranging about celebrities giving their perspective, to motivational speakers with the lessons they have, and lastly a variety of other things in promoting confidence on different aspects in life.
On Wednesday, January 29, two videos titled Anything is Possible and Nothing Will Change Unless You Change were created by students at Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders (PAAL). Throughout the video of Anything is Possible, voice overs of students and staff spoke on the topic of possibilities, as it was displayed over a video mainly focusing on football players, their games, and even behind the scenes.
In fact, the script used in the video, is that of Gray’s in an assembly he performed earlier this school year dealing with mental health. The message that the video gives, is that of reaching goals and not being discouraged in pursuing them.
With the football players featured in the background, it provides a visual of them doing what might be considered impossible and showing that it can be done. And of course those visuals were able to be provided by PAAL student, David Ukpolo.
In the video, Nothing Will Change Unless You Change, students discuss about the improvements you can make in order to apply changes and continue to grow from them. From making good habits to getting rid of the negative thoughts you have of yourself. It is a motivation to show that the choices you make, and the outcomes that can come from them either: change your ways or stay the same.
Based on both videos they have similar meanings and fits in with the kind of videos already posted on the 2gether Tuesday channel. They bring a message of having a positive outlook on life and hopefulness. The production and cooperation of these projects is that of a professional, despite some minor mistakes.
Taking place at the Poly Playhouse on January 11, 2019 at 6:30 PM, students recited their own original poetry while getting rewarded for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. The prizes given where the money made with ticket sales One of the contestants was senior Josalynn Bass, with her poem “Ana”. As she recited her poem it almost seemed as if this Ana was based on an actual person, but nearing the end of it, the meaning started changing from a person to anorexia. Bass states, that at first she had written and intended on performing another poem entirely, until she later changed her mind. In fact, the poem she performed was written “last minute” but was proven to be the right choice according to Bass. Her inspiration for “Ana” was based off of personal experience, but she also in part wanted her poem to have the ability to be able to resonate with the audience. She had hoped that after being heard, her poem might “relate with somebody else”, as it is a topic that is often not “talked about a lot”, since representation is not shown.
Junior, Hannah Gardiner was also present, during the event, in reciting her poem “Normal”. Similar to the kind of twist “Ana” gave, the message it conveyed was one of how someone may look “straight” and be expected to act as such, but not exactly be straight. Atopic that is close to Gardiners heart, being so vulnerable on stage was a choice she made, when it would’ve been so easy to simply follow the prompt. Slam Poetry was an assignment given to the students, a part of Drama, as an assignment and Gardiner had the choice between “writing something for credit” or “actually putting [my] emotion into it”. Gardiner also used her personal experience as an inspiration when writing her poem. As for writing the poem, it took her “less than a minute” to come up with an idea of what kind of poem she wanted, versus finalizing her idea took “weeks”. Even the night before Poetry Slam, Gardiner was still “changing things” and was not as satisfied with the final product but liked “how it turned out”.
Although everyone who showed up put their emotions out for all to see and recited their exceptional pieces, only three students walked away with prize money given to those who donated upon entering the slam. The third place prize went to freshman Ee’gypt Wilson who had not done an event like this before, but felt that she needed to get her feelings across, “I was worried about people seeing me be vulnerable on stage.” She doesn’t regret putting herself out there and was rewarded for doing so. Junior, Amber Payan expressed her anger and intense sadness for all the women who spoke out sexual assault this past year. She expressed her hatred towards abusers, and her empathy for survivors. Her passion awarded her the second place prize. The winner of the poetry slam was junior Angelina Taylor, who spoke about her identity, as a black young American. She gained the audiences support and praise with every line she spoke. The crowd was filled with snaps, applause, and words that showcased their approval. Overall the poetry slam was a success, everyone gave their best effort, they went home proud, knowing that they had put themselves out there and were praised for it.
Last month, on December 13, 2018 a new movie called Bird Box was released on Netflix, and it was a huge hit. Almost everyone was talking about this movie and boosting it up because it was “so good,” according to many.
In the movie, a mysterious force takes over the human population and no one really knows what it is, only that if you see it, you will die. Now, the remaining survivors must avoid coming in contact with this force that takes the form of their worst fears.
Malorie Hayes, played by Sandra Bullock, sets out to find a new safe place for her and her two children where she can start all over. She faces challenges on her journey through the woods and a river because she’s blindfolded throughout the whole trip… The movie has been compared to A Quiet Place but I don’t find much correlation between the two.
Overall, the movie was good like people had told me before I had watched it, but I don’t think it reached the expectations of many, including myself because, personally, I expected a bit more since people kept “hyping” it up. See it if you want to, but don’t expect too much or you might be disappointed.
The Netflix series Black Mirror released the first interactive episode on the streaming platform on December 28, 2018.
In this film, viewers are able to make decisions for the main character, Stefan Butler. Stefan is a 19 year old programmer who is creating his first video game, entitled “Bandersnatch,” in the year 1984. The choices start out light and fun like getting to choose what Stefan eats for breakfast, but over time they become more horrid and gruesome, some decisions involve selecting who you wish to murder and how to take care of the body. Each decision you make for Stefan leaves him feeling more and more out of his own control, driving him insane. The movie has 12 possible endings and it takes about 2 hours to unlock each possible ending. Once the viewer has reached a new ending, a new layer is added to the story or you can choose to skip the credits. There is about 300 minutes worth of footage for the entire Bandersnatch movie.
I personally found the movie amazing but in a psychotic way. Throughout the viewing of the interactive episode, it occurred to me that the creators of this movie, and overall the show, had to be on some serious drugs in order to come up with the concept of the movie. In shorter terms, the creators basically said to themselves, “I’m going to create a movie where the viewer makes decisions for the main character while the main character becomes paranoid that someone is making decisions for him.”
The movie ended up breaking the internet and became Twitter’s number 1 trending topic the days following its release. The show definitely changed the way TV shows and movies will be developed in the future.
5 out of 5 stars!
Aries: The Office: “Dwight Christmas”
Taurus: Parks And Recreation : “Citizen Knope”
Gemini: The X-Files: “How The Ghost Stole Christmas”
Cancer: Full House: “Our Very First Christmas Show”
Leo: South Park: “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo”
Virgo: The Simpsons: “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire”
Libra: Black Mirror: “White Christmas”
Scorpio: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: “Amends”
Sagittarius: Supernatural: “A Very Supernatural Christmas”
Capricorn: Will And Grace: “A Little Christmas Queer”
Aquarius: Sherlock: “The Abominable Bride”
Pisces: Friends: “The One With The Routine”
On November 29, Long Beach Poly’s Advanced 3-8 Piano class had a recital. The performances were from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m in the auditorium. The students performed in duets with songs that each person and their partner picked. Freshman Andres Flores played “Habanera” with his partner Nicolaniello Buono, also a ninth grader.
Although he would have performed any other song chosen, Flores felt a comfort with this particular one.
“I picked the song because it sounded familiar,” Flores said. “I feel like I could have played a little more accurately.”
Freshman Daniel Garcia Hernandez and his partner, senior Kayshawn Soung, performed “Village Dance.” Hernandez described the challenges of playing with partner: “A duet you have to know you can rely on each other and you have to practice with each other or else it is going to sound kind of weird or off. A solo you really have to think about it for yourself.”
Sophomore Makayla Roberts performed “Go Tell It On The Mountains” with her partner Julia Gustafson, Poly’s piano teacher. Roberts has been playing piano for about a year.
There was no specific theme in this recital, however, there will be another recital on December 20, 2018 and the theme is Christmas music. For this recital different students will be performing, but only in the advanced class and some students from the November recital will be performing again. The recital will be at Poly in the auditorium, starting at 6:30 p.m. and will last for an hour. It is a free recital and everyone is welcome.
1985, the iconic movie ‘’Rocky IV’’ where Apollo Creed fought up against the strongest fighter in the world: ‘’Ivan Drago.’’ Though Apollo’s was confident, it wasn’t enough to take on the Drago and sadly he was killed in the fight. 33 years later Apollo’s son Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan, is challenged by Ivan Drago’s son Viktor, played by actor/boxer Florian Munteanu, and gladly agrees to seek not revenge but the respect that his father truly deserved. Adonis can’t do it by himself so he is trained by his father’s former friend Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone, who puts Adonis through a series of difficult workout routines and training to get him ready for the biggest fight of his life. Director Steven Caple Jr. really put his best into this picture, in which Adonis Creed finishes what his father started. If you haven’t seen the movie it is played at pretty much any local movie theater near you. I recommend it with a rating of 2.5 out of 4 stars.
On December 18, the Poly Instrumental Music Program hosted their annual winter concert featuring all of their orchestras, Symphonic Winds, and their top two jazz bands. The concert was in the auditorium and started at 6:30 p.m.
That concert is one of the only concerts a year where nearly all of the groups perform on the same night, allowing parents to get a sense of the large scope of Poly’s music program. The concert is renowned across Poly musicians as “a marathon,” in the words of junior trumpeter Gabriel Ochoa. Ochoa, who performs in Symphonic Winds, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz A2, where he is lead trumpet.
The concert covered a variety of Christmas music, including Tchaikovsky’s iconic Nutcracker Suite and a jazz interpretation of the Christmas standard “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Because this is the only holiday instrumental concert of the year, each ensemble centers their program around a seasonal favorite in addition to a non-seasonal classical or jazz piece.
Each group performed two compositions to showcase versatility in musicianship as well as to maintain the concert’s forward motion. There were over seven ensembles playing, and each got their chance in the spotlight. For some freshman, that was their first chance to shine in front of a large audience. Veterans like junior flautist Abigail Farmer are used to the spotlight and “enjoy the privilege of performing in front of their peers.”
Everyone in the program was looking forward to the concert and being able to show the community their great progress.
Reboots have been around since basically the start of entertainment, from TV shows, to movies, to comics and finally, even video games.
The debate of reboots is that sometimes they do a good job and other times not so much.
As of recently there has been a lot of Disney movies transforming from cartoons to live action, a classic movie revised into the mainstream.
Obsessed fans often times demand more, which leads to the birth of reboots.
Directors might even feel the need to bring back old fan favorites.
This choice of reboots can either be to make profit or reel in new fans.
An example of a reboot would be Riverdale, as it uses characters based off the Archies Comics but yet has a completely different plotline.
The issue with some reboots is the production of it is often times take place in a different era.
Most recently Doctor Who has added a woman as the new portrayal of the doctor’s vessel. Some fans were upset with the fact that the show is adapting into the views of today, instead of its traditional ways.
Despite the reputation that reboots might carry, good or bad, that reputation still catches the attention of viewers.
Snow in Love is a holiday themed collection of short young adult love stories, written by Melissa de la Cruz, Aimee Friedman, Kasie West, and Nic Stone.
The book was highly anticipated as all the authors are admired within the young adult genre. Released on October 30, it gained critical success, bringing people out of the spooky season and into the Christmas festivities.
There are four stories in total within the anthology. The first follows Amalie as she tries to hurry home with the help from a handsome face.
Another young girl, Kelsey, searches for the perfect gift for her boyfriend.
In another story, two old friends reunite by chance during a holiday scavenger hunt.
The collection includes holiday diversity, with Aimee Friedman’s Hanukkah story about a young Jewish girl, working as a department store elf who surprisingly finds love.
These stories do the job, offering that warm familiar feeling similar to that of a cheesy hallmark film. Each of these stories can be deemed relatable and enjoyable.
Snow in Love is a recommended holiday gift for any love sick teen – or someone of any age can read this book with a nice warm cup of tea, under the blanket.