Acorn

February 2012

Acorn

10

Hydrofracking:by Maddie Laitz

Acorn February 2012; Issue 3

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New Year’s Resolutions:by Sarah Fink

6A Day In The Life Of A Junior:

by Rosie Gilroy

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T he Gap Year:by Maggie Lloyd

HAC Girls’

Basketball:by Caitlin Richard

12

11Drama:

A Little Women Rehearsal:by Amelia Black

Hydrofracking Cartoon:by Maddie Laitz

8Mr. S and Dolan’s High School Life:

interviewed by Sarah Fink

3

on the cover:photo by Haakon Sheffield

14Photography:

by Leandra Caprini-Rosica

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Food: Restaurant Reviews:

by Anna Barbano

19Movies:

Oscar Predictions:by Zach Palumbo

22

Fashion:Dress Code:

Featuring Addie Kurchin and Mariah

Palumbo, interviewed by

Rosie Gilroy

23Ray’s-ism

by Ray Chang

Hydrofracking:by Maddie Laitz

Acorn

After a wonderful six years at Harley, I have deferred my admission to Carleton College and moved to Spain for the year. I am a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Zaragoza, where I live with a family and attend senior year at a public high school. Thanks to the phenomenal Harley Span-ish program, the transition here was fairly smooth, but there have been many amusing bumps along the way.

It was a Wednesday morning and I had just told a group of girls in my class about my favorite type of live chickens, which they don’t sell in Spain. As eight pairs of eyebrows rose in stuttered confusion, I retraced my words in search of the error. “GALLETAS, no gallinas!” I ex-claimed. I would have been embar-

rassed, but these girls were friendly and amused by the error. In Spanish, it’s fairly easy to confuse the word for cookie with that for live chicken. Note taken. The bell rang, signalling the end of the morning recess. We stood up, balling up tinfoil from our sandwiches and tossing it towards a trashcan. As we funnelled back into the old school building, one of the girls tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what my plans were for the upcoming week-end. I tried not to stare. Was she joking? I hadn’t even been in this country for a full two weeks - of course I was free! So yes, I would love to come to Irene’s birthday party. Which one was Irene again? Four and a half months later, that group of Spanish faces has become my group of friends. Occasionally I think back on that Wednesday in early September. I remember the churning in my stomach as I approached them and sat down, knowing that I had to throw myself out there and risk awkward re-jection if I wanted to avoid another Saturday third-wheeling with my host sister and her

Maggie Lloyd: the Gap year

5

boyfriend. Ifoundmyselfreflectingonthatturning-point recess a few weeks ago at a Christmas dinner with my friends. At the end of a late-night dinner laughing and chatting in Spanish over shared plates of pasta, my friend Miriam raised a toast to me, “the American who will always be in [their] hearts.” The next thing I knew, I found my-self making my own toast, the once foreign wordsflowingwithoutanythinkingonmypart. I thanked them for making me feel at home, for helping me to be truly happy here so far away from my loved ones. The candles on the table swam as I raised my glass—I meant every word. Behind me the restaurant burst into applause; apparently my accent had drawn an audience. Walking down the night streets after paying the bill and laughing for another forty minutes, I thought about how far I really have come. I am no longer invited out just because my classmates are being polite. I have (nearly) mastered the public transpor-tation system and no longer get (too) lost in thenestofpedestrianstreets.Ifindmyself

looking at my watch at 9:30 p.m and think-ing that it’s still a bit early for dinner. After weeks of second guessing the Spanish two-kiss greeting, I can no longer fathom shak-ing hands. Last Thursday as I was counting out coins to pay for a hot chocolate, a friend asked me what language I count in. I blink-ed. Spanish. Spain is different, but as my time here passes it really hits me that I no lon-ger see the differences that were once so flagrant.Iamnotatourist,butrathera

resident who takes lots of photos. I have learned a lot of Spanish and a lot of his-tory, but more than anything I have learned cultural sensitivity, independence, and howtofindhappinessonmyown.WhileI wouldn’t say that this year has changed who I am as a person, I can say with con-victionthatIhavegainedtrueconfidenceandlearnedhowtodisplaythisconfidenceinwhoIamevenwhenIcan’tfindjustthewords I am looking for.

Acorn

A Day In The Life Of A Junior

640 beep....Beep...BEep..BEEp.BEEP, time to get up!

740 Carpool to school.

800 Homeroom in JAM’s classroom where we sang Christmas carols from October to December.

20 Art Lab: More focal points...

906 Francais: En francais, en francais!!!

51 Free: Study AP Euro in the library.

FIRST SHORT: Snack, YUM!

1051English: We are reading Hamlet -- “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

1136 Algebra II Honors: We’ve moved on from polar bears and porch swings to the thickness of uni- corns...don’t forget the reduction rabbit! I miss the ordered pairs that were not ordered pears.

1221European History: So far we have studied the Renaissance to Industrialization -- lot’s of fun, but I wish we could skip the DBQs. We watch the best movies, though!

LUNCH

136 Physics: My hair is still sticking up from the Van de Graaff Generator.

221 Assembly: Shakespeare Competition mono- logues.

300 School is out!

414 YOGA: ohmmmmm...

600 SAT CLASS: Oh the joys of being a junior...

815 Dinner then homework.

11 00 SLEEP.

By Rose Holden Vacanti Gilroy

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Snug in the car, driving home from New York City, I devoted my time in the back seat to consider “New Year’s Resolutions”. To begin, I decided to include my parents’ views on the topic, along with a few of mine… here they are! To start the discussion, I suggested that I should give up all chocolate (except dark)… but my mom said “that’s just a terrible thing to do!”… and on this point, she is correct! So that idea is out! My mother then pondered the subject, coming up with what she considered a… Brilliant Idea. Maybe I should go to Barnes and Noble less often (like maybe 3 times a week)… but, that would be horrible because the store would surely lose business, and they might go bankrupt… JUST LIKE BORDERS! OMG! That, for sure, cannot happen while I am alive… so her idea is out (thank God!). Continuing with her thoughts, my mom suggested that I should stop stealing her clothes and maybe start “borrowing” my dad’s; but that’s not new as it already happens on a regular basis (his sweaters are the best)! Then my papa joined in, pleading for me to stop stealing his lovely sweaters. I read-ily acquiesced before remembering that he just got this really cool one…and it complements my completion perfectly, so of course I’m after it! He thought he was “really cool” when he suggested that I should, “clean my room… DAMMIT!” Oh… daddy, he doesn’t even realize that my room is not messy; in fact, my room is so clean that I have labels on my bookshelf describing the genre of the books. Continuing, my dad came up with the simple idea that I should have more chores, but I argued if that happened, I would not be able to go to Barnes and Noble as often as I NEED to, and as I previously mentioned, that that would lead it into bankruptcy (Ahhhhh!). Logic… got to love it! My father chuckled as he suggested that I should, “develop a greater appreciation for my parents’ continued efforts,” (or in other words, give him less sass)… So I told him to keep his eyes on the road (or in other words… shut up!! Haha, irony… it’s so funny!). MakingresolutionsfortheNewYeariswaymoredifficultthanIthoughtitwouldbe!MY resolution will not include expending my energy on my parents’ desires. Instead, I will put my energy towards helping those “crazy polar bears that are in Canada get back to the North Pole” (DV on reciprocals).

New

Year’s

Resolutionsby Sarah Fink

Photo source: http://www.solidprinciples.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/new-years-times-square-nyc-1024x819.jpg

Acorn

Where did you go to school? Was it a public or private school? Where was it located (in the suburbs, etc)?

S:IwenttoPenfieldandgraduatedin1994.Itwasapublicschoolinthesuburbs.Itwasalargeschoolandtherewere350to400studentsinmygrade.Therewouldhavebeenabout25 students in each class.

D: Yes, we went to the same high school… yes.

Were you organized?

S: Yes, extremely organized. All my binders were organized… But now I let that slip away.

D: Yeah, I was when it came to where my papers were and what work I needed to do, but I tended to procrastinate… a lot. I was better at organizing things than I was at organizing my time, that’s how I would put it… I did okay though.

S: That’s a good way to put it.

What was your favorite course you took in your whole high school career?

S: Art, and one of my regrets is that I did not take more art classes. There was just some-thing about it that made it special. I was so focused in courses (like AP History) that I did not take any more classes like art. I was so focused on getting into college and stuff.

D: French with Madame Pare.

What kind of electives did you have?

S: To be honest, I don’t think we had electives, per se, but when you were making your schedule you had your core classes (like science) and so forth, but basically it was just art and music. You know what I mean, we did not have anything… different like the things we have here. We did not have photography or Sam Olivier’s digital art class. We had yearbook, which was basically our thing.

D: We had photography when I was there. It was with Mr. Hearty (but he was probably gonebythetimeyouwentthere,Raj).Wehaddifferentmusicelectivesandtherewasafilmcourse (but it probably disappeared by the time you got there.)

S: But here is the thing, we did not have “here is 8th period, what do you want to take then.” We did not have anything that would replace a class. Remember, this was a long time ago… hahaha.

Mr. S and Dolan’s High School LifeInterviewed by Sarah Fink

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What did you do in your free time? How much free time did you have?

S: I remember I had a free period my senior year, and I remember going to the Commons and playing Euchre…that’s how I spent my time. We did our homework during lunch.

D: But that’s where all the cool kids went, the Commons. I don’t remember having a free period… ever, not counting lunch, of course. I had Orchestra, where I played violin, so that took up all my periods.

What was your favorite part of the school day?

S: Euchre! Ha-ha. Well, I don’t know… I enjoyed all my classes, granted I enjoyed some a lotmore,youknow,becauseIenjoyedtheteachers.Oh!!!Mr.HiceforGlobalStudies1!That was my favorite class.

D: 9th grade English with Mrs. Caliber, or French. Those two.

What time would you get home on an average basis?

S: Well I had Jazz Band four days a week, and I had tennis every day, so I would get home at 7:00 at the latest. If I had nothing to do after school, I would get home around 2:30, and ifIonlyhadJazzBand,Iwouldgethomearound3:45.

D: Well I played soccer in the fall for a few years, never liked it, and most seasons I was involved in a sport so I would not get home until around 6 or 6:30.

Did you do your homework? If not, why? Did you not have enough time, or did you just not want to do it?

S: Yes, until senior year when I slacked off… big time. I was a much different student my senior year than the other 3 years.

D: I was extremely conscientious, even in senior year, until the end when I took some easier courses. Again, I got everything done, but I tended to procrastinate.

What was the most advanced technology created during your high school career?

S: Well maybe this will put it in perspective… we used pay phones. If I had to call home from school, I would use the nurse’s phone. There were no cell phones and there were no library or classroom computers.

D: I took a computer-programming course, and we used punch cards. We would feed them to the computer. Nobody had computers back then. They were big and old and could not do much. We had TRS 80 calculators.

Acorn

The HAC girls’ basketball team is currently undefeated. We kicked off our season by beat-ing Honeoye by forty points and then went on to defeat Red Jacket and Romulus, the other two best teams in the league, in the same week. Unfortunately, Jenny Scudder had to sit out for about month because she had a bad hip. But, we still managed to keep our undefeated record going. Just recently, we played Red Jacket for the second time, and we were actually down by three points with only twenty seconds left in the game. Coach Leonard called a time-out and we planned a play where Abby O’Keefe threw a skip pass to her sister, Kayli, to shoot a three-pointer. Fortunately, this is exactly how it went down. Kayli sunk the three to tie the game, and then Aedin Brennan had a great steal to prevent the other team from scoring. We were going into overtime. In overtime, everyone really stepped up their game and we ended up winning by six points. Of course, we could have won all along but we just wanted to make the game more interesting for the crowd. Now that we are almost done with seasonal play, sectionals will be starting soon. They will take place during and after February break and we are the number one seed. The number two seed will probably be Red Jacket, so we are looking to prove the myth that you can’t beat a team three times is false.

by Caitlin Richard

HAC GIRLS’ BASKETBALL is the NUMBER 1 SEED HEADING INTO SECTIONALS

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Whenthebellringsat3:00,IslowlygravitatetowardsMr.Frye’soffice.Jay’sroomis fairly cheery for a classroom. Large windows brighten the room, and there is a lot of open space to move in. Mr. Burroughs sits on the piano bench with his pencil tucked securely behind his ear and Maria pencils notes into her battered script. The room is never quiet. Music rehearsals for Little Women are usually fairly small. There are only 5 people, and we cram onto the lone comfortable cushion near the brown cave. Our legs and arms become tangled in a giant bundle of cast members. Mr. Burroughs waits expectantly, so we stand to rehearse our songs. Mr. Burroughs reminds us all of our parts, and then we’re off! Group songs can be tricky because they involve many different parts. We work hard tofigureouttheharmonies,andwhenitfinallyworks,it’sincrediblyrewarding.Ofcourse,there’splenty of time to be serious, so we joke as we sing. This, however, does not prevent us from learn-ing the music. After all, we have a show in March. When we’ve sung the group songs enough times, we move on to solos. Those who are not singing pile back onto the cushion and chat. We talk about everything. Soon our stomachs ache from laughter and it’s a new person’s time to sing. Carly sings the most songs by far and sometimes the rest of us just listen to her. She’s amazing! Maria reminds us that snacks are waiting for us and, of course, many of us jump at the reminder. Overall, rehearsals are a blast. Sometimes learning new music is frustrating, but bonding with the cast is always wonderful. We’re all comfortable with each other, and that makes learning the music much easier. Not being afraid to sing out makes a big difference. It’s also amaz-ing being around so many talented people at once. We all love to sing, so musical rehearsals are great. Time whizzes by, and it’s soon 5:00. We all put away our music until the next rehearsal.

A typical music rehearsal for “Little Women”by Amelia Black

Madeleine Laitz

Acorn

I rest my hands on the splintered windowsill, the chipped white paint turning to powder beneath my fingers.Theview,onceframedbytheboughsoftoweringpinetrees,isnowabarrentractofland,itsgreymonotony interrupted not by branches, but by a veritable forest of drill spires. This once-protected public land is now forever changed, a blemish on the face of a pristine landscape. When I was little, I used to look out this same window and feel transported to another planet or time, so removed from the city, like return-ing to the days when the land belonged to Native Americans. Now, it still feels like another planet, but one I would never wish to visit. Ponds of so-called “processed” water stagnate alongside each drill -- sullied fracking waste, dead, except for the living danger they will pose for years to come. From the window, I can count six sites. No one monitors the wells; I could walk up to a vat, climb the metal ladder, and stand atop it without rebuke. The scene looks benign enough to the naked eye, and yet I know that an infrared camera, designed to expose methane leaks and hydrocarbon gases, would reveal thick, roiling masses of fumes. Behind the sheet of glass, I feel a false sense of security -- no chemical can touch me here -- and yet I know better. Many people living in such alien landscapes have suffered permanent damage to their health. Poverty forces them to accept the intrusion these monstrosities pose in order to make ends meet, theirignoranceandlackofoptionsmakingthemeasypreyforsmooth-talking,flimflammingcompanyspokesmen, emboldened by the Halliburton Loophole. The innumerable toxic chemicals leaching into the

HydraulicFracturingMadeleine Laitz

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soilandgroundwaterareclassified,andlikelytoremainsountiltheEPAfinishesitsexaminations.Inthemeantime,wellscontinuetobedrilledatabreakneckpace.Morethan400,000existalready,eachpoison-ing the earth with hundreds of tons of over 590 chemicals, numbers so high they're hard to comprehend. Gazing out the window, my skin crawls, my lips crack, and my eyes water. I feel utterly helpless, unable to keep rivers from bubbling with leaked natural gas, to stop the creation of “dead zones,” to prevent tap water fromburstingintoflamewhenlitwithamatch,tofilteroutthecarcinogensinouraquifers,ortopreventbraindamagefromthechemicalplumes.Tohearsomecallfracking“thewaveofthefuture”terrifiesme,asI envision a bleak, permanently desecrated landscape. I cannot stand by and let this window’s view become the backdrop for the homes of any more people, or let the grim drill protrusions become commonplace; I willdedicatemyselftoendingtheenergycrisisinwaysthatputtheenvironmentfirst.Savingtheplanetisgoing to take courage and creativity, and if we don’t succeed, all other life questions will be moot. I value idealism over cynicism, and action over reverie. We have but a short time on earth, and I want every minute of mine to count. I draw the curtains over the window and stare at the ratty, beige fabric, feeling a sudden chill. On a desperate whim, I lift a corner and peer out, hoping the wells will have disappeared, replaced by the familiar profusion of blue pine needles from years past. But the drills are still there, their long shadows stretching unbroken across the wasteland, like so many prison bars.

Acorn

Photography

b

y

Leandra

Caprini

Rosica

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Acorn

Restaurant ReviewsAnna Barbano As these dreary winter months are now fully underway, eating at restaurants becomes one of the few comforts that we are able to enjoy because you get to eat a warm, hearty meal without having to do any of the actual work yourself. I’ve been eating at restaurants pretty frequently these past few months, and there have been some hits and some misses.

Grinnell’sThis is your grandmother’s favorite restaurant, and if she’s never been there, it will be. My parents received a gift card to Grinnell’s from our elderly (surprise, surprise!) neighbor for Christmas this year, and we had never been there before, so we decided to check it out. It’s one of those restaurants on Monroe Ave that you wouldn’t really notice unless you were looking for

it, but we found it all right. The service is superb. There are people who park your car for you and hold the door for you, and other fancy shmancy stuff like that, and all the waiters are really, really nice. It was so warm-ing to look at the table behind me and see the young waiter charming the heck out of a group of little dolled-up oldladies.Seriously,thiswholeplaceisfilledwithadorableoldpeople. I wish I could praise the food as much as I could praise the service. My entrée was pretty disappoint-ing. I ordered the broiled Mahi-Mahi, which would have been really good, but the sauce was incredibly sweet (my mother said her veal marsala was really sweet, too.) But hey, old people like sweet things. It was a good thing we had a gift card, because the food was pretty pricey, too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad… it just wasn’t what I would expect for an entrée costing over twenty dollars. Theredeemingfeatureofthisrestaurantwasitsdessert.Iorderedasliceofflourlesschocolatecakewith raspberry and chocolate sauce, and as my grandmother would have said, “Oh, honey… I think I’ve died and gone to heaven!” I’m serious. This cake was superb. It was dense, and chocolaty, but what really made it was the fresh raspberry sauce. It was sweet without being super sugary, and when you took a bite of it with the chocolate-drizzled chocolate cake, it was pure bliss. Again, the waiters were really, really nice, too. If you ever get a gift card or just want to give your grandparents a nice gift, take them here. It will be their new favorite eating venue. Since you guys have young taste buds, though, I’d recommend eating some-where else if you’re craving a night out.

This is not your average hot dog place: Dog Town is specialty hot dogs. With a variety of delicious andinterestingtoppingsandtoppingcombinationsforbothrealmeathotdogsandveggiedogs,thisisdefi-nitely a place to visit. Nestled away on Monroe Ave across from The Plum House, Dog Town has its own little parking lot and a small crowd of customers eagerly awaiting their food. My favorite thing to get is a veggie dog with melted cheddar cheese. While it’s one of the simplest things you can get there, I personally think it’s one of the most delectable. Of course, I’ve only ever tried the veggie dogs since I swore off red meat and poultry at the ripe old age of nine, but the rest of my family can vouch for the delectableness of the meat dogs as well.Afteryouplaceyourorderatthecounter,youfindaspotinthetinylittlerestaurantthatisdecoratedsimplywith pictures of people’s dogs with their dog’s name and some really nice photography of dogs in Africa.

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The Plum House

I know what you’re thinking… Is that like the Japanese restaurant The Plum Garden? To an-swer your question, yes, it is! The same person owns both restaurants, actually. The Plum House is basically the smaller city version of The Plum Garden, but there’s no hibachi grill. Unless you go to the hibachi grill often, I would actually recommend The Plum House over The Plum Garden. It’s smaller and has a cozier atmosphere, and, in my opinion, the food tastes a lot more genuinely Japanese. Like at The Plum Garden, they start you off

by bringing you steaming hot hand towels to clean your hands before you eat (if nobody’s looking, I press it against my face, too, because they’re so delightfully warm) but, unlike The Plum Garden, if it’s a chilly day, they also bring you a cup of hot green tea. The waitresses are really nice. As in most restaurants, they ask if you’d like to start out with any ap-petizers (I highly recommend the soft shell crab and the seaweed salad) and drinks. It’s a tradition of mine to always drink ginger ale with Japanese cuisine, but there are lots of delicious choices. As far as the actual food goes, I’ve made the rounds at The Plum House, including sushi and cooked entrées, both of which are spectacular. The sushi comes on really pretty plates with garnishes that light up. If you have a party of three ormore,too(orifyoujustreally,reallylovesushi)thenyoucanliterallyorderalittlewoodenboatfilledwithsushi.Therearealldifferentkindsofsushi,includingradicalspecialtysushithatyouwon’tfindanywhereelse. I’ve never had a piece of sushi there that I didn’t like. As far as the cooked meals go, those are all really delicious, too. From teriyaki dishes to steaming bowls of udon or soba noodle soups to bento boxes, each and every dish has an authentic Japanese taste and a bounty of good eats. The noodle soups are really wonderful on a cold day; they warm you right to the bone. I have to mention the lunch menu. Not many people go to The Plum House for lunch, but my sister and I enjoy walking to the restaurant on our days off from school or on weekends with our mom. You can order from the regular dinner menu, but they do offer a lunch menu as well. The lunch menu is full of really delicious food for very reasonable prices. If you order a cooked meal, you also receive a miso soup and a salad. Since my sister usually orders sushi, I eat the soup and let her have the salad, which she loves. The miso soup and I have a pure loving relationship… seriously, it’s delectable. As I said, the lunch menu is really reasonably priced. You can order combinations of sushi, cooked meals, or, as they call them, “lunch boxes,” which in-clude sushi of your choice of three, tempura, ginger, salad, and meat dumplings, but I think you can get other stuff,too,likebeefnegimaki.MysisterandIwalkedawayfromtherestauranthavingspentonlytwenty-fivedollars including the tip, which, if you don’t dine out often, is really good. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone who likes Asian cuisine. The delectable food, the kind waitresses and good service, the comfy atmosphere… it’s all to die for. No, don’t die. Visit this restaurantfirst.

Although it seems a trivial detail, I have to add that the music they play is fantastic, in my opinion. When your food is ready, they bring it out to you, and you take a minute to savor even the sight of what is in front of you. The fries are simply heaven in the form of small slices of home fried potatoes. They’re crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and when you eat them with ketchup, it’s basically euphoria. The hot dogs are served on a piece of toasted French bread, which, like the fries, are a little crunchy on the outside but soft and awesome on the inside, and the whole bite is just like heaven in hot dog form. Other favorites in my family include the Italian Sausage, the Golden Retriever (bacon-lovers, this one’s for you!), and the Portuguese Waterdog. If you haven’t guessed, almost all of the hot dogs are named after breeds of dogs. This is a perfect, relaxed venue to eat lunch or dinner. All of the staff are really nice, and you won’t be disappointed. Take a friend here, a boyfriend or girlfriend, your family… Seriously, there’s something for everyone.

Acorn

I think officiallythis res-taurant’s name is something with the words

“Vietnamese Cuisine” in it, but everyone I know who knows the restaurant calls it “Pho.” Incaseyouforgottoreadthefirstsentence,this is a Vietnamese restaurant. This tiny restaurant is another one tucked away on Monroe, right next to the gas station and across from Hollywood Wine and Spirits. It’s a little drafty, but the décor is nice and the drinks are to die for. Let me just say, the fresh limeade and the jasmine limeade are by far my favorite two beverages in the world. They’re simply amazing. My family and I like to go to Pho when it’s cold and bitter out because the food pho is a hot soup traditionally with beef, but you can get it with seafood or chicken or a mix, too. The menu isn’t huge, but they do have a little vegetarian section, a section for seafood, a sec-tion of rice dishes, and some other options. I personally like the dishes that I’ve tried, some of which are from the seafood section and some from the vegetarian section. If you’re not an adventurous eater, I hesitate to recommend this restaurant to you. Vietnamese food isn’t like Chinese food, so don’t be confused just because they’re both Asiancuisine.Theflavorsarereallydifferent,and you have to be willing to step out on a limb. I have taken people there who have really liked it, and I have taken people there who really haven’t liked it; it’s all a matter of taste. If you’re hankering for something new to try, I would suggest you check out this restaurant… but like I said, expect to be surprised.

PHO ACORN

Editor-in-chief: Eddy Wang

Executive editors: Rosie GilroyZoe RankinSarah Fink

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19

Oscar Predictions

Nominees:The Artist The DescendantsThe Help Hugo Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life War Horse Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

What should win: The ArtistWhat will win: The Artist

This year, I saw seven of the nine Best Picture nominees. Though I have seen neither The Tree of Life or Extremely Loud and

Incredibly Close,Icansaywithafairamountofconfidencethatnei-ther really have any chance at all, since the former would have little to no wide appeal and the latter was met with borderline mediocre critical reception. Of the seven I have seen, The Artist is the stron-

gest, bar none. The list of Best Picture nominees this year is largely a batchofstrongbutflawed(deeply,inafewcases)films.The Artist, on the other hand, is virtually perfect. It’s unpretentious, fun, mov-

ing, well-paced, well-shot, well-acted, and just all-around wonderful. Italsoservesasamovingtributetosilentfilms(withaplotrevolving

around the plight of a silent actor as his art form collapses around him) while simultaneously being a superlative example of one.

Best Picture:

Nominees:Woody Allen, Midnight in ParisMichel Hazanavicius, The Artist Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life Alexander Payne, The Descendants Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Who should win:Michael Hazanavicus (The Artist)Who will win: Michael Hazanavicus (The Artist)

Working on the assumption that The Artist will win best picture,HazanavicushasOscarhistoryonhissidehere.Ofthe81

Best Picture winners, 60 have also been awarded Best Director. Statistics aren’t the only thing that point towards a win for Hazana-

vicus, though. Take a moment to consider his achievement. The directorial nuance required to elicit genuine and strong emotional

attachment from the audience is great; the skill required to pull the same thing off without dialogue is even greater. Only a master direc-

tor could have produced something like The Artist.

Best Director:

Nominees:Demian Bichir, A Better Life George Clooney, The Descendants Jean Dujardin, The Artist Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Who should win:George Clooney (The Descendents)Who will win: George Clooney (The Descendents) or Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Admittedly, I am not yet fit to state a definitive opinion re-garding this category, not having seen A Better Life or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Of the three I have seen, though, I would give the award

to Clooney. Both he and Dujardin give impressive performances, and both have a good chance at the Oscar, but I feel that the success

of The DescendantsasafilmowesagreatdealmoretoClooney’sper-formance than The Artist owes to Dujardin’s. Where Dujardin feels

like an important part of a greater whole, Clooney feels like the glue holding The Descendants together, and he elevates what would have

only been a good movie to something special.

Best Actor:

By Zach Palumbo

Acorn

Nominees:Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs Viola Davis, The Help Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady Michelle Williams, My Week WithMarilyn

Who should win:Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)Who will win: Viola Davis (The Help)

Unfortunately, I’m even more ill-equipped to provide a real opinion here; I’ve only yet seen The Help and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.Atthispoint,though,itisdifficultformetoimag-ine being more impressed with any actress’ performance than I was with Mara’s in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The role of Lisbeth Salandarishighlycomplexanddifficulttoportray,andMaraalmostperfectly brings to life the menacing and wounded character from the novel. Most importantly, her performance is remarkably subtle. Fans of the series know Salander as a stone-faced and tortured anti-hero, and Mara does more with a seemingly vacant expression than a lot of actors can do with every single tool in their repertoire. Given my limited knowledge of this category, I looked to outside sources for my prediction, and people seem to be stuck between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis. Of these two, I predict Davis will win, if only for the reason that Streep has already got two Best Actress Oscars under her belt.

Best Actress:

Nominees:Bérénice Bejo, The Artist Jessica Chastain, The Help Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs Octavia Spencer, The Help

Who should win: Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)Who will win: Octavia Spencer (The Help) or Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)

It could be argued (indeed, I would make the argument) that Bérénice Bejo does not even belong in this category, but rather up with the Best Actress nominees. As long as she’s down here, though, her performance shines out as undoubtedly the stron-gest of the bunch. She is downright arresting every time she is on screen,andsheisjustasimportanttotheoverallsuccessofthefilmas Dujardin. We must not forget, though, that in the same way many colleges aim for a diverse student body, so too do the Oscars aim for a diverse set of winners. This, combined with a possible effort by the Academy to acknowledge how crucial the supporting cast of The Help was to its success, may lead to a win for Octavia Spencer.

Best Supporting Actress:

(I am skipping Best Supporting Actor, as I have only seen one performance out of the five.)

Nominees:Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris JC Chandor, Margin Call Asghar Farhadi, A Separation Michel Hazanavicius, The ArtistKristen Wiig & Annie Mumulo, Brides-maids

Who should win: Woody Allen (Mid-night in Paris)Who will win: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

If it were up to me, I would hand this Oscar to Allen without hesitation. Midnight in Paris isafantasticfilm(probablymysecondfavorite of the year), and it owes the majority of its success to its brilliantlywittyscript.Thehistoricalfiguresin Midnight in Paris are all exaggerated by Allen for comedic effect, but he still man-ages to instill them with seemingly genuine personalities, some of which the audience truly connect with. Besides, the main goal here is to make the audience laugh, and if the crowd in the theatre dur-ing my screening was any indication, Allen accomplished that goal in spades. It’s worth noting that The Artist,asilentfilm,receivedanomination in this category. I can only imagine that the Academy was extremely impressed by the stage directions.

Best Original Screenplay:

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Nominees:George Clooney, Beau Willimon & Grant Heslov, The Ides of March Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne & Jim Rash, The Descendants John Logan, Hugo Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan, Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian & Stan Chervin, Moneyball

Who should win: John Logan (Hugo)Who will win: Alexander Payne & Jim Rash (The Descendants)

I’ve not yet seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (as I stated ear-lier) or The Ides of March. Of the three screenplays I have experi-

enced, only one really stands out. The Descendents has writing that feels genuine on the whole, but it’s also somewhat clichéd at parts,

and Clooney has a particularly groan-worthy and embarrassingly on-the-nosemonologuetocapoffthefilm.Moneyball featured ex-

tremely sharp writing, but it also had too many sections that lagged. I picked Hugo’s screenplay primarily because it pays wonderful trib-utetothehistoryoffilm.Thoughnoneofthecharactersstandoutasbeingbrilliantlywritten,thepassionthatthiswriterhasforfilmis

obvious,andthesectionsfocusingonfilmhistoryare extremely passionate and effective.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Source: oscars.com

The O

scarsFebruary 26th

2012 @

7pm o

n A

BC

Acorn

Rosie:Doyouhaveafavoriteoutfitinyour closet?

Mariah: My Owl kigurumi that I wore for Halloween.

Addie: My favorite thing in my closet is my I <3 Sriracha shirt!

R: Which do you like better: sandals or boots?

M: Sandals; THEY MAKE YOU FEEL SO FREE!!!!!!

A: I prefer sandals because if I’m wearing sandals that

means it’s summer!

R:What’syourfavoritewinteroutfit?

M: The one I wore in the Acorn of course!

A:Myfavoritewinteroutfit,notcounting pajamas, is probably just skinny jeans and a thermal shirt.

R: Do you like winter or summer fashion better?

M: I prefer winter clothes; they are cozier!

A: I prefer summer clothes because they’re more comfy (and I really like the summer!).

The Dress CodeADDIE AND MARIAH

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Ray’s-ismby Ray Chang

Acorn

theharleyacorn@gmail.com