by Saber Slate | Apr 8, 2019 | Athletics & Activities, News, Opinion & Reviews
This year the Franklin Energizers, FHS’ own show choir, entered its second year of competing around the midwest, with competitions ranging from a University setting to fellow high schools alike.
Their show this year, “Around the World,” included many different musical selections with a wide range of musical styles, from a bollywood number to pop smash hits to a traditional Irish ballad. The show began with the pentatonix cover of Who’s Gonna Save the World?, and went from there into Jai Ho, made famous from the movie Slumdog Millionaire and by the cover by the Pussycat Dolls. they then went into the girls’ number, The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B, and then transitioned into the guys’ number, Land Down Under. The two groups then come together for Sway, a tango-tastic latin number. They then brought things to a more serious note with Red is the Rose, a traditional Irish Ballad. For the big finish, they brought the energy up to 11 with Waka Waka (This is Africa) by Shakira.
The Energizers went to three competitions, two of which they returned to from last year and one was a first for this year. I had the opportunity to speak with the two directors of the show choir, Ms. Schlecht and Mrs. Adams, to ask them for their thoughts on the competition process as a whole.
Ms. Schlecht, the vocal director of the show choir, told me her thoughts on this year’s performances and season overall.
What was the overall theme of this year’s show?
Our theme was “Around the World,” so it incorporated music from all different countries.
What were the competitions like?
Competitions were pretty intense. We did three competitions, one at Viterbo University in La Cross in January. The second one we did was at Naperville North High School, which was a very elite competition, we were up against some really tough groups for that one. The third and final competition was the Chicagoland Showcase in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and for that we were in a prep division. All three of them had some pretty intense glee-style competition.
What were the results of these competitions?
At Viterbo we got second place in our prep division, at Naperville we did not end up placing, and then at Chicagoland we got third place out of six teams.
How do you think the season went as a whole?
I think looking back from the end of July when we had our show choir camp to the final performance it’s a huge night and day difference between how much we’ve grown as we went through the season.
I also had the opportunity to speak to Mrs. Adams, the choreography director of the show choir, to ask for her thoughts on the season and what her thoughts are for next year.
What musical selections did you use for your “Around the World” theme?
We started with Who’s Gonna Save the World, and then we went through different genres and styles and countries around the world.
How do you think the season went?
I think it was a huge growth from where we started to the end of the season. Not only place-wise in competitions, but confidence levels for students in the group as well as overall how far we can go in the future.
What are the big plans for next year?
So some of that is undisclosed at this point, tryouts just took place over the past week, so we’re still looking at who’s going to be in the group, how many numbers that’s going to be, what the theme is going to be. It will be released at a soon date, but we’re working all of those details out.
From the work of Pentatonix to Shakira, this year’s show truly did take the audience on a trip “Around the World.”
Be sure to stick around with the Saber Slate to stay up to date on information on the FHS Energizers!
by Saber Slate | Mar 31, 2019 | Advice, Opinion & Reviews
Summer is slowly approaching. The shorts are slowly leaving their dark corner of the dresser and being thrown onto the floor after weather apps are checked. Car windows are being opened only to be closed after realizing that it’s not warm enough to look cool yet. The sandals – wait, they’re always out – uh, the socks under the sandals are getting shorter? I don’t really know – anyways, how people dress between seasons is completely different. This article will help you learn some great fashion tips for how to dress as the weather warms up!
The first tip is to expose yourself more, whether that be reducing the number of layers you wear (no more undershirts!) or just going to shorter sleeve/pant lengths. That means no more long sleeve shirts; switch over to the short sleeve shirts. Consider possibly losing the shorts altogether for maximum comfort.
My second tip is to loosen up! There’s only a quarter of the school year left, which means the stress is dwindling. Why not express that through your clothing choice? Wear a bit more baggier clothing, like a good pair of oversized cargo shorts. Men, I strongly recommend unbuttoning the top two buttons of any dress shirts you own – gotta show off all your great (not fully grown-in) chest hair!
A third tip is to stick to fashion trends. Ignore what the weather is going to be like, and look cool according to society’s standards. It’s cool to wear a nice jacket. Is it 80 degrees out? Who cares! Follow the trends until the end. If you don’t, we will find out, and we won’t be happy. You want me to be happy, right, Gilbert? Follow the trend.
My next tip is to get a haircut. It’s hotter out now, so you can probably get your hair cut shorter as you don’t need to protect your head from cold as much. For the best possible look, I recommend asking your barber to do what they think looks good on you. Then, consistently complain about it not looking good even though you could have said something while getting it cut. It’s not on you at all to be open to your barber, they should just know!
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My final tip, is to dress however you feel. It doesn’t matter what others think about how you dress. Society is constantly oppressing the individual. We need to speak out and fight for individuals to be able to speak their mind. What truly matters is what you feel in your heart. And I know that, in your heart, what you really want is a nice pair of American Eagle skinny jeans.
*Please note the Saber Slate, nor this article, is actually sponsored by American Eagle. This article is part of Saber Slate’s Satire Week and is not meant to be taken seriously. If you are confused by this, we suggest you look up the definition of satire.
by Saber Slate | Mar 31, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
It appalls me we have not addressed this.
The administration refuses to. He’s made a deal with them, I can tell – should his secrets be revealed, he will decimate the school. Due to this alliance (possibly out of fear for their own safety), I will be exposing this danger to the student body. It must be done.
There are two lethal dangers running around FHS.
First, Seymour Spirit Saber. He has surpassed an urban legend. He’s surpassed a cryptid, and has escalated to a Code Red threat. A god among men, the cuddly, student-body chosen name is a simple veil to the true horrors he is capable of. Somehow, the administrators and staff get him to recede from his ultimate form to perform dance rituals at the home games we hold here at Franklin, possibly as a part of the blood pact they were forced into. He might even only be here to scare us into submission. You never hear anyone cheer for the other team during games: it’s because if you do, Seymour will track you down and SEPARATE you like a julienne salad.
Not much is known about Seymour, other than the fact that the only people he spares are the administrators and staff.
From my extensive research over the course of the years, I can conclude three things:
- He lives inside the walls and air ducts.
- He can manifest anywhere inside of the school.
- He WILL take your kneecaps.
He’s extremely fast. I’m not even sure how he allows the school to take photos of him. I know for sure that the reason that no one has ever come across Seymour and lived to tell the tale. No one knows why he craves the kneecaps of adolescents. No one dares ask.
It is also speculated that Seymour is always listening. Unlike most sabers, his ears are positioned at the front of his head, a mutation that has bestowed him prime listening abilities – almost superhuman. Anyone who says anything mildly offensive, anything that threatens his position of power, or if you threaten to take HIS kneecaps will be kneecap-less and dead before 2:34 PM the same day.
No one knows the warning signs of an attack – anyone who has been attacked has never been able to live through it to warn us. We do know, though, that if you hear skittering inside the walls or the ducts, you had a close encounter, but were good enough to be spared. You can’t hear him when he comes for you – he’s that fast.
However, he’s never been seen outside the school, so we’re safe…for now.
Secondly is the Aqua Saber. A slightly less powerful variant of Seymour, he dwells in the FHS swimming pool, and reaches his peak performance in the diving end.
Similar to Seymour, no one alive is sure of what he looks like, but we for sure know he’s there. He might be translucent, with long fangs and a mermaid tail that allows him to swim incredibly fast. He is much, much larger than Seymour – almost covering half of the pool’s volume, however, he does not hold as much power.
Similar to Seymour, Mr. Aqua Saber is always on the watch. His skin is extremely sensitive to motions in the water and can pinpoint exactly where you are in the pool just by the waves he feels on his skin. He comes for you if you complain too much about the water temperature during a swim unit, or if he thinks you are challenging him (by swimming too fast or splashing around too much).
Thankfully, we’re aware of what his attack is like: only one source, who asked to remain anonymous, was willing to share with me what the attack was like when they saw it happen to a student wading in the pool after school hours.
“All of the lights went out except the one that he was under,” says anonymous. “The water started bubbling and they said the water was too cold. It was then I knew he made a huge mistake.”
Anonymous watched in horror as his friend was quickly dragged underwater. He said he didn’t remember what happened next.
“He drags you to the deep end and sucks all of the water out of your body like a dehydrated fruit,” anonymous continued. “Then your dehydrated body is thrown down the drain and will usually reappear 2 or 3 months later, floating in a toilet somewhere in the school.”
The Aqua Saber Spares no one, but somehow, the swim teams have somehow found out the one thing that keeps him away, but refuses to tell anyone. No one knows how they manage to be spared from his gaping, toothy mouth.
Writing this article was an extreme challenge for me. There were several times where I had to stand up, walk away from the computer, and wonder if my life – and my precious kneecaps would be worth losing. I am risking it all by posting this, but it’s a challenge I am destined to take on. The student body MUST know these dangers.
Please watch out for me. My reinforced steel kneecaps can only hold for so long.
Please note this article is part of Saber Slate’s Satire Week and is not meant to be taken seriously. If you are confused by this, we suggest you look up the definition of satire.
by Kush Bansal | Mar 12, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
It’s that time of the year, Marvel released a brand new movie. Yay. Going off of the new trend of female leads, they created a movie about Captain Marvel. Who is Captain Marvel? Let’s just say that she’s that one character in a video game that is overpowered, but never gets nerfed. All jokes aside, this movie has recently been getting lots of hate. Captain Marvel is pretty controversial to some, with some reviews on Rotten Tomatoes even protesting to boycott this movie. While some reviewers say that this is the weakest of the Marvel movies, I believe that this movie is enjoyable.
The action, dialogue, music, and most of the special effects were fantastic. From scene one, I was captivated, as the protagonist Captain Marvel, played by Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson, is wrapped as a mystery. As the movie proceeded, we get bits and pieces of who she is, as well as what really happened in an incident which causes her to lose her memory. The movie is also the set-up Avengers: Endgame which is coming out next month, and while this is done in a post-credits scene, it still flows very well.
The main flaws I have with Captain Marvel is that the movie could have been shorter by about 10 minutes, as nothing was done in that 10 minutes to progress the movie. Another issue was some of the CGI isn’t as good as I hoped it would be, which is an issue, as Marvel has million dollar assets to improve this. Finally, the main villain is slightly predictable, and Captain Marvel did not have the focus to create a compelling antagonist of the film. All that being said, I still really like this movie.
This is my final opinion on Captain Marvel and I am going to give it a B+. Thank you for reading my review and have a great day.
by Kush Bansal | Mar 2, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
Netflix. Netflix. Netflix. Hm. Interesting. Killed Blockbuster. Brought streaming to all mobile devices. Has great shows like Friends and The Office. Canceled every Marvel show. Hm. But they did spend billions of dollars on original content. I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch Bird Box? The best movie of 2018?
No. No. No. This movie was subjectively and utterly terrible and a sin to mankind.
Bird Box is about Russian aliens who, when they look at you, make you commit suicide. Weird premise but okay. Sandra Bullock (who won an Oscar) is pregnant and goes around avoiding these monsters, and eventually seeks shelter at John Malkovich’s house. Then the alien gets in, kills everyone, and Sandra has to run. Will she survive?
I don’t know. I switched off the movie after an hour.
This movie was bland, unoriginal, and dull. Sure, it looked nice and all, but nothing made sense. It was too convenient and the acting was awful. Now, I’m only reviewing this movie because people told me to. And to that, I said, “Thanks guys, you really are amazing!” All sarcasm aside, I need to get better friends, and also, I need to give this movie an F.
I apologize for being so negative, but I hated this movie. All that being said, thank you for reading my article and I hope to see you next time.
by Saber Slate | Feb 25, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
Today, I’m going to be talking about why ranch is the best condiment.
It’s not.
Now, you might be thinking, “Hey Aaron, why would you make the title and picture what they are if you’re just going to say the opposite in your article?” To answer that, I’m going to just use one word: subjectivity.
A lot of people seem to forget what that word means. People commonly take whatever they think and state that as a matter of fact. This is seen a lot in fan reviews of movies, where people think that a movie franchise is better than others, and then pulling out the word “objectively” to make their opinion seem like a fact while having no basis in statistics or evidence. In Benjamin Kerstein’s review of the movie “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” he opens with, “‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is a bad movie. It is not a bad Star Wars movie, but objectively speaking, as a film, it’s a bad movie.”
A lot of the time in real life, something that is the “best” or “worst” option can vary completely from person to person. To show this in action, I will state my opinion on a very pressing issue: I love Hawaiian pizza with ranch. Some readers are now most likely cringing at me for breaking not one but two pizza norms, but I have achieved my point: What I find good and what others find good is different.
Life is not a list of numbers. It’s not fair to look at ketchup and say it is objectively the best condiment because it is the most versatile, when there may be condiments that others like to put on more foods than ketchup. (Don’t ask me what I’ve put ranch on.)
Now, I have not been using any hard evidence in this article. That means, like most reviews, this is a subjective opinion piece. Feel free to disagree with me. If you think there is an objectively best condiment, tell me, and I’ll allow you to have your opinion up until the point you call it objective. Because as long as it is an opinion, everyone can disagree.
