The Smoke Signal

Come check out the editorial staff’s top picks for their favorite song remixes! Post in the comments to tell us YOUR favorite remixes! Create a playlist at MixPod.com

By: Allan Ko On March 4, 2011, sophomores Sonali Toppur and Sherry Xiao won first place in poetry and second place in art, respectively, in the high school division of the 12th Annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest. This is the second year that English Teachers Katherine Geers and Jennifer Moore have entered their sophomore students in the competition. Chapman University and the “1939” Club, who hosted the competition, awarded $500 to Toppur and $250 to Xiao for their achievements. Toppur will also be taking an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC from June 26-30 to visit the Holocaust Museum…

By: Courtney Tam   On Monday, March 21, 2011, approximately 12 MSJ students gathered along Palm Avenue to hold a rally to raise awareness about the recent tragedies in Japan. Japan suffered a magnitude 9.0 earthquake at 5:46 AM local time and a tsunami on Friday, March 11, 2011. Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant lost its ability to cool its reactors with its emergency core cooling system when the power was cut off after the earthquake and tsunami.  Reactor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 exploded shortly on March 11, 13, 12, and 14, respectively.   Juniors Keith Lewis, Sean Wang,…

Easy 1. Hold it Against Me (Britney Spears) 2. Firework (Katy Perry) 3. Viva La Vida (Coldplay) 4. Remember the Name (Fort Minor) 5. Grenade (Bruno Mars) 6. Umbrella (Rihanna)   Medium 1. Waiting for the End (Linking Park) 2. Tearin’ Up My Heart (N*SYNC) 3. It’s My Life (Bon Jovi) 4. Stronger (Kanye West) 5. Mockingbird (Eminem) 6. She Will Be Loved (Maroon 5) 7. Disturbia (Rihanna)   Hard 1. Ridin’ (Chamillionaire) 2. London Bridge (Fergie) 3. Higher (Taio Cruz) 4. Money, Money, Money (ABBA) 5. Closer to the Edge (30 Seconds to Mars) 6. Grow Up (Simple Plan)…

Easy 1.        Bruce from Finding Nemo 2.        Alan Gamer from The Hangover 3.        Viola from She’s the Man 4.        Lotso from Toy Story 3 5.        Gollum from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers   Medium 1.        Private Jackson from Saving Private Ryan 2.        Obi-Wan from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 3.        Noah from The Notebook 4.        Don Corleone from The Godfather 5.        Gus Portokalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding   Hard: 1.        Recruits from Full Metal Jacket 2.        Gordon Gecko from Wall Street 3.        Professor Callahan from Legally Blond 4.        Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind 5.        Tony Montana from Scarface 6.        Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing  

By: Kevin Zhai       Lyrics: Jump on out of bed, blanket off my toes Another day at school: it’s for my future, I suppose Hop into the shower, droplets pounding on my head Feeling brainless like a zombie plus my social life’s undead Step onto the tile floor, my toes are freezing cold Wear stuff from the ‘crombie store, avoid the bathroom mold As I rush down to the kitchen where there’s bagels and fresh lox Guzzle down the OJ as I slip into my socks I shove a bagel in my mouth and almost wear my sister’s…

Vishal Bajpai The Adjustment Bureau opens with David Norris (Matt Damon), a senatorial candidate who is pulling out of a senate race due to a recent scandal. As Norris rehearses his speech in a men’s restroom, a woman, Elise (Emily Blunt), walks out of a stall. Elise tells Norris that he should be more himself during the speech, and that people prefer the truth. Norris goes on to make a widely acclaimed speech after following Elise’s advice. Norris meets Elise again in a bus and manages to get her phone number before she gets off at her spot. That day…

By: Maya Ramachandran The Intel Science Talent Search, an elite high school research competition, announced its top 10 winners out of 40 finalists on March 15 in Washington D.C. The state of California supplied 11 of the 40 finalists and 3 of the 10 overall winners, including the first place winner, Evan O’Dorney, who is home-schooled in Danville, CA. As America’s oldest and most prestigious high school science competition, the Intel Science Talent Search’s goals are to promote innovations and highlight the need for higher-level math and science education. Over 1,700 high school students entered the contest to showcase their…

By: Mary Lan Beastly, a modernized version of the classic Beauty and the Beast, is a must-see movie if you’re a fan of something like Twilight clashed together with TV show How I Met Your Mother and presented as a live-action Disney channel movie. Fantasy romance seems to be a very promising genre, but this latest affair is a poor example. In a city far, far away called New York, handsome, vain Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) is the prince of his high school domain. Good casting based on looks should be commended, by the way, because nothing less than a…

By: Vishal Bajpai   On Friday, March 11th, a terrible earthquake hit Japan. At 9.0 on the Richter scale the earthquake produced over 50 aftershocks, at least seven of which were at least 6.3 on the Richter scale. The quake not only caused damage but also unleashed a huge tsunami which has killed at least 4,164 individuals while 12,000 remain unaccounted for. The terrible tragedy continues to unfold as more aftershocks hit Japan and the country deals with damage to its nuclear facilities.   The MSJ community has responded to this horrific event with hope and compassion; many school organizations…