Mount Hood

The Ladybugs: A big apple jazz ensemble

Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor

The 41st season of The Smith Fine Arts Series kicked off the year with The Ladybugs. Hailing from the Big Apple, The Ladybugs’ one of a kind sound immersed the whole of Rice Auditorium this past Friday with their upbeat, contemporary interpretations on early 20th century favorites.

Each member of this incredibly talented foursome is an accomplished musician in their own right, whether it be as working musicians for popular television shows, performing at jazz clubs in New York City, being members of community ensembles or laboring solo artists, The Ladybugs passion was apparent throughout the entirety of the performance.

As part of their NorthWest Tour, they banded together to create a night to remember at Western for the community, university alumni, faculty and students, alike. Featuring musical stylings many performance-goers know and love from the musical “Guys and Dolls,” and other famed artists such as Louis Armstrong. The group played a vast collection of songs old and new, imbued with latin flavor and country flair that aimed to please.

With the jazzy, ethereal vocals of Martina DaSilva and Vanessa Perea, Dylan Shamat’s thumping bass, Joe McDonough’s buoyant trombone solos and the warm bluesy guitar stylings fashioned by Alex Goodman, this group demonstrated that it is just as tasty piecemeal as it is a cohesive, delightful treat for audiences aged six to sixty and anywhere outside or in between.

Western Oregon University was the last stop on The Ladybugs Northwest Tour, which spanned from Canada to Oregon. Their self-titled album, “The Ladybugs” can be purchased through iTunes or from their Facebook page.

The Smith Fine Arts Series shows will reconvene Oct. 6 with BodyVox: BloodyVox at Rice Auditorium, a dance spectacular complete with talented dancers, eerily beautiful choreography and an artful depiction of the creatures and mystery that surround the month of October.

 

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Wolves surrender win to Azusa

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

On Sept. 30, the Wolves travelled to Glendora, California and surrendered yet another win to Azusa Pacific University. The final score was 48-17 in favor of Azusa. This is their first time heading against Azusa this season, but their third consecutive loss against the team.

The Wolves’ only lead during the game was 7-3 in the first quarter. Wolves’ junior tight end Caleb Tingstad scored the first touchdown of the game, completing a 72-yard, five-play run. By the end of the first, junior kicker Jacob Hill had put three points on the board for APU with a 38-yard field goal.

Azusa gained control of the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns. The Wolves were determined to stay close behind their competitors, and gained a 49-yard field goal from junior kicker Adrian Saldana. The second quarter closed out at 10-17.

The game tied 17-17 early on in the third quarter when senior quarterback Phillip Fenumiai scored Western’s second and last touchdown of the day. The tie was broken by APU junior running back Kurt Scoby before the end of the third.

The score at the top of the fourth read 17-24, and continued to weigh in favor of Azusa Pacific. The remainder of the game was rounded out with three more touchdowns and one field goal on behalf of APU.

This loss places Western Oregon at the bottom of the GNAC leaderboard, just above Simon Fraser University. The Wolves will be heading to Burnaby, B.C. on Oct. 7 to face Simon Fraser; kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Wolves hungry for win

Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief

On Sept. 26 and 30, Wolves’ soccer played their last two home games before heading out on the road for three weeks.

Concordia, Western’s opponent on Sept. 26, came into the game with a 355-minute shut out. They left with that record extended by 90 minutes.

Though sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Kastelic made five saves throughout the game, she was unable to stop three of Concordia’s shots over the course of the 90-minute game. The Wolves fell against Concordia, 0-3.

The Wolves started out strong on Sept. 30 in their match against Seattle Pacific; junior forward Amber Whitmore scored the first point of the game in minute 22, with an assist from first-year midfielder Alexie Morris. They held a 1-0 lead going into the second half.

It looked as though the Wolves would taste victory and end their 20-day drought, until the Falcons’ Kasey Reeve scored in the 83rd minute of the game. After seven more minutes of back and forth with no goals made, the game launched into overtime. However, there was no resolution in the additional 10-minutes of game play provided, forcing the game into double-overtime.

After 102 minutes of play, the game was decided by a goal for Seattle Pacific, making the final score of 1-2 in favor of the Falcons.

Post-match on Sept. 30, the Wolves have a conference record of 0-4-1.

The Wolves return to Western’s soccer field on Oct. 21 to face Saint Martin’s University.

 

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Volleyball moves north

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

Wolves volleyball garnered a dual loss while on the road.

On Sept. 28, the Wolves headed to Burnaby, B.C. to face-off against Simon Fraser University. The game was a series of close scores and inevitable misses. Junior Alisha Bettinson scored the first kill of the game, putting the Wolves on the board. The first set was close, but had the Wolves leading by a marginal 25-22.

The Wolves lost momentum as the sets progressed, surrendering the win to Simon Fraser. The remaining three sets totaled 22-25, 17-25 and 16-25, respectively.

Bettinson was the star attacker of the game against Simon Fraser, racking up 19 kills.

On Sept. 30, the Wolves continued their tour to Bellingham, Washington to face off against No. 10-ranked Western Washington University. The game ended in a 0-3 loss for the Wolves.

From the beginning of the first set, Washington held the lead against the Wolves. This culminated in a 25-11 lead for Washington at the end of the first. The two remaining sets saw similar fates, with the Wolves coming in short at 17-25 and 14-25.

Against Washington, the team saw a season-low hitting percentage of 0.032.

Wolves volleyball is currently ranked last in GNAC. The team has a chance to redeem themselves at home on Oct. 7, where they will face the Montana State Billings. The Wolves beat the Billings 3-1 in their 2016 game.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Another fish bites the dust

Illustration by Elissa Sorenson
Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

When I was growing up, my mom told me and my brother that we weren’t allowed to have pets that we couldn’t easily flush down the toilet. Though this has since changed, the overall sentiment is still true — fish are easy.

It’s culturally accepted that we shouldn’t get attached to pet fish. They’re thought of as one of the most disposable living beings that you can have. So disposable that we give them away to anyone who is willing to grab a plastic cup.

Every year, a club on campus gives out feeder fish during new student week. For those who don’t know, feeder fish are inexpensive fish that are often bought in bulk and used to feed other large aquatic animals such as sharks and larger fish.

As “Finding Nemo” taught us all: fish are friends, not food. Or, in this case, not gimmicks.

Feeder fish aren’t meant to be kept as pets, they’re meant to be prey. That’s why it’s a miracle that any fair or carnival fish lasts longer than a few weeks. Like other mass-bred animals, such as chickens, feeder fish are raised in restrictive environments that then have a negative impact on their overall health. When bred, they’re kept in crowded tanks and underfed- all in an effort to keep them from growing.

Because feeder fish are supposed to be used as food, they’re cheap.

A company that specializes in selling feeder fish, www.livefeederfish.com, has a package of 1000 goldfish for $200. Giving away goldfish is a low-budget operation, which is why it’s so naturally appealing.

I don’t particularly have a problem with the existence of feeder fish; it’s natural for larger fish to eat smaller ones, so they serve a purpose.

My problem comes when integrating students into the mix. Going to the fair as a child and getting a goldfish is one thing; you’re young and your parents will most likely be taking care of it. Getting a goldfish as a reward for filling out a survey during an over-crowded event is completely different. Students who are just coming to college need to learn how to take care of themselves before they should learn to care for another living thing.

It’s a fish, but it’s still work. Are they going to remember to feed it before they go to their night class? Do they have a car to drive to get food and tank-cleaning supplies? Do they even have a sufficient sink to clean the tank in? Fish, especially ones like feeder fish that have been raised in less-than-great environments, require specific tank temperatures, a tank large enough that it won’t further stunt their growth, food and aquarium maintenance.

Giving away a living creature shouldn’t be an afterthought. It shouldn’t be a reward for a student who devotes thirty seconds to filling out a piece of paper. If a student truly wants a pet fish, they should devote time to thinking about whether or not they have the resources to take care of one.

What happens over Thanksgiving or winter break when a student goes home? Who’s going to take care of a fish in an empty dorm?

That is, if it makes it past day four.

 

Contact the author at zstrickland14@wou.edu

Review: “If It Was A Smile”

Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief

For fans of folk and indie rock, a must-hear album is coming your way — Joseph Demaree and the Great Smoking Mirror: a guitar- and cello-playing duo from Portland, Oregon, will release the band’s 10-track, debut album, “If It Were A Smile,” on Jan. 16, 2018.

The group is composed of frontman Joseph Demaree, who contributes vocals and guitar to the tracks, and Miranda Shapiro, who is featured on vocals and cello. The band describes their sound as “mellow and dreamy with an indie rock edge,” with influences spanning from Duke Ellington to Hank Williams, to The Velvet Underground, to Leonard Cohen named.

The album begins with dialogue that’s been faded and distorted with an effect that’s reminiscent of early 20th century radio broadcasts — this is a part of the story-driven element of the album, which reappears at the beginnings or ends of various tracks. After the initial bit of conversation comes the first song, which opens with the album title as its first line.

The album would pair with a melancholic montage in a Wes Anderson-esque indie film, or a rainy day of doing the dishes for non-cinematic persons. The tone of the album left this listener with an ache in her heart and the story, a longing for a resolution that would come in the final track: 10 minutes that left me only half-satisfied.

Those with a love for dynamic changes within an album will be disappointed. While the sound is pleasant, each track is extremely similar. Without the interwoven bits of theatrical dialogue between tracks, it could very easily be mistaken for one 46-minute long song. Every track on the album is a waltz, with most featuring the same drumline and extremely similar picking patterns on guitar.

The sound and story isn’t for everyone, but, if you would enjoy hearing a Johnny Cash/David Bowie/Ayreon collaboration album — this is it.

 

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Music is in the air

Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor

Music is a great way to fill any amount of silence with melodic noise. “Spotify has a wide selection…it’s the only way I stream music,” said Ethan Gilbert a junior computer science major. Whether a person is walking to class, driving down the road or finds themselves anywhere in between, streaming music has replaced the classic mp3s and there are about a million ways to get your music fix.

Mary Goodale, a senior communications major, still relies on purchased music but also uses popular streaming services, “I use Pandora or the Google Music app on my phone. I use Pandora when I want a wide range of music I don’t have on my phone and I use Google music when I want to listen to music I’ve purchased throughout the years.”

Surprisingly, many students around campus use more than one streaming service, depending on their mood such as Maria Krueger, a sophomore psychology major, “I like Spotify because the playlists you pick are more specific than when you listen on Pandora. But, I listen to Pandora when I don’t know exactly what I want to listen to and am feeling random.”

Spotify caters to a person’s musical interests with unique playlists and Pandora’s random selection method is great for scratching that musical itch that a person isn’t quite sure how to reach otherwise.

While there is an innumerable amount of other free options including AccuRadio, SlackerRadio and TuneIn, most music streaming services have one thing that most people can agree is possibly the worst kind of interruption when in the middle of a deserted highway or during a high-intensity workout: commercials. However, for a monthly fee these heinous interruptions can be avoided on most streaming sites. Go figure.

One such service, Spotify Premium, is partnering with Hulu to provide unlimited listening and commercial free access to hundreds of shows and movies for students at the discounted price of $4.99 for 12 months.

 

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

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