DECEMBER 14, 2015 VOLUME VII, ISSUE III
CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2015 Beneath the Fabrics of Cosplay Ana-Mariana Sotomayor Los Angeles is the glamorous city of eternal makebelieve where fantasy enthusiasts have the freedom to escape reality and transform into the identity they’ve yearned to be. This is the art of cosplaying. Costume play, according to Google, is the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga and anime. The fanatics of cosplay linger for months, awaiting for the next Anime Expo Convention, “Kamikaze, Comic
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Con, Wonder Con, and many more. But when the time does come, they make sure their spotlight is bright. Cosplay’s captivation to its community never fails. Don McCaskill, a cosplay photographer, states its appeal “There is the factor of honoring the source material/ fandom that you love. There is the creative outlet. Then there is the sharing of the work with other fans and making new connections with like-minded people.” To cosplayers, such as Mari Provencher, a photographer and a past Ramona Flowers, Clara from Dr. Who, and Sailor Mercury says, “I imagine that it’s because it’s just really fun and exciting to be your favorite character and nerds everywhere like pretending and playing dress up… There’s a certain joy to it and a suspension of disbelief and I think that had a lot to do with it, that innate happiness.”
Many observe and stare at the presence of a cosplayer in awe, but in the midst of the clouds of admiration, they forget the process it took. A lot of us don’t know how a cosplayer’s costume was made, whether they searched frantically for the final touch or they bought the whole set online. Provencher says, “There are some things I buy and modify. There was one costume where I had someone make a dress for me because I searched everywhere and couldn’t find it so I hired someone to make it.” Cosplayers are very good sewers as well. The end result of the lengthy construction of a different identity is one that cannot be imitated. The beauty in the thick contact lenses, the realness of the wigs worn, and in all, the costume is the ultimate payoff. The biggest compliment a cosplayer can receive is the acknowledgement of their artistry. Provencher says, “Anybody who is really enjoying themselves doing something that doesn’t hurt anyone… respects someone being happy and living their dream.” Cosplayers deserve all the fist bumps and respect for their hard work. Ana-Mariana Sotomayor is a 15 year - old girl with dreams of becoming a journalist. She lives with her sister, her mom, and her wild imagination. She loves coming to 826LA because deadlines bring the best out of her and because it’s a great learning experience.
STUNTMEN Dylan Hong Stunt doubles and stuntmen (and stunt women) have been around for a long time. They have been around since 1910. Since then there has been a lot of stunt people. The most famous stuntman is Tom Cruise. When the Western movie era came along, there were many cowboy stuntmen like Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard, Gary Cooper and John Wayne.
Inking Every Step to Being a Comic Artist with Scott Shaw Rachael Kim Have you ever wanted to know how your favorite comic book artist first got inspired? Scott Shaw, a professional cartoonist, has drawn characters like the the Simpsons, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Smurfs and his own comic series Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew. He got inspired by a television show starring Roy Doty, who drew cartoons called The Adventures of Danny Dee. He also remembers meeting an old Disney cartoonist named Roy Williams who “turned blank pieces of white paper into a portrait of Donald Duck for my grandmother and one of Pluto for me,” says Shaw.
Before you get popular, you need to have a published comic, and to do that, you must know the process of producing a comic. Shaw starts with story “springboards” suitable for showing comic book editors. When his springboard gets chosen, he makes his story bigger, into an outline. Only starting with rough sketches, he writes a first draft script and adjusts his rough visuals accordingly. Then he draws the comic on appropriate paper and “inks” the pages with black ink and “various markers, pens and brushes.” “Finally, I scan the artwork at full-size and along with the final script, e-mail it all to the editor . . . The whole process can take months,” he says. Shaw’s “extra-special” advice: to be successful as a cartoonist, it is important to know both how to write and how to draw well. “And if you get frustrated with the fact that your writing and drawing isn’t as good as you’d like it to be, don’t give up,” Shaw says. “Practice makes better.” Shaw recommends saving all your writing and artwork to look back and see your improvement. That’s good advice for any type of job or hobby that you want to do well. Rachael Kim is a 10 year - old girl who attends Eagle Rock Elementary. She loves journalism because of the nice volunteers and fun writing activities and topics.
The evolution of stunts is interesting. First the stunts were car gags, pratfalls, and pie fights. And in the Western movie era the stunts were salon fights. And now there is Tom Cruise, holding on to a flying plane. A couple of stunts I have seen stunt men do is Jackie Chan sliding down a slanted building, Tom Cruise taking a knife to the eye, and Tom Cruise climbing a giant skyscraper. A student journalist from 826LA has a gym teacher who is a stunt women. Her name is Mer Mer Chen. She started training in 1984. She specialized in weapons and martial arts for ten years. She was a stunt double for The Power Rangers. Stunt men and stunt women are amazing because all the cool and epic stunts they do. They make the impossible, possible! Dylan Hong is a nine year old reporter at Melrose Elementary Magnet, he likes dragons, especially Smaug.
GOODTIMES Video Game Players Have Lots of Things in Common Allie Kim I am writing about a video game player. A video game player is someone who plays a game on a type of electronic device. Some of the game consoles are Playstation #1, #2, #3, and #4, a Wii U, an Xbox, a Gameboy3DS, Nintendo, and others. According to list25. com, some of the all - time favorite video games are Minecraft, Super Smash Bros, Call of Duty, Legend of Zelda, Nintendogs, and the number one most popular game is Pac Man.
Interesting Litigator Lawyer Call on Phone Venia Marholin On a recent Monday night, I called up on the phone a local litigator named Nora Tillmans. I asked six questions. The reason I was interested in lawyers is because they can solve even the most dangerous cases, and sometimes debating, defining, and assigning blame to wrongdoers. I told Nora Tillmans that I wanted to ask her some questions I prepared for our interview. Let’s start with the questions I asked her: VENIA MARHOLIN: How do you earn a salary? NORA TILLMANS: “Like mostly every other person. I do work for a certain amount of time my boss wants me to. Then I get paid.
decide what laws I want to learn to become the type of lawyer I want to be from the type of law I learned.” VM: Is it hard working as a lawyer? NT: “Yes, the job of being a lawyer is very hard. But it can also be very sad depending on the people you are dealing with because they may be in a hard situation.” VM: How many trials have you done? NT: “I have done one and lost. But I plan to do more trials as I become more senior at my law firm.” VM: Are you famous? NT: “No, most lawyers aren’t famous. Sometimes you can become a politician, senator or congressperson. Sometimes, if you solve a really big case, then you can become famous.” VM: What is special for you as a lawyer? NT: “I like doing all of these trials and figuring out problems. I plan later to become a prosecutor.”
VM: How do you become a lawyer? NT: “I have to go to law school to learn the laws and
Note about author: Age 9 ¾, really awesome writer, does pre-algebra 5th-6th grade.Note about author’s partner: helped write the article during the call. Also 826LA tutor.
WHEN THE ACROBATS SAY, “CHEESE!”
might be your dream career. It might not be easy, but it might be better than messing up an act.
Joon Kim The circus has been loved by many over the years. From outstanding acrobats to comedic clowns, it’s no wonder many kids want to join the circus. But there is a circus career that several might not think of. One person named Mari Provencher takes photos of circus acts for a living. A circus photographer works with various, different circus troupes and take pictures to post on advertisements. One photographer in particular, Mari Provencher, does exactly that. She took photos ever since she was four. She would get Barbie dolls and takes their picture. When she was in high school, she worked as a photographer in her school’s yearbook, and later attended Columbia College in Chicago. She took a class for photography there, but when she read an article about a circus school, she became interested. Since she took a class in photography, she took photos at the circus. One teacher with a troupe became interested and asked Mari to take more pictures, so she “fell into it.” Being a circus photographer isn’t easy. When Mari takes a photo of a circus act, she looks for the moment when they do the trick to “make sure they’re in the perfect version of that pose and their face is relaxed or they’re smiling.” She also has to be careful when taking a photo in front of the audience because while she needs to be perfectly centered, she doesn’t want to block the audience. Mari is usually front and center but tries to make herself as tiny as possible. Performers don’t mind that Mari is under them, but she has to know when to move. A circus career is many kids’ dream. But if you don’t like to be on the stage, being a circus photographer
Joon Kim goes to Cathedral Chapel School for 6th grade. When he is at 826LA, his favorite thing to do is to make horoscopes and participate in Ask a Kid.
Some video game players make more than $1,000,000. Some video game players make video games, too. Sometimes video game makers spend about 5 – 12 hours a day to work on the new video game. The three people you most importantly need in order to make a video game is a programer, an artist, and a designer. Sometimes it takes over thousands of people to make a video game, but it can also take only one person to make video games, like Doodle Jump. Video game developer William Brinkman said that his game took over five years and hopes he can finish the game on the seventh year. William’s favorite game is Pokemon because “it’s a social game that encourages people to make friends and trade pokemon.” Allie Kim is a 4th grader and goes to Eagle Rock Elementary and is 8 years old. She has been to 826la for two sessions (not counting this one). Her favorite game is Just Dance, and not just the first, but all of them.
INTERVIEW WITH LAWYER MAGGIE S. Venia Marholin VENIA: How do you become a lawyer? Is it hard work? MAGGIE: Becoming a lawyer is definitely hard work. You have to get a college degree and then take a test called the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The LSAT doesn’t test you on anything you’ve learned in school, like state capitals or facts about history. Instead, it tests your ability to think logically and solve problems. You then apply to law schools, and they decide whether to admit you based on your college grades and your score on the LSAT. After law school, you have to take a state bar exam, and if you pass that exam, you finally become a lawyer. VM: How many years is law school? MS: Law school is 3 years if you attend full time, but many people go part time and for them it usually takes 4 years. VM: What is the bar exam like? MS: The bar exam is different in every state, but it is very challenging. For me, it was 3 days long. The first day was multiple choice questions about law. The second day was essay questions, where they asked us about a legal situation and we had to write several pages about each question. The third day was specific tasks that lawyers might do, like writing a contract between two companies, or a will that describes how a person wants their money and property to be distributed after they die. The worst part was that it took over a month to get our score results back, so we had to wait a long Continued on next page
GOODTIMES Interview with Lawyer Maggie S. Continued... time before we even knew if we’d passed the test and were able to begin practicing law. If you don’t pass the bar exam, you have to wait six months to take it again. I was so relieved that I passed it the first time. VM: How many trials have you done? MS: I have been a lawyer for almost 8 years and I have never done a trial! Most people think that trials are what lawyers spend most of their time doing. For some lawyers, that’s definitely true, but there are many kinds of lawyers that don’t do trial work. Sometimes a disagreement comes up and I have to file a lawsuit, and sometimes another company files a lawsuit against one of my clients, but so far none of the lawsuits have resulted in a trial. Instead, the court helps the parties come to a compromise, called a settlement. This is a good thing, because a trial can take a long time and becomes very expensive. Most of my clients would rather settle than go to trial, even if that means they don’t get exactly what they wanted. VM: Have you had a trial that seemed to last forever? MS: As I said, I have not done a trial, but I am work-
ing on one case that feels like it is taking forever. It started when I filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of my clients in state court. Then, the other party (a power company) moved the lawsuit to a federal district court. My client didn’t like the decision that the federal district court made, so we appealed that decision to a federal court of appeals. Now, the federal court of appeals said that we need to take the lawsuit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is a United States government agency that regulates electricity rates. So, I filed a formal complaint with the FERC, and I am waiting to see what they decide. So far this has been going on for almost 3 years! VM: What kinds of cases do you take? MS: In my legal practice, I represent municipal electric systems, which are electric power companies that are run by individual cities. (I looked it up and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the largest municipal utility in the whole country!) These cities buy electricity from a power company and, because they are able to buy a lot more at a time, they can get a better price for the people in the city. Buying and selling electricity is complex and requires special contracts, so that’s where I come in. I help write the contract with the power company and make sure it’s a fair deal. VM: Why do you like being a lawyer? MS: I like being a lawyer because I get to do a lot of problem solving. I have always loved figuring out tricky puzzles or riddles, and sometimes my job feels a lot like that. I also like that the overall goal of my work is to get the best deal for people so that they can afford to have electricity in their homes and businesses.
Learn About Authors with Ashlyn Anstee Claire Lin Authors are interesting to me because they get paid to write stories. I love writing stories and am always the student in my class who is the last to finish my stories because I always have a lot of ideas. I get inspiration from my dad who would always tell us stories before we go to bed. Writers often work from their homes, which I found surprising. I thought they went to workspaces to write. Some authors need to find inspiration by walking in the woods, or traveling which I learned in the book Who Was Dr. Suess? When I interviewed Ashlyn Anstee, a children’s book author and illustrator, I asked her what she needs to do to get inspiration. “I have to spend a lot of time traveling & refilling my creative tanks, so seeing people, being social, and that sort of thing is really important,” Anstee said. Being an author can sometimes be a side job and not your main job. My second grade teacher told us last year that she writes stories and is trying to get them published.
Hardworking Teachers Ally Song In elementary school there are specific amounts of grades. These grades include kindergarten through fifth grade. Elementary school teachers teach several different kinds of subjects. Some of these different types of subjects are mathematics, social studies, language arts, music, art, and reading comprehension. From all the hard work the teachers have done, guess how much money each teacher receives every year? According to Teach.com, it says that on average, every year each teacher makes a tremendous amount of about $63,310!!! Also every teacher has about 19 or 20 students in his or her class on average. Lastly, if you go to a public school, your school spends about $11,645 on you. In some schools they have a short amount of teachers for science, computer science, mathematics, and in the extra educations. For instance, P.E, art, and music are some of the extra educations. There are also people that work as teachers’ aides. For instance, Joseph is a teacher’s aide. I asked him how long it took to be a teacher’s aide and Joseph said, “It
took maybe a year. Before I was a teacher’s aide, I was a tutor here at 826LA and at other places.” I also asked him if he liked his job and he said, “I like my job because I like spending time with students and getting to hear their ideas and what they are interested in.” Next I asked him who inspired him to be a teacher’s aide and Joseph said, “I’m inspired by my mom because she does the same job my boss does at another school, and she gives me advice and helps me because she’s done it for so long. My mom was a teacher since before I was alive, so I’ve always been learning about teaching.” Lastly, I asked what his favorite subject to teach was and he said, “I like to teach writing the most because I like to see the stories and essays that students write because they always write the best stories.” Teachers always work their hardest to help us learn and give us advice if we need help. It is important to appreciate the hard work they do for us. Ally Song is nine years old. Her birthday is December 31st. She goes to Wonderland Elementary School and is in a 4th grade magnet class. Her teachers are Ms. Ryan and Mr. Ellis. She is a student from 826LA and she has participated in the Journalism Workshop more than three times. She has one sister and one brother.
You can self-publish your stories or traditional publish. Traditional publishing is when your stories are published by a company. When you self-publish, the author is taking a risk because they have to pay for everything up front and may not get any money back, but when you traditional publish, you get the money from the readers who buy your book, according to Rachelle Gardner. I got curious because I wondered if the writers ever got a break, or if they had to finish the story first before they could take a break. Then I figured out that when you’re an author, you are the boss of yourself, so you can take a break whenever you want. Anstee said, “I often take breaks. Sometimes they are short, like getting up to get a coffee, and sometimes they’re long, like putting a project down for a few weeks to go work on something else. I never take a break from creating art though.” So now that I know so much about authors, maybe I could even be one! Claire is a third grader who is 9 years old. She goes to PCY. Her favorite hobbies are reading, watching movies, playing any make believe games, and playing hand ball.
GOODTIMES Not making a mistake is important because if the illustrator makes a mistake, the reader won’t understand the book. Wilson does a color composition in Photoshop so he knows what it will look like before he does the picture. If he makes a big mistake, Wilson can use Photoshop and fix it. I asked Wilson how he knows whether a picture is exciting or not. He told me that he really doesn’t know until he shows it to somebody. “That’s the fun part — putting forth my best effort, and then seeing how an audience reacts,” Wilson said. “A story isn’t really complete without a reader.” Finally, I asked Wilson if kids can illustrate books. “Absolutely,” Wilson said. “I know a lot of kids at 826LA who have worked on some of the best stories. Kids know what other kids like to read about.” Milo is a first grader who goes to PCY. He likes to make paper airplanes and wants to have a paper airplane race with his family.
Some Questions About How To Illustrate, Answered by Wilson Swain Milo Lin Illustrators make pictures for books and they use lots of color supplies for the picture. Some of my favorite picture books are Jack and Giant Barbecue and The Walk. I wanted to interview an illustrator because I like to draw. It’s fun because I like to use colors. I like to draw about food and vehicles. They’re fun to draw. Illustrators draw pictures that try to match the words. I interviewed Wilson, an illustrator. I asked a lot of questions for him to answer. I learned a lot. This is the first part of your drawing when you start your picture. Wilson told me a lot of things, so I could write about him. Wilson starts by reading the words a couple of times and then he draws a picture in pencil just in case he makes a mistake. “The first thing I do is
Youtube: A Place to Make Videos, Not Just Watch Them Chloe Kim Have you always wondered how youtubers make videos? Do you always wonder what they do when they are done making videos, except for going to school? Some youtubers are not even students anymore. They might be adults. They might be parents. Do you wonder how they record and what they use? Well, here you can read about what they use to record and some interviews. I will be interviewing one youtuber that I know. Well obviously I know more but not right now. The one youtuber is my friend. Well, I am still a child obviously, so my friend is a student like me. There are different ways youtubers record famous videos. First of all, if you don’t have a camera to record, no worries! Now you can use your phone! How cool is that? Second of all, you don’t need a phone or a camera. You can use an iphone, ipad, a tablet or maybe a computer. You can use Youtube Capture! Youtube Capture is an app that helps you upload, edit, record, and share. No worries people, new inventions have come. Now the one youtuber that is my friend, The Cry Wolf. She is not a famous youtuber but interesting to me. Her youtube channel name is The Cry Wolf. I know that is a weird name. She made her name The Cry Wolf because she loves wolves. She makes Minecraft videos and events that happened to her life. She also watches other youtube videos and subscribes to a lot of youtubers. The Cry Wolf also makes videos at least once a week. Sometimes she is too busy to make youtube videos. I interviewed Joseph, an 826LA tutor, about making
think and explore,” Wilson said. Wilson uses pencils, pens, acrylic paints, colored pencils, and Photoshop. Wilson says the words usually come first, but he discovered that he can take away some more words if he thinks his picture is good enough. “It’s a great place to play with how words and images can work together,” Wilson said. So basically now you need to outline the pencil in whatever you need: marker, paint, colored pencil. This is the middle of the story. If you don’t have enough space, it will get cut off and the person reading the book won’t understand what’s happening. Wilson measures the amount of the space so he knows how big he’s going to make his picture. I saw Wilson’s picture and it made me wonder how he put both black and the light color in the picture without blending it. Wilson starts with a white piece of paper and then he puts in the dark color. “People like images with some contrast in it,” Wilson said.
a video for YouTube. He posted a video about embarrassing moments that happened to him and other people. “Youtube was a good way to share the video with other people,” said Joseph, an 826LA tutor. Time for the Interviews! Interview number one: Joseph (tutor) CHLOE: Did you ever post a video on Youtube? JOSEPH: Yes. I have. It was for a school project. My project was about sharing embarrassing moments. I used Youtube to share the embarrassing moments with people. C: Do you like posting Youtube videos? J: Yes. I like making videos. Youtubers can be interesting sometimes. There are different ways to record videos. My friend, The Cry Wolf, is one youtuber. She is not famous but interesting to me. Remember youtube videos can be recorded with an iphone, camera, ipad, tablet or a computer. Now, do you feel confident enough to start a youtube channel? Chloe goes to Eagle Rock Elementary School. She is in fourth grade. Her favorite subject is PE.
HOW OLD ARE MARTIAL ARTS? REALLY OLD, LIKE ANCIENT Roman Sarinana Martial Arts are very ancient according to some book I got from my school’s library. My question is how did martial arts get started? I know some of how martial arts got started. They were created by some war in the ancient times. Well, they had to get ready for the war, so they had to learn a method of … martial arts! Some of the oldest martial arts are Kalaripayattu and Kalari, which started in India in the 13th Century, according to Google. Karate first appeared in Japan and is a method of punching, blocking, and chopping. I do the martial art called Karate. Each belt is a different level. My level right now is the Yellow Belt. My martial arts teacher, Mr. Melzer, was 17 years old when he started his martial art. He learned a different martial art than he teaches me - karate. He learned a martial art called Akido. I want to learn the martial arts my Karate teacher learned. Roman is a first grader at Franklin Avenue Elementary. He likes to do karate (obviously), sleep, watch movies, and read.
GOODTIMES
ASK A KID Featuring Makayla Carpinteyro Q: How are you? A: Awesome! Great! Tired from eating all that Thanksgiving food. Q: I don’t have a phone. What do I do? A: You steal your mom’s phone! Or you ask a police officer to borrow their phone. Or you ask a stranger. But you find the right stranger. Q: How many books can someone read? How many books can someone read in a year? A: If you can read one book a day, you can read 365 books in a year. But that will be hard and tiring. If you sleep a lot, you could read more because the more you sleep, the better you will be when you’re awake. Q: What will you do when you grow up? A: Well, I could be a spy or a teacher or a dentist. I’m going to have to do a raffle to decide which one. Or maybe I could be a teacher on Mondays, a spy on Tuesdays, a dentist on Wednesdays, a doctor on Thursdays, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will relax.
Q: Do you think Hogwarts exists? A: Maybe no because it’s a movie. Maybe yes because you can go there. Maybe it’s just like a regular house, but like a picture of a house long ago. That’s a hard one — I could say yes or I could say no. Q: What is the secret of life? A: Always shine and be a happy person. Always be nice to people. Always be thankful. Always be brave. You get what you get and you don’t get upset. Q: Why do parents sometimes not let you do what you want? A: Maybe because you got in trouble. Or because what you want to do is dangerous. Or because it costs a lot of money. Or because you might not be old enough. Or because you never ever tried it because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Or maybe they don’t know the people you’re going to go with. Makayla is a smart second grader from Los Angeles, California. She likes to read, write, and draw. Her favorite book is The Magic Tree House.
The Heart of the City: Our Mayor Sawyer Echo Sarinana Our current mayor is Eric Garcetti. He is the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles and was elected four times as LA city council president by his peers. According to HowStuffWorks, some mayors in some cities have direct authority and some don’t. As mayor he speaks for the government and the community as a whole. For big cities the salary can range from $101,000 to $195,000, whereas in small cities the mayors get paid $1 a year. Crazy! Eric Garcetti goes back to basics, where he wants to make new jobs. You might think that our mayor is a serious guy who just wants to change the ways of the city. That may be true, but he has a fun side to him. Eric Garcetti throws huge parties, likes electronic music, and loves to act. Garcetti also does yoga and drives an electric Toyota. Eric Garcetti is a great man and has two sides which are both enjoyable. The journalist’s name is Sawyer Sarinana and she lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles. She likes to read, write, and more. Sawyer chose a politician for her article because she is interested in politics and would like to learn as much as she can.
Monsters… They’re Coming to Life! Kaylin Lopez Have you ever wondered how all the characters in a movie or television show become what they are? An everyday person is able to become a monster, fairy or lion with a special effects makeup artist. A makeup artist contains the special and important job of bringing a make believe character to life. A role in a film, movie or tv show is not complete without a full makeover to make the viewer believe what they are seeing. Howard Berger is a special effects makeup artist, monster maker & animatronic character creator. He has won many awards because of his jaw-dropping work. “Specializing in character prosthetics, animatronics, creature creation and replica animals, Howard has over 800 feature film and television credits including Inglorious Basterds, The Transformers Trilogy, Kill Bill 1 & 2, Predators, Splice, The Mist, Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Water For Elephants, The Walking Dead, The Green Mile, and Tree of Life to name a few,” was found on the stan-
wistonschool.com website. Berger won an Academy Award for best makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. He was inspired to become a makeup artist at the age of thirteen after meeting his idol, Stan Winston. Other than making the monsters and princesses real, makeup artists have other tasks as well. They may also create props and masks for a character. A make-up artist does not just create their masterpieces with facial paint and cosmetics. With their special talent, special effects makeup artists have many job opportunities in a variety of places. They may work at a cosmetics company, special effects lab, costume company, prosthetic design company, theme park, cruise ship or even an avant-garde fashion show. Wherever they are located doing what they know best, makeup artists will use their cosmetics and appliances to create impressions of bruises, cuts, blood, old age, deformities, mutations, and more. High quality costume and special effects makeup, stage blood, liquid latex, and cosmetic wax are the most common tools used by make-up artists. “Because each character is
different, and because stages can be both indoors and outdoors, you must make sure that your makeup kit is well-stocked with makeup that can withstand a range of lighting, abuse and environmental conditions,” according to www.frendsbeauty.com. Brushes, sponges, and papers are needed in the process of applying waxes and facial paints. A makeup artist always needs to be prepared with the correct and most useful equipment in order to do the best job. No matter if the filming is inside or outside, with light or no light, the artist always needs to be ready. Now, the next time a movie is watched, the viewer will have the knowledge of how all the special effects are done. A special effects makeup artist is just one of the many cool and interesting jobs in the world. Just like Howard Berger, anyone else can be that special puzzle piece in a team of movie makers. Kaylin Lopez attends Bancroft Middle School. She likes journalism because her writing and typing get the chance to improve. Journalism is the only after-school program she actually enjoys.
GOODTIMES Dr. Julian Von Zodiac’s Christmas Horoscope (Secretly by Joon Kim)
Big thanks to Arianna Mah-Candelaria for inspiration! ARIES: MARCH 21 – APRIL 20 For Christmas you will find a mysterious gift under the tree. When you open it, a burst of light blinds you for a minute. When you open your eyes, you discover that things look different. When you come outside, you realize that everything looks like something from a Charlie Brown special. All the places look animated and so do your friends. TAURUS: APRIL 21 – MAY 21 When you wake up, you will find yourself at Santa’s workshop. You don’t know what’s going on, but Santa comes and tells you that he got injured when he was fly - testing his sleigh and that it’s up to you to save Christmas. He puts you into his suit and instructs you how to deliver presents. Once you’re on your own, you get spotted by a kid in your first house. Uh, oh. GEMINI: MAY 22 – JUNE 21 When your family plans to travel during Christmas vacation, you will accidently wake up late and find out that your family already left. You start to get scared at first, but when you see two burglars outside the window, you will start freaking out by putting your hands on your cheeks and screaming. Hmm, this scenario sounds familiar.
Hover Boards Eddie Song Have you ever wanted to ride a hoverboard like Marty Mcfly? Well you have to wait a bit longer. Although many have aspired to make a hoverboard, none have prevailed. Since the release of Back to the Future II, people have attempted to make hoverboards and had crazy ideas from cardboard boxes tied to leaf blowers to fans on the bottom of trash can lids. Since Back to the Future II, many people have sought out to create a hoverboard and fly. Lexus has, although for a marketing campaign, created one that isn’t really convenient. The Lexus hoverboard is powered by superconducting magnets that have been cooled by liquid nitrogen. In order for this board to work, you need long rows of magnets in the floor to make the hoverboard “hover.” Although this seems very cool and convenient, it actually is not because the hoverboard board scrapes the floor and needs to be refilled constantly. Other companies like HENDO have also created
CANCER: JUNE 22 – JULY 22 Your family will take a trip to Big Bear and you can’t wait. Once you’re there, you will get extremely excited and try out all the skis. But during your time at Big Bear, you ski down the highest point in the mountain and keep falling down a lot. LEO: JULY 23 – AUGUST 22 You don’t have any plans for Christmas this year, so you decide that you will just eat some candy canes and play Fallout 4 all day. After Christmas passes and your friends talk about their time during Christmas, you start to regret your decision. You vow that you will be more jolly next year. VIRGO: AUGUST 23 – SEPTEMBER 22 When you go to your bed on Christmas Eve, you discover the three ghosts from the Christmas Carol who tell you that you haven’t been good this year. LIBRA: SEPTEMBER 23 – OCTOBER 22 You will have to substitute for someone in a caroling contest.
hoverboards like Lexus and have started Kickstarter campaigns that achieved great funding. Although the board uses magnets like the Lexus hover board, they are working on a way to ride on hoverboards without magnets, but those may be into the distant future. Right when we were starting to think we were advanced in science, we are shut out and have a long way to go to develop actual hoverboards. Lexus has come the furthest so far and maybe our roads will be embedded with super magneåts! (Dropping a phone will instantly damage it horribly.) Marty Mcfly will have to wait a bit longer until hover technology is developed. Edward Song is a 13 year - old teenager that attends Walter Reed Middle School and likes to play video games. He likes to write because it helps him freely express his feelings without being judged. It also relieves him of stress a lot of the time! :D
SCORPIO: OCTOBER 23 – NOVEMBER 21 The Grinch will come to your house to steal Christmas, but you shoo him away with a gingerbread man. SAGITTARIUS: NOVEMBER 22 – DECEMBER 21 You will drink so much eggnog that you will feel too full for a Christmas dinner. CAPRICORN: DECEMBER 22 – JANUARY 19 You will find Rudolph in your backyard, who tells you that he’s lost. AQUARIUS: JANUARY 20 – FEBRUARY 18 Your house will become a gingerbread house, and you’ve become one too. PISCES: FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 20 You will find the Polar Express near your house and find all your friends aboard with a no bearded Santa. Disclaimer: The horoscopes got shorter due to time limit. Sorry.
The Good Times is written by the students of the 826LA in Echo Park Journalism workshop.
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