by Nevaeh Reese

Imagine a world just like ours, only this one is maybe cold, dark, wet, and full of flesh eating monsters! If that sounds interesting to you, Stranger Things is the show for you!

Although Stranger Things was first released in 2016, new episodes were still being released all the way until New Year's Eve a few weeks ago. Stranger Things has made over one billion dollars since 2020. The show's Rotten Tomato score differs across all seasons started incredibly high and only slightly dropped season by season. Take a look: Season 1: 97%, Season 2: 94%, Season 3: 89%, Season 4: 89%, and Season 5: 85%. 

If you don't know, Stranger Things is centered on a young boy named Will who goes missing while riding home on his bike after playing D&D with his friends. While the community of Hawkins tries to find him, his friends Lucas, Dustin, and Mike find that he is trapped in a world called the Upside Down, a twisted version of their own world.Their school, arcade, houses, and more are there but this world lacks all life except for flesh-eating demogorgons and twisting vines that assist with the capture of any human who stumbles across it. 

Through the seasons, the search party gains new members and discovers more things about this twisted world and what caused it. Throughout their adventures they meet people like Eleven, a girl raised in a lab with the ability to move things with her mind, and Max, a skateboarder and the master of the arcade game Dig Dug. Watch as they reveal that Hawkins isn't the boring small town they thought and that it's hiding more secrets than they could ever imagine.

Stranger Things is my favorite show of all-time covering so many different themes and ideas that are commonly related to worldwide. Its list of amazing actors and actresses include Mille Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Mattarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and my personal favorite, Finn Wolfhard. The Stranger Things soundtrack is amazing and creative including songs like Should I Stay Or Should I Go, I Think We're Alone Now, Running Up That Hill, and Upside Down. 

I've never seen anything quite like this show, and I love it for its uniqueness. Each season is well thought out, and I think there's a perfect amount of suspense and cliffhangers that leave you wondering what will happen next. I enjoy how everything connects in some way and this makes the surprises so much more thrilling and unexpected.  

With the fifth and final season just recently being released, now is the perfect time to go watch it since you won't need to wait to see the entire story get resolved. While I highly recommend you watch this show, make sure not to let the shocking twists turn you upside down!

Grade: A+

by Madolyn Pittman

The Muppets is a classic puppet show, one that has brought comfort and laughter to people all over the world. Although the media franchise has fallen off in terms of popularity, there are many loyal fans that continue to engage in the many movies and creations that have stemmed from The Muppets. The loveable characters and creative story lines are hard to stay away from, and I hope this article allows you to see the good Jim Henson has brought through his creations, and encourages you to indulge in some of those works.

Everything started with Kermit The Frog. A green humanoid frog puppet with a logical, but kind personality. His first appearance was in a coffee commercial, where he is a very strong advocate for the consumption of coffee! The Muppet Show came after in 1976, and so did other characters such as The Electric Mayhem band, Dr. Honeydew, his assistant Beaker, Statler, Waldorf, and countless more unique characters! 

The Muppet Show featured hilarious skits such as “Mahna Mahna” which is known to all, even people unfamiliar with The Muppets! Another one of my favorites is the “Temptations” skit, in which Miss Piggy takes off with her choir solo, resulting in an unending fit of laughter! And I can’t mention skits without bringing up The Swedish Chef, who had a hilarious sketch consisting of goofy singing and hap-hazardous cooking. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so did The Muppet Show on March Fifteenth of 1981. But don’t worry, The Muppets weren’t done quite yet. They released tons of movies! I’m going to list them off by date, just to emphasize the amount of amazing and iconic movies The Muppets have starred in!

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1981) my personal favorite!

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) This was dedicated to Jim Henson after he passed.

Bill Bunny’s Animal Songs (1993)

Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

Muppets From Space (1999)

Kermit’s Swamp Years (2002)

It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas(2002)

The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005)

A Muppets Christmas: Letter to Santa (2008)

The Muppets (2011)

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

As you can see, The Muppets have built themselves a wondrous, whimsical image that keeps both adults and children in a trance. Although the jokes are appropriate for a younger audience, they aren’t childish or immature. And as Kermit said, “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending.” Except this article is my life, and I will be writing the ending now!

Where it all started:

https://youtu.be/HVewx3-9x24?si=ByGk1F9ExBNLShMn

by Madolyn Pittman

In 1974, a Japanese man by the name of Shintaro Tsuji had noticed a rise in sales of his rubber sandals. Why did this happen? 

It turns out, when his sandals had cute designs painted on them, they sold in much larger amounts. Being the smart businessman he was, Tsuji decided to expand on this new found discovery. He had started by using existing cartoon characters (such as Snoopy) to sell his products, but then moved on to characters of his own.  

Under the company name 'Sanrio', characters such as Coro Chan, and Hello Kitty were introduced to the public. Does one of these names sound familiar? 

Yes! Our favorite kitty friend, Hello Kitty (created by Yuko Shimizu) was created due to a discovery of the happiness present when a human lays their eyes on something cute. Isn’t that wonderful?

Extremely wonderful, judging from the millions of people worldwide who consider Hello Kitty to be an adorable role model to all, young and old. This character, and Sanrio as a whole, give people, far and wide, a community. 

Hello Kitty may not speak English exclusively, but no matter what language she is speaking in, she is being kind. People thousands of miles away may be buying the exact same Sanrio merchandise your next door neighbor is buying, and it's purely because owning these pieces of merchandise makes them smile. Cinnamoroll's loving voice, or Kuromi's sly smirk excite people countries away, because they know that these characters have come from places of warmth for decades, and will continue to for years to come. 

If you are part of this community too, you are in good company. And, as Hello Kitty says, "You can never have too many friends."