Category Archives: Entertainment

Tech/Games

Video games for spring 2019

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This spring is sort of boring when it comes to most video games. Because there are not a lot of big holidays around the springtime, developers don’t always put out the big and interesting games. Plus, many of the “new games” aren’t actually new but are old games being ported to the new systems. Some of these games include: Resident Evil 1 and 4, Assassin’s Creed III, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. But, there are some new games coming out, and here are a few of the most interesting.

Mortal Kombat 11

The Mortal Kombat series has been a long running series of fighting games. They’re known for their very bloody fights that occur in the game. And because of this, most of the games are rated M. Mortal Kombat 11 was developed by Netherrealm Studios, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is coming out for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The current release date is set for April 23, 2019.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission

The Dragon Ball Heroes franchise up to this point has exclusively been in Japan. This is the first to be localized to the rest of the world. It is an action card game that creates what if characters and situations that aren’t originally used in the Dragon Ball manga or anime. So far, it is only being released on Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows, and is developed by Bandai Namco. It has recently been released on April 5, 2019.

Super Meat Boy Forever

Originally, this game was made for iOS but was changed to an actual sequel to the original Super Meat Boy game. Super Meat Boy is a single player platforming game that is known for how difficult of a game it can be. The new game will now have new controls and randomly generated levels based upon the players skills in the game. The game is being developed by Team Meat, for iOS, Android, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and the Nintendo Switch. It is set to release on the 29th of April, 2019.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Stranger Things 3 – The trailer is out!

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The Stranger Things 3 trailer was released by Netflix on March 20, 2019, and it is absolutely full of new clues about the third installment of the beloved Netflix original. From audio clips, to briefly flashed images, fans of the show are beginning to piece together exciting details about season three. Today, I’ll cover some of the details that give us an idea of season three’s plot.

If you haven’t seen Stranger Things, you may want to now. Even with only 2 seasons (17 episodes total) since July 15, of 2016, when it first aired, Stranger Things is still incredibly popular. According to Nielsen – a rating service well known for its accuracy – 15.8 million people watched the first episode of Stranger Things 2 within the first three days.

To give a very brief summary, the show follows the story of friends Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will as they encounter strange mysteries in their small hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. Along the way, they meet Eleven – a girl with supernatural abilities and the number 11 tattooed on her wrist.

From the opening scene of the trailer, we can tell when the third season will take place. Dustin has returned from summer camp, as we can see he is wearing his camp uniform and is talking about how he is finally home.

We can also assume that Nancy and Jonathan are attempting to spread the word about what is really happening in Hawkins. In season two, they were working with the reporter Murray Bauman to expose the Hawkins Laboratory. In the trailer, Nancy and Jonathan are shown in the waiting area of The Hawkins Post, presumably about to talk with a reporter.

Finally, many fans have speculated that the main source of evil in this season may use, or be related to, mind control. The opening scene where Eleven is controlling Dustin’s toys could be hinting at this.

Throughout the trailer, we also see many people with blank looks on their faces, and Steve Harrington seems to have an infection on his arm that closely resembles the typical texture of the upside down. Shortly after that, we see someone in a hospital transform into a new kind of monster while Jonathan watches in horror.

Water and electricity may play a role in the controlling of the people of Hawkins, as both are common themes in the trailer.

Whatever happens, Stranger Things 3 is sure to be a great addition to the series.

Movies/TV/Theaters, School Life

Into the Woods comes to HPSH

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by: N. Michael

This year’s spring musical brings everyone’s most beloved fairy tale creatures into the woods as they pursue their wishes.

The Baker and his wife (Logan Staeheli and Leah Terry) work to undo the curse put upon their house by the Witch (Sidra Michael).
Meanwhile Cinderella (Clare Brownlee) wishes to go to the King’s Festival where she hopes to meet one of the handsome princes (Soren Eversoll, Thomas Madson, Lorenzo Reyes, Fernando Rivera and Joshua Taylor) while poor Jack (Soren Chirhart) to sell his cow (Adam Meyers).
Lost children, misplaced princesses, a wolf, a mysterious man and a host of fairy tale creatures collide in this musical comedy.
Performances are April 11th and 12th at 7:00 and April 13th at 2:00 and 7:00.
Come support HPSH Arts!
Travel/Food

Is a burrito a sandwich?

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As you may have heard, there’ve been massive arguments about whether or not a hot dog counts as a kind of sandwich, but recently a ceasefire took place between the two passionate sides, as it was officially stated as one by The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, and with a name like that, you know they mean business.

Let’s weigh in the burrito, because for something this important, you need to be in good shape. Anyways, coming in at an average of Chipotle weight, 1 pound and six ounces of pure meat and rice, all the way from the Guanajuato state in central Mexico, it’s covered in carbs but can it take on the Herculean task of being classified as a sandwich? Let’s find out.

So, going on the idea that a hot dog is already a sandwich, as it’s surrounded by bread, we must ask ourselves the daunting question which haunts me as I try and drift off to sleep every single gluten packed night of my life…is a tortilla a kind of bread? And man, oh I did some research, I sure did. I went back into the archives, I unearthed stone tablets of monumental historical knowledge, I needed to make my information reliable, and extraordinary as humanly possible, so I went on lyonbakery.com, aka an Olympian library of gluten-ious facts.

And according to those extraordinarily heroic saints from that website, it’s said that bread, in it’s simplest form, is officially decreed to be a paste of flour and water, cooked over or surrounded by heat. And I don’t know what kind of useless calculus they taught you at Harvard, but according to me, that sounds a heck of a lot like our champ the tortilla here. So, I know what you’re thinking, it’s a done deal right? If a tortilla is a kind of bread, then obviously a burrito is a kind of sandwich?

But you couldn’t be more wrong.

Now, as tragic as this tale of woe may seem, there is indeed a silver lining at the end of the rainbow of this gluten packed tale of glory. As some would say; it’s not about the burrito, it’s about the friends you made along the way. That friend being the informative research of that a tortilla is a kind of bread.

 

Movies/TV/Theaters

What was happening with Captain Marvel?

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Captain Marvel was released on March 8th, but there was a whole mess of events regarding the movie before that.

Captain Marvel has a female lead superhero which, despite it not being a big deal, caused a huge controversy.

Brie Larson, who plays Captain Marvel in the film, brought up feminist issues. This caused a lot of anti-feminist people to go against the film because it is “feminist propaganda.” Captain Marvel did not get good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes before its release, and in turn Rotten Tomatoes disabled the feature to rate movies before its release.

The bad reviews also caused a small Twitter drama. A lot of people would complain about how only white men would review the movie as bad, and this caused some female critics to wonder if that makes their criticism worthless as they also didn’t like the movie.

Some people complained about the music. The movie would use pop music which would remind people about Guardians of the Galaxy, but the complaints came from the fact that the latter movie was more fitting for that type of music as it had a personal connection to the main character.

Overall, it was a generic superhero movie. It was less of the movie itself that caused so much drama, but rather the events and interviews that took place before it’s release.

It’s a shame that the movie had so much pre-release drama, but just like all other internet drama, it will all blow over soon. At least now we’re all just waiting for Endgame together.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Frozen 2’ trailer

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Frozen 2’s trailer has officially been released, and many people are hyped up and excited for the movie. The movie is planned to be released on November 22nd, of this year. There were many aspects within the trailer that captured people’s attention.

One of the aspects was the beginning scene, with the waves. Everyone is shocked about how the waves looked so real, even the whole setting of the shore looks real.

Another aspect is that none of the characters speak. The whole trailer was just full of action and movement. Along with that, there seems to be two new faces in the trailer that brings even more excitement.

People have also noticed that during the end of the trailer, where the title, Frozen 2, shows up, it is not exactly fully frozen. There are leaves flying through and the bottom part of the title which seems to be melted. Many people have come up with theories on what might be happening, but no one really knows yet.

Since the trailer to Frozen 2 has caused an uproar of excitement, I decided to ask some of my friends, who had, and hadn’t watched, Frozen 1, their opinions of trailer.

Robbie Garcia: They didn’t even talk in the trailer, I don’t think Frozen 2 has anything to do with Frozen 1 because they didn’t even say anything; it’s just all action. I’m really looking forward to the sisterhood bond and the powers. What captured my attention in the trailer was the beginning scene with the waves. The way they animated it was just amazing, it looked so real.

Tovi Yangh: It’s different from the first trailer; it’s a bit more serious and suspenseful with the second trailer. I feel like the suspense makes Frozen 2 even more exciting than when Frozen 1 was announced. Along with that, we can see that Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff are going on an adventure that might or might not be in Arendale.

Xeng Thao: I went to watch Frozen 1 in theatres so I’m planning to watch Frozen 2 in theatres too. When I watched the trailer to Frozen 2, I felt like I had to do more research on theories of Frozen because it’s very different. I would’ve preferred if the characters actually talked in the trailer or showed a snippet of any songs they’re planning for.

Chai Her: I should probably try to watch Frozen 1 before Frozen 2. After watching the trailer to Frozen 2, I had no idea what was happening, and have no idea what to expect. The trailer fascinated me. I’m hoping that when I do decide to watch Frozen 1, it’ll be as good as everyone says.

Mahmoud Ahmed: I’ve only heard a few of the songs, but watching the movie never came into my mind. The trailer for Frozen 2 did make me want to watch Frozen 1 so I could tell what to expect. I think that the trailer was really well done, especially with the water in the beginning.

Thomas Nguyen: The trailer made the whole movie stand out even if it’s not out yet. I hope I’ll like the Olaf character as much as other people do. I want to be able to feel the same excitement others are feeling for Frozen 2.

If you still haven’t watched the trailer, you can watch it using this link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eSLe4HuKuK0

School Life, Tech/Games

Impacts on teens through social media.

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By Delaney Sis and Na’Riyah Johnson

Woman with negative surprised face looking something in smartphone. Sad teenager with mobile phone, scared of threatening, mobile abuse. Front view of a sad teen checking phone sitting on the floor in the living room at home with a dark background. Image taken from: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/front-view-sad-teen-checking-phone_1868534.htm

Today, so many teens are using social media everyday. According to the West Virginia Teachers Association website, the average teenager spends about 9 hours a day on social media/technology. Even if you are using it in increments, the amount of time adds up over time. 

Social media has both positive and negative impacts on people. There are a few more negative impacts instead of positive ones (for a more detailed list, please visit the Independent’s website). Many people believe even if they don’t have a phone, or they don’t have social media, they are still exposed to technology and the media.

Teenagers who use social media can use it to cyber bully other teenagers. Teenagers believe that if you are doing it through the phone, then teenagers won’t have to tell them face to face. Cyber bullying can get so bad, to where the one who is being bullied doesn’t know what to do, that they turn to hurting themselves; some even to the point of wanting to not live anymore. The bully doesn’t realize what they have done until it’s too late.

Teenagers who use social media can gain low self-esteem. You may be wondering: How does social media make you gain low self-esteem? Well, when you compare your pictures to others, you start to feel self doubt. Sure, many people have self doubt, but constantly scrolling through you social media feed isn’t healthy.

Aside from teenagers gaining low self-esteem, they can also gain a feeling of depression. If you don’t know what depression is, according to WebMD, it is a disorder that leads to many different emotions. Having depression can affect the immune system. 

Teens need to talk more with others. Talking to others is a key thing to expand who you are as a individual. Communication with others can also start to get harder because of how long time has been spent on social media, or just our devices in general.

Social media can also affect how your see you body. Looking through someone’s feed can only make things worse if you already see you body as poor, which could lead to unsafe diets. An unsafe diet can also lead to malnutrition. Malnutrition leads to an imbalance in the lack of nutritions in the body. Malnutrition affects 45% of children, which is about 3.1 million children each year. Those are just numbers from children who are under the age of 5. For more information on the effets of malnutrition, please visit: https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/growing-hungry-quick-facts-about-malnutrition

Entertainment, National

Jussie Smollett

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Jussie Smollett was born on June 21, 1982, and is an American actor and singer. Jussie Smollett grew a big following after appearing on the famous show Empire. He plays Jamal Lyon.

On the night of January 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett tells the police that at around 2 a.m. what he believed were two white males, wearing masks and a MAGA (make America great again) hat, had attacked him. According to Smollett, the two men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. They then tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.

Smollett says he went home and one of his close associates had to call and tell the police 40 minutes after the incident had occurred. Sources say that Smollett was hesitant to call the police because of his status.

After the attack was shared to different media outlets, there were a lot of A-list celebrities that offered their support to Jussie Smollett.

After the investigation, police noticed that some things that Jussie was doing after the incident were odd. For example, the night of the attack, Smollett said that he had broken ribs, two days later he was seen at a concert dancing and jumping. It didn’t make sense as to why someone who had broken ribs would hold a concert.

On February 1, Jussie released his first public appearance on Good Morning America, he said, “Let me starts off by saying that I’m O.K. My body is strong but my soul is stronger.”

During the interview, people noticed how Smollett was getting defensive when Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts asked why didn’t he give the police his phone. Smollett said he had personal pictures and information that he didn’t want the police to see. People thought that if you are innocent, and have nothing to hide, you’ll just give the police your phone.

A few weeks after the incident, it came out that police think that Smollett hired two brothers to stage the attack, and the reason why he did this was because he wasn’t getting paid enough. For his role on the show Empire, he only gets paid $20,000 an episode and he thought that wasn’t enough, so he thought that by staging this attack, he would get a raise and get donations for the hate crime that happened to him.

A lot of people were hurt that he could have lied about a situation like this, feeling that he’s making it harder for people of color to come out in the future and tell their hate crime stories.

Clubs and Activities, Music/Concerts

Benstock

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Image taken from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwXG-KyL_O1oNUtEWnRHN3Nsejg/view

Every year, Highland Park Senior High has an event called Benstock. The NHS organization oversees this event, and had auditions on February 11th, 13th, and 14th. Those who auditioned for this event, and passed to perform, must attend rehearsals on March 6th and 7th at 2:00 to 5:00.

March 8th is the day of performance, starting at 6:30, at Highland Park Senior High, in the auditorium.

Benstock is an event for people to come and watch people perform their talents. It is very similar to a talent show. If you have attended a Benstock during the past years, you know how fun and exciting it can be.

Invite your friends and come with $5-$10 to attend this event. Come to have a fun time, cheer on your friends and watch amazing performances from your upperclassmen, peers and friends.

If you didn’t know about auditions, or missed the dates, don’t worry, Benstock is held every year and will hold auditions around the same time each year. Pay attention to the posters on the walls in the hallways. These posters will inform you of where and when auditions are held.

Even if you or friends aren’t performing, you can still go and enjoy your time. In previous years they had people sing, dance, tell jokes, play their instruments, and even teachers performed as a band. Some of these performances you just can’t miss.

Setting up and creating this event is not very easy. If this type of work interests you, you can join the NHS. NHS stands for National Honors Society which is a national organization that recognizes academic excellence in students. The purpose for NHS is to promote leadership, help in volunteering, and create an amazing character out of everyone. Those who want to join NHS should strive to show reliability, honesty, sincerity, and are expected to be leaders.

Image taken from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwXG-KyL_O1oUGpMNElWejFXeVU/view

The the first requirement to join NHS is to have a GPA of 3.75 after the first semester of your sophomore or junior year. You also must include an essay on how you have previously served for a project, or how there is a service project you want to do in the future. Other than these requirements you will also need three letters of recommendation.

Any other questions you have can be sent to either of the NHS faculty advisors: Stacy Hanson or Jody Rohweller-Kocur. To get their information, go onto the Highland website and go the the NHS page.

If you have no interest in joining the NHS but would like to be caught up with what they do, you can follow their Twitter or Facebook page.  

Movies/TV/Theaters

Here’s what happened at the 2019 Oscars

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By: Daniela Fernandez and Maddie Baggenstoss

This year’s Oscars was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. The Oscars have been going on since 1929. What happened this year? Keep reading to get all the tea!

This year’s Oscars had no host. They originally were going to have Kevin Hart host this year’s Oscars, but after old homophobic jokes he made resurfaced, he stepped down claiming that he didn’t want any drama during the Oscars, according to Vox. This was the first time since 1989 that the Oscars haven’t had a host.

The awards ceremony opened with Adam Lambert and Queen playing some of their hits.

Here are the winners of big awards from the Oscars.

This year’s winner of the Best Actress Award was Olivia Colman. She won for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite.

The winner of Best Supporting Actor was Mahershala Ali in Green Book for his role as Don Shirley.

Regina King won Best Supporting Actress in If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers.

This year’s Best Picture award went to Green Book. Best Animated Feature went to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Best Director went to Alfonso Cuarón for Roma. He also won Foreign Language Film for Roma, and Best Cinematography for Roma.

Best Original Music Score went to Black Panther with Ludwig Göransson. Black Panther also won Best Costume Design with Ruth E. Carter, and Best Production Design with Jay R. Hart and Hannah Beachler.

Best Original song went to “Shallow” written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.

Best Adapted Screenplay (which is a screenplay based on a book) went to Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee, Charlie Wachtel, and David Rabinowitz for BlacKKlansman.

Speaking of winners, the winner of the Best Actor Award, Rami Malek, accidentally ended the awards ceremony with a bang. Or rather, a thud. According to People, Malek fell off of the stage shortly after finishing his acceptance speech. By that time, the televised production had finished, so the incident did not appear on TV. However, there are pictures circulating the internet. They show a startled Malek on the ground, having just stumbled into the crowd.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper also gave an impressive performance of the song “Shallow” from the movie A Star Is Born. “Shallow” won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Before Gaga and Cooper even got on stage, the crowd applauded them. Many news sources are calling the performance iconic and amazing, and they’re not wrong. It was packed with emotion and the song is beautifully written.

Overall, we are sure this year’s Oscars are going to be remembered for quite some time.