Mount Hood

The people behind the people that changed the world

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Clever, complex and filled to the brim with emotion: prepare for a journey through time in Western’s newest production, “The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence.”

The play, written by playwright Madeleine George, centers around four different characters named Watson: the supercomputer that became a “Jeopardy!” champion, Sherlock Holmes’s faithful sidekick, Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant who helped build the first telephone and a modern-day computer repairman on the search for companionship.

Senior and Bachelor of Fine Arts student Stephen Nielson portrays all four Watsons throughout the show. When asked what his favorite thing about this show is, Nielson commented, “This show is really cool to me because it’s this story about wanting to be helpful … It’s very fun to be able to use me as a starting point for a character like Watson, who is so weird and varied.”

Modern-day Josh Watson is hired by a local politician Frank Merrick, played by sophomore Bill Evans, to spy on Merrick’s ex-wife Eliza, portrayed by sophomore Selena Moreno. The stalking quickly turns into an emotional love affair between Eliza and Watson.

The play consistently jumps from 2011 modern America to 1889 Victorian England where another Eliza meets Sherlock Holmes’s trusty sidekick, John Watson. A third timeline in 1931 involves a radio interview between a third Eliza and Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant, Thomas Watson, on the invention of the telephone. The complex storyline ties three centuries together and makes the audience consider the underlying characteristics that make us all human.

“This show is about the people behind the people who change the world,” Director and senior Western student Matthew Miller explained.

Working toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in technical theatre, Miller is passionate about directing. “Directing is a weird art. It’s different from painting where you just do the thing by itself and people see it. With this, you are taking other peoples art and making sure it all fits together in the best possible way. It’s kind of like a giant puzzle.”

Miller described his favorite thing about this show: the hidden heros. “We look at Thomas Watson, who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in the invention of the telephone. And John Watson who is Sherlock Holmes’s fictional assistant. Everyone knows who Graham Bell is, not everyone knows how important Watson was to that. As someone who usually works behind the scenes and doesn’t get seen the same way actors do, this show speaks to me on that level.”

“The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence” will be performed at Rice Auditorium on Feb. 8, 9, and 10 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Feb. 10. An interpreted performance is on Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The show runs about two and a half hours long and is $8 for students, $14 for general admission and $10 for seniors, faculty and staff.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Review: “I Like Fun”

Darien Campo | Designer

Why is the world in love again? Why are we marching hand in hand? The ambassadors of love have brought us a brand new record for 2018: They Might Be Giants brand new album “I Like Fun.”

John and John’s 20th studio album further cements their place as one of rock’s most delightfully eclectic bands. While usually “experimental” music is confrontationally so, the Giants have spent over 30 years perfecting their own unique flavor of songwriting that invites listeners as much as it intrigues them.

The opening track title, “Let’s Get This Over With,” almost feels like the mission statement for the record. From the first note the Giants hook us with those catchy piano chords and bring us through a 15-track journey of non-stop pop energy with no filler tracks left. Each song sounds equally and lovingly crafted as if it were the lead single. And honestly, most any of these tracks could work as the single, the songwriting quality never seems to dip at any point as most pop records tend to do — usually around the 66 percent mark of the record.

“All Time What” proves once again that John Flansburgh secretly wants to be in a pop-punk band. “Lake Monsters” ends in one of the catchiest refrains about mass hypnosis ever written. “By the Time You Get This,” a letter to the future, is my favorite track on the album. I’ve never heard a song before that can inspire equal parts feelings of positivity and utter defeat. The record starts with high energy and carries that through for 13 songs until “The Greatest,” which is the first breather we get. The song feels like a Damon Albarn pastiche, and Flansburgh’s vocals perfectly capture that quiet power. The bizarre music video starring Nick Offerman is well worth the watch.

It wasn’t until the chorus of “Last Wave,” the final track, that I realized what a morbid record I had just listened to. I immediately spun the album a second time to discover the grim themes and lyrics that had been hidden by bright and poppy instrumentation.

“I Like Fun” follows in the path of previous Giants records like “Mink Car” and “The Else” with its relentlessly catchy songwriting masking darker lyrical tones. This is my favorite Giants record since 2013’s “Nanobots.” The only issue I had with the three albums that came out compiling their 2015 Dial-a-Song tracks is the lack of cohesion within the album. “I Like Fun” tells a cohesive, though esoteric, story that brings the record together into one full piece.

If you’ve never listened to the Giants before, they have once again cut a record that is just as good a place to start as any other. They are a persistently memorable and haunting songwriting duo, unmatched in their unique sound and always outdoing themselves. “I Like Fun” is a record full of love, fear and pop that feels “complete, completely, completelier.”

Contact the author at dcampo13@wou.edu

Photo by: theymightbegiants.com

A family tree of podcasts

Stephanie Blair | Staff Writer

In 2010, three brothers sat down to make a podcast in order to stay in regular contact after two of them moved a couple states away. The podcast: “My Brother, My Brother and Me.” The hosts: Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy.

Fast-forward to 2018, the McElroys have established an enormous audience and created dozens of podcasts. Mainly playing on their comedic skills, the brothers have toured around the country multiple times, gotten a shoutout in the lyrics of Hamilton and garnered an audience of thousands upon thousands.

And while their main show is a comedy/advice show, the McElroy family of products has something for everyone. For a sampling of their shows, read on.

“Sawbones”

If you’ve ever wondered how we figured out that we should use mold to treat an STI, this show is for you. In this podcast, Dr. Sydnee McElroy takes her husband Justin and their listeners through “all the odd, weird, wrong, dumb and just gross ways we’ve tried to fix people over the years.” She’s smart and he’s funny, you get to laugh, learn and cringe — that’s the show. As just a taste, a scientist once drank cholera-filled poop water in the name of science and that’s not the grossest thing they’ll tell you about.

“Bunker Buddies”

Lots of people worry about what they’ll do after an apocalypse, but few make a weekly podcast discussing it. “Bunker Buddies,” is hosted by Travis McElroy and Andie Bolt and, as their show summary says, “they’re not preppers, they’re comedians” which lends the podcast some levity in the face of a grave subject. For people who like practical information and like to worry about everything, this show may prove cathartic. Some potential apocalypse scenarios that Travis and Andie have covered are: an alien invasion, a robot uprising, the Rapture and the sun suddenly disappearing and leaving the world in an eternal night.

“Wonderful!”

Each week, for a little under an hour, Griffin and Rachel McElroy take turns sharing things they find to be wonderful. There is no other criteria for what can be featured, which has resulted in albums, poems and french fries being shared. It’s a show about enthusiasm and positivity and because the two record this podcast while their infant son sleeps, their voices tend to be lowered which is quite soothing. Whether you’re into ASMR, looking for something to fall asleep to or just enjoy positive conversation, this is the show for you. It’s really wonderful!

“The Adventure Zone”

The premise of this show is a little harder to convey; it’s a podcast where the McEl-brothers play Dungeons and Dragons with their dad, but it’s not even a little bit about playing Dungeons and Dragons. Through the development of the show and the relationships that the hosts play on while making decisions in-game, the Boys made a story that captured their biggest audience yet. If you don’t know anything about D and D — perfect. At the beginning, neither do they. Get ready to cry about high fantasy characters and their tragic backstories.

Contact the author at sblair13@wou.edu

Photos by: Maximumfun.org

The unfortunate reality of TV show revivals

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Have you ever watched the ending of a TV show and craved more? Do you watch shows from twenty years ago and wonder what life in that universe would be like now? Curiosity and desire are common occurrences, and this innate craving for more is what leads television industries to continue on with a previously established plotline. This is known as a revival.

In theory, revivals sound amazing. Your favorite TV show that you’ve seen a thousand times, only new and improved? Yes, please. Unfortunately, the reality of TV show revivals is far from that.

There is one thing that drives our desire for classic TV show revivals: nostalgia. Ever wonder what happened to the Tanner family after the end of season eight of “Full House”? Bring on “Fuller House.” Dying to see more drama surrounding Lorelai and Rory in “Gilmore Girls”? Cue the miniseries on Netflix. Does your love for the 90’s classic “Boy Meets World” ever lead you to wonder how Topanga and Cory survive through their adult years? Perfect, you can watch their kids carry on the hilarious hijinks in “Girl Meets World.”

But the problem with nostalgia is that we can’t go back in time and continue the series where it left off just for our viewing pleasure. Instead, revivals are often filmed decades after the original with a fraction of the original cast and often completely different writers. Our heart still tells us that it’ll be the same, and it almost never is.

A major problem that I have with revivals is the lack of consideration for the storyline itself. You mean we can make a revival of “Roseanne” with almost the entire cast and people will go crazy for it? Then why not? Pay no mind to the fact that the father, Dan, died at the end of the original series. We’ll hope people forget about that and bring him back for the revival. Everybody wins.

One of the most disappointing examples of a failed revival is season four of “Arrested Development.” Fans were heartbroken when the series was cut off after three seasons, so a revival was what diehard fans craved. It was announced that all 15 episodes of season four would premiere as a Netflix Original in 2013, and it was far from what fans expected. The subtle, oddball and perfectly crafted humor of the first three seasons was nowhere to be found in season four. Instead the humor felt overdone and fell flat.

“Fuller House” was a revival that had a lot of promise. The fans of the original series dealt with the cheesy life lessons and dramatic narratives because it was a family-friendly hit. I spent many afternoons growing up alongside the Tanner daughters and laughing at the classic plotlines. You’d think a revival with the family back together again would be great, right? Not exactly. The once cute daughters are now adults, and their dimples and “you got it, dudes” are not enough to make up for their lack of depth. The show tries way too hard to be modern, with jokes about selfies, Donald Trump and constant references to the Olsen twins’s absence. Honestly, the only thing “Fuller House” has going for it is that John Stamos is still nice to look at. You win some, you lose some.

Rumor has it that NBC has plans to bring back “The Office,” premiering in the 2018-2019 season. As someone who watches “The Office” nearly every day, I have a special place in my heart for Dunder Mifflin. The best part of my day is watching Jim play pranks on Dwight, witnessing Michael and Holly’s love unfold and learning more and more about the mystery that is Creed Bratton. But a revival of “The Office” is the absolute last thing I want. Yes, it would be amazing to have the cast all together again. But more likely than not, it’s going to be a select few actors that haven’t found much else to do in the past five years and a bunch of other people that we don’t know. The show will probably have different writers as well, so the witty humor that I once loved will probably be disappointingly different. And honestly, who even enjoys the end of the series after Michael leaves? No one. The revival is more than likely going to be another season nine. Do we really need that in our life?

If your favorite TV show is getting a revival, I wish you all the luck in the world. But my advice would be to re-watch old seasons and continue imagining life after the finale without actually having to watch it.

Contact the author at sedunaway13@wou.edu

Photo by:fullhouse.wikia.com, netflix.com

Records set by wolf track runners

Simson Garcia | Sports Editor

Record setting performances were produced yet again as Western’s track and field teams took to the University of Washington invitational to display such feats on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27. Numerous changes were made in the record books for Western track including three school records, and one change to the national Division II list for the mile run. Five NCAA provisional qualifying marks were also generated throughout the weekend.
Western senior David Ribich finished third overall in the mile run and came to the finish in just under four minutes with a time of 3:58.88. That is second all-time in NCAA Division II history and the fastest time in 32 years for a Division II mile runner. In doing so, he was the 495th runner in U.S. history since 1957 to record a sub-4 minute mile finish.
Right behind him was junior Dustin Nading, who ran in an earlier heat of the men’s mile and accomplished his personal best time of 4:04.5, also a NCAA provisional qualifying mark and second all-time in the GNAC.

Nading and Ribich, along with teammates AJ Holmberg and Aaron Whitaker ran the distance-medley-relay event the day before winning there and earning an automatic qualifying mark finishing just ahead of four Division I schools. Holmberg, Nading and Ribich were part of the historical distance medley relay at the 2017 Indoor Championships where they were crowned national champions.
Adding more provisional qualifying marks were last year’s All-Americans for track in Olivia Woods and Suzanne Van De Grift. In the 800 meters, Woods and Van De Grift ran to 11 and 17th place finishes, respectively, earning times of 2:10.62 and 2:11.80.
Woods and Van De Grift then coupled with Megan Rose and Kennedy Rufener in the DMR to finish in eighth place with a time of 11:48.58 — also a NCAA provisional qualifying mark and school record.
Rufener, who ran individually in the cross country national championships in December, ran the 3,000 meters to a 9:56.05 time, another provisional qualifier mark to round out the multitude of Wolf achievements.
The Wolves return to the University of Washington on February 10-11 to compete in the Husky classic/open.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Wolves drop two games to finish home stand

Morgan Swaim | Sports Editor

The first game of the week on Thursday, Jan. 25, for the women’s team had a high amount of late tension, with the game needing five extra minutes to declare a winner. Northwest Nazarene pulled away from the Wolves in that game during the closing minutes to a final score of 72-67. The second game against the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 27, concluded the Wolves’s four game homestand going down in the process, 79-67.

From the start of the battle with the Nazarene Nighthawks, three point shooting was hard to come by for the Wolves. The team shot 20.7 percent (6/29) from beyond the arc as they tried to maintain pace with the Nighthawks. The shooting from three-point was the main obstacle in capturing a win as the game came down to just a few shots going in the opposite direction of the Wolves. As the Wolves faced a 61-59 deficit with time winding down, junior Ali Nelke tied the game with just one second left to force overtime. The momentum did not carry over into the last five minutes as Nazarene edged out the Wolves in the final result. Offensively the team was led by forward Savannah Heugly with 18 points, and guard Shelby Snook with 14 points, both seniors on the team.

The Wolves came into the second game on Jan. 27 trying to halt Central Washington — extending their winning streak to four, and attempting to avoid a three-game losing skid.

The balanced attack from the Wildcats proved to be too much. Five of the Wildcats’s players scored in double figures, as the Wolves could not keep up the scoring pace. Early on the Wolves were facing a deficit — being outscored by seven points in each quarter of the first half, trailing 47-33.

After the Wolves cut the lead to nine at the end of the third quarter, the game continued to swing Central Washington’s way as it carried on late. The difference in bench points was a dominating factor in the game, with a 41-20 advantage in favor of the Wildcats.

With the streak of home games now being over, the Wolves sit at 8-10 overall on the season, with a 4-8 record against GNAC conference opponents. The team will resume action on Feb. 1, on the road against Western Washington. On Feb. 3, the Wolves take on Simon Fraser in Burnaby B.C.

Contact the author mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Wolves ranked 4th in the nation after pushing win streak to 12

Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer

This past week was a pivotal one for the Wolves. With a ten game winning streak on the line, the team traveled up north to play two GNAC teams located in Alaska. On Jan. 25, the University of Alaska Fairbanks had the first attempt to face the Wolves, who started the week ranked sixth nationally. The Wolves dominated that match up in a 81-54 blowout. During the second road trip, against the University of Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 27, the two teams mostly traded baskets back and forth, but the 12-point lead established by the Wolves early on kept the game out of reach, 72-62.

The Wolves wasted no time jumping out to a lead on Fairbanks and held the lead the entire game, outpacing Fairbanks 16-6 in the first six minutes. The lead extended to 27 by the time the game was over. Senior guard Dustin Triano found a high amount of success off the bench this game, logging 25 minutes and scoring 13 points.

The second game of the week had the Wolves pitted against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. The team was lead by superb defensive play in the first half, holding the Seawolves to just 19 points on 6/22 shooting. Senior Tanner Omlid had an excellent all-around performance, scoring 22 points while adding seven rebounds and four assists. On the defensive side, Omlid also recorded three steals and two blocks in the victory.

This past week was beneficial for the team. The Wolves moved into the top spot of the GNAC standings with a 11-1 record in conference play. Western Washington had been undefeated against conference rivals, but saw that streak snap as they lost back to back games this week. These wins also move the Wolves up in the national standings, going from six to four, with an overall record of 19-1. This also comes after the fifth ranked Bellarmine University Knights dropped their second game of the season last week.

On Feb. 1, the team will be traveling to visit Montana State Billings in an attempt to extend the winning streak even higher and climb up national ranks.

Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

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