A MacBook Aboard 815: Meet Kevin Johnson
March 22, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
A LOST addict types really, really fast between commercials.
CAUTION [If you didn’t see last night’s episode STOP! Spoilers Ahead!]
By Manny Perez
[I CANNOT believe I missed the first half-hour! IT’S MICHAEL. How do I miss it!?]
8:30 – Michael puts a fully loaded gun to his head in front of his TV. It refuses to fire, TWICE. A news report breaks where it tells him about the fake 815 flight. Obviously, this is extremely odd so he goes and visits one of the now-dead Others, Tom. He lets Michael in, but not before sending his boyfriend away with a kiss. [Ha! Never would have guessed.] Anyway, he explains how Widmore faked the plane “discovery”, (apparently Others can come and go). Tom asks about the gun, “Did the bullet bounce off your head? Or did it just not fire?” Michael wants proof of the hoax. Tom shows how Widmore got the bodies from a Thailand cemetery, bought the plane, and dropped it all in a trench. Tom wants Michael on the freighter. “I can’t go back to the island!” he says. But Michael is not going to the Island, he’s the spy on the boat and he’s supposed to kill everyone there. Read more
They Razzle Dazzled Us: A Chicago Review
March 16, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
“If you’d have been there. If you’d have seen it, I betcha you would have done the same.”
by Manny Perez
Thomas Jefferson High School students and staff members have always had reasons to be proud of their school. Achievements in athletics are always met with trophies and awards. Accomplishments in learning and academics are emphasized with ceremonies and certificates. There is always a reward for those who exert incredible force while in their climb towards success here at TJ. What of the Drama Department and their latest effort, Chicago?
They strive for no trophy, nor any certificate, nor any celebration, nor ceremony, nor prize of any sort. The cast and crew’s single request is simple and modest: an audience. An audience that may or may not choose to applaud, but they did applaud for this show. The audience could only clap, whistle, and shout as the most spectacular epic in recent TJ memory was performed before them.
Specifically, the entire spectacle was such a plethora of talent bursting from so many unexpected sources, that plainly saying “Chicago was good” would be deemed as hideously understated. Every single aspect of Chicago was in effect spellbinding and awe-inspiring. Music, acting, vocals, lighting, backdrops, scenery, the cast itself. Chicago was a cornucopia of amazement that left the crowd not only open-mouthed, but granting the play and its creators accolades of ovation after ovation. They deserved roses. Read more
A MacBook Aboard 815: Ji Yeon
March 14, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
A LOST addict types really, really fast between commercials.
CAUTION [If you didn’t see last night’s episode STOP! Spoilers Ahead!]
8:04 – Ok, so we’re on the board with Frank. We finally meet Regina, who’s reading an upside down book… odd. Frank brings Desmond and Sayid beans, and before we know it we’re back on the Island with Sun and Jin who are absolutely adorable talking baby talk. Jin wants to call his daughter Ji Yeon. Now we get a flashback or forward (Sun is the sixth???). SHE IS SHE IS SHE IS!!!!
[MacBook Air commercial! I know it’s pretty much useless, but the music is catchy.]
8:14 – We’re in Korea, Jin (Seventh?) is buying gigantic panda bears. [I agree with the vendor. Everyone DOES love pandas]. Back on the Island Jack and Kate are back from their little excursion. But then we’re back on the boat and Dez and Sayid are passing notes under the doors. Sayid reminds me of the spy Ben has on the boat. The note says: Don’t Trust The Captain. Back on the island, Sun starts asking Daniel [I swoon] serious questions and if they’re really going to rescue them. Sun walks back to the mainland and starts making some sort of plan involving Locke.
8:25 – Sun is packing… in Juliet’s tent. Juliet walks in on her looking for “vitamins”, so she spills the beans. Apparently Sun doesn’t trust the “new” Others and has decided to switch to Locke’s side.
We get a flash-forward and Sun is dashing to the hospital where the doctor tells her the baby is having some slight trouble. Jin, meanwhile, is catching a taxi, giant panda in hand. Through a series of quick and hilarious events someone takes his taxi and panda. Returning to the shop yields one reserved panda. He REALLY wants the panda and pays premium for it.
Back on the island Kate is giving Jin and Sun a map to Locke’s camp. Juliet decides to interfere. JULIET YOU WITCH. She spills the affair to Jin. Sun slaps her [YES!] Read more
A MacBook Aboard 815: The Other Woman
March 7, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
A LOST addict types really, really fast between commercials.
CAUTION [If you didn’t see last night’s episode STOP! Spoilers Ahead!]
8:04 – I come in two minutes late, panting as I reach to turn on the TV, fumble the remote and mistakenly change it to channel 9 [The Celebrity Apprentice!? NO!], before reaching 7 and watching Jack in a very Freddish mood directing the gang to split up. Juliet is in the rain and meets a ghost, at least I think it was a ghost.
8:13 – Yes, Ben is ALWAYS where he wants to be, informs us the pudgy-cheeked lady/not ghost, who also tells Juliet to kill someone. Weirdo whispers in the rain then Juliet flashes back (where’s the forward?). Apparently, she’s an emotional doctor. She’s on the island. She’s speaking with a recognizable dude, who I don’t exactly remember. Ohhh, GOODWIN. Then back to present in the rain. On The Other Side Of The Island (OTOSOTI) Daniel and Charlotte are looking at a map, they meet Kate and she makes an unpleasant face.
(iPhone commercial! Well, technically it’s an iTouch, but whatever)
8:25 – Apparently the SatPhone is out of battery, which explains their little excursion. Anyway, Kate looks through Danny’s bag before Charlotte unexpectedly knocks her out from behind. Fred/Jack is walking with Daphne/Juliet before we get another Juliet Flashback with Ben. Goodwin walks in on them talking about fetuses. Later she’s talking with her therapist (aka pudgy-cheeks) and she asks how long she’s been sleeping with Ben or Goodwin, one or the other, either way: GASP. She’s a pervert apparently (“I’ve followed you, watched you”), and tells Juliet to back off. OTOSOTI, Locke is carving up some animal of sorts, and Clair is starting to get talkative and asking about Miles. Locke serves Ben rabbit; he asks if it had a number on it [I laugh]. Ben explains to Locke how leadership works, and Locke hands him a dollar to help with the Miles Fund [I’m rolling on the floor]. Ben is going to show Locke something in exchange for some freedom. Read more
Manny Recommends Vol. 1
March 7, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
Life made easy with some simple, weekly, suggestions.
by Manny Perez
Gleaning over history, there are several decisions men and women much more powerful and influential than me have made that strike me as BAD. Buying real estate in the then booming Pompeii area. Trusting Severus Snape. Having a bite of the apple that nice, but kinda creepy, old lady offered. ALL choices, that if the person presented with them would have just turned in the opposite direction, the consequences would have been much easier (and shorter) to write down. In light of these tragic turns for the worst, I have decided to take the world by the hand and guide the people of this planet on the way toward GOOD decisions. Below are a few minimal-effort suggestions to get you started on your way to greatness, like solving a murder case, or creating international peace, or something. I don’t know.
Recycling Bins
Hey look! Free purple trash containers! Hooray!
After watching the environmental phenomenon An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore, 2006), I’m truly surprised that I don’t see these things littering the streets all over the city. Even coupled with the current mentality that the sky is falling, and with the world’s polar bear cub population in steep decline due to the global-pollution-deforestation apocalypse, I still find myself craning my neck around street corners searching for the familiar purple container.
Recycling, besides the huge bonus in karma, can be truly effective in shrinking down our landfills (an estimated 75% of everyday trash can be recycled), reduces overall energy usage, and cracks down on greenhouse emissions, basically creating new materials while reducing the use of old ones, and reaping all the benefits that go along with that. Read more
A MacBook Aboard 815: The Constant
March 1, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
A LOST addict types really, really fast between commercials.
CAUTION [If you didn’t see last night’s episode STOP! Spoilers Ahead!]
8:10 –
OK, Desmond is crazy. He keeps switching from the helicopter/boat to the British Army.
On the island: Daniel confirms the timespace-fluxuation thing – well, almost. Back on the boat, I freak out when I hear a voice that sounds like Walt, turns out it’s just some dude [disappointment]. More on him later, as it looks like he’s crazy too.
8:15 –
Sayid phones home. Desmond continues switching realities, talks to crazy dude briefly, talks to Penny. We switch back to the boat, Sayid hands the SatPhone to Desmond because Daniel wants to talk to him. Danny seems to get what’s happening to Dez and asks him some questions and gives him instructions to find him in 1996 [?] at Oxford University [?] [WHAT???]
8:25 –
More crazy instructions then SWITCHBACK. 2.342? Eloise? Past Dez goes to visit Past Danny at Oxford. [Oh God. the hair!] Standard “ha ha I don’t believe you” from Danny until Dez mentions Eloise. Turns out she’s a rat. He sticks her under a microwave thing. Zaps her with some light, which he explains almost like she’s sending her through time and after he puts her in … a maze? SHE TIMETRAVELED in her conscious? Switchback to present. Crazy George is awake and explains how he knows Penny OMG [sarcasm]. Read more
The Weekly Reporter’s Review: Articles of War
February 11, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
"Arvin is…capable of sentences that stop you cold"
by Manny Perez
Each week a different member of the Living and Arts staff will present a new review of anything ranging from the latest chart topping blockbusters to obscure potato chip flavors; always insightful and always through an honest perspective, the WRR gives a critical picture into today’s content rich world.
Articles of War
One Book/One Denver, the citywide project to bring together readers around a hand-selected book by the mayor, is a great idea. Imagine, once the program begins to ascend in popularity, turning towards friendly looking people on the bus or while waiting for the elevator and asking “So what did you think of Articles of War”? Too bad these people will reply with only an exasperated sigh and return to leafing through their thesaurus for more interesting words. Or is that just me? Read more
Out Clubbin’:Chess Club
January 30, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
"My life was missing some edge."
Going incognito as an actual person who does things and cares about stuff, reporter Manny Perez will be exploring and documenting the many clubs and organizations here at TJ so you don’t have to; because that would be, you know, work.
Club Statement
"Chess is an exercise of infinite possibilities for the mind, one which develops mental abilities used throughout life: concentration, critical thinking, abstract reasoning, problem solving, pattern recognition, strategic planning, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, to name a few." – The Connecticut State Chess Association
The Setting
The Chess Club collects in the bright and spacious room 108, or more commonly known as the place we all had to line-up to enter and get our ID photos taken. With a bust of our namesake (Thomas Jefferson) watching from a corner, the environment is anything but ill-equipped to serve the needs of any small organization, maybe even two or three at the same time. Sprawling over a wall-to-wall stretch of gritty, DPS sanctioned but still contemporary carpet, lies a little over half-a-dozen haphazardly arranged rectangular tables and more than three times as many chairs. The place is usually spotless and light-filled, ideal for any kind of planned meeting, and barely offset by the presence of horizontally stacked tables, leaning together on one stretch of the wall. Read more
Houston. We Have No Problems: Super Mario Galaxy Review
January 23, 2008 by Manny Perez ·
A REALLY in-depth and spoiler-free look into the plumber’s latest venture.
The 3D perspective in videogames has always been one of difficulties and problems; titles being ruined at times from poor point-of-view, easily lost sense of direction, and loss of depth perception for the player. Imagine, a game that was built from the ground up with the sole purpose to avoid these flaws.
Seven years ago, Nintendo released a transitional title for its popular Super Mario series that placed the normally two-dimensional tube traveling Italian on a third plane. The title was formally called Super Mario 64, but was named a masterpiece by gamers and critics across the board. Its claim to fame was not that it was the first 3D game, though, but rather that it was the first game to do the genre WELL and it still takes a top-spot on any list of the best games in history. Super Mario Galaxy is the follow-up to Super Mario 64, and it brings with it the same level of ingenuity and innovation as its predecessor. Read more
Insight Into the Drama
December 18, 2007 by Manny Perez ·
A drama student dramatically divulges details.
by Manuel Perez
Seeing as fantastically frenetic as they are, Drama Coach Michael Palmieri’s own team of drama actors and actresses are hard to capture, let alone pin down for an interview. Fortunately, with the combined use of a Moulin Rouge DVD and the promise of a feathery pink boa, I was able to lure one into my journalistic.
Natalee Pinson, a drama student on the rise, was gracious enough to answer a number of questions concerning herself, the drama department, and the upcoming Chicago play. Read more
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