The Drake Jolly Roger

French Toast at Two Bird Cafe Lauren Antone | JR

The quaint Two Bird Café is the epitome of a home-style restaurant. Located in San Geronimo, this cozy eatery adjacent to The Valley Inn offers a wide array of dishes and a comfortable, at-home atmosphere for its guests, many of them locals.

Over the past 15 years, the restaurant has remained popular, keeping its menu fresh and changing. When I sat down for a Sunday morning breakfast, the Café was packed with families, couples and teens as the wait staff moved from one table to the next, presenting the day’s specials on a whiteboard. Unconventional as this method seemed, the guests didn’t seem to mind.

After sitting down in one of the café’s three small dining areas, an attentive and polite waiter was by my side offering me and my companion coffee and juice. The fresh squeezed orange juice (small $3.95, large $5.00) was deliciously sweet and thick with pulp, expensive but a definite for those who have not yet enjoyed it.

Our waiter returned immediately, bringing with him the large breakfast menu and the specials whiteboard. The breakfast prices on the menus ranged from $10.50 to $13.50, but were reasonable in terms of the large portion sizes and high quality of food. One of the waitresses told us much of the restaurant’s produce was grown on the property.

Seasonal dishes like Fresh Trout with a pumpkin seed crust ($12.95) or Miwok Pancakes ($10.50), a dish served with two fluffy pumpkin pancakes and pork-apricot sausage, were made with organic pumpkin and jumped off the specials board. But I was enticed by the French “French” Toast (10.50) with organic, fresh seasonal fruit.

Sitting near the glass doors in the sun-brightened dining room, time seemed to fly. The fireplace crackled and classical music hung in the air, but those sounds were mostly drowned out by the customers’ laughter. The wait staff was impeccable; my glass never went empty and my coffee was refilled twice.

The appeal of the restaurant was undeniable. As one group of customers left, another group filtered in, and everyone seemed to know one another.

Two Bird Café has all the intimate ambiance of an upscale restaurant, but without the longer wait you’d expect. The cook and wait staff had our food to us in less than 15 minutes, as quickly as a diner staff.

My beautiful plate of French toast was topped with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, powdered sugar and simple syrup. I didn’t add maple syrup because the flavor of the French toast was already so sweet. For those with a sweet-tooth, this is your dish. The French bread was crunchy but warm and had a lasting cinnamon taste.

My companion ordered the Eggs Benedict ($11.95) and claimed it was the best she had ever had. The hollandaise sauce was thick and creamy, draping over two poached eggs, two crunchy English muffins and two slices of Canadian bacon that were layered in between. It was served with scrumptious potatoes, perfectly seasoned, and a fruit salad of organic fruit, mostly melon.

“I love the food here,” said Two Bird Café employee and junior Mika Kakin. “The Eggs Benedict is one of my favorites.”

Two Bird Café is open not only for breakfast, but also for brunch, lunch and dinner. It has an extensive lunch and dinner menu, offering salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, chicken, fish-of-the-day and more.

According to Kakin, Two Bird Café is a great place to be Friday and Saturday nights because live musicians perform on the stage, located in the bar.

Even though I only sat down for breakfast, the great flavors of the food, coupled with the friendly staff and bright atmosphere, has convinced me to come back for most likely delicous dinner.

Out of the foggy darkness, a single light illuminates a shining, silver ball of a creature dropping down from the top of the Grand Chapiteau. Amidst the sounds of nature, a curled figure elegantly descends from the scaffolding onto the stage. Upon reaching the ground, movement erupts all around the shimmering being, marking the beginning of life.

This opening scene depicts one of Cirque du Soleil’s newest shows, TOTEM. The show debuted April of 2010 in Montreal, and embarked thereafter on a world tour. As part of its tour, TOTEM will be playing under the Grand Chapiteau at AT&T Park until December 18. However, if you miss the show in San Francisco, TOTEM will play during the month of March in San Jose, after touring London.

Over the course of its two-and-a-half hour running time, TOTEM takes the audience on a tour of human evolution. This journey begins with man’s earliest beginnings as an amphibian and ends with cosmonauts trying to escape the confines of earth’s gravity. TOTEM includes 12 acts, all of which are uniquely spectacular. In between these awe-inspiring acts, there are short comedic skits performed by clowns and other actors. These often-brief skits serve as a welcome and hilarious break for audience members who may be trying to regain their breath after watching some of the more terrifying acts.

Five women ride unicycles, flipping metal bowls with their feet. CirqueduSoleil.com

Out of the 12 acts performed throughout TOTEM, six can be easily classified as death-defying. One of these acts includes five women riding around on ten-foot tall unicycles flipping metal bowls onto each other’s heads with their feet. Sometimes they even kick the bowls blindly over their shoulders onto the heads of their moving counterparts.

In another act, jumpers launch themselves up in the air off of Russian Bars no more than four inches wide. After flying stories up in the air, the synchronized jumpers come back down to land on the same four-inch landing strip. Then, some of the veteran jumpers transfer bars after doing flips 30 feet up in the air.

Although not all the acts have a major risk for injury, they are just as fantastic as the ones that do. Two women that appear out of the center of the earth twirl and juggle spinning pieces of fabric with their hands and feet, showing the creation of minerals.

A hoop dancer performs on stage. CirqueduSoleil.com

Two times during the show’s duration, the audience witnesses a Native American (called Amerindian) perform an enchanting dance with five hoops. He starts with no hoops and as the music picks up in tempo, he gracefully kicks up the other hoops with his feet. He spins the hoops in impressive patterns before manipulating them to form different animals. At the end of his second appearance, he effortlessly makes a globe out of the five hoops and holds them high above his head.

Along with the breathtaking whirling, swinging, and flipping prevalent throughout the show, TOTEM puts emphasis on humanity’s intimate connection with nature. This motif is portrayed numerous times, one of which is when an inconsiderate tourist has his camera crushed as a punishment for his careless and irresponsible littering.

Under the guidance of director Robert Lepage, the skits and acts all seem to blend together even when there are differences in the themes. The transitions between the acts allow them to merge into one another, even though they are supposed to take place in separate parts of the globe.

No show like TOTEM would be complete without a smooth collaboration of costumes, atmosphere, and music. The elaborate and sometimes wild costumes were designed by Kym Barrett. Before designing the costumes for TOTEM, Barrett had success as the costume designer for all three Matrix movies, as well as the version of Romeo and Juliet that starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

The show’s atmosphere is perfect for its theme. The crickets, and other sounds that one may expect to hear on a “Rainforest at Night” CD set the mood for a mysterious and captivating exploration of the world and human history. The fog and tall grass that line the back of the stage further the sensation of adventure.

The type of music differs greatly for every act, but never seems to be out of place. The music crescendos help jolt the audience when something extraordinary happens, without distracting the audience from the performance.

TOTEM’s intertwining of dramatic physical feats and artistic expression make for a truly special show. Not only do the performers captivate their audience, they also spread a message of peace and gratitude from beginning to end. In the show’s closing scene, the crystal man who descended to earth in the beginning disappears into the lagoon at the back of the stage leaving the audience content to be human.

The music is blasting by the senior tree. Free cake is being served to cake walkers dressed in pink on Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Advisories look for markers, yarn, glitter and stickers so they can try to win the pumpkin decorating contest. Students glance between the numerous colorful posters that adorn our grey, gum stricken halls, as they pass from class to class. Leadership students, as usual, have been busy spreading their signs of spirit throughout the school.

On November 2, Leadership advisor, Kendall Galli, informed her Leadership class that their funds have dropped sufficiently, to the point that it is questionable whether they can continue their usual activities. “Leadership has no incurred ‘debt’ but in fact is short of funding due to the decrease in Pirate Package sales, which is our primary source of income,” said Kendall Galli, Leadership advisor.

During the 2006/2007 school year, 527 pirate packages were sold, which earned $52,755 for Leadership. Then 379 Pirate Packages were purchased throughout the 2009/2010 school year. The number have consistently dwindled over the years to a total of 219 packages purchased so far this year, which has raised $24,115, according to accounts of the budget office. This leaves $200 available for Winter Formal and $600 available for next year’s Homecoming Fund.

Yearbook and Leadership split the profits of the Pirate Package, since a discounted yearbook is a part of the package deal. Yearbook receives 55% of the Pirate Package profits and Leadership receives 45%. Galli said that Leadership’s lacking funds is also due to the fact that yearbook prices have remained the same for the past ten years, even though the cost of colored printing has increased.
Junior class co-president Grace Gurung reflects Leadership’s diminishing package sales over the last five years, “I think the economy is a factor, but students don’t realize how much money the Pirate Package actually saves. Students only see the initial purchase of $110, but not the long term effect of discounts throughout the year.”

The pirate package includes $20 off yearbook, $5 off each dance, free admission to sporting events other than MCALS and playoffs, and discounted admission to music events, such as Battle of the Bands. Galli said that ASB students are also convincing local vendors to make discounts and shopping perks available to students with ASB stickers on their ID cards.

Leadership’s initial reaction to Galli’s news was stress and eagerness to solve the problem. They have been busy brainstorming ideas to recover their budget, according to Leadership student junior Annie Maguire. “This year, instead of just selling Pirate Packages in the beginning of the year, we plan to continue selling them throughout the year. For our last Pancake Breakfast we sold seven [pirate packages], so we are hoping for more purchases throughout the year,” Maguire said.

Galli also acknowledges the faltering effectiveness of Pirate mail through e-mail. “Yes it is green. Yes, it is eco-friendly, but most parents ignore the school e-mails in their inbox. I believe the main contribution to the decrease of Pirate Package purchases is that it is not well advertised.” She takes responsibility for the lack communication to students and parents about the availability and importance of the Pirate Package sales.

Students admire the posters that Leadership posted by the D-SHAC

In the last e-mail Galli sent via Pirate Mail, she announced the recently added benefits to purchasing a package, including a raffle to win a permanent parking place for the basketball season and a free Winter Formal ticket.  ASB President, senior Anna Cichocki, is also writing a parent letter to be emailed home to families in the hopes of spreading awareness of the package.

The diminishing purchases over the last five years have left $200 for Winter Formal, which must be enough for a DJ, decorations and supplies. “It’s going to be hard to pull Winter Formal all together with the little that we have. We think Winter Formal is still on, but we’ll see how it turns out,” admits other junior class co-president, Carlee Murray.

Leadership’s funding is divided into budgets for each committee of Leadership, including outreach, dances and lunch activities.  Like many school organizations, students buy the supplies for their committee and are later reimbursed by the budget office. “I know a lot of students who have made small purchases for supplies and these small purchases have added up. Students usually buy the supplies themselves, and usually for cheap stuff that we don’t really need,” explained Murray. These costs add up and drain Leadership’s funds.

Leadership receives no help from parent clubs and fundraisers. Maguire believes that the Leadership students can solve and deal with adult problems. “The past year I have learned skills that could be used in a company. We learn to do receipts, budget our money and advertise events similar to the way a business would function,” Maguire stated.

The misconception that Leadership carelessly spends their unlimited budget of money was addressed by Gurung. “Students believe that we have so much money, yet this year we are close to nothing. They believe our money grows on trees and that we can just get as much as we want.”

Purchases of the packages are directly used for the Yearbook and for Leadership’s activities including all advisory and lunch activities, rally supplies,  staff appreciations, food for winning advisories, and performances of Youth Speakers such as  ‘Til’ Dawn’ and The Princeton Footnotes. Leadership also provides all art and office supplies used for publicity and events, including dances, Homecoming festivities, senior celebrations and clubs.

Maguire reveals the true hardship that Leadership endures. “Our lacking funds have made it harder for us to put on school events, but it has also forced us to become more creative and thrifty with our money. If I could hope anything, I would hope that our impact on the school does not falter.”

Leadership also tries to extend their spirit outside the school by doing the “the little things” throughout the community. “People don’t realize how much we do for the school, the little things such as the posters, the hall decorations and our outreach to the community,” said Murray. She said that in October, Leadership decorated Cedars of Marin, a home for mentally challenged people, in honor of Halloween.

Maguire says that she believes Leadership’s role is to encourage students to put themselves out there through fun activities. “Even though some people think the activities we promote are embarrassing, we do them in order to create a positive and accepting environment at school,” she said. “Since we are stuck here, we might as well make it fun and you never know what little things will make a person’s day.”

Maguire conveyed in her optimistic attitude that she is excited to see what she and her fellow Leadership members can make of their discouraging situation. “It will be interesting to see what we can come up with using our creativity. Pushing ourselves to mature quickly and become self-sufficient is great preparation for our nation’s current economy,” she conceded.

These small spirited things around our school community reflect the true mission of Leadership. Galli wrote in an email, “We do our best to make sound financial decisions in Leadership and for the last six plus years we have really made a difference in student activities at Drake [and] the overall cultural feeling on our campus. It would be very sad to have to offer ‘less’ in terms of student activities to the students of Drake.”

Cross Country is not exactly the typical team sport. It does not include quick cuts, fancy moves, elite strength, or a complicated playing scheme.

Then what does it take?

Our long distance runners use enormous mental power to push themselves past the point of exhaustion. Uphill and downhill, long and short runs, these athletes are never phased by the challenges of long distance running.

“The concentration and will to win [while] being able to move past how much you can’t breathe,” states senior Keenan Pope. Who has been running with the team since his freshman year.

The practice schedule goes like this for our undefeated team: Mondays are the toughest, Tuesdays are tempo runs, Wednesdays are easy runs, Thursdays are either a meet or another difficult run, and Saturdays the team really puts in some work with a 125 minute run, according to Pope.

The cross country girls have been focused for the last three years, sweeping all of the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL). The team members have even set a new school record this year for most consecutive wins in a row by the girls cross country team at Drake after beating Tam and Branson at Symon Grove on Oct. 28.  Leading this strong posy of cross country stars are seniors Julia Saunders and Lindsay Rogers, and junior Ellie Ryan.

“[Ryan] has never been running any better than right now,” states thirty-year cross country coach William Taylor.

The cross country boys are led by senior Carroll Oliver, junior Will Baker-Robinson, and sophomore John Lawson. The boys came onto the winning scene after an impressive debut at the Stinson Beach relays, beating the second place team by a whole minute and a half. With Robinson and Lawson posting times of 9:01 minutes and 9:03 minutes respectively over a 1.8 mile span of beach. In addition to winning, these three athletes socialize with their teammates as family would.

And this connection has translated to their team success.

“[With] out tight bond we are unstoppable on these trails,” states Oliver.

Bringing an undefeated season and a banner to Drake was great accomplishment for the boy’s team.

“[Seniors Julia Saunders, Carroll Oliver, Lindsay Rodgers, juniors Elle Ryan, Will Baker-Robinson, and sophomore John Lawson] should all be first Team All MCAL,” said Taylor.

A group as talented as the two subsets of the cross country team never quits training together. They remind themselves to not get ahead of their own personal success, even though they refer to themselves as “The Hot Rods.”

“[I] expect nothing but their best, [and] it comes out of a person’s being,” Taylor said. “It has lasted for over thirty years at Drake.”

The girls and boys earned their records with all their practice, enormous concentration, and the will to win.  But the team will hit the trail again before the season is through. They will move on to the North Coast Sectional (NCS) facing talent that is on a parallel level. Competition at the NCS level, may just give the pirates a run for their money.