Tag: LB Poly

  • Humans of Quarantine: Chilling, Exhausted, and Not Missing the Beach

    Humans of Quarantine: Chilling, Exhausted, and Not Missing the Beach

    “Lately I have been feeling extremely exhausted and overwhelmed by not only school and distance-learning, but from my community being torn apart and all over the place from past/recent tragedies.”
    —Mahogani Sogules-Corbin

     

    “Quarantine just means I don’t have to worry as much about wearing sunscreen.”
    —Sophia DelBello
    Reymar Santos, High Life Staff Writer: “This is my Uncle Eddie, he’s been chilling and pushing through this quarantine and he said, ‘Make the most of the time spent with your family because that is all that we can do. Enjoy life that’s it.’ “
    “Life WAS like a box of chocolates, but now its as uneventful as a Kit Kat Bar from the 99¢ store.”
    —Christian Gisborne

  • We’re Just Friends!

    If you’re creative enough, those same gifts that are originally made for a significant other can easily be turned into gifts for your friends. However, here are some gift ideas you can also make or buy for your FRIENDS (this one’s for all you single people out there).

    • Sweets- There’s more to this holiday than just chocolate, treating your friends with a gift basket filled with all of your friend’s favorite snacks.
    • Plushie- Teddy Bears are also not the only hype of the day, a small plushie could always make an old pal of yours feel nice.
    • Inside Joke Gift- Make your buddy laugh by bringing up a memory only the two of you share by turning it into a gift.
    • Appreciation Letter- The name is self-explanatory, but of course some appreciation does not hurt in relationships, even friendships.
    • DIY- Take this opportunity to be creative and come up with anything you think your friend might enjoy (such as a coupon book, or a “10 reasons why I love you”) keep it platonic!

  • Polytechnic History Channel

  • Daisy Lane Parade

    Daisy Lane Parade

    LB Poly’s Marching Band, colorguard and JROTC participated in the Daisy Lane Parade on December 14.

  • The Death of Mainstream Rock

    While the rock music genre may be alive and well today, its existence on the charts has all but become extinct. With bands like the Jonas Brothers and Ariana Grande topping the charts as of 2019, it is evident that rock has been occupying less and less spots on the charts. Not only that, but most of the artists who gained traction in their careers through rock have as of recent years evolved into a sound more pop or electronic than anything else. There is no better example of this than Brendie Urie and Panic! at the Disco. The band made a mass hit in popularity back in 2005 with their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, but come the new decade, half the band left the project, and the rest of them left in 2015. At this point, Panic! has been left to a solo project instead of a band. Death of a Bachelor (2016) wasn’t a bad album, though it did depart from the band’s roots, but the following, Pray for the Wicked (2018) wasn’t worth more than a trashed vinyl you found on the side of the muddy road. It felt so mechanical and fake, as if it were written by a computer instead of a human.
    Hailing from England, Kaiser Chiefs had their brief period of popularity hit the US during the previous decade, probably due to the second British invasion that occurred in the 90s with bands like Oasis, Kasabian, and Blur. Their second and third albums hit the US top 200 charts at 45 and 55, respectively, but with their third album in 2011, it was nowhere to be seen. Two records later, frontman Ricky Wilson decided he wanted to switch from writing Brit-rock or Brit-pop to writing dance music. Stay Together (2016) is the worst album they’ve ever released by a long shot. With every song framed by electronic synthesizers and bombastic choruses, the band even flat-out admitted at the start of the seventh track, “Press Rewind,” “This is pop music/We’re writing and recording pop music.” The easiest song to stomach would be “Indoor Firework” because the lyrics were at least somewhat meatier, but not by much.
    But then come their latest, Duck (2019). An album for which was widely criticised for its failed attempt to please both critics and fans alike. The record had a few tracks that were enjoyable, including the catchy “Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something,” but the majority of the album seemed as if it were written to sing in stadiums, especially the irritating opener, “People Know How to Love One Another.” Duck was a sigh of relief compared to their previous record, but after two consecutive albums of mostly junk, there is almost no hope left for Kaiser Chiefs.
    Sure, we still have Jack White and The Raconteurs with Help Us Stranger (2019) being arguably their greatest record yet. But as for White’s solo projects, not only do they live in the shadow of the greatness that was The White Stripes, but Boarding House Reach (2018) strayed far from the mark of anything we have come to love about White, incorporating more elements of funk, experimental, and gospel music rather than rock. Maybe there is some hope for rock in the future, but as of 2019, it is unlikely that we are to see a big rock band stand out in the mainstream industry in the near future.

  • Goodbye 2019

    I know at the end of the year we say, “this was the worst year ever,” but… 2019 was literally the worst year ever. I don’t know if it’s because I got older and I have more responsibilities and I am much more aware of how much the world hates me… but my goodness. I won’t do an entire recap of how much the world showed me that it didn’t like me this year but I will say this one was definitely one for the books. Now it wasn’t completely bad. Some good things did happen. I got a new job, moved to a new house, started saving money. But the emotional strain that this year had on me was hard. I lost friendships that I truly thought would last forever. I cried more this year than I have since I was a fetus. I felt so much stress and pressure this year from so many different things but this year taught me that I am truly resilient. Every time I fell, I got right back up and continued moving forward. All the friends I lost, good riddance! Every bad thing that happened was to prepare me for something later on. A reminder for anyone who reads this, you are resilient! This year has tested everybody but we’re still here, growing!! So be proud. This decade was something else but here’s to the 20’s! Good luck!

  • PAAL Hosts “Lost in Art”

    PAAL Hosts “Lost in Art”

    On November 6 Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders (PAAL) hosted its second annual art showcase event featuring artists from Poly and PAAL. The stage never failed to have a presence, as spoken word artists, rappers, singers and dancers all came together to ensure entertainment was always provided.
    While performing artists showcased their talents outside on the stage, visual artists’ work was displayed inside the gallery. Artists were given total creative liberty with their work, and a diversity of styles and subjects were present throughout the gallery room. Among the types of art displayed were paintings, drawings and sculptures. Topics present in the art often included Poly, society, and mental health, among others.
    Attendees were not only able to immerse themselves among the art created by others, but also to take a chance and create art of their own. With stations like “Paint a Tree Ring” or “Paint a Canvas”, adults and children alike were provided the tools such as acrylic paint and brushes to create their own masterpieces.
    One of the students behind organizing this event was senior Jessica Cubias, student council co-president at PAAL. Cubias said it was her favorite event of the year as it allowed students to connect to the paintings, the artists, and the music.
    “Painting brings out what people are afraid to let out,” said Cubias.
    The night’s line up consisted of performing artists such as Aermoongi, Mac, Money Traxx, KDI, T-Lost and many more.
    “Not many schools give student artists a chance to present their art,” said Mac Harris, spoken word artist and PAAL alumni. “Art is everywhere and this event becomes an outlet which elevates that.”
    “Lost in Art” was an event student council voted to keep and lead artist Ivan Rojas and PAAL seniors, as a class, collaborated together to ensure the night was a success.
    Art can help cope and manage emotional pain, one of the reasons Activities Specialists and Restorative Justice course teacher Marisol Ibañez-Tintorer feels this event is important.
    “It’s about giving everyone a voice,” she said, “everyone’s voice matters.”
    PAAL hosted events are open to all Poly students and it is important for Poly to support its sister campus.
    “We are a part of Poly and they’re a part of us,” said Ibañez-Tintorer.

  • Stadia The Google “Console”

    Google is launching a new streaming service that will allow people to play their favorite games via a cloud service. They plan to debut their system on November 19 this year, and it will be called Stadia. The upcoming cloud gaming service operated by Google is said to be capable of streaming video games up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second with support for high-dynamic-range, to players via the company’s numerous data centers across the globe, provided they are using a sufficiently high-speed Internet connection. Misconceptions of this project say they are working to make new console, but Google says they are not making a console, however a new way to stream and play games. It will be accessible through the Google Chrome web browser on desktop computers, or through smartphones, tablets, smart televisions, digital media players, and Chromecast. “There was a lot of speculation that we were going to be making a console, but that’s actually [not]part of our strategy, we want to be completely screen agnostic,” Phil Harrison, a vice president and general manager at Google, told CNN Business, “We don’t want players to be spending hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands of dollars, to create a gaming rig in their home.”
    Why is it so hyped? This is beneficial to the gaming community because it is made by Google and it is an easy way to stream games on YouTube and create videos for their audience. Google might not be known as a gaming company, but people watched more than 50 billion hours of gaming on its YouTube service in 2018. And every day, 200 million people watch games on YouTube. Gaming has been on the rise and many major corporations have taken notice. Adidas a popular sportswear brand sponsored a very well-known Fortnite streamer known as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and this is a major step towards recognizing gaming as a sport rather than a hobby or past-time.
    Stadia is not similar to Netflix, in that it requires users to purchase games to stream via Stadia rather than pay for access to a library of games. While the base service will be free, a Pro tier monthly subscription allows users to stream at higher rates for larger resolutions, and the offer to add free games to their library. Another option lets viewers join the person they’re watching live. “One of the great things about Stadia is the power of linking the world of YouTube and game play together,” said Harrison. “If I’m on YouTube and I’m a creator talking about NBA 2K, the latest basketball game, I can invite my fans, my audience [and] my subscribers to join me in that game.” The next big step in gaming debuts on November 19, 2019.
    How it is ranked by critics?
    “It’s getting there,” according to Wired.
    Reviews so far: IGN 6/10; Wired 6/10; TechRadar 4/10.

  • The End of the F***ing Season

    “End of the F***ing World” was released on Netflix in 2017. The show follows the adventures of two lonely teens, James and Alyssa. James is convinced that he is a psychopath and wants to transition from killing animals to killing people and his first target is Alyssa. Alyssa, a new student at James’ school, feels as though she does not fit in and she befriends James. Alyssa and James embark on an adventure to find Alyssa’s dad while James plans to kill her. Over their journey, they begin to like each other. Their adventure is filled with many events, each one becoming more and more violent. In the end of the first season, James and Alyssa murder a professor and James is shot by the police.
    In the beginning of the second season, James and Alyssa are older and they have been apart for several years. However, a student of the professor killed in the previous season sets out to kill the two as revenge for taking away her “lover”.
    Now my thoughts on this season are pretty simple. I kinda loved it, kinda hated it, (a loving type of hate though).
    However, this did not answer a lot of the questions I had from the previous season. For one, what happened to James’ psychopathic tendencies? Did they just disappear once he realized that he was in love with Alyssa? This season was pretty ominous and quiet and the death scenes in this season were far more gory. Season 2 was also much sadder than the first season (for obvious reasons) and it kind of altered the effect that the show gave me. It was almost too sad to watch.

  • Ready for the Real World?

    This week, I and many other seniors will be given a diploma and moving on into whatever kind of life we want to live. It is up to us to determine if we will continue education, have jobs, or just do nothing.

    I’ve been waiting for the moment to finally graduate and have my life set. But as that day is approaching closer, I dread it more and more. Why was I so excited for this as a kid and what made me think I would have everything figured out by then?

    If anything I feel more confused and overwhelmed than ever before. What exactly is in store for me? And why does it seem like I’m being pushed out into something I’m not really prepared for? Yup that’s right, adulthood. This has been a long struggle, being in in school, for SO many years. It’s routine and what I’ve been doing the past 13 years. In these 13 years what have I learned? Maybe some social skills and how kids can be cruel sometimes. The basic subjects such as math, history, english, and science. But what about managing my money? That’s only something that I’m really learning and investing in my senior year. Why does everything cost so much anyways? Applying for jobs, it’s a struggle, especially when I’ve been trying for months to get a job. Hello? I’ve been calling for so long now. Please give me a job, please.

    I’ve decided for myself that I will continue to do even more education, all in the favor of trying to have a career that will hopefully keep me stable. Good luck to me and all the other seniors who are going to struggle and try to survive.

  • Hooligans Break into Campus

    On Sunday, May 19, an unknown number of people snuck onto campus and broke into six classrooms in the 300 and 400 buildings, the weight room, the locker rooms, and three coaches’ offices. Some items were stolen, and other rooms were only vandalized.

    The crime is still classified as an ongoing investigation by the LBPD. so Poly principal William Salas was not able to completely share all the details of the event (such as how exactly the suspects broke into the locked rooms and what items were stolen) because spreading that information could affect the investigation.

    However, he did say that none of the gates were open on Sunday, so the suspects most likely climbed a fence to get on campus.

    He couldn’t say exactly how they got into the locked classrooms and offices, but they definitely did not use a key.

    The school is equipped with silent alarms and numerous video cameras, security measures to help deter these kinds of crimes from happening and to catch people who do commit them.

    When asked if there’s anything he’d like people to know in regards to these breaks-ins, Salas stated, “The campus is well-secured. There

    are safety measures in place that will help us apprehend whoever’s responsible.”

    Out of the six classrooms that were broken into, according to administration, the one that got the worst of it was Sarah Schol, 10th grade PACE English teacher and club sponsor for Female Leadership Academy. Schol has stated that the suspects probably “came in through the window.”

    They then proceeded to kick over everything they could and “destroyed one of [her] metal filing cabinets by walking on top of it.”

    When describing the shambles her room was in, she said, “They took all the food that was in the refrigerator and… decorated my floor with protein shakes, salad dressing, cookies… They opened up my FLA file drawer and poured liquid into all the drawers and destroyed a lot of the items donated to Female Leadership… They crumpled papers up and threw paper everywhere… They destroyed student projects by stepping on them, ripping them apart, breaking them… They did a lot. I’m leaving a lot of stuff out; they ripped stuff off the walls. It was devastating.” The suspects also stole a number of items from the class.

    Schol was not at school the Monday after the vandalism had occurred; the substitute for her class called her to inform her that the classroom had been vandalized and sent her pictures.

    “It was frustrating because I wished I’d received more updates about what was happening. You feel powerless already when you’ve been victimized and violated, but to be kept out of communication just amplifies that feeling… It really hurts.”

    DeAngelo Moss, the boys’ locker room attendant, said that the vandals stole items such as skateboards and shoes from lockers that students had left unlocked.

    The vandals left a mess everywhere, having thrown clothes and other trash all over the floor. They also broke into the office in the locker room, went through all the drawers, and threw a bunch of papers around.

    The Sunday before these vandalisms had occurred, on May 12, someone had graffitied profanity and slurs onto the benches in the batting cage, however it is unknown if this event is related to the vandalisms that occured on May 19.

  • Long Beach Celebrates Bike Month

    Ab Tudayan
    Senior William Frankenfeld bikes in style to and from school each day.

    “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike,” said the famous John F. Kennedy. Starting May 1st, it is Bike month, an event celebrated in Long Beach for people like John F. Kennedy who cycle for pleasure, fitness, or transportation. With the bike invention dating back to 1817, how did such a simple tool come to be?

    It started with Baron Karl von Davis a servant for the Grand Duke of Germany in 1817. Baron created a fully wooden bicycle sporting iron-shod wheels. Unlike today’s bike it had no wheels and required leg movements to move. In Baron’s first recorded bike ride he accomplish 8 miles in just one hour. Now a days when using a standard road bike and going 13 mph you can ride 26 miles in two hours.

    Ever since then the bicycle has evolved through the age with the addition of wheels, a different frame, and more comfortable seats, but still retaining the two wheel cycle charm it had two centuries ago.

    But what are the benefits? Other than the obvious, bicycling can improve posture and coordination, joint mobil- ity, and better cardiovascular fitness.

    California too celebrates this event by holding a state- wide tour of cycling called, “Tour of California,” allud- ing to the famous tour, “Tour De France.” This tour goes from Sacramento to Pasadena, a total of 771 miles over the span of six days. Professional cyclists each day ride from checkpoint to checkpoint usu- ally biking an average of 128 miles each day. After arriving at the checkpoints they rest un- til the next day repeating this cycle till they reach Pasadena. Levi Leipheimer holds three wins in this tour and is also a US champion and olympic medalists.

    Long Beach was seen at the top 50 cities in the nation that are the most bike friendly plac-es, and there is no better way to celebrate the accomplishments than by hosting various events in the month of may like Ride Your Bike to School and Work as well as World Bicycle Day. Various Organizations in Long Beach came together on May 26 for the “West Long Beach Food Tour.” It was a 16 mile long event with many food stops like Gemmae Bakery, Tepechi Birrieria, and Guanabana. Sophomore extraordi- naire, Addison Pann whose recent achievements would be breaking 6 minutes in the mile during track season participated in this event stating it was a, “refreshing and fulfilling event,” going to several places eating delicious pastries along the way.