Category Archives: Entertainment

Movies/TV/Theaters

Elon Musk’s SNL feature

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By Caroline Crosby

I’ll begin with a confession. I watched the SNL episode that featured Elon Musk on the night it aired, May 8. However, “watched” may not be the most appropriate term for my experience. 

For context, it was technically Sunday. That evening, I had participated in every IB student’s favorite recurring nightmare: furiously writing an overdue English essay until ungodly hours of the night. For reasons still unknown to me, I decided to reward myself (after its completion) by watching the entire program at 4 am rather than sleeping. 

So, in a delirious, half-conscious haze, a few extreme opinions were formed. To clarify, I’ve never been a devote supporter of Elon Musk. Nor am I particularly familiar with his life’s details. Most of my thoughts on his content made little sense then, as you may have guessed. 

After some thorough reflection though (and thorough re-watching), I’ve returned to share!

Surprisingly, the “lovable billionaire’s” appearance as a celebrity host on the widely popular ‘Saturday Night Live’ was a bit mundane. For someone who spends their free time manufacturing flamethrowers and sending cars to space, I’d have thought that Musk would be more adept with simple jokes and public entertainment. 

To expand on that, SNL’s celebrity host changes episode to episode. They appear in “sketches” throughout the show and act as announcers for the regular act changes and assorted commercial breaks. You can think of the weekly guest as one of those charismatic hosts on ‘Jeopardy’, but make them moderately political and multiply their contractual salary by 1000. 

Many of these featured, famed individuals consistently use SNL’s opening monologue to connect to fans. This usually consists of a heartwarming, comedic, or down-to-earth routine that hosts write and perform themselves.

Elon, however, broke the mold – as he has many times before (though usually with the aid of inane sums of money), and somehow achieved to be neither down-to-earth, comedic, or heartwarming. 

This isn’t to say that nothing good came of his performance, though. 

After all, I, a middle-class high school student, can now proudly support the space cars and hieroglyphic named children (all due respect to little X Æ A-Xii), with the knowledge that I would absolutely demolish Elon Musk in a game of ‘Apples-to-Apples’. Or any other terrible, serialized, and humor-based activity for that matter.

Getting down to the specifics, the sketch capitalized on a very exhaustive comedic narrative. Namely, that Elon is rich; you aren’t.

But fear not! He also unearthed the time, in September of 2018, when he “smoked weed on Joe Rogan’s podcast”. I admire the guts it takes to bring up something that publicly embarrassing, but…why? What did it add? The only line I found outwardly laughable was what he said about OJ Simpson. Which speaks for itself, I feel.

In any case, SNL has always been famous for its lighthearted satire of celebrities and superficial social stereotypes. However, it can prove difficult to land a punchline about the “hilariously” unfathomable economic gap between people like Elon Musk and everyone else, when you are Elon Musk. The man, the myth, the legend: could pay his way into a class or two on writing standup comedy, preferably before performing in front of a live televised audience. 

To no one’s surprise, the most notable extent of his social media influence is economic.

Perhaps the raging sea of devoted fans would argue that “You could buy, demolish, and rebuild an entire country from the ground up with his pocket change alone! Elon Musk doesn’t need to be funny, he’s rich!” To these individuals, I might admit that such a controversial statement merits a degree of truth. Do wealthy people really need to be good at everything they do? In Elon’s case, I believe we have our answer.

Scathing criticism aside, I would like to clarify that any and all critique is directed only towards the content of his routine, not the delivery and performance. I’ve noticed a circulation of comments on social media that target Musk’s monotonous tone and use that to dehumanize him. Jeers like “I like the way he tries hard to host the show like a human does,” or “Him and his mom talking sounds like 2 robots trying to simulate human emotion,” under the YouTube clip of the SNL appearance (linked below) are uncalled for.

As someone with Aspergers, Elon Musk may struggle with public speaking and anxiety. Prosody has long been a source of difficulty for people with autism. Individuals on the spectrum may speak in a monotone way, or do the opposite and exaggerate their intonation. The first instance seems likely here. Attacking Musk for something beyond his control is callous, to say the least.

Though, he is an adult and an accomplished CEO who has addressed and spoken to national audiences before. Numerous times, even. It’s not impossible to handle.

Entertaining a live audience, however, in addition to writing and performing a stand-up act using a medium you’ve never experienced before, is an entirely different matter. 

Really, it’s important to remember that the man is by no means a professional comedian, and a creative medium of this scale is difficult to pull off even for those with years of experience. Regardless of all questionable punchlines, I applaud him for taking a break from running a company and launching things into space, and setting out to try something new.

To watch the performance in question, please visit: 

Books/Art

Echira Oda is the creator of the number one bestselling manga in history

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By: Mohamed Ahmed

Echiro Oda is the creator of the number one best selling manga in history. He is in the top 15 best selling authors of all time. That means Oda has only had his work outsold by fewer people than the number of your toes and fingers. He is also the best selling Japanese writer of all time.

What legendary series could make one man so prolific in history you might ask? The name of the series that has generated billions of dollars in revenue, has had over ten movies based on it, and managed to dominate the manga sales chart for over a entire decade is the franchise: ‘One Piece’. 

Echira Oda was born in the 1970s, January 5th, 1975, to be exact, in Kumamoto, Japan. Ever since he was only four years old he resolved to become a manga artist in order to avoid getting a real job. Little did he know that he was going to have a permanent impact on this world and that his name would forever be remembered. 

He was influenced by Akira Toriyama. The TV show, ‘Vicky the Viking’, sparked his interest in pirates, while Akira Toriyama the creator of the ‘Dragon Ball’ franchise, sparked his interest in anime.

He was only 17 when he submitted his work ‘WANTED’ and received an award. That’s how he was able to get a job at the weekly ‘Shonen Jump’, a manga magazine, as an assistant to an assistant for a couple of series.

When he was 19, he won an award, and even was in an article about the hottest up and coming young mangakas. From there he went on to outsell other series and climb vigorously to the top of the list outselling incredibly big names like ‘Death Note’, ‘Naruto’, and ‘bleach’.

‘One Piece’ was not dethroned for over ten years, until recently when ‘Demon Slayer’ took the top spot for one year, breaking the streak but not the legend.

He is currently still writing ‘One Piece’ to this day, and has managed to stay humble as well as stay out of a career ruining scandal, like many other mangakas, for two decades. 

Movies/TV/Theaters

Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’ review

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By: McKenna Nutter

On April 23rd, 2021, Netflix released an 8 episode series called ‘Shadow and Bone’. ‘Shadow and Bone’ is based on the young adult fantasy novels by Leigh Bardugo, of the same name. The Netflix adaptation is a mix between two series, ‘Shadow and Bone’ and ‘Six of Crows,’ both series by the same author, and taking place in the same fictional universe, known as the Grishaverse. Adaptation writer Eric Heisserer worked very closely with original author, Leigh Bardugo, to bring the character and world to life.

‘Shadow and Bone’ follows orphaned Alina Starkov as she uncovers long-awaited, extraordinary power. Her struggle to stay with childhood best friend, Maylen Oretsev, or Mal, becomes a lot harder when they are seperated due to an incident dealing with the land of complete darkness and dangers that runs across the country of Ravka, called the Fold.

The show also follows other stories, only for them to come together in the end. Kay Brekker, the leader of the Crows, leads Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahey in a dangerous, million kruge (form of currency) heist, creatively bringing ‘Six of Crows’ characters into the ‘Shadow and Bone’ plot. 

According to many original fans, who have read both book series, Netflix’s adaptation is a fan favorite, and one of the most well-done adaptations ever made by Netflix.

The show was shot in Budapest, and stars Jessie Lei Mei as Alina Starkov, Archie Renaux as Mal Oretsev, Ben Barnes as General Kirigan or the Darkling. Freddy Carter stars as Kay Brekker, Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa, and Kit Young as Jesper Fahey.

Fan favorite characters, such as Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, and Genya Safin also make multiple appearances played by Danielle Galligan, Callahan Skogman, and Daisy Head.

After the announcement of the cast and release of the trailer, book fans had been highly anticipating the release of the show, and many were not disappointed. 

Advice/How To, Tech/Games

“Tone Tags” and how to use them

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By: Caroline Crosby

I will preface by saying that this article may be a bit opinion-heavy in some places. The goal is to be as clear and concise as possible with this information, but personal bias can be hard to exclude regarding social accommodations such as tone indicators. 

But what exactly are tone indicators, and why are they used?

The short answer is as the name suggests. They are indications or “tags” that are used to convey tone. Specifically, they clarify the meaning of messages or written posts that could be interpreted in more ways than one. Tags are intended for casual interactions (social networks, SMS, emails, etc.) and were first made popular on text-dependent social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumblr, and Reddit.

Now that the “what” has been briefly established, we examine the “why” and the common application. 

Tone can drastically influence the meaning of a sentence. For example, let’s say that you and a friend were communicating via a standard messaging system. You send them an uproariously witty comment (in your own humble opinion), and they respond with “I hate you.” 

But what did your friend mean by that? Do they really hate you? Were they joking?

For those who struggle to perceive tone through text, these types of situations can be challenging to navigate. Many people (myself included) struggle to pick up on the intention of a message in written form. For neurodivergent individuals, the lack of indications outside of the words themselves (e.g., physical body language, voice inflection, facial expressions) can make it hard to decode the meaning of a text or post.

That’s where the tags come in!

For example, if your friend wanted to convey that their comment was a joke in response to your own, it would read as: “I hate you. /j”.

Alternatively, if your message made them seriously despise you, they would say, “I hate you. /srs”.

Indicators are easy to use and prevent distress from missed social cues. When applied correctly, miscommunication and misunderstandings caused by ambiguous tone in text can always be avoided.

In a day and age where this particular medium of conversation is commonplace, clarity is essential. As non-face-to-face communication, in general, has grown and changed, our syntax, grammar, and sentence structure has adapted as well. 

Likely, you’ve never heard of these fabled “tone tags” before, but they were conceptualized long, long ago. An informative carrd.co site explains:

“The tone indicator ‘/s’ has a well-precedented use, spanning years on Reddit. As early on as the 1580s, there have been tone indicators; Henry Dunham, an English printer, created a backwards question mark, ‘⸮’, which he dubbed the ‘percontation point*. It was meant to indicate rhetorical questions”.

In the modern context, they’ve evolved into a form of accommodation.

However, some believe that these devices are “stupid” and/or a form of “babying neurodivergent people”. Pushback also stems from those who think that the indicators are inconvenient or ruin punchlines. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the phrase “but /j ruins the joke”, I would be a formidable customer at the dollar store. But that’s neither here nor there.

Lastly, it’s essential to recognize that not all neurodivergent individuals need these accommodations. Cognitive disabilities come in all shapes and forms, and just because some struggle with identifying tone does not mean that all struggle with it. I’d advise not to push or assume that every neurodivergent person needs to use these. Ask!

As a disclaimer, choosing not to use them on social media or in other contexts does not make you a bad person. It’s up to you whether you want to employ tone indicators or not, but if someone asks you to clarify a message or use the tags when conversing with them, give it a try! 

For more information, please visit:

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

The Water Sandwich: My personal 15 minutes of fame

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So, I was halfway done writing an article about kids growing up in the age of the internet and all that, and how misinformation and (Mr. Information – that’s not funny I’m sorry) could shape the world as we know it now, but it made me remember a way in which I, Zach Zachowitz, made my mark on humanity as a whole, by creating the ultimate lie, of the Water Sandwich.

So, in 8th grade, during the beginning of 2018, I made this fake screenshot using Inspect Element, and posted it to the internet machine because… I dunno I was bored or whatever, and within a few days, it sorta accidentally became a meme, because people thought it was real and all, and the concept of a “Water Sandwich” being a cuisine is so stupid, it just worked.

I made it from New Zealand, just because nobody really knows anything about New Zealand, and I guess the entire internet just ran with it. Again, I have no way of proving this was me, but then, there’s literally no reason anybody would fake something this mundane, so let me have this.

Not only that, but Google search results even come up for “New Zealand” when you even search for “Water Sandwich,” basically tarnishing the entire nation’s good name from the actions of 13-year-old me a few years ago. So honestly, I don’t know how I sleep at night.

I also found that the official Subreddit for the country of New Zealand had a particular discussion about it from a foreigner questioning whether or not it’s real. And due to either peer pressure, or I don’t even know, people acted like it was real, and I’m like “Wait, they’re literally talking about something I made up,” like, if that isn’t the funniest thing of all time to you, I dunno what is.

I mean, this dude literally made up an entire history of it, “Yeah people don’t eat it much now because of the fluoride scare.” Like, CMON DUDE!

“Yeah my buddy showed me this when I moved here,” NO HE DID NOT, YOU ARE LYING!

I am, (until now) the only person who 100% knows for sure this guy’s pulling this stuff outta nowhere, and I just find it absolutely hilarious. Especially with how pretentious he’s being as well like, “Yeah we have better water than you stupid Americans.” Like yeah, I know, Flint, Michigan and places have some gross tap water and all that, but the fact he used a made up thing to one-up Americans, I dunno, it’s just so hilarious that people just make stuff up and roll with it like that on the internet so blatantly.

I’ve actually seen a lot of this on places where it’s posted, and people lie like this, but this is just the best example of what I’m trying to say here. If a dumb kid like me can make all these people CONVINCE themselves that New Zealanders commonly eat something called a “Water Sandwich,” then think about all kinds of misinformation that can be out there. Like honestly, it’s kinda scary. I genuinely feel like I’m about 5% more skeptical of things I read online from this experience alone.

Also, another strangely goofy thing that’s come from this is some company, or AI, picked up the fact that my “Water Sandwich” image was getting so popular, so it automatically put it on a ton of T-shirts and other merchandise (which I haven’t made a CENT off of, like I’m gonna sue those guys for real – actually I’m not, but still, it’s a thought).

So yeah, I dunno, this sorta was, and still continues to be my 15 minutes of “fame” in a way, but literally nobody knows I did it until now. Again, I have no way of proving it was me, you’re just gonna have to take my word for it, but you’ve gotta admit, this would be a really odd thing to lie about.

Books/Art

10 lesser-known young adult book recommendations

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By: Bijou Kruszka

Have you ever been looking for something to read, but you can only find recommendations for ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘Divergent’? They’re fine books, but most have read them already. If you want something fresh to read, try these novels.

1. ‘Renegades‘

In this series, by Marissa Meyer, who you may recognize as the author of ‘The Lunar Chronicles’, Nova Artino infiltrates a superhero team to try and get revenge for her parents’ death. But when she bonds with Adrian Everhart, the son of the main superheroes, Nova doubts her beliefs. The series has a diverse cast of characters and interesting ideas about right versus wrong.

2. ‘We Are The Ants‘

‘We Are The Ants’ is a beautifully tragic novel about Henry Denton, a high-schooler with a terrible life, who gets abducted by aliens. In one particular abduction, the aliens allow him to save Earth by pressing a button. He’s determined to not press the button, but when he returns to Earth, he meets Diego, whose positivity and love make Henry wonder whether he should destroy the planet or not. Henry is cynical as a narrator, which is rather refreshing for a YA book. Also, for a book as sci-fi as it is, it is incredibly real, and most readers could probably connect with Henry in one way or another.

3. ‘Nevermoor: The Trials Of Morrigan Crow‘

If you’re looking for another fantastical world on the level of ‘Harry Potter’, without having to think about the problematic views of the author, I wholeheartedly recommend the ‘Morrigan Crow’ series. The first book follows Morrigan Crow, a young girl cursed to die on her 11th birthday. When she is rescued from death by Jupiter North, he takes her to the magical realm of Nevermoor, a world filled with magic and interesting characters. To stay in Nevermoor, Morrigan must participate in the trials to enter the Wundrous society. The world of Nevermoor is very immersive and creative, and the dynamic between Morrigan and any other characters she meets is great.

4. ‘Aru Shah and the End of Time’

If you miss ‘Percy Jackson’, with its modern takes on mythology, and its genuinely good comedy, then look no further than ‘Aru Shah’. This series recently ended in January, and it’s fantastic. Aru Shah, in an effort to impress some kids at school, accidentally incites the end of the world. To fix her mistake, she must team up with Mini, a timid girl with extensive and disturbing knowledge of medical things, and Boo, a sarcastic pigeon. Hijinks ensue. This book does it all — incorporates Indian mythology into modern situations, has pop culture references abound, and a cast of well-developed characters.

5. ‘The Line Tender‘

Words cannot describe how much I love ‘The Line Tender’. The book begins with Lucy and her best friend, Fred, creating a scientific journal about sharks for extra credit in their science class. When a beached shark suddenly disappears, it looks like the book will be turning into a light-hearted mystery, but then the story takes a hard turn away from that. When Lucy experiences a huge loss, the novel turns into a painting of grief and how to deal with it. The book is tragic, but also beautiful. Plus, the author lives in Minneapolis, so reading this, you’re supporting a local author.

6. ‘Welcome to Night Vale‘

Both fans, and non-fans, of the hit podcast of the same name can find something to like in this novel. Single mom Diane Crayton and antique shop owner Jackie Fierro work together to solve the mystery of the enigmatic man in the tan jacket, whose face no one can seem to remember. The magical and mysterious town of Night Vale is a cool setting, and you won’t see the end coming.

7. ‘Legendborn‘

‘Legendborn’ follows Bree, an African-American college student grieving the recent death of her mother, who discovers a secret society called the Legendborn, made up of descendants of members of the round table. When she joins their ranks, she sees the bigotry behind the Legendborn. With an epic battle on the horizon, Bree has to decide whether to fight with them or take them down. Though heavy with exposition, the representation in this novel is abundant, and the main character is more likable than most.

8. ‘Skulduggery Pleasant‘

‘Skulduggery Pleasant’ is about a teen girl named Stephanie as she teams up with a talking skeleton named Skulduggery Pleasant to solve her uncle’s murder. The magical setting of this world is original, and the character of Skulduggery Pleasant, though odd in concept, is a very likeable protagonist.

9. ‘The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel‘

Also based on a podcast, ‘The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel’ is creative and works really well in a novel form. Mars Patel’s friend is missing, and nobody seems to care. He is determined to find her, and finds out disturbing things about his idol along the way. The cast of protagonists are all very distinct and likable, and the end has a huge plot twist that you won’t see coming.

10. ‘Star-Crossed‘

‘Star-Crossed’ is about a girl named Mattie who auditions for a small part in her school’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In a turn of events, Mattie has to play Romeo. To top it all off, Gemma, the cute new girl is playing Juliet. This book has an adorable romance and it has discussions about bisexuality that I haven’t seen in other novels.

This concludes my list. Happy reading!

Entertainment, Fashion/Make-Up

2021 Oscar outfits

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The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts and Sciences, took place on April 25, 2021. The stars came out looking glamorous and fabulous in some unforgettable looks. 

Regina King wore a stunning Louis Vuitton look, in a sky blue gown, giving the Cinderella vibes. The dress had exaggerated shoulders and necklines, and all-over crystal embroidery. 

Carey Mulligan wore Valentino Couture. She wore a glittery gold ensemble strapless top and a high-waisted ball gown skirt. She kept the accessories to a minimum, with a simple gold earring by Cartier Jewels, and casually pulled her middle-parted hair back into a bun. 

Zendeya, also in Valentino, wore a yellow cut-out gown with Bulgari jewelry. She had a yellow necklace with a diamond pendant, and she also wore a 21.14-carat yellow diamond ring. Jimmy Choo heels completed her look. 

Andra-Day, in Vera Wang, wore a gold dress with a cutout design, a thigh-high slight, and straps. She wore her hair in a high bun, with dangling earrings, a bracelet, and topped off her look with a series of glittering rings.

Angela Bassett was in Alberta Ferretti. The star appeared in a luxurious, off-the-shoulder, high slit, and long train red gown, with jewelry by Chopard, paired with Christian Louboutin heels. 

Viola Davis dressed in McQueen, and the actress returned to a more classic gown, after leaning towards bright colors throughout the season. She wore a flowing white gown with a cutout bodice design, paired with a diamond earring by Forevermark.

Overall, best dressed was Andra-Day. The singer did not disappoint, with her metallic gown.

For more on the 2021 Oscars looks, please visit:

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Good Omens’: A review

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By: Bijou Kruszka

‘Good Omens’ is an Amazon Prime mini-series following the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley as they work together to stop an 11-year-old Antichrist. The show, although not without its faults, is very entertaining. It is a good, but quick, watch.

To start, let’s look at all the positives. The
first few minutes of the show are narrated by God,
who is voiced by Frances McDormand. The
monologue is reminiscent of the clever writing
style found in Douglas Adams’s ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’. It does an excellent job of setting the tone for the series, and it is a very entertaining start.

Both protagonists, Aziraphale and Crowley, are well-written, and their relationship dynamic works very well (some would say too well, but I’ll touch on that later).

Aziraphale, played by Michael Sheen, has a very interesting character arc. The series follows him internally debating whether he should fight for Earth with Crowley, or turn his back on them and be with his fellow, but inhumane, angels.

Crowley, played by David Tennant, also has an interesting character. He is very loyal to Aziraphale, and he is best described as chaotic neutral. He is often in scenes blaring Queen music out of his car, and from a person who loves Queen, I appreciate just how many scenes they play Queen songs in.

Besides Aziraphale and Crowley, there is a whole cast of side protagonists. For starters, there’s the “Them”, a group of 4 kids led by Adam, who just so happens to be the Antichrist. Though the children don’t get much screen time, they’re always entertaining and feel more like children than most young protagonists.

There’s also Newt Pulsifer and Anathema Device, a witchfinder and a witch, respectively. While Newt doesn’t get much development, he helps Anathema realize she doesn’t have to live her life centered around the prophecies written by her ancestor.

The villains, Lord Beelzebub and Archangel Gabriel are antagonists you love to hate. Beelzebub is just plain evil, as expected from a demon, but Gabriel is evil in a passive-aggressive way, which isn’t a common occurrence and is an interesting character trait.

The ending of the series is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. It’s closed enough for a nice series finale. But, it’s also open-ended just enough for a possible second season.

On the other hand, let’s look at the possible negatives. No series is without its faults, and ‘Good Omens’ is not an exception by any means.

First off, due to its religious contents, it is not a good fit for some. That’s not necessarily a negative if you enjoy that; just something to keep in mind for people who don’t. In fact, a group of Christian moms petitioned Netflix to take ‘Good Omens’ down, but failed to realize that the show was on Amazon Prime, which is hilarious.

Then, there’s the issue of queerbaiting. For those of you unaware with the term, queerbaiting is when fictional media hints at characters being LGBTQ+, but don’t ever confirm it to keep conservative audiences watching. People have said that ‘Good Omens’ is guilty of queerbaiting, but I disagree. The whole concept of ‘Good Omens’ would turn conservative audiences away, so if the creators of the series wanted Aziraphale and Crowley to end up together, they would have. I don’t deny that the characters have romantic tension, but I think that may have been accidental, and that queerbaiting is an inaccurate accusation.

Lastly, I wish there could have been more character development. Side characters like Newt and Adam’s friends barely get much screen time, therefore not giving them a chance to grow.

In the end, ‘Good Omens’, though accused of queerbaiting and unpopular with conservative audiences, is a good series, and an excellent binge watch for a boring weekend.

Travel/Food

My favorite Minnesota parks

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By: McKenna Nutter

Now that spring will be here soon, more people are looking to spend time outdoors, especially after being trapped at home with nowhere to go all year, and it was especially hard in the winter. Luckily, Minnesota has some very nice parks and outdoor areas to go and hangout, take a walk, or if you’re looking for some place to go camping.

One of my favorite, very local places to go, are the Mississippi Falls, also known as Hidden Falls. It’s a great place to go for a short hike with my family, and a place I have been going for longer than I can remember. It’s near Highland Park High School, just across the Mississippi River, through Highland Village.

Another wonderful place to go is Crosby Regional Park. These outdoor trails are located along Shepherd Rd and Kellogg Blvd. It’s a set of trails that runs partially along the river and circles a small lake. I have been here with a friend before, and we had loads of fun, I only wish I had brought more water! 

If you’re looking for a great place to go hiking and kayak, Lebanon Hills Regional Park is a great choice. Last summer, my family and I took kayaks to Lebanon, and the small lakes connected together made for easy movement between each body of water. Not long before our kayak outing, we had taken a long walk through Lebanon’s beautiful hiking trails, and we were even lucky enough to see a group of horse riders, on their own, separate path. It was a large park and the scenery was beautiful. And though I’ve never been personally, I’ve heard they have year-round campsites open. I find Lebanon Hills to be my favorite nearby park, with all of its options for outdoor activities. 

If you’re looking to go camping for a few days, especially to get far out of the city, Whitewater State Park, located not too far from Rochester, in Winona County, was a wonderful place I went to on a group camping trip. The trails were beautiful and hiking through the rocky bluffs was more fun than I had expected. Whitewater State Park is located just a few miles from the Trout Run Creek, a popular place to go fishing. 

Editorials/Student Voice, Movies/TV/Theaters

‘May I Please Enter’ by Alan Resnick review

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Alan Resnick, known for his creepy and strange lil’ shorts that he puts out every once in a while, made this Adult Swim “small” known as “May I Please Enter”. And with it being sorta one of the “newer” ones of his, I thought I’d review it, in an opinionated way, talking about what I personally saw in it, so yeah, here we go.

So, Alan Resnick has been making stuff for years and years, whether it be mini series’, shorts, music videos, etc, and the common theme which most people and I could probably notice when watching his stuff, is that he really enjoys making people uncomfortable. Through either building unrealistic, yet surprisingly tangible tension, or through breaking the viewer’s expectations so irrationally, that they might not even know how a scene was supposed to make them feel. It definitely might not be for everyone, but hey, I think it’s pretty good, so yeah, this short “May I Please Enter,” is assuredly no different. 

So, it opens up with Alan in some sorta cowboy getup, doing a sort of “reality show” where he tries to enter someone’s home, and that’s supposed to just be the show I guess. By the first minute, he already sets the tone pretty well by contrasting the somewhat “upbeat” opening theme with an eerie aftermath of him looming towards the door of the house he “selected” and being strangely threatening towards the random people who he comes across while they wonder if he should come into their living space.

One thing you’ll notice, is how blunt, awkward, and strangely obvious every line of dialogue happens to be. This, while also adding to the humor of it all, sets the unsettling tone pretty well, as it leaves the viewer to desire some semblance of normalcy in an already uncomfortable situation.

Even self aware stuff, such as the “He reminds me of North American colonialism”, almost parodying the viewer trying to make sense of, and take meaning from, what they are being presented with, really just feeds into how unnatural it all is from the start. 

Alan Resnick honestly builds tension in a pretty impressive way as well. As one YouTube commenter put it, “This is a horror movie without the horror”. There is so much rising discomfort in how the audio cues, visual hints, and even scenes that look as though they contain eerie foreshadowing, all ultimately go nowhere, and just leave the viewer dazed and confused by the end of it all.

Like, the “other people live in this house” thing, just perfectly had the atmosphere of the obvious cadence which tells you “something’s not right”, but it just ends unresolved with Alan wanting to just go and see more of the house.

There’s plenty of scenes like this throughout that also do the “fake foreshadowing” thing, like the whole breathing slipper/weapon scene and whatnot, but I think you get the idea.

Another smaller scene I wanted to point out, was the whole part about those “funny little phrases they bought on the internet” with most notably the one that went: “Imagine being so wealthy that your body stops moving”, which sorta predicted the whole phenomenon of NFT’s that’s going on right now if you think about it. It’s not too important specifically to this review, but I just found that interesting watching it again and wanted to mention it here for whatever reason.

But honestly, no scene in this short really is integral or meaningful to the plot, which at the same time, makes all of it equally important, if that makes sense. I mean, without the atmosphere this is total nonsense, and nothing anybody does really matters, but honestly, that’s kinda what makes it, and things like it so interesting.

I mean, most narratives in general, take place in a comfortable “grounded” reality in how people interact with each other on a day to day basis. Like if you watch a movie where it takes place in a sorta crazy ol’ fantasy world or whatnot, characters will still be made to be like, relatable to the viewer. But this makes it seem almost as though our own world is more unreal than any fantasy situation we could see in a movie or book, as we watch just how honestly strange and unsatisfying everyday interactions, and general human behavior, could be as viewed as, through the perspective of a sorta artificial intelligence based robot, or something like that, looking into the breakdown of human behavior as a whole.

So, that’s how efficiently I feel Alan makes our world seem fictional. Like everything they do in the short, easily could be something people do in their every day lives, but it’s presented in such an unconventional, yet uncomfortably blatant way, that it feels almost like an uncanny reflection of how we as people see ourselves, and how incredibly alien and awkward it all feels when you just ever so slightly offset the typical path of how life plays out as a whole in human society.

So yeah, I personally thought it was amazingly strange, creepy, and awkward throughout all of it. And like all Alan Resnick’s shorts, I could definitely find the humor in the discomfort of it all, so I’m not gonna give it a score or anything, all I’m gonna say is, if you’re into this sorta thing, I hope you enjoyed it, and if not, at least you can see where I’m coming from with this breakdown/review of it.