FOCUS Issue Three - December 2018
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When Secr et Snowflake Flakes... Exploring The Shortcomings of our Holiday Traditions
Page 1
it?s immensely successful when ever yone par ticipates.? Even though the Secret Snowflake progr am str ives to spread cheer throughout the entire campus, there are unfor tunately
By: Katia Campos '22
situations
With Thanksgiving long since passed, I think it?s safe to
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say that winter is approaching. With winter comes the joyous holiday of Chr istmas. We at FCS have a special way to show our school spir it and love for the holiday... a little something called ?Secret Snowflake? (though many still call it "Secret Santa"). For those of you that are unaware of what Secret Snowflake is, it?s an annual tr adition in which the Student Council r andomly assigns each upper school student and teacher a fellow classmate or colleague to purchase a small treat for r ight before Chr istmas. In the past, the Student Council has suggested that nobody spend more that $5 on a gift. According to Student Council Vice President McKenna Blinman ?19, the event has been ar r anged for many year s. ?We continue this [tr adition] because it is a relatively easy way to spread holiday cheer and show other s in the community how much you care about them,? says McKenna. She continues, ?the joy of getting a gift from someone but not knowing who it is, [and] seeing the work they put into shar ing a little happiness [is] unbeatable. Witnessing your per son?s joy as they open their present from you might be even more gr atifying than getting a gift.? McKenna ends her inter view by saying, ?the event is really about spreading happiness and holiday cheer around our campus, and
In This Issue: Quaker ism + Spor ts? (P2) Skiing Reccomendations (P3) Featur ed Ar tist (P4) New iPad: Wor th It? (P5)
Film Review (P8) Video Game Review (10) New Music Review (15) Spor ts Review (6)
Issue Three - December 2018
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'Secret' COTD. from Page 1 where people end up not receiving anything from their Secret Santa, causing them to feel let down. Focus repor ter s went out in search of people who hadn?t received gifts in year s past to see what their exper iences were like. Max M. Cohen ?19 says that he has exper ienced this situation before: ?I had spent a few days tr ying to figure out what I would get from my Secret Santa, and I had picked a pretty cool gift, candy of some sor t. I was thinking, ?I can?t wait to see what I received.? You know, like a letter of some sor t, something small. I kept waiting, ever y day. It never came, and I was really disappointed.
Sadly, Max wasn?t the only one not to receive anything from a Secret Santa. Pierce Hayton ?20 received the same treatment when he was in ninth gr ade: ?It was the last week before Winter Break and I was waiting the whole week. I was excited, it [was] my fir st year of high school, my fir st Secret Santa, and Fr iday comes and goes and I received nothing.? Despite Pierce not receiving anything that Fr iday, he didn?t give up hope. Pierce says, ?I [thought] to myself, ?Maybe they just missed it, I?ll get something after break.? Then, the fir st week after break [came and went] and it was a huge disappointment.?
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In Quaker Spor ts, Good Char acter is the Name of the Game By: Miles Johnson ?19,
T he Quaker SPICES,
incident unfolded in the midst of an intense playoff
Simplicity, Peace, Integr ity, game, both teams stopped Community, Equality, and
what they were doing and
Stewardship, are known to checked on the player. At guide the behavior of
the end of the game, we
Fr iends?Centr alites in the
lost one- zero and were
classroom. The school also knocked out of the Fr iends Despite the sadness of Pierce?s ninth gr ade exper ience, the stor y has a silver lining, because in tenth gr ade, he did receive a gift. He reflects on how it felt: ?It was fantastic. It was just so nice. I finally felt that somebody actually thought of me, and it made a huge difference.? Students not receiving anything for Secret Santa can be quite devastated. The Student Council encour ages that ever yone par ticipate to avoid this situation. Let?s all get into the r ing and fight the injustice of not receiving a gift together. This year, let us leave none of our classmates or teacher s behind, and actually have fun tr ying to sur pr ise the per son that we?ve been assigned to. You never know, sometimes all someone needs is a little gift to keep them going, to give them hope for a new day. On that note, happy holidays!
expects that its
League Playoffs. Despite
student- athletes will uphold this, our player s handled these values outside of the
the loss with the SPICES in
classroom, even while
mind. A day after the loss,
competing in athletic
the head coach of the team,
progr ams. As an institution Galen Guindon ?06, said to routed in Quaker values,
his player s, ?I received an
Fr iends?Centr al aims to
email from the MFS coach
instill in student- athletes
today. He wanted to thank
strong mor al char acter on
you all for the kind words
and off the field, even
and classy way you handled
though coaches of cour se
their player getting injured.
ur ge their teams to win.
Yesterday wasn?t our day,
A beautiful example of ?char acter over outcome? occur red at a recent boys? soccer game. The team had
but I am always proud of the way you represent our school and progr am!? I inter viewed Liam
a four- seed ver sus five- seed Sullivan ?19. Liam is a playoff game against
four- year var sity soccer
Moorestown Fr iends School. player and has been one of Seven minutes into the
the captains of the boys?
game, one of the player s
soccer team since his
from Moorestown Fr iends
junior year. Liam told me
was laid out on the ground
that before he went to
injured. Ever yone eventually Fr iends?Centr al, he was a lear ned that the player
competitive player, but
broke his leg and after 20- 25 was never really concer ned minutes, he was car ted off
with spor tsmanship until
the field by an ambulance.
he came here.
Although this unfor tunate
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Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 3
Slope?s Up! Wher e to Ski Her e in PA by Aiden McLean '21, Guest Contr ibutor
With winter here, it?s all
accommodates all of our needs and desires in a way
too easy to remain indoor s,
that other local mountains
curled up in a blanket, and
don?t. For example, Bear
binge- watch Netflix. While
Mountain has ver y few
the fr igid weather cer tainly
slopes from which to choose.
prevents us from visiting the
The pr ice for a season pass
beach or taking a dip in the
at Blue Mountain ($599) is
pool, it actually allows us to
just r idiculous! We heard
Elk has it (except for
There are only three
par ticipate in an ar r ay of
from some fr iends that
ver tical drops and cliffs).
problems with Elk. Fir st,
outdoor activities only
For those even more Camelback wasn?t possible in the winter. Skiing necessar ily the best choice. extreme skier s, there are and snowboarding are some This reduced the list down to two challenge cour ses to of the most popular winter tr y. Each tr ail and slope is one: Elk Mountain.
it is a two- hour dr ive
spor ts. My family has been
different and offer s
and last, the time it
different challenges.
takes the lift to get you
admittedly on a much
The tr ails at Elk are
to the top can feel like
smaller scale. This place is
groomed daily and kept in
an eter nity. However,
the best spot to go for both
exquisite condition. There
Elk?s amazing slopes
exper ienced daredevils and
are medical and ski
make up for all of these
newer people just tr ying out
suppor t staff all over the
shor tcomings. Whatever
skiing. There is a lar ge
place, ready to aid any
level skier or
bunny slope and they have
mishap within minutes.
snowboarder you are,
going skiing regularly ever y winter for the past four year s. In December of 2015, my dad took us to Color ado, and we skied in Breckenr idge, one of the best ski resor ts in the countr y. After that, we developed a taste the spor t and wanted more. We can?t afford to go to Breckenr idge ever y winter, so we decided that each year we would rent skis from a local shop and hit the slopes here in our own state. There are many mountains to choose from in Pennsylvania, all with different var ieties of slopes, cour ses, and skier s. In this ar ticle, I?ll review our favor ite slope, Elk Mountain, and explain what makes it unique.
Elk mountain reminds me so much of Breckenr idge,
great classes to choose from. The staff is always ready to
from Philadelphia. Second, there just aren?t enough areas to tree ski,
Elk can accommodate
The only green slope,
help. The lodge at the
you.
?Tioga,? is an easy tr ail to
bottom of the mountain
Despite the long dr ive, it
per for m, yet still fun for
has some decent food,
is still possible to have
more exper ienced skier s. For candy, and hot chocolate,
just a day ski, if your
inter mediate skier s and
per fect after a long day of
group has a well
snowboarder s, a var iety of
skiing. It even comes with
laid- out plan of leaving
blue tr ails are available. All
its own separ ate restaur ant
home early and leaving
are fun to go down. Some are with better food.
Elk a little bit early as
winding, some have spots
Additionally, there are
well. From 5- 10pm, Elk
good for jumps, and a few
many restaur ants just a
has a few slopes
have areas for tree skiing.
twenty- minute dr ive away
available for night
For the more exper ienced
from the lodge. For the
skiing! If you are looking
people like myself, the black
parents and adults in your
for a mountain that is
tr ails are awesome. Mogoles, group, there is a bar and
vir tually guar anteed to
One of the reasons our
steep drops, extreme speeds, beer garden with beer and
satisfy you, Elk
family fell in love with Elk
tree skiing, whatever you
dr inks, as a reward for a
Mountain is because it
love about a black diamond,
hard day?s work.
Mountain is the one.
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 4
Ar tist in Focus: The Cr eative Pur suits of Nir Netz By Julian Duvivier '22
T welfth gr ader, Nir Netz ?19, has a love for ar t in many interested in composing for ms. He has been dr awing
electronic music (Ambient,
since he was ver y young and
Raggacore, Metalstep),
his many talents. He
possible colleges
is cur rently enrolled in Ms.
though he feels that he lacks
enjoys numerous
including the ar t schools
Mur phy?s Visual Ar ts Cour se. the time.
animated shows such as
MICA and MassAr t, and
His pastimes include
Motor City, as well as
the liber al ar t schools
many animated movies,
Bennington and Sar ah
including The Secret of
Lawrence. He plans on
listening to music and reading comics, notably Page by Paige and Homestuck. Additionally he enjoys creative wr iting and has a fondness for nature, mar ine biology, and entomology.
Though Nir finds enjoyment in more tr aditional studio ar t for ms, he focuses his talent on sketching or iginal char acter s. He showed me a ser ies of these sketches and I was enamored by how interesting and
Nir has worked in many
per sonality- dr iven they all
different creative mediums.
were. Alongside these, he let
His most- studied medium is me look at a handful of dr awing with pencil and action sketches he had done, paper, but it is far from his
each of which took about two
only. He has an affinity for
minutes to dr aw. These are
charcoal, pastels, and digital
par t of his dream to create
ar t tools such as Photoshop
an animated ser ies, which
and Procreate, and has
would allow him to channel
dabbled in many other areas of creative expression. The inspir ation for his ar t often stems from his ador ation of music. He has eclectic tastes spanning many genres and r uns the Music Appreciation Club that meets ever y Fr iday from 1:15 - 1:50 in the Main building, room 20. He has tr ied his hand at composition, and is
Nimh and Coraline, which continuing to create char acter s and pur sue his have inspired him and fueled his desire to
goal of wr iting an
animate.
animated ser ies. He is
seemingly on his way to Nir intends to continue his becoming a success in the pur suits through ar t visual ar ts. school and is cur rently looking at a number of
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 5
Tech Focus By: Jer r y Yu?19 having a more power ful chip,
Apple fir st introduced the 12.9- inch iPad Pro in 2015, followed by the 9.7- inch model in March of 2016. Since then, the design of the iPad Pro line remained unchanged, until Apple?s third- gener ation iPad Pro. Launched in November of 2018, the design overhaul comes in both 12.9- inch and 11- inch sizes, features an all- screen display with minimal bezels, and has no home button. The new iPads also feature Apple?s Tr ueDepth camer a system
its limited disk space proves to percent increase from its
snap the Apple Pencil on
predecessor and cr ushes
the sides of their iPads,
the new Samsung Galaxy
and car r y them with
Tab S4 that spor ts a
their devices, allowing
Qualcomm Snapdr agon
more convenience and
845, one of, if not the most, safety as the old Pencils power ful non- apple mobile were quite prone to chip by almost 3 times.
losing. USB- C por ts, on
When compared to laptops the other hand, can released in the same year, provide enough power multi- core scores show no for the power ful chips compromise against Dell?s and can allow XPS 15 2- in- 1, and are
significantly faster data
lighter and thinner than
tr ansfer, and connection
the other s.
to extremely
and updated FaceID
What does this power
technology, allowing for
tr anslate to? Full- sized
secure and r apid unlocks
desktop apps on a mobile
high- resolution displays. All these changes result
not possible on the recent
in smoother user platfor m! Adobe promised exper iences both for Photoshop CC?s release on school and
iPhone Xs line.
iPad Pros by 2019, and
The iPad Pro is marketed as
Bethesda is releasing a new from $799 for 56GB Skyr im for iPads. (Yes, we ver sions, however, it is will talk about games this not the most economic
from all angles, which was
a por table powerhor se, and the latest benchmarks of the
enter tainment. Star ting
back that claim up. Apple
time). For the fir st time, we choice, as despite of can hold a tablet in our
makes many claims about
hands and work on
the new device: it has twice
hundreds of layer s in
the gr aphics per for mance of
Photoshop, instead of one
the A10X; it has 90 percent
single photo on the cur rent
faster multi- core
Photoshop mobile build,
per for mance than its
allowing for more creative
predecessor ; and it
freedom since ar tists can
per for ms equally as GPU
liter ally edit on the go.
A12X inside the 2018 models
power of the Xbox One S game console. The Geekbench scores of the systems prove this claim is no joke; single core scores show a more than 30
The new iPad pro also has redesigned i/o, including extr a smar t connector s, and a USB- C to replace Lightning. Now, user s can
be a significant dr awback. 56GB is hardly enough for many movies and games, which are wor thy challenges for the upgr aded CPU and GPU, and the topic for this edition?s special section, Gaming Focus. Read it in this issue!
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 6
Editor 's Note: I extend special thanks to Julian Duvivier '22, who has gone above and beyond in his contributions to our Layout and Deisgn Team. As always, I also thank Mrs. Luzuriaga for her continued support and guidance.
Go Philly!
By Max Mar inelli '22
Max?s Flying Eagles Update, Week 10: Eagles vs. Cowboys (Loss: 27 - 21)
T he game star ted off as possibly the wor st half of football in year s. There were pr actically no yards of offense for the Eagles through the fir st half and only three points combined for both teams through the fir st quar ter. In fact, heading into the last minute of the fir st half, no team had scored a touchdown until a fateful third and 15 for the Cowboys inside their own half. The Eagles had already called two timeouts to stop the clock after
four th quar ter. They then
15, so he may be able to For the rest of the year,
proceeded to collapse and
pull out a cr ucial
we will be in a ver y
let the Cowboys score
season- swinging win.
similar position to the
another touchdown, giving
In the meantime, the
one we were in at the
themselves 56 seconds and
Eagles need to focus on end of last year :
no timeouts to score a
fixing problems on both underdogs, going into
touchdown. Wentz threw a
sides of the ball. The
nearly ever y game. As
40- yard pass to Er tz,
secondar y is cur rently
Jason Kelce said,
getting the Eagles all the
paper thin, so those
?Hungr y dogs r un
way to the seven yard line.
who are still left need to faster, and that?s this
Yet, the time expired, and
be playing their hear ts
team.? I think all of
the Cowboys left the game
out. As for offense, I
Philly is hoping for a
victor ious, giving the
don?t under stand the
strong playoff push to
Eagles a four- five record
problem because the
end the season as we go
through the fir st nine
team isn?t r iddled with
into the final stretch of
games.
injur ies. Therefore, they six games.
completely shutting down
A playoff picture is fading
the Cowboys?fir st two
away from the Eagles as
plays. On a third and 15, the
they played an
Eagles folded and allowed a
embar r assing game the
fir st, star ting the Cowboys
next week, losing 48- 7 to
march down the field for a
the nine- one Saints. The
touchdown made possible
Eagles?record stands at
cour tesy of the Eagles?poor
four- six. To even make the
defending.
playoffs, they would most
Going into the second half, the game had been a defensive str uggle at 13- 3. The second half ended up more of the opposite with offenses tr ading touchdowns. The Eagles went on to tie it at 20- 20 with little time left in the
likely need to win all of the remaining divisional games or split with the Redskins and win against the Texans. At this r ate, a cr ushing loss to the Rams is almost imminent. However, it is Wentz?s redemption game in week
need to get their heads back in the game and recover some of last year ?s dr ive.
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 7
Go Philly! Gr eeting Gr itty: The New Mascot of the Philadelphia Flyer s By: Caroline Blackman '20,
Right before the star t of
public in his early
their 2018- 19 season, the
moments of existence,
Philadelphia Flyer s
what seemed to be a total
announced an exciting new
flop of a marketing move
addition to their
quickly tur ned itself
or ganization: a tough,
around. After his fir st few
retweeted a photo of
there is one major issue
ener gy- filled individual
days on the job, the
Gr itty adding a
that I can?t seem to look
with an intimidating height
Philadelphia community
condescending caption of
past, and it?s not those
of 7 feet... their new
couldn?t help but star t to
?lol ok,? to which
r idiculous eyes. It?s the
mascot, Gr itty!
fall in love with the
@Gr ittyNHL responded
fact that although he
Within minutes of Gr itty?s
funny- looking monster...
?Sleep with one eye open
wear s the Flyer s jer sey
googly- eyed, fluffy, or ange
or creature...whatever you tonight, bird.? If there?s one thing Flyer s?fans can want to call him! He
char acter gained a lot of
proved to be an
bond with other s over,
really need is an exciting
attention inside and
enter taining spectacle at
it?s their (good- spir ited)
new source on ener gy on
beyond the spor ts world.
the games: flying in from
hatred of the Penguins,
the ice. Time and time
reveal, the big,
and helmet, Gr itty doesn't play! What the Flyer s
received par ticularly well;
the r after s, dancing cr azily so Gr itty?s tweet cer tainly again, the team finds on the big screen, kissing boosted his popular ity. In itself lacking consistency
many took to social media
fans for the kiss cam, and
a matter of weeks, he had
and fr ankly lacking
to share their har sh views
intimidating anybody
gone from being a
success dur ing the
on the new mascot. #Gr itty
cheer ing for the opposing
laughing stock to being a
regular season. Of the
Initially, Gr itty was not
teams. I recently went to a beloved figure in Philly. So let?s give Gr itty some game and ever ywhere I
past six seasons, they three times. If the Flyer s
marketing team had hoped
looked, fans were wear ing credit where credit is due. After all, it?s not Gr itty shir ts or hats that
when they created the
featured the mascot?s
exactly easy to sway the
creature. Nightmare fuel,
signature or ange hairdo.
passionate and somewhat oh- so- familiar place in
muppet gone wrong, and
Perhaps what tr uly ear ned
an embar r assment to the
the ador ation of Philly fans
fans of the Flyer s are just a few examples of the nature
was the mascot?s response I think it?s safe to say that the addition of Gr itty was to a mocking tweet from
of the cr iticisms Gr itty
the Pittsbur gh Penguins,
received. Though Gr itty faced the
ar guably the Flyer s?biggest proved to be an exciting new source of ener gy for r ivals. The Penguin?s
unfor giving words of the
twitter, @penguins
became a trending topic on Twitter, though probably not in the way the Flyer s?
have missed the playoffs want to stop finding themselves at their
stubbor n minds of
the middle of the league,
Philadelphians.
they?re going to need to
an over all success. He?s
the or ganization. Still,
think bigger... or smaller... than Gr itty.
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 8
This Month in Film Bohemian Rhapsody: Wor thy of the Name By Riley Roche '22,
The life of Freddie Mercur y is por tr ayed honestly and tastefully, and the songs and band dynamic are just a joy to watch. Over all, I would give Br yan Singer ?s Bohemian Rhapsody an 8/10 and, cur rently, it is my choice for best picture this
What happens when a revered band is given a high- budget biopic? Simply put, amazing things. This past month, we saw the release of the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, directed by Br yan Singer. Bohemian Rhapsody focuses on the star t of the ever- popular band, Queen, and its band member s?exper iences and songs that eventually lead to their br illiant per for mance at the 1985 Live Aid Char ity Event.
After seeing the tr ailer for this movie, I was, to say the least, not looking for ward to it. I just couldn't wr ap my head around why 21st Centur y Fox would choose Br yan Singer of all people to direct a biopic. For those who are unaware, Singer ?s most famous work is with the X- Men fr anchise, as he directed 2000?s X- Men and 2014?s X- Men: Days of Future Past. On top of this odd choice of director, the actor s didn?t seem promising either. Aside from Rami Malek, most of the cast member s were relative unknowns in the acting industr y and seemed to deliver weak per for mances in the tr ailer. Finally, after all the waiting and excitement from a fr iend of
year. the dynamic the real band member s had with br illiance and conveyed the per sonalities and emotions of these char acter s per fectly. The visuals were definitely better than expected, but got a little bland sometimes with some basic camer a angles. However, the music was incredible and the placement and usage of var ious Queen songs was ver y well done by Singer. The one gr ipe I have with this film is that Singer ?s There was obvious care tendency in the X- Men and hear t put into the film fr anchise to make the production of this movie. beginning of films too To star t, I would like to quick shined through in acknowledge Susie Figgis Bohemian Rhapsody. The for her work in casting. star t of the band in the Ever y single member of the beginning of the movie is band delivered incredibly too fast, and I would cut tr ue- to- life per for mances away some scenes towards that I couldn?t see anyone the end of act two to else pulling off. reduce the r untime. Specifically, Rami Malek If you have any spare time and Gwilym Lee rocked or are looking for their per for mances as Freddie Mercur y and Br ian something to do with other people or even by May, respectively. These your self, watch this movie. two were able to por tr ay
mine who is a huge Queen fan, the RT (Rotten Tomatoes) score was released and the movie was hover ing around the mid to high 50s. I couldn?t believe it: Fox was going to screw up a Queen movie. After I for got about the movie for a while, it was released. As the credits rolled, my whole opinion changed... this movie was fantastic! Bohemian Rhapsody is the fir st movie of the fall season I can confidently call ?good.?
Cr eed II: Even Better Than the Fir st One By Jared Miller '22
The Rocky fr anchise is ar guably one of the best movie fr anchises ever. The newest installment to the fr anchise, Creed II, which came into theater s on Nov. 21, did not disappoint. Creed II is about heavyweight champion boxer Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed, who is challenged by Viktor Dr ago, the son of Ivan Dr ago, the man who killed Apollo Creed in the r ing. It was an excellent movie with a wonder ful plot. It was a little bit predictable, as all Rocky movies are, but there were a few moments that definitely caught the viewer off guard. The best par t of this movie was the per for mance of Michael B. Jordan, who played the main char acter, Adonis Creed.
COTD. on Page 9
Issue Three - December 2018
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Page 9
This Month In Film 'Cr eed II Review' COTD. from Page 8 In both of those past movies, Michael was given a great scr ipt, and he executed the roles exceptionally well. Nothing is different in Creed II. He is given a lot to work with: a bunch of dr amatic scenes, a few aggressive scenes, and a few tr aining scenes. Co- star r ing alongside Michael B. Jordan is Sylvester Stallone, who has por tr ayed Rocky Balboa in ever y Rocky movie to date. In my opinion, he was not
so great in this movie. It wasn?t his fault though; he wasn?t given much of a scr ipt with which to work. This movie was almost per fect, ear ning an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. The one flaw in this film is that there are not enough tr aining scenes. There is only one big tr aining montage, which was ver y enter taining, but I think there should be more. All in all, Creed II is a fantastic movie and is a must- see for all that are interested.
Rewatch Recommendation Since it?s the holiday season, let?s take time to remember one of the best holiday movies of all time, Home Alone (1990). Home Alone is a fantastic movie about a boy who has to fight off bur glar s that are tr ying to break into his house on Chr istmas. Home Alone is directed by Chr is Columbus, who, before Home Alone, had not directed a big film. However, since Columbus did such a wonder ful job with Home Alone, his career launched a whole new chapter. Star r ing in this film is Joe Pesci, who is usually known for his more ser ious roles, but does a great job in a comedic role. It is an all- around great movie full of laughs, and you are sure to have a fun time watching it. Like what you're reading? There is a third ar ticle to be found by visiting
fcsfocus.or g/film
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Page 10
Gaming Focus
Columnist's Opinions: G- Star 2018 and the future of MMORPGs By: Jer r y Yu '19
M any would claim that MMORPG is almost dead, when, in reality, it is more alive than ever, and what it needs is a shuffle. The Korean creator s, for year s the powerhouse in MMORPGs, are losing their Wester n audience. NCSoft?s popular PC titles like Guild Wars 2 is facing decline and even shut- down, while Blade and Soul?s dueling- focused PvP lacks innovation and its ar t style more sexualized than aesthetic. Long- anticipated new Korean releases like Bless, meanwhile, completely flopped in the West due to mediocr ity and greed. I think that the main reason why these games are not gaining much force is that they are designed based on a similar for mula. These companies focus too much on player looks, while the stor ies and worlds are flat and linear, with no exciting explor ations awaiting the player s. MMORPGs are ver y different from AAA games that release ever y year, in that player s pay less attention to the gr aphics and more to what they can actually accomplish in an ?alter nate reality? over year s of devotion, and the
developer s have to roll out new content, new maps, and new classes for the player s to explore for existing games, instead of completely new games. Bethesda?s Elder Scrolls Online is beginning to see long- ter m success. In its fantasy world, Tamr iel, player s are allowed to freely roam and for m or ganizations, or fight for one of the three kingdoms in the lore. Stor y- telling works differently in these games: as player s join one faction, they will fight for the faction for control, and their decisions actually matter to not only their exper iences, but also the entire game world, and millions of other player s. Meanwhile, this game offer s player s infinite oppor tunities by opening up the ?class? system with war r ior s, mages, and healer s, replacing it with open skill trees player s can customize to create heavy- ar mored mages, swift combat medics, or tanks with bows and ar rows. After the Morrowind expansion, the player base is repor ted to be over ten million, making it a direct competitor to the jugger naut in the genre,
World of Warcraft. Based on the old Elder Scrolls ser ies, this game managed to take tr adition to a new level. Maybe that?s where Bethesda went.
gover nments, wage war, and wr ite their own histor y. An issue with the stor y- dr iven model is that developer s have to constantly update new content, and it requires more and more resources to Ar med with similar ideas, continue, compared to indie developer s are flexing putting the continent in their muscles as well, after eter nal war, and sitting back game engines and power ful to do balance patches and ar t computer s are no longer overhauls. It is becoming exclusive to the r ichest more and more obvious what companies. Star Citizen the player s want: better r aised over $100M and has combat systems, fair ness, recently opened a free tr ial skill- based gameplay, and to its fir st working planet player choice. Developer s (they cr afted each planet, should pay attention to what unlike No Man?s Sky). the player s really want, and Crowfall, an Indie Game of tr y their best to deliver a Thrones - inspired MMORPG, game that fits the player s? meanwhile, r aised over $1M desires. The market should and is exper imenting on its no longer follow Vanilla fantasy world featur ing WOW?s patter ns of questing endless power str uggles and and gr inding, but allow the ter r itor ial war s. These player s more freedom in an games take the concept of open world they can tr uly player freedom to a new conquer. level, as there are no more stor ylines, and player s are free to bond, tr ade, for m
Issue Three - December 2018
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Gaming Focus
E3. Gamescom. G- Star 2018. We were promised quite a few new games and gaming devices, and by now, most have been delivered. Here are a few notewor thy events in different game genres: Fallout 76 launched. Bethesda? Hello? IGN gave you 5/10!On E3, Bethesda announced the new installation to the vastly- popular Fallout fr anchise. Set in post- apocalyptic West Vir ginia after a devastating nuclear war, this game is expected to be ?the online prequel where ever y sur viving human is a real per son...the lar gest, most- dynamic world ever created in the legendar y Fallout univer se.? This game tur ned out to be lar ge and lonely. With some 20 people spread across a massive map compar able to that of Fallout 4 (an entire city), player s hardly see any
useful multiplayer inter actions, and all the quest- giver s are wander ing robots, dead, or AI constr ucts. No humans. There is no talking, no combat, just walking around and bad stor ies.
member of the EA marketing team, meanwhile, tweeted that player s ?shouldn?t buy the game if they don?t like it? to Battlefield V launched. angr y fans after the overly Better than Fallout 76. politically cor rect tr ailer Thanks, EA marketing team. featur ing disabled Br itish Battlefield V actually tur ned female frontline soldier s in out to be a great , but the frontlines of WWII. incomplete, game. DICE Sales were down by 63% tr ied to hide not being able percent compared to its to be as productive as BF1, so wildly successful they announced the Tides of predecessor BF1, and EA War ser vice, where live has to fire a few people and content is to be pushed to put ever ything on sale for player s (imagine ?Seasons? 50% to save the day. in Fortnite, LoL, or R6S). A However, unlike Fallout 76, it had great reviews. YouTuber s like JackFr ags, LevelCapGaming, and Angr y Joe all quite positive about the gameplay innovations, while IGN giving it an 7.5/10 score despite the fact it is unfinished.
Columnist?s Review: Assassin?s Creed Odyssey. What a AAA should be. Nice job Ubisoft Quebec.Gr and, majestic, and most impor tantly, fun. That is what you?d expect from a new Assassin?s Creed installation. It is set in the Peloponnesian war over 2400 year s ago, a decades- long str uggle between Athens and Spar ta. The player has much freedom in exper iencing the social, political, and war fare both on land and sea. Exper ience over 60 hour s of stor yline placing the hero/heroine in a conflict of money, patr iotism, and family conflict. It is beyond an exciting war game- - it is a thoughtful recreation of ancient Greece that we can enjoy fully. Over all, an exciting open- world RPG exper ience, but the sound is the only dr awback to the game.
Issue Three - December 2018
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Focus in Photos By: Lydia Varcoe- Wolfson '19
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Issue Three - December 2018
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Focus in Photos
Page 13
Issue Three - December 2018 'Quaker Values' COTD. from Page 2 Liam reflected, ?I think what helped me develop this under standing of the impor tance of spor tsmanship was playing for Coach Galen. He always reminds us that whether we win or lose, we will do it with class, because that is what kind of progr am we are.? When you step foot on the field, cour t, pool, and tr ack, you are not only representing your self, but you are representing your school and the values for which it stands. Liam said that having good char acter is so impor tant because ?our actions on the field reflect our school whether we want them to or not. Keeping a good reputation for our school can help attr act more kids which will let the athletic progr am grow and develop.? Next, I inter viewed Raanee Smith ?19. Raanee is a Univer sity of Color ado commit and a four- year var sity basketball player. She has been the captain of the girls?basketball team since her junior year. Raanee explained the balance of staying competitive in order to win, as well as having good spor tsmanship on
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the cour t. She said, ?If I want to have a chance at winning, let alone actually win, then I have to compete. When incor por ating spor tsmanship into this idea of competitiveness, it acts a set of unspoken r ules that I abide by. Things as simple as picking up a member on the opposing team after a foul or handshaking at the end of the game are easy spor tsmanship- related things to do that do not impede on my competitive, game- dr iven mindset.? Being competitive, while at the same time valuing spor tsmanship, is not difficult for Raanee to balance. To Raanee, playing with good spor tsmanship is just an acknowledgment that she is playing basketball and having fun while doing it. Fur ther more, the impor tance of good spor tsmanship to her reflects the respect she has for the game. Of cour se, in any spor t, whether Quaker or not, scor ing a win is a goal ever y player str ives to achieve. While Quaker tr adition doesn?t totally disagree with competition, it ur ges player s to demonstr ate it in a way which reflects high ethical standards. As an example of a way this spor tsmanship can manifest itself, player s are able to be competitive and show that
they care without having an attitude if we get subbed off by our coach, or yelling at the ref after a bad call. Upholding integr ity and leader ship is something that ever y player can show while competing. This is the culture here at Fr iends?Centr al. Our Quaker culture is a social glue and this is what promotes a positive community.
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bench when they would r ather play? What we?ve lear ned from our player s with good values is that however a player responds, it should be in a way that upholds the testimonies we hold most dear- - especially in this year of integr ity. Developing solid spor tsmanship is a vir tue that will prepare us for life How does a player react to a well beyond the field, cour t, bad call? How should a player tr ack, or pool, and well beyond Fr iends?Centr al. react to being sent to the
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Music Focus: Muse?s Simulation Theory Can?t Simulate Good Music By: Lucas Chiang '22, and Calvin Mustokoff '22, Guest Contr ibutor Few things can be as
based around complex
depressing as watching your
musical par ts and vocals, or
favor ite band star t to
?theater rock,? while
cr umble to pieces. For the
Absolution featured more
English rock band Muse, no
bass- heavy punk rock.
one can deny that they had a
Simulation Theory?s theme
good r un, star ting with the
mainly comes from
album Showbiz (1999) and
electronic dubstep rock with
creating tons of famous songs and albums along the
an additional 80?s sci- fi retro "Propaganda." star ts off as a single "Thought stereotypical bad dubstep Contagion," a catchy and vibe, but honestly, some of
way, such as Absolution
the songs sound more like a
song before bur sting into
jamming song featur ing
(2003), Black Holes and
12 year- old?s fir st
some poppy
an Imagine
Revelations (2006), and The
Gar ageBand project.
Timberlake- style vocals.
Dr agons- style chor us.
come to an end, and that?s what happened on Nov. 9, when Muse?s eighth studio album, Simulation Theory (2018), was released. With a ver y under whelming tr ack list and a gener al uninspir ing sound, Simulation Theory is a musical mess.
The album star ts off with "Algor ithm," a r ather under whelming electronic dubstep. This type of music is heard quite frequently throughout the album, but r ight after that comes one of the better songs in the album, The Dark Side, which was also released as a single. The Dark Side definitely retur ns to more tr aditional
Muse was for med in 1994 by
Muse music, which means
singer and guitar ist Matt
using more bass and adding
Bellamy, bassist Chr is
a guitar solo but still keeping
Wolstenholme, and
the electronic synths of
dr ummer Dom Howard. For
Simulation Theory, and,
a long time, Muse was hailed
fr ankly, that?s what most of
as a band known for its
these songs should have
var iety; The 2nd Law (2012)
been like. Following this
featured an ar tsy synth rock
song comes the hit single,
vibe, while Drones (2015) was
"Pressure," a fun 80?s retro
a much heavier album with
rock with an appealing
more emphasis on the
guitar r iff backed by a br ass
guitar, bass, and dr ums.
section. Here, things take a
Origin of Symmetry (2001)
tur n for the wor se, however,
and The Resistance were
Luckily, next up is the
Next up is "Break It To Me," Honestly, it is just so
Resistance (2009). However, all good things eventually
as the next song,
which will probably sound
incredibly fun to listen
better live as it features a
to, and it actually has
lot of unique guitar
good synths that aren?t
techniques, such as
too heavily used. The
scr atching to create an
next song is "Get Up And
ambient noise solo.
Fight" which received
However, the opening
more mixed reviews.
guitar r iff sounds pretty
Per sonally, I like it, but I
ter r ible and flat. After that
can see how longtime
comes "Something Human" Muse fans won?t previously released as a
appreciate the
single, and this is where I
vocaloid- style vocal
just ask, ?Muse, what in
opening. Per sonally, my
your r ight minds are you
favor ite par t of the song
guys doing?? Although
is definitely the ending
"Something Human" takes a keyboard. The following break from the painful
tune, "Blockades" is
dubstep, it instead uses a
cer tainly the highlight of
mellow guitar that sounds
the album. "Blockades,"
str aight out of a bad
has it all: a catchy
countr y album. With over
chor us, intr icate
half of the album done,
musical r iffs, and even
two- thirds of the songs
an incredible guitar solo
heard so far are well past
at the end. Honestly, I
under whelming.
could wr ite a whole par agr aph about just
COTD. on back cover
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Page 16
is. It has musical par ts
the songs are just sad. Not
imitative of Origin of
only are songs like
Symmetry, a guitar par t
Propaganda and Something
similar to Drones, and a
Human just depressing to
ver se and chor us alike to
listen to, Muse just lacks the
Absolution. Wolstenholme?s
same feel that they or iginally
bass and Howard?s dr ums
had. Chr is Wolstenholme?s
finally show up again,
bass par t, the same bass that
specifically the dr um beat
played the bass of Muse?s
dur ing the ver se, which is
Hysteria (2003), which was
OUR STAFF
just so catchy and fun to
considered by The Top Tens
Julian Brenman ?20, Editor- In- Chief
listen to. Although Pressure
to be the third best bassline
and Thought Contagion are,
of all time, is pr actically
REPORTING TEAM
despite how good they
nonexistent and when heard
Vicky Liu ?20, School News and Features
sound, r ather simple and
is constantly drowned out by
repetitive, Blockades could
the synths and vocals. To
have come str aight from
conclude, Simulation Theory
Katia Campos ?22, School News and Features
peak Muse albums such as
is just plain disappointing.
Julian Duvivier ?22, Arts and Technology
Black Holes and Revelations
This leaves us with the real
or The Resistance. If you?re
question: can Muse ever
scared of listening to this
retur n to its peak for m?
album because of ever ything
Back in 2012, when The 2nd
I said before, at least take a
Law was released, many fans
listen to Blockades.
were under whelmed by the
Jared Miller ?22, General
lighter, ar tsier sounds, only
Max Mar inelli ?22, Sports
Unfor tunately, things cer tainly get wor se from there with single "Dig Down" being r ather unremarkable on all fronts. As it?s a tr adition that the last song of ever y Muse albums is one of the wor st, the only thing "The Void" does well is keep that tr adition. Throughout the entire song, all I could think was, ?just add a guitar already.? It sounds less like a Muse song and more like the Stranger Things opening. This finishes Simulation Theory with 11 songs, maybe four of which are as good as older Muse songs. The rest of
Timberlake. I still have hope that Muse, at the ver y least, will remain to keep their incredible talent, and even Simulation Theory shows that Muse can become more mainstream while keeping their amazing music, as heard in songs like Pressure or Blockades. Therefore, for now, even if one of the most famous rock bands ever is star ting to fall into oblivion, I can at least know that Muse will always be who they always were.
Caroline Blackman ?20, Sports
Miles Johnson '19, Sports Yianni Krontir is ?22, Spor ts Jack Li ?20, Features
to be satisfied again once Drones came out, retur ning to Muse?s heavier roots. But now, any Muse fan would take The 2nd Law over
Riley Roche ?22, Reviews and Media Jer r y Yu ?19, Technology LAYOUT AND DESIGN TEAM
Simulation Theory any day of
Julian Duvivier '22, In- Pr int Layout Designer
the week. Simulation Theory
Lucas Chiang ?22, Webmaster
is unlike Muse not only stylistically but in ter ms of music quality. The only thing Muse could really do is
Katia Campos ?22, Digital layout Associate Peikun Shi ?22, In- Print Layout Associate PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM
to go way back to its roots, with more complex ?theater
Lydia Varcoe- Wolfson ?19, Senior Photographer
rock? and more guitar, bass,
Matthew Shen ?22, Photographer
and dr ums. But if anything, Muse is heading in the
OPERATIONS TEAM
opposite direction, into a
Vicky Liu ?20, Coordinator of Internal Relations
more pure pop style of
ADVISORY TEAM
music. I still have hope that Muse, at the ver y least, will
Ms. Katie Dicker son and Mr. Thomas Soper