The Western Howl – Page 40 – The Western Howl

Written by: Taylor Duff | Staff Writer

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2024 and to all the possibilities this year will bring. With the new year here, many are just starting to pursue their 2024 goals. These goals range from becoming a better cook, committing to more cuddle time and even trying hydrotherapy. This list describes the top five things to add to resolutions for 2024 to improve ourselves and our lives.

Improve clutter — Everyone wants a space that is calm and collected as much as it is organized. After the holidays especially, decluttering your space feels extremely rewarding and gets the new year off to a fresh start. Take the much-needed time and go through old boxes, sorting items no longer used or organizing to be more efficient.

Pick up more hobbies — Each year individuals want to incorporate something new to try such as painting, pottery or dance classes. Picking up new skills improves mental health by reducing anxiety and expressing gratification.

Build a better budget — Americans have struggled with finances throughout history but possibly even more so in the past four years since the pandemic and inflation have taken a toll. Budgeting income helps ensure bills and finances are taken care of which allows security. It can be difficult to cut back on things sought after and sit down to make the proper list of funds but once done, the guessing is over.

Get rid of toxicity — This can be getting rid of alcohol, nicotine or even toxic relationships. As people, we accumulate habits that might not seem to be as harmful to us as they appear. The small changes made by releasing toxic habits and people who don’t serve us anymore can help improve our lives immensely.

Become a better person — This goal includes many ideas of self-improvement such as working out, reading more and eating healthy, but we can also include mental health awareness and seeking therapy. We, as people get caught up and get stressed out with our lives, and the first thing we let go of is ourselves, but for 2024, let’s focus on ourselves first. The better we take care of ourselves, the better the environment we create which in turn makes all of these resolutions we set more achievable.

The most important takeaway as we continue 2024 is to take it one day at a time. We live busy lives, taking care of responsibilities, and some of us are taking care of others and might not have the time. Overall, set attainable goals that make the fulfillment worth it for 2024, and let’s prosper.

Contact the author at: tduff23@mail.wou.edu

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Waste increases dramatically after the holidays

Written by: Sierra Porter | Staff Writer

The holidays can induce many feelings of happiness through eating good food, giving gifts and seeing your family. Although, one thing the holidays are also notorious for, that is less joyous, is the fact that waste increases dramatically over the holiday seasons.

Waste and trash increases by at least 25% after the holiday season when individuals throw away about 81.5 pounds of clothes at the end of the year. Instead of chucking everything in the trash bin, Oregon has many donation sites that offer a better, more sustainable option than throwing away unwanted holiday gifts.

Clothes/Furniture/Decor

Goodwill — and other local thrift stores are always great options to give unused clothes and furniture — being that they are in decent condition of course. Donating to these types of stores allows them to continue to provide job opportunities and contribute back to the community.

Habitat For Humanity Restore — is another community knit organization that can pick up one’s donations, or one can drop them off anytime from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. — no appointment needed. They accept donations consisting of furniture, cabinets, exercise equipment, home goods and tools for a variety of jobs.

Food

Oregon Food Bank — offers tremendously different options on how to donate food and money, volunteer and even set up one’s own food bank for communities near you. The goal of the Oregon Food Bank is to eliminate hunger one step at a time and to bring the community closer together to increase awareness of these organizations. Visit the Oregon Food Bank website to see the variety of ways you can help, or if you know someone who is in need of resources, the site provides locations of places one can pick up free groceries and resources.

Books/music

The Book Corner — located in Beaverton, accepts donations of items including books, CD’s, vinyls, comics and more. The Book Corner accepts donations Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m.. All donations must be free from smoke stains, water stains and foul odors and need to be decent in quality.

Ethos Music Center — accepts musical instruments and equipment to donate to local children passionate about music. Ethos takes any instrument from drums, violins and woodwinds to equipment like reeds, guitar racks, strings and even computers or tablets. Simply fill out a donation form and a staff member will reach out.

Don’t waste this year, donate.

Contact the author at howlstaffwriter@wou.edu

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This week is completely made up horoscopes

The Signs Snowed-in

Aries: sleeping for 12 hours straight

Taurus: debating on redownloading dating apps due to boredom

Gemini: on the fourth rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy

Cancer: Rearranging my room for the 100th time

Leo: losing my mind.

Virgo: ate shit on the ice trying to take out trash

Libra: Finally getting to that tbr list

Scorpio: I’m running out of canned soup and conversation topics with my cats

Sagittarius: no longer on speaking terms with my roommate

Capricorn: Reading smut books and overcaffeinated

Aquarius: Rotting with my video games

Pisces: makes a playlist so they can stare off into the distance

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A playlist to start 2024 off right

Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor

“Darlin’ Do Not Fear” — Brett Dennen

“Spice Up Your Life” — Spice Girls

“Time to Pretend” — MGMT

“Nothing You Can Take From Me (Boot Stompin’ Version)” — Rachel Zegler

“You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” — Taylor Swift

“Now and Then” — The Beatles

“America” — Simon & Garfunkel

“I Love You Always Forever” — Donna Lewis

“Letter To An Old Poet” — boygenius

“New Perspective” — Noah Kahan

“Dive” — Olivia Dean

“Rubber Ring” — The Smiths

“Ghost” — Arlo Parks

“Midnight Moon” — The Paper Kites

“Breaking Down” — Florence and the Machine

“Wrapped Up In Books” — Belle and Sebastian

“A Long Way Past The Past” — Fleet Foxes

“First Light” — Hozier

“Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” — She & Him

“Strawberry” — Andrew Montana

“the way things go” — beabadoobee

“Traveller” — Chris Stapleton

“So Nice So Smart” — Kimya Dawson

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

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The Golden Globes and its miserable host

Written by: Jaylin Hardin | Sports Editor

The Golden Globes is an award ceremony held annually to recognize the achievements of actors, directors, composers and even the movies themselves. “Oppenheimer”, “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” all walked away with awards this year.

The awards rewarded are as follows:

Best Drama — “Oppenheimer”

Best Actress in a Drama — Lily Gladstone in “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Best Actor in a Drama — Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer”

Best Director — Christopher Nolan in “Oppenheimer”

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement — “Barbie”

Other winners include Studio Ghibli’s “The Boy and the Heron,” Billie Eilish’s original song “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” and director Yorgos Lanthimos’ comedy “Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. However, it is not the Golden Globe winners that have been generating a buzz on social media, nor is it Lily Gladstone’s acceptance speech, where she spoke in the Blackfeet language.

Nope, everyone is worked up about Jo Koy and his “jokes” about “Barbie” and Taylor Swift — whose “Eras Tour” movie was also nominated.

Koy’s monologue included the comparison of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.” “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies,” Koy said.

Almost immediately following the slight, he went after Swift, joking that the difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL was that the Globes showed fewer shots of Taylor Swift.

These “jokes” have taken precedence over the achievements of the directors and actors who worked tirelessly on these movies. Rather than celebrating the fact that “Oppenheimer,” a movie showing the horrific beauties of war, and “Barbie,” a movie celebrating womanhood, won in their categories, everyone is now focused on how much of an absolute joke the Golden Globes award ceremony has become.

These jokes have especially been met with criticism online, with many users saying that 2023 was the year for girlhood and that Koy watered it down to Swift being the star of the NFL and “Barbie” being simply about a plastic doll. “Barbie” and “The Eras Tour Movie” both were huge box office successes, as well as Swift’s Eras Tour garnering millions of dollars. Swift has indeed aided the NFL in their viewership — increasing 7% every week since she started to attend the games in support of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. The NFL is now at its highest viewership since 2015.

Lily Gladstone received some buzz online — not as much as she deserved — for being the first Indigenous actress to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress. When she received her award, she spoke in her Native Blackfeet language. Language experts at Simon Fraser University and the University of Montana said that her speech translated to: “Hello my friends and relatives. My name is Eagle Woman. I am Blackfoot. I love you all.” Gladstone grew up on the Blackfoot reservation in Montana.

Whether one follows the Golden Globes or not, what should be focused on is the achievements of these movies, and how they have affected audiences around the world.

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

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Mixed feelings on Timothee Chalamet’s new movie

Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor

Content warning: this article contains spoilers

Just in time for the holiday season, a sweet prequel, based on a beloved children’s novel by Roald Dahl, arrived in theaters in the United Kingdom Dec. 8 and the United States Dec. 15. French-American actor Timothée Chalamet stars as a younger version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s” chocolatier, Willy Wonka. “So quiet up, and listen down. Nope, scratch that, reverse it,” as Wonka says.

The movie features talented actors, such as Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key. Timothée Chalamet has acquired a fan base of young women from his roles in movies such as “Call Me By Your Name,” “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” Word of Chalamet playing a familiar favorite spread quickly. However, some movie-goers had mixed feelings about the new take on the classic.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ” has already seen two adaptations, starring Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp as Wonka. Additionally, the original book has a sequel, and some fans were wondering why a prequel made it to the screen before an adaptation of the sequel did.

Lili Minato, a sophomore at Western, is a film fanatic and meticulously selects her movies. She proposed a thoughtful question in regards to the new addition to the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” universe — “I think (prequels) can be done well… but if you want to make a prequel, is it needed?”

Perhaps the initial audience reaction to “Wonka” was due to its misleading advertising. “I thought it was weird that they didn’t (advertise) Wonka as a musical. People went and saw it, and were like, wait, why are they singing?” Minato said.

Minato also commented that marketing the movie as a musical would have brought in more theater fans. “For some people, that sounds like the total package.”

The movie has an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and it has many qualities that make for a great movie. With its vibrant costumes, catchy music and elaborate sets, it’s hard to look away. Elements incorporated from older movies such as “Annie” and “Mary Poppins” make “Wonka” all the more charming. For many musical fans, a new timeless classic has just been born.

8/10.

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

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“Down the Drain:” a biography of Julia Fox

Written by: Ruth Simonsen | Digital Media Manager

Content warning: this article contains spoilers

Julia Fox, once known as Kanye West’s rebound girlfriend, is best known for donning head-to-toe black latex outfits and hand-drawn eyeliner. In the media’s eyes, she was no more than arm candy to the controversial rapper.

Since their split in 2022, however, her fame continued to skyrocket and she saw her following grow. Now, she proudly calls herself a female sex symbol, with her bleached eyebrows and lilting voice.

Once Fox released her recent biography, “Down the Drain,” the world was surprised she was not always this famous.

Julia Fox spent much of her early years in the small town of Saronno in Italy. After moving to New York City to live with her father, her life quickly began to grow rockier by the day. Between her father’s verbal and physical abuse and her mother’s spontaneous wrath, Julia spent most of her childhood couch-surfing and searching for solace in any place that promised even the slightest bit of happiness.

This mindset frequently landed her in unsafe situations — including a relationship with a controlling drug dealer who stalked and threatened her. However, through her ex boyfriend, she was first introduced to narcotics, many of which would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The rest of her teen years were spent traveling between Italy and New York City — working as a dominatrix — then settling down as a sugar baby for an extremely wealthy client. Through this resource, she gained her footing by creating a clothing brand leading to a life of extravagance — only to realize she was the one truly being taken advantage of.

As Julia continued to grow and age, she met and lost many people in her life. Between her near- death experiences and the deaths of many she knew and loved, Julia weaves a cautionary tale with heroin, its use and addiction, as one of the primary villains.

Now, at Julia’s celebrity status, I thought of her as another Kim K, Megan Fox or Hadid sister. I was quick to judge and even quicker to dislike. It was not until I saw an excerpt from her book that my curiosity was piqued. From there, it was pure, unabashed adoration of her and the life she persevered through.

I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster, first laughing at her snark, then suddenly crying as she described her feelings and experiences of loss. Now, as she finally feels comfortable in who she is and the role she plays in the world today, she ends her biography with this: “Sometimes you just have to say f-ck it and throw your whole life down the drain just to see where you come out on the other side.”

9/10.

Contact the author at howldigitalmediamanager@mail.wou.edu

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Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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Hello 2024, didn’t see you there

Waste increases dramatically after the holidays

This week is completely made up horoscopes

A playlist to start 2024 off right

Mixed feelings on Timothee Chalamet’s new movie

“Down the Drain:” a biography of Julia Fox

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