Here’s what we’re into this week!
WATCH
Unwrapping Christmas
Christmas movies, for those who celebrate, are a staple of this season. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, a good Christmas movie can make you feel warm and cozy. But, some may argue that a truly great Christmas movie can make you laugh out loud as you point out aspects of the plot that make zero sense. This is the case with Unwrapping Christmas; a series of four Hallmark movies which are all completely insane.
Unwrapping Christmas stars four friends who own a gift-wrapping shop together. You may be wondering how this shop makes money, given that wrapping gifts is generally easy, and those who can can just put the gift in a gift bag. This movie doesn’t at any point explain why these girls’ shop is successful, and despite telling us that this shop is constantly packed, there are never more than two or three customers inside. The plot of each movie is centered around one of the friends and how she helps prepare for a Christmas gala the shop is hosting and finds a man before christmas. This Christmas gala is called “the biggest charity event in the state;” if that was true, it would be extremely sad, because this gala only hosts around 30 people. It should also be noted that these films are supposedly set in St. Paul, Minnesota but I refuse to believe that’s true.
Each of the movies involves an incomprehensible amount of coincidences and things that should not be possible. A snowstorm happens to hit the moment one woman gets to her ex-boyfriend’s house. Two women end up with men who happen to own prominent businesses in the town. These films are wonderful to watch with friends and/or family and I recommend them very strongly. – Maren Merkel
Yellowjackets
Back in 2021, I was on tiktok when I saw videos about a cool, new TV show called Yellowjackets. It was about a girls soccor team that gets stuck in the woods. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the streaming services to watch it, so I accepted defeat and went on with my life. Then, in October this year, I opened Netflix to see that Yellowjackets had been added onto Netflix. I then binge watched the first nine-episode season in under 24 hours. When I get into a TV show, I make it my entire personality, and I haven’t stopped thinking about Yellowjackets since first watching it in October. It is the perfect amount of thrilling suspense for me, but it can get gory and mature during certain scenes. – Noa Zilber
Kakegurui
I recently finished an anime about gambling called Kakegurui. I randomly remembered about it about a month ago and I decided to finish what I had started two years ago. What I thought I remembered about the show was completely wrong – this series was absolutely wild. While some people may think, “what can be so interesting about gambling?”, this anime takes it to a whole new level. The main protagonist, Yumeko Jabami, is a crazy, compulsive gambler who is extremely good at noticing small details and having a great memory. Each episode she gambles against a different person, each time increasing with difficulty. Her idea of fun is an actual gamble; a big risk is all she wants. However, most of her opponents seem to try to cheat their way to victory. This anime is very entertaining, but it can be mature at times. I loved watching it and I would recommend it to people who want a thrilling show to watch. – Sasha Lapayeva
Charlotte
I don’t think there has ever been a time in my life where I was as uncertain and confused as now. Though fictional, I have never related more to an anime like Charlotte. Set in a world, where a small percentage of adolescents develop special powers during puberty, the series follows Yuu Otosaka, a boy with the power to possess others. Though it was off to a rough start when I first watched it, the deep progression of themes, coupled with an emotional journey filled with twists, humour, and poignant moments made it all a worthwhile watch for me. Not just a story about superpowers and drama, Charlotte was an identity stabilizer for me, and I hope you can find some peace watching it as well. – Tommy Liang
LISTEN
13th Floor Elevators
The Airbuds yearly recap came out today and they released my top artists of the year. Along with this, they released how I ranked among these artists compared to other Airbuds users. Since most of the bands are big I either ranked in the hundreds or thousands. However, I ranked #47 for Jimi Hendrix and #29 for The Runaways. There was one artists I ranked #1 for, and that was the 13th Floor Elevators. I listened to 446 minutes of their music this year. The 13th Floor Elevators are a lesser known band from the 60’s and have 150.9k listeners on Spotify. I mentioned them in my op-ed about underrated 60’s bands. The 13th Floor Elevators are a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre, however they receive little credit for this. They mix these psychedelic sounds along with garage rock in many of their songs. Their most popular song is “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and has an almost trickling effect to it. My favorite song is “Reverberation,” which I love for how catchy it is. They have many other great songs like “Fire Engine,” “Roller Coaster,” “Slip Inside This House,” and “Don’t Fall Down.” I’d recommend this artist to anyone into 60’s-70’s rock, psychedelic rock, or anyone intrigued by them in general. – Juliet Gonzalez
The new Nettspend uprise
Nettspend is a 17-year-old high school dropout who wants to make his dreams real. Nettspend is a music artist who has recently dropped a new album called “Bad A** F****** Kid.” He started releasing music on SoundCloud in 2022 but didn’t become as popular till late 2023. Many rappers and music artists start out Soundcloud and grow from there. Nettspend has a mix of music genres such as hip-hop, electronic, rap, and pop creating music for a certain crowd of music listeners. His music shows personal growth, societal problems, and his modern life. For some listeners his music is relatable to their everyday life. Nettspend has a growing fan base and is pushing all of his creativity into his songs. He is a great and creative artist; everyone should give him a chance to listen to his new album. – Rowan Schreiber
AND
Dating Advice From Old People
My favorite thing I’ve come across on Instagram in the past few weeks definitely have to be the old people giving dating advice. I’m pretty sure it’s the senior living home employees who set up these 80 and 90 year olds with white boards with their name, age, and dating advice. Some of the funnier advice I’ve seen includes “don’t date him if he isn’t rich” and “leave him if he doesn’t give you what you want,” but then there is some genuine, sweet advice, too. I think we can all learn some things from grumpy boomers. These videos are my new obsession because even if I’m not dating anyone to be able to take this advice, these senior citizens are so passionate and straight-forward with their advice. – Ellie Owens
Lies My Teacher Told Me
Lies My Teacher Told Me is a very informative history book by James W. Loewen, which analyzes eighteen history textbooks: twelve in the original plus an added six. The book points out the common errors of the textbooks on subjects from Vietnam to John Brown, and it informs readers of what actually happened. Its chapters are shorter, more engaging and more interesting than most history textbooks as well. I have been reading it at the rate we cover material in APUSH, and I have learned a lot from it. Anyone taking a U. S. History class, or just interested in history should definitely read it. – Jackson Lee
GARAGE Clothing
The best store in the Perimeter Mall is GARAGE. This store was just put in this year and it’s the best place to shop for cute basic clothing items. It’s a little bit on the more expensive side but if you don’t buy a lot of things at once then it’s worth it. The clothing material is very high quality and it’s always super soft and comfy. Many of the shirts are very stretchy and mold to your body really well. Some people even think it’s the SKIMS brand. GARAGE is always up to date with the new trends and has many inclusive sizes. Garage has shirts, pants, swimsuits, coats, jackets, hoodies, hats, socks, hair accessories, etc. My favorite item to buy from them is their shirts because they come in basic colors and I love the material of them. If you’re not shopping at GARAGE then what are you doing? – Kira Lawson
How I Ate The Entire Thanksgiving Apple Pie
My favorite Thanksgiving gift is hands down apple pie. As usual, I made my annual Costco run to get all the ingredients needed for our Thanksgiving meal. I walked into the baked goods section and there it was: apple pie. It called out to me as a siren does to a sailor, and I could not resist the urge to buy it. I took it home and told myself that I needed to wait until Thanksgiving to eat it because everyone else would want a slice. As the hours went by the pie tugged at my heart. It begged me to just take just one, tiny bite. I then ate the entire pie. – Michael Bryant
