The Waltonian

With comedic roots in his famous comedy show Key and Peele of his namesake, Jordan Peele continues to show his prowess in story writing as he dips his feet into the horror genre. When Peele’s Get Out hit theaters in 2017, no one knew what to expect. We most certainly did not expect a previous mastermind of comedy to give us the racial, horrifying roller coaster that was Get Out. Get Out perfectly blends political commentary with brooding suspense leaving the audience grasping for more. That was why when Us was announced, I eagerly awaited the trailer for a first peek. Distinct from Get Out, Us takes a more “horror” approach and weaves together a story about a family haunted by a nightmare from the past. When I first saw the trailer, I was taken aback, but excited to see what Peele could do with the film. Every fan, including me, was praying that Get Out would not be a one hit wonder for Peele’s dive into Hollywood. After viewing the movie, I can soundly say that we were not let down.

Us begins with a young girl encountering a doppelganger in a house of mirrors on the beach of Santa Cruz. Trust me, this is an extremely simplified version of the horrifying scene. We then flash forward to her as an adult, on vacation with her husband and kids. The family features an all star cast with Lupita Nyongo playing Adelaide, Winston Duke playing her husband Gabe, and Shahadi Wright and Evan Alex playing their two kids. As they are in their vacation house, they are assaulted by their doppelgangers and everything goes downhill from there. Through careful story layering and various flashbacks, the mystery of why the doppelgangers exist and what they want slowly unravels.

On the surface, the movie may seem like a supernatural family invasion story that’s just kind of strange. When you dig deeper, there are a lot of hidden messages.

Peele himself mentions xenophobia in his explanation of the movie.

“This movie is about this country,” he said during the Q&A at the SXSW Film Festival,“We’re in a time where we fear the other, whether it’s the mysterious invader that we think is going to come and kill us and take our jobs, or the faction we don’t live near, who voted a different way than us. We’re all about pointing the finger. And I wanted to suggest that maybe the monster we really need to look at has our face. Maybe the evil, it’s us.”

While we can clearly see this in the movie, we can also examine the commentary on inequity and inequality that is prevalent in our society. We see the Duke and Tyler families at the first act of the movie happily reveling in the freedom and comfort of the beach. We then parallel this to the doppelgangers who live ostracized and forgotten away from the world. They have no freedom or comfort in their way of life. While a lot of the doppelgangers act in horrifying ways, we can see through many of their actions throughout that they are just as human as the rest of us.

Us, of course, is not the perfect movie and has its flaws. The mystery of the doppelgangers at times seems far fetched and almost seems to collapse on itself in its explanation. I found myself enjoying more of the suspenseful horror aspect of the movie rather than the cerebral, mystery one. While I feel Us loses its identity at times and stumbles in some of the plot details along the way, at the very least, it is extremely exciting. With a satisfying conclusion, and its stunning performances, Us is enthralling enough, and will indefinitely provoke contemplation post viewing.

Source: Saintel Daily

In early September a family of Chinese tourists in

Sweden were forcibly removed from a hotel lobby by Sweden police. They had arrived a day early and had refused to leave the lobby when asked to do so. While their refusal to leave may have warranted ejection, the way the police handled it was described as “brutal.” Popular among Chinese social media, the video of this event attracted millions of views and thousands of mixed replies. In response, the Chinese embassy Sweden requested a formal apology because the police actions had “violated basic human rights of the Chinese people there.”

The feud has not stopped since there. A popular satirical Swedish TV show has aired a comedy sketch since then saying that Chinese people would be beaten if they misbehaved. They also comment on Chinese people and eating dogs. Youku, which is the most popular Chinese streaming platform, has again spread this Swedish video sketch. Millions of Chinese people reacted to this video expressing its maliciousness. The Chinese government mirrors their outrage in the following quote, “This amounts to a gross insult and vicious attack on China and the Chinese people,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

While the ordeal may seem trivial at first glance, there are a multitude of underpinnings needed to be examined in order to assess the entire situation. There have been multiple of news stories showing less than amiable relationships between Sweden and China in the past year and a half. The seizing of bookseller Gui Minhai and the ordeal of the Dalai Lama are just two of these.

While feuds like these happen between countries happen from time to time, the ramifications for other countries in this situation has to be recognized. The tension continues to escalate exponentially and the question of the necessitation of external involvement is beginning to be asked.

Sources: BBC.com

Spring break has always been a time of discovery and renewal. For some, it is a time of rest, for others a time of adventure. Spring break means something different for everyone; no one option can be considered right or wrong.

For sophomore Cody Fox, spring break was a time of unfettered exploration. Fox is from Chandler, Arizona; consequently, he has not been to many states on the east coast. Over the break, Fox had the opportunity to visit New York for the first time.

Before going Fox exclaimed that he wanted to “ Take a bite out of everything the Big Apple had to offer.”

While there is a myriad of things to do and sights to see in New York, they all cannot be tackled in just three days. Despite the time constraint, Fox did a ton of things iconic to New York, such as eating pizza, visiting Times Square, and watching his first Broadway show. After inquiring about his thoughts after the trip, Fox noted that “, The atmosphere of New York felt different than that of Western cities. The streets felt different, the people felt different, it still felt like America, but a different kind of America. I definitely want to visit again someday, hopefully sooner rather than later!”

Movies have, of course, always been things that I have loved and looked forward to ever since I was a kid. From Monsters Inc. to Spider-Man, I grew up with dozens of movies that I found myself constantly re-watching. One movie in particular stood out apart from the rest. Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, is undoubtedly my favorite movie of all time, and is a movie that I find myself constantly learning more and more about after every viewing.

Nolan has directed numerous other well-known works including the Dark Knight Series, Memento and Dunkirk. Inception can be seen as a synchronization between the two different directing styles of Nolan, the action style featured in the Dark Knight and Dunkirk, and the cerebral style featured in Memento. In Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, who is a corporate thief, specializing in a very specific sort of heist.

Similar to movies of the same nature, DiCaprio assembles his team including brilliant actors such as Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page. Cobb and his team infiltrate the dreams of others in order to steal their ideas.

The title of the movie, Inception, revolves around the concept in the of placing an idea in one’s head rather than stealing one, a feat thought to be impossible. While the concept on paper sounds somewhat simple, the execution and the movie itself is a tantalizing web of puzzles and dreams that can easily lead to a feeling of confusion upon first viewing.

Inception requires further viewership to encapsulate its full story and design. Nolan provides us with various emotional and intellectual threads to help keep us engrossed, even upon many consecutive viewings. The cerebral world of dreams is combined with spectacular action sequences to create something truly special.

As a viewer, you cannot help but feel emotionally tied to the characters as they learn more about themselves, and what it means to be a team. What I love the most about the movie is that it doesn’t feel the need to explain itself to the audience.

It provides the viewer with subtle details and dialogue that shine a light on the details of the world of Inception that we, the viewers, are meant to pick up on. The sort of “aha” moment one may experience when new information clicks happens frequently throughout the film.

Fantasy movies aim to pull you away from reality into a world that is refreshing and captivating. Alternate universes and realities featured in fiction such as Game of Thrones and Lost seek to take us away to a world full of meaningful experiences, while also mirroring things found in reality. Inception achieves this fully in the world of the unconscious, which we all have experienced before.

Dreams, to this day, still remain an enigma to us and the scientific world. If you have not yet seen Inception, I encourage you to do so. Better yet with a friend! Inception is a film that can easily be discussed for hours with others. It will keep you up at night, as you think about what the film means to you personally.

Before going Fox exclaimed that he wanted to “ Take a bite out of everything the Big Apple had to offer.”

Growing with Dr. Putnam

Many of you have maybe seen Dr. Frederic Putnam getting around campus by scooter. Dr. Putnam, or Mr. P as his students like to call him, has taught graduate, post and under-graduate courses in biblical language and interpretation since 1984. He has given a plethora of speeches and seminars also on topics such as Shakespeare, poetry, literature and philosophy. He also has published several works on Classical Hebrew. Here at Eastern, he teaches the honors courses in biblical studies, but also several other courses such as Ecclesiastes, Poetry and a course on Joseph Pieper.

Dr. Putnam and his wife, Emilie, have three daughters. He enjoys literature, military history, baking, listening to and making music, mountain biking, as well as swimming in lakes. You can read some of his writings and learn more about him on his website fputnam.com!

What makes Dr. P really special is how much he cares about his students and the unique learning environment he fosters in his class. His classes are purely discussion based with insightful input from him at various points throughout the class. I had never taken a class like his before and it was truly an enlightening and exciting experience to be in a class that I actually enjoyed. He encourages students to come to his office and talk about anything. Dr. P, for me, was one of the first professors I considered not just a professor, but also a friend.

“I decided to come to Eastern because it was the only school where I felt at home and where I felt I could grow in my faith. In my mind, it was the only option for me” Koefler stated. She first heard about Eastern at a college fair and it was her first college tour with her parents. As a result of these interactions, her choice to be at Eastern was an inevitable one from the start.

Nicole Koefler comes from Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and is part of a family of three. She attended Upper Dublin High School and there she participated in two choirs. One choir, the Chamber Choir, was a more advanced choir program. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys thrift shopping, reading great literature, and listening to music. Thrift stores are a great place to shop for cheap clothes that could otherwise be extremely expensive.

Nicole makes use of this, as her wardrobe consists primarily of thrifted clothing. Reading has been a big part of her life since she was young. “There is just something different and more alluring about brick and mortar bookstores” Koefler stated. Two of her favorite authors include Graham Greene and C.S. Lewis. Nicole also enjoys relaxing and just simply enjoying music. She favors a wide variety of music, including artists such as “Everything, Everything,” “Tune-Yards” and “Baths.”

Nicole is a second-year psychology major with a theology minor. After she graduates college, she aspires to do research somewhere in one of those two respective fields. When coming to Eastern, she was set on delving into these fields of study. “The human psyche and just people, in general, have always really interested me” Koefler stated.

Nicole is also part of the Templeton Honors College here at Eastern. She was attracted to the Socratic style of learning featured in the college and really enjoys much of the literature that is read in the honors college classes. She really enjoys the quaint nature of not only the campus but also the classroom. When asked, “What is one thing that Eastern really excels in?” she said, “The professors are really something exceptional and how much they care about each and every student is really shown through their personable interactions.”

Islamic Jihadist groups such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda have been known around the world to destroy the lives and homes of thousands of people.

One such similar group that has been proven to be equally as dangerous, but has since flown under the radar of U.S. news, is the Al-Shabaab. The Al-Shabaab operate predominantly in Somalia, but have also attacked many other neighboring African countries.

The group was founded over a decade ago, in 2006, as strictly the military force of an alliance of Sharia courts, called the ICU, in southern Somalia, who fought for control of the country. Its name can be translated from Arabic to “The Youth.”

The Al-Shabaab have since then broken off from the ICU and have been responsible for brutal suicide bombings, as well as other egregious acts against their self-proclaimed enemies of Islam.

The Al-Shabaab not only commit violent acts, but also make it overall extremely difficult to live in the city of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The Al-Shabaab are recognized as a terrorist organization by the UK, the US, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE.

The Al-Shabaab have been active for the past decade and new steps are being taken in order combat their forces. The U.S. has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Al-Shabaab camps, one recently in a camp near Shebeeley, Hiran.

“Precision strikes are part of our strategy. Strikes continue to help our partners make progress in their fight against the transnational terrorists who oppose peace in Somalia and the region” Director of U.S. Africa Command Major General, Gregg Olson said.

Terrorism still is a huge threat to the world and it affects the lives of many people directly. It is important for people to recognize that there are millions of people in Somalia who are not able to sleep peacefully at night. The lives of the people of Somalia will be constantly enveloped in fear until the Al-Shabaab are adequately dealt with.

Sources: Independent.co.uk, Aljazeera.com

Eastern’s Men’s Volleyball team currently boasts a remarkable 4-0 win-loss record. Even more astonishing is that this record has been achieved with just a nine-man roster. Typical volleyball teams usually consist of at least twelve people. The team consists of five freshmen: Bruno Vargas, Cameron Parsons, Nicholas Hulbert, Darren Lopez, and Anthony Smith; one sophomore, Noah Westbrook; and three juniors, Kiriam Yordan, Gabe Perez, Christian Knaub.

They are led by coach, Randy Syracuse. Syracuse grew up in Western New York and his accolades include playing in a Final Four with Rutgers University, as well as coaching professional volleyball in Sweden and France. He has worked with elite youth programs in the Philadelphia Area since 2013.

Lopez leads the team’s attack with 67 points scored so far this season, almost a third of the team’s total points. In the most recent victory vs Lehman.

“Darren has been under the weather this week, but it is a game day, and he battled through. He mixed his shots well. He went for big hits, but also used his speed and placement shots at the right time,” Coach Syracuse said in an interview posted on Go Eastern Eagles.

Christian Knaub, leads the defense with 21 digs in the season thus far, about a quarter of the team’s total digs. Noah Westbrook leads with eight blocks this season out of the team’s 18.

“We know that we will need to continue to get better in that as we see more experienced players and teams,” Coach Syracuse said in a recent interview. The Eagles recognize that to continue their winning streak, it is paramount to practice and work hard. They currently practice every day of the week except Sunday for two hours. Coupled with the daily practice, they also are required to do one hour of lifting twice a week in order to keep their body physically prepared for the vigorous work.

“It’s pretty exhausting at times, but I have definitely grown more accustomed to the practice since the start of the semester,” Westbrook said. Playing a sport at a collegiate level is an arduous task, and volleyball is no different.

“We’re just getting used to playing together, I played my first game at Lehman and I think the hard work me and my teammates have put into practice has really payed off. I’m really grateful for the support and motivation I have received from people around me.” “It was really a great experience winning as a team” Kiriam Yordan said.

As the first season for the Eastern Eagles Men’s Volleyball team, it has definitely been an exceptional start. The team has put in a myriad of hard work, and the road is still long ahead. Come support your Eagles at the next home game on March 12!

Netflix has become not only a hobby but almost a lifestyle for many people, particularly young adults. It is to no surprise that Netflix’s new crackdown on account sharing has been met with some less than amiable replies. New software developed by the company Synamedia will allow Netflix to analyze the location of who is logged in to an account. The software will use machine learning to track atypical usage and is said to be extremely adept at pinpointing unwarranted usage of an account.

The sharing of Netflix accounts by users is said to have accumulated to a loss of multiple billions of dollars. From a poll taken by Netflix in 2014, it was found that more than half of its total usage comes from those who did not pay for a subscription of their own. Credential sharing has become all too commonplace of a problem for Netflix to ignore, and they have determined that this sort of action had to be taken. Consequently, this new policy would also affect families, as well as those who may share monthly payments.

The idea behind the change is to offer those who would normally share their account credentials illegally a premium account that will allow a certain level of account sharing. “Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service with a great number of concurrent users. It’s a great way to keep honest people honest while benefiting from an incremental revenue stream, said Jean Racine, Synamedia’s primary product officer.

This change has, of course, been met with an uproar of disapproval, most of which coming from young adults who frequently share credentials with each other. The typical “poor” college student is undoubtedly not eager to pay additional money a month for what was previously a free product. With Netflix hosting a plethora of our favorite shows and also producing a myriad of original content in the past couple of years, it is to no surprise that this change is coming.

Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, so it certainly seems possible that just a little over an hour of your paycheck could be devoted to a service that adds up to 40 hours a month on average according to GBH Insights. A small additional payment seems likes a reasonable request in order to allow Netflix the ability to continue giving us a product we can all enjoy and be satisfied with.

Source:www.prnewswire.com