Flipping Supreme

Tinomuda Tugwete and Emily Meza-Perez
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4, Showcase

At just 15 years old, reseller Nathan Virrueta sells some items for 1000 percent of their original price. Capitalizing on the popularity of brands like Supreme and Jordans’ limited nature, he uses pop culture’s obsession with these limited items to make profit and fuel his own love for designer ...

Dancing “The Nutcracker”

Yalda Khodadad and Adrienne Mitchel
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

Noelle Hanson Grade: Sophomore Roles: Spanish and Mirliton School: Western Ballet Years of ballet: 8 Approx. hours of ballet per week: 19 Background: Gymnastics and soccer Dream Role: Sugar Plum Fairy “Ballet is a way to express myself because I’m not very good with word...

A Tribute to Leonard Cohen

Akhil Jakatdar, Opinions Editor
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

On November 7, 2016, acclaimed singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen, most famous for his song “Hallelujah,” died in his sleep from cancer in his home in Los Angeles, California. He was 82 years old. Though he came from money, Cohen truly desired to live a Bohemian lifestyle. His desire to find n...

How to Photograph the Family Dog

Anisha Desai, Senior Writer
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

“You have to be patient and stay very calm,” animal photographer Heather Lussier says. “I think with the animals as well as with kids, they [feel] that on a subtle level, so then they are a little more relaxed.” After working as a Certified Professional Photographer for over 25 years and even op...

The Enduring Success of Pokemon

Booker Martin and Alex Luna
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

This October marked Pokémon’s 20th anniversary, and it’s impressive that Pokémon is arguably more relevant than ever. The newest entries, “Sun” and “Moon,” quickly became the fastest-selling Nintendo titles ever to grace North American markets. Pokémon Go, a spinoff mobile game that was ...

Bringing Books to the Big Screen

Justin Yu and Priya Dixit
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

From treasured classics to trending young adult novels, successful books inevitably receive the Hollywood treatment. “Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter,” “The Hunger Games,” “Percy Jackson” — the list is endless. The dedicated book lover would like to imagine that producers and scre...

A Christmas Story

Emma Kwan, Staff Writer
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

This is the story of a high school sophomore who lived in California among palm trees and Trader Joe’s and 80 degree winters. She was also surrounded by a very concerning drought, which made things difficult when it came to building snowmen ,or even having snow at all. Manufactured snow for ski resor...

Impressions of the “Gilmore Girls” sequel

Hanna Khosravi and Sana Khader
December 24, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-4

Warning: Spoilers follow. On November 25, millions of fans returned to the famous fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, a place overrun with crazy neighbors and antique stores. “Gilmore Girls,” written by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, is back as a four-part Netflix...

“Joanne” Review: Flawed, but Genuine

Bobak Afshari, Videographer
December 8, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Web Exclusive

★★★★☆ Lady Gaga, born with the name Stefani Joanne Germanotta, has defined most of her career as being a “pop diva.” Her outfits are over the top, and her songs are instant hits and commonly make number 1 on many charts. But her approach to her recent album entitled “Joanne” is much...

Junior Publishes Book on the Growth Mindset

Yolanda Spura, Staff Writer
November 28, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Web Exclusive

When Los Altos junior Nadia Ghaffari launched her organization TeenzTalk in April of this year, her focus was to teach and empower teens to have a growth mindset through connecting teens with a global community of peers and enabling them to share their experiences, struggles, and insights through stories...

The Power in Political Music

Nathan Godderis, Staff Writer
November 28, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-3

Recently, Bob Dylan, one of the most influential names in music, won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his achievements in literature, songwriting and storytelling. Dylan’s music was powerful not simply because many enjoyed his unique style, but because he rallied people behind a greater cause, ...

Art that takes us out of our comfort zone

November 28, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-3

Elliott Smith's "Between the Bars" by Hanna Khosravi I first heard “Between the Bars” by one of my favorite musicians, Elliott Smith, my sophomore year of high school, and I was quickly startled by my introduction into a rich underworld of music I hadn’t heard much of before. I would say Ell...