When filmmakers let technology become more than a tool

Maddie Chu and Yolanda Spura
November 27, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-3

The earliest movies were grainy, black and white and under a minute long. As film became less of a novelty and evolved into a full-scale industry, movies began to incorporate the usage of more advanced technologies such as rotating cameras, special effects, animation, color and sound. Horror as a ge...

The music scene at Red Rock

Miranda Li, Javin Pombra, and Booker Martin
November 27, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-3, Showcase

Within Red Rock’s warm ruby walls, productivity and coffee are accompanied by music and burbling chitchat. Perched humbly on a bustling corner of Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, Red Rock Cafe is a gateway to far more than freshly brewed coffee. The cafe fosters creativity and expression with ...

Art Students Create Visual Journals for Mindfulness

Justin Yu, Staff Writer
November 10, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Web Exclusive

“Forgiveness” is the key word of the day, and students in art teacher Christine An’s class begin to craft their wildly different interpretations of that one main idea. Only the sound of pencil strokes and brushes on paper interrupts the silence in the room as they sketch intently into their art ...

Emma’s Dilemma: #Grumpkin

Emma Kwan, Staff Writer
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2

Halloween. The time of year where people dress up in costumes and have viable excuses to knock on their grumpy neighbors’ doors, no matter what night it falls on. Monday, Wednesday, 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m., you name it, and most of the time, someone is going to be there to hand you a candy bar....

Dafna’s Delights

Jessica King, Savita Govind, Adrienne Mitchel, and Thara Salim
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2, Showcase

On weekdays, Counselor Dafna Adler can be found in the computer lab at room P-16, working with students. But on the weekends, she can be found whipping up sweet confections in her kitchen and posting her results to her baking blog, Stellina Sweets. Writers from the Talon have tried out some of her recipes,...

The Commodification of a Culture: Punk Fashion Goes Mainstream

Julia Santos and Cameron Avery
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2

Cultural origins The idea of punk first emerged in Great Britain during the 1970’s as a political movement. It was a way for people to rebel against the upper class through artistic self-expression. These “punks” appropriated traditional symbols of the British elites, such as the Union J...

Jia Seow’s Year, Written in Verse

Rachel Lu, Senior Writer
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2, Showcase

When an old, familiar pop tune comes on the radio, the long-buried memories associated with it bubble to the surface instantly. Junior Jia Seow leveraged that effect in her new self-published poetry collection, “Return,” by diving back into playlists she created at certain points in her life...

The Community Keeping Vinyl Alive

Michael Sieffert and Yalda Khodadad
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2

For much of the 20th century, it was perfectly normal to spend a Sunday afternoon in a record store, wading through alleys of vinyls and trying out new albums. Vinyls were hailed as one of the most popular means of listening to music at home, and the post-war boom of the 1950’s ensured that...

Metal Forges a New Path

Brian Huebner, Staff Writer
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2

The genre of metal has a long and storied history with roots dug deep in rock and blues music. It has evolved into a massive genre with new sounds, new styles and a ludicrous amount of variety. Nowadays though, most outsiders of metal see the genre as past its prime and very different from older...

The Value in Foreign Films

Hanna Khosravi and Jaclyn Saik
October 18, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-2

Denis Erguven’s 2015 film, “Mustang,” proved to be a little-engine-that-could at the Academy Awards last winter — it may not have won as the Best Foreign Film of the year, but its legacy seems to transcend one award given to one film on one night. “Mustang,” a small Turkish movie comprised...

Follow the Fun — Or the Money

Booker Martin and Brian Huebner
October 16, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-1

Expensive Advertising, Cheap Product Reaching a worldwide revenue of nearly $100 billion, the games market continues to rise; it’s obvious why developers and publishers alike want a piece of the action. This desire to dominate the industry motivates companies to make the most impressive product p...

How Shane Koyczan is Expanding Slam Poetry

Madison Woo, Staff Writer
October 16, 2016
Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-1

The room is filled with fragile silence. The stage is dim and bare while the audience waits in hushed anticipation. In an instant, the lights flash, shining on a single performer. He shifts to center himself in front of the microphone, takes a deep breath and pierces the air with his words. Shane Koycz...