Five Favorite Fall Activities

Writer: Ashley Bow

The first day of autumn technically landed on September 22. However, all Texans know fall hasn’t really begun. Fall is when the leaves turn orange, when the air is crisp, and when nature reaches it’s peak and begins melting away. We have not yet hit that point. The afternoons are warm and the leaves remain green. I know fall exists for a very limited time here. However, when I notice the air turning my nose red and when I consider grabbing a sweater for the afternoon, these are some of my favorite activities to make the most out of the one week we get.

Go Into the Outdoors- Indoorsy Style

The first thing that comes to my mind on a fall afternoon is how nice it is to be outside. Still, I don’t always enjoy doing outdoor activities – especially if I don’t have a friend with me. So I found the solution. I’ll grab my sweater and a good book and visit a local park. Being outdoors without doing any outdoorsy things is one of the easiest ways to enjoy the season. Even if you don’t have time to go out to a park, you can get the same effect from simply going out into a backyard or onto a patio to enjoy the weather.

Go Into the Outdoors- Outdoorsy Style

Alternatively, I sometimes want to leave the book out of the equation and I end up with a friend who also happens to be free. What better to do then, than go out to a park and wander off into the wooded areas or, better yet, go to an actual hiking trail. The scenery is just as beautiful when it begins to fall as when it begins to bloom, so going out with a friend and enjoying it together can feel like a really rewarding experience.

Bring a Friend for Free*

One thing really nice about my hometown is the events. Not too many in my area, but enough that I can visit some sort of festival pretty much every season. In addition, I live in a town where other cities with fuller event schedules are close by. From the ever-quirky Pickle Parade to the recent Music Festival, it’s easy to find something going on near me, so when I hear about a festival being held on a day off, I love to invite some of my friends to go out with me for a day of live music and food trucks.

*bringing friends is not always free

For the Shining Star Among Us

Some events, such as attending a festival, may require money. Others, such as hiking, may require planning. But when neither option is something I want- there’s always stargazing. It is a wonderful option during any season, but the cold bite of autumn in the air somehow seems to make it that much better. Especially if you have already spent the evening out acting social or huddled indoors watching movies with a friend, stargazing is a wonderful way to relax and let your imagination unfurl. Bonus points if you and your friend come up with new stories for the constellations in the sky.

Feeling stereotypical?

The scent of autumn in the air has always reminded me of that seasonal favorite dessert: pumpkin pie. Since I love to bake, I find it extremely tempting during the summer months to heat up the oven and bake a simple Pumpkin Pie. Whether I share it with friends, family, or no one, the smell of pie which lingers in the air after baking is unbeatable and will forever be one of my favorite memories of the fall season.

IT Review

Writer: Felicity Veliz

I’m embarrassed to say I’ve always been scared of clowns. But, ironically, Stephen King’s It, I can honestly say, marked itself a place as one of my favorite movies of the year.

The movie is remarkable, considering the number of great films King’s writing has inspired; a movie that could be among the best adaptations of his work. There is a scene that is shown halfway through into unexpected gore that it’s almost impossible to not be jolted by memories of The Shining or Carrie – still, even after four decades, the best King adaptations.

The novel It is a large book that consists of 1,300 pages that are a useful source of thrills. Like most King stories, it’s a story about the innocence of childhood, and the aching loss of it; about the memories of the past and the trauma growing up.

The movie begins with a paper boat floating across the water. A young boy named Georgie chases after it, always a little too far behind. The boat then gives Georgie a slip–picking up the speed when he expects it to slow down and gets caught in the sewer. Then suddenly, we see a horifying entity appear inside the same sewer the paper boat got sucked into. After being gone for 27 years, the clown had chosen that day to return, and young Georgie, who reached into the sewers in a flailing attempt to find his boat, didn’t realize he’s staring death in the face.

It calls itself Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and with traumatic force pulls Georgie into the sewer. “We’ll all float down here,” It says, conveying the movie and books original line, “You’ll float too.”

Six months pass and brings seven kids together that call themselves The Losers. With the foolish bravery only kids in movies can have, they realize that they alone can get to the bottom of the odd events which only happen in their hometown, Derry. And because there have been other kids who have disappeared and the clown has been spotted in a variety of places around town, they conclude that the two ideas must be connected.

This is what starts the story.

The film is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a horror movie. And maybe even more. The movie has scenes and situations that happen to be very similar to JJ Abrams’ Super 8, Netflix’s Stranger Things, and any number of Steven Spielberg films. It has essentially created a genre we now associate with an entire decade.

It is at it’s best, ironically for a scary movie, when it’s not frightening kids every 15 minutes but when making the crowd laugh. Pennywise was truly frightening – every time he appeared on screen, and it’s just the right amount of time, the audience at my screening grew visibly uncomfortable. It, the movie, lives and dies with The Losers. Their carefully fleshed out stories, the bullying they endure, and the strong friendship they have helped them survive.

With It, the director, Andrés Muschietti, has made one of the greatest horror films I’ve seen. The film is heartwarming, frightening and will leave you in suspense throughout the whole movie. And having all three in one doesn’t get better than that.

It floats. You’ll float too.

Rate:10/10

Adidas Fall Sneaker Releases

Writer: Andrew Martin

The sneaker community is growing faster than ever with the introduction of boost technology from Adidas two years ago. Soon after came Yeezy’s, the Kanye West and Adidas shoe which opened the door for shoe collaborations with artists everywhere. With these artist inspired shoes in the market people just want more and more of them, and this fall that’s exactly what the people will get, more.

October- Originally the Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Beluga 2.0” was set to release October 14th, but on September 8th Yeezy Mafia reported the final changes for Yeezy’s this fall. These changes left the month of October pretty much wide open. However, there have been rumors on the internet that an unseen Yeezy could be surprised released sometime in October. With a surprise release comes overly excited resellers, which is why whatever this shoe is will probably have ridiculously high resale value just after release.

November- The sneaker and resale community will go absolutely nut in November. The Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Semi Frozen Yellow” drops on an unknown date in November. This Yeezy looks exactly as it sounds, yellow. Many people have mixed feelings on whether to cop this shoe or not, but regardless, it’s a Yeezy and it will sell out instantly. However, with the mixed feeling in the sneaker community brings a lower resale value as far as Yeezy’s go, I expect to see a resale value of around $600. On the flip side, this shoe is so unique that people might just pay absurd amounts of money for it, but as of right now it’s hard to judge how the outcome of the “Semi Frozen Yellow” will be. While we may not know the exact release date of that there are four major shoes dropping that we do know the date of in November. Pharrell Williams is releasing four new colorways of the Pharrell “NMD Human Race” on November 11th. These four colorways include the AC 7361 Pale Nude / Core Black / Yellow, AC 7188 Sun Glow / Core Black / EQT Yellow, AC7359 Core Black / FTWR White / FTWR White, and the AC7360 Noble Ink / Bold Yellow / FTWR White. The new NMDs feature a trail bottom that we’ve seen a lot more of recently and have emerged as a favorite shoe bottom. You can expect all of the shoes set to release in November to have extremely high resale value, anywhere from $700-$2,000.

newestyeezy.com

Yeezy Mafia

December- Finally, in December we get the final two Yeezy releases (that we know of right now) of the fall. The Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Blue Tint” will release at a currently unknown date in December, it features a neutral upper with white/grey, red lettering on the SPLY-350, and a blue-tint lining. coloring but that’s not the only v2 we’re getting during the Christmas season. The last Yeezy to release is quite possibly the most hyped up one that everyone is excited for, it’s the Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Beluga 2.0.” The first Yeezy “Beluga” released in September of 2016 and since then has probably been the most popular v2 release yet. The “Beluga” is still selling for around $1,000 depending on shoe size, and that is why this 2.0 model is so highly anticipated. The 2.0 is very similar to the 1.0, but the main difference is the orange strip on the shoe has been replaced with a light grey, and orange lettering on the SPLY-350. The 2.0’s are rumored to release in high quantities, and I expect the resale value of it be somewhere from $900-1,200 post-release.

Sneaker News

Sneaker News

In addition to the two Boost 350 releases in December, two new colorways of the Yeezy “Powerphase” will release. A black and grey powerphase will release sometime in December or possibly January. Personally, the powerphase doesn’t excite me as a sneakerhead, but people who liked the original powerphase will definitely be copping these. With that being said, I expect the resale value of these shoes to be around $300 just after release, and then slowly de-value to around $250.