The most talented high school debaters from across California recently gathered in Santa Clara for a high-stakes regional competition. Over the course of several days, elite teams engaged in rigorous debates, competing for points that could secure their spot in the National Championships.

A Battle of Wits and Words

During the day, teams from various high schools debated pressing topics, showcasing their research skills, quick thinking, and persuasive arguments. Judges scored each debate, and only the best-performing teams advanced, inching closer to the coveted opportunity to represent their school at Nationals. The competition was fierce, with students tackling complex subjects ranging from policy and ethics to global affairs.

A Chance to Unwind

Despite the intense debates, the event wasn’t all about competition. In the evenings, students had the opportunity to relax and socialize. With music, laughter, and camaraderie, participants could bond with their peers—many of whom they had debated against earlier in the day. These moments allowed students to take a break from the mental strain of competition, fostering friendships that extended beyond the debate floor.

This is the second time playing at Hot Shot Muffler in Los Angeles. This was once at muffler repair shop but now it’s a venue to have parties. The room can be separated. One part of the venue has some games folks that can play games and the other part is where they have tables so people can eat and where people can get down to the music.

  I got there plenty early since at times it can be hard to park since its close the the busy Highland Park area which has a happening night life. They have an area to unload but they had a few cars too that were unloading too. I did leave my speaker poles there over night and they were quick to respond to my messages so I was able to pick them up on a Sunday.

My guests gave me a stellar playlist of 2000s music.  They shared some songs that I truly forgot about and I have on vinyl. What was cool was there was they had some bay area music for this LA crowd. I only thought bay folks only like that kind of music but folks who truly appreciate hip hop know the beauty of bay music.

For the first hour and half I went 2000s then they wanted 80s and 90s too.

It was a good vibe with the 2000s music but throwing in the other music built up the energy   of the crowd. It was great to have that freedom to move through different time periods.

 I was talking with a mom about doing her daughters quince.  We talked about the timeline of events and then she sent me edited songs for each event.  She mentioned to play 2000s chill music.  It was very broad.  The main focus was to play the specific songs at certain points of the night. They were going to show a presentation so I lent my other computer so they can show it and it was a nice show.

  It was a nice venue. Once you walked in it was a whole new world. It looked like a palace. It was very fancy with two levels. It looked like a scene from a movie. It looked very classy. 

We went over the details for the night. We started the music on time but we didn’t kick in with the events and we were behind schedule but we were able to get all the events done and even added new ones on the fly. The court did their waltz which was very classy to the song Take Me to Church. Later we did the changing of the shoes and the doll event and then we had the crowning and they had a dance routine that went with it. With the surprise dance they had different songs blended into one and they did a good job with it. There were a few songs they requested the day of event but I was able to download them and play them. It was a great party and what was cool was it was on a Sunday night. Not every party needs to be on a Saturday.