Tag Archives: Joseph Kilis

Wordle: A New Way to Explore the English Language

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By: Joseph Kilis

Now, if you have not heard of Worlde, the hit word-guessing puzzle game overcoming Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram feeds around the globe, I’m convinced that you live under a rock. Sorry if that was a little harsh, but I’m going to be seriously surprised if you say you’ve never heard of it, let alone have not seen those stacked green, yellow, and black squares. Go try it out for yourself, you might enjoy it. (Yes, I don’t mind if you stop reading this story, just come back once you’re done to realize how right I am.)

You see, I’m not one to fall through the rabbit hole of what’s trending or not, but this game (for some odd reason) has got me quite obsessed. I can’t go a day without playing it; but why? Why does almost every student and teacher need to play this game on the daily? I get that teachers probably think it’s cool their students are “into vocabulary words” all of a sudden, but why do we, as the human species (I know, very broad, but you get the gist) feel so drawn to play an online word game?

Competition. Competition, competition, competition. I am going to humble myself, and go on and say that I am an extremely competitive person. Sports aren’t up my alley, so I think I manage to use all that competitive energy within this game. In case you are not aware, Wordle functions kind of like Wheel of Fortune; except instead of guessing fun phrases its five-lettered words. Every twenty-four hours, you get only six chances to correctly guess one word by inputting in other words to find letters that are in said “word of the day.” (Sorry for saying the word “word” way too much, I’m starting to think that this Wordle story is getting a little wordy.) Anyway, when you get a correct letter in the correct spot, the square around it turns green. But, if you were to guess a letter that is in the incorrect spot in the word, it would turn yellow. Using the letters that you input, you need to find the correct word. (If this was confusing, just play it for yourself; it’s free!)

Anyway, back to competition. It’s always a great feeling to see that you correctly guessed a hard word in three tries when everyone else got it in four or more tries; and I think this is one of the reasons people are flocking back to Wordle day in and day out. This competitive aspect is what makes this game engaging for families and friends, as they all share their scores with others to brag about their score. Trust me, I have a whole group chat called “Wordle” on my phone, just for my family to go back and forth with their scores. The competitiveness of this game is very apparent, because if it wasn’t, I don’t think it would have been this popular.

On top of this competitive part of the game, another reason this game became such a hit (and so addicting) was because you could only play once a day. If there were unlimited words to guess, it would diminish the reason to post your score. You still could post your score, but it would mean a lot less since you are bound to have a good round every once in a while. The time limit makes it all the more competitive, and (in my opinion) that much more fun.

Simplicity and accessibility is also a very important thing to note when talking about Wordle’s success. It is probably one of the simplest games out there; just type in words and pray you do good. It is a simple premise, but also can be very challenging; I’ve had days that I have wanted to give up (but then I remembered that I needed to show off my score, so I continued). The challenging part of this is brought on by the player, since usually the word is painfully simple (with exceptions to the words “ulcer” and “cynic.” I HATED THOSE!) This game, in a way, shows the consequences of our own actions; if you put in a bad word, that’s on you.

Back to the point of accessibility, Literally just look up “wordle” in your browser. It literally is that simple. And also, to mention that this is free, also widens the population of people playing. For someone as broke as I am, it’s nice to be in on something that connects everyone without spending a dollar.

The collaborative aspect is also very special, as it brings many people together to talk about something harmless, such as a word that they guessed. In a world with such division, it is really nice to have a harmless puzzle game bring family and friends together. Heck, a woman was even saved from being held hostage because of Wordle. (Yes, it’s true. Look it up.) This game that unifies us all is really something special, and I think is one of the main reasons I enjoy the game so much. (Other than showing off, that’s fun too.)

On the surface, Wordle is just a simple daily puzzle game that challenges the mind. But it has grown to connect families and friends, build vocabularies–save lives, even–and provide some harmless competition for the competitive ones out there.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, go do that right now! Just don’t spoil the word for anyone. They won’t appreciate it.

(I feel the need to mention we aren’t sponsored or anything fancy like that. I just really enjoy this game.)

A Treat for Your Valentine: Chocolate Chip Cookies

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By Joseph Kilis

This Valentine’s Day, treat yourself (and a loved one) to some of the best cookies you’ve ever tried. These cookies could impress any crush, or be a great treat to eat alone. My family has made many memories through this recipe, from highs and lows, and holidays. Here’s what you’ll need:

> 1 ½  Cups Butter (softened)

> 1 Cup Granulated Sugar

> 1 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)

> 2 Eggs (Large)

> 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

> 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

> 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

> 1 Teaspoon Salt

> 1 Package (6 Ounces) of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

OPTIONAL:

> 1 Cup Chopped Nuts (Pecans or Walnuts are Preferred)

> Additional Salt for Topping

  1. Preheat oven to 375℉ or 190℃. 
  2. Take Softened Butter, Granulated Sugar, Brown Sugar, Vanilla Extract, and Eggs and mix in a large bowl. Once the mixture is done, it should take on a creamy or fluffy texture.
  3. Once you have creamed those ingredients, add the flour. Do this in increments of three, to fully spread the flour within your wet ingredients. After combining flour with the wet mixture, add the Baking Soda and Salt. Mix until combined.
  4. You’re almost done! Now, add in your Chocolate Chips, and Nuts if preferred. Mix until these ingredients are fully incorporated.
  5. After greasing your cookie sheets, take a big spoon (preferably about a tablespoon) of dough, roll it into a ball using your hands, and place it on the sheet.
  6. Placing them about three inches apart, you should have a total of about six cookies per cookie sheet.
  7. Once the oven is preheated, place cookies onto the middle rack, and bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until you see a golden color around the edges of the cookie.
  8. After baking, immediately add a small sprinkle of salt to the top of each cookie. Let cookies sit, preferably on cooling racks, for about another 8-10 minutes.
  9. Enjoy!

How to Make Holiday Yams

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By Joseph Kilis

Ingredients:

  • 2 Large Cans Yams
  • 2 Cups Cranberry Sauce
  • Miniature Marshmallows

For Crumble:

  • 1 Cup Flour
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Cup Oatmeal
  • 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
  • 1 Cup Butter (Softened or Melted)

Instructions:

     1: Preheat your oven to 350°. Mash your yams at the bottom of a 13×9 casserole dish, and mix half of your crumb mixture in with the yams. Smooth out.

     2: Add your cranberry sauce over the mashed yams, and also smooth it out. Make sure the sauce is cooled so it has some stability for the next layers.

     3: Add the rest of your crumb mixture on top of the cranberry sauce. It will crumble, so attempt to smooth it out without mixing it too much with the cranberry sauce beneath it. Add the cut nuts of your choice to this layer.

     4: Add a good amount of marshmallows to the top, just enough to cover all the cranberry sauce and crumble added. 

     5: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the marshmallows are a nice golden color. Take out to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Cartoon Yam Vector Images (over 710)

October Athlete of the Month: Natanael Jacobo

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By Joseph Kilis

Natanael Jacobo is a senior who is a current member of the JGHS Football team. He has been with the football, basketball, and volleyball teams since his freshman year, and even made his way to playing for the varsity basketball team in his first year here, as well as playing varsity for the other two sports as a junior. Natanael also plays clarinet in the marching band, and is the known leader of the clarinet section. The positions he has played in his various sports are point guard/shooting guard for basketball, a quarterback and middle linebacker for football, and also outside hitter/opposite hitter for volleyball.

Just recently I had the pleasure of being able to ask him a couple questions about himself in general, his wishes for the future, and also some “fun facts” he wished to share with our Bugle readers.

Natanael Jacobo, Homecoming King, at the Homecoming Game on October 8, 2021

Question 1: What is your favorite sport you have ever played or participated in?

Answer: Basketball is my favorite sport and the best sport I have participated in. I take it very seriously and I have the most fun playing basketball.

Question 2: How do you feel you have done personally throughout this football season?

Answer: I think I have had a great season playing both quarterback and middle linebacker. It’s been hard for me throwing the ball but this is my first season playing the QB position and I have thrown the ball pretty well. I will say I have made many mistakes but I move on and stay positive by making big plays. I have had many forced fumbles, touchdowns, and impacted the team by being a team leader. As a team I think we had a great season due to everyone on the team and not just one player.

Question 3: What sports are you planning to play throughout the school year?

Answer: I played football for the winter. I have two competitions for band, play basketball and volleyball.

Question 4: How do you juggle school work, life, and classes?

Answer: I try to manage my time with everything. A philosophy that I stand by is communication with my parents, teachers, and my coaches. Then in all my free time I make sure I get all my homework done and get enough sleep. Also, throughout the day I keep positive energy and a positive attitude.

Question 5: Have you thought of wanting to go to college? If so, what college will you strive to attend?

Answer: I want to attend UCLA to play basketball and I plan to major in engineering.

Then I got to the serious questions.

Question 5: What is the best movie you have ever seen?

Answer: My favorite movie is Hacksawridge and I also love all the Marvel movies. 

Question 6: What was the best food you have ever tasted?

Answer: I love my mother’s cooking but my favorite meal is tostadas with beans, meat, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and a salsa on top. 

I want to give one more huge thanks to Natanael for allowing me to bombard him with questions. I have personally known him since sixth grade, and I am so happy to be able to interview him for our newspaper and see him thrive through the things he loves to do. If you are attending any further football, basketball or volleyball games, make sure to cheer him on!

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios: Review

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By Joseph Kilis

Screams are heard in the distance as you walk through a pitch black hall. Losing all sense of direction, you follow the person in front of you, hoping they know where they are going. Suddenly, a strobe light and loud booms play in front of you as you walk into a psychopath flipping around a chainsaw. 

This reality is only available within Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, on select nights from September 9 to October 31, of which I had the privilege to attend on Saturday, September 18th. I had always wanted to go, as a computer screen was the closest I had gotten to anything remotely scary, and I wanted to experience the real thing–the pure adrenaline running through my body with every corner I walked around. So when I bought my ticket, I was ready.

We began the night by going through The Texas Chainsaw Massacre themed maze, based on the original film of the same name that premiered in 1974. The set design was absolutely stunning; from the skull-and-bone art pieces to the dried skin hanging from the ceiling matching almost exactly to its film counterpart. The sounds of chainsaws were terrifying, along with the gruesome visuals of mangled corpses and a lot of blood. Seriously. A LOT of blood. I even recall running out of the maze to avoid being scared once more due to the intense horror visuals I had never experienced before. Whether it was the fact that it was my first maze, or that it was my first ever intense scare, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre maze was by far the scariest one I had walked through.

After the terrifying Texas Chainsaw Massacre maze, my group made their way to what was known as the Terror Tram, which was based on the very popular movie franchise The Purge. This Terror Tram is the ride that Universal Studios has during the day, known as the Studio Tour but with a twist. Halfway through the original tram route, the trams drop off the riders and put them through different sets that are shown during the normal Studio Tour, but dressed with walls that people jump out of, actors, and dead bodies. The scares for the Terror Tram were fairly mild, which was a lot of fun, and a great cool down from the more intense scares within the mazes. Although the sets were gory and gruesome, the actors interacted greatly with the people walking through by lunging at them with all sorts of weapons, such as knives, chainsaws, daggers, and even a guillotine making an appearance. 

The next maze we went on was based on the Netflix original show, The Haunting of Hill House which premiered in 2018, with one season. This maze was by far the best one of the night; the sets were insanely detailed, along with unique scares by using the power of mirror illusions and lighting. Almost as terrifying as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Haunting of Hill House made almost exact replicas of the sets introduced in the show, and gave off a great scare for the people there. I have to admit, I almost was too tired to go in; but by the end, the adrenaline made me ready to go the rest of the night. 

The Curse of Pandora’s Box was the next maze we travelled to, as the entrance was near that of the Haunting of Hill House maze. This maze had really good scares and moderate sets, as they were really simple builds all on black painted walls. What made this maze stand out was its use of blacklight and glow-in-the-dark effects. Every set piece glowed in bright neon colors such as green and yellow highlighters. This allowed for a bright maze, where scares were somewhat predictable, but made up for it with its use of neon and lighting. The contrasts from bright to dark made those dark scenes that much scarier, as the black hallways you walk down in are to the point where you could not see your hand waving right in front of you. 

Our last, and one of my personal favorite mazes, was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. My favorite horror icon (i.e Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Pennywise the Clown, Chucky, etc.) has always been Michael Myers. The Halloween movies have always been some of my favorite films, so naturally when I had the chance to do the maze I was ecstatic. The set design was great, bringing in a diner, an auto shop, and a house into the different scenes that I got to walk through. This maze had a great balance with jump-out scares, similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and mirror illusions from The Haunting of Hill House. Although, to me, it wasn’t one of the scariest ones of the night, it did manage to be a lot of fun. This maze, though, had by far the best ending out of all the previous mazes of the night. The ending was some sort of a mirror maze, where figurines and people dressed as Michael Myers stood at every corner, giving the illusion that he was everywhere. And I mean, everywhere. The ending was the cherry on top of a great maze, making it one of the most memorable ones of my visit.

Although overall tiring, Halloween Horror Nights is a MUST do for anyone that has any liking for horror. Being able to see some of your favorite horror movie characters in real life, and then having them chase you, is an experience like no other. The mazes were top notch; with movies and shows ranging from the early 1970s to the late 2010s, they gave a great lineup for any horror lover. If you like being scared, DEFINITELY buy a ticket, and try your best to survive Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights! 

Joseph Kilis

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Joseph Kilis is a senior at John Glenn High School in Norwalk, California. He is currently the Vice President of the Journalism club and the Student Life editor of The Shoemaker Bugle, Publicity Officer for the California Scholarships Federation (CSF), and is the lead alto saxophone player in the John Glenn Marching Band. He enjoys watching movies and listening to music, (specifically movie orchestrations) and loves hanging out with his three pets, an Australian Cattle Dog named Leia, a German Shepard/Husky mix named Sadie, and a Lionhead bunny named Trixie. He also loves photography and video direction, along with creative writing. His favorite sources to gain information consist of FOX News, NPR, CNN, ABC News, and KTLA 5. Joseph is currently taking many AP Courses, and has stated that he is enjoying his senior year.