Category Archives: Entertainment

“We’re Alive” review

By: Munira Ahmadad

*Warning: this review contains spoilers for the short story “We’re Alive” (located in the PRIZM section of the Plaid Line)

“We’re Alive” is a short horror story written by HPSH student Daniel Kendle, and this article is a review of it and a discussion of my thoughts about the story.

The short story begins with an unnamed narrator in a jungle, they’re inside a garden sanctum when they watch a monstrous creature made of the jungle’s organic life become animated. Initially the being is referred to as the jungle’s newest creation which led me to think it never existed before, but it’s soon described as ancient and something of a folk story. The narrator watches, petrified and intrigued as it moves towards them. Spores surrounded them as they stared at each other. After the narrator’s reluctant escape, a month later, they remain haunted by the interaction with the garden’s monster and become unable to function normally. After dreaming of being with the creature in a physical and emotional loving bind, we see the narrator lose their grip on reality and by the end they harm themself with a crazed desire to return to the garden.

The story truly succeeds at providing the descriptions necessary to paint a detailed visualization of the scenes in the story. I don’t read much horror, but the narrator losing their grip on reality is a relatively common trope. After reading through, I wondered if the inspiration for this work was “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe since both use obsession as its element and have narrators you know next to nothing about. The plot itself reminds me of “The Black Cat”, also by Edgar Allan Poe.

One of the very first things that made me feel iffy while reading through was the literary diction. Written in the narrator’s perspective, they describe how they felt, what they did and thought, and what was going on. Since it’s all in past tense, I assumed this was a retelling of what happened, which explained the dramatic storytelling style. But as the speaker describes their loss of sanity due to their growing obsession, it seems as though readers are going along with the scenes at the same time as the narrator. This makes the descriptive writing come off as pretty verbose. The flowery language is prioritized over the plot which makes the first time reading through unsatisfactory, especially since the goal of the story was to capture the essence of what an all-consuming obsession feels like.

Speaking of the goal of the story, the attempt at disorientating storytelling by the narrator did not invoke any feelings of repulsion, suspense, or horror in me. It’s very tell-not-show, like instead of showing us the fear the narrator was experiencing during their interaction with the monster via description (hands shaking, heart pounding, stomach churning), we’re just told directly by the speaker that they were afraid. The conflicting feelings the narrator had towards the garden creature was very clear, to the point it feels tedious. Scary stories aren’t supposed to hold the reader’s hand and walk them through the entire thing.

For all the time spent making sure the audience was absolutely certain the narrator had an obsession, they aren’t given much of a reason to care. When we have an unnamed narrator of unknown origin, you’d assume their narration would give you more information of who they are and their personality as you read along. However, in this short story the narrator’s identity didn’t seem to matter. We’re given vague ideas about the characteristics of this person, such as their acutely aware of their flaws, immediately scorning their humanity and views themselves as a “mangy ape” in the presence of the monster that becomes their obsession. They call themselves a hedonistic wretch, and we just kind of have to take their word for it.

Overall, though, I liked reading this. Because I have my own bias against horror, I wasn’t the target audience, and so I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as someone who likes horror. I think the author definitely is a skilled writer and has the descriptive skills to create vivid imagery for the reader to enjoy. I feel as though Kendle would be an excellent fantasy writer and I hope he continues to share more of his work. This review was for fun and from the perspective of a reader despite my criticism, which itself may be flawed.

Ohuhu alcohol marker review

By: Persephone Pond

Ohuhu is a newer brand that produces all sorts of art supplies, from paints to markers.

Gaining traction in the early 2020s, Ohuhu quickly became popular for their lines of alcohol based markers. This article will be a quick review of all you need to know about these markers, and if they’re worth the money.

Ohuhu alcohol markers come with three choices of tips: chisel, fine, and brush. Each artist has their own preferences on which to use, and each set of markers purchased are double sided, including two of the three tips. My personal favorite is the brush tip doubled with the fine tip, which falls under Ohuhu’s Honolulu B Series. The combination of the brush and fine tips allow for easy coverage of larger areas, yet include the option of a smaller tip to fill in smaller details.

The quality of these markers are incredible. Coverage is smooth and consistent, and the life of these markers is impressively long. In addition to the long lifespan of these markers, Ohuhu also sells ink refills separately for about $5 each. These refills last even longer, and are a good investment if the markers are in use frequently.

The color options include a wide range of neons, grayscale, pastels, and more. With hundreds of colors to choose from, there isn’t a shade you can’t buy. The pressure control of the markers is also a big pro, creating an easy way to shade and blend colors together.

Price wise, Ohuhu markers are a good investment. Packs of markers are sold in wide ranges, from just 48 markers to up to 320 markers. For a pack of 48 colors, the price comes out to $39.99 (before shipping) from the Ohuhu website (but this pricing is consistent across retailers), which is about $1.20 per marker. Each pack comes out to around that same price per marker, which means buying in bulk doesn’t save money.

Overall, Ohuhu alcohol markers are a worthwhile investment, whether you’re a beginner artist, experienced artist, or just trying to learn how to use alcohol markers.

The 5 worst Burger King ad songs

By: Ian Larson

Burger King has made many songs for their ads that have been quite successful in making BK Popular. A surprising amount of people actually enjoy these songs even though they are ads. At the end of the day, some BK songs are just not as good as the others and I will be listing them in order of what I think is least bad to most bad.

This first song is called “Lunch Linner Dinner”. This song is meant to advertise the “Duo”. The thing where they say lunch linner dinner just didn’t really make a lot of sense and wasn’t very funny so I’m not really sure why they felt it was necessary. Other than that the song flows pretty well.

The next song is “Bring on the Flavor”. This song is advertising the “Royal Crispy Wraps”. The main thing that is wrong with this song is that they added too many syllables to one of the lines and it just made it seem really off and out of place.

Next is “You Rule”. This is the first BK song and just advertises BK in general. The only problem with this song is that it just doesn’t really seem right for Burger King. Making it be a rap song in my opinion doesn’t really make sense with how the company presents itself.

Second to last on the list is “Flame Grilled Layers”. This song is meant to advertise the “Burger King Melts”. My big problem with this song is that the singing somehow sounds AI generated. The singing also doesn’t match up quite right with the music in the background.

The worst BK song is “The New Fiery Menu Only at Burger King”. This song is meant to advertise the “Fiery Menu” at Burger King that has spicy foods, but the problem with the ad is the singers. It just seems like they got some random people who don’t know how to sing or make good lyrics.

‘Thunderhead’ review

By: Samson Belihu

*Warning: This article contains minor spoilers

The book ‘Thunderhead’ was made by Neal Shusterman and is a sequel to ‘Scythe’.

To help better understand this review, if you haven’t read ‘Scythe’, it is important to know that in this book, they don’t say “kill,” they say “glean”.

Thunderhead is an advanced AI and a perfect ruler of a perfect world; it has its own agenda, which is to protect humanity and ensure their well-being, but it has no control over the Scythedom (in another word, Scythes).

This book is set in the future, where death is conquered. They cured all illnesses, so now they’re immortal, but to keep the population in control, they created Scythes. Scythes are an order of individuals who are responsible for killing, or should I say gleaning, to keep the world’s population in check; once gleaned, they’re unable to be revived by the law. 

In the last book we learned Citra became a Scythe and goes by the name of Scythe Anastasia who is trying to be a good Scythe but Rowan, on the other hand, has taken a dark path. He is now known as Scythe Lucifer, and he embraces a more ruthless method. He believes that the system is corrupted, that he needs to take extreme measures to bring about change, and he is willing to do everything that it takes to accomplish his goal. 

As the story unfolds, we can see conflict ruin the traditional sides and the rise of a new group called the New Order. This group of people believe in a harsher approach to gleaning, and their plan is to maintain control over humanity so they may be feared and have power over anything, which goes against Citra’s ideals of mercy and empathy. Scythes who disagree with their method face dangers and challenges.

Scythe Anastasia and Scythe Lucifer, who were once friends, find themselves in conflict with their different ideals. But as the New Order rises, their power poses a direct threat to traditional sides as they implement harsher methods of gleaning.

Will the New Order have full control over Scythes, or will Citra and Rowan fight back in their own way that we are not sure of as they left us on a cliffhanger?

I personally am invested in what’s going to happen in the next book and in my personal opinion, I give this book 8.75/10.

Show recommendation: ‘Cobra Kai’

By: Beverly Stinson

‘Cobra Kai’ is a Netflix original show that was released on May 2nd, 2018. It’s a spinoff of the movie series ‘The Karate Kid’ and it has 6 seasons, with the 2nd part of season 6 coming out on November 15th and the 3rd and final part coming out sometime early 2025.

It starts off about a man named Johnny Lawrence who was one of the antagonists of the ‘Karate Kid’ series. He basically went from being a star to being a nobody but things change for him when a boy named Miguel moves into his apartment building. Miguel basically asks him to teach him karate to defend himself, and so Johnny ends up opening his own karate dojo which happens to be named after the one he was in when he was a kid  “Cobra Kai”.

This wasn’t something I thought I was gonna like when I first watched it but it immediately became one of my favorite shows. It has a really good plot and the characters are amazing. My favorite character is ‘Eli/Hawk’.

My only con about the show is that I feel like it goes too fast, like there’s a lot of time skips and I especially wish they went more in depth with the first 2 seasons.  But other than that, it’s a really good show, it has a lot of comedy but some serious parts as well, especially in later seasons, and if you watch the movie series you can understand a lot of references and cameos. I would give this series an 8.5/10.

That’s all I have!

-Beverly

Popular Hmong dishes

By: Seng Yang & Christine Yang

Background information about Hmong dishes:

A lot of Hmong dishes originate from different South and East Asian countries since Hmong people originate from southern China. That’s why some Hmong dishes are actually Chinese but have a twist. But later on some Hmong people migrated mostly to Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, which is why many Hmong dishes are from those countries too but again, not every dish are the same as the “originals”. 

Qaub Taub Ntoos (papaya salad):

Background information: Papaya salad is a dish that originated from Laos, which influenced recipes in Cambodia, Thailand Vietnam, and West Asia.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of shredded green papaya
  • 2 tbsp of roasted peanuts (optional)
  • 2 cloves of peeled garlic
  • 1-2 fresh birds eye chili (or more depending on tolerance)
  • 1 tbsp of dried shrimp (optional)
  • 7 cherry tomatoes
  • ½  juice of lime
  • 1½ tbs of fish sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp Thai snake beans (or green beans) cut into 1 inch sticks

Directions:

  1. Peel the papaya, shred it with a shredder (or a mandolin slicer) to thin strips and soak it in cold water
  2. Cut the green beans into one-inch pieces
  3. Take the chilies and peeled garlic and give them a gentle bash with mortar and pestle (bits and pieces) and add crushed peanuts and mix well (optional)
  4. Add shredded papaya and continue bashing (not too hard)
  5. Add tomatoes, beans, lime juice and fish sauce while lightly bashing

Fawm Kib (pho nooldes stir fried):

Background information: The dish is a very popular Lao dish known as Khua Mee or also known as Lao stir fry noodles.

Ingredients:

Noodles

  • 28 oz (1 lb 12 oz) dried pho/rice noodles soaked in hot water

Sauce

  • 2 tbsp oil (vegetable or garlic oil)
  • ½ cup chopped shallots
  • ½ cup crushed palm sugar (4oz)
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ cup Kwong Hung Seng sweet soy sauce (5.5oz)
  • ¼ cup oyster sauce (2.5oz)
  • 2 tbsp Golden Mountain seasoning sauce (1.2oz)
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce (1.5oz)
  • 2 tbsp dark soy (1 oz)
  • 1.2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp chicken bouillon
  • ½ to ⅔ cups garlic oil

Eggs

  • 12 large eggs
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • Garlic oil to fry

Garlic Oil

  • 1 cup oil
  • ¼ cup minced garlic (1.25 oz)

Mix in and Garnish

  • 3 cups chopped cilantro (stem included)
  • 2 cups green onions (slice thin, julienne)
  • Sliced omelet
  • Bean sprouts
  • Fried garlic (optional) 

Directions:

Noodles

1) In a bowl, add in 28oz dried noodles. Soak in cold water overnight. Once soaked, drain well and then pour in hot boiling water over the noodles. Stir and cook for about 30 secs to 45 sec until the noodles are cooked to your liking. It should be cooked but also chewy and slightly firm. Do not overcook the noodles or leave the noodles in the hot boiling water for too long or else they will break apart while mixing. Depending on which size noodles you use, cooking may take longer.

2) Once cooked, drain the noodles and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well for at least 15-20 before adding in the sauce.

Sauce

1)  In a pan, add in 2 tbsp of oil and chopped shallots. Cook and sweat the shallots for a good 1 minute or so. Then add in the crushed palm sugar and 1/4c water.  Cover for 1 minute or so under medium heat to allow the steam to melt and break apart the palm sugar.  Then add in all the other sauces and seasoning. Stir well for a good 30 seconds or so to incorporate it in with the shallots and palm sugar. Then take it off the heat and let it cool before adding it into the noodles if you desire.  Feel free to taste the sauce before adding it into the noodles. You may want it to be sweeter, saltier, etc.

2) Make the garlic oil as well if you desire. 1 cup oil in w/ 1/4 cup minced garlic. Medium cook until the garlic are golden crispy. Drain the oil and separate the fried garlic to be used later.

MIXING

1)  Pour the drained noodles into a big mixing bowl along with all the sauce. Add in the 1/2 cup of garlic oil and mix everything well. You will notice it may be a little wet in the bottom of the noodles. That’s okay. Let it sit for a good 15-20 minutes to allow the noodles to soak up all the sauce. Taste and adjust at this step if needed. Make sure to mix it every 5 minutes or so while it’s sitting to ensure the noodles are fully coated with the sauce.

Toppings

1) Add 12 eggs into a bowl along with the black pepper and fish sauce. Mix well. Then cook it on a non stick pan brushed with garlic oil. Cook like an omelet so we can cut it into strips. If you have a big pan you may do 2 rounds of cooking the eggs. I did four rounds so I can get a medium thin thickness.

2) Wash and cut the cilantro and green onions to your liking

3) Wash the beansprouts

Finishing

1) Once the noodles are well soaked in with the sauce, add in the chopped cilantro, green onions, fried garlic from earlier, and sliced eggs. You can also add bean sprouts at this point too. However, if you want to save some noodles in the fridge for tomorrow, don’t mix in the beansprouts with the noodles overnight due to the amount of moisture they contain. Just garnish the bean sprouts when you want to eat a plate of noodles.

2) Serve with fried garlic, shallots, and other herbs/proteins you desire. Serve cold, room temp, or warm.

http://foodgeneralist.blogspot.com/2009/08/khua-mee-fried-noodles.html

Fawm Kauv (steamed rice rolls):

Background information: Steamed rice rolls is a Cantonese dish originating from Guangdong Province in southern China. Steamed rice rolls are also one of the popular Vietnamese dishes, bánh cuốn. Even though fawm kauv/Hmong steamed rice rolls are the “same” as those countries or more, the ingredients are different to some of them.

Ingredients:

Rice Roll Crepe

  • 1 pack rice flour (16oz)
  • 1 pack tapioca flour (16oz)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 14 cups water

Pork Filling

  • 2 lbs pork
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp chicken bouillon
  • 1 cup cilantro
  • ½ cups green onion

Dipping Sauce

  • 4-6 Thai pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ msg
  • Roasted peanuts (optional and as much you like)
  • Water (as much you like)

Directions:

Dipping Sauce

1) Put 4-6 Thai pepper into the mortar with ½ tsp salt, ¼ msg, and roasted peanuts (optional and as much you like)

2) Crush them with a pestle

3) Add water (as much you like)

4) Stir

Meat Filling

1) In a frying pan, add in the ground pork. Saute until the meat is cooked. Then add in the seasonings and herbs. Taste and adjust. Set aside.   

Rice Roll Crepe

1) In a big mixing bowl, add in the rice flour, tapioca starch, and salt. Mix well. Then add in the water. Mix well to get starches from the bottom well incorporated with the water. Set aside

Cooking, Rolling and Filling

1) Have a bowl of oil and a brush ready. Brush a flat tray with oil so you have that ready for the cooked crepe as well as your non-stick cooking pan. Heat the pan on medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan and swirl it around until the bottom of the pan is well coated with the batter. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 30 seconds. Uncover and quickly flip it over the oiled flat tray. Fill with the meat filling and roll the ends and then bottom all the way up (just like a burrito). REPEAT THE PROCESS until all the batter is used up.

2) MAKE SURE to stir the rice roll crepe batter once in a while because the starches will settle down to the bottom.

Kan Yuab (egg rolls):

Background information: Lika most Hmong dishes they’re mostly inspired by different countries/cultures from Asia. Egg rolls originate in China (date back to ancient China). 

Ingredients:

  • 1 (10 ½ ounce) bag rice thread noodles
  • 24 egg roll wrap
  • 1 (10-12 ounce) package coleslaw mix (or 1 sm cabbage and 2 carrots shredded)
  • 1 bunch green onion
  • 1 ½ lb ground pork
  • 1 egg (+ xtra 1 for sealing egg rolls)
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1) Soak noodles in very hot water for 10 minutes.

    2) Drain.

    3) Rinse with cold water.

    4) Cut into 3-inch lengths; set aside.

    5) Chop green and yellow onions and cilantro (also, cabbage and carrots if not going with the packaged coleslaw).

    6) Mix all ingredients together.

    7) Heat oil (med high heat).

    8) Peel rice skin wraps apart, put about 1/2 cup mix on egg roll wrap.

    9) Roll it up.

    10) Seal with egg.

    11) Cook for about 10 minutes.

      https://www.food.com/recipe/hmong-egg-rolls-37355

      Qhaub Piaj (thick chicken noodle soup):

      Background information: Qhaub piaj (thick chicken noodle soup) is a Hmong and Laotian dish, it’s also called khao piak sen in Laotian.

      Ingredients:

      Noodles

      • 1 cup rice flour
      • 2 cups tapioca starch
      • 1 ¼ cups of boiling water

      Broth

      • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
      • 48 oz chicken stock
      • 1 stalk lemongrass
      • Salt (choice of amount)
      • Pepper (choice of amount)
      • Fish sauce (choice of amount)
      • 1-2 cups of water if needed

      Directions:

      1) Put rice flour in a stand mixer

      2) Add 1 cup of boiling water and mix

      3) Add a little bit of water at a time

      4) Add a little bit tapioca starch until the dough puts together

      5) Divide the dough into thirds

      6) Roll ⅓ of the dough until it is ⅛ inch thick using tapioca starch on the surface so it doesn’t stick

      7) Cut it into ¼ thick (or depending on how thick you like)

      8) Dust the noodles in tapioca starch to prevent sticking to each other

      9) Add noodles in boiling water

      10) Stir so they don’t stick to each other

      11) Noodles are done when they float

      12) The broth will be thick

      https://chawjcreations.com/qhaub-piaj-thick-chicken-noodle-soup/

      Explaining all of the fan-made character designs for ‘Life Series’ and ‘Hermitcraft’

      By: Julia Yang

      The ‘Life Series’, as previously stated in a past article, is a Minecraft server where the members have a certain amount of lives and must be the last one standing in order to win.

      The ‘Hermitcraft SMP’ is a server where around 27 friends/YouTubers/stream-ers come together and play Minecraft. That’s basically it.

      The fan artists enjoy taking aspects of the events in those series’ and seasons and input them into what they think the Minecraft skins should look like, or just have fun with it. Today I’m explaining each fan design for those who don’t know what they are or why they’re there.

      First, what’s up with Jimmy and yellow feathers/wings? Most people who are fans know this already, but the yellow wings and feathers are a callout to the canary bird. The reason why fans draw Jimmy with canary wings is because they’ve all collectively decided that he has something called the “canary curse”. This curse is rooted from the fact that in every season of the ‘Life Series’ he’s the first to die. I know, “well what’s the connection to the canary?” It’s a canary because in the past, canaries were used by coal miners to tell if danger or hazard was near because there would be potential gas leaks that would kill the canary first before the miner. Jimmy is the canary of the server as he dies first, which always signifies in the server that things are going to go downhill very fast.

      Grian is often drawn with rainbow parrot wings; the reason for this is actually very simple. One time Grian was being annoying in the ‘Hermitcraft SMP’ and was called a “pesky bird”. That’s about it for this one.

      Another thing you may see on Grian is purple eyes and wings. This one ties back to lore and a complicated story, but to put it short, Grian is a “watcher”, hence the eyes, and the purple wings I believe just tie back to the parrot wings. Both however, people like to draw as biblically accurate angels, because why not?

      BigB will sometimes be seen drawn with dog ears and tail, or very recently, as the creaking creature in the new Minecraft update. The dog ears and tail is because he was Ren’s soulmate in ‘Double Life’; Ren’s full YouTube name is RenDog, and his skin has dog ears and a tail. BigB changed his skin to match Ren (giving him ears and a tail), which fans found adorable and ran with it.

      BigB is drawn as the creaking creature in Minecraft recently because in the new ‘Wild Life’ season, he lives in the Pale Garden (where the creaking resides), and fans thought it would be so cool to draw him as the terrifying creature.

      Doc will be drawn with goat horns and sometimes legs, basically all the time. This is because he calls himself the G.O.A.T. Usually when people call themselves the G.O.A.T. it stands for “Greatest Of All Time”, but in Doc’s case, it stands for “Grind. Optimize. Automate. Thrive”. You see, Doc loves making automated machines, grinding for materials, and doing some of the most absurd activities like bringing the Ender Dragon to the over world just to have it as a pet.

      Mumbo is sometimes drawn as a moth, this one is because of ‘Hermitcraft’ season 8. In season 8, the moon started to grow at an alarming rate, and to “calm down” the moon, Mumbo decided that he was going to never sleep. Fans then thought of Mumbo as a moth because, well, moths love their moon.

      Tango is sometimes drawn with fire for hair and a tail, and this one doesn’t really have a solid reason. Tango’s skin has slicked back blonde hair that fans just interpreted as fire since it was cool, and the tail is because Tango’s skin has red eyes and used to be drawn with horns too. They used to make him into a demon/devil type creature because of his red eyes, but then Tango said at some point “just because I have red eyes doesn’t mean I’m a demon”, so fans took away the horns and made him have a tail, making him his own species of creature.

      Impulse is drawn with horns and a tail, just like how Tango was, but for a very different reason. Skizz, Impulse’s friend of 20 years, nicknamed him “Impy”. Of course Impy is short for Impulse, but fans immediately thought of the type of demon “Imp” and made him an Imp. You can thank Skizz for this one.

      Scar is drawn with scars on his face. I think this one is self explanatory, but I’ll explain anyway— Scar is drawn with scars on his face because of his name, and because it’s easier to differentiate between him and another player (Scar’s skin looks like a normal person otherwise).

      I’ll admit, this may not be all of them, but it’s definitely the most recurring ones. Just keep in mind that if you ever see one of the members drawn with a characteristic that isn’t on their Minecraft skin, there’s always a reason for it.

      Upcoming play: ‘And Then There Were None’

      By: Persephone Pond

      Highland Park Theater Arts presents ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie. Here’s a quick, spoiler-free review of the plot of this show, and all the information you’ll need to know.

      ‘And Then There Were None’ was originally written by Agatha Christie and was first published in 1939. Over the years, there have been many spin offs of movies, shows, and play adaptations. There are many adaptations of this novel, including different endings, some happy, some sad. Fun fact: the student cast of this show got to choose which ending they wanted to put on.

      The plot of this famous murder mystery revolves around 10 strangers who each individually receive mysterious invitations to a solitary mansion on an island off the coast of Devon, Britain. As each individual guest is accused of a grizzly crime, and people begin to mysteriously die one by one, the remaining members of the group must discover who among them on this island is the killer and how to stop them.

      Highland Park’s production stars a talented cast of students cast by theater director Nancy Micheal. The show is completely student run apart from directing, with students manning the lights, sound, set, props, ect.

      Opening night is Thursday, November 14th at 7pm in the Highland Park Auditorium. Additional performances are Friday, November 15th at 7pm, and Saturday, November 16th at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are sold at the door, cash or card, and are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Concessions and merchandise are available for purchase and all proceeds go to funding future productions.

      To learn more about future shows, you can follow @hptheatrearts on Instagram.

      TOP 8 CAKE FLAVORS

      By: Grace Lopez

      1. VANILLA
      This cake flavor has to be one of the most popular flavors in the whole world. This cake is a simple normal vanilla cake. It would go really well with any type of party or event and it’s probably number one to get.

      https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/vanilla-cake/

      2. CHOCOLATE
      This cake flavor is a really chocolate creamy cake. It’s a really good flavor to choose for any type of cake. I really enjoy this cake. And this one would also be a favorite to get.

      https://addapinch.com/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/

      Photo by Geovane Souza on Pexels.com

      3. STRAWBERRY
      This cake is one of my favorite types of cake to choose from just because it’s so fresh and it tastes really good and it’s better when it’s made with real strawberries. I would also recommend this flavor.

      https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/strawberry-cake-recipe/

      4. CONFETTI
      This cake is my favorite cake of all time. I love how it’s just a normal vanilla cake with some colorful sprinkles inside and for me it’s just a good taste, and if someone would ask me what would be my favorite I would choose confetti.

      https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/funfetti-layer-cake/

      5. RED VELVET
      This cake is really good, I love how it’s so fresh when it’s just made and I love how they are better made into cake pops then actual cake, so I would recommend it to people that love cake pops.

      https://preppykitchen.com/best-red-velvet-cake/

      6. LEMON
      For me I don’t really like this type of cake but a lot of people really love this type of cake. It has a nice lemonly sour and sweet flavor. And for people that love sour and sweet I would recommend this flavor.

      https://cakebycourtney.com/the-best-lemon-cake-recipe/

      7. CARROT
      This type of cake flavor is also one of my favorite types of cake especially with buttercream frosting. The frosting gives it such a good flavor to the cake and by itself. This is also in my top 3.

      https://sugarspunrun.com/best-carrot-cake-recipe/

      8. PISTACHIO

      This cake flavor is personally not one of my favorites but like I said a lot of people really like this flavor. It’s such a fresh and pistachio type of flavor so if you really like pistachios I would recommend this flavor for you.

      https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/moist-pistachio-cake-recipe/

      ‘NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND’: REVIEW

      By: Charlotte Bistodeau

      ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ was released in 1984 and was Hayao Miyazaki’s first ever film he did. It’s also the first ever film I watched by Miyazaki followed up by ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and the like.

      ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ is a post-apocalyptic fantasy based in a world covered in plants that make up the Toxic Jungle. Nausicaä is a princess who loves her people of the Valley of the Wind and would do anything to protect them. But she also loves the insects of the Toxic Jungle and knows that harming them would only hurt her people.

      ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ has got to be my favorite movie and I must have watched it over twenty times. From the writing to the screenplay, I love it all. The story is about a girl, Nausicaä, who is taken as captive and ends up in the middle of a feud between two other empires, Tolmekia and Pejite. In the end, she ends up getting back to the Valley of the Wind and stopping the Ohmu, an insect from the Toxic Jungle, stampeding across the land destroying everything in their path. I love Nausicaä’s character and what she believes. She is strong and caring and she would do anything to protect her people, even if it meant dying.

      I also think that my favorite sound track from any of Miyazaki’s films has to be from this movie. All the songs convey different feelings that you can really feel.

      I also have to talk about the voice acting. I have watched it in the original Japanese and the English version and I have to say, surprisingly, the English version is better. Nausicaä’s voice in the Japanese version is extremely small and baby like, which doesn’t suit her at all, while in the English version she sounds like an 18-year-old girl, which she is. The audio quality is also way better and also the subtitles on the Japanese version are really bad. For example, there is little emotion and some of the sentences don’t make any sense whatsoever. It’s one of the only films where I like the English dub better.

      Overall, I rate this movie a 10/10 but I might be a little biased. The only real complaint would be that they did skip over some parts in the book, which Miyazaki wrote. But it doesn’t take anything from the movie, probably because Miyazaki was the author of the book and one of the directors of the movie.

      You can find the movie on Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube TV, and Google Play Movie. You can also purchase the Blu Ray/DVD set for 15 dollars at Target. In any case, I would recommend the movie to anyone, young or old.