Nick Greco's Top Five Favorite Comedians - Interview

Photo pulled from Greco's Facebook

It is well-known among his peers that twelfth grade Ringgold High School student Nick Greco loves stand-up comedy. Not only does he pour tons of time into watching stand-up online and on television, but he also aspires to be a comedian himself. He loves a wide variety of different styles of stand-up, so in turn, he loves many different comedians. After a talk, his top five favorite comedians were revealed. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Dave Chappelle

After a lot of thinking he was ready to say his first performer, the loud-mouthed Dave Chappelle. “As a child I remember always watching him,” Greco said. He said that four to five years ago he started watching his stand-up. He also enjoys the comedian’s show, “The Dave Chappelle Show,” having said it is “about the same [quality].” He said he likes Chappelle because “he appeals to a wide variety of people.”

2. Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks

He likes the politically-motivated and often dark Bill Hicks a lot, as well. Hicks does “philosophical comedy” that is “truthful,” Greco said. “He had really good material” that was “never the same,” he went on to say. One bit he remembers in particular is from the “early 90s,” according to him, about Jay Leno. Greco explained that the bit would poke fun at Leno’s strange behavior and lack of talent, despite success. Hicks was explained as “somewhat like” the next performer he discussed…

3. George Carlin

George Carlin, a comedian best known for his talent as an intricate wordsmith, was described by Greco as very personally inspirational. “[Carlin] makes you want to do standup comedy,” Greco said. Greco described Carlin’s quality as “very consistent” throughout the many years he performed. He especially enjoys Carlin’s bits on “euphemisms” and something called “free-floating hostility.” “He went too early,” Greco said, even though he does realize that the man lived a long life.

4. Eddie Murphy

The next comedian he expressed his love for was Eddie Murphy, a talent who got his start on “Saturday Night Live.” Greco said he “like[s] his really early movies,” such as “Beverly Hills Cops” and “Coming to America.” The special “Delirious” is one of his favorites, he also said. One bit that he thought back on was about Murphy’s “uncle’s wife looking like a gorilla,” he explained. “Also an influence,” Greco said.

Dane Cook

5. Dane Cook

The most controversial pick from Greco is Dane Cook, a very popular comedian surrounded by multiple claims of plagiarism. He said he “never really noticed” the joke stealing even after looking into it, but noted it would be a “big ethical issue” if he did do so. He described Cook as “very relatable” and “very consistent,” and said “I like that he’s very loud.” “I’d like to see more of him,” he concluded.

Greco’s love for standup comedy is certainly apparent. It was clear that he could have discussed more comedians he loves, but these are his top five favorites. These men have a special place in his heart, because of the laughs, memories and inspiration they provided for him.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Video Game) - Review

Remember E3 of 2010, when Microsoft and Sony scrambled to get us to care about their motion control peripherals, while Nintendo mostly ignored its own to show off fun video games? One of the couple brand new games that were announced for Wii was Donkey Kong Country Returns. I was absolutely enamored by this game, developed by Retro Studios of Metroid Prime fame. Returns was an absolutely enthralling experience for me, with its stiff challenge and frantic platforming sequences. Naturally, I was excited when the sequel, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, was announced for Wii U. I've played the new game extensively, and I can safely say that it's more of the same, but nothing more.

Tropical Freeze begins and ends with stunningly detailed and meticulously animated CG cut-scenes that bookend a mind-numbingly simple and goofy story that does its job of adding a touch of purpose to the adventure. An army of no-good Penguins freeze the jungle the Kongs live in as well as the surrounding area. They must be stopped, and bananas must be collected along the way to feed into Donkey Kong's dangerously strong addiction. It's vague, but it's fun. 

The visuals are great in Tropical Freeze. Stylistically, it's pretty conventional, but incredibly cute, colorful, and lively. Additionally, from a technical standpoint, Tropical Freeze does much to impress. Enemy designs are adorably antagonistic, and a high level of detail doesn't get in the way of a convivial, cartoon aesthetic. The game just looks fun, but with a bit of a rougher look than something like Kirby, and even Super Mario. The score does its job but didn't manage to capture me in a big way, save for a few tracks. Sound effects are silly and often provoke a smile or even a laugh, and the dynamic animations for especially the playable characters are quite enjoyable to look at.

What makes Tropical Freeze enthralling is more or less what made Returns enthralling; there is an intense level of finesse and refinement to a big collection of levels rife with inventive concepts. The first level of the third world is my favorite; it features a bunch of moving, cardboard animals with poles and vines attached to them, which makes for some exciting jumping about, all far from the ground. Other levels take advantage of sacs of water to be thrown at fires and bombs to be used to blow up wood; both of these things add a level of strategy that doesn't bog down gameplay like similar concepts in puzzle/platformers. It took a world or two before the gameplay felt notably fresh, but once it happens, it really does happen. This is a challenging yet never frustrating video game with a multitude of moments in which the player must quickly rush through a level, fueled by the fear of impending death from behind. Even during segments in which you're not forced along, there is a certain whimsy to how elegantly one can zip through these tough environments. 

The whole game gives off the stark impression that Retro Studios put a lot of passionate effort into this project. Small but important fixes to this game over the last are evident, most notable amongst them the control options that drop motion controls. Levels are packed with little visual quirks and each include (addictive) online leaderboard-enabled time trials, and the game boasts a myriad of cleverly-hidden collectibles and secret levels. Unfortunately, none of the few noticeable changes to the formula here elevate this game over the last one on Wii, despite clear potential. There are a few new companion characters to play with and they're all an equal joy to use, but it doesn't do much for the overall quality. Every now and then, the camera slides into a perspective different from the typical side-view, which could have been what this game needed to push it over that line if it wasn't used so rarely. 

Super Mario Galaxy was an incredible, revolutionary game when it came out in 2007, and magically enough, 2010's Super Mario Galaxy 2 managed to be better than just "more of the same" because the challenge and density of new concepts were both markedly superior. Tropical Freeze doesn't do the same thing over Returns, which sucks, but only to a point. It's essentially a big, graphically-updated expansion pack. Because of that, the achievement of Tropical Freeze isn't remarkable, but it sure is a blast. 

S456 ARCHIVES: A Breath of Fresh Air: Gravity - Film Review

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2013-14 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

A few astronauts, namely a space-rookie named Ryan Stone and a space-veteran named Matt Kowalski, are calmly working on a damaged satellite. Regular small-talk is exchanged. The situation escalates until soon enough an alarming amount of debris crashes into the satellite, sending the rookie spinning out of control, tethered to a detached hunk of metal. She begins to panic more and more as she becomes less and less in control of her fate. She drifts into space, fully detached. 

The premise of Gravity, a new movie starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, and directed by Alfonso Caurón, is compelling, and thankfully the film's execution is equally so. This movie is a terrifyingly plausible display of the human psyche when put together with the scares of space. This isn't a movie about mind-boggling future technology, or anything mysterious that may or may not be waiting out there for us to discover. This is a movie about the horror of the known, present and realistic. And it's fantastic.

What's presented here is a very effective mixture of thriller and science-fiction. The dialogue and acting is natural and believable, making these characters come to life. It's when these actors play their characters as horrified in one scene, and then nervously comical and chipper in another, that Gravity most shows just how unsettling it is. The movie looks stunning from a technical standpoint, with both methodical floating and exciting carnage which engross in whichever way each portion of the film calls for. Sound is also smartly played around with to tug on heart-strings and shoot up heart-rates. Seeing the film in 3D is so mesmerizing that I can honestly say it's the best experience I've had of the gimmick. The movie is aesthetically masterful. 

Gravity has a clear, focused story that it wants to tell, and sticks to it. Every second is relevant, delivering a plot free of fluff. Typical Hollywood conventions are not stuffed in here for length and easy-viewing; this is a unique film. It's structured like a single, long sequence, it takes its time on even small things when it needs to, and doesn't feel the need to align itself with expectations. The movie is constantly unpredictable and surprising. It's a breath of fresh air

By the time the credits roll, Gravity triumphs as a faithfully succinct tale of isolation, determination, and horror. Occasionally it gets a bit hokey, revealing perhaps a tiny overabundance of pride and confidence from the director. But ultimately, this stems from the fundamental truth that what he put together is special. Gravity is sublime. 

S456 ARCHIVES: RHS Does Radium Girls

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2013-14 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

Ringgold High School's drama department is putting together a performance of the play Radium Girls. This play is a historical telling of a series of important cases of occupational disease; so important that they pushed big workers' rights legislation at the time. A group of female workers working with chemicals in paint were told that it would be safe, but that didn't turn out to be true. Fed up with this injustice, the system was fought against by these women in an attempt to secure labor rights. 

Twelfth grade student Sarah Krempasky, according to her at least, has been in every single RHS play and musical throughout her high school career besides one play in her ninth grade year. In this play, she is playing a lead character by the name of Grace Friar, who she explains is fifteen years old at the start of the play and twenty-six by the end. Sarah says she "really like[s]" her character and most enjoys the part when she gets to "stick it to the man." She comically ensures that a ticket to the play ensures that "you get to see stuff glow in the dark!". 

Nicole Garrick is am eleventh grade student at RHS who has been doing stage management since her freshmen year. She simply explains that she "screw[s] stuff together." Garrick told me about a bench that was "hard to put together" and had a habit of "fall[ing] apart." She says the "cast [is] very good" and "the play itself is interesting." 

Mrs. Weinstein, the RHS drama teacher in charge of putting this play together, tells me that this is "a bit more serious" of a play topic as is usual for the school. She told me that this play getting chosen was a result of underclassmen students involved in the school's productions becoming upperclassmen. After warning that "this is going to sound so drama-geeky," Weinstein told me what excites her most about doing Radium Girls is the "universality of the show." She is referring to the fact that the themes and issues of the play are relevant to many even today, as "people are still fighting this same fight." She is "very much satisfied with the casting" and says that "everybody should come and see [the play] because it's really good!".

You can attend Radium Girls on Wednesday, November 6th, and Thursday, November 7th. Both are at 7:00 PM at Ringgold High School. The price of a ticket is $4.00. 

S456 ARCHIVES: Students Consider Post-High School Plans

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2013-14 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

This time of year, many students have a good idea of what they're going to do after high school. Deadlines for college applications and scholarships are quickly approaching, along with the due date for financial aid in March. Some students aren't going to college, but by this time a lot of those people also know what they are doing.

Sarah Krempasky, a twelfth grader here at Ringgold High School, has been very involved in the college application experience. She wants "to major in music/theater." The main school she has in mind is Point Park University, which is a communications-focused college in Pittsburgh. She says PPU is "fabulous," and, "I like the way they structure [the music/theater program] more than [other colleges]." She feels the stress of the application process, and jokes, "it's a horrible, horrible process."

A 2010 statistic from the National Center of Education Statistics asserts that around 5.7% of the population was in college. According to the Washington Post, "only 27% of college grads have a job related to their major." Also, from CNN Money, "in the 2011-12 academic year, the average net cost for a full-time student at an in-state public university was about $15,000 for tuition, fees, room, board, books and incidental expenses, according to the College Board."

Another senior, named Bryce Imhoff, has very different after-high school plans. Bryce plans to "[drive] for a gas company." Currently, Bryce is in the tech program that RHS is associated with, in a "gas and oil class." In this class they "learn as much as possible," he says. He claims he won't do any additional schooling "other than getting my CDL," he says. I asked if he's happy with this path he's going down, and he said he is, so long as he's making six figures.

No matter what one chooses to do afterwards, high school graduation is a pivotal moment in the average American's life. 

S456 ARCHIVES: New Game Consoles PS4 and Xbox One Release to Success

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2013-14 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

The new video game consoles from Sony and Microsoft just released this month. Sony’s successor to the Playstation 3, simply called the Playstation 4, came out on November 12^th, 2013. Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360 is called the Xbox One, which came out on November 25^th. The most substantial new features to both of these consoles is their greater horsepower which can handle more intensive games than consoles before. These two platforms were preceded by Nintendo’s Wii U, which released in November of 2012.     

Each new Playstation console ushers in a new controller, although each controller is very similar to each other. The PS4’s controller does offer some broad changes over the PS3’s controller, including sticks that curve in on the tip to fit around one’s fingertips, and a generally bigger build for more comfort. There is also a small, rectangular touchpad at the center of the controller, which functions similarly to a touchpad on a laptop. The most critically-acclaimed exclusive game for the PS4 is Resogun, a shooter that can be downloaded from Playstation’s online store, which has a Metacritic critic score of 83.

The Xbox One’s controller is more similar to the Xbox 360’s controller than the PS4’s controller is to the PS3’s controller. The most notable new feature is the now vibrating “triggers” (the buttons at the back-top of the controller), which are used in games like Forza 5, a simulation racing game, to give the player additional feedback. An improved version of Kinect, a very advanced camera/microphone device that was introduced on the Xbox 360, comes with every Xbox One system and is integrated into the user interface of the console as well as some games. The aforementioned Forza 5 is the most critically-acclaimed exclusive game for the console, with an 82 on Metacritic.

Brand loyalty is evident in Dwight Moore, a tenth grade student here at Ringgold High School, who thinks that the Xbox One looks better because he “just love[s] Xbox.” RHS Students like twelfth grader Terry Richardson find the Playstation 4 more compelling. Terry thinks that the PS4 has “better hardware” and is a “better deal” over the Xbox One. He does also own a Wii U, saying that he likes it despite not using it very much. On a similar note, some students like twelfth grader Adam Martin aren’t interested in any of the new consoles because they are satisfied with playing video games on their PCs.  

Both consoles have been selling incredibly well. The Playstation 4 retails for $400, while the Xbox One retails for $500. On their own first day of release, both sold over one million units each according to Sony and Microsoft respectively; it is, however, important to note that on its first day, the PS4 was initially only available in Canada and the United States, whereas the Xbox One was available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand.

The two consoles are both off to a successful start. It will certainly be interesting to see the two duke it out! 

S456 ARCHIVES: Latest Pokemon Video Game is a Success

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2013-14 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

Nearly every American has heard of the Japan-originated franchise Pokemon, centered around young adventurers and sportsmen collecting, training, and living amongst creatures known as Pokemon. The franchise encompasses cartoons and comics, but it got its start with video games on the Gameboy back in the 90s. There is a myriad of spin-off video games, but it is the main series that fans latch onto the most. Each entry in the main series of video games releases in twos, each version only slightly different than the other, and then usually not too long after this simultaneous release there is yet another slightly different version of the game put out. Different releases are organized by “generations;” the latest to start is “Gen VI,” with Pokemon X and Pokemon Y for the Nintendo 3DS. The game has done well financially and it has also pleased both fans and critics.

The first three generations of Pokemon have entirely what is referred to as sprite or pixel-based graphics. This retro style is essentially a collection of two-dimensional, small dots, put together and animated to create visuals. Throughout these generations, these pixel-based graphics have gotten more intricate. Starting with the fourth generation back in 2007, polygon-based graphics were implemented alongside the sprites. Polygonal graphics is a three-dimensional form of visuals. The most easily recognizable difference with the newest generation is its complete usage of polygonal graphics, which forgoes old-school style pixel graphics.

Over four million copies of Pokemon X and Y (combined) worldwide in the first two days of release, according to Nintendo. Metacritic, a website that indexes professional video game reviews, has averaged out Pokemon X and Y’s critic score to an 87%, with 61 “positive” reviews and 4 “mixed” reviews. RHS Senior Aaron Turkovich has been a player of Pokemon video games since he “was… 8, maybe 9.” He bought the latest game, choosing the Y version, and says the series “just keeps getting better.”