january/february 2014
features
the stentorian I ncssm
Fey and Poehler dazzle at Golden Globes
By Andrew Peterson
Whether you are fascinated
by the world of film, are
completely obsessed with
fashion, or live under a rock,
it is impossible to escape the
contagious obsession with
Hollywood’s award season.
Earlier this year, the
competitive award season was
at full swing during the 71st
Golden Globes. Filled with
gaffes, awkward moments,
hilarious jokes, glimmering
dresses, and drunken stars, the
Golden Globes is an event that
captures the attention of people
around the world.
Like every other Award
show, the Golden Globes
has its flaws. No one truly
understands or respects the
opinions of the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association
that distributes the wildly
coveted gold statues. Long,
confusing, rambling speeches
are mumbled on stage.
Unexpected winners are as
‘•V-
surprised as the next guy as
they accept their awards. And
the combination of adrenaline,
nerveSj and too much booze
create the atmosphere we have
come to expect around every
award show.
This year was no different.
Among the expected award
show disasters, this years
undisputed stars were definitely
the shows two hosts, Tina Fey
and Amy Poehler. A match
made in heaven, these two
delivered one liner after one
liner seamlessly throughout
the show while needling our
favorite stars at the perfect
moments.
The two hilarious hosts
kicked off the night by picking
on the audience, mocking the
Hollywood Foreign
Press Association, and
I sent zingers at Matt
J Damon, Jonah Hill,
§ George Clooney, and
I Tom Hanks. The most
g talked about 'moment
g was their summary of
o Gravity—“It’s basically
S' the story of how George
■c Clooney would rather
o float away into space
and die than spend one
more minute with a woman
his own age.” Without
a doubt, the Fey-Poehler
performance made the 71st
Golden Globes a hit, even
before the first awards were
given.
Even despite their best
efforts, the Globes definitely
experienced a pacing problem
as the initial awards were
given out.; confusing and
disorganized stage decisions;
and suffering from several
annoying and persistent sound
issues.
Lunar New Year an important holiday for
many NCSSM students
By Betty Liu
spare the time to celebrate, but
there are still a few noteworthy
celebrations, listed below.
New Year Cleaning—
Many families clean the house
out for the feast. Generations
of family gather together under
one roof to dine together,
so there has to be a copious
amount of food.
In the next week, Chinese
students will be celebrating
one of the most popular holi
days in Chinese culture: Chi
nese New Year, also called the
Spring Festi
val. The holi
day is based
on the lunar
calendar,
so the date
changes every
year.
This year,
it fell on Jan.
31. Sadly, this
fell just shy
of extended,
which means
many of the
Chinese stu
dents here at
NCSSM cel
ebrated the
holiday away
fh^fiies NCSSM language students celabrate the New Year with students from
Chinese Hangzhou Foreign Language School.
New Year
HA
y
i
These envelopes are often
elaborately decorated with
symbols for luck and fortune
and represent good luck for the
year to come.
Visiting family and
friends—After the initial
celebration, many people will
go out to visit family and
friends that they were not with
on New Year’s Eve.
Lantern Festival—This
ends the New Year’s festivities
and is celebrated on the
equivalent of Jan. 15 of the
lunar calendar. This day marks
the first full moon of the New
Year and people go outside
with lanterns to admire the
moon. People also eat sticky
rice balls called yuanxiao,
which represents family unity.
The technical side of the
night was far from superb.
Despite playing some off too
slowly while ushering our
favorites off the stage quickly,
the Globes avoided creating
a terribly dull middle section
that often accompanies aw'ard
shows like the Emmys and the
Oscars.
There were some
odd missteps during the
Globes—the best director
announcement came way
earlier than expected when
the teleprompter provided the
wrong words. Despite these
errors throughout the night, it
was at least enjoyable.
It is so incredibly hard
to pull off, and they did it
beautifully. No award show is
perfect, but the combination
of Fey and Poehler left little
to complain about. The globes
had its technical glitches, and
its awkward moments, but in
its entirety, the Golden Globes
met all expectations.
Go
Green
Facts Provided By The
Sustainability Project
-If the entire world lived
like the . average American,
we would need five planets to
provide enough resources
-Recycling one aluminum
can saves enough energy to
listen to a full album on your
iPod. Recycling 100 cans
could light your bedroom for
two whole weeks.
-An estimated 80,000,000
Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped
each day, using enough alumi
num foil to cover over 40 foot
ball fields. All that foil is re
cyclable, but not many people
realize it.
-Only 13 percent of water
bottles are recycled. In 2005,
Americans purchased 30
billion water bottles, and 26
billion of them woimd up in
IS
to the Chinese as Christmas
is to Americans. It is a time
for giving gifts, spending time
with family, and feasting. The
celebration often lasts for two
weeks, going from Dec. 31 to
Jan. 15 (on the lunar calendar.)
At NCSSM, Chinese New
Year was celebrated a little
early on Monday, Jan. 27 in
the Woolworth Room. The
Chinese New Year Celebration
was celebrated with the
Chinese language program
community and the Hangzhou
Foreign Language School
(HFLS) students who visited
from Jan. 19-28.
This celebration’s agenda
featured an exchange of gifts,
tai chi presentation by the
HFLS students, Chinese skits
by NCSSM Intermediate
Chinese students, and food.
Nowadays, families are so
busy that they often cannot
during the days leading up to
the new year. A clean house
can lead to good start, not to
mention, it is considered bad
luck to sweep on New Year’s
Day: it is believed that along
with the dust, the year’s good
fortune will be swept out as
well.
Decorating the house—
Perhaps the most popular
tradition, popular decor
includes the symbol for
fortune, couplets written on
red paper, and various forms
of koi fish. These decorations
add to the air of festivity and
are said to bring good luck to
the household.
New Year’s Feast—One
of the highlights of the New
Year festivities, the Chinese
are notorious for their love of
food, and most families go all
Making Dumplings—
Dumplings are a traditional
food in Chinese culture. They
consist of ground meat and
chopped vegetables sealed
in a thin layer of dough and
boiled. While they can be
eaten anytime, dumplings are
a popular dish during Chinese
New Year because families
can gather around and make
dumplings together.
Watching CCTV’s New
Year Gala—^A rather recent
tradition, the gala is a live
performance hosted by China
Central Television that features
some of the most popular
singers, dancers,' and actors
from all over China.
Giving Red Envelopes—
On New Year’s Day, adults
will often give children red
envelopes filled with money.
Stentorian
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