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“Why are we all rough out here?”
INTRO
Issue 79.7
3
Matthew Gozzip , Athletics Editor
Alejandro Ramos, Editor-in-Chief editorinchief@lbunion.com Bailey Mount, Managing Editor manager@lbunion.com Nathan Zankich, Web Manager web@lbunion.com Alexis Cruz, Social Media Manager Andrew Linde, Multimedia Manager Allison Meyer, Multimedia Assistant Christopher Orozco, Advertising/Distribution ART & DESIGN Sam Orihuela, Art Director artdirector@lbunion.com John Mueller, Graphics Illustrator illustration@lbunion.com EDITORIAL Matthew Gozzip, Athletics Editor athletics@lbunion.com Sylvana Uribe, Community Editor community@lbunion.com Amanda Del Cid, Community Editor community@lbunion.com Sheila Sadr, Copy Editor
Madison Gallegos, Culture Editor madison@lbunion.com
Hablamos con Ramos
Peter R. Clark, Entertainment Editor entertainment@lbunion.com
Alex Ramos Editor-In-Chief
Amanda Dominguez-Chio, Culture Editor amanda@lbunion.com
Zach Phelps, Food Editor food@lbunion.com Grim Fandango, Grunion Editor grunion@lbunion.com Kaila-Marie Hardaway, Music Editor music@lbunion.com Elliott Gatica, Music Editor music@lbunion.com Jordan Daniels, Opinions Editor opinions@lbunion.com Mario Lopez, Travel Editor travel@lbunion.com STAFF WRITERS Martha Quijano Karrie Comfort CONTRIBUTORS Isaura Aceves, Rachel Haering, Augustus R. Krider, Huy D. Le, Cameron Pullano, Marilyn Ramirez, Ross Siev, Nancy Soriano, Kianna Znika COVER DESIGN BY: Sam Orihuela Nathan Zankich
It’s 12:30 a.m. We’re still here. We should have finished by midnight. I’m still here. We still have to go over all the pages. We’re still here. We have to export and upload the pages to our printer’s server. We’re still here. To be honest, I had an entirely different intro set up for this week. It was this long, well-crafted piece in which I expressed my gratitude and appreciation of my staff and their work. Unfortunately, I had to scrap it cause it would’ve been a big, fat lie. See, I took a step back and I saw all the problems I was letting slide. Problems here. Problems there. Problems everywhere. Problems with the content. Problems with the pages. Problems with the staff. Problems with everything. And my problem is that I let all of that happen because I’m too nice. I give people the benefit of the doubt too much. I let people get away with mistakes too often. As a result, it feels like I’m not being taken seriously. Listen, I get it. I’m goofy. I crack jokes. I laugh a lot. That’s just the way I am. I know
that’s not exactly leadership material, but I didn’t want to change that about myself. I wanted to be a lighthearted, easy going editor-in-chief. I thought I could be a good leader just by being fair and understanding. Things haven’t exactly gone my way. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had to clean up a couple of messes that could’ve been avoided if I stepped up sooner. Instead, I shied away and let things happen because I believed people could be decent and fix things themselves. After a certain point, it just becomes too much. During the week, I have to have awkward talks with staff cause they can’t talk to each other. During production day, I’m stuck here poring over pages and fixing mistakes an amateur would make. Meanwhile, most of my staff is out enjoying their Saturday night. What the fuck am I doing wrong? Do I have to change up my style to get people to respect me? My guess is I do. It’s going to suck, but
I’ll get used to it. I have to start stepping up and calling people on their bullshit. Otherwise, they’ll just keep making the same mistakes and I don’t want that. I want to help everyone here become better writers and designers and editors so they can go out and get good jobs doing what they love. So, I fucked up. I let all this happen. At the same time, my staff fucked up. I trusted them to deliver quality work and they failed to do so. All I can say for now is that I’m disappointed. As upset as I am, I don’t mean to throw my staff under the bus. This fuck up was a team effort. It took all of us collectively failing and coming up short to reach this point. I’m not proud of us, but we did it together. Go team. I’ve got nothing left in me. Just go on and enjoy what we managed to salvage of this week’s issue. Thanks.
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
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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.
4 OPINIONS
Dear Hillary Clinton, An open letter to the one who’s “prepared” to be president By Karrie Comfort Staff Writer I’m not going to lie, I was going to send you an email so as to not waste paper, but I was afraid it might get lost in the daily shuffle. Too soon? Last year I wrote a rather scathing letter to our friend Donald Trump, very unaware that he would get the Republican nomination and now here we are. I figured you might need a letter too. I am also beginning to wonder about your physical ability to be our president. Now, Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to cover up his wheelchair use, due to his bout with polio, but that is quite a different thing than what appear to be sporadic seizures and fainting spells. However, under the generous assumption that you are perfectly well, I am more concerned about your character as a politician. Here is why: I am not sure I can trust someone who has repeatedly lied to the American people — whether it be Benghazi or email servers, you always seem to have your nose in something dishonest. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hate terrorism as much as the next guy, but it does slightly chill the blood to hear a secretary of state be so gungho about foreign wars.
You seem to pride yourself on being able to make “hard choices”, like sending troops out on largely failing battles. I sure wouldn’t want to make that hard choice. But don’t take my word for it. Ask the tens of thousands of men, women, and children from the Middle East. And no one can forget about those nearly-never mentioned carpet-bombed countries like Somalia. Except that most of us have forgotten, so I guess we can. However, I understand that most Americans are voting based on issues that affect us directly, which is understandable. But, this only increases my nervousness about your possible election. As someone who is more or less bought and paid by various corporations, I am well aware that my vote will be used to elect you, and their corporate dollars will sustain you.
What a nice little deal. Lastly and personally one of the most distasteful things about you, Mrs. Clinton, is your constant pandering towards us African-Americans. When accused of racial pandering, you facetiously asked if, “it was working?” No, Mrs. Clinton. It is most definitely not. Something else that is not working, I might add, are your outfits. I mean with all those corporate dollars, one can most certainly hire a stylist. So, Hillary, there’s probably a few more things I could say, but this letter is getting a bit long, so I think I’m going to plead the fifth. I’m sure you’ll understand.
“I am not sure I can trust someone who has repeatedly lied to the American people...”
Illustration by John Mueller
Death of an Emoji Goodbye, halcyon days of my mischevious little grin By Mario Lopez Travel Editor I know. Talking about the death of an emoji while the United States is having to choose between the lesser of two evils for a president, the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline and living in an age where women can’t get a free tampon while men bathe in condoms sounds dumb. So bear with me. The new Apple 10.0 iOS update ruined a way for me to communicate. With it came the change of several emojis, one of the most controversial being a water gun emoji replacing one of America’s greatest icons: the gun. But I’m not here to talk about that emoji. Americans love their guns and I don’t feel like rustling your jimmies too much. I’m here to talk about a particular change to my most used emoji. My beloved toothy grin was replaced by a shit-eating grin. It looks like the smile someone gives you
only to gain something from you and then a new iPhone every year, albeit one that is lose all interest once they have exhausted usually a couple of years old — they come your friendship-ly resources. free with a plan. My darling snickerWhat I find ridiculous is of-a-smile-emoji is an that Apple constantly finds innocent, however things to change about mischievous, their phone that I smile. deem completely It’s the unnecessary rather smile a friend than changing gives you when something that you ask for two can be useful to ice cubes in consumers. I’m your drink, and looking at you, they only give cordlessheadphones. you one. A dear friend of Apple has been mine from dear old known to rehash the Texas used that emoji same phone over and over during one of our first again. And yes, I am one of text conversations. Illustration by John Mueller those mindless walkers who buys I was enthralled by the
charming smile and squinted eyes. I couldn’t get enough of the emoji. I would use it after a lame dad joke, to show gratitude, joy, or when I was being a bit cheeky. It was a versatile emoji that replaced any other emoji I felt I needed. I’d like to think it brought us closer together somehow. I hope it one day comes back, but I will most likely have to move on. The times, they are a changin’. Yes they are. It is silly to talk about this, but I strongly believe that if you don’t appreciate the little things in life, you can never be happy. It’s okay to be petty, as long as you are conscious of the bigger world around you — excuse me for being mushy—and are kind as heck. With so much hate in this world, there is much more love. Love every little bit you can, even if it is a silly little emoji.
Night at the Aquarium
5 COMMUNITY
Enjoying the wonders of the ocean after the sun goes down Words and Photos by Alejandro Ramos Editor-in-Chief There’s something about the night time that makes the most mundane activities fun and exciting. It could be the darkness of the sky peppered with twinkling lights. It could be the way it gets so quiet you can hear the world rotate. And, it could be the way sea creatures come to life once the sun goes down, which I got to see firsthand at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s College and Food Truck Night. The event opened the doors of the aquarium after hours for college students and families to go and enjoy a night of aquatic fun. I figured I would already know what it’s all about. Look at brightly colored fish here. Pet small sharks and rays over there. Stop and stare at the suspended whale sculpture in the lobby. Go home. Boy, was I wrong. The moment my significant other and I walked in I knew it was going to be different than our previous visits. The lobby lights were dimmed. The last of the setting sun’s rays leaked in through the windows and reflected off the water, washing the room in shades of blue. A DJ
played a mix of ambient electronic music that seemed to match the movement of the water in the tanks. The result was a setting that that made us excited to walk around and look at strange and wonderful creatures of the deep. The best part was that we got to have a good time for a fraction of the price. The selling point of the event was a discounted price of $12.95 for students with a college ID and $14.95 for adults, seniors and children, which is well below half the cost of a regular ticket. With those kind of savings, my S.O. and I had enough left over to get dinner from one of the food trucks that were parked right outside. Walking around the aquarium for a couple of hours will make you work up an appetite. Our visit was short but thorough. We made our way through all the exhibits in a little under 2 hours. In that time we saw brightly colored fish, touched small sharks and stopped to marvel at the whale sculpture in the lobby. It was essentially just like any other visit; it was the atmosphere set it apart and made it worth it.
College Night at the Aquarium of the Pacific offers entrance into the facility at discounted prices so the community can view its exhibits and marine life.
Block Party for Unity SRWCinema brings stress relief through fitness and film Words and Photos by Huy D. Le Contributor Another midterm season is coming and thus brings another bout of tension on campus. But the Student Recreation and Wellness Center hosted Block Party to hit back at stress and foster unity among students. The SRWC hosted their Block Party at Aquatics Center on the evening of Sept. 29, which offered free food, games, a movie, and a raff le. “I want to bring people together,” said Michael Freeman, the Aquatics and Inclusive Recreation Coordinator. He added that he wanted to bring people together with this event. “This is the night; the one night... hosting all the events [that give] a little taste of every area here at SRWC,” Freeman said. “What I like is for people to see and enjoy another activity,” he said. “Besides... I can try to work and do something new with personal trainers.” The DJ’s music and the food attracted students exercising in the gym.
“I was working out and the announcement said they were giving free tacos and the movie night,” said Shahar Janjua, a Computer Science senior. “So I just came through with my friends.” On the side of the volleyball court, SRWC employees participated in different games with students, such as corn holes, rope balls and spike balls. After participating, students could write down their names for a raffle drawing where the grand prize was a surfboard. On the poolside, the movie “Captain America: Civil War” took over the stage from the DJ’s turntable with its projection on the inf latable movie screen at 7:30 pm. Students were lying on chaise lounges to watch the movie and enjoy tacos and chips. As the party wound down, people in bathing suits watched the movie on pool floats and others relaxed in the hot tub temporarily forgetting their outside worries.
Attendees for the SRWCinema Block Party lounge poolside as they wait for “Captain America: Civil War” to play on the screen.
6 TRAVEL
A Map to Remember Finding your way through NYC
Words and photos by Martha Giron Quijano Staff Writer New York City can be a very difficult place to navigate around especially for someone who has never been there before. It’s a big city with Times Square being the main attraction for tourists. Even Hollywood Boulevard doesn’t get that crowded. So essentially, I had to learn how to get around the unfamiliar East Coast city. One of the things that I keep until 9this day is a New York street map that I got from an information stand in Times Square during my very first trip to the Big Apple in 2011. I had originally gotten one of the maps from the hotel I was staying at but ended up throwing it away because of all the pen marks I drew on it, trying to figure out how to get to where I wanted to go. I still had a Blackberry during that time and Google Maps was not even a thing in my vocabulary, so logically going to the old fashion route was the way to go. That street map saved my life. Not only was it so detailed but it also included color coded lines that show which subway train
to take and where. I remember the time that I took my first subway ride. I headed over to the machines where you buy an all day ticket and remembered with this man appeared out of nowhere, trying to sell a subway pass for less than what the machine was charging me. Terrified for no apparent reason with a hint of confusion, I left the subway station. When I finally came up with a game plan of knowing where to get the pass and having a destination in mind, I slid my MetroCard through the machine and took my first steps into a new venture. The map helped me go to all the must-
The Gin Diaries #2 Drunken trouble I’ve been in Coventry for two days. I’d say I have three feelings about my second full day in England. The first being cold; the second being hungover; the third being Megan being hung-over and grouchy beside me. Long Beach State is a magical place. Really. From the moment I first stepped onto campus— magic. I enrolled in a sailing course, I stopped living with my parents, and I met Megan. Megan Calhoun, international woman of mystery, and Supreme High Dictator of My Life. However it does not compare to my first day at the University of Coventry. Megan and I were handed pink shirts by members of staff that said “Team Ruby” on them and instructed to meet up at a bar in the city center. I know it meant a bar crawl.
Not that I didn’t before, but as a nineteen year old in the U.S. it was just knowledge to be held in the abstract, not something that could be practiced. Now knowing—in a land where it is legal—what it’s like… I should have moved here a year ago. Long Beach may have taught me to sail, but Coventry taught me to party. A word of warning: do not come and study abroad if you prefer the coddling culture of CSULB. There it feels safe. For example, the campus isn’t closed but it’s one central place safely blobbed together. Where as Coventry is just a bunch of buildings sprawled out in a city center with bars, stores, and rain between itself. Megan and I got to experience total and complete self-reliance for the first time. Which an American Student can only truly achieve by being in a foreign country with a University that generally doesn’t give a shit about your wellbeing. In England I am considered a fresher or first year, it feels strange to be a freshman equivalent again, but I find that it has been easier to make friends with the other freshers. They don’t judge you for being lost. Team Ruby had about twenty-five freshers in it including Megan and myself. Our team was chaperoned by people in yellow shirts, older students whose job was to drink us into the ground, ignoring our pleas for
see spots such as Central Park, The Flatiron building, Empire State Building, and of course, the Statue of Liberty. I even got to see New York’s very own Chinatown which was the farthest subway trip from where I was staying at. I haven’t looked at that map in over five years but the moment I took it out
of where I keep the little things that I keep from all the trips I’ve gone to, it just reminds me of all the steps I’ve taken around the city that I was so unfamiliar with when I first arrived. I’ll never forget the feeling that by the middle of the week, I almost didn’t need the map to make my way around town.
By Augustus R. Krider Contributor Illustration by John Mueller Graphics Illustrator mercy and questions about how to get home by night’s end. We were forced to chug booze during a game they called “The Mexican Wave.” What it had to do with Mexico, I don’t know. I haven’t seen a person of Hispanic decent since I left LAX via jet. So is the name offensive? I don’t know. The fact of the matter is no Mexican was around to sign off on the nomenclature of this drinking game. I am putting four pounds on yes. After that I was forced to chug a drink for not holding it in my left hand-due to the “International Rules.” I also had to chug some for cheering too enthusiastically as one of my Team Ruby comrades was forced to drain his drink. Later that night, I would be forced to down a beverage for not being enthusiastic enough. Greek culture has struggled to gain a foothold in England, and I’d assume its because every school event has the best aspects of a frat party. You get all the debauchery without many of the legal issues. So I am hopping from bar to bar having the best time, gaining popularity as I discuss how the Red Hot Chili Peppers song that was on four bars ago is about my homeland. Meanwhile, I was learning things about British culture through alcohol poisoning. Like, how every piece of British currency has Elizabeth II’s face on it. I was chastised
for trying to buy water with some Euros. Apparently, trying to take care of my self, and insulting the heavily Eurosceptic Brits is a double sin. They say the more the English like a person the meaner they get. So I accepted the insults, and started shouting “God Save the Queen.” Which does prompt the chugging of more alcohol. However I do not believe that I am hung over due to that. I was only so popular. A guy from California who can talk mingling cultures with other drunks is bound to get some traction. But I couldn’t be that popular, because Megan was super popular. And it got me drunk because every few minutes I made sure to visit Queen Megan holding court. Then, some very apologetic fresher would buy me a drink. Until everyone knew we were dating, which meant both Megan and I had to start buying our own drinks. Let this be a lesson to California Women, or any other women capable of holding a tan; rainy England is a cheap place to drink. Every person we encountered seemed to be a gentleman, and we made quite a few connections that hopefully will work while sober. So nothing could be said against a bar crawl in England, except we really did have to stumble home on our own. So I must stop because Megan has a hangover and keyboard sounds seem to be pissing her off. If you want to see more transatlantic hijinks and youthful by comparison drinking follow me on twitter @ guskrider
7 FEATURE
By Alejandro Ramos Editor-in-Chief What comes to mind when you think of the words “college experience?” Is it wild parties? Is it long hours of studying? We all have an idea of what the typical “college experience” is, and for me, it’s dorming. I got my chance to live out my “college experience” when I trasnferred from community college. I moved into the Beachside dormitories my first semester here and it was everything I wanted. I stayed up late. I goofed off a lot. I did questionable things. I met a cute girl. But most of all, I lived without the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. Looking back, dorming proved to be a once in a lifetime experience. I’m glad to have done it, but I have to acknowledge that the freedom spoiled me. It’s also spoiling others and setting them up for...failure to launch.
8 FEATURE Top: My dorm in Los Cerritos, slightly more lived in since I spend most weekends there. Bottom: Alyssa Brook’s dorm in Hillside E building.
By Bailey Mount Managing Editor It’s 8 am on a Monday. A remixed version of Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home” wakes me up. It also wakes up my roommate. This year’s model is a third year nutrition major from Arcadia. She has a job in a dentist’s office back home and leaves every Thursday night. I don’t mind. The girl before that was a friend who had since moved out of the dorms into an apartment somewhere on Coronado Avenue. The two before them were a recluse and a Japanese exchange student. By 8:05, I’m in the bathroom I share with my 55 other roommates. The cleaning lady won’t be here until 8:50, so I get to survey the wreckage left over from the past weekend. The hair of 55 other girls lays in the shower drains, slimy and
coiled. Clusters of rotted corn and carrots clog up the sinks. A white sign dangles over them. “Don’t dump food in the bathroom,” it reads. And as usual, there’s no toilet paper. I make do with the tissue paper seat covers. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. I live in Los Cerritos dormitories, one of CSULB’s oldest dorms, and lately I’ve been feeling as old and stuck as the building I call home. The main reason for this, and the main reason many students my age often continue to dorm, is the “convenience.” But what does this convenience breed in the long run? This year, there are 2, 635 students living in the dorms. Out of that number, 650 of them
are returning students - returning students that are much closer to getting their degrees and entering the real world than the other 1,985 people they dorm with. This number – the 1,985 – benefits most from the initial dorming experience, as they have “the convenience of not having to cook or anything like that,” according to Roshan Jayasinghe, the office manager at Housing and Residential Life here on campus. Jayasinghe was “born and raised through housing,” as he put it. He graduated from the university
in 1999 after five years in the dorms – three as a resident and two as a Resident Assistant (RA). To him, the biggest benefit students reap from the dorming experience is “the convenience of it all.” Many are leaving home for the first time and are largely incapable of handling food and living expenses. For these new students, the dorms take that responsibility from them and provide a suitable stepping stone between their parent’s home and a place of their own. For the remaining 650, however, the dorms can instill in us a dangerous
9 FEATURE
complacency with our current living situation and a lack of ambition to strive for something more independent. “The lack of this convenience would slap them in the face,” said Julia Velasco-Aguilar. Aguilar was my second year roommate. Upon her moving out in the spring of last year, she has since embraced both the struggles and the rewards of living off-campus. She called dorming something that was “convenient and fun and carefree.” There, you were on your own, but you were still being fed and cleaned up after. The cockroaches in the bathroom could be a result of anyone’s negligence. In an apartment, you become your own responsibility. You knew what brought the cockroach in and you had to kill it on your own. The rest of us returning 650 students couldn’t do what Aguilar did, largely due to costs. Whether apartments or dorms are the most cost efficient route is often the main point of contention in deciding where to live. Many of us often consider the first to be cheaper. To that, fourth year accounting major Alyssa Brooks said, “it’s cheaper because they have four other roommates that they’re splitting their fee with.” True, monthly dorms fees can average between $1,200 and $1,500, depending on meal plans and room size, while apartments can come up to roughly the same with amenities taken into consideration. Despite the costs, we must accept the idea that life is going to cost a lot of money at some point or antoher. In the long run, leaving the dorms provides a sense of independence that they themselves cannot. When asked if she felt the dorms had prepared her for the likelihood of apartments, she said no, and that with dorms, “you’re just kinda set here.” “It’s nice that if I forget something and I’m in class, I can do a five minute run back to my room, get to class, and turn it in,” she added. Brooks has lived in Hillside Building
E her entire undergraduate life at CSULB. Since then, she’s seen floor remodeling, furniture replacements, and the replacements of the communal kitchens she loved her freshmen year. The kitchens were replaced with additional rooms “to increase bed space” and “accommodate the numbers that were coming in,” said Jayasinghe. Brooks contested that that might not have needed to happen had they “not made it mandatory for freshmen to dorm.” I never considered that this might have actually happened because we, the returning students, increased these numbers. We stuck around, some of us for lack of choice, but a great deal of us for preferring the convenience to the uncertainty of real life and all of its expenses. When we really stick around longer than we need to, we’re only prolonging the inevitable. The longer we stay, the harder it will be to leave and find our footing in, though I am loath to say it, “the real world.” It’ll be nice to have a new degree, but without some place to live, the feeling of accomplishment will be somewhat dampened. Though the success rate is individual to the student, one thing is certain - we won’t be in school forever. Someday, sooner for us 650 than others, we’ll have no choice but to leave. It’s all dependent on us whether we’ll choose to do that ourselves or wait to be forced out. Until that day, I’ll wake up every morning at 8 am with my 55 roommates. And as I stand in line, waiting for one of the three, toilet paperless stalls to be open, I’ll look for apartments on my phone. It’s better than looking at the Instant Ramen rotting in the sink again.
Clockwise from top: the crowded view of the suites. Hillside E’s basement laundry room stairs, the only part of the building to not be renovated. The dining hall. The stark difference between mine and my roommate’s sides of the dorm.
10 ATHLETICS
What Glimmers Isn’t Always a Gold Medal Long Beach’s inclusion in new Olympics bid brings excitement and concerns By Matthew Gozzip Athletics Editor
The Olympics could be coming back to Long Beach, for better or worse. Last Thursday, the Los Angeles (LA) 2024 Exploratory Committee announced that the city of Long Beach would figure more heavily into LA’s 2024 Olympics bid after notably being left out of the original plans. The Exploratory Committee, the group in charge of moving the bid forward to impress the International Olympic Committee (IOC), conducted several meetings this past summer in Rio with the international federations who govern each sport and realized revisions were needed to secure an upper hand over global competitors from Rome, Paris and Istanbul. Last week, the committee announced several new plans to reduce operating costs and include more of the local communities in the greater LA metropolitan area. The modified plans included the use of the Honda Center in Anaheim; the Riviera Country Club in West LA; and Long Beach’s Arena, Convention Center, Waterfront and Pier. The appeal to LA’s bid revolves around LA’s availability of already existing venues and Long Beach fits squarely in this criteria. Long Beach is one of several planned venue clusters, areas where multiple events could be held at any given time. The Long Beach Olympic sports park would include the Long Beach Convention Center and the newly renovated Long Beach Convention Arena; a racecourse similar to the Long Beach Grand Prix along the Long Beach Waterfront for the triathlon; temporary venues for BMX and Water Polo; and sailing waters near the Belmont Pier. Mayor Robert Garcia sees Long Beach’s inclusion in the bid as an opportunity to further the city’s profile globally. “This is validation of Long Beach being an international city,” Garcia said. “We have hosted (Olympic) games and events in this
community, and we have almost more Olympians than any other major metropolitan area. We are committed to ensuring that the Games provide an economic benefit to our hotels, tourism and community.” The city certainly possesses the necessary planning and track record to host the Olympics again. When the Olympics came to LA in 1932 and 1984, Long Beach hosted archery, fencing, sailing and rowing. Water polo would be one of the sports that would be played in Long Beach, a perfect marriage between setting and a supportive culture surrounding the game in the city. On the final night for the World League Super Final in water polo, 6,000 fans attended the match even though the US was not playing. A lot of the controversy tied to hosting the Olympics involves the expensive costs for building new venues that eventually go unused. Fortunately, only the BMX course and water polo arena need to be constructed. No estimates on their cost have been made but these are relatively inexpensive venues. Since Long Beach is a venue cluster, most of the facilities being used are centralized together. This would cut down on security costs as well as allowing tourists from all over the world to see multiple events that are in walking distance of each other. Despite the city’s preparedness and the potential benefits from hosting the Olympics, questions remain around the true motives for hosting such a large event. Many critics on social media have been quick to comment on the amount of poverty, homelessness and crime in Long Beach that needs more financial consideration instead of funding for Olympic aspirations.
According to the Long Beach Community Action Partnership, an agency made specifically to serve low-income peoples in Long Beach, more than 22% of the city’s residents live in poverty. The tourism from the travellers could pay its dividends but as many saw in Rio, Brazil neglected to serve its own citizens first. Lack of plumbing and overall pollution plagued the headlines leading up to this past Olympiad causing near toxic conditions for athletes to compete in open water sports. Long Beach
“Despite the city’s preparedness for the Olympics, questions still remain about the city’s motives.”
and it’s neighboring shores are currently up to health standards but the Port of Long Beach still provides a potential hazard, especially when the prospective events would take place eight years from now. According to an article from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in 2013, all nine oceanfront beaches in Long Beach received
f a i l i n g grades. That was only two years ago. Who knows what the local ecosystem will be like in a decade. On top of potentially unforeseeable circumstances, there is a glaring elephant in the room when discussing a large sporting event in LA: the traffic. At the moment, the public transit system and light rail project that was supposed to be connect the San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange Counties is not making much headway. Most of the projects are expected to be finished by 2020 but that is not certain. Construction in metropolitan cities is usually slow going (freeway construction, skyscrapers, etc.) and can only compound already present traffic problems. The average tourist amount for the Olympics (based on the past two years) hovers somewhere over more than half a million visitors. If the transit system is not a definite solution, it could be a crippling problem. The jury is out as of now on the potential effects that the Olympics will bring to the city but there still is certainly time for planning and critique to be made. The IOC does not designate a host city until September 13, 2017, allowing time for more changes to the proposal to be made in the coming year. Whether certain projects move forward or not, realizing the financial and human cost of hosting part of the biggest sport event in the world should be closely considered.
Daniel Kray readies his aim in Overwatch
By Peter R. Clark Entertainment Editor Deep in the ancient ruins of an Egyptian city, CSULB’s Overwatch team trains for the a big match against UCLA’s team. A gargantuan knight adorned in regal ivory armor blocks the main gate with his steadfast light shield to prevent the rocket launcherwielding jetpack soldier from breaking through. The knight pleas for support but the rest of the team is fending off scatter arrows from ninjas and machine gun-toting mech suits. The point seems lost until an ocarina echoes from the rooftop overhead sending chills down the spine of the enemy soldiers. As the opposing team scatters a grisly voice grumbles the signature phrase of death. “It’s high noon”. A mysterious gunslinger emerges from the dark, hand on holster readying to fan the hammer. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM! Six shots, six kills. Not many people know Daniel Kray’s name but the eSports prodigy is just heating up his barrel. Kray, 21, is the captain of the CSULB’s Overwatch team, a new competitive squad based first-person shooter that has a colorful cast of characters that possess unique abilities that are strategically used to fulfill specific team goals.
The designated avatar for Kray is McCree, an Eastwood-esque cowboy that smokes an infinitely lit cigar that is lit from the gun smoke of his futuristic revolver. The cowboy speaks in corny one-liners from spaghetti westerns and rarely has more than a few words. McCree is the perfect character for Kray in skill and spirit; a silent but deadly marksman who lets his aim do the talking. Kray prefers firstperson shooters when playing competitively. He started out playing Natural Selection, a mod for Half-Life, semi-competitively in high school. Later, he moved on to League of Legends, and then Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. He played CS:GO for a couple of years before moving on to Overwatch where he is going to be staying for a while. “I’m sticking with Overwatch for a long time, CS:GO was my primary [game], but I’m through with that game right now. I see Overwatch growing over the next few years,” Kray said. Kray has been playing in a lot of amatuer torunaments for League of Legends, CS:GO
“I didn’t go for the prizes. I went to compete and have fun and to get my name out there.”
ATHLETICS
Decca and the Deadeye
11
Graphics by Matthew Gozzip Athletics Editor and Overwatch. He hasn’t competed in major sponsored competitions yet. He was in a North American qualifier for Overwatch, and went to the third round but ended up losing. The biggest thing about these smaller tournaments is getting your name recognized. “I didn’t go for the prizes. I went to compete and have fun, and getting my name out there,” Kray said. Initially he wanted join a CS:GO team at CSULB, but there weren’t any teams on campus for that. So he contacted the eSports club and tried to see if he could get a team going. He was able to get an Overwatch team together, and he was assigned in the captain position because he was the best person for the job. There wasn’t anyone else to fit in the role besides him. “I have experience with other games and I’m good at them, so I know what to look for in other players. However, I am not really the captain type,” Kray said. His role for the Overwatch team is to be the person who decides what strategy they go for and what characters they should play to counter the enemy team. He primarily plays the damage dealing attacker. Kray sees Overwatch and eSports in general taking off. He feels that now it is more accessible, and easier for people to get into. “It’s just beginning, and it will only get bigger. There is so much money involved,
Top: One of the many plays of the game for Daniel Kray, aka Decca, when he uses McCree. Right: Decca’s impressive stats and rankings prove that he is an up and coming Overwatch competitive player.
all these companies are investing money in sponsorships,” Kray said. The CSULB Overwatch team will be playing USC on Wednesday 10/5. If you would like to watch Kray play you can watch his stream and video log at twitch.tv/deccca.
12 ENTERTAINMENT
Why Is Nobody Talking About “Blair Witch?”
When I heard “Blair Witch” was coming out this past weekend, I flipped. The original “Blair Witch Project” was iconic on its own, beginning the trend of self-documented haunting activity. I didn’t watch the BLP until this year, so it wasn’t the groundbreaking, terrifying film that it presented itself to be in the 90s, but nonetheless, it was intriguing. It left me confused yet wanting more. If you haven’t dragged yourself to watch its successor, please do so. Although the first film dragged on for the first 50 minutes with the camera shaking over three freaked out teenagers, “Blair Witch” took a lesson in cinematic intrigue by keeping the audience on its toes. It opens with a video clip from the first film that was supposedly uncovered by a hiker; he and his girlfriend end up traveling
Give Dogs Treats While You Sled to Victory By Cameron Pullano Contributor I usually don’t pay much attention to the games advertised on the Steam store’s front page, but apparently, I’m a sucker for anything with cute animals. Dog Sled Saga was my latest impulse buy, advertised to me on Steam as a recent release; and it came at a choice 10 percent discount. What stood out at first glance when I saw Dog Sled Saga was the art style. The game doesn’t take any huge risks with a new art style, but it makes good use of the familiar
Facetime Interrogation By Ross Siev Contributor “Snowden” Length: 2 hr 14 mins Director: Oliver Stone Starring: Joseph GordonLevitt, Zachary Quinto, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Ben Schnetzer
The sequel to an influencial horror movie By Marilyn Ramirez Contributor with the main group of characters — James, Lisa, Corbin, and Brandon. James’ sister was one of the teens who went missing in the first movie. He wants to uncover what really happened to her, but unfortunately for him, he gets himself and his friends stuck in the woods, and that’s where the fun begins. The audience never sees the thing that’s terrorizing them; this is infuriating to some viewers and thrilling to others, i.e. me. As in many horror films, they are sick with cheap pop ups that surprise viewers but don’t leave them with fear throughout the movie. “Blair Witch” fought that. Instead, the plot had me curled up against the plush chair of the theatre, hoping that it brought back similar elements from the first film. And it totally did. Fans have had multiple theories about what happened to the kids in the first film, and I agree with one
in particular: the reason no one ever found the bodies of those in the BLP is because the Blair Witch herself has the ability to warp time. With that ability, she was able to transport the kids into another decade. The same goes for “Blair Witch.” Toward the end of the film, James ends up finding the infamous Blair Witch house and runs inside, leaving poor Lisa to fend for herself. What’s really interesting about the ending is that the video clip found by the hiker in the beginning of the film matches exactly the scene of Lisa entering the house looking for Jason. She finds him, but he has a beard, indicating he’s been there for some time, which is straight up awful and terrifying but so damn good nonetheless. One final aspect of the film that remained in sync with the original BLP was the inability to see what exactly was doing the killing.
One theory that stands is that it’s never the Blair Witch, but actually the poor souls she entrances, doing her bidding. The stories within the film about the Blair Witch claim you’re not supposed to look at her because that’s an automatic death sentence, but the reason for that isn’t because the Witch is standing there waiting for her next victim. It’s because she’s taken over someone dear to the victim, using their voices to lure them to their ultimate demise.
indie-pixel look. The animation is fluid, and each individual dog breed gets an adorable, decent-sized portrait style sprite on their information screen. Dog Sled Saga, while not looking super unique, has a unique gameplay loop. The game opens by letting you choose four (Just four. How can you choose?) dogs for your starting sled team, and starts a pretty easy race to let you learn how to work the team. As your dogs run, they get tired and you need to toss them a treat to keep them going. The treat-tossing is the primary interaction you have during the races, aiming by clicking and holding to determine the distance. As the courses get more difficult, treat refills are less common and more obstacles appear. Outside of the races, the game also requires you to manage your dogs and your race winnings. Between races, the goal is to make sure your dogs aren’t too tired by keeping track of how much they train and how much they rest in between races. As you win more races, each member of your sled team gains a skill, and a fault, which both can
be triggered by certain events during a race. Each dog also has a favorite thing that keeps them happy, such as passing other teams or catching multiple treats without missing one. The story in Dog Sled Saga follows a rivalry between your character and the local jerk racer, accompanied by occasional journal entries by your character, describing a story told to them about a legendary sled dog. The story isn’t all that interesting, but it at least gives motivation for you to keep racing. The music has a cute retro feeling, and a nice variety of tracks fit each race’s conditions,
with moody music during night races, and upbeat tunes for the easier day races. Dog Sled Saga has kept my interest so far and gotten me pretty invested in my team of dogs. It’s fun to play, nice to look at and to listen to. It’s not the most complex game, and it’s also available on iOS and Android. I could definitely see myself playing it on my phone in the back of a boring lecture hall.
Firebrand Oliver Stone is no stranger to depicting real life American figures in a heavily dramatized tone. His films typically involve controversial American issues, and his trend continues with his latest film, “Snowden.” With Laura Poitras’ Oscar awardwinning documentary, “CitizenFour,” comes a slight retelling of the doc, along with some exaggeration of certain events that eventually lead up to whistleblower Edward Snowden’s actions. Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrays Snowden with a voice that usually comes across as more cartoonish than the real thing in some parts of the film, but props to Levitt for attempting.
Snowden could be considered a hero or a traitor, but “hero” becomes more prevalent as he’s depicted as a nearly perfect tech wizard at the top of his class. His apparent downfall is with his onoff relationship with girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), his personal health, and a gradual build-up to a disillusionment with the government’s “ends justify the means” approach. Another amplification of events is the making behind “CitizenFour,” where journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewan McAskill (Tom Wilkinson) argue about where to publish the story before U.S. agents confiscate all of the evidence.
This was surprisingly more entertaining and thrilling than seeing Snowden experiencing a seizure or secretly obtaining the files. The film begins to fall apart when it makes Edward’s CIA co-workers into nearly villainous entities, whether if it’s fellow nerd Gabriel Solm (Ben Schnetzer), spying on a woman undressing or father figure and mentor Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans), interrogating Snowden through Facetime. Despite the differentiating views on whether or not Edward Snowden’s actions are justified, the film portrays that he is very much a hero in every sense of the way.
“Blair Witch” Length: 1 hr 29 mins Director: Adam Wingard Starring: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 puppies
Rating: 3 Conspiracy Cover-Ups out of 5
13 CULTURE
Cast photos of
Bridge Over Troubled Water The University Theater presents Arthur Miller’s renowned play Words and Photo by Rachel Haering Contributor
All’s Well that Ends Well The Improvised Shakespeare Company reimagine the work of the Bard By Cameron Pullano Contributor Photo by The Improvised Shakespeare Company
“A View from
the Bridge.”
The moment I entered the University Theater to view a performance of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge,” the atmosphere grabbed me and pulled me in. The groans and clacks of a train, getting louder and louder as it passed “over” the auditorium, and the haunting shadows looming over the ivy–covered bridge that dominated the set transported me to the Italian–American neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, circa 1950. The action is entirely centered around one Italian–American family: Eddie Carbone, his wife, Beatrice, and his niece, Catherine, as well as Beatrice’s two cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, illegal immigrants from Italy who are staying in the Carbones’ home. Faculty member Josh Nathan succeeds in making us uncomfortable with, but also sympathetic of Eddie’s selfish, insecure, and overbearing nature. Much of the conflict in the play stems
from Eddie’s desires and his inability to control or compromise them. There was a constant blurring of lines in the scenes in which they interacted. The truth about this disordered relationship is eventually brought to light in a shocking and climactic scene that elicited gasps from many audience members. The complex relationship between Eddie and Catherine also intersects with the issue of immigration. In order to stop the budding relationship between Rodolpho and Catherine, Eddie uses Rodolpho’s immigrant status against him. Rodolpho is an artistic dreamer with a zest for life, who initially appears to be a typical, naïve foreigner enthralled by the American lifestyle. He is played with complete sincerity and charm by Brandon Pascal. However, Miller deconstructs the tendency to romanticize immigrants and their experiences and shows another, more complex side of Rodolpho in the second act.
We can see the tension between his feelings of pride for his homeland and his staunch belief that he can never go back. The way in which each character interacts with Eddie as his actions become increasingly reprehensible feels genuine and believable. Special mention goes to Katheen Wilhoite’s portrayal of Eddie’s undermined wife, Beatrice, who genuinely cares for Eddie but is powerless to stop the trainwreck of his life. Wilhoite walks the fine line between acting as a maternal figure for Catherine and simultaneously seeing her as a rival for her husband’s love. The University Players succeeded in immersing me in the drama of the Carbone family and making me spend hours turning over the questions it raises about honor, empathy, justice, and passion. From the intimate set and sound design to the actors’ stellar performances, “A View from the Bridge” was a glimpse of theater at its finest.
On Tuesday September 20, I was lucky enough to see both the premiere and closing night of the Shakespearean–ish play “Poppycock and Balderdash,” a production of the Improvised Shakespeare Company at Largo at the Coronet theater in Los Angeles. If you’re unfamiliar with improv comedy, it’s exactly as it sounds — totally unscripted and on the spot, usually based on a theme from the audience. Using almost entirely Shakespearean language and dressing like they were going to a Renaissance fair, the members of the Improv Shakespeare Company put on an amazing display of teamwork and quick thinking, leaving me in actual physical pain from laughing. With the title of the play provided by a friendly shout from the audience, the show began with a monologue that immediately set the bar for the rest of the night. The opening monologue was hilarious and managed to use the vague title to establish themes for the rest of the Company to develop the story with. Going off the title from the audience, the monologist described the ways that love and life never seem to make sense, leaving the other actors with an idea of
where to take the story. The show followed a few different groups of characters: two brothers, one dim-witted, and the other in love with the princess; the princess, her suitors, the king, and their chancellor; and a group of disgruntled lords stripped of their lands. The high point of the show was the musical act; one performer broke out into song, explaining to the former lords the power of goal setting. Of course, none of the other performers knew there would be a song, leading to some looks of confusion before committing to the joke. The final scene was a culmination of just about every character seen so far, forcing some of the members of the troupe to switch characters mid–scene. The show came to a close with an execution– turned–wedding that broke into another song about setting goals, which kept me laughing until the very end. The Improvised Shakespeare Company is
based out of Chicago, but there are two more upcoming shows before they leave Los Angeles. If you want to see them for yourself (which you absolutely should), their next two shows are October 16 and 17, both at Largo at the Coronet. Tickets are available online at largo–la.com.
Photo: The players of the Improvised Shakespeare Company.
14 FOOD
Aesthetically Delicious
It’s more than just a craving for food By Kianna Znika Contributor Picture this: As you’re scrolling down your Twitter feed, you come across pictures of a new, hip restaurant in Los Angeles and automatically think, “I need to go there!” Isn’t it funny how we feel the need to go out and eat at certain places just because of the way it was photographed on someone else’s social media account? It was not the food offered at this place that first attracted you — it was the appearance of it. This “need” to go is actually our artistic desire to visit these cool, modern restaurants and take aesthetically-pleasing pictures for all our social media followers to see. In this digital age, it is time for us millennials to recognize that we crave more than just food; we crave aesthetic. Sometimes, however, the aesthetic may not be enough. Have you ever went to a new, trendy restaurant with this desire to take pictures, and then end up not even liking the taste of their food? For example, Horchateria, a Mexican coffee and tea establishment, is fairly new and has teens all over social media posting about it. Although it may look delicious and artsy online, some teens have formed negative opinions about the food. Marco Munoz, a freshman here on
Screaming for Ice Cream Trying out that sweet dairy nectar By Amanda Dominguez-Chio Culture Editor
campus, said, “The place looks cute, but the horchata literally tastes like water with sugar in it. I make better horchata at home.” This experience has personally happened to me after trying Afters Ice Cream, a dessert restaurant here in Long Beach that is known for the fact that they serve ice cream in the inside of glazed donuts. Believe me, I genuinely wish I enjoyed it. Everyone else on social media seemed to, but once I took a bite into what I believed would be a taste of ice-cream-and-donutdeliciousness, I was completely dissatisfied. The picture looked great on my Instagram feed, but in the end, it wasn’t worth the trip. For all you food and photography enthusiasts, I’m here to tell you that you do not have to sacrifice tasty food for the sake of aesthetic, or vice versa. There are many restaurants that not only provide satisfying menu options, but also provide an artistic, modern-day look and feel that would look great on anyone’s Instagram feed. For example: Cafe Maji in Cerritos and Snowmonster in Long Beach. Cafe Maji is a Korean restaurant that is known for the appearance and taste of their desserts. A popular choice is The Snow Affogato, which is three scoops of vanilla ice cream
covered in cotton candy served with a side of hot espresso. The customer takes the espresso and pours it over everything, causing the cotton candy to “melt” into the ice cream. This is usually the moment that a lot of teens want to capture on Snapchat. Snowmonster is a dessert restaurant located on 2nd Street, known for their colorful macaron ice cream sandwiches; or, as I’d like to call them, “pretty patties”. However, that’s not all they offer. There are many tasty options for you to choose from, while also enjoying the vintage, minimalistic look of the inside of the building.
Last weekend, my roommate and I planned a food adventure to celebrate the end of week 6. This semester has been exhausting for us and we needed a night out for ourselves to relax and take a break from work. We take our food outings very seriously considering we do not go out that often because assignments and projects are due or long work hours. So deciding where to have dinner and what to have dessert is important. The fun part is finding an affordable place to eat. We decided to have dinner at our favorite pho place in Garden Grove. Nearby, my roommate told me that there was an ice cream place she’d been meaning to try. The place was called Nitrolado. The place gets its name because it serves liquid nitrogen ice cream. They offered a wide variety of flavors, but I had set my eyes on the mango chamoy ice cream. My roommate, on the other hand, is the more adventurous one when it comes
to food, so she ordered Oreo cheesecake ice cream on an Oreo churro bowl. When my order arrived, the mango chamoy was served on a cup and released smoke. Most mango ice cream taste creamy from the milk added, which makes the ice cream feel heavy and takes away the taste of the fruit. At Nitrolado, the mango chamoy tasted fruity and light. What I loved most was the girl who made my order was generous with the chamoy and tajin. My roommate’s order to a little longer to arrive because the churro bowl needs time to bake. When her order arrived, the ice cream had large bits of Oreo on top. My roommate
Some of us just genuinely enjoy posting pictures of our food on social media. Rather than keeping it a guilty pleasure and judging others for it, let’s just admit it, accept it, and embrace it. After all — food really is art.
was generous to let me try her ice cream and churro bowl. The churro bowl tasted like a churro should: crisp and yet also soft. I think the concept of the churro bowl is interesting and will definitely order that the next time I am in Garden Grove. So if you want to try a new ice cream place to beat this heat, try Nitrolado. I recommend it.
MUSIC
Marveling at “Ape in Pink Marble”
15
An intimate look at Devendra Banhart’s clandestine performance and ninth album Words and Photos by Nancy Soriano Contributor
On Sept. 27, Devendra Banhart performed at the Club Bahia in Los Angeles following the release of his latest album, “Ape in Pink Marble.” Although his set list was nineteen songs long with room for an encore, Banhart only played four songs from this new album. His stage presence was charming, captivating, and fully immersive while remaining personable with his various checks on how the audience was faring after each song, often preceded by, “Mis amigos, todo bien?” During his performance, Banhart articulates the emotions of his songs by adding hand gestures and the swaying of his hips. He uses his body, essentially, to embody the various characters of whose perspectives he writes from. Sometimes the audience would laugh, other times they would be silent and observational, and, when his hips began to sway, appreciative. His band is composed of Noah Georgeson on guitar, Steinbrick on keyboard and guitar, Todd Dahlhoff on
bass, and Gregory Rogrove on drums. They made live versions of the songs almost indistinguishable from their studio counterparts except for “Theme of a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green,” which was played acoustically during the set that Banhart performed before the rest of the band joined him. This song showcases some of Banhart’s bossa nova influences that may have come from his close friend and Brazilian pop artist, Rodrigo Amarante. Although Banhart’s sound have changed over the years, the overarching theme of love remains a constant and is best showcased by his crooning of “There is no one in the world that I love/And that no one is you” during the chorus of this song. Silence is not something that you’d expect towards the end of an artist’s set; but uncomfortable shuffling, clanging of beer bottles against the floor, and a stray cough are what met Banhart’s sixteenth song, “Linda.” “Linda” is a slow paced song, in the perspective of a woman, where Banhart
croons lyrics that make you empathize with her loneliness until you get about three minutes in. Silence follows with only the strum of a guitar interjecting itself, into the space that Banhart has effectively emptied, every six seconds or so. The audience, unsure of what to do with their discomfort, quietly waited as he finished the song and there was a moment’s hesitation before they clapped. Meanwhile, on stage, the band sat in contemplative silence observing the reactions. This is the tone of “Ape in the Pink Marble,” Banhart’s ninth album after a threeyear hiatus. Although he began his career as a folk artist in 2002, to call him a folk artist now would be a disservice to how his music has evolved over the years. As the new record shows, Banhart includes instruments such as the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument, to compose subdued melodies that are not easily noticed if played in the background. This is a far cry from his folk compositions that are not as
passively presented. While “Ape in the Pink Marble” is not as upbeat as its predecessors, it’s not meant to be and this is a good thing. Combining a variety of strings, with a greater emphasis on melody than percussion, Banhart presents various narratives cut from the same cloth of loneliness that overshadow the life of city dwellers. While the idea of love is constant throughout the record, it is more of the stitching that holds together the crowded isolation that individuals can only find in large urban centers. The concept of an album that can play in the background and only be noticed in its silences embodies a larger concept that plays with the notion that only certain stories get told. This is evident in the perspectives that Banhart chooses to portray as well as the clandestine way it is presented. If intimate narratives about seemingly mundane people interest you, Banhart’s new album is definitely one to listen to.
16 MUSIC
Music Tastes Good: Year One
A look into the second day of Long Beach’s block party Words and Photos by Isaura Aceves Contributor
Dave Fisher of Lost Weekend giving his audience a rather seductive look. Strong blue guitar riffs and soulful vocals were projecting from the stage as Dr. Dog performed their hit “Lonesome.” But, once they arrived at the second verse, it was no longer just the singer, but the audience joining in. After each verse, the whole audience yelled “Hey!” in perfect unison as the singer continues to finish it. At that moment, there was no longer a separation from the audience and the band. It was as if the audience had become part of the band. Once they sang the chorus, the audience kept their high energy and didn’t stop singing along with them. The band then stopped playing all at once during the song for a dramatic effect and continued playing the chorus. The singer walked onto the speakers off the stage, causing the audience go into a frenzy. As he sang the last line of the song “Nothing at All,” he held on the last note on top of the speaker and walked back on stage as the audience cheered. This was only one of the amazing performances at Long Beach’s first big music festival, Music Tastes Good. It was a three-day festival from Friday, Sept. 23 until Sunday, Sept. 25, showcasing over 40 bands and restaurants in the streets of downtown Long Beach. The second day of festival held some of the biggest bands such as Dr. Dog, Warpaint, and Iron & Wine. The attendees were able to walk around, hear music, see art and enjoy good food throughout the weekend. The catchy lyrics and rhythm of Dr. Dog make it irresistible to not sing along to and drew in one of the biggest crowds during the festival. They’re a mix of folk rock and indie, creating a unique sound that has brought fans amongst all ages. They played around 14 songs and many of
Guitarist and vocalist Theresa Wayman of Warpaint during a later set. their singles in their 60-minute set. [and] they were dancing naked so you have to Among their set, the song “Nellie” meet us halfway. And take off your clothes.” had me singing along nonstop. I tried to They then played “New Song” from their concentrate on taking a perfect shot until I latest album “Heads Up”. gave up and swayed along their slower melody In comparison to their hauntingly melodic along with the audience. songs, this song held more of an electro pop Another performance that took beat. This upbeat tempo change had everyone everyone’s breath away on Saturday night on stage and in the audience dancing along with was the bewitching band Warpaint. As they them. Their performance left me in a drunken stepped on stage, the fog machine went on and stupor state as if I woke up from a dream. the introductory bass riff started. This created Although the night performances may
Dustin Lovelis really making “music taste good” during his group’s set mood for the rest of the festival. Dustin Lovelis is a local artist from Long Beach that performed at the festival as well. His indie alternative sound gathered quite a big audience as they waited patiently for his performance. His songs vary from slow to fast tempos which keeps you moving along with his band’s beat. He proves to be quite versatile as he implements synthetic keyboards and folk riffs with clean, consistent vocals. Among my favorites of the festival were the punk rock band, Spiders that taught us no matter your age, rebellion never dies. Also, garage indie band Golden Drugs, alternative group Randy de Anda and emo girl punk band Girlpool were amongst my favorites. This may have been the first year for the festival, but I can hardly wait for what’s to come next year.
Bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg and vocalist/guitarist Emily Kokal of Warpaint singing during their set later in the evening. a dreamlike presence as they started singing and harmonizing almost as if they were the perfect sirens. Everyone, including myself, seemed fully captivated by their presence as one couldn’t help but feel their strong bass line and melodic guitar synchronized with their beating heart. Once they finished the song, the spell was over. Guitarist and singer Emily Kokal encouraged everyone jokingly to start dancing as she said, “I just came back from a festival…
have drawn in the biggest crowds, early local bands also left an impression. The first band to perform was the Lost Weekend which combines country, folk and rock. The raspy vocals from the singer made you feel as if you were in a concert in the South through the band’s rich sound. Their performance left me in a happy
Lead vocalist Hector Martinez and bassist Steve Westerkamp of Spider playing early on in the day.