The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: L&A

  • Humboldt gamer enters the competitive scene

    Humboldt gamer enters the competitive scene

    By Mario Orozco

    Competitive gaming and esports have risen to the mainstream with audiences captivated by the elite gameplay and competitive events. This rise in popularity has birthed thousands of professional gamers all competing for the top spot in their respective games. One of these competitive gamers is here at Cal Poly Humboldt, taking his talents for Super Smash Bros. to the competitive scene. 

    Deven Teixeira, a communication major at Cal Poly Humboldt, recently competed in GENESIS, an annual tournament held in Oakland and San Jose. GENESIS is considered to be one of the premiere tournaments with thousands of players competing for the top spot in the event. Teixeira was driven to compete in the tournament to test his skills after winning some smaller competitions.

    “What inspired me is that I won a decent amount of online [tournaments] and some locals in Central California,” Teixeira said.

    A tournament of this size and importance calls for different types of preparation. Apart from just gameplay, Teixeira typically prepares both his body and mind to ensure he’s at his best.

    “I usually get good sleep and eat very healthy meals, not greasy or saturated in fat meals,” Teixeira said. “Meditation through breathing exercises is a staple to my prep as well.”

    This journey into esports started with a healthy rivalry between Teixeira and his high school best friend. The two began by competing against one another in a modded version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl called “Project M” while in their freshman year of high school. This mod made the game more like the former Super Smash Bros. Melee and after some time they decided to test their skills and compete in some local Project M tournaments. They eventually found they were no longer satisfied with the modded game and wanted the real thing, putting together some money to buy two copies of Melee. This led to them attending their first major tournament, with Teixeira crediting his best friend for being one of the main reasons he competes to this day.

    While not placing first in tournament, being eliminated from the bracket going 3-2 and ranking 513th out of around 2000 participants, Teixeira isn’t upset about his placing in the tournament. He views the experience as beneficial and inspiring.

    “I’m not upset with my placing,” Teixeira said. “I’m more inspired to do more majors and try to do even better each time.”

    Competitive gaming is a difficult task that requires a lot of time and practice. Teixera offers advice to any students who are looking to step foot into the competitive gaming scene.

    “My advice is to challenge yourself,” Teixeira said. “If things bring you discomfort in gaming, use that discomfort as a threshold for learning. Reach out to me. I’m easily accessible and I can help people get to top level quick if they want to do that grind.”

    Teixera hopes that Melee becomes more prominent locally. He wants to revive the game on campus and see the competitive scene flourish once again. 

    “Revive Melee in Humboldt,” Teixeira said.

  • A-listers in Arcata; student extras go to prom

    A-listers in Arcata; student extras go to prom

    by Carlina Grillo

    Hollywood has made its way into the Humboldt scene and Cal Poly Humboldt students are getting in on the action.

    The filming of a new movie, dubbed “BC Project,” occurred right across the freeway from Cal Poly Humboldt. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and ushering in other big names like Leonardo Dicaprio, Regina Hall and Maya Rudolph, this film has gained tons of traction among local residents. 

    Among the crowds of bystanders who gathered to watch the filming take place on G street in Arcata, students reflected on their major film debut. Days prior, students were cast as extras for select scenes. 

    Jasmyn Lemus, a sociology major, signed up for the casting call reluctantly. 

    “I saw a casting call and it was [requesting] specifically Hispanic people, and I was like ‘oh my gosh, that’s me,’” Lemus said. “I didn’t know what the scene was going to be until [an email] said ‘booked,’ and I actually read it and it said ‘school dance.’ I was like, ‘uh, I’m playing a high schooler?’”

    At Eureka High School, teenagers and young adults gathered to reenact a high school prom. Many of these extras were local high school and college students.

    Michael Osswald, a computer science major, was one of those students. After seeing filming take place outside of his house, he looked into the project and was casted as an extra. 

    “I danced all day, jumping up and down,” Osswald said. “I liked getting to see the inside of Hollywood.”

    Another student who got to jump up-and-down all day was John Farley, a film major at Cal Poly Humboldt. Farley found out about the casting call through an email from a professor. 

    “Through some internet sleuthing with a couple of my friends, we put the pieces together that it was probably going to be a Paul Thomas Anderson movie,” Farley said. “About two weeks before I came on set, an article was published announcing that Leo was casted in it. As far as actual production goes, I wasn’t even sure where we would film until the day before we were called to set. The casting people told us to dress warm, so after dancing for a while, I was definitely breaking a sweat. At the end of the day, I was absolutely tired.”

    Lemus considered herself lucky for getting to sit down on a table rather than having to dance throughout the day. 

    “We got there at [6 a.m.], keep in mind we had to stay there until 8 p.m. I was working for 13 hours straight,” Lemus said. “It felt like a really low budget quality prom. I’m sorry, but I would be so disappointed if I had to pay 80 dollars to go to prom and my prom looked like that.”

    Lemus mentioned sympathy she had for other extras who had to repeat more intense movements throughout the day, such as dancing in high heels and lifting crowd surfers. 

    “There was a really big lack of communication the whole time we were there,” Lemus said. 

    Jack McCann, an environmental studies major, found out about the casting call via Instagram and also recalled long work days. 

    “The first day, I was on set most of the day. We were there for around 12 hours. The second day, I was there around six hours before being needed on the set,” McCann said. “An interesting group of people for sure.”

    Many locals have speculated on what the movie is about after watching filming take place. Multiple rumors have floated around, with some people more skeptical than others. 

    “I’ve heard from others that it may be based on the Thomas Pynchon novel, ‘Vineland,’” Farley said. “I would see this as a pretty good assumption as this is not the first time the director has adapted a novel from that author.” 

    “I heard some rumors about it being based on a book, but there was no conclusive evidence to convince me either way,” McCann said.

    Despite differing opinions and theories, Cal Poly Humboldt students all agreed it was a unique experience to be a part of and an interesting day to be a Humboldt resident. After all, it’s not every day Leonardo DiCaprio is seen running down Highway 101.

    “​​As a film major, the entire experience was a dream come true,” Farley said.