Yearly Archives: 2022

Album Review: Adore by The Smashing Pumpkins

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The Smashing Pumpkins can be described as one of my favorite bands with their first three albums not having a single bad song on them (in my opinion). Naturally, I decided to check out Adore and was surprised by its content and craft.

The album cover of Adore

In the 90s, were one of the world’s largest bands. Riding off of the success of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, they had achieved their high position. When they released Adore in 1998, listeners were divided. Many were expecting a rock-oriented album; instead, they got a variety of electronic, piano-driven, and acoustic songs, quite a shakeup from their previous album.

Even though I knew that Adore would be a different listen than their other albums, the Smashing Pumpkins 4th album still took me by surprise. The songs on the album were unlike anything we had seen from them, with the sole exception being “1979” off their previous album. The song “Perfect” really shows this change.

“Perfect” has a heavy focus on synths as opposed to guitar. Additionally, a drum machine is present in the song, a change that can be partially attributed to the group firing their drummer after the release of Mellon Collie. Either way, the changes are positive, culminating in a great synth-pop song.

While this is, in my opinion, my least favorite Smashing Pumpkins album from the 90s, it is still a good album in its own right. I give it an 8.25/10. Go give it a go; it’s worth a listen.

My trip to El Salvador

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I had a dream that I went to El Salvador, but I never woke up. When I got back home, my parents told me it was real. El Salvador is an amazing country that I wish I never came back from. To start, here’s some background information about the small tropical country.

 El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and the capital is San Salvador. El Salvador was originally populated by the Pipil, they called the territory Cuscatlán (Land of the Jewel) and the language they used was made primarily by the -ch- sound. Later they were taken by the Spaniards and they melted their national language and Spanish to create a whole new vocabulary! It’s mostly like Spanish but has more -ch-‘s than in most Spanishes. That’s all the background information I will provide today.

So now I will start with my dream trip, so to start my family and I landed in San Salvador and we got picked up by my fantastic family. We went to their house and had the BEST PUPUSAS ever and a great little soft drink, it’s called Kolashampan. When you say it rhymes with champagne, I think it’s fun to say. Our plane arrived later so we went to sleep almost immediately.

The next day we went to Tacuba to visit my abuela. On the way we stopped by a Catholic Church and the best little farmers market. The ladies carried baskets on their heads and the kids ran around with chickens! My abuela lives in an amazing ranch with so much yard you can get lost. She was so happy we came, we haven’t seen her in years. The ranch was like a ranch from a fairy tale. We spent one day there.

The following day, we went to one of the national parks of El Salvador. On the way we stopped at a volcano filled with a lake in the center. The national park that we went to is named Cerro Verde. The trails there were amazingly beautiful. There is also a giant active volcano on the side where you can see smoke coming out of the top. There was also a really fun park. 

The next morning, we went to see the ruins! There were pyramids buried in the hills. We saw some artifacts and got coconut water there. The artifacts were so pretty and had such fascinating details. The coconut water was in bags with straws poking out of the top.

After that, we went to see downtown San Salvador. We saw more churches that were so, so, so magnificent and learned about the one saint of El Salvador, Saint Óscar Romero. We also fed some pigeons. My cousin and I also went to Dollar City, and got junk food and toys. I got a giant coloring map of the world and my family spent the whole night coloring and drawing. It was perfect. 

The day after that, my parents and my tio went shooting and my tia, cousins, brothers and I went around trying to find a soccer jersey. Once we found it we went to a 16 foot pool with a diving board. We spent the rest of the great day there. Once it was late, my tios, mom and I went grocery shopping and we got delicious street food. 

The next day was our second to last, we went to a beach with pitch black sand. We also got a cabana with hammocks and we all fell asleep in them. The ocean there was warm! It was actually quite nice, not like hot icky warm. A good warm. There were also a couple of pools that were fresh water, no chemicals. It was so nice to get all the sand off. We also spent the next morning in the pool.

The last day we went to the mall to get our souvenirs and Spanish churros. They made the churros fresh in front of our faces and put some sweet sauces on it. There was caramel, Nutella and condensed milk. For dinner , we went to eat at a fancy restaurant our family really likes and we had fantastic rich food. At the end of our trip, we went to get -llao llao-. It tastes like Greek yogurt and you got to put on toppings! I put honey and a sort of almond granola.

That was our last day there and the next morning we went to the airport and went home. We had a layover in Guatemala and got some more cool stuff. And that was all.

My trip was perfect. It was so good I wished that our tickets did not work and we had to stay. Even now I wish I was there. For all those people who read the entire story. CONGRATULATIONS 🥳. You are a star. Overall, the trip was just too perfect. I don’t want to visit anywhere else and I just want to live there for the rest of my life. You should definitely visit the mystical place called El Salvador.

Book Review: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

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The Outsiders is a book my school assigned me to read earlier in September, so I thought I would review it after finishing it. It follows the perspective of Ponyboy, a 14-year-old boy part of a gang of poorer families on the East side of town known as greasers. The greasers have a rivalry with the West side of town kids, known as the Socs, which is short for socials. The Socs are rich and have nice cars and clothes, which is one of the reasons the greasers despise them. Early in the book, Ponyboy is jumped and beat up by the Socs, and readers are exposed to the violent nature of both groups through jumpings, memories, and fights between the two groups of people, who seem to be polar opposites. Ponyboy is friends with a gang of greasers consisting of his brothers, Sodapop and Darry Curtis, and his friends, Two-Bit Mathews, Dally Winston, Johnny Cade, and Steve Randal. Throughout the book, Ponyboy and the gang get into heaps of trouble, relying on each other for help in the darkest moments of the book. One of these relationships is seen between Johnny and Ponyboy, who have always been best friends and support each other throughout the book. As the plot unfolds and both greasers and Socs are injured or killed, Ponyboy begins to realize the two groups might not be as different as everyone thinks.

I didn’t think much of it at first, but The Outsiders is a very good book. It has emotional moments that impact the characters’ lives in very detailed ways, a very good plot that is easy to follow, and really likeable and dislikeable characters, which makes the book, in a way, feel very alive and real. What makes it so intriguing is that this book is based on real-life events from when the author, S.E. Hinton, was a high schooler in the 90s. In fact, the book was written by her at the age of 15! It makes you wonder how such a good book can come from someone only a year older than me. The Outsiders is full of deep meanings behind everything, and without giving too much away, is pretty sad. The whole idea of two social groups, one poor and one rich, both thinking they are right and the other side is in the wrong, is really interesting and is explored thoroughly by Ponyboy throughout the book.

While it does mention some inappropriate topics for kids 12 and under, such as underage smoking, gang violence, characters from broken homes, and death, I think it should be suitable for anyone 13 or older. For anyone who is looking for a deeper book that still has a great story and characters, I would definitely recommend The Outsiders. That’s all for this review, so I hope you enjoyed it. Happy or reading!

-Brandt D.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Cruising – A Different Type of Vacation

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Have you ever gone down a waterslide, ridden a roller coaster, rock climbed or tried walking across a tightrope hundreds of feet above the ocean? Sounds crazy, right? But a vacation cruise allows you to have these sorts of adventures and more! With so many of us planning our next vacation after such a long time dealing with COVID having shut so many things down for so long, I encourage you to take a look at all that cruising has to offer.

With over 50 different cruise lines available with over 320 different ships to choose from in the world currently, there are TONS of options for every type of traveler. There are cruise ships that sail in the ocean and ships that are solely built for cruising along rivers. Cruises can be as short as 2 nights or, currently, the longest cruise is 274 nights and offers its passengers a trip around the world, literally.

I recently had the opportunity to take a short cruise out of the nearby port in Long Beach, CA and visited Catalina, CA and Ensenada, Mexico. It was a great adventure, as I had never been on a cruise before. Before your cruise even starts, you decide what type of cabin you want, and there are lots to choose from, everything from an inside cabin, an ocean view, a balcony or different types of suites. What you choose depends on your preference and also on how much money you want to spend. Many people think cruising would never be an option because it’s too expensive, but there are cruises available for less than the cost of a hotel per night, if you really look for them. You might have to be flexible on your accommodations, however.

Once you are on the cruise there are so many things to do. Whether you like sitting around relaxing by the pool, playing Bingo or trivia for fun prizes, watching a show, or even playing basketball or miniature golf, there will always be something fun for you to do. There are special areas just for kids and teens, broken up by age group so you can meet others on board your age. The rooms have activities geared towards the specific age group including games, activities and video games and special parties. There’s also a variety of restaurants on board including a buffet, a main dining room or even special fine dining restaurants where you pay an additional fee, otherwise most food is included, which may result in you eating way more than you normally do in a day.

Sometimes you choose a cruise just for the cruise itself, and sometimes you choose a cruise for the ports you will visit. My family chose our destination just as a fun getaway right before school started back up, so it was a little bit of both, just to experience what a cruise was like and to visit a few places. Once in port, you can explore the town on your own or take a tour to a location that interests you. Every person who goes on a cruise will have a different experience based upon your likes and dislikes, so next time you don’t know where you should head out on vacation, check out all of the available cruising options as a different kind of vacation, especially if you’ve never experienced one before. You won’t be disappointed!

Album Review: Superache by Conan Gray

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Singer-songwriter Conan Gray’s widely anticipated sophomore album, Superache, was released on June 24, 2022. If you haven’t heard of Conan Gray, he has previously released an EP called Sunset Season and his debut album, Kid Krow. You may have heard his songs “Heather”, “Maniac”, and/or “Memories.”

Superache is a pop album with beautiful vocals, lyricism, and style. It is centered around the themes of love, friendship, and childhood trauma/abuse. Following are the tracks that stood out to me the most on this album:

Track 1: “Movies”

“We go to parties with people you know

We’re holdin’ hands but it’s all just for show

‘Cause Monday through Friday we both barely spoke

They don’t know, they can’t know”

This track touches on the flaws beneath the surface of the narrator’s relationship. On the outside, the relationship seems perfect; however, as the narrator tells us, there are many major problems within the relationship.

Track 4: “Best Friend”

“Who else is gonna grocery shop with me at 2 AM?

Who else will take that picture for you just to get revenge?

You’re just as psycho as me, just as sick inside the head”

This track is written to Conan’s best friend since seventh grade, Ashley. It tells of their unconditional and platonic love, a rare and beautiful thing. In this song, listeners can truly hear Conan’s love for his best friend and how he would do anything for her.

Track 5: “Astronomy”

“Stop trying to keep us alive

You’re pointing at stars in the sky that already died

Stop trying to keep us alive

You can’t force the stars to align when they’ve already died”

“Astronomy” is a song about two young lovers drifting apart when their romance dies out and they both realize that their lover is not the same person they fell in love with anymore. Conan compares this relationship to astronomy, specifically the stars.

Track 8: “Family Line”

“Scattered across my family line

God, I have my father’s eyes

But my sister’s when I cry

I can run, but I can’t hide

From my family line”

This track touches on Conan’s rough and traumatic childhood. He sings about abuse inflicted by his father and how his life has been influenced by the holes in his family life. The concept of family line is that someone can never truly detach from their family, as characteristics existent in their family live on in the person themself.

Track 12: “The Exit”

“Feels like we had matching wounds

But mine’s still black and bruised

And yours is perfectly fine now”

“The Exit”, the final track on Superache, tells the story of two former lovers and their separate pathways after a failed relationship. The narrator observes their past lover in love with someone else, happily moving on as if their relationship never happened. On the other hand, the narrator is still stuck on their broken relationship and the future he believed they would have.

To conclude, Superache by Conan Gray is a beautifully written album that is completely worth listening to. Every track on the album is well written and takes listeners into another world. Definitely give Superache a listen!

-Lam T.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Being a big fan of the author and her writing style, let me just say that I throughly enjoyed this book. Set in the beach town Malibu, the book revolves around the Riva family and the epic party they throw every year.

The book switches POVs between characters and establishes a timed setting so the readers know what part of the day they are reading about. The entire book is set in a one day time span and occasional past stories and background info pop up between chapters.

The Riva family has gone through an insane childhood with their dad being famed singer, Mick Riva. Throughout the story you get to know more about each of the Riva kids: Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit. Love, secrets, and drama arise out of this one eventful day which will forever change the perception of the each members of the Riva family.

This is probably my favorite read of the summer because of how emotionally attached I feel towards the characters and just the way it was written beautifully. Also, it’s the perfect summer book and continually adds more suspense to keep the readers enticed.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Movie Review

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has been out for a long time, but I wasn’t too interested in checking it out. Don’t get me wrong, it looked like a great movie, I just wasn’t interested in watching movies at the time. One day, my parents put it on and I decided to sit down and watch it. When I sat down to watch, I didn’t know what I was expecting. Marvel movies always have a way of surprising me. I usually have no idea what I’m in for when I start a Marvel movie. This time, Marvel introduced a completely new character to me. I had never seen or heard the name of Shang-Chi (despite him being in the Marvel comics), and I had no idea what the ten rings were. Despite these factors, I had a good time watching the movie.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows the story of Shaun. Shaun is a seemingly normal individual; he works as a valet driver with his best friend, Katy. Stuck in their teenage delusions, they continue to live their life normally, until a group of shady individuals attack them both on their bus to work. Shaun figures out that these individuals are a part of his father’s group, the Ten Rings, and he makes it his mission to go find his sister. In hopes to find and help his sister, Shaun and Katy go to China, only to get himself and Katy into more trouble. Him, Katy, and his sister have to deal with larger problems than just Shaun’s father’s organization, and along the way, they uncover more secrets. 

In the end, Shang-Chi was a great movie. I had a lot of fun while watching it; the action scenes were wonderful and well done, and there were times where they gave me a good laugh. Like most marvel movies, the music completely enhanced the scenes and made the action so much better. I enjoyed how fast paced the movie felt, and even by the end, I wanted more. The movie felt short, despite it being over two hours long. The fight scenes had remarkable choreography and had a great sense of timing. It didn’t feel too fast that I couldn’t understand what was happening, but it wasn’t too slow that it felt boring. The slow downs within the fights were a nice touch and gave me a little more time to breathe. However, I did feel as if there was more action than dialogue. Most of the dialogue was needed for the story to continue, and somewhat impactful. The dialogue was mostly to show who the characters were and to move the story. Every now and then, there would be some quips, and some small jokes that I would chuckle at, but overall, I felt as if there was more action than dialogue. But considering it’s a superhero action movie, it would make sense.

Although not knowing anything going into the movie, I found Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to be a great movie and I am quite excited to see these characters in future Marvel movies. I can’t wait until they interact with more characters from the Marvel universe, and to see what other problems they encounter. This movie is definitely a fun one to watch and I would recommend it to people who enjoy action and to even just try it if you don’t.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Better Call Saul Series Review

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Better Call Saul, created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, is the spin-off and prequel to the critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad. However, the audience also gets glimpses of the events that take place after Breaking Bad throughout the show. Therefore, this show serves as a spin-off, prequel, and sequel to Breaking Bad. This can seem overwhelming, but the writers do an incredible job at making it easy for viewers to follow along. The show follows Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), a struggling lawyer who works in elder law. However, Jimmy starts to engage more with criminals and the drug cartel, transforming into a criminal lawyer (emphasis on criminal). This transition brings forth the iconic character, Saul Goodman. Furthermore, the show does a fantastic job at developing other Breaking Bad characters such as Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). 

Although Better Call Saul is a spin-off and prequel to Breaking Bad, it establishes itself as a solid television series that develops a strong focus on other characters as well. We are introduced to the fantastic lawyer and friend of Jimmy McGill, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). Kim is essential to the story, playing a significant role in the development of Odenkirk’s character, and has become a fan favorite among audiences. Additionally, we are introduced to Jimmy’s brother, Chuck McGill (Michael McKean). 

Better Call Saul takes the comedic character, Saul Goodman, and gives him an engaging backstory. Jimmy/Saul’s descent into the criminal lifestyle can resemble events in Breaking Bad, but it never feels repetitive. In fact, it can be argued that there is a deeper backstory in this series. Overall, many characters that may not have been showcased much in Breaking Bad are given enriching backstories, and new characters are also given proper development. Also, like its predecessor, Better Call Saul has a fantastic ending and arguably gets better each season. 

In the end, if you’re a fan of Breaking Bad and wish to see more, Better Call Saul is a fantastic follow-up. It offers many new perspectives while keeping elements that made people fall in love with Breaking Bad in the first place. The show recently aired its final episode, ending its phenomenal sixth season. 

-Kern M.

Better Call Saul is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Book Review: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

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Persepolis: satrapi-marjane: 9780224080392: Books

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a poignant graphic novel detailing Satrapi’s own coming-of-age story amidst the political, social, and cultural turmoil of 1980s Iran.

The novel, drawn in starkly noir, heavy-handed images, reads like an autobiography- it tells of Satrapi’s childhood with her parents and family (well-known Iranian Communists), her teenage years spent in an Austrian boarding school, and her eventual return to her homeland, through the lens of her slow maturing.

I really enjoyed this novel! I read it for the first time when I was eleven or twelve (although I would not recommend it to anyone under thirteen). I don’t particularly enjoy reading in graphic novel formats, but I really felt that the imagery created by Satrapi only added to the depth of the story. The themes examined in the story also hit close to home for me- as someone from an Eastern country myself, Satrapi’s struggle with reconciling modernism with traditionalism was something I knew well. I also found it interesting to read about Satrapi’s struggle with depression abroad and at home- that was also something I related to.

Without a doubt, the best part of the novel was the art. Satrapi’s drawings are simple, but the small details in each panel manage to convey deep emotions and symbolism, without being overtly complex and distracting from the story itself. To the right is one of the most piquant panels from the story- a young Satrapi’s rendering of the 1978 Cinema Rex fire that killed more than four hundred.

2) The Bicycle – Cinema Rex Fire – Persepolis

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about the Middle Eastern conflicts in the 1980s, or anyone that enjoys autobiographical novels.

-Vaidehi B.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Film Review: Top Gun: Maverick

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This sequel of the 1980s film Top Gun was definitely an interesting experience. It followed the life of the famous pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise), aka Pete Mitchell, and his perspective of events following the first film. Maverick, following his success in the first film, finds himself back at the institution after he takes a plane for one last test run and crashes the plane due to his cockiness motivating him to go beyond Mach 10, which the plane could not handle. Although Maverick faces possible dishonorable discharge for his behavior, his old rival-turned-friend in the previous film, Iceman (Val Kilmer), ends up saving him from this and gets him relocated to Top Gun to lead a secret mission. However, there ends up being one catch: Maverick cannot participate in the actual mission.

Although Maverick struggles with this news due to his passion for fighting fighter planes, he faces bigger problems when he finds out one of his fellow teammates, call sign Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of his deceased friend and wingman Goose (Anthony Edwards). As Maverick felt responsible for the death of his friend, he felt unsure about the mission, but proceeds to lead with motivation from Iceman. However, events start to challenge his mindset: Iceman falls to disease, Rooster distrusts Maverick due to Maverick intentionally holding Rooster back early in his career due to complicated circumstances, and the leaders of Top Gun nearly pull Maverick from the mission entirely due to doubt over his plan. Despite all this, Maverick again boldly proves his plan is feasible by successfully demonstrating it using a stolen fighter pilot, which thankfully doesn’t crash – unlike the last time he disobeyed orders. Instead of punishing Maverick, the leaders decide to keep Maverick and allow him into the mission, but now with an active duty as a fighter pilot.

The mission proves to be a success, but Maverick ends up taking a hit for Rooster due to his guilt over Goose and his desire to break the pattern with Rooster. Despite doubts over Maverick’s status and the impending doom faced by opposition, Rooster realizes the importance of Maverick’s motivation and care for him throughout the film and heads back to the site, where he finds Maverick alive and saves his life. The two end up making it back to their home base despite near-death experiences from enemy fighter pilots, and the two embrace, end the tension, and create a strong mentorship bond, which honestly left me feeling satisfied and inspired by the movie.

Even though there were numerous lessons and moments taken from the movie, the one that most stood to me was Maverick’s line: “Trust your instincts. Don’t think. Just do”. Although plane fighting and events in real life have their differences, I believe that this lesson can be connected and implemented in real life. For example, in sports, many athletes – myself included – tend to overthink their game plan and their stress hinders a possibly amazing performance due to their mental imbalance. With Maverick’s advice, however, many athletes focus on playing the game, accepting different conditions, and adapting rather than stress over a plan facing difficulties, and this connects very well with the importance of mental health affecting performance in real life.

Overall, this was a great movie and I really hope more people come and see it. The movie is still on theaters and definitely worth a watch – and I believe many can agree with me when I say that you will be getting your money’s worth.