Issue 78.13
2
Intro
Katie Cortez, Editor-in-Chief editorinchief@lbunion.com Richard Mejia, Managing Editor manager@lbunion.com Ashley Rodriguez, Advertising Executive ashley.lbunion@gmail.com Nathan Zankich, Web Manager web@lbunion.com
RICHARD RANTS: NEAR THE END OF AN ERA With this week’s issue being our second to last, the very least I could do as managing editor is provide you with the third and final edition of Richard Rants! This issue marks our 27th this school year, and let me tell you—it’s been quite the turbulent string of months. Heading into my first paid journalism gig here at CSULB, I didn’t know what to expect. Coming from Long Beach City College, I was used to a cut and dry journalism style where I practiced strictly the AP/hard news style of journalism and never divulged into any form of opinioned writing. The newsroom at LBCC was traditional, which meant our advisor was always hawking over the writers and editors to ensure the content produced met his requirements. Here at UW, we are completely student run. Myself and our so GLORIOUS EIC, Katie R. Cortez have been adamant about the development of the students who are on staff to make them better journalists and designers and give them a better sense of work ethic altogether.
I feel we’ve succeeded in doing so, as every week our staff would come in for meetings every Monday and stay almost all day on Saturdays for production day. We are fortunate to be supplied with modern technology to make the learning and developing process of both the students and the paper almost seamless. With a wide array of apps, software and hardware at our disposal, we as developing journalists have been provided with the best tools to reach our full potential. However, there have been plenty of times where our reporters were in situations and did not have the use of their phones, computers or a recorder while covering an event and their stories came back terrible. On two production days, the server we use to save all of the files required to create the weekly paper would malfunction and we couldn’t access it. Both times, many of us were confused and staggered along with our work as we waited to reacquire our
Amanda Del Cid, Social Media Manager Andrew Linde, Podcast Producer
Graphic by Sam Orihuela
precious technology. This week’s feature is all about that. Two of our best staff writers in this week’s feature Abe (Babe) and Lauren (she’s really 85 years old) explore the use of technology in our classrooms, and how students and professors alike have become unnecessarily reliant on it. With all of that being said, I would like to personally thank all of you have taken the time to pick a copy of the Union Weekly or read us online. It’s been quite the ride over the past eight months, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I will not be involved with the Union next year, as I will be pursuing other writing opportunities in hopes of solidifying my future after I graduate in Spring 2017. Thank you all for your support and I plan on writing for you all on occasion next year. My Warmest Regards, Richard Mejia (I Killed Dick Wieners Esq.—I fed him to John “The Cannibal” Mueller)
ART & DESIGN Sam Orihuela, Art Director artdirector@lbunion.com John Mueller, Graphics Illustrator illustration@lbunion.com EDITORIAL Amanda Del Cid, News Content Editor news@lbunion.com Peter R. Clark, News Design Editor travel@lbunion.com Elizabeth Nguyen, Opinions Editor opinions@lbunion.com Bailey Mount, Community Editor community@lbunion.com Alejandro Ramos, Athletics Editor athletics@lbunion.com Kaila-Marie Hardaway, Food Editor food@lbunion.com Amanda Dominguez-Chio, Culture Editor amanda@lbunion.com Madison Gallegos, Culture Editor madison@lbunion.com Elliott Gatica, Music Editor music@lbunion.com
Andrew and I want to do the unthinkable and eat every item on the Nugget Bar and Grill’s menu. We have take-home menus and check off each item, and each week we’ll talk about a different Nugget meal.
Andrew Linde, Entertainment Editor entertainment@lbunion.com Peter R. Clark, Travel Editor travel@lbunion.com STAFF WRITERS
Andrew: I love strange toppings on my food. Recently, the office has been really into Pieology. They allow customers to put a wide variety of toppings on personal pizzas. I always get corn on my pizza, and am mocked for it. But seriously, it’s soooo good. One of the best burgers I have ever had
Burger: fried egg, bacon, and swiss cheese
included corn on it. Since corn isn’t really available at the Nugget, I decided to try my second favorite unusual burger topping: a fried egg. I wasn’t sure if they’d allow it, or how much it would cost, but I stepped up and asked if it was allowed. To my delight, it was and it didn’t even cost that much to add. I enhanced the specialness of my egg and bacon burger by adding swiss cheese instead of my usual American. I highly recommend it. Katie: Ever since I first tasted the buffalo chicken sandwich, I’ve secretly wanted the Nugget’s buffalo sauce on everything. Last week was buffalo fries, this week I built my asked the friendly workers at the Nugget to put buffalo sauce on my burger. I had
Lauren Hunter, lauren@lbunion.com Sylvana Uribe, sylvana@lbunion.com Jordan Daniels, jordan@lbunion.com Elizabeth Campos, liz@lbunion.com Matthew Gozzip, matt@lbunion.com Abraham Alapisco, abraham@lbunion.com
COPY & ASSISTANT EDITORS Carissa Pope, Karen Ruiz, Sheila Sadr, Abril Burstein
Burger: Cheddar cheese, avocado, bacon, and buffalo sauce
a combination of bacon, cheddar cheese, avocado, and buffalo sauce on mine, and it was delicious. The sauce really complements the rest of the burger and it’s definitely something I plan on eating again. The only thing I could’ve added that might have made the burger better was a fried egg, like Andrew did.
Disclaimer and Publication Information: The Union Weekly is published using ad money and partial funding provided by the Associated Students, Inc. All Editorials are the opinions of their individual authors, not the Union Weekly, ASI nor CSULB. All students are welcome and encouraged to be a part of the Union Weekly staff. All letters to the editor will be considered for publication. However, CSULB students will have precedence. Please include name and major for all submissions. They are subject to editing and will not be returned. Letters may or may not be edited for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and length. The Union Weekly will publish anonymous letters, articles, editorials, and illustration, but must have your name and information attached for our records. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 500 words. The Union Weekly assumes no responsibility, nor is it liable, for claims of its advertisers. Grievance procedures are available in the Associated Students business office.
CONTRIBUTORS Julia Velasco-Aguilar, Mario Lopez, Bradford Chin, Natalie Ordaz, Brienne Wolfe, Steve Lime, Kaela Berry, John Courtot, John Broadway, Miguel-Angel Orduno COVER DESIGN BY: Sam Orihuela FEATURE DESIGN BY: Sam Orihuela CONTACT US Snail Mail: 1212 Bellflower Blvd. Suite 116 Long Beach, CA 90815 Phone: 562.985.4867 E-mail: lbunion.info@gmail.com Classifieds: classifieds.lbunion@gmail.com
@UnionWeekly
Opinions
3
My Body is Not a Joke Body image and humor do not mix in today’s society By Sylvana Uribe Staff Writer Consumers aren’t really sure what American Eagle Outfitter’s stance is on body positivity, and it seems the company might not know either. During the latter part of March, it released the #AerieMan underwear campaign featuring four men of different body builds. The videos seemed to be an addition to its ongoing #AerieReal campaign, which promises to include plus-size models and to not retouch its photographs. Once the calendar rolled over to Apr. 1, the company announced that the campaign was actually a parody of its body positive #AerieReal movement. In a press release from American Eagle, the company said it wasn’t afraid of taking risks and to “have a laugh in support of a good cause.” Or rather, the #AerieMan campaign was a creative take on the body acceptance movement. In the same press release, Aerie said it donated $25,000 to its partner, the
Scheduling Struggles Even grad students have registration troubles
By Anonymous Contributor
Illustration by John Mueller Graphics Illustrator
National Eating Disorders Association, so the company can’t be all that bad, right? Maybe audiences should have anticipated the campaign was all part of an April Fool’s joke or as the brand prefers to refer to it, an awareness-raising hoax. After all, shouldn’t the video content have tipped people off? The amusing videos featured men hanging framed photos of themselves in underwear, as well as men appreciating butt selfies. That should’ve set a red flag or two, but the brand stands by its belief that “male customers respond to humor.” Kelvin Davis was one of the models featured in the fake campaign and said on social media that his messages of body positivity were sincere. The silliness were tools of comedic relief for a sensitive topic that many men don’t talk about. It’s a conversation that he tries to keep flowing on his blog and social media pages.
Women have been at the center of the body diversity movement. It’s been an ongoing fight against the unrealistic, airbrushed images plastered on advertisements that make people who don’t coincide with the fabricated images feel like the “others.” Additional effects also include toxic selfperceptions, eating disorders, and funneling of dollars to plastic surgeons to look like someone created in Photoshop. Something that does need to be voiced more is that body image isn’t just a women’s issue. It affects all bodies, sexes, and gender expressions. Most disappointing about this hoax was that Aerie meshed messages of “Body positivity affects everyone” with “but it’s silly, right?” The hoax was quite the blunder in the body image efforts American Eagle has strived to champion. For far too long, body types who didn’t fit a certain mold were used
in jokes that were intertwined with labels like “undesirable” and “unwanted.” Now that more diverse body types and expressions are being celebrated in the media, it seems like a step backward for the brand to use them as part of their punchline. It’s been a big push for women to voice that they’ll no longer tolerate their image being categorized as a joke, and a bigger feat for companies to listen and act accordingly. Body acceptance is a human issue−one that everyone deals with in their own way. Currently, the space for body and voice inclusivity is dismal and the #AerieMan campaign should have been an effort to expand that space. American Eagle got men to voice their body image issues, but by parodying the issue the brand is once again putting itself behind the curve. They may have started a dialogue, but they also made body positivity the butt of society’s joke.
Before spring break, I received an email for my date to register for classes. Being a grad student had its perks, considering we enroll for classes before the undergrads, guaranteeing us our classes. Wrong. So, so wrong. We also suffer the same painful experience of registering for classes. One of the things that irritates me while planning my tentative schedule is that there’s not enough sections for a required course. My friend, for example, is waitlisted to take a William Shakespeare seminar, a class that fulfills our pre-1800 requirement. Or the class that is offered and you really want to take it but can’t because the times are inconvenient. It was easy for me to plan ahead what classes I should take considering I had time, but it’s bad enough when you’re working parttime and trying to get through the day by completing all the assigned readings or preparing for a presentation. Not to mention that we have two rounds for registration. For those of you who don’t know, the required number of classes for a full-time grad student is two; however, I submitted an application to receive a certificate in Technical and Professional Communication, which has its own list of
requirements. My efforts of planning ahead for what classes to take were wasted: I had to change my schedule four times, swapping,
It was such a stressful experience, especially considering that the 600 level classes fill up fast, so you have to act quickly and efficiently. Plus, I had to make sure my total units did not exceed the maximum number allowed. Talking with my friends, we all share the same anxieties of registering for classes. Last semester, for instance, I enrolled in a class and over the summer received an email about the fear of cancellation due to the low number of people enrolled in the class. Luckily, enough people ended up enrolling in the class, so the class was still held. But I can’t help imagining the possibility of that class getting cancelled. I learned so much from that class and would have missed out had that class gotten cancelled. The unit limit, also, creates a lot of tension. You have to be very selective on which classes you really need. Moreover, you have to live the next few weeks in the hopes that one class you need does not fill up during the second round of registration. It seems really unfair that the department offers a selected number of classes. Sometimes, it’s a class you have no interest in but given the circumstances must take. If only there was a better solution to reduce these anxieties.
dropping, and adding, until I was fully satisfied with it.
4
News
Man’s Best Friend Delivers Dogs provide stress relief for students read to dogs in a more upbeat atmosphere. Since 2007, Josie and Twelve weeks into the spring semester and her son, Christopher, hope is waning. The once whisk powerwalk have been gathering to class has now become a dreary drag of the volunteer dogs to not soul. Many tell you the light is at the end of only assist in schools the tunnel but so are finals and projects. The but also hospitals, metaphorical ball and chain gets heavier…and veterans facilities, fuzzier. Turns out senior centers it’s a dog, panting and college for your love and campuses like affection. CSULB. BARK On Wednesday, has expanded to this doggy over 160 teams daydream became a in the Greater reality for students Los Angeles area as Disabled Student and continues to Services organized grow today. some puppy relief In addition time at the Brotman to providing Hall Fountain in the occasional Bamse the dog enjoys the attention of students while his friend looks an effort to detherapy sessions on. (Matthew Gozzip/Union Weekly) stress students on on, Mahgerefteh campus. The event and DSS aim to provide therapy animals housing offices and professors on campus to has been a part of on a more personal and consistent basis allow students to have support animals with an ongoing effort for students with a certain medical them frequently. to relieve student diagnosis. More specially trained support The emotional support dogs will be a p p r e h e n s i o n The emotional therapy animals are trained to be excessively petted, reveling animals are provided to students that on campus at the Clothesline Project later in the attention. (Matthew Gozzip/Union Weekly) through play have an ailment that could be alleviated this week if you missed the chance to pet therapy with emotional support dogs. The dogs were provided by BARK, an through contact with a canine. Once they and cuddle, and will be on campus again Rachel Mahgerefteh, coordinator of organization that helps enhance reading obtain a cleared referral, Maghgerefteh and throughout semester. service and emotional support animals for skills within children by allowing them to Support Services gets into contact with the
By Matthew Gozzip Staff Writer
the DSS, created the program a year and a half ago in the hopes of increasing student wellness. “So many students were not getting emotional support animals and were going through tough time,” Mahgerefteh said. “The animals today are therapy animals and are here to just provide temporary relief in the middle of hectic academic semesters”.
Live Your Life Day At The Beach An important event for mental health support By Miguel-Ángel Orduño Contributor A resource fair with a sole mission to educate students on various mental health issues and suicide prevention was held on Tuesday on the Speaker’s Lawn. On-Campus Emergency Assistance Network, commonly called Project OCEAN held their sixth annual Live Your Life Day. It was a resource fair, which was held in front of the University Bookstore from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It featured 44 booths that focused on student success, and the well being of your mind, body, and soul. Established in 2008, the Live Your Life Day resource fair has been working hard to spread the word about mental health and health in general to the students here on campus.
“The environment we create at Project OCEAN is to always give a space to allow students to grow, and direct them toward resources,” said Nicole Morales an undergraduate peer advocate and developmental coordinator for Project OCEAN. Morales’ herself is a product of Project OCEAN’s continuing support for students dealing with various issues. Project OCEAN is a student resource provided by Counseling & Psychological Services, or CAPS here on campus. CAPS provides students with resources such as, emergency hotlines, caseworkers, group counseling, and outreach programs. One of the main focuses at the resource fair was suicide prevention. There were three booths specializing in the matter. One of these was that of Didi Hirsch Suicide
Prevention Center. “We helped over 30,000 people throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties,” said Rick Mogil, a program director with Didi Hirsch. The suicide prevention center has been open since 1958 and is the first one in the United States. The Didi Hirsch Center’s main office is located in Culver City. It runs a 24hour suicide prevention crisis line in Spanish and English. The Didi Hirsch Center is also very involved with communities across southern California doing outreach presentations. “We do a lot of presentations on suicide prevention and intervention,” said Mogil. Live Your Life Day also featured raffles, a photo booth, and a stigma fighters active minds speakers panel, which was held in the USU ballrooms. Students were also invited
to take part in stretch yoga, massage therapy, jousting, salsa dancing, and write on a chalk wall. Project OCEAN also encouraged students to visit booths by collecting stamps on a stamp card to receive free food. The resource fair also featured a DJ and performances from Tina Jackson, and Briana Harley. Rick Mogil of the Didi Hirsch Center put it best when explaining what the resource fair’s main goal is by saying, “Know what’s available for you, there is so much on campus to help students.” He added, “this is a community, and these are the people who support the community, and all the services from student services are represented here.” Project OCEAN is located in CAPS main office in Brotman Hall Room 226 open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
News
Take Back the Night
5
Journalism Day Coming to The Beach
A Sexual Assault Awareness month special event By Elizabeth Campos Staff Writer In lieu of Sexual Assault Awareness month, California State University Long Beach’s Women’s and Gender Equity Center is hosting events to shed light on the important issue. On April 20, Take Back the Night will be taking place starting at 6 p.m. in front of the Maxson Plaza and transitioning to the USU Beach Auditorium at 7 p.m. The concept of the event is fighting rape culture in general, but with the idea of defying the stigma that walking alone at night has for people, especially women and gay individuals. “We’re going to fight rape culture here at CSULB by marching at night,” said Desire Campusano, graduate student assistant of the Women’s and Gender Equity Center. The event will begin with a rally in which leaders from different organizations give speeches on sexual assault. Followed by this, a different person is introduced to lead the
rally and the march through campus. Posters and fliers with chants will be passed out participants so they can recite them while marching. Campusano’s particular favorite is “Claim our bodies, claim our right, take a stand, take back the night!”
Recalling past events, Campusano says that InterACT will more likely “do a skit about an abusive relationship or friends acting as bystanders to see how it all unfolds.” The interactive part of this is that InterACT members will stop and ask people what they would do in the given problematic scenarios. The “Speak Out” is the most emotional part of Take Back the Night as many sexual assault survivors take the courage to share their experiences. This space, however, is not limited for survivors only, those who have been indirectly affected can speak out, too. “The outcome of the evening is a sense of empowerment, and they also take back the power from ‘that’ night,” said Campusano, who has been present in several Take back the night events. The event is scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m., however, depending on the amount of people who share experiences during “Speak Out,” the event may go on regardless of time frame.
“The outcome of the evening is a sense of empowerment, and they also take back the power from ‘that’ night.” -Desire Campusano The transition from the first stage of the event, “Take Back the Night,” to the second stage “Speak Out” is characterized by an open space in which victims are welcome to share their stories with the audience present. Prior to that, the campus’ InterACT performance troupe will participate in the event as well. InterACT is a social justice performance troupe characterized by its interaction with audience members.
Screening Highlights Late Political Activist A documentary full of Grace By Abraham Alapisco Staff Writer The documentary, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, was screened April 12 at the University Theatre for students and was followed up with a Q&A forum with the director Grace Lee. The documentary is not about the director. It is about another person named Grace Lee, whom she had met while filming a previous documentary, The Grace Lee Project. A crowd of about 100 people filled the seats as faculty from the Film and Electronic Arts Department introduced the Peabody Award winning documentary and director before the screening began. According to the flyer promotion, the screening is part of a series called Quandaries. The series is supported by The Visiting Fellows Grant funded by the California State University Entertainment Industry, which aims to fund similar award winning documentary screenings and director Q&As. The documentary focused on the life
opportunities, Boggs took a low paying job at the University of Chicago Philosophy Library, which compelled her participation in tenants’ rights activism and led to future participation with the Workers Party. Lee married James Boggs, an AfricanAmerican autoworker and activist. They lived in Detroit, where they became involved with the Correspondence Film faculty and director Grace Lee speak with the audience Publishing Committee, following the screening. (Abraham Alapisco/Union Weekly) which was a radical work of Chinese-American Grace Lee Boggs, left organization that James Boggs would a philosopher, social activist, and feminist. eventually become a newspaper editor for. She is a Marxist influenced by the ideas of During her time in Detroit, Boggs was part Georg Hegel. of an ongoing dialogue concerning social Boggs became involved with the justice and revolution. Civil Rights and Black Power Movement “Revolution is evolution towards after receiving her PHD. Due to limited something grander,” said Boggs. An open
By Andrew Linde Entertainment Editor Monday marks California State University, Long Beach’s ‘s annual Journalism & Public Relations Day. Starting at 8:15 a.m. in the USU Ballroom, the event features three speakers focusing on career evolution. Joel Sappell, the Los Angeles County Deputy Director of Strategic Communications, will speak on how attending CSULB set the course for his career at 8:30 a.m. He is known for coauthoring an investigative series on the Church of Scientology that was published in the Los Angeles Times in June 1990. He has since changed his career from hard hitting news to public relations for Los Angeles County. At 9:30 a.m., attendees will hear all about entertainment marketing campaigns from Laurel Whitcomb, the Vice President of Marketing for the Emmy Awards. Whitcomb became the first vice president of marketing for the television academy in 2003, according to its website. The final speaker at 10:30 a.m. will be Mary McNamara, television critic for the Los Angeles Times, who will be speaking on being a serious critic and published author. McNamara won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Her work at the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize for her use of “shrewdness, humor, and an insider’s view.” The Journalism & Public Relations awards ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by a reception. exchange of ideas is what Boggs promoted. She believed, “being angry does not constitute revolution,” rather a person willing to see the world for what it is and how he or she can change it for the better is when the system can become susceptible to alterations. Following the screening, director Grace Lee shared her expertise and knowledge with students who inquired about the medium of documentary filmmaking and reflected on her time spent with the activist. “I never would have imagined a Chinese American woman was involved with so many things,” said Lee. For Lee, a big challenge was finding archival footage of Boggs at past historical events. Director Lee explained that Boggs never wanted personal attention or recognition for her activism. Boggs wanted the focus to be on the revolution and the community. Grace Lee Boggs passed away in October 2015. She was 100 years and 100 days old.
6
Athletics
Finding Success in the Present Dirtbags pitcher Tanner Brown opens up on his life. By Matt Gozzip Staff Writer
Tanner Brown was named Big West Pitcher of the week in April. (Jim Cayer/Gazzetes Sports)
One of the most fluid motions in all of sports is a baseball pitch. A combination of statuesque poise and momentum mechanics, a perfect pitch can transform a seemingly harmless ball of yarn into a 90mph comet in mere seconds. Pitch poses vary but the cadence is all the same: think, thrust and throw. Much like the motion of a pitch, senior pitcher Tanner Brown has learned to embrace the fluidity of life, on and off the mound. “I have no clue what is going to happen in the future”, Brown notes. “I don’t have a dream job. I just continue to keep moving.”
Think In an age of meticulous coordination and careful planning for the future, Brown is indeed an outlier. After playing baseball for Fountain Valley High School, he had no offers. Following an extended stint at Golden
KO-BE KO-BE KO-BE The Laker’s final game this season was all about Kobe, and the fans wanted it no other way.
By John Broadway Contributor
West College, no coaches came calling yet again. For some this may have felt like the end of their baseball career but to Brown it was not debilitating. If anything, it was just more of the same treatment that he was used to. “I wasn’t going to play after Golden West,” said Brown, “but my coach, Bert Villarreal, knew some of the coaches at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. I was offered a walk on spot to both, expecting to be on the team and only go through the motions. I didn’t expect all of this.”
The “this” that Brown is referring to is a starting pitcher spot in the rotation, numerous Big West accolades and lately, early flashes of dominance in the new season. Brown is 4-2 with a 3.00ERA that was recently capped off by a dominant outing in a shutout
over a nationally ranked UCSB squad. Much of Brown’s success on the field is well documented but it is what he has kept in his life during his ascension to stardom that has better defined him. The college culture of sociability networking is quite alluring but Brown has a different set of values. “I live five minutes from the beach so that is an escape when I’m hanging out with friends helps to calm me off the field, no matter what we do,” explains Brown. “To me, it is important to be with my friends and especially with family. Family is huge to me.” Brown’s cites frequent barbecues with his sisters and their children as something that helps him play so level headed when he pitches. His family values also have attributed to his near seamless assimilation and comfort with his new team surroundings, which are pseudo kin to him after only a couple years. “Being part of a team is one of my favorite things about baseball and getting the set
the tempo as a pitcher and put my team in a position to win is what I enjoy to do, even if I haven’t been pitching for too long.” Sporting events consistently have unpredictable outcomes. Players prepare for countless hours only for their training to be thrown out the window when something unexpected happens. For now, pitching for The Beach is all on Brown’s mind at the moment, even when the MLB seems uncertain. This situation should scare batters. Brown has thrived on unpredictability in his life because it is all he has ever known. Broken plans and dreams are aplenty for collegiate athletes but to Tanner Brown it’s just a matter of following the rhythm of his pitch motion to fight the future.
From the moment you walked up to the Staples Center and saw his pictures gracing the outside walls, until hours after the game had already ended, there was no mistaking what this game was all about. The crowd began chanting his name at least four separate times before the game even started. They wasted no time in making it known that this day, this game, hell even this whole god forsaken season, was about one man, Kobe “Bean” Bryant. At a normal game it is typical to see a few fans from the opposing team, wearing their jerseys, but of course, this was no ordinary game. Every single jersey in the 19,000 person sellout crowd at Staples Center had Kobe Bryant’s name on it. Every single sign in the arena, had his name on it. Every single conversation in the building, had his name in it. His numbers, 24 and 8, were painted on either sides of the court. The number 24 hung in lights in the rafters. From beginning to end, everything was about Kobe, and everyone in the crowd loved it. The atmosphere of Kobe’s final game in reality did not resemble that of a game. Fans were there not to celebrate the game or a win, but Kobe and a career which every single fan in the building revered and was endlessly
thankful for. Before the game and during every game timeout, the big screen played video tributes from NBA players, former teammates, and celebrities, thanking him for what he’s done and celebrating his greatness. The aura of a celebration transcended into the actual game. Two minutes into the game I could hear a fan screaming “How dare you play defense on Kobe Bryant in his last game you son of a bitch!” Throughout all of Kobe’s 50 shots, and 60 points, the arena erupted every time he made a shot no matter how impressive or unimpressive it was. Meanwhile other Lakers who completed highlight reel alley oops and put back dunks barely received half of the response given to a standard 15 foot jumper from Kobe. After being out off the court for less than five minutes the crowd began chanting “WE WANT KOBE!”, and midway through the third quarter the crowd fiercely booed a Utah Jazz player simply for blocking one of Kobe’s shots. Never have I ever experienced any of these occurrences in a sports game, each ridiculous in the context of a regular game. However, this was not a mere game, but a celebration. The only time it did seem like an actual game was in the 4th quarter. With both of these
teams out of the playoffs a win meant nothing to them, but to the fans a win meant a perfect ending to Kobe’s illustrious career. Our yearning desire for Kobe to score and for him to win made the atmosphere during the 4th quarter in Staples Center absolutely electric as everyone realized they were witnessing an iconic moment in sports history. The energy in the stadium resembled that of a playoff game during his quintessential clutch 4th quarter scoring frenzy that gave the Lakers a come from behind win. Every fan was literally on their feet and metaphorically on the edge of their seat as Kobe delivered his beautiful swan song. After Kobe essentially hit the game winning bucket, and walked off the court a winner one last time, the stadium erupted as if the Lakers had just won the NBA championship, with balloons and confetti falling from above. It didn’t matter that the Lakers missed the playoffs for the third year in a row. It didn’t matter that the Lakers just finished their worst season in franchise history. Anything negative at all ceased to be relevant and in the end all that mattered was the fans got exactly what they came for…Kobe Bryant, in all his glory, one last time.
Thrust
Throw
Food
Odd...Yet Delicious
7
Viento y Agua y Chill
An out-of-the-ordinary restaurant with a delectable bread bowl
A coffee shop that is perfect to study in
By Bailey Mount Community Editor
By Amanda Dominguez-Chio Culture Editor
An outside view of Archibald’s Drive-Thru. (Tammy G./Yelp)
Seldom do you see an advertisement for a bread bowl outside of an actual restaurant. Seldom does that bread bowl happen to be five dollars and offer customers a soup that isn’t clam chowder. As a huge vocal supporter of the bread bowl, but also a rare consumer of it, I was really excited to go to Archibald’s Drive-Thru. Located on the tail end of Belmont Shore, the fast-food restaurant looked nothing like the usual aesthetic of the area. If anything, the exterior was reminiscent of an early 2000’s Carl’s Jr. I half expected there to be a playground. Its website and menu advertised “great foods, cold beers, and live sports.” I was curious to see how a place that looked like a 90s web graphic could be a sports bar. It turned out to be so much more. Despite the name, there was no drivethru. The “live sports” were two small flat screens showing a golf tournament with no sound. Instead, 80s pop music played over the speakers. I never thought I would hear Madonna eating a bread bowl in a place that looked like it was created by aliens as a poor attempt at blending in among us. Speaking of, the bread bowl was everything I’d hoped it would be. Bread bowls are already a Godsend – you can have your bowl and eat it too! – but this one was brushed with olive oil, frickin’ huge, and baked with a spice almost like eating a giant piece of garlic bread. The soup was a thick, creamy delight, drowning in cheese. It made for some hilarious string-trailing-from-thefork-to-your-mouth goodness.
The bacon wasn’t too chewy. The potatoes were hot and not too sweet. The bread was a little tough toward the end and I got more soup around my face than I intended, but it was worth the struggle. I’m hungry again just thinking about it. Fighting with my food gave me the opportunity to look more around the establishment. The cups we drank from were inexplicably Greek in design. Posters plastered all over the windows advertised everything from Mexican food to diner food to their original “DUI fries.” The dining area featured chairs and tables that looked like, in the words of my companion, “they were stolen from a preschool.” They were metal and coated with that odd paint that makes them look plastic. The additional plastic over the chair’s fabric was spattered with stars and moons. On either side of the joint were red diner stools that invoked images of 1950s poodle skirts and milkshakes. I left the place thoroughly confused and fully satisfied. Archibald’s exceeded every low expectation I’ve come to know when grubbing on fast food. Despite adopting the façade of a typical greasy spoon, the restaurant presented me with such a confusing catastrophic mishmash of things from its menu to its aesthetic – that I wasn’t sure what to classify it as. There was no running theme. But damn, was that bread bowl delicious.
One of my favorite things to do in Long Beach is explore coffee shops. My friends have been to several, and a few days ago we decided to visit Viento y Agua. When we arrived, the place was bustling with activity, which made it difficult to find a good place to sit near an outlet. Fortunately for us, a lady that had ordered in front of me was sitting at a table with an outlet nearby, so the moment she rose to get her drink, my roommate commandeered the table (sorry, lady but not really). My roommate and I ordered the Mexican Mocha, which was delicious. For those of you who do not know what a Mexican Mocha is, it’s basically a mocha with cinnamon. I tried a Mexican Mocha at a different coffee shop but I was left dissatisfied, especially when I finished the drink and I could taste specks of powder. The Mexican Mocha at Viento y Agua was different. It had the right amount of cinnamon: enough to taste it but not overpower the drink. When my roommate’s Mexican Mocha arrived, her drink looked more aesthetically-pleasing since hers had
a better heart design, lightly sprinkled with cinnamon. The staff was nice and friendly. One of the cool features that makes Viento y Agua stand out is when you’re ordering your drink, the staff asks what kind of milk you want. Usually the coffee shops I have been to don’t ask you for your milk preference, so you have to tell the staff yourself. If you do plan to visit Viento y Agua, be sure to arrive early because the seats fill up. The play live music on the weekends and it’s a great place to study. Its mellow ambiance prevented me from getting too distracted from my work. This place played good music, nothing loud or discordant but soothing and harmonious (The Smiths, Mazzy Star, and The Shins, just to give you a better idea). The brick walls are adorn with eclectic art, including a picture of a sugar skull that hangs near the register. Viento y Agua provided me with a memorable and productive day of studying and I look forward to coming back.
The Mexican Mocha accompanied with a heart design (Amanda Dominguez-Chio/Union Weekly)
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Travel
Vegas Misadventures and Elevators We didn’t own the night By Brienne Wolfe Contributor “We’re only going to be there for a night,” my between one 5’1” girl and a 5’6” girl with thirty mom said. pounds more on her. We were in Las frickin’ Vegas. By the time it was 11:30 p.m., the We’d driven for five hours through the Hennessy was gone along with two shots of Nevada desert. We were going because a whiskey between the two of us. We went to friend of mine had never been to Vegas. My go have dinner at midnight with my mother mom called it “a girl’s night out.” and cousin. Once the food kicked into our We weren’t sure what kind of girl’s night systems, it was all over. out happened on a Tuesday. That may have My friend turned gray. My body felt influenced our mutual decision to drink. And settled deep into its bones and let me tell this is where our tale starts to take a turn for the stupid, boys and girls. Vegas is known for its who-thefuck-cares lifestyle and makes things that are frowned upon in most cities totally normal. It’s a shit show and it’s great. But with great power comes great responsibility. Lack of responsibility one: we hadn’t eaten since we left. The Paris Hotel and The Linq seen across from the Bellagio Lack or (Brienne Wolfe/Union Weekly) responsibility two: we drank coffee to make up for that first fact. you, it was not a pleasant feeling. Everything Lack of responsibility three: my friend I heard was muffled and everything I touched didn’t read the bottle we were drinking. It felt numb. My friend went to the restroom ended up being 80 proof Hennessy split and started praying to the porcelain God. By
the time the night was over, she’d spent three hours doing that. “Go back to the room,” my mom said. It was a long that ten-minute journey back.
pitched grinding noise pulled the cables taut. And I was going to die. Thankfully, God is not so cruel. I got out, made it back to my room, and sat down. I sent a quick text to my mom and was ready to put this whole night behind me when I heard a bang and a shout: “Security!” Nope! I hid in the closet. No way. They came in and after a few minutes, I decided to try and fool them into thinking I was fine. It turned out to be my cousin, trying to make us all laugh amidst the vomiting and room spinning. A view of Vegas through the window of our hotel room Don’t scare your (Brienne Wolfe/Union Weekly) friends when they’re I had to walk through a restaurant, a Japanese drunk, guys. It’s totally not cool. garden, the casino, and lastly—get into an When we finally left the city—two days elevator. I fucking hate elevators. But I got later—we were death warmed over. No amount on the elevator anyway. As soon as the doors of coffee kept me awake. No amount of water closed, you know what I heard people yelling? washed the vomit taste out of my friend’s mouth. “No no, wait, no!” And we swore never to repeat this trip again. The people shouting this probably In the end, what happens in Vegas doesn’t wanted me to hold the elevator for them. But stay in Vegas. in my mind, it was an omen of impending It only stays in Vegas until it’s brought up demise. The elevator doors shook. A high- at the family dinner table.
A Journey Through the Mind An odd drug-induced excursion By Steve Lime Contributor I’m willing to risk saying that most college students don’t have enough extra money to take a vacation. But everyone around the world right now can take a very special trip. A trip that takes you where only you can go, and even will reveal new aspects of your personality and help you understand your life. Anyone can take a mind trip. Now, I know what you’re thinking (okay, I don’t, I’m not a mind reader), “I don’t need any of this hippie shit.” But it’s not. You can accomplish this with simple sleeping pills. You don’t even need Ambien, just get the generic stuff at Walgreens. I dream infrequently, but enough to remember them and think about their meaning. When I took sleeping pills, my dreams became more vivid and longer. I had always wanted to have a lucid dream, and I thought this was my chance. I still haven’t quite accomplished that, but I do remember my dreams better and understand their meaning. I like to think of dreams as your mind’s way of processing new information and
sorting it with old information. How else would you explain my old high school girlfriend popping up in a dream where I’m watching a movie starring John Stewart and Seth Rogen? I wanted to give you a look into how wild and vivid my dreams can become, so what follows is a dream I had after taking a sleeping pill.
Illustration by John Mueller Graphics illustrator
I pushed open the double doors of a large room. I was outside in some sort of zoo or amusement park. It was very bright. I had to jump over a wooden barrier to get to where I was going. The barrier was about waist high and the top was a small log. Once I got over the fence, I saw several animals around me. But they were unlike any
animal I’d seen before. They were about the size of sheep, but they had horns like a yak. Really long, and only on the right side of their head. These animals kind of chased me, but I was also in trouble for trespassing. When I finally got to the exit, someone else was with me. We were almost out, but someone on the outside started throwing glowing rocks at us. They were hot and literally glowing, like they were radioactive. That was my dream. What does it mean? Well, I definitely have a memory of hopping a wooden fence at an amusement park. The animals make no sense, but are really cool to think about. The glowing rocks were probably there because I’d seen “Batman v. Superman” recently. Overall, dreams can be fun and a nice way to escape the drudgery of real life without spending a ton of cash. *Union Weekly does not condone abusing sleeping pills -Ed.
FEATURE
Intro by Richard Mejia The furious keystrokes on a laptop of while on deadline is the universal rhythm of all college students. Once the project is complete, a quick submission through email or through a designated school portal completes the process. This is a snapshot that resonates with any college student and illustrates the necessity of technology in today’s educational system. Whether it be watching a tutorial video on YouTube to help with an assignment or sitting in a class covered with television screens, technology’s influence on any school is undeniable. For all the advantages that the advancement of technology has supplied us with, when do we begin the question when we’ve had our fill? Should we even have the audacity to pose such a question? We should embrace all technological advances— however we shouldn’t align to become completely reliant on it. In speaking to a few experts, as well as detailing personal experiences— we at the Union Weekly have narrowed down what it is about technology in classrooms should be embraced and what forms of it our holding students back. Students should certainly adapt to changes in technology, but we should all be weary of our intellectual abilities perishing in the process.
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FEATURE
By Abraham Alapisco College campuses are pictured as quaint places where students lie in luscious courtyards, libraries are brimming with books, and knowledge is nurtured like a bee sting caused by rolling over said bee in the damn courtyard. The image of college as a separate bubble from the rest of world is not the case due to the amount of technology we surround ourselves with at all times. Unless a squirrel is trying to steal your food, it seems that technology preoccupies our time. As we switch around apps, text our roommates to not leave food in the oven again, and fumble with ringtone settings, we bring our obligations outside of the classroom with us. Faculty and students may use technology in different ways, but ideally it enhances the education experience. However, technology’s benefits are equated with how well it is understood and used in a beneficial manner, which is why it’s important to hear different experiences and attitudes towards technology on campus. The classroom is no longer just pen and paper. Many students carry a variety of gadgets that possess multiple functions— note taking, electronic textbooks, and planners. For faculty such as Dr. Alejandra Priede, a doctoral program instructor, technology in the classroom is the status quo, but it can be a double-edge sword. “Most of them bring their computers to class,” said Priede. “I personally don’t love it because I know they get distracted, but at the same time it is a great way of taking notes and having different sources of information open at the same, which facilitates the discussions that we *have.” However, you don’t have to step inside a classroom to see a large technological presence. Just walking around campus, many people are intertwined with the technology they carry. Melissa Mahoney, a graduate student in the Master of Counseling program, notices the disconnect technology seems to cause. “Cell phones or people listening to music on their headphones, that completely closes you off from any other human interaction,” said Mahoney. “Specifically with cell phones, people are looking down instead of looking where they are going.” Being engulfed with tech can range from being inconsiderate to dangerous when accidents occur as a result of spatial awareness being limited due to such activity. When we are accommodating to others and don’t prioritize a text over the person walking near our vicinity, we are consciously
choosing to be in the moment according to Mahoney—who believes that a lot of the inconveniences and troubles caused by such behavior can be avoided by being a little more thoughtful of immediate surroundings. Granted, before the cell phone, people still had their distractions in the form of newspapers and crossword puzzles they carried around during a commute. However, Dr. Priede views the way people interact with technology today is different than the way people behave when they are immersed in a book or newspaper on the bus, going on to say the differences between older and newer forms of media change how we behave as a result. Reading a single type of material in front of you has purpose. With a newspaper or book, there is a single intent—read the material in front of you. With a phone, we are not always aware how much we are switching between different apps, which results in a less cohesive, immersive experience according to Dr. Priede, saying it’s a likely a result of the amount of choice we have on a phone. The question is whether or not the amount of choice and personalization technology offers us is always a good thing. Barry Schwartz argues in his book, The Paradox of Choice, that having many options can surprisingly be unfulfilling. “When faced with overwhelming choice, we are forced to become “pickers,” which is to say, relatively passive selectors from whatever is available. Being a chooser is better, but to have the time to choose more and pick less, we must be willing to rely on habits, customs, norms, and rules to make some decisions automatic,” said Schwartz. Since technology is ever changing and adapting to our needs, it accompanies the paths of those who see how important it is in certain industries such as Ashley Schwarz, a Film Major, who views technology in her field as a huge part of what makes movies magical. “Technology is constantly changing the film industry and it’s exciting to see how it will continue to evolve.”
FEATURE
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By Lauren Hunter With the way our world is progressing, technology will eventually take over the dynamics of a classroom. At CSULB they have already designed what are known as ‘smart classrooms’ and in other departments they have been utilizing technology in the classroom. For the Liberal Arts department, English in particular, technology is good and bad. As an English Literature major I read a lot. Sometimes there is too much to read, but I have to buy actual books and not only that I am constantly reading articles and other papers from critics. I have a stack of printed out articles from this past semester that is two inches thick. Obviously it would be nice to have the option to use a laptop or some tablet to read these on. To dive deeper into the discussion I asked Dr. Lloyd Kermode, professor of Renaissance and Early Modern British Literature; Literary and Cultural Theory, his opinions regarding technology in the classroom. Kermode made the distinction that technology in classrooms differs between different classes, teachers and majors. “I’m not anti-technology; I’m pro-education. Sometimes A/V and interactive technological tools can be very useful, especially when talking about material history (history of printing, science, geography, etc.), but in literary studies, it is more often the case that close
reading and face-to-face discussion between human beings looking at each other rather than at a screen yields broader and, more importantly, deeper discoveries about the text being studied,” Kermode explained. Just because the world is transitioning into being more and more paperless does not mean schools should use their funding to go more towards technology and creating ‘smart classrooms’. “More and more funding and administrative effort is being channeled into the “smart” classroom without thinking about whether that technology helps us become smarter or whether “smart” machines encourage passive human learners,” said Kermode. Another aspect to this debate is pricing on e-books versus actual books. Many students will argue that they prefer to spend less money and just use their tablets instead of buying a real book. However, Kermode hears the students’ arguments, but has his own opinions. “When I assign cheap ($5-$6) Shakespeare editions for a class and see students still renting them rather than buying them, I am less inclined to listen to complaints about the cost of physical books.” It is understandable that different majors have different types of textbooks. I know that in the sciences textbooks can be near $200-300. But strictly speaking with English it is simple to get extremely cheap books.
There will always be different sides to this argument. As students and humans who constantly seek out knowledge, will see interesting trends regarding school and technology. “There is something special and different about the university classroom, and that difference is depleted by switching in a few seconds from an email argument with a friend to a Facebook post about last night’s dinner to a funny cat video and then to a Shakespeare scene that you have to stop and think hard about,” Kermode said. There needs to be a balance. It is also not the school’s sole responsibility to inform the students of that balance. Students will need to take responsibility for this as well and know when they can or cannot cross a line. Kermode is correct in saying that the university classroom is a special place. The battle between technology and no technology in those special classrooms will be a continual on-going debate. Technology is great and necessary in today’s world, but there is something to be said about real books and real human to human contact that technology will never be able to replace.
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Culture
Save the Last Dance CSULB Dance presents its 2016 spring concert By Bradford Chin Contributor At the CSULB Dance Center, final tech and dress rehearsals are underway as the CSULB Department of Dance prepares for the final concert program of its 2015-2016 performance season. The Spring 2016 installment of “CSULB Dance in Concert,” which opens this Wednesday evening, is the fifth concert program of the season. It will include both new and restaged contemporary modern, ballet, jazz, and hiphop dance works by CSULB Dance faculty members Dr. Colleen Dunagan, Rebecca Lemme, Sophie Monat, Department Chair Andrew Vaca and critically acclaimed guest artists Doug Varone and Laurel Jenkins. Described by Associate Professor and concert director Lorin Johnson as an “athletic, exuberant, and thoughtprovoking” performance which will “inspire and exhilarate,” this concert program challenges the boundaries of traditional dance theater conventions and reflects the high caliber and prestige of the CSULB Dance program. While discussing the challenges posed by this particular production, Elisha Griego, the department’s resident technical director and lighting designer, wrote that “[the faculty] continually question the accepted conventions of what it means to produce dance on stage.” This facilitates “a re-thinking of the traditional ways in which the stage is
Thoughts in Automobiles
Sitting in my car, my gray eyes slump on one spot to count the cars rumbling to a destination, one I can only rattle as I lose count of the clunks whizzing
Where are they going?
By Mario Lopez Contributor
Or, I think of the oceanside’s contrast with grinding bright sand that I sink into, as I inch closer to the freezing water I inevitably endure, never as cold as you think. My home is down the unevenly paved street with the sinkhole perfectly aligned to meet your tire. I think of the drivers’ homes-Where are they going? if they are a mile away, or across a jade sea-Maybe the home is a heaping honda running fifty miles an hours, the only one
in forging their own path. As with all things in this department, the process is about and for the students, which is the case with guest artist Doug Varone’s “Of the Earth Far Below.” BFA student Colleen Hendricks shared that the process of restaging this work challenged her to keep up both mentally and physically but taught her “the importance of having group comradery” and “how to keep calm under pressure in a professional setting.” BFA student Daniel Miramontes added that “because this dance is not about a single person in particular but a community, it requires a high level of awareness and physicality.” The CSULB Department of Dance invites you to share in an innovative and awe-inspiring evening of dance. “CSULB Dance in Concert” opens Apr. 20, and runs through Apr. 23, 8:00 p.m. every evening with an additional 2:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday afternoon. Performances are held in the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater located opposite the east side of the Walter Pyramid. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $16 for seniors, students (with valid ID), and Dance Resource Center Members and can be purchased at the door (cash or check only) or online. For tickets and information, please call (562) 985-7000 or visit www.csulb. edu/dance.
sudden movement will lead to a collision of more than two egos. The wheel can be taken by any idle hand that wants to be gone or get going. The grip on my wheel tightens
On wheels. I think of a desk, full of future papercuts and phones ringing in a deaf ear to the sounds of typing of the suited figure muttering business to The Man.
An original poem
Illustration by John Mueller Graphics Illustrator
normally lit, which is both demanding and liberating.” In an e-mail interview, Liz Carpenter — an alumnus of The Beach and the department’s resident costume designer — wrote that “the challenge with working with [two] guest artists is that...we have no history, strangers basically, and they are handing over their work to me.” However, with this past Saturday’s lighting rehearsals, the expert work of the veteran Griego and Carpenter has begun to be realized, as have the dance works taking the stage this week. Among the premieres in the concert program is “Witnesse,” a sextet by Assistant Professor Rebecca Lemme. An active dance-maker and teacher for over 10 years, Lemme shares that “Witnesse” was “the first time I’ve focused so deliberately on the nature of being female” and that it is “an homage to the power of the feminine… [rejecting] the notion that vulnerability and power are mutually exclusive.” Similarly, guest artist Laurel Jenkins pays homage to the art of process in “Spring.” Originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and accompanied by an original music score inspired by Vivaldi’s “Spring,” “Spring” brings attention to the performance of dance, the daily process to which dancers commit in constructing work and refining their art, and a dancer’s agency to make their own choices
Where are they going? I remember, as a plump kid, my forefinger and middle-finger, two legs Running on lamp posts, jumping clouds, and dodging old men walking the streets they know, because they can’t afford the nine-hundred a month rent with a parttime job, preceded and proceeded by a band of little mini-thems waiting, at home, for a hug from mommy. Where are they going? I see the blood driving up her face, spit out in force, at the passenger. his face leaking in guilt and fear, because any
Never wondering. Where are they going? Now I sit and I curse the red light, speed through the yellow, and honk At the man that takes a second too long to see the green. I sit here Wondering where I am going.
Culture
Mind the Menace A retrospective look at “A Series of Unfortunate Events” By Bailey Mount Community Editor
Illustrations from “The Series of Unfortunate Events” by Brett Helquist
If you’re interested in reading about the upcoming Netflix series, you would be better off reading some other article. In this article, not only is there only cursory discussion of the upcoming series, there is little to no mention of the movie with Jim Carrey, except for the one that was just mentioned and a brief comparison of the two at the article’s conclusion. This is because the article is about the “A Series of Unfortunate Events” book series by Lemony Snicket, the observer of these events and Daniel Handler, his transcriber. The 13 books followed the unfortunate lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. Following the tragic death of their parents in an unexplained house fire, the three attempt to survive the world around them and the antagonist Count Olaf, a heartless man out to get their family fortune. Though classified as “children’s fiction,” the only thing childlike about the series is that the protagonists themselves are children. The books deal largely with adult themes and contain many instances of violence and cruelty, both toward the children and those they interact with. I started this book series when I was ten. Ten years old is a strange time for anyone, with the light of single digit age behind you and the ominous shadow of adolescent only a few years away. Books for this age are even stranger to find. One is no longer satisfied with teachers from the Black Lagoon, but neither is one yet interested in discovering the true nature of Frankenstein’s monster. “A Series of Unfortunate Events” provided a good stepping stone for this transitional age. It was the first time I ever had to read about death and misery. I’d always been a fan of darker stories, even as a child, but the stories were always comical and provided reassurance at each conclusion. That was never the case with this series. With its dry wit, caustic dialogue, and miserable plot, “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was a children’s series that created children with a better understanding of the world they were to eventually grow up into.
Granted, it was unlikely that your parents belonged to a secret organization and that the vast network of people they worked alongside had such strange and idiosyncratic professions. It was even more unlikely that you and your siblings would be singularly responsible for the burning down of a hotel and framed for a murder. Yet it was through that wildly improbable and fantastical series of events that the books broadcast their message: life had a penchant for being unfair and sometimes you needed to deal with it. Your parents would not be around to help you forever. The series also succeeded in reminding us that it was impossible to get answers to all the questions you had. More than often than not, knowledge of these answers would only lead you to more questions. Book 13—simply titled “The End”—was only the end of Count Olaf. His death and the following epilogue only left the Baudelaire children and their readers with more questions. Despite the book series ending ten years ago, the unfortunate events continue. Netflix announced in November of 2014 that it was making a live-action series adaptation of it. Neil Patrick Harris was cast as Count Olaf, Malina Weissman as Violet, Louis Hynes as Klaus, and Patrick Warburton as the voice of Lemony Snicket. Appropriately, the season will have 13 episodes. Handler will co-executive produce the series and write a majority of the episodes. “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was a book series that depicted what lies at childhood’s inevitable end through events that were overly dramatic and wildly impossible. It created a suitable literary stepping stone for young readers into more adult fiction. The Netflix series will undoubtedly have a lot on its hands in making those elements shine through. With hope, we won’t have another repeat of the film, with the comedy overshadowing the tragedy that is the life of the Baudelaire children. With hope, the series will avoid this aberrant direction - a word here which means “very, very wrong and causing much grief.”
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Community
Dressing in Obscurity How a local cosplayer makes the ordinary extraordinary By Andrew Linde Entertainment Editor
King as The Caretaker in front of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion (Kaela Berry/Contributor)
When I first met David King, I knew he was a creative person. We took a screenwriting class together at Cypress College. At the time, he was writing a screenplay about pirates. Little did I know that he sometimes dressed as a pirate as well. When King first attended Anime Expo in 2004, he dressed as pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of the show One Piece. At the time, no one really knew about the anime so it was a rather popular cosplay, he said. He described himself as a skinny caucasian guy with curly hair. So he probably won’t be dressing up as Superman. King takes a few things into account when deciding what to cosplay as. “Is it easy to do on a budget? And would it be fun to portray with my physique?” he said. Most people think of cosplayers as master
seamstresses and DIY geniuses. King’s style is much more laidback than that. Several of his cosplays only require a jacket, a buttondown shirt, and a few props. “My secret would be finding cosplays that people don’t usually do because they’re too simple,” King said. Such as the character of Dr. Jonathan Crane, the alter ego of Batman villain Scarecrow. With his burlap sack mask and literal scarecrow rags, the villain is less easily recognized when he is simply the twisted psychiatrist. “Scarecrow is pretty canonical looking in his appearance,” King said. “So this is my own idea of how to do Jonathan Crane with enough of the pieces there that people would recognize the character.” He accessorizes a earth-toned suit with an Arkham Asylum name badge, clipboard
King’s Scarecrow features a plague-doctor style mask, something that makes his cosplay stand out in the crowd (John Courtout/Contributor)
of patients, and a noose for a tie. Creepy, but effective. King also has a full-blown Scarecrow costume that he classified as “evolving.” “I keep adding to that one. One day I want to do a really elaborate and functional Scarecrow,” he said. He said that the Crane costume is easier to wear. For the March 2016 Wondercon, King dressed up as a different character each day. On the first day, he dressed up as The Man in the Tan Jacket from the cult podcast Welcome to Nightvale. A mysterious man in a tan jacket who carries a deerskin suitcase, the character appears in only a few episodes of the podcast. Most people don’t get it at first. It is rather difficult to connect a visual character out of an audio medium. “Are you the Doctor? Are you Dirk Gently?” they asked him. But when they get it, it creates a connection between fans. Over the years, these connections lead to friendships. “[Cosplay] is very social. At conventions I can hardly go anywhere without running into someone I know,” King said. Wondercon provided King another chance to show off a niche character, the Caretaker from Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Glimpsed only briefly before entering the graveyard on the ride, this character is not easily recognized when someone cosplays as him. King combatted this by attending that day with a group of Haunted Mansion cosplayers. “It’s easier to recognize people the bigger the cosplay group you’re in,” he said. On the third day, he dressed in tandem with his girlfriend, Kaela Berry. Most fans choose to dress up as Harley Quinn, the villain that Dr. Quinzel becomes. Berry chose instead to cosplay as the psychiatrist, with King cosplaying as Dr. Crane. Together, the pair did not go
unnoticed as the Arkham Asylum doctors. Doctors Crane and Quinzel were not the first couples cosplay that King and Berry did together. They’ve also dressed as the stretching portraits from Haunted Mansion and other characters from Welcome to Nightvale. In the future, King would like to cosplay as Arthur Dent, the protagonist of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series. All he would need is the right bathrobe and a towel. He also had an idea for another paired cosplay to match one of Berry’s. While she dressed up as Crow T. Robot from “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” he would dress up as a “test subject.” All he would need is a red jumpsuit and fans would know who they were as long as they’re together. King plans to cosplay for as long as possible and to continually up his game with different characters and additions to his favorites. Every time I see him at a comic convention, I know I’m in for a treat. I’m definitely looking forward to his next character obsession and subsequent cosplay creation. You can catch David King at the upcoming July Midsummer Scream Halloween festival in Long Beach and August’s ScareLA 2016: The Summer Halloween Convention in Pasadena. And of course, like so many other cosplayers, he will be attending July’s San Diego Comic Con International. If you see a cosplayer and aren’t sure who they’re supposed to be, then you’ve found the right guy.
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Dita Von Teese’s burlesque tour kicks off in Los Angeles
By Sylvana Uribe Staff Writer
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Attendees often ended up doing more talking than dancing on the dancefloor (Julia Velasco-Aguilar/Contributor)
All Hail the Queen
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Community
Members of the Queer and Allies club board at the event. From left to right: Julia Velasco-Aguilar (secretary), Courtney Conlan (treasurer), Allison Meyer (president), and Zaena Guest (director of activities). (Julia Velasco-Aguilar/Contributor)
Over 100 members of the LGBTQIA+ community attended California State University, Long Beach’s first Queer Prom on Apr. 15. The event was carnival themed and included games like duck fishing, ring tossing, balloon darts, and plinko. A photo booth, catered food, and music were provided for attendees as well. Despite CSULB’s self-professed diversity, there were little events for the queer community before Queer Prom, an observation that influenced USU Program Council Assistant Kaila-Marie Hardaway’s decision to organize it. “I realized that there wasn’t really anything specifically for them,” she said. “ ...there’s just so much going on on campus... that different demographics get lost in it.” Initial planning for the event began a year ago. As CSULB bans dances on campus, an extensive event propsal had to go through the school’s administration before it could be considered. Once approved, Hardaway and an appointed committee met with the Queers and Allies club (Q&A), LGBT resource center, and multicultural affairs center. “You could tell they really just wanted to make this the best event they could,” said Q&A Director of Activities Zaena Guest. The event proved to be an opportunity for the queer
“Queen of Burlesque” performer Dita Von Teese kicked off her West Coast tour of “Strip Strip Hooray!” in Los Angeles from Apr. 12 14. The show featured burlesque veterans and upcoming stars like Catherine D’Lish, Dirty Martini, Perle Noire, as well as comedian and drag king Murray Hill as the tour’s emcee. This was a show that I was looking forward to for months, and I was late to it. My heart sank when we got to L.A. and I rcouldn’t find my license or anything to prove I was legally allowed to enter the venue. My friends made it to the show on time while I drove back to Long Beach to retrieve the forgotten items. I returned and knew I had the right address when I saw people dressed in vintage clothing fumbling to show their tickets at the door. Once I got inside, I followed the shadows of other latecomers and crossed into what felt like a scene plucked from a movie that would never get my parent’s approval. Onstage was Dirty Martini, and as she
community to have a long overdue exclusive event. Other attendees included ASI Vice President Logan Vournas and members of Delta Lambda Phi, the only gay fraternity on campus. Couples spent the night dancing and canoodling while singles made new friends and got the chance to be themselves. “It was nice not to have to assume everyone is straight in the room,” Guest said. For many, it was an experience that made up their missed opportunites in the past. “This is my first prom,” said attendee Ricardo Alejandro Pulido, “I never went to my high school one. I hated high school.” Q&A President Allison Meyer said that she “ enjoyed just being there and being surrounded by people that I knew were like me.” She added that she liked to think of the event as a step for more queer visibility on campus. Everyone expressed hope that Queer Prom would become an annual event at the university. And with so many people in attendance at the first event, it’s clear that the queer community is more than excited to finally have their voices heard.
glided across the stage, I maneuvered among the sea of people into any opening that formed for a better view. Every time the curtain opened to reveal the next act, I stood on the tips of my toes to catch glimpses of performers shimmying free from gloves, feather boas and sparkling dresses. Photography and video were not permitted, and yet my view was blocked by phones recording Snapchat stories of burlesque stars spinning the tassels on their breasts. I was pushed aside by security guards threatening to kick people out who couldn’t handle tucking their phones away for a few hours. The pain over the evening’s mishaps disappeared once Von Teese took the stage. I had missed the opening number because of the license fiasco, one of Von Teese’s most revered routines as it entails her spinning in a large martini glass. But I did see other iconic acts like “Rhinestone Cowgirl,” where she stripteases to a fusion of burlesque and country western
music. The routine ended with Von Teese atop a pink mechanical bull, with the Swarovski spurs on her boots glistening in the stage lights. The magic ended with the show’s finale, “The Opium Den.” The Asian-inspired piece opened with an opium pipe at Von Teese’s lips and smoke clouds engulfing the audience. She was draped in a long black dress embellished in Swarovski crystals. She peeled off the dress and danced back into the den where four red arms roamed her curves. Every aspect of it was salacious and erotic, and completely mesmirizing. The performance’s darker tone were then overshadowed by soft red lights and an explosion of red paper flowers showered the stage and audience. The flowers fell into my hair and, like a small child, I was excited to collect as many as I could. They were in the presence of talented stars who embrace their sensuality in a way that was inspiring and empowering. And that’s practically like a blessing of sorts.
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Music
Keeping Lots of Secret Potential Florida’s melodic hardcore band Secret Keeper releases yet another EP By Peter R. Clark Travel Editor Florida-based melodic hardcore band Secret Keeper released their third EP “Ghost” last month. Since their first EP in 2013, they have proven to be a unique voice in the brooding melodic hardcore scene. Secret Keeper incorporates clean vocals alongside the normal hardcore vocals, characterizing them as a unique melodic hardcore band. In addition to clean vocals, Secret Keeper tries to include spoken word in each release. This album is no exception with four songs that, while similar for them, are uniquely different to standard fare melodic hardcore. The common theme on this album is ghosts (as the EP title suggests) and water. Each song deals with loss and a resulting haunting due to that loss. Additionally, they also deal with a sense of drowning or an ocean. While all different, each of the songs seem to feed off one another. “Dwell” is about as close to a melodic hardcore song as you can get on this EP. It
begins hard hitting and fast. The fast song is broken up with sporadic clean vocals that serve as the song’s chorus. A great line in this song goes, “I know we all die alone/but I didn’t know that living would be this cold.” The EP’s second song, “Haunt,” serves as this release’s single. It begins with clean vocals and remains constant throughout. This song’s theme is about not only being haunted by the ghost of a loved one, but also deals with the element of water. This incorporates a good usage of piano and a great melodic presence throughout. Also, this song is the highlight of the EP. “Gravestones,” the EP’s third song, is mostly an acoustic song. With clean singing throughout, it tells an interesting story about loss. Other than the lyrics, this song is the weakest on the album. Towards the end it gets better; overall, this song is just ok. The last song on the EP is “Ghost.” It starts out as a spoken word about being in rough waters at sea. This portion is both poetic and beautiful. Compared to Secret Keeper’s previous spoken words, this one is by far their
“Each song deals with loss and a resulting haunting due to that loss.”
best. After this section is over, the clean vocals come in and the song ends in an almost orchestral explosion. The guitars here are great, and the drums help build up to the unfortunate end. The only problem with this song is that it ends too quickly, leaving me wanting more. Overall, this EP is a great addition to Secret Keeper’s discography, but what I really want most from them is to release an album. They keep teasing their fans with these four or five song long EPs, but we all really want a fulllength. In any case, “Ghost” provides us with a new taste of Secret Keeper’s potential, and leaves me excited for things to come. In other news, Napoleon has announced a release date for their fucking album. It’s about damn time.
Bustin’ a New Set of Beats Kpop group Block B releases a new album with a new musical approach By Natalie Ordaz Contributor
Block B is back with their fifth mini album titled “Blooming Love,” released on Apr. 11. For this mini album, Block B changes in their hip-hop sound for an R&B sound that highlights their vocals, and presents five new songs that will keep your head bopping to their new calming sound. “몇 년 후에 (A Few Years Later)” is the first song on the album. The song is about thinking about someone you broke up with and you wondering if they are doing well without you a few years later. it has hauntingly beautiful vocals with a calming melody. Their rap in the middle of the song expresses the pain and frustration that comes from loving someone even after a breakup. “Toy” is the second song on the album, as well as the title song. It has a melody that will keep your head bopping to the beat even
with the sorrowful vocals. The chorus will have you dancing in your seat singing, “I’m a toy.” “사 랑 이 었 다 (No Love/ Without Love)” is the third song on the album and it is sung by vocalist Tae Il. This song highlights his wide vocal range wonderfully,and is accompanied by a sorrowful piano melody. Along with his high vocals, this song is a wonderful listen
for a rainy day. Also, it sounds like something that can be heard in a drama after a couple fights. “Walkin’ in the Rain” is the fourth song on the album. It has a mellow beat that will keep your head bopping. The lively, relaxed vocals mixed with the mellow beat make this a perfect song for taking a relaxing walk in the park or
in the rain. “빙글빙글 (Bingle Bingle)” is the final song on the album, and it is the only song on the album that has a bit of Block B’s usual hiphop sound. “Bingle Bingle” is sung by members B-Bomb and U-Kwon and is a song that will have you moving your body to the beat. The vocals are pretty solid as well, and makes for a fun song to play at the club. For this album, Block B threw out their usual party sound for this R&B sound that the group is not really known for. Overall, it was a solid album with wonderful vocals and a mellow sound that is great listen when you are in a coffee shop, except for the final song on the album. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Music
State of the Beef: LL Cool J Versus Kool Moe Dee A young, promising MC challenges a pioneering lyrical mastermind By Richard Mejia Managing Editor
Throughout his career, LL Cool J has been the target of many hip-hop beefs. Some might find this a bit surprising considering LL is now a full-time actor and began embracing his acting chops at the close of the 20th century. In 1987, a then 20-year-old MC was already one of the hottest acts in all of music with his hit record “Radio” and along with his undeniable charisma and good looks, LL was on the cusp of becoming the next great rap artist—a truth that did not sit well with everyone. Kool Moe Dee was prominent in over the span of two decades, where he became one of the first rap artists to win a Grammy, as well as perform at the awards ceremony. Once a member of the pioneering rap group the Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee then set out a career as a solo artist and solidified his status as an all-time great in hip-hop. Dee’s braggadociostyle of rap, signature hats, and undeniable charisma were mirrored by the young LL, something Kool Moe Dee attacked head on in his 1987 track “How Ya Like Me Now?” “Getting paid using my style […] You can forget that, I’m taking it back,” are among many direct attacks where Kool Moe Dee drew the line in the sand and initiated the landscape for what would be one of the longest standing beefs in rap history. This battle produced instant classics, and to a further extent—many of these songs became the standard for battle songs. Following Kool Moe Dee’s attack, LL Cool J responded with the highly-acclaimed “Jack the Ripper” where he took aim at a Kool Moe Dee and those claiming LL wasn’t as talented as recently depicted. “How You Like Me Now, punk? You living
foul, here’s what my game is, kill is what my aim is, a washed up rapper needs a washer, my name is LL!” Cool J didn’t let up in his attack, the young MC attempted to solidify his status as the top of the rap food chain. The battle continued on for three years as each artist would produce diss tracks on their albums and perpetuated the beef. The last few barbs traded between the artists occurred in 1990 with LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “To The Break of Dawn,” two of LL’s more wellknown songs. During this time in music, LL Cool J was the biggest name around as was frequently at the top of the charts. However, the ongoing battle against Kool Moe Dee made his overall “street cred” a bit harder for folks in the rap community to fully embrace him. This was proved to be true in Kool Moe Dee’s final diss track against LL Cool J, “Death Blow” in which Dee’s lyrics proved to be vicious, where he attempted to end the beef. “Cause I’m a whip you like your daddy, beat ya like a baby, sick ya like a dog, dropping lyrics wit rabies. Cut ya like a knife cause you’re nuthin but hype, you slice and dice and ice twice for life I’m a treat ya like a hooker punk, change your clothes Put you on the streets wit ya jingling hoes.” The beef ended shortly thereafter, with LL Cool J continuing to dominate the music scene until eventually moving onto acting. Kool Moe Dee is considered one of the greatest rap artists of all time and attributed with bringing smarter and sharper lyrics to rap. In the rap community, the decision is split as to who won this beef, but the songs that came out of it were some of the best ever.
“This battle produced instant classics and to a further extent—many of these songs became the standard for battle songs.”
Illustration by John Mueller Graphics Editor
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Entertainment
Pixels Meet Punks The end of the world has never been so rock ‘n’ roll “Bunker Punks” is an early access game currently in development by Ninja Robot Dinosaur. It is a rougelike first person shooter game with retro elements. Currently the game is very limited. You can play as 5 different punks (2 when you start, and 3 later after you unlock them) out of 10. There are 8 enemies, and 8 weapons to decimate those enemies with. In addition to weapons, there is also various armor you can pick up, which provides damage reduction, or increased weapon damage. “Bunker Punks” has a pixel art aesthetic with a post-apocalyptic “us vs. them” narrative. The art juxtaposes the narrative in a good way. Each location has “They Live”esque banners and a “Half-Life 2” sense of order and control. It works very well with the game’s feel. The game’s progression is
set up with a series of progressively harder locations that are procedurally generated. Each location has a set of floors, with the first locations having two floors, and the later levels having up to ten. Each floor ends with a small boss fight that leads with an elevator. The bosses in first few locations become standard enemies in the later locations. After you complete a location, you are transferred to the game’s namesake: the bunker. Here you can build things to improve your overall odds while in a location. Things like a shooting
Images from BunkerPunks.com
By Peter R. Clark Travel Editor range to increase your damage, or a medical area to improve your Punk’s health. You use Creds to purchase buildings in this screen. After you are done building, you are ready to raid a new location. Here you can select equipment you’ve collected on mission for each of your punks. The other currency you pick up in each location is Tech. This currency is not used until after all your Punks die or you clear out all the locations. Tech is used to purchase upgrades from merchants after the game so that your next playthrough will have new stuff to gather or build. You can purchase new Punks, weapons, armor, or buildings with Tech. Currently there is not much to purchase, and after two playthroughs I’ve already
purchased everything. This game is extremely difficult, even with everything unlocked. The last few locations are even more challenging, especially when you encounter a room full of giant rocket-shooting mechs and a gigantic spider tank. You can’t stand still in this game, because if you do, you will die. My biggest complaint with this game is that when most enemies die they drop some sort of loot. Ammo, Creds, Tech, health etc., but this loot disappears way too fast. Hey buddy, I earned that, don’t make it disappear! Overall, “Bunker Punks” is a great early access game that other companies can look at for inspiration of how to do early access. I look forward to playing this game again once more features are released.
Understanding Wiseau’s Subtlety Find out what is really in “The Room” By Bailey Mount Community Editor One of the biggest problems in Hollywood is the depiction of disorders. Few films exist on the subject and fewer still properly ever seem to handle it with tact. Characters with any disorder – from autism to stuttering to OCD – are often reduced to caricatures and unable to connect to the audience as a real person. They are instead defined by this singular trait. In that regard, Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 film “The Room” perfectly captures what it is like to have such a disorder and the strain of caring for someone with it. Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a successful banker with a stay at home fiancée, Lisa (Juliette Danielle). When she falls for his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero), Johnny’s life begins to unravel and he makes a decision that will change the lives of the people
around him forever. Johnny is a man with an obvious communication disorder. Though never explicitly stated in the film, his bizarre speech and incomprehension of other people’s words and social cues lend a tasteful hint to audience members. The best example of this is when his informal son, Denny, expresses to him that he may be in love with Lisa. Johnny seems unfazed. The delicacy in which his disability is handled is largely due to Wiseau’s masterful storytelling. No one in the film ever mentions or gives an indication of its existence. In fact, the only characters that ever demonstrate even cursory knowledge of Johnny’s ailment until the film’s climax are Lisa and Mark. And in truth, the film is really about the three’s struggling relationship.
“The Room” is rife with intentional unresolved subplots to highlight this. Lisa’s mother mentions that she has breast cancer, only for it to never come up again. A character appears only in the last twenty minutes of the film to express his disapproval of Lisa and Mark’s affair. Each subplot is briefly introduced and promptly forgotten – both in the film and in the larger problems of the three main characters. Lisa, the seemingly idyllic fiancée at the beginning of the film, reveals her true nature as she cracks under the pressure of living with Johnny and his disorder. As a character, she is manipulative, materialistic, and selfish. “I put up with you for seven years,” she says when her affair is revealed. It’s heavily implied that her reasons for being with him are based
solely on financial security and that she’s known about his disorder since their relationship began. This is what drives her into the arms of Mark, his best friend. Mark is impulsive, temperamental, and childish. It’s clear that he never loves her. Despite this, his cold treatment of Johnny at the film’s climax proves that he has grown tired of caring for him as well. What “The Room” then leaves us with is a modernized, 21st century “Great Gatsby.” A selfish woman wants it all. She abandons the man who actually loves her when things get hard. And no one has a happy ending.
With a plot rich in thematic detail and complexity, the film explores mental disorders and comments on the inherently selfish nature of the human spirit and what it truly means to love someone unconditionally. The characters constantly tell each other, “Don’t worry about it,” over the course of the film. They say that “everything will be fine.” But in such an emotional romantic drama, it’s impossible not to worry and nothing could be farther from the truth. It is truly a cinematic experience that viewers will never forget.
Rating: 10/10 football tosses For more of Wiseau’s work, check out “The Neighbors” available on Hulu Plus
Entertainment
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Sound and Fury Cannot Be Hushed The future of horror is quiet With new technology and more realistic visual effects, independant filmmakers are finding it easier to make movies, most of which tend to be terrible. Every year, the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas premiers different indie films from all genres, but it always seems like horror films are the biggest flops. No amount of visual effects can make a good film if the writing and acting is terrible. This is a lesson that a lot of SXSW filmmakers have to learn the hard way and director Mike Flanagan is no exception. His film “Hush” was picked up by Netflix after the festival and was released on the streaming platform April 8. You might remember Flanagan’s last film, “Oculus,” as one of the worst horror films to come out of 2013. All the visual effects in the world couldn’t help that movie be any good. Flat characters trying to take on evil supernatural entities haunting an old mirror isn’t exactly something groundbreaking in the eyes of horror fans. “Hush,” however, is different. A nod to the 1967 film “Wait Until Dark” starring Audrey Hepburn, “Hush” is about a young deaf mute novelist named Maddie (Kate Siegel) who is attacked by a masked serial killer (John Gallagher Jr.). She lives alone, far from the city in the middle of the woods with no one but her cat and a couple of neighbors to keep her company. That feeling of loneliness from being unable to hear or talk as well as the seclusion of being in the middle of the forest is used throughout the film and is part of what makes the film creepy and thrilling. The idea of having a deaf protagonist in a film focused mostly on two characters is haunting when you think about it. This masked man shows up at her door and she doesn’t know he’s there. She is alone in a way that a large amount of the audience can’t identify with that concept.
“Wait Until Dark” starred Hepburn as a blind woman being stalked by a young Alan Arkin
By Katie Cortez Editor-in-Chief
“Jump scares are the least important scare tactics...” It’s not something that people understand unless they are in that situation: completely and utter silence. Flanagan uses that element of a character’s silence and instead of a lot of dialogue, he focuses on the outside sounds. The most important element in this film is the way sound is used throughout. As previously stated, the character of Maddie is deaf. One of the most challenging things about making the film’s protagonist deaf is the way the film’s sound is handled, and Flanagan executes this element fairly well. Similar to my favorite horror film from 2014, “It Follows,” jump scares are the least important scare tactics and are hardly even used. He uses the setting as another character instead of making the film completely silent, causing the audience to try and figure out what Maddie’s next move will be instead of listening to her scream in fear for an hour and 20 minutes. Although the element of sound is used in a cool way and creeps out viewers, the killer just might be one of the worst serial killers in cinematic history. Not only does he lose the scare factor by showing his face in the first 20 minutes of the movie, his choice of weapon is less than terrifying. Yes, crossbows are cool in the “Lord of
the Rings” movies. No, crossbows are probably not the best choice for serial killers trying to murder someone locked inside a house. If you don’t know how crossbows work, pulling the bow back requires a large amount of force and people typically step on one part of it to pull the cable and arrow up (I knew a guy who gave himself a hernia from trying to use one). The film’s killer clearly struggles to properly utilize his weapon in multiple parts of the film, making his character completely unrealistic. It’s hard to tell whether or not this attack on Maddie is his first rodeo, but he seems to spend a whole lot of time running around the house from door to door seemingly trying to find a way inside as well as
“Hush” Rated R Run Time: 1 hour 21 minutes Directed by: Mike Flanagan Starring: Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr. Streaming on Netflix play psychological mind games with his victim. Although the use of sound being used is the film’s driving point, I’d give “Hush” a 4.5 out of 10. I just can’t get over the anti-climactic unmasking that happens so quickly into the film. The very little dialogue, mostly provided by the killer, comes off forced and having just one main character speak does not make for the most dynamic acting experience. Flanagan tried and didn’t fail this time, but he didn’t do fantastic either. His use of sound is something new that the horror genre could definitely utilize as a new scare tactic, but hopefully those films will have antagonists who use weapons that don’t take them more than 30 seconds to load.
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Athletics
LBSU hosted the Beach Invitational on campus for the first time since 2005 on their newly-renovated Jack Rose Field., Friday April 16. (Alejandro Ramos/ Union Weekly)
LBSU Shines in Beach Invitational
Friday’s opening contests ranged from the javelin throw to men’s and women’s 5k races(Alejandro Ramos/ Union Weekly)
Junior Kathleen Dunne placed 16th out of the possible 34th in the women’s 5k race. (Alejandro Ramos/ Union Weekly)
This year’s Beach Invitational marked the 22nd year the meet as transpired. (Alejandro Ramos/ Union Weekly)