Mount Hood

Dead by dawn

By: Darien Campo 
Freelancer

Continuing my October horror movie marathon, this week brought me … “Coraline” (2009), “House on Haunted Hill” (1999), “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984), and “The Babadook” (2014).

I also had a chance to re-watch my favorite trilogy of movies — and just in time, because with a brand new television show premiering this month, Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” series is about to come back in style.

I watched “Evil Dead” at a young age, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The original “Evil Dead” (1981) is a testament to perseverance, brimming with the potential of fledgling director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell.

Reading Campbell’s autobiography “If Chins Could Kill” gives a great insight into the impossible odds these college students faced trying to make their first feature-length film. It may stumble in its delivery, but “Evil Dead” is an accomplishment in gore cinema.

“Evil Dead II” (1987) is by far my favorite of the series. The sloppy mess of violence that made the original Evil Dead great is now mixed with Bruce Campbell’s unique style of Three Stooges-esque slapstick overacting.

This sequel/reimagining takes a more comedic turn on the genre, giving us a hilariously twisted romp that has you gasping in shock between peals of laughter. “Evil Dead II” knows you’re not taking it seriously, so it doesn’t bother either.

The final film in the trilogy is the funny and endlessly quotable “Army of Darkness” (1992). While “Evil Dead II” strikes a perfect balance between scares and shticks, the third movie has made it all the way to other side of the spectrum, where it is now a straight comedy with horror elements.

The second film may have had its over-the-top moments, but “Army of Darkness” is an over-the-top film. The entire setting of the series is flipped on its head and our hero, Ash, becomes a cheesy one-line spewing powerhouse of hilarity.

But true to its themes the “Evil Dead” series lives on.
2013 brought us a fantastic remake that had all the heart of the original and all the special effects of today. A hilariously messy musical has also found its way to the stage, which you can see at the 2nd Street Theatre in Bend, Ore. every year.

Finally, you can catch the fast-approaching “Ash vs. the Evil Dead” series on STARZ, premiering Oct. 31, 2015. It is a terrific time to be a fan of “Evil Dead.”

Late Night’s New Kid: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

By: Declen Hertel
Entertainment Editor

Like a great many Americans, I was very sad to see Jon Stewart leave “The Daily Show.” I first started to watch “The Daily Show” in my freshman year of high school, and seeing Jon Stewart take on all the hypocrisy and stupidity in the world was where I got most of my news. But after sixteen years in the captain’s chair, Stewart decided it was time to move on.

When Trevor Noah, a 31 year-old South African comedian, was announced as Stewart’s replacement, I was intrigued and a bit skeptical.

I liked his work on “The Daily Show” during Stewart’s run, but he still seemed untested. This also came on the heels of “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” taking the spot of “The Colbert Report,” which I felt (and still feel) was a lackluster replacement. How would the new host do filling such big shoes at such a tumultuous time in fake news?

Having seen most of Noah’s run thus far, I can say with confidence that “The Daily Show” is in good hands. The first few episodes were rough, as it was obvious Noah was still settling into this new role, but he has been steadily getting better and more confident as the show plugs along.

While I miss the biting, somewhat world-weary sarcasm of Jon Stewart, the youthful energy Noah brings is a welcome change of pace. There’s more room for silliness and shenanigans with him in charge.
He still brings his own spirit to the more Stewart-like pieces as well; there was a hilarious piece recently on Donald Trump’s similarities to corrupt African presidents that just wouldn’t have felt right with Stewart, but played very well for Noah.

I think if Noah can find what he can bring, and not try to be the next Jon Stewart, he’ll do very well at the helm.

The Empire Strikes Back

By: Jack Armstrong 
Copy Editor

Set for a release date of Nov. 17, 2015, EA and Dice’s collaborative effort at reviving the Star Wars Battlefront series is already surrounded by huge hype.

This past weekend saw the general public’s first access to a playable version of the highly anticipated FPS, and what was available for the trial was as impressive as promised.

Survival was the only single player/local co-op modes available to the beta participants, while “Battles” and “Training” will be closed until the full version arrives. Survival, as the name implies, simply pits you against wave after wave of Stormtroopers and AT-STs.

Maps for Survival will include Tatooine, Sullust, Endor, and Hoth upon release, but Tatooine was the only playable mission and it was only playable through six of the 15 waves.

Some of the best features in Survival include a cameo by Admiral Akbar who barks orders in his distinctive voice. It’s not a trap this time, the graphics are excellent, and the waves are full of variety in both items and enemies.

The map is big and offers some interesting distractions like randomly placed collectables for extra points. Couch co-op as well as online co-op is a great feature for those of us old-school kids who still like to play games together.

On the flip side, the difficulty was null on the “normal” setting. In fact the 5-6 times I played through and beat the Survival mode, I only died once that wasn’t of my own stupidity (see running of the edge of the map).

It would be better with the addition of useable vehicles, but it remains to be seen if EA will make this an option in the final release.

The online multiplayer modes available for the beta were Dropzone, basically team death match with an assault and defend twist, and Walker Assault, a conquest style games with vehicles and heroes.

Modes not available included Supremacy, Fighter Squad, Blast, Cargo, and Droid Run. I was especially disappointed that Fighter Squad wasn’t available, but EA needed to save a trick or two for the release.
The graphics are still great in the online games, but the frame rate drops more than in the single player options. Players have access to a wide range of power ups, like landmines and weapon charges so everyone on the battlefield could have something up their sleeve.

Vehicles are fun (if difficult to drive at first), but heroes are the highlight. Playing as Darth Vader and Luke was great, and since power ups are not based on performance, you won’t have to miss out on the fun if you’re having a bad round.

However, Walker Assault maps can be a bit daunting, and it’s difficult to spot your objectives or your party members on the mini map. Not to mention the party system for connecting with friends is still buggy, but I imagine this will be fixed before we all get to play.

In all modes, playability was much easier than its cousin FPS Battlefield, forgiving but precise when necessary. In fact the whole game plays a lot like Battlefield in how you progress and unlock upgrades, and how you fight in battle but vehicle driving is made easier, very approachable.

There is a “Star Card” system for customizing your character, and it’s easy to tailor these to your playing style whether you’re a “spray and prey” player or a “hunt and snipe” type.

Overall I would highly recommend this game for all lovers of FPS, or just plain good games, but I would particularly recommend it for Star Wars fans. The sound track, atmosphere of the maps, and the attention to details in things like vehicle performance and design is extremely authentic.

Honestly it made me feel like a part of the movies, and that’s all I could have asked.

4.5 out of 5 paws, just for the beta!

Lost in space and loving it: “The Martian” review

By: Declan Hertel 
Entertainment Editor

With the recent discovery of liquid water on Mars, the Red Planet seems closer than ever.
This seemingly simple but massively important discovery got me all fired up to see “The Martian,” the latest film from Ridley Scott whose other works include “Alien,” and “Blade Runner.”

A new movie about Mars comes out just as we make a huge breakthrough in its exploration? It’s hard to believe it wasn’t planned.

“The Martian” finds Matt Damon (“The Bourne Identity”) playing Mark Watney, an astronaut accidentally left for dead on the surface of Mars after a storm prematurely ends the crew’s mission. As he begins to create a one-man colony on the surface, NASA realizes he’s alive and sets about bringing him home.

I went into this movie expecting something like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” (2013), where a single astronaut is stranded in space and everything’s falling apart around the crew and “oh god, oh god” the empty vastness is so near “oh god.”

While there are moments of great tension (and what else could we expect from the man who made freaking “Alien”), they don’t overwhelm. Instead, the brilliance of “The Martian” lies in its bright tone: while it’s always clear that the situation is dire and time is limited, the film just asks you to accept that and instead chooses to focus on just how supremely cool this whole thing is.

Watney is always cracking jokes to his video journal and talking about how awesome it is that he’s triumphing over a barren wasteland where it would only take one big mistake to kill him. He talks about technical definitions of colonization and what international laws space falls under, always to bring it back to “Everything I do has never been done before. That is ‘NUTS’.”

Watching Watney’s new home come together is a joy; we celebrate with every success and lament every failure with him. For a movie about a fairly hopeless situation, the film is very funny and lighthearted.

“The Martian” also features a spectacular ensemble cast to complement Damon, with the likes of Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”), and Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”) making appearances. There is not a weak performance among the cast, each approaching the tasks ahead of them with the gravity they’re due, but also with that sense of “this is so cool.”

Movies that center around the “triumph of the human spirit” can very easily fall into superficial sentimentality that ends up dehumanizing the characters and cheapening the message, but not so with “The Martian.”

The dedication, enthusiasm, and sense of humor displayed by every character doesn’t feel forced. It feels like the natural reaction to a situation that’s totally unprecedented in terms of both danger and awesomeness.

In fact, that’s my takeaway from the movie: awesome. Humans are awesome, space is awesome, and the former can do awesome things in the latter despite great obstacles. Because we’re humans. We can tame space. And that’s awesome.

A spooky movie a day keeps the boogeyman away

By: Darien Campo 
Freelancer

And so began October – the spookiest month of the year.

There’s no other time that so openly celebrates the most macabre parts of our culture. Houses are adorned with goofy skeletons and ghosts. When else can you proudly display such symbols of our own mortality?

October is a month to be proud of our deepest fears, and for me that means celebrating in the only fashion I find appropriate: watching a different horror movie every single day for 31 days straight. Nothing gets me in the October mood better than spooky cinema – and you should try it too.

For me, October is a time for all the things that scare me senseless. I love being scared; watching a movie in uncontrollable fear has the same excitement for me as cackling at a hilarious comedy.

Scary movies tap into a deeper, more primal version of ourselves. As we mature into adults, we lose the ability to fear irrationally for the most part. What shadows in the closet were once malicious beasts are now hanging jackets, and what moans in the night were once a terrifying ghoul are now the normal sounds of a settling house.

But with a good horror film, all the years of learned skepticism and rationality are thrown out the window. There’s no time for careful thought when Michael Meyers appears out of nowhere in “Halloween” (1978). It’s impossible to examine a situation rationally over the croaking groans of “The Babadook” (2014).

Horror movies are fun, and all of the best ones know that. That’s why films like “Evil Dead II” (1987) can make you scream one minute and laugh uncontrollably the next. That’s why even children can have fun watching a movie about death, like in “The Corpse Bride” (2005).

These movies force us to face things we’d rather sweep under the rug. From the irrational ghosts, monsters, and darkness, to the more realistic killers, insanity, and our own unavoidable demise.

It’s easy to forget just how much fun it is to be scared, and October is the perfect time to start remembering. A horror movie a day is a fantastic way to honor the things that we fear most, and there are so many films to choose from. Don’t worry that you’re a little late in starting – just grab some friends and some popcorn, turn out the lights, and scare yourselves silly!

3 Leg Torso to perform on campus

By: Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

Friday, Oct. 7, 2015 in Rice Auditorium, Smith Fine Arts will welcome award-winning quintet 3 Leg Torso to Western.

The Smith Fine Arts Series is all about bringing the best in performing arts to the Western’s campus, and 3 Leg Torso looks like they will uphold that mission admirably.

Originally formed in 1996 as a violin, accordion, and cello three-piece, 3 Leg Torso has since expanded to five members, and their unique brand of modern chamber music is sure to delight anybody who enjoys music from supremely talented performers.

I have listened to the band’s 2010 release “Animals and Cannibals” (Meester Records) several times since learning of the group, and I absolutely love the cinematic, gypsy aesthetic.

The opening track, “Akiko Yano”, feels like setting off on an adventure through the European countryside. Several songs on the record have a tango influence to them, and you can’t help but imagine the band off in the corner of some small pub, playing their hearts out as the patrons dance around.

Despite being an instrumental act, each song tells a little story, along with the music. And really, who doesn’t want to know the tale implied by “The Life and Times and Good Deeds of St. Penguin”?

3 Leg Torso plays Friday, Oct. 7, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium, and tickets are free for students. It certainly looks like it’s going to be a great time, and for the low, low price of free? Check out 3 Leg Torso. You’ll be happy you did.

For more information on tickets or the performance, please contact 503-838-8333 or visit The Cottage at 342 Monmouth Ave. North.

Nightmare Factory brings terror to Salem

By:Ashton Newton
Freelancer

With Halloween just around the corner, children everywhere are preparing their costumes to go out and trick-or-treat all over the country.

For those of us who are too old to take candy from strangers, we’re still searching for ways to get absolutely terrified. Luckily, the Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD) has you covered with their annual haunted house, The Nightmare Factory, which started back up on Oct. 2, 2015 and runs to Nov. 7, 2015.

With the help of student and outside volunteers, the OSD puts on a truly scary and memorable haunted house.

This Salem-based haunted house, put on as a fundraiser for the OSD, has a new terrifying theme each year that promises to keep you up at night in fear. This year is special though, with two haunted houses in one.

The two themes are a zombie infested “Warehouse 27,” and “Mr. Boogers Fun House.” If you’re feeling extra brave though, the last two nights of the haunted house, Nov. 6 and 7, will be completely pitch dark, with only a single glow-stick provided for light. And if even that isn’t enough for you, you can have yourself strapped into a wheelchair and taken through the haunted house with “Mr. Booger’s Wild Ride.”

Kristin Galvin, sister of co-director Kivo LeFevre, helps run the Nightmare Factory alongside her son Riky and other co-director Ed Roberts.

“Nightmare Factory started 28 years ago with boy’s dorm school counselor Ed Roberts and 13 year old student Kivo LeFevre,” says Galvin. “Ed, aka Candy in this year’s haunted house, directs the zombies and Kivo, aka Mr. Booger, directs the clown area,” Galvin said.

In 2010, the Nightmare Factory received national recognition when the OSD was on Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Each year, the Nightmare Factory changes themes and floor plans. The themes are decided on by directors Roberts and LeFevre. After the theme is decided on, the walls are moved and painted and preparation for the haunted house begins.

When asked what her favorite part of doing the Nightmare Factory was, Galvin said, “For me personally, being involved with the haunt gives me a chance to spend some great time with my brother Kivo and my son Riky. I’ve also discovered an acting side of myself that I’ve never explored and love the evolution of Dr. Howlina.”

She jokes that a family that haunts together, stays together.

Taking Stage: Why Theatre Needs Punk

By: Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

Back in the seventies, disco was king: meaning it was grandiose, self-important, and by the late seventies had metastasized into an elitist ball of sonic suckitude that engulfed popular music.

But then punk happened. Punk was raw, messy, and caused a massive shift in the world of music, taking everything that disco represented and smashed it beneath a hundred moshing feet. It brought meaning and humanity back to music.

I bring this up because there is a problem with a different artistic medium that is near and dear to my heart: theatre. Here it is, folks: the modern theatre is disco.

Disco was the predominant popular music of its time. Sure, there was interesting, non-sucktastic stuff happening beneath it, but it was beneath it. So to with theatre. The contemporary face of theatre is dominated by the blockbuster musical and revivals of blockbuster musicals; “Wicked”, “The King and I”, and their ilk.

Not that there is anything wrong with those, they fill the same niche as “The Avengers” does for movies: it’s a big, bombastic, fun spectacle. I saw the Broadway touring company of “Wicked” in 2012, it was dope, and anyone who left that theatre thinking that it wasn’t was wrong. But these shows are, unfortunately, indicative to the same unsettling trend that the Marvel Cinematic Universe exemplifies in cinema: style over substance.

The other big issue with the modern theatre is that it is perceived in the mainstream as being inaccessible, as an art form for the old and powerful. Audiences are dominated by the old, the white, and the rich; in other words, the people who have the least impetus to change the world.

The old aren’t going be here for long, the white have it good, and the rich have it better. It’s out of reach to the average American, or at least it looks like it. The average middle class American needs to use the money they would spend on tickets to pay rent; this reality combined with the fact that the “cheap” end of professional theatre tickets is generally over $20 only pushes theater further away from the lower end.

I can hear you thinking: “Why should I care?”

You should care because, friends, theatre used to be dangerous. As Western’s own Dr. Michael Phillips says in his Theatre History class, people have been killed because they were theatre artists. Theatre strikes fear into tyrants and has been known to lead, sometimes directly, to their demise. Why? Because theatre is human.

Theatre, at its best, is the pulse of a culture. It is an inherently visceral art form. In theatre, you are in the same room as these people. You are directly witnessing their struggles, their passions, their loves and hates and triumphs and failures, with nothing more between you than an implicit divide between actors and audience. There’s nowhere to hide from the truth.

No other art form has such ability to create empathy. This unique property is wasted on huge, feel-good musicals. Sure it’s saddening to see the injustices perpetrated on a green-skinned witch, but it’s downright devastating when a play shows you the injustices suffered by your fellow humans every day. Theatre does more than tell you what’s going on, it slaps you in the face and dares you to do something about it. It shows you exactly what’s wrong with the world you live in, and makes you care.

There needs to be a punk rock revolution in the theatre. Too long has it languished in the clutches of the elite, too long has it been an inaccessible art form, unavailable to the common man. Theatre has always been a voice for change throughout the world, a voice for those who have no other voice, but not in the America of today.

Important works are being written and premiered regularly, but the “high-class” perception of theatre has relegated their viewership to those who have no stake or vested interest in what they stand for, and those who do have an interest are put off by the saturation of blockbusters homogenizing down the form.

In these troubled times, we need all the help we can get. What I ask of you is this: seek out shows that tackle today’s issues, and support them. Support small, underground theatres. Go and experience the unbelievable power that theatre holds, and let it fuel you to change the world you live in, in whatever way you can.

 

Original Play by Western Students Takes “Flight”

By Nathaniel Dunaway
 Entertainment Editor

The best word to describe Western theatre’s spring play, “Frankie’s Flights of Fancy” is this: magical.

An original – or “devised” – work created by a group of Western students, this family-friendly show is an exploration of what it means to be a child, when adventures of the imagination and “flights of fancy” are delightfully common, and can be propelled by something as simple as a favorite toy.

The play will run May 27-30 and each performance will begin at 7:30 p.m.

“Frankie” opens with a little girl, the titular Frankie, entering a cobweb-blanketed room decorated with faded posters and paintings. The wallpaper is water-worn and sagging; crates and boxes of all sizes add to the clutter.

It’s not long before Frankie, who is played by third-year theatre major Belladina Starr, wearing a full-head character mask designed by the Portland theatre company Wonderheads, soon discovers that one of the aforementioned boxes is different than the others; this box is a portal to the imagination, to a world of dreams.

With the help of this magic box, Frankie is transported to an assortment of different worlds, all with their own unique characters and dangers.

Through the use of masks, marionettes, shadow puppets, projections and animations, Frankie chases a Wild West villain, conducts an orchestra, does battle with a Japanese demon and more.

The process of creating “Frankie” has been a year-long endeavor which began last fall. A class led by Western theatre professor Michael Phillips started from scratch to “build” a show from the ground up.

Starr, no doubt the star of the show, has been involved with “Frankie” since the beginning.

“Devised theatre is hard,” Starr said. “It’s so much about working together and being a team every step of the way. But when everyone comes together — designers, actors, tech, crew, everyone — and get past the uncertainty, and the challenges that arise, it’s rewarding.”

This isn’t the first time Western’s theatre department has explored original work. In 2013, a similar class, also led by Phillips, created and performed the devised show “Half a Block From Home.”

Once the story outline and general script for “Frankie” was completed, a new class, held in winter term, carried the project closer to its completion, establishing the specific logistics of the puppets, animations, props, and more.

The music for the show, a complete original score, was designed by music composition major Ian Knowland. This score was central to the magic of “Frankie,” helping to transport both the little girl and the audience to locales that include a rollicking old-timey circus, and a dimly lit, noir-soaked interrogation room.

Once the show was cast, it was up to the nine cast members and director Phillips to bring “Frankie” life.

“I have never used puppets,” said first-year theatre major Edgar Lopez, who, among other roles, portrays an old circus custodian who is secretly a master of shadow puppetry. “It takes a lot of team effort to make [puppets] work. I’ve learned to be able to move as one in a group. I’m also glad I took the movement class, [it] has helped tremendously, because this show is all about movement.”

The end product of this yearlong undertaking proves to be a touching tribute to the magic of childhood, as well as the magic of theatre.

“Getting to see something you helped create is beautiful,” Starr said. “It’s not like anything else.”

Student tickets to “Frankie’s Flights of Fancy” are free. Tickets for faculty and non-students can be purchased at the Rice Auditorium Box Office or over the phone at 503-838-8462.

2015 NBA FINALS

The NBA Finals Playoff series is set to start in Oakland on Thursday, June 4 with tipoff at 6 p.m. PST. The Golden State Warriors are favored to win the series with in-form Stephen Curry coming in off the back of game three against the Rockets where he broke the record for most three-pointers scored in a playoff season at 67 and counting. Klay Thompson is also heating up for the Warriors sinking 20 points in the final game against the Rockets. This is the Warriors first finals appearance since their last NBA title win in 1975.

The Cavaliers and Lebron James are arriving to the big stage battered and bruised. With at least four players experiencing day-to-day injuries (including James), the Cavs played one less game but are still feeling the physical side. This didn’t stop James’ trophy-hunting side from putting up a triple-double in the overtime game three, and a respectable 23 points in game four against the Atlanta Hawks. Looking for a boost, Kyrie Irving returned to the starting line-up after missing two games and posted an efficient 16 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

Buy games; help kids: The Humble Bundle

By Declan Hertel
 Staff Writer

Games are expensive. This is the sad truth of all gaming, be it video, board, or roleplaying: it is a costly hobby. However, efforts to make gaming more accessible have been made.

For video games, Valve (Team Fortress 2, Portal) has the Steam platform, a program that allows users to buy and download games, along with providing support for multiplayer gaming and a social network based around games.

Steam is known for its massive sales, especially during the winter and summer, where they mark down every game on their marketplace by a significant percentage and offer bigger deals on popular games day to day. But these huge sales are rare, and gamers are still on the lookout for cheap games.

Enter the Humble Bundle. Every few weeks on humblebundle.com, a bundle of games is put up for sale, and customers can pay what they want for them. You must pay at least $1, but the more you pay, the more you get.

The Humble Bundle typically offers several tiers of games; the first tier is “pay-what-you-want,” and the second tier requires that you beat the average price (at the time of this writing, the current Bundle has an average of $5.51).

The second tier is generally where the better, more well-known games lie. Relatively recently, Humble Bundle introduced more tiers with fixed prices for a third tier, generally around $15-$20 to get the biggest name games in the bundle. If you pay their highest asking price, you’ll receive all the games from every tier, often getting $250+ worth of games for $20.

“How could this possibly be,” you say? Well, dear reader, it can be because it is for charity.

The proceeds are split between the game developers and one or more charities, which have included Child’s Play, a charity that provides gaming consoles to children’s hospitals; Electronic Frontier Foundation, a “non-profit digital rights group”; Charity: Water, which provides clean drinking water to developing nations, and the American Red Cross, among many others.

Customers are given the opportunity to split their money between the developers and the charities however they want, with a default 10 percent going to charity.

When I first heard about the Humble Bundle, after the initial excitement of 10 games for a dollar, I thought, “How could this possibly be a success? Why doesn’t everyone just give the minimum and be done?”

It turns out that many people are very charitable indeed, even when it would be very easy not to be. In the current bundle, the total amount given (with six days left at the time of this writing) is $462,963.85, and the biggest donation is $1,000.

Since its start in 2010, the Humble Bundle has also introduced Weekly Bundles, Book Bundles, Mobile Bundles for Android, and the Humble Store, which functions like the Steam store, but with a charitable angle.

Humble Bundle is a service that is well worth taking advantage of. You get your cheap games, and the rest of the world gets a little bit brighter. I think the world would do well with more such services, but for now, Humble Bundle will do.

Diversity in books still a work-in-progress

By Emily Pate
 Freelancer

Literature can be an escape from everyday life, a place to retreat from reality. And yet, for many, these retreats are not as accommodating- or as representative–as they should be.

In 2012, Roxane Gay, writing for the Rumpus, surveyed books reviewed by the New York Times in 2011. She discovered that 90 percent of these books were written by white authors.

“That is not even remotely reflective of the racial makeup of this country,” Gay said, “where 72 percent of the population, according to the 2010 census, is white.” In addition, nearly 67 percent of the books were written by men.

It’s not just in adult books that this lack of diversity is found. Also in 2012, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) did a survey of 3,600 books for children. Of all these books, only 7.5 percent were about non-white characters.

CCBC also reports that, over the last two decades, the percentage of children’s books written by or about people of color has remained near 10 percent, instead of the 37 percent that would more accurately reflect the population of the United States.

However, CCBC’s data indicates that the percentage of these books rose in 2014, up from 10 percent to 14 percent. It’s a small step, but still in the right direction.

There are improvements in other areas as well. According to Diversity in YA, at http://www.diversityinya.com, 47 LGBTQ+ books were published by mainstream publishers in 2014, a 59 percent increase from 2013, a number is still distressingly small considering the huge volume of books published every year.

And yet, like the percentages on racial diversity, the numbers are improving.

There are organizations that strive to take progress even farther. One such organization is the We Need Diverse Books Campaign, created in 2014 as a result of the lack of diversity in literature, especially in books directed towards young people.

On their website, http://weneeddiversebooks.org, the campaign defines itself as an organization that “advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.”

Representation is, as the We Need Diverse Books Campaign says, essential. Even aside from the desire to see oneself reflected in the pages of a book, diversity in literature, especially in books directed towards children and young adults, can teach empathy and self-confidence.

Better representations gives readers a broader, and more accurate, view of the world. Diversity is also something that anyone can contribute to. Through readers purchasing diverse books and encouraging better representation, the publishing industry can be directed towards literature that better represents all readers.

Max Max: Second Opinion

By Declan Hertel
 Staff Writer

In sharp contrast to my colleague Nathaniel, I hated “Mad Max: Fury Road.” I hated it because it was a perfect action film and, therefore, has ruined all other action films for me.

I didn’t know that movie genres could be won, but “Mad Max: Fury Road” has won action films.

I couldn’t look away for a second. “Mad Max” is, for my money, the most visually beautiful film since 2009’s “Avatar.” The vibrant orange and blue color palette brings the wasteland to life, deftly avoiding the brown deluge that often plagues post-apocalyptia.

Every element of the world — from the absurdly dangerous automobiles to the religious fervor of the War Boys; even the bungee-suspended, pajama-wearing flamethrower-operator/war-guitarist (take a second to absorb that) — just feels… right.

Without exaggeration, I say even the weakest action sequence in the film is far and away better than any other I’ve seen recently. Every scrap is executed with complete abandon, reveling in the madness without a care in the world; it’s an attitude best expressed by Nux during an utterly unhinged battle sequence: “What a day! What a LOVELY day! “

Have yourself a “lovely day” at the cinema. Go see “Mad Max.”

4.5 paws out of 4, and I’, not even kidding.

KWOU APP HAS ARRIVED

By Nathaniel Dunaway
Entertainment Editor

kwou2

Western’s student-run campus radio station KWOU now has an official app available through the Apple iTunes Store.

The app, called “KWOU: Western Oregon Radio,” is free to download, and features common radio and podcast app features, such as “Listen Now” and “The DJs,” the latter of which gives a rundown of the station’s 20 DJs and shows, including Space Legs, Renegade Riley, and Domination Nation.

“It has been a long process to finally get it out,” said KWOU Station Manager Iain Dexter. “But, we appreciate the work that Bruin Mobile from UCLA has done to help get this out. I am extremely excited to finally have the app ready for students and the Monmouth community to download and make access to our station much easier.”

“Weekly Schedule,” “Events,” and instant connection to KWOU’s various social media platforms are also available through the app, as well as information on how to get involved with the radio station, a part of Western’s student media.

The app requires iOS 7.0 or later, and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

“I’m looking forward to seeing KWOU grow through this introduction to mobile devices, which is what most people use to listen to music and the radio” said Clara Pratt, KWOU’s technical engineer.

KWOU joins Abby’s House as the two student-led organizations on campus with apps available through the iTunes Store.

“With any new technology, there are always initial kinks to work out,” Dexter said. “Currently, we are updating information, but you’ll always have access to our music and shows.”

In addition to the app, listeners can access KWOU at wou.edu/kwou.

Flailing is fun:

By Declan Hertel
 Staff Writer

The surge in indie games has brought with it a new genre of game: interactive slapstick. Funny games used to be games where you do a thing, someone says a joke, repeat. While those games still exist in fine form (“Portal 2” is a prime example), there is a new sort of comedy game that derives humor from its physics or controls.

Below is a list of very fine examples of the genre, and all come with high recommendations from me.

“Surgeon Simulator 2013”

This game is an example of an absurd control scheme used for humorous effect. In “SS2013,” you must perform complex surgeries with the use of only one hand.

The arm and hand are controlled with the mouse, and each of the fingers and the thumb are operated with the A, W, E, R, and Spacebar keys on your keyboard.

Picking up a scalpel becomes a gargantuan task, never mind using it to any great effect.

On more than one occasion, I’ve taken the heart I’m to transplant and accidentally thrown it full force into the patient’s face and watched it fall to the floor, never to be seen again. After many failed attempts, I finally completed the operation by removing everything from the man’s chest cavity and plopping the heart in. This is good enough in “Surgeon Simulator.”

“Goat Simulator”

The other main type of interactive slapstick comes from odd usages of physics. The developers of “Goat Simulator” left in every bug and glitch that didn’t crash the game, created a monster that plays like a demented “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” awarding points for tricks and stunts like running up walls, getting thrown across the map by a speeding truck, or knocking over a crowd of people by headbutting some poor sap into them.

That’s all you do; run around the map and cause mayhem as a goat. And it somehow never gets old. Every time you fire it up, you find some new way to mess with everything.

“Octodad: Dadliest Catch”

“Octodad,” a fusion of the above two methods of interactive slapstick, is a heartwarming game by Young Horse Inc. about a suburban father trying to be the best dad and best husband that he can possibly be while keeping his dark secret safe from the world, and even from his family; his secret being that he is, in fact, an octopus.

The player must guide the titular cephalopod through simple activities, like making breakfast, while controlling each of his super-elastic limbs individually.

But you also have a secret to keep, so you must fight against your rubbery appendages and try to accomplish these mundane tasks as mundanely as possible.

You’ll be doing well, walking around the kitchen, making small talk with your family, and then one false move later you’ve thrown the milk across the kitchen, and then as you go to retrieve it you knock over some chairs, and that sends your leg flying into the air and you flip into the wall, and after much hilarious flailing, you finally deliver a bowl of cereal to your daughter, who thanks you wholeheartedly. And all is right.

Actors Wanted

Next week, Western’s department of theatre and dance will hold open auditions for its summer outdoor production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”

Director David Janoviak will cast a combination of student and community actors in Shakespeare’s classic pastoral comedy. Parts for approximately 12 men and six women will be available.

The auditions will consist of an optional prepared Shakespearean monologue as well as cold readings from the script. No preparation is necessary to audition, but a familiarity of the play is highly recommended.

Audition dates are Friday, May 15 from 6 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, May 16 from 12 to 3 p.m. in the Math / Nursing Building, room 108.

The play will rehearse Monday through Friday evenings (6-9:30 p.m.) beginning on June 22 and will perform from July 30 through Aug. 1 on the outdoor stage adjacent to Rice Auditorium.

The part of Jaques is precast. All other parts are available.

“As You Like It” is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, and features the famous phrase “all the world’s a stage.” It tells the story of Rosalind and Celia, cousins who run away to the Forest of Arden, where they find true love.

For more information, please contact Professor David Janoviak (Director) at 503-559-1551 / janovid@wou.edu

BIGGER, BOLDER, MORE SUGAR?

[fruitful_ibox_row]
[fruitful_ibox column=”ffs-two-one” title=”Fed Up”]
By Jenna Beresheim
Staff Writer

Looking for a non-shaming, obesity-epidemic-blasting documentary? Look no further than “Fed Up” by Stephanie Soechtig.

Narrated by Katie Couric and averaging a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, this documentary is well-made and definitely worth the watch. Plus it is free on Netflix.

Popcorn and soda pop not included, but at only an hour and a half, snackage will not be required.

Unlike some other marathon movies that require pre-apocalyptic hoarding to survive to credits, this documentary will be over in a blink. And may even make you re-consider those sugary snacks.

“The message that’s been pushed on us: it’s your fault you’re fat,” Dr. Mark Hyman, the chairman for the Institute for Functional Medicine said, in regards to the obesity epidemic in America:

“Forget about it.”

Top scientists and board members across the country in all forms of public health take a stand to break long-standing problems in the way we view health, debunking myths such as calories are calories, regardless of what form they are in, as well as what it really means to balance diet and exercise.

Instead, the focus is on sugar and how exactly it works in the body — even going so far as to compare junk food companies to tobacco companies.

Following the lives of several children suffering from zobesity, the viewer gets a more personal view of the daily struggles of those who are overweight and cannot seem to break away from it.

No matter how hard these children try, what they do is not working. Until they begin making the “right” changes to their daily life.

Unlike some documentaries, this film does not force the facts upon the viewer or demand a strict allegiance to their cause be made. Instead, “Fed Up” focuses on the facts and providing information, encouraging the public to reduce sugar intake, backing it up with all the right reasons. For those who wish to make the change to their lifestyle, this documentary offers a 10 day sugar-free challenge to break the habit.

FOUR OUT OF FOUR PAWS

[/fruitful_ibox]
[fruitful_ibox column=”ffs-two-one” title=”Avengers: Age of Ultron” last=”true”]By Declan Hertel
Staff Writer

In the first 10 minutes of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Captain America (Chris Evans) does a high-speed endo on a motorcycle, launches into a front-flip, and throws the motorcycle into a Hydra troop truck that spectacularly explodes upon impact. This is utterly ridiculous; it is also TOTALLY AWESOME.

Those two words are the core of “Age of Ultron,” Joss Whedon’s final foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I saw this movie at a midnight showing during its opening weekend, and throughout the entire movie the audience was laughing and cheering as the punches flew, the lasers pew-pewed, and the Hulk smashed everything.

The fight choreography is without flaw and everyone gets their chance to be the butt-kicking action hero. And oh boy, do butts get kicked: “Age of Ultron” takes the over-the-top stylized violence of the first “Avengers” film and ratchets it up to 11, and then says “nah, man, we can go higher.”

The film starts out at “Nuts” with the fight in a European forest that includes the aforementioned motorcycle stunt and keeps pushing until it hits “Completely Freaking Bonkers” in the third act. I won’t spoil any other fight scenes; you’ll thank me.

Joss Whedon is well known for the one-liners and rapier wit he brings to his scripts, and he is on top of his game here. Every character packs as many quips as they can into the 141 minute runtime; they are almost all hilarious, and the ones that aren’t are worth a chuckle.

Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye delivers my favorite of the film right in the middle of the climactic battle, which ought to be a pleasant surprise to anyone who saw the first “Avengers,” where Hawkeye was pretty boring.

To be honest, Hawkeye steals the show. Ultron (a masterful voice performance by James Spader) may have his name in the title, but Hawkeye’s subplot and improved characterization really lend the film its emotional heart.

The addition of a romantic subplot involving Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) made me skeptical at first, but Whedon’s writing and the performances of Ruffalo and Johansson sealed the deal, and I was on board. Well done, Mr. Whedon. Well done.

My only real complaint about the movie is that when you’re driving a behemoth of a story at maximum overdrive as this movie does, bits are bound to fall off. There are a number of small happenings in the movie that are never explained and come off as useless. Whether they actually are or they’re foreshadowing the next phase of the MCU, it’s irritating.

That said, this only mattered to me after the movie was over, and I wiped the doofy smile from my face.

In all honesty, if you’ve liked the MCU so far, you’ll love “Age of Ultron.” If you hate the MCU, you’ll likely hate this too. But if you’re just looking for two hours of plain old escapism, you can’t do much better than this.

THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FOUR PAWS[/fruitful_ibox][/fruitful_ibox_row]

 

Oregonians Do It

falls
Artwork by Carly Fister
[fruitful_sep]
By Jenna Beresheim
 Staff Writer

Oregon is known for waffling weather patterns and stubborn residents who refuse umbrellas or the cancellation of plans. If you find yourself amongst the list of friends willing to trek to the beach regardless of the time or weather, below is a rough list of activities to get you out of Monmouth and those daily doldrums.

For those tenacious trail travelers, Oregon holds hundreds of hiking options. If waterfalls are on the menu, try Multnomah and Wahkeena Falls, Sweet Creek Falls, or the ever-popular Silver Falls. Hankering for History?

Jacksonville hosts recently acquired parklands through a gold-mining town, while Cape Disappointment holds a museum along the same trail members of the Lewis and Clark expedition traveled.

Trails are certainly not the only outdoor option in Oregon. The Oregon Caves in Cave Junction are a great opportunity to unleash the inner spelunker. The coast is always a free option with a scenic drive, while also hosting options for those willing to spend a few bucks, such as the Newport Aquarium. For those animal lovers, The
World’s Largest Petting Zoo in Bandon may be a better option. Or for an up-close-and-personal experience with wild animals, try out the Wildlife Safari in Winston.

With Portland only an hour away, the bustling city is great for an all-day stay or a quick walkthrough. Stop by Little Big Burger for affordable, delicious bites while grabbing Voodoo Doughnuts for dessert. If it happens to be the first Thursday of the month, all art galleries will be open and free to the public for First Thursday. Voicebox Karaoke is another popular spot, but for the introverts, Powell’s is also a quick jaunt away.

To support local communities while also getting to shop wares and farm-grown produce, pop into a Saturday Market. Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, and Portland are all great for a morning expedition that will not eat up the rest of the day. Knock out grocery shopping in a vibrant, friendly community while promoting self-sustaining family farms.

Considering imbibing in true college spirit? Impress your friends with an extensive knowledge of liquors by visiting breweries within the state. The Bend Ale Trail boasts 14 breweries and comes with a handy pamphlet for a “self-guided” experience. Brewvana is hosted out of Portland seven days a week in multiple forms: walking tours, bus tours, and private tours.

For something a little closer to home, The Coin Jam in Salem is a 21 and over arcade and grill. The Oregon Garden in Silverton stretches out in 80 acres of botanical glory, but for a smaller-scale feel, Lavender Lake Farms is a mere 2 miles away on Highway 99.

In the end, Oregon has a little something for anyone and everyone, no matter what weather the state throws at us. In true Oregonian fashion, dress in layers and prepare for minute-to-minute shifts in the elements—don’t let Mother Nature tell you what to do with your weekend.

Thrusters to Max: “Kerbal Space Program” Releases 1.0

By Delcan Hertel
 Staff Writer

The relatively recent explosion of independent video game development has given the world many great games that AAA developers like Activision and Microsoft Studios wouldn’t spend their time and money on making. Some of these indie passion projects have become beloved, critically lauded favorites among gamers, such as “Braid,” “Super Meat Boy,” and the best-selling PC game of all time, Markus Persson’s “Minecraft.”

With this freedom of expression, many indie developers create games that fill specific, obscure niches. One of these niche-filling games is Squad’s “Kerbal Space Program,” which officially left Early Access after over four years and released version 1.0 early this week. “KSP” is a game where the player runs a NASA-like space program, constructing spacecraft to be manned by little green men called Kerbals and launching them into orbit, or the far reaches of the solar system.

While the concept is a simple one, the game itself is anything but. The piecing together of a space-worthy vessel is a daunting task: you are given a huge menu of pieces and parts that you must assemble into a vehicle that will not only leave the ground, but break through the atmosphere and reach the stars.

Many players never get past this stage (either for frustration, or they’re like me and just like to watch things explode), but those that do are in for a greater challenge: flying the thing. Squad has spent years perfecting their physics simulation, from air resistance to gravity and even the nitty-gritty bits I can’t pretend to understand. All the realities of space travel are working against you as you reach for the stars. And it’s really difficult to get there.

So how has the game captured the imagination and acclaim of so many gamers? For one, the game is very scientifically accurate. While Squad does not pretend that the game is 100 percent faithful to reality, it is very close.

But more so than that, it’s because success is an incredible feeling. The first time you successfully orbit Kerbin (the “Earth” of the game), it’s a huge victory. Then it becomes second nature, so you reach further to the Mun, then even further, to the red sands of Duna, or to the cavern at Moho’s north pole, each time knowing that you are earning these victories.

Every inch gained is a massive achievement. Sometimes even failures result in great gameplay challenges: didn’t have enough fuel to return home from Duna? Mount a rescue mission!

While the base game itself has a great deal of content, a huge modding community offers many additions like highly customizable interfaces, mining capabilities, more planets, and a giant banana to attach to your ship for some reason.

“Kerbal Space Program” has become huge since it first appeared in 2011. Its massive, dedicated player base even includes Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, who said in a Reddit AMA, “Kerbal is awesome.”

If you have even a passing interest in space travel, pick up the demo. If you like the demo, grab the full game, and boldly go where no Kerbal has gone before.

Western theatre presents student-directed short plays

By Stephanie Blair
 Staff Writer

Next week, April 16-18, Western theatre students will have their an- nual chance to show off their directing prowess.

Students who have completed the two directing courses on campus, Directing and Advanced Directing, both taught by Professor Michael Phillips, will be showing one act plays. This year, three students have stepped up and chosen the plays for this year.

Natalie Piper, fourth-year se- nior theatre major, has selected “A Chance Meeting” by Frederick Strop- pel, starring Janelle Davis, Zach Warner, and Nathaniel Dunaway. The show depicts a married couple attempting to spice up their love life by exploring fantasy role-playing, but when an old friend cluelessly stumbles into the picture, things get messy.

“The student-directed one acts, I feel, are really for the students, by the students, so I picked something I thought they would enjoy,” Piper said.

The second show in the program, “The Mice Have Been Drinking Again” by Cleve Haubold, starring Belladina Starr, Declan Hertel, Samantha Dunaway and Andrew Thornton, is directed by BFA acting major Nick Kintz. The show, set in
the 1970s, is filled with hippies, gu- rus, and slapstick humor.

“It is the story of a newly married couple and their attempt to get their Zen-Buddhist cousin and roommate out of the house.” Kintz said. “It has been a blast to direct such a talented and versatile group of actors, who re- ally know how to entertain!”

The festival roster concludes with “Find of the Century” by Western’s own Nathaniel Dunaway. The one act stars Lindsay Spear and Patrick Willett in a drama about a turn- of-the-century archaeologist and the mysterious young woman who knows the secret behind his latest discovery, directed by BFA acting major Trevor Jackson.

“Directing is a strange craft; it re- quires talent as well as authority,” Jackson said. “It’s the marriage of art and leadership, and it makes for a wild, student-led night.”

This year’s festival will be held in the black box theater of Rice Audi- torium, beginning at 7:30 p.m. each night. The performance is free to stu- dents with an ID.
For more information, please con- tact the theater department at theaterdance@wou.edu or call the Rice Auditorium box office at 503-838- 8462.

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