M
i cc or p oe f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5
microscope C r e a t i v e
E d i t o r :
Long Shan King (illustrations, magazine design)
G e n e r a l
E d i t o r s :
Scott Sun, Renee Chan, Seleste Woo (reviews, student work selection)
E x e c u t i v e
E d i t o r :
Odette Lau (microscope director)
student
FROST
NINGEN
Lost in reverie, The ethereal first snow: ineffable charm,
Her long skirt, sinking into the damp powder. Brisk air brushes the girl.
yet never-lasting march warmth dissolves winter frost – bites away verglas.
Tokkuri bottom, parallel to the ceiling. I thaw, feel- anew.
Embrace the last chill transient and delicate; deliquesce again.
My bosom warms, like closing a window; before the shoji fractures.
n icole hon odette lau
vo i d /press play/ Thick frost overwhelms, Storming with hollow movement, Melting into void. Blinding darkness folds A canvas ; oblivion Seeks my audience.
eleanor a n d pa r k n icole hon
Teeming stars retreat Immeasurably away Only mine flicker.
long shan ki ng
a p e r s o n a l e s s ay
‘‘ l e t ’ s b e f r i e n d s ! ” by scott s u n
Through all my life, I have been driven not by myself, but mostly by others. It motivates me the most to seek and earn approval from the people that I deal with, and it almost never ends in utmost genuineness. What I clearly remember from my novice years at an international school was how much of a loser I was (and probably still am); I was indifferent, and completely, utterly clueless of everything and anything. I did not know what was believed to be the basics, such as the NBA and the Xbox or whoever those beats and voices belonged to. I was isolated, both from myself and from others; I was disconnected with the rest of the community, happily indulging my time with anime and videogames, as opposed to “having a social life”. Perhaps I was not bad at socialising, but I did not have the subconscious feeling of having the need for company. However, after slowly developing a translucent and ever so impenetrable shell, I sometimes catch myself wondering what it is like to be “involved,” as such an experience has been so foreign to me. What I also clearly remembered was how, the moment I entered this school, I was up for a behavioural make-up. Intuitively, I was immersed into a land where for me, masks were not peripheral, but integral, and with this shift in my conduct, I have also found a new, sustainable source of dopamine. I forced myself to be optimistic, humorous (still working on that), compliant, accepting, confident, and most importantly, happy, or happier than I once was. Things started changing: I was having conversations about other people with people I hardly knew, and enjoying dinner with folks who, to me, never existed. I also made some friends, which have served as pleasant outcomes of my efforts: friends that were essential to my survival in the social game; friends that shared the same interests as me to satisfy my need for truly intriguing conversation; friends that are pleasing to the eye and pleasing to the touch; and friends who I actually cared for. Before I knew it, I was having a blast. I started to formulate strategies of approach for each new target, and it always began by studying their interests; the more obscure the better. Using innuendos suggesting my interest, combined with premeditated accidental mentioning of the topic, I initiate the conversation.
Whatever I was doing, I was enjoying it. I ditched that brutal honesty I used to proudly practice, and replaced it with chicanery, trickery, and lies. I directed my efforts toward crafting a persona that I can hop in and drive each and every day: I am a young, happy adolescent who brings joy to the scene; who’s willing to hear your problems, pretending to care; whose jocular satire attempted to de-stress you after a long, work-loaded week. I was having a lot of fun observing how people react accordingly to the way they are treated, and whenever I run into some sort of anomalous personality that baffles me, it motivates me to get to know them better. But on moonless nights, I can feel my insecurity ripping through my chest and slapping me in the face. I started to obnoxiously realise that I have learnt the art of faking it, and how my words never reflected my actual opinions. This is not right, right? Time and time again, I snobbishly tell myself that if I begin acting like I once did, I would not stand a chance on this social ladder which I care so much about for no particular reason other than mere selfsatisfaction. That is scary. I will not return to my cave lest all my efforts fall in vain. I guess that “triangle of guilt” inside my heart has poked me enough that the vertices have been blunted, and my sense of it has gone numb. To cover up this emergence of insecurity, I started to rapidly connect to more people, whilst bloating myself with more and more alleged “interests”, just to fully understand how outright stupid I really am. It is pointless to become this “jack-of-all-trades” but “master-of-none”- while I may have a big scope of acquaintances, I never had the time, or put in the effort to, make a handful of true friends that I can stick with. When people say that I am a “charismatic” person, I cannot help but feel like a complete joke. I’ve given up myself to act as if the true self didn’t matter, and as I enter this trance of self-denial and hatred, there was not a lot of people that I can wholeheartedly pour my thoughts into, as I reckoned it would be irresponsible to share this profound, newfound sadness with anybody.
t h e f i f t h wav e
RICK YANCE
N
ow, t he o n ly p e o p le w ho are s t i l l al i v e are wait i n g f o r t he fi f t h wav e t o daw n u p o n t hem . Wit h b o t h he r p are nt s de ad a n d he r yo u n g e r b ro t he r t ake n , C a s s ie i s alo ne o n t he r u n re s c u i n g he r b ro t he r . Ru n n i n g i s al l s he k now s . Unt i l s he me et s E v a n Wal ke r . Wit h a dar k a n d ( l it e r al ly ) l i f e c ha n g i n g s e c ret , C a s s ie ha s t o de b at e o n w het he r s he s ho u l d c o nt i n ue t re k k i n g t he m i s s io n alo ne o r t o ac c e p t he l p .
‘‘
‘‘
bt hi ebc la iroy
“ A f t e r t he 1 s t wav e , o n ly dar k ne s s remai n s . A f t e r t he 2 n d , o n ly t he lu c ky e s c ap e . A n d a f t e r t he 3 rd , o n ly t he u n lu c ky s u r v i v e . A f t e r t he 4 t h wav e , o n ly o ne r u le ap p l ie s : t r u s t no o ne . ”
So m e th i n gs yo u ca n n ev e r le av e b e h i n d. Th e y do n ’ t b e lo n g to th e past. Th e y b e lo n g to yo u .
O
ne o f t he ma ny g em s i n t he g row i n g p i le o f Yo u n g A du l t b o o k s i s T he F i f t h Wav e . To l d i n al t e r nat i n g p e r s p e c t i v e s , we f o l low C a s s ie t h ro u g h a lo ne ly, p e r i lo u s , a n d da n g e ro u s j o u r ne y u nt i l s he me et s he r p o s s i b le l i g h t i n a s e em i n g ly i nt e r m i na b le dar k ne s s . A s a p ret t y emo t io nal re ade r, t h i s b o o k had me f l i p p i n g f o r mo re . R ic k Ya nc e y c ap t u re s t he huma n emo t io n s p e r f e c t ly i n h i s w r it i n g , de s c r i b i n g t he p ai n o f lo s s , t he t h r i l l o f a n adv e nt u re , t he a n g s t i n c o n fu s io n a n d t he e x h i lar at i n g f e e l i n g o f l i f e . T he 5 t h Wav e c e nt e r s aro u n d l ie s a n d t he t r u t h - s o met h i n g we al l hav e t o c o n f ro nt . R ic k Ya nc e y b re at he s C a s s ie t o l i f e s o we l l , I f e l t l i ke I c o n ne c t e d a n d re lat e d w it h he r s o we l l o n a n emo t io nal le v e l . Yo u k now t ho s e t i me s w he re yo u j u s t wa nt t o j um p i nt o t he b o o k a n d re s c ue yo u r f av o r it e c har ac t e r ? We l l t h i s b o o k ha s c e r t ai n ly g o t me w i s h i n g I c o u l d al l t he t i me .
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE ANTHONY DOERR
M
arie Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. By the time Marie Laure is six, she is blind, so her father builds her a model of their neighbourhood, so she can memorise it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, they run away to Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s great uncle lives. In Germany, Werner finds a broken radio and after fixing it becomes fascinated by the different channels. His talent for fixing things gets him into an elite school. Werner works through the ranks of Hitler Youth into Saint-Malo, where his path connects with Marie-Laure’s.
‘‘ So h ow, c h i ld r e n , do e s th e b ra i n , wh ich lives without a spark of light, b u i ld fo r u s a wo r ld fu ll o f li g ht? ”
T
his book is very pretty with beautiful descriptive language. The two simultaneous storylines work well to create a sense of suspense and tension. Its fast pace made it a very quick read and I managed to finish it in just one or two sittings. The way Anthony Doerr writes hits the senses which made the scenery come alive, even in the sections from MarieLaure’s perspective where nothing visual is described. Overall it’s a good read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this time period or even just a nice story.
historical fiction R E V I E W BY S E LESTE WOO
s o u n d vacuum
m a r g ot a n d t h e n u c l e a r s o & so’s a c h i l d r e n ’s c r u sa d e o n ac i d a l b u m : n ot a n i m a l g e n r e : i n d i e fo l k
honne n o p l ac e l i k e h o m e f t. j o n e s
a l b u m : 화 양 연화 t h e m o s t b e au t i f u l m o m e n t i n l i f e pt. 1 g e n r e : k- p o p/k- h i p h o p
aga i n s t t h e c u r r e n t g rav i t y
halsey r o m a n h o l i day
a l b u m : a n aw e s o m e wav e genre: Indie Rock
a l b u m : g rav i t y g e n r e : p o p/r o c k
a l b u m : ba d l a n d s gen re: electropop
j u l e v e ra light the night a l b u m : f r i e n d ly e n e m i e s g e n r e : a lt e r n at i v e
a l b u m : ov e r lov e r gen re: electron ic soul
bt s i need u
a lt-J b r e ez e b lo c ks
to r i k e l ly h o l low
ta e y eo n 쌍 둥 이자 리 (g e m i n i)
a l b u m : h o l low genre: pop
album: I g e n r e : k- p o p
f ly i n g lot u s n e v e r catc h m e
t h u n d e r cat them changes
a l b u m : yo u ’ r e d e a d ! g e n r e : e x p e r i m e n ta l / n u ja z z
a l b u m : t h e b e yo n d/ w h e r e t h e g i a n t s r oa m genre: R&B
m a r g ot a n d t h e n u c l e a r s o & s o’s b r oa d r i p p l e i s b u r n i n g
a l b u m : t h r e e so n gs g e n r e : a lt e r n at i v e hip hop
a l b u m : n ot a n i m a l g e n r e : i n d i e fo l k
(s h o u l d n ’ t h av e)
pas s i o n p i t co n s ta n t co n v e r sat i o n s
a l b u m : s h o u l d n ’ t h av e g e n r e : k- p o p
a l b u m : g o s sa m e r g e n r e : i n d i e t r o n i ca
ba e k a y e o n 이럴거면 그러지말지
t w e n t y o n e p i lot s o d e to s l e e p
t h e p e ac h k i n gs t h i e v e s a n d k i n gs album: h a n d so m e m ov e s genre: indie rock
AGAINST THE CURRENT
KENDRICK LAMAR
t o p i m p a b u t t e r f ly hip hop • march 15, 2015 • top dawg, aftermath, interscope
G R AV I T Y
EP
pop/rock • february 17, 2015 • fueled by ramen T here are two word s that p er fe ctly de s cri b e thi s album: raw and re al. “F rom day one,” s ays le ad si nger C h ri s sy C o st an z a , “ we want e d to b e s omethi ng di fferent .”
r evi ew by scott s u n W hat’s you r v iew on c ont emp orar y hip hop mu sic? I tot ally u nder st and that thi s genre i s not i nt ende d for an audienc e a s w ide a s that of p op mu sic, but I w ill b e damne d i f I ever deny the fact that thi s effor t by L amar i s not a ma st er pie c e . A nyb o dy w ith a re a s onable s et of ae sthetic s should give it a li st en. T he album would fi r st hit you w ith it s olid pro duction, w ith the addition of s ample s rangi ng from Regg ae to S oul and Fu nk. It would almo st p o s s e s s an archaic quality, but it s ou nd s new w ith it s g ro ov y and d re amy t a st e. Yet onc e you st ar t t aki ng i n the ly ric s , you’d re ali z e that thi s man ha s s omethi ng to s ay. T he ly rici sm of the album he av ily touche s on topic s of raci sm and that i s delivere d i n ac c e s si ble, me ani ng ful, u nderst andable, and en j oyable hip hop. To Pimp a Butt er fly i s another pie c e of Kend rick L amar ’s s o cial c omment ar y ; it i s g re at to the e ar, and even b ett er to the he ar t .
••• the blacker the berry
Ag ai n st the C u r rent’s s e c ond E P, Grav ity, t ake s a much darker tone from thei r fi r st one, I n finity. E ach s ong bri ng s out it s ow n raw ly ric s that anyone c an relat e to. Growi ng up, you fe el many emotion s of many s or t s . T hi s album i s ab out li fe: p e ople che at , p e ople le ave, p e ople bre ak. But , the thi ng i s , p e ople are al s o strong, and are al s o fighter s . “Bright er ” enc ou ra ge s p e ople to simply t ake the ri sk and go for it . Grav ity E P i s fille d w ith streng th and c ou ra ge that w ill flow and pul s e th rough you r vei ns a s you li st en to it . C h ri s sy C o st an z a’s vo c al s get even b ett er w ith the p er fe ct mi xtu re of style and fe eli ng, and guit ari st D an G ow shows off guit ar ri ff move s that are di fferent from any other s ong they have re c orde d. With thi s album hav i ng a c omplet ely di fferent mo o d from I n finity E P, Will Fer ri’s d rummi ng t ake s it up another impre s sive not ch w ith the s e si x s ong s . W hen p e ople li st en to s ong s , s ome p e ople fi r st li st en to melo dy, and then ly ric s , or v ic e ver s a. Gue s s what? Grav ity E P ha s a flawle s s blend of exc eptional tu ne s and vehement ly ric s that i s su re to le ave an impri nt on you.
“‘Every single time that we lay it on the line It’s a roller coaster ride for one” - brighter
I mean, it’s evident that I’m irrelevant to society That’s what you’re telling me, penitentiary would only hire me
paralyzed
Curse me till I’m dead Church me with your fake prophesizing that I’mma be just another slave in my head
D e spit e only hav i ng si x s ong s on the E P, picki ng out a favorit e s ong wa s hard. Paralyz e d i s about facing your demons and standing up for yourself. We all go through the stage of finding out who you r are and u nder st andi ng you r s el f. T hi s s ong suc c e s sfully de s cri b e s ever y si ngle emotion that you c ould p o s si bly fe el on tho s e days you ju st fe el c a ge d, dow n, and paralyz e d .
Institutionalized manipulation and lies Reciprocation of freedom only live in your eyes It ha s b e en ver y di fficult for me to cho o s e a favorit e track on thi s album, b e c au s e ever y track offer s a di sti nct fe atu re s o di fferent from another, while at the s ame time achiev i ng exc ellenc e from a di fferent p er sp e ctive .
r evi ew by r e n e e c h an
cinema d i s ta n c e theque r eco m m e n d e d by m r. b r e n dan b e n so n
a lte r n ati v e • o cto b e r 2 3 , 2 01 5 • wa x r eco r ds
d i s ta n c e b l i t z // b e r l i n
d i r ecte d by m a koto s h i n k a i • ja pa n e s e a n i m ate d f i lm • d ra m a /r o m a n c e
th e gar d e n o f wo r ds
A
ki z uki Takao ( 秋月孝雄 ), a 15-ye ar old high s chool student , is left to his ow n devic e s when hi s mother le ave s home in pursuit of her new found b oy friend. D e spite struggling w ith his academics and part-time job, Takao was determined to become a proficient shoemaker. A s the apric ot blo s s oms bloom in a tranquil park surrounded by concrete jungle in dow ntow n Shin juku, Tokyo, Takao, while play ing truant , encounters Yukino Yukari ( 雪野百 香里 ), a myst eriou s, s oft-sp oken, prep o s s e s sing young adult who wa s als o a te acher at Takao’s s chool, but Takao do e s not know of thi s . On rainy morning s , the two would e sc ap e from the t e dium and vexations of the dull re ality only to ac c ompany e ach other in their emulsi fic ation of a delic ate, subtle romanc e b etwe en a student and a te acher. A lthough he wa s unsure of thi s development and obliviou s of her identity, Takao de cide s to handcraft a pair of sho e s for Yukari. A s the string s b etwe en the he ar t s pull tighter and the sun ever y morning shine brighter, the truth b ehind the thin veil i s dragged into the light , and along w ith it , the vulnerability of the human s oul i s als o put on di splay.
On the sur fac e, The Garden of Words i s a pie c e of ar ti stic pornog raphy ; the deg re e of det ail and re ali sm indulge d by the animator s i s to such an extent that ever y e dge of a charact er, ever y pixel of a b ackg round, i s ma st ere d to acme. With the addition of an exp eriment al sp e cial effe ct that i s ab s olutely gloriou s in ever y way, the movie’s vi sual a sp e ct i s extremely impre s sive ( Take a look at the s cre enshot s!) ; hint s of pathetic fallacy are pre s ent e d through either finely craft e d det ails or g randio s ely draw n environment s . To the e ar, the movie’s s oundtrack aid s the development of the charact er s ment al world g re atly, but what i s more not ewor thy i s the p erformanc e of the voic e actor lineup: the c a st crew delivers , w ithout a doubt . T he b e st example would b e Hanaz awa Kana ( 花澤香菜 ), the voic e b ehind Yukari. Through her tender vo c als, she engulfed her character in yet another shroud of mystery. Overall, the movie delivers a refre shing exp erienc e de spit e it o c c a sionally unc anny plotline. It managed to hold my undivided att ention over it s he althy 4 0 -minute runtime and le ave me in awe of it s te chnic al exc ellenc e.
r evi ew by scott s u n
E
mpire i s a step into the glamorou s world of Luciou s Lyon, the C E O of Empire Enter t ainment — a hip hop re c ord lab el and ent er t ainment c ompany. Luciou s’ 3 s ons: Jamal — the gay singer s ongw rit er, black she ep of the family (in Luciou s’ opinion), and C ookie’s favourite s on; Hake em — Luciou s’ younge st , fame ob s e s s ed, favourite s on; and A ndre — the elde st , Whar ton educ ated, power hung r y s on who su ffers from bipolar di s order, are all he ad to he ad for the role of future C E O of Empire. I n hi s world, Luciou s i s always at the top, and nothing get s in hi s way — at le a st not for long. Enter C ookie Lyon, the determined ex-w i fe of Luciou s who ha s ju st b e en let out of j ail, and i s now currently tr y ing to bring the Lyon family b ack together and gain her rightful share of the family bu sine s s . Luciou s w ill do any thing to stop C ookie from getting Empire back into her hand s . T rouble ensue s .
empire
c r e ate d by le e da n i e ls , da n n y stro n g • a m e r i ca n t v • d ra m a Pers onally, I love thi s show - it’s the only show that I follow religiou sly on a regular ba si s . T he plot might not b e the mo st int ere sting plot at fir st glanc e, but what re ally attracted me in the b eginning wa s the diver sity of charact er s and backstorie s , and how di fferent they were from the u sual picture-p er fe ct , goody-two-sho e s or bratty high-s chooler archety p e s . T he plot it s el f, although quite ordinar y at first , c ont ains s o many plot tw i st s , nothing i s a s exp e ct e d, and there’s always a cli ffhanger. On top of that , the s oundtrack i s ab s olut ely amaz ing - Timbaland, w ith a te am of other mu sic al c ollab orator s and ar ti st s , w rite s and produc e s all the original mu sic for the show. T he show it s el f gue st st ars a s ele ction of currently ic onic R&B/hip hop ar ti st s , repre s ent ative of our current mu sic s c ene. T he s e gue st st ar s include Rit a Ora, Ne-Yo, and Mar y J. Blige, among others . Empire i s a g re at watch for anyone who’s intere sted in mu sic, e sp e cially R&B and hip hop - but hone stly I ’d re c ommend thi s to anyone looking for s omething a little more b old and di fferent to watch.
r evi ew by o d ette lau
B
a s e d of the Marvel c omic b ook sup erhero, Daredevil give s a whole new me aning to the t erm “Blind Ju stic e”, follow ing the journey of Matt Murdo ck - a blind attorney working in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. However, onc e night falls , Murdo ck adopt s a ver y di fferent identity. L aw yer by day, black-clad v igilant e w ith sup erhuman s ens e s by night , Murdo ck walk s a ver y fine line b etwe en daylight and shadow, s erving ju stic e from b oth the c our t , and from the brut al, crime ridden stre et s of Hell’s Kitchen. T he vigilante i s juxt ap o s ed by the we althy, fe ar s ome, and int elligent crime lord Wils on Fi sk. Matt work s to bring dow n and expo s e Fi sk in the broad daylight of cour t ju stic e along w ith hi s obliviou s firm par tner Fogg y Nels on, and in the shadows a s ‘ The Man Without Fe ar.”
c r e at e d by d r e w go d da r d • a m e r i ca n t v • s u p e r h e r o
dar e d evi l r evi ew by lo n g s han ki n g Daredevil i s by far the b e st and mo st intens e sup erhero televi sion show I ’ve ever watched. I lighthe ar t e dly st ar t e d thi s s erie s thinking it wa s another ty pic al diluted sup erhero show, fille d w ith pre dict able trop e s and over-edited sp e cial effe ct s , but immediately in the first few epi s ode s alone the pure g rittine s s and the harsh, no-nons ens e dramatic flair hit hard - thi s show i s not for the light he ar ted. Daredevil fo cu s e s ver y he avily on the darker, more mature theme s from it’s s ourc e material, and ver y well compliment s that w ith it’s style, fo cu sing on much more intimate and p sychologic al a sp e ct s of it’s characters . T hi s give s a deg re e of depth to it’s characters that ver y few shows manage to replic ate, managing to une a s e it’s viewer s w ith dark, morally ambiguou s act s of the prot agoni st , and w ith delic ately intimat e and touching moment s w ith it s ant agoni st . The fight choreog raphy i s another one of the g re at e st element s ab out thi s show, it manage s to refle ct the depth of characteri z ation in that , de spit e b eing sup erhuman, Murdo ck i s still, inherently, human, show ing hi s sig ns of pain, fatigue, and exhau stion in hi s movement s . I he avily re commend thi s show to anyone looking for a good, he av y show to inve st time in, b e c au s e I guarante e you it’ll b e wor th it .
spoken
word
broken
EN GLI SH j a m i l a ly i s c o t t
b e
r
o n ‘‘an d so m eti m es i n c l ass
k g
l s
e
i m i g ht pau s e th e i nte llectual so u n d i n g flow to as k ‘“yo ! Why d e s e boo ks n eva b e abo ut my p eo p le s” Yes , I h ave d ec i d e d to tr eat all th r e e o f my l an g uag e s as eq uals B ecau s e I ’ m ‘a rti cu l ate ’ ”
‘‘Goo d bye s ar e too s e r i o u s fo r u s , Yet we o n ly r i d e th i s b u s fo rwar d, An d we o n ly th row th i s co n fetti star -war d, So ta ke yo u r party- poo p i n g ass h o m e .”
franny choi h
P OP!
goes
a
M E R RY CH R I STMAS and a
HAP PY N EW YEAR f r o m t h e S C OPE t e a m !
THANKS
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