Movies are an art form, one that can make us feel so many emotions in such a short time span. Where else can we experience high-quality visual storytelling to capture our imagination? In a book perhaps, but not just any book. This book details the history of a movie so bad that it is internationally recognized as a passion project gone wrong that ends up being funny.

Enter The Room, the famously infamous bad film and the book, The Disaster Artist, written by Bay Area native Greg Sestero. Greg details the nights and days leading up to the release of The Room along with his friend, the infamous Tommy Wiseau. Together, they embark on a strange journey through Hollywood, their dreams and themselves.

For those who do not know, The Room was a film released in 2002 and was directed by Tommy Wiseau, who is also the main character in his own movie and lists himself as Producer and Executive Producer. The film became a laughing stock among the movie-going communities. Thanks to the internet, it became widely known as one of the worst movies ever made. Greg Sestero is an actor in the film and has since written the book, The Disaster Artist.

The Disaster Artist is told from Greg Sestero’s point of view and alternates between The Room’s production and his increasingly complicated friendship with Tommy Wiseau. He also dwells on the mystery of Tommy’s origins. His thick Eastern-Europe, French-ish accent is already confusing enough, but it is also detailed that Tommy Wiseau has an insane amount of money within his reach.

The book also details what life was like during the production of The Room, from the insane working conditions to Tommy Wiseau’s nearly insane persistence. Fans of The Room will surely get a kick out of the on-set hijinks that had occurred.

The Disaster Artist will surely keep you interested all the way to the end as Tommy Wiseau’s questionable antics keep getting crazier and crazier.

The Disaster Artist has since been adapted into a feature film, starring James Franco. It has been nominated for an Oscar for best-adapted screenplay and won a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a motion picture for comedy or drama. James Franco was there to accept the award as was Tommy Wiseau.

Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau recently reunited in a new two-part film series called Best F(r)iends. The first part was shown for a limited time on March 30 and April 2 in theaters, the second part will also be a limited time movie event with two screenings on June 1 and June 4 at your local theater.

Scandals are commonplace in the world today. We hear about them every day on the internet, on news channels, even through word of mouth. Big or small, these scandals affect the population in a negative way. There will be many people jumping in on it on social media, condemning an event or person for what they caused and what was hidden over the years that was brought to light. When it happens to a person we have looked up to for years it’s a punch to the gut and a stab to the heart. What happens when it’s on an international scale?

Icarus is a documentary by Bryan Fogel about the Russian doping scandal uncovered in 2016. The documentary details Bryan Fogel’s journey into the experimental world of doping in sports and how it led him to the largest doping scandal in Olympic history.

For those who are not aware of the scandal, the story was published by The New York Times in 2016. Grigory Rodchenkov’s testimony detailed Russia’s state-sponsored doping program and how it affected past summer and winter Olympic events. Rodchenkov was originally the team’s doctor, working late at night close to the stadium in Sochi. The process of cheating drug tests was detailed by Rodchenkov and led to the Olympic committee temporarily banning Russia from competing in any other Olympic sporting events. He does not regret telling this information, but it does put his life in danger.

The film will keep you intrigued until the very end, wondering what will happen to Fogel and everyone else involved as the scandal breaks. The connections to many other smaller doping scandals, from Lance Armstrong to Barry Bonds, helps put into perspective what Bryan Fogel planned to achieve in this film as well as provide information as to how deep scandals can go.

The film drags in places in which there are slow moments that reflect on the weight of the situation, but those don’t last long as there is always some interesting scenes around the corner. Information is presented in a way so that keeps you interested and glued to the screen for the duration of the movie.

Overall, Icarus is a long, detailed look into the controversial world of doping and how it affects athletes as well as the Olympics. If you want a film to keep you interested and keeps you guessing, this is the movie to watch. With its suspenseful and emotional moments, this is one documentary you don’t want to miss.

The film was nominated for and won Best Documentary at the 2018 Oscars. Icarus is now available for streaming only on Netflix.

The holiday season is here, and everyone is getting in on the holiday spirit. You’ll notice every department store putting up decorations as well as multiple neighbors. Planning the ever important Thanksgiving and Christmas gathering gives way to good times and bad times, but the time we spend with family and friends are memories to cherish forever.

Things can get crazy during the holiday season, especially in food stores around Thanksgiving. Turkeys are the main food item to have when preparing for these dinners.

Hayward resident and FoodMaxx employee Walter Carrasco recalled a rather odd situation involving turkeys. “Two years ago during the week of Thanksgiving, a man was trying to sneak two big turkeys in his pants. It was so obvious that my boss was just standing there in front of him probably thinking ‘Are you kidding me?’ It was hilarious when he tried to run out the door. He didn’t get the turkeys. They fell out of his pants the second he moved.”

Mark Conover, a self-employed locksmith, remembers what he considers to be a “time-honored tradition” from his childhood. “We would have Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house in San Francisco. I would sneak out of the house with the other kids and go over to the shopping district to dumpster dive behind department stores like Sears and JCPenny to find toys that were thrown away.”

The holidays can be busy for schoolteachers as well. Ginger Clark, a teacher at California High School in San Ramon, recalled her tradition as a child of transforming coins on New Year’s Eve. “An unusual family celebration tradition was when I was about 10, my grandfather and grandmother believed if we put out pennies on New Year’s Eve, they would all be turned into nickels and quarters.

This time of year other big events are celebrated, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Sometimes, the results can be pretty silly. Hayward resident Helene Adams remembers celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas, as well as teaching her son the Hava Nagila, a Jewish song to be sung on Hanukkah nights. “When I was a little girl, between 5 and 8, I lived in a very conservative Jewish household. Christmas used to fall in the middle of Hanukkah. We celebrated Christmas with presents and Hanukkah with money. Jewish kids in the neighborhood also got presents twice, which was very nice.”

“When I got married and had two children, the youngest stayed with us. We taught him as much as we could about the Jewish religion. While trying to teach him the Hava Nagila in Yiddish, he finally learned to sing it, but the only way he could sing it was by standing on the edge of the couch and holding on to the front door knob. It was very funny, and we took lots of pictures.”

While reading about these memories of holidays past, it is important to remember to make memories of your own. The holidays are meant to be spent with family, to have conversations, bond with relatives and have amazing food. Make sure to think of the family this holiday season and the good times you’ll spend with them.

The upper floor of the Chabot Cafeteria could be viewed as another space to converse with friends and eat good food. It is more than that. It is a space where people meet up every day to talk, play games and relax, as well as having a fantastic view of the entire Cafeteria floor. The Student Center Balcony is here for you.

People often bring their television setups and consoles, hook them up and play with their friends for hours on end. This is a unique place to share their interests with other like-minded people. They will also bring in decks from their favorite card games, set up a table and play to their heart’s content.

The space also contains walled-off areas in which groups of people can achieve some privacy and hang out for hours. Students also use the space to study for important tests when the balcony is mostly empty.

Even after class hours, the Student Center Balcony will always remain open so that anyone can come and relax. If you want a space that has almost everything you’ve ever dreamed of, this is the place to be.

The Student Center Balcony is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On October 8, the Atlas wildfire in Napa County had grown in size and became dangerous to many homes and businesses near it.

Unfortunately, winds carrying the smoke across the Bay Area, left many to face the clouds of smoke.

The brown haze of heavy smoke from the wildfires in the North Bay brought about many air quality warnings from the Bay Area Air Quality Management. Their report on October 9 warned the public to stay indoors and to avoid unnecessary exposure and to reduce the amount of smoky air indoors by keeping the windows and doors closed.

By Wednesday, October 11, the harmful smoke had made its way to Hayward, creating a layer of toxic air. It prompted many at Chabot College to get face-masks from the Health Center to protect them from the smoke.

Chabot student Lisette Donaire recalled the day after, on October 12, when the air quality was still bad, “I was on campus October 12. I have asthma, like severe asthma to the point where I frequently have to go to the doctor. I used my inhaler about five times that day.”

Beatriz Saravia, a worker at Grocery Outlet in Oakland, was one of many people who had to evacuate as the fire neared her home in Solano County. “I heard about the fire on the TV news. We were told to evacuate Monday night (October 9) around 11 p.m.” She evacuated to her mother’s home in San Pablo.

By October 11, over 100 people had died, leaving many injured.

As of Thursday, October 12, smoke could still be seen to the north of Hayward, and the layer of smoke had moved south, affecting Fremont and San Jose.

Meanwhile, the Santa Rosa Fire destroyed 3,000 homes, including the home of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, and killed 15 people with hundreds still missing. PG&E has worked on trying to restore power for many customers affected by the wildfire.

The fire raged into the weekend of October 13, with daily efforts to put out the fire. It looked like it would be a while until the fire would end. On October 16, it rained over the area where the fire was and brought some relief to the fight.

By October 20, once the fire had died down, residents were allowed back into their homes.

Many buildings were destroyed, and many people are still missing. With relief efforts underway, the community hopes to rebuild as soon as possible.