Monthly Archives: June 2023

Movie Review: Creed (2015)

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As the sequel to the famous Rocky movie series, this movie really got my attention. Since I was interested in the series and wanted to see how Creed would turn out, I watched it as it came out during the week of Thanksgiving. I really enjoyed it then, and as the newest movie of the series Creed III came out, I rewatched this movie and realized just how great the series has progressed.

This movie featured Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of former boxer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) who died in the movie Rocky IV. Adonis is revealed to have a hard life, as he lacked a father figure after Apollo’s death before he was born and faced time in juvie – even getting into fights before being taken in by his biological mother, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad). Although Adonis earned a desk job, he abandoned this pathway and instead pursued boxing as he faced off in underground fights, similar to how his father’s friend, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), did in the first Rocky movie.

As Adonis learned about Rocky’s connection with his father, he looked for Rocky and eventually convinced Rocky to train him in boxing. He also met a woman who lived nearby to him, Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson), who he eventually gets into a relationship with. With these relationships, he received motivation as he started his boxing career and picked up wins in some professional fights as he progressed.

In a similar way to Rocky, Adonis also found himself in a huge professional fight as he found himself in a fight for the Boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World due to circumstances against the champion at the time, Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew). However, Adonis found himself conflicted as he learned that Rocky faced cancer and needed treatment that he was unsure of accepting, as well as public criticism as the press and Conlan questioned whether he could live up to Apollo’s legacy as a Creed. Despite his challenges, Creed stepped up to the plate and took Conlan to the limit in his first fight for a boxing title, and despite a loss, proved to the world and himself that he represented Apollo’s legacy proudly and legitimately. He also inspired Rocky to take the treatment and bonded with Rocky as they shared a heartwarming moment in a famous callback to the Rocky films.

Overall, this film exceeded my expectations and set the standard for the next Creed films that followed. What resonated with me the most was the lesson of believing in yourself to keep going despite challenges — represented through the mental struggles of both Adonis and Rocky, as well as the growth that they have throughout the movie that left them on a great path. Adonis and Rocky both remind the audience the meaning of self-worth and pride in the legacy of family.

As the movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and available free of charge with a Prime subscription, I would highly recommend seeing this movie, especially as the latest movie, Creed III, recently released in March of this year.

Creed is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

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Warning: This book review may contain spoilers from the prequel to this book, These Violent Delights

The year is 1927. Any time now, a revolution is about to occur and everyone knows it. After sacrificing her relationship with Roma Montagov, Juliette Cai sets on a path to find the five missing insects, the ones Paul left behind for another to make more monsters to their benefit. Seeing Roma angry at her for something she didn’t do saddens her but she knows that what she did was for the best. Her cousin, Tyler Cai, is watching her as closely as ever; with one look of sympathy toward the White Flowers, her role of heir to the Scarlet Gang will be usurped by him.

Roma, on the other hand, is more bitter than ever. Unlike how he used to be, he kills off Scarlets at a rapid pace in the name of his friend who he believed Juliette killed. But reluctantly, he will have to team up with Juliette once again to figure out who controls the five monsters and what they wish to accomplish with the monsters. Shanghai is in chaos, both from the monsters and from the conflict ensuing between the Nationalists and the Communists. It is up to the two heirs to keep Shanghai in as much control as possible.

Usually, in a series, I like the first book more than the second book. But with this duology, that isn’t true. The suspense in this book is astounding. I could barely put it down because I wanted to know what happened next! The only times I would put the book down was to prepare myself for the devastatingly emotional scenes that I knew were coming. I will never forget these beautifully written characters and this amazing plot. I highly, HIGHLY think that everyone should read this book (if you are okay with some gory scenes and emotional damage).

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant

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The Mamba Mentality: How I Play is one of my favorite books and is written by the one-and-only Kobe Bryant. For those who don’t know, Kobe Bryant is a Laker legend and one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He played 20 seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring at 37 years old. He unfortunately passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020 when he was 41 years old. 

Before he passed away, he published a book called The Mamba Mentality: How I Play which described his view of the game. In the book, he analyzed players he faced throughout his career and described some experiences he had. He also discussed his preparation and routines that helped him become the player he was throughout his amazing NBA career. The book includes small segments from NBA Legend and Kobe’s Laker teammate Pau Gasol and Kobe’s former head coach Phil Jackson. 

Kobe Bryant was an incredible basketball player who believed in sacrificing everything and exhausting himself to the point of blacking out to reach his goals. He is a great role model for upcoming athletes and has proven that hard work leads to success. His dedication and determination to achieve his potential and be the best version of himself is shown in his book, where he explains his mentality and approach to his basketball career. 

If you are a young athlete interested in achieving your potential in your sport, I suggest studying some of Kobe’s behaviors and words (found in his book) because it was the blueprint to his success. 

Enjoy reading!

The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley illustrates the story of a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, who desires nothing but to create a living being. Frankenstein eventually fulfills his goals, and creates a monster out of dead body parts. However, the creature’s terrifying appearance causes Frankenstein to run away from it. As a result, the monster forges a plan to murder its creator for abandoning him, as it realizes it’s desire for compassion and love.

While reading, I found that the most impactful theme in this novel involves the dangers of too much ambition. Frankenstein had a life-long wish to “play God,” and accomplish something that no other scientist could ever dream of. However, he never considered the consequences of what his actions may bring, and still continued with his plans. One may never consider the negative effects of such lofty goals, yet Shelly was able to perfectly highlight this by causing Frankenstein to gradually lose himself and everything he loves, showing the negative impact just one decision can have when not dealt with carefully.

Overall, through her imaginative novel, Mary Shelly revolutionized science fiction, inspiring generations of authors for years to come. This story also had a great impact on pop culture and science fiction films as well, making it an excellent classic that should be read by everyone at least once in their lives.

-Aysha H.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book vs. Movie: The School For Good and Evil

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Soman Chainani’s hit novel, The School For Good and Evil, was recently released as a Netflix movie on October 19th, 2022. It follows the story of two young girls, Sophie and Agatha, who are whisked away to a fairytale world where they are either trained as villains in the School for Evil or heroes in the School for Good. Despite their beliefs, Sophie is placed in the School for Evil while Agatha attends the School For Good, leading to an onslaught of adventure and excitement.

However, there are several differences between the book and movie adaption.

  1. Sophie and Agatha’s Friendship
    • Book: Sophie was extremely popular among the other villagers and was only friends with Agatha to improve her image and paint herself as a benevolent saint.
    • Movie: Sophie willingly became friends with Agatha and enjoyed her company, leading to her becoming ostracized by the other village kids who found the two of them weird.
  2. The Rules for Good and Evil
    • Book: The Rules for Good and Evil are as followed “The Evil attack. The Good defend. The Evil punish. The Good forgive. The Evil hurt. The Good help. The Evil take. The Good give. The Evil hate. The Good love”.
    • Movie: The only rule mentioned is that “The Evil attack. The Good defend”.
  3. Trial by Tale
    • Book: Trial by Tale was originally a competition between the School for Good and the School for Evil. The top students from each school were selected and would face horrific monsters and dangers in the Blue Forest. Afterwards, any student who has survived by sunrise, would be proclaimed the winner.
    • Movie: Trial by Tale is a test to see if Sophie and Tedros were actually each others true love. They would start at opposite sides of the forest and if they managed to reunite with each other, Sophie would be allowed to attend the School for Good with Tedros.
  4. The Circus of Talents
    • Book: The Circus of Talents was a show between the Evers and Nevers to decide which school would host the Theater of Tales.
    • Movie: There is no Circus of Talents.
  5. Lady Lesso’s Origin
    • Book: Lady Lesso is from The Endless Words.
    • Movie: Lady Lesso is originally from Gavaldon, like Sophie and Agatha.
  6. Gregor
    • Book: Gregor does not exist at all.
    • Movie: Gregor is the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming. However, despite his royal lineage, Gregor fails miserably at being a prince and aspires to run his own grocery store, leading to him being turned into a stymph after his third fail.
  7. Blood Magic
    • Book: There is no such thing as blood magic.
    • Movie: Blood magic is a dark but powerful type of magic that is used by both Rafal and Sophie.
  8. Sader
    • Book: Sader taught History of Heroism at the School for Good and was also a blind seer that guides Agatha along her journey by sharing his visions.
    • Movie: Sader is not present at all.
  9. Lady Lesso and Rafal
    • Book: There is no romantic relationship between Lady Lesso and Rafal.
    • Movie: Lady Lesso was originally in love with Rafal and attempted to win him over by becoming more and more evil.
  10. The Bridge
    • Book: At the bridge, there is a barrier between the two schools, preventing anybody good from going to the School for Evil as well as preventing anybody evil from going to the School for Good.
    • Movie: There is no barrier between the School for Good and the School for Evil.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Album Review: Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey

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In March of 2023, singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey her ninth studio album, titled Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. This Americana-pop and alternative pop album includes collaborations with artists Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, SYML, and Riopy. Ocean Blvd (short for Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd) has what is perceived to be a more mature, conversational, and raw lyrical style compared to Lana’s previous albums; and in addition to its pop style, includes influences of folk, gospel, and trap.

In Ocean Blvd, Lana Del Rey’s songs touch on themes including family, grief, loneliness, heartbreak, and growth. Following are a summary of a few tracks on Ocean Blvd:

Track 1: “The Grants” – a tribute to Lana’s family and beloved ones on this song as she recounts her memories with them.

Track 8: “Kintsugi” – a song about Lana’s grief and growth from the death of her family members. She relates this to kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the broken parts with lacquer dusted with gold, silver, or platinum.

Track 13: “Margaret (feat. Bleachers)” – written about Lana’s longtime collaborater Jack Antonoff’s fiancé, Margaret Qualley. On this beautiful love song, Antonoff is featured as part of the band Bleachers.

Track 15: “Peppers (feat. Tommy Genesis)” – a fun and catchy track sampling Canadian rapper Tommy Genesis’s song “Angelina.”

In conclusion, Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd ended up being one of my favorite albums! It has a very mature sound and a variety of unique sounds on each song. If you enjoy any of Lana Del Rey’s music, I would definitely recommend this album for you!

-Lam T.

Things You Can Do During Summer

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Summer break has always been something we look forward to. 2 months of break after a whole school year is granted to students for not only relaxation but also a time to come across and experience different opportunities to learn and develop social skills and abilities. Various experiences can happen through family vacations, simple trips to the park, or while carrying out commitments of paid or unpaid activities.

One of the many things you can do this summer is try to get a job if you think you are ready and if you are in the right age to do so. Having a job can always be beneficial in terms of earning your own money to save it up for personal or education purposes or use it to spend on things and activities you want to do. Additionally, it can also be a nice way to develop new skills while being able to have real-world experience and start to build up your credentials at a young age.

Another thing you can do is volunteering at any type of program, event, or organization available. You can always search up available volunteer events near you and those that are within your interest like at an animal shelter, or even at events that you have not tried before in order to expand your experiences. It is always great to be able to give back to our community in any way we can.

Furthermore, students can also choose to take summer classes if they are able and willing to. You can take a class that interests you or a class that you are required to complete to get ahead of your credits. Although, just be aware that classes during summer are more fast paced. For instance, if you are a high school student and you take a class at a community college, classes are mostly only 8 weeks.

Overall, despite these suggestions to have a productive summer, do not forget to relax and have fun during this time of the year because it is only 2 months and it can happen pretty fast. Personally, during last year’s (2022) summer, I was doing these three things all at the same time as I was working for a part-time job at a fast food place, I was also volunteering at the Mission Viejo Library, and I was taking a summer class at a community college. But I was still able to successfully complete all of them, while trying to watch any show and going out during my free time. Always believe in yourself and do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone!

Peace Will Be Found

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How Our Brains Can Find Peace in a Crisis

All I ever truly wanted growing up was love and peace. Mainly peace. What child wishes to suffer? What sane person wishes to struggle till the day they die. Peace is subjective. I understand that. I also believe that in order to find peace we must not only look in ourselves but we must also uncover all that’s been hidden.

There has been so much that ponders me but there is one thing that I can’t help then to feel suffocated in. Is my religion. Don’t get me wrong. I am Christian and I believe in God yes. I don’t feel Christian enough. I feel that in order for me to truly find the peace I’ve been searching for all these years is that I must reach out and trust God. As almost every Christian would tell me to stay faithful. But if I have to be completely honest it feels difficult to find peace. Even with God. I feel disturbed and unheard.

No one talks about what to do when you feel unsure. I know that no matter how hard it gets if I wish to truly find peace I must be honest with myself and others. I chose peace because I wish to be nothing like those who hurt me. I chose to move on from the girl I once was. What makes me happy is that I know there will be a day where peace is all I know and see. Peace will greet me through its doors and welcome me to stay. I know peace is on its way.

League Prelims and Finals for High School Swim Season

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league champs 10 year streak

The swim season is coming to an end, and league prelims and finals competition just ended. I had the best high school swim experience as a freshman on the varsity team at Tesoro High School. Not only was it enjoyable, but I also gained new friends with whom I can now talk with at school!

There were five schools competing at leagues: San Juan HS, Capo Valley HS, San Clemente HS, Aliso Viejo HS, and Tesoro HS.

I saw some of my club friends from Aliso and Capo as well. After I moved club teams I was not able to see my closest friends, but with HS swim, I was able to reunite with one of my best friends from Aliso.

Unfortunately, our coach made us wear tech suits for prelims (which for those of you who don’t know, they are tight full body swimsuits that take around 30 minutes to put on). None of the other schools required their swimmers to wear tech suits, just ours. It was really stressful too because we were the second warm up session and I thought I had enough time to put on a tech suit (p.s I didn’t).

Anyway, the goal was to swim fast enough to get into the top eight for finals. I swam the one breast and two hundred freestyle. For the hundred breaststroke I placed top eight and my 200 fr I placed ninth in the top 16.

On Friday, we swam League Finals. My first relay was the 200 IM relay and I went personal best in the 50 breastroke.

However, I did not estimate my timing well and didn’t realize that my 200 fr final was only three minutes after the relay. After I went to grab a quick sip of water and cooled down, they called my name on the blocks. I immediately ran over, however, I was too late, they already called alternates.

I had a good cry over it, but I focused on my last relay and my 100 br. I ended up going a personal best for the 100 br and went in the fastest leg in the 200 fr relay.

After they announced the points, we realized we won, and everyone jumped into the pool (along with our two coaches)! Our coaches were pushing us into the water while we were trying to the same like sumo wrestlers. It was a really fun experience! I can’t wait for next year!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves Book Review

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is an action-packed novel written by Meg Long. It is a rigorating story about survival and friendship.

The book starts out in a cold icy wasteland called Tundra. A lone girl who goes by Sena Korhosen, lives there with her aunt in a small cot. Sena makes a living by picking pockets, and her aunt tries to make money by fixing sleds.

On this planet, there is a very rich and important mineral called exo-carbon. To obtain this useful resource, scientists have modified wild-wolves’ DNA, creating a brand new species of wolf called vonenwolves. This type of wolf is purely meant to pull sleds for scientists with exo-carbon.

One day, Sena was running away from a person she had pickpocketed, but accidentally ran into a wild wolf’s cage. This wolf was owned by a man named Boss Kalba. Kalba made Sena a deal: if she managed to heal her fighting wolf, he would forget about Sena showing up here . So, the rest of the story is about Sena slowly developing and bonding with the wolf.

This book would really be good for kids 13 and up, because the plot-line is kind of twisted. The way Sena bonds with the wolf throughout the story really touches my heart. I loved how Sena, at the beginning of the story, always acted like that tough girl, trying to survive the harsh world of Tundra. But whether she realized it or not, Iska (that’s the wolf’s name) was the type of family she needed all along. This book also gives me a sad sense of reality and the emotion throughout this book pierces through me. One warning: This book may take a while for you to get interested in, but don’t give up! You should keep reading till the end, because the ending almost made me cry! But this book was definitely worth it! Out of 5 stars, I would give it a 4.3.