Your Custom Text Here
J. Blackburne V. W. Steinitz
Vienna 1882
“I guess I should have checked that twice”
White to play
Y. Vilner, 1st Pr. Problems and Studies, 1929
White to Play
Answer: 1. Re2! With the silent threat of Re3 and Nc2# The most challenging line for white to solve after 1. Re2 is 1…Qxa6 2. Qa7 Rb6 3. Bc6# If instead 1…Rxh6 2.e5 Qg6 3. Be6#
Y. Vilner, 1st Pr. Problems and Studies, 1929
White to Play
#3 13+11
W. Shinkman, 1st Prize
Huddersfield College Mag. 1877
White to Play and Mate in Two
Answer: 1. Bh4! Kxd5 2. Bb3# If 1. Bh4 d6 2. Nbc7# If 1. Bh4 e4 2. Qxe4# If 1. Bh4 f6 2.Ndc7# If 1. Bh4 f5 2. Qe7#
Taylor Swift folklore Review
By: Mallory Johnson
Taylor Swift announced via her social media accounts that she was releasing a surprise eighth album, titled “folklore” at midnight the night of Thursday, July 23rd. The announcement was made early Thursday morning. I was shocked and super excited all day long. My Four Town Journal readers may remember from previous articles, that I am a huge Taylor Swift fan. It was eleven months to the day since she released her seventh album “Lover.” I listened to the album in my room, in the dark and with my airpods in for the full experience. When I went to listen to it on Apple Music (which is the streaming service I use), the release was delayed for 20 minutes and I was angry. The slowed down acoustic/folky sound surprised me but I love it, it sounds like an album that would be played at a coffee shop. It reminds me of “Fine Line” by Harry Styles, “Golden Hour” by Kacey Musgraves, “Sing To Me Instead” by Ben Platt, and “Wasteland, Baby” by Hozier. As of the time I am writing this, my top three songs are “Betty,” ”Seven,” and “The Last Great American Dynasty.” I was shocked when I found out that the album was explicit - this is Swift’s first explicit album. Explicit means the album contains some swearing. The storytelling on this album is absolutely beautiful and is perfect for a more slowed down sound. The album was mostly written in quarantine this year. ”Folklore” feels like a warm hug on a cold day. There is one collaboration on the album, and it is the song “Exile” featuring Bon Iver, and I love it. There are some references to her older songs, for example in the song, “Invisible String” she says, “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to L.A.” which refers to her song Bad Blood. The song “My Tears Ricochet” (which happens to be the fifth track on the album, which have been known to be her saddest songs) is self written by Swift only. The album feels haunting and poetic and atmospheric. It feels like a more mature version of her third album, Speak Now. The lines from ”Epiphany” that say, “Something med. school doesn’t cover” and “holds your hand through plastic now” hit hard during COVID-19. The song “This Is Me Trying” feels brutally honest and relatable. The songs, “Illicit Affairs” and “Epiphany” remind me of Hamilton. Some songs remind me of fictional couples that I love. My official overall rating is 10/10, and I highly recommend listening to it!
(Image Credit: Google Images)
Game Review: Bitlife
By Ronnie Kayla Neiman
A fun and rather in-depth app game to try is called Bitlife- Life Simulator. This app is only available for iOS devices and can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but it is worth both the free download and the few in-game purchases. BitLife- Life Simulator by Candywriter, LCC, is only the fourth game created by this developer and it has a 4.6-star rating on Google Play from over 77 thousand votes. It was also voted #2 game in Role Playing and has overall very positive reviews. It is rated R due to some graphic descriptions, some violence and sexual activities. Thus making the minimum recommended ages for the game to be 16 or 17 depending on which app store you download it from.
The entire Bitlife game in textual display. The most descriptive art it has is the basic looks of the character being played and the other characters surrounding them. Similar to the old school text-adventures that were popular in the ‘90s, this game is based entirely on its story, and the player has the entire control. The gameplay mechanics in BitLife online mobile game are the core of the entire experience. You are born and you are presented with an interface that contains your basic information. For example your age, some trivia about how you were conceived and date and place of birth.
Much like a Sims game, BitLife is a game of choices in which players are in control of how the lives of their character turn out to be. Will they make good choices and become a model citizen or will they slip up and ruin their lives forever.
W. Shinkman, 1st Prize
Huddersfield College Mag. 1877
White to Play and Mate in Two
Answer: 1. Bh4! Kxd5 2. Bb3# If 1. Bh4 d6 2. Nbc7# If 1. Bh4 e4 2. Qxe4# If 1. Bh4 f6 2.Ndc7# If 1. Bh4 f5 2. Qe7#
Photo Credit: Creative Commons_cmziebarth
Onward Movie Review
By: Mallory Johnson
I recently watched the movie Onward on Disney+, and I enjoyed it! It is about “Two elven brothers embark on a quest to bring their father back for one day.” (Disney+). It stars Tom Holland (Spiderman: Homecoming, Spiderman: Far from Home), Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame), Octavia Spencer (Ma, Dolittle), and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Downhill, Veep). Before I go any further, this review does contain spoilers, so SPOILER ALERT. The movie is creative, funny, cute and heartfelt. The theme of magic was interesting. I loved how the main characters had a small dragon as a pet. The surprise party in the movie was very cute. Onward felt like a classic Disney adventure movie, and I really liked it. The main character, Ian, is funny and relatable, and reminds me of Tom Holland’s Spider Man character (funny and awkward seems to be Tom’s typecast). I loved all the different kinds of monsters/characters. The aggressive fairy biker gang was funny - and where the title of the movie came in. I liked the music and the score for the movie added a lot to it. The scene where Ian was walking across his invisible bridge made me anxious. I liked how they had to follow giant statues of robins. I loved how Barley (Ian’s older brother) and Ian were floating on a giant cheesy. I found it cute how the dad was always looking for the kids by tapping his feet (because he didn’t have an upper half for most of the movie - I found it funny how the dad had a leash because he’s only legs.) I love how Ian’s magic seemed to work at the perfect timing. I loved how the movie ended, and that Ian realized how much he needed and loved Barley. My overall rating is a solid 10/10.
Anthony Labonte, Artist
Tyler Clarke, Artist
Over the break I watched the Cats movie with my family. This movie, if you didn’t already know, is a movie adaptation of the classic Andrew Lloyd Weber musical from the eighties. Starting off, I did enjoy the movie. However, the CGI (computer generated images) and the plot was very weird to me. I feel like my current obsession with Broadway was definitely a factor that increased my enjoyment. Another factor that made me enjoy the movie was the stacked cast. Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Rebel Wilson, James Corden, Jason Derulo, and more. In my opinion, Jennifer Hudson and Taylor Swift definitely stole the show. Jennifer sang the popular show stopping song “Memory” and absolutely killed it. Taylor’s song “Macavity” was theatrical and not what I expected, but I still enjoyed it. She also wrote an original song for the movie with Andrew Lloyd Webber, titled “Beautiful Ghosts”, which was sung by Francesca Hayward, who played the main cat Victoria. I truly can’t imagine the story without this song - it is sung after Memory which makes complete sense with the plot.
Moving on, the plot was another part that surprised me. Throughout the whole film, the main cats are basically introducing themselves, and further auditioning or competing to become the “Jellicle Choice.” The chosen cat then ascends to heaven at the Jellicle Ball. The cats are basically auditioning to die, and I found this a little morbid. I’m not going to spoil which cat won, but I was satisfied with the end.
A cat that I liked was the magical Mr. Mistofelees (the cats names are so weird). He is the magician cat, and he is very entertaining. Easily one of the weirdest parts of the whole movie was the two separate times where Rebel Wilson’s character unzipped her SKIN, and the one time she ate live dancing and singing cockroaches. Taylor’s five minute scene, as Bombalurina, was honestly my favourite part of the whole movie. Also, James Corden’s scenes were pretty funny.
In conclusion, I did enjoy watching the movie, even if it was pretty weird and a little disturbing. I don’t think I would watch it again. I give it a 7/10 stars.
After 82 years the Tata Steel Chess tournaments still remain filled with brilliant players and masterpieces. This years Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz is no surprise with players like Magnus Carlsen the current world champion, Hikaru Nakamura the fastest player in the world, and Viswanathan Anand the previous world champion tense games can appear. Especially when the points won by playing in this tournament go to the players final scores in this years Grand Chess Tour, in which first place winner of the Grand Chess tour will receive about 1/3 of a million dollars. For those unfamiliar with Rapid and Blitz time controls, Rapid means both players have thirty minutes on their clocks for the whole game, Blitz time controls which are arguably the most popular to most players is when both players only have five minutes on their clocks for the whole game.
Right out of the first day in the tournament Magnus emerges as the clear leader of the tournament winning two of the three rapid games and drawing the first of the three. Despite his loss to Wesley So in the Fischer Random World Championship match Carlsen failed to take his revenge against So in the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz. However, Carlsen makes up for this by annihilating Ian Nepomniachtchi in a Sicilian Moscow Variation which along with the Sicilian Rossolimo is now becoming the most popular openings at the high levels. I tried the Moscow myself a couple times and got great results, so I am can understand why some attacking players have added it to their repertoire. Despite Anand not being able to win a single game in last years Tata Steel, on the first day 49-year-old Anand gives the So a lesson in the endgame and beats him. The only other player with a plus score on the first day was Nakamura wining against Wesley So in round three.
In round two Carlsen after playing the Sicilian Sveshnikov (I too have played this before as well, it is an anti-positional opening that has great dynamic features which I am quite found of) with the black pieces for years decides to try it out one tempo up by playing it as white against Nakamura, and scoring another win in the process. As a surprise in-between rounds Carlsen instead of gong to a chess board to prepare he goes to the rooftop and plays football (soccer) instead! Which he later goes on to beat Giri easily, surely now more players are now going to get inspired to play football now.
As if Carlsen was not untouchable already on the next day he almost gets the perfect score of 3/3 and now is on another level to the other players. When asked about his good form he was quoted as saying “"I think it's all about confidence, that when you start out well you can allow yourself to relax more and take more chances, it's as simple as that." Carlsen at this point had also set a record of having the highest plus score of 6 coming out the rapid section in history.
That was not the only record Carlsen had set this tournament, beaten the previous record of 26.5 which was also set by Carlsen, by half and point leaving the tournament in clear first with a score of 27.0 points. On top of that on the last day Carlsen won all of his games and said; "I think with this result, I showed that I'm still the man to beat." And winning $37,000 dollars for first in this tournament. The excitement continuous as the Big Tata Steel Tournament in January 2020 is coming up and it will be its 83rd year.
‘Twas that night of the year again, Christmas Eve. The night everyone locks their doors and barricades the windows with boards to keep the bloodsucking demon in red suit out of the house. This tradition, or charade I should say has been going on for at least a thousand years. Nobody really knows where the Santa Claus came from. Many famous Christmas hunters tried to hunt the beast down before, with none coming back. Even the legendary robot Scrooge tracked to white bearded demon far into the north only to never return. Not too many people have tried to take up the task of slaying him. After all it is hard to catch a demon that flies on a red sleigh pulled by reindeer.
So, every year on Christmas Eve, people have been trying to keep the thing from getting into their houses. Most people do not even have chimneys anymore. It was found by the ancients that he likes to travel down the chimneys and through the fireplace to get in people’s houses. Not having a fireplace does make the winter feel colder. Almost everyone has learned to if they see a present to stay away because it is a trap set by the demon, hard to resist the allure though.
I wonder how the other children are faring this year. I heard that one year a kid’s grandma stayed up all night waiting with her old’ 22 to shoot the guy. She almost made the whole night but then in hot pursuit got run over by Santa’s reindeer. One year some people tried to catch him, but he just transformed into a little sparkle and twinkled away. Another year people tried to determine if Christmas decorations attracted the beast to peoples houses or kept the beast away. Nobody really knows the answer, so we all put them up anyways.
It must be a full moon tonight because the light from behind the boarded windows is seeping through the cracks. Just as I though this a shadow stood in front of the window blocking the light and then disappearing. Must just be the tree branch by my window. Although I cannot recall if I even have a tree nearby. Then I heard a big clatter on the roof. Probably just the snow sliding off of the rooftops. The song Santa Claus Is Coming to Town echoes through my mind as I try to stay awake. “He knows when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.” THUMP THUMP, it sounds as if someone was walking to my door. I peak at the bottom of the door from my bedcovers and see two shadows blocking the light coming from under the door. The rattling of my doorknob making my palms start to sweat I don’t know who is trying to open my door, but I have no interest in finding out. Echoes of ho ho hos came from my bathroom door straight ahead of my bed. The bathroom lights started to flicker red and green, along with a piercing pounding at the door. In the blink of an eye I see the white bearded demon in his red suit under the arch of my bathroom glaring at me. As he slowly floated over to the edge of my bed, I started to remember everything because I knew this is the end for me.
Slam! The door to my room flew open and six men in pinstripe suits with fedoras armed with machine guns entered the room. One with a cigar in his mouth yelled to the demon “hey, Santa we got you a present!” and the demon laughed Ho Ho Ho. As he said this, guns started blazing all over the room riddling the demon with holes. To which the guy responded “some fresh iron supplements. Merry Christmas Bloodless!”
PC: google images
Taylor Swift wants her ownership rights back. On June 30th, 2019 news broke via Swift’s social media accounts that Scott Borchetta had sold Big Machine Label Group (BMLG), including all of Swift’s past six albums’ masters. Scott sold all of this to Scooter Braun, who used The Carlyle Group to help buy it for $300 million. This was heartbreaking for Swift, who said in a Tumblr post: “This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.” (Swift, 2019). She also states in this Tumblr post that Scooter, along with his client Justin Bieber, has bullied her in the past during other drama; this was unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg of the Scott and Scooter vs. Taylor fight.
On November 14, 2019, Taylor Swift posted a long open letter on her social media accounts. She started off by saying that she is being honored with the Artist of the Decade award at the American Music Awards on November 24th. She further says: “I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.” (Swift, 2019). Taylor announced earlier in the year that she is legally allowed to re-record her previous six albums so that she can own them. She also said: “Additionally - and this isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news - Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project.” (Swift, 2019). On November 15th, BMLG issued a formal statement regarding Swift’s post. They claimed: “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere.” (BMLG, 2019). While it’s true that they can’t keep Taylor from performing live at all, they aren’t allowing her to perform her old songs. Since leaving BMLG, she released her newest album Lover on August 23rd. Swift’s publicist Tree Paine released another statement after BMLG did. The statement says: “In addition, yesterday Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of BMLG, flatly denied the request for both AMAs and Netflix. Please notice in Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post.” (Paine, 2019).
At the end of her November post, Swift asked her fans to: “let Scott and Scooter know how you feel.” (Swift, 2019). That day, a Change petition started by a fan gained traction and garnered more than 100,000 signatures (and counting!). She was also given support by celeb friends Selena Gomez, Halsey, Cara Delevigne, Camilla Cabello, and more. She was even given political support by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren. So far, a possible resolution for the award show issue is to get other recording artists to cover her old tunes at the show. Hopefully, this issue will be more formally resolved quickly.
First term is finally coming to an end and after exams are done, we can finally look forward to our holiday break. Christmas is fast approaching and with it the stressful decisions that surround Christmas shopping. How much to spend on each family member? What to get them? Should you even get them a Christmas present? All of these questions plague our minds as we try to study for our finals. Christmas is expensive and families should discuss how the gift exchange will take place. Whether it’s a secret Santa situation or getting everyone in your family a gift that is under $50.00 it should be discussed at least two weeks prior to Christmas so that you can have enough time to get what you need. Being a university student is not a cheap endeavour and if you only have to shop for one person that is great news for you and your pocket. However, if you are stuck having to buy more than one Christmas gift this year here are a few suggestions that are guaranteed to not break the bank.
-Set a budget for yourself
Whether you have to buy for multiple friends/family or just one individual, setting a budget for yourself is extremely important. Make a list of everybody you need to shop for and decide the amount you want to spend on each. It can be the same for all or more for others. This will help to keep you in check as you look for the perfect gift. Sticking to the budget is important as you don’t want to spend more than you previously decided.
-Amazon Prime it
If you love online shopping the obvious choice is Amazon. Amazon has a huge selection of gifts at various price tags. You can search for the price range you need and thousands of gift ideas will be available to you. If you do not have Amazon prime and you are cutting it close to Christmas simply get the month free trial and then choose whether you want to renew it or not once the trial runs out. Amazon Prime ensures the present will be delivered on time before xmas.
-DIY
If you do not like online shopping and would like to gift unique and special presents, look no further than Pinterest. Pinterest has a ton of craft ideas that would make an incredible and unforgettable Christmas present. If you like arts and crafts and do not doubt your creative abilities give this a shot as it will be much cheaper than anything you can buy. Of course, Pinterest isn’t the only website you can get ideas from a simple google search will give you many websites to choose from and something is bound to catch you eye.
-Look for the sales!
Christmas is the time when many stores try to lure customers with great deals. If you do not have time to online shop and if you can’t make anything then try hitting up a few stores and seeing if they have any deals going on. Always be sure to read the sale signs and make sure that the incredible gift you picked up is indeed on sale.
-Go thrifting
During the Christmas season a lot of people purge their closets and their homes and donate those items to local charities or to thrift stores. This means that thrift stores will have more stock and you may be able to find something unique at a very good price. You can often find collectables, antique items, clothing or even furniture from these locations. They are often incredibly cheap and you will be able to get more out of your money if you choose to shop this way.
-If all else fails gift a gift card
If you are really running out of time and can’t find anything that fits your budget or that impresses you enough to gift, gift them with a gift card. Gift cards are easy, fast and you can set the price. Whether its to their favourite store or coffee place, gifting a gift card removes any stress of choosing wrong and gives the person the freedom to choose what the want.
Christmas is a wonderful time where we get to enjoy the company of those close to us and the peace and calm of no school. If you can’t afford to gift those you wish to give something remember that Christmas is not only about presents and spending money, but also about spending time with family members you haven’t seen in a while and eating delicious home made meals.
Winter is here yet again. That means you get to enjoy the air hurting your face the moment you step out your front door! Our harsh Manitoba winters make it difficult to stay warm and cozy throughout the holiday season. One of the best ways to warm up is to crank on the oven and bake some fresh bread. Not that regular, old white bread. But tasty and fluffy loafs loaded with flavour! Below are two of my go to recipe's for whipping up some classic holiday loafs.
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
2 cups of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 cup of butter, cut into tiny chunks
1 cup of orange juice
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of chopped cranberries
Directions
The closer it gets to Christmas the more and more people think of holiday foods and cranberries are no exception! To make this delicious cranberry treat, start by preheating your oven to 350 F. Then grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Once it is well blended add the cup of orange juice and egg. Mix well and fold in the cranberries. Once the batter is well blended transfer it from the large bowl to the 8x4 inch pan. Bake for 70-75 minutes. Cool, serve and enjoy!
Pumpkin Gingerbread
Ingredients
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup of water
1 can of pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
4 cups of white flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Directions
What's better than pumpkin bread? Pumpkin Gingerbread of course! This recipe will spice up your kitchen and leave you with a loaf of deliciousness. To begin preheat your oven to 350 F and lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans, since this recipe will give you two loafs of bread. Then, in a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, vegetable oil and 4 eggs. Beat the mixture until its slightly smooth. Proceed to add the water, pumpkin puree and the three spices. Stir until well blended. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Take this mixture and combine it with the pumpkin mixture. Put half the batter in one pan and the other half in the other pan. Bake for one hour and enjoy!
Whether you’re a cranberry craver or a pumpkin fan, these two recipes will leave you with a warm sensation during the cold, frigid winter months. Warm up your home and enjoy a nice slice of holiday bread.
Starting Wednesday, November 20th, 2019 at 7:00pm and running until Thursday, November 21st, 2019 at 3:00am is the bi-yearly event; Long Night Against Procrastination. The Long Night Against Procrastination is a free, extended-hours event providing a safe place for students to study/write during a critical point in the semester. The event takes place in the Brandon University Library (Main & Music), the Indigenous Peoples’ Center (IPC) and Harvest Hall.
The main floor of the library will be a hum of activity, while the second floor and music will be reduced-noise zones. Looking for more study space? Individuals and study groups are encouraged to use Harvest Hall as their hub for discussions and study. There are plenty of power outlets in Harvest Hall, so bring your electronic devices and get your study on!
Reference librarians and assistants, writing coaches, learning skills, computer help and circulation service will be available throughout the event to work with you to help you make progress with your papers and assignments.
You can stay for the entire event or only stay for a few hours. A planned ride, or way home is highly recommended if you live off campus or even if you live in residence. There is also a Safe Walk Program, sponsored by the President’s Office or check out the BSAFE app.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20
7:00pm – Get your study on!!!
Math Skills Help (Curriculum Area)
7:00pm to 2:00am
Writing Skills Help (Curriculum Area)
8:00pm to 10:00pm
Learning Skills Help (Curriculum Area)
All Night
FREE popcorn (Harvest Hall)
Research Help (Reference Desk)
Circulation (Main & Music)
IT Help (Help Desk)
IPC open for studying (accessible with student card)
Free Beverages (sponsored by Pepsi Beverages Company, Food Services and the Library)
Free Snacks (sponsored by the Office of the Vice President Academic & Provost, Food Services and the Library)
Book Sale
Door Prizes
Safe Walk (sponsored by the President’s Office)
SPECIAL EVENTS
Wednesday
7:00pm – 9:30pm, 11:00pm – 12:00am, 12:15am – 1:45am – Therapy Dogs (Gathering Space)
7:30pm – Bailey the Bobcat will be handing out fruit & granola bars
11:00pm – 11:15pm – Study Break & Stretch – Group/Individual mini competition (Main Circulation Desk)
Thursday
12:00am – FREE PIZZA (sponsored and served by BU Alumni Association)
1:00am – Cookies ‘N Cram (donated by BU faculty and staff)
3:00am – Library closes for a few hours and opens again at 8:30am
9:00am – 11:00am – Wake up BU! Free Pancake Breakfast at Harvest Hall (sponsored and served by BUSU)
Brandon University’s Long Night Against Procrastination is organized by The John E. Robbins Library, Student Services, IT Services, BUSU, Food Services and the BU Alumni Association.
Where did this idea come from?
The Long Night Against Procrastination originated at the European University Viadrina in Germany in 2010. Since then, it’s become a worldwide movement, with the University of Manitoba** offering the first LNAP in Canada in 2011.
**BU thanks the University of Manitoba’s Academic Learning Centre for inspiration and permission to use “Long Night” information.
The show Supernatural first aired on September 13th, 2005. During its first season, the show received generally mixed critical reception, but reception from critics has grown more favorable as the series progressed with subsequent seasons receiving generally positive reviews from critics. The series originally focuses primarily on the brothers Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, as they travel throughout the country hunting down evil supernatural creatures.
Over the years the series has evolved from hunting down urban legends on the road, to fighting the apocalypse with demons and angels. The Angels storyline added in Castiel, a seraph who eventually becomes the best friend of the Winchester brothers. Originally a short-term role which became a series regular later on. Castiel is played by Misha Collins. He was promoted to a series regular for the fifth and sixth season, something Collins believes to be mainly due to fan support. Collins was downgraded to recurring status for the seventh and eighth seasons, but returned to series regular status for seasons nine and ten
Almost a year later, Season 5 introduces the demon Crowley, played by Mark Sheppard, who would become the Winchester's longest-recurring antagonist and occasional anti-hero in the series. Crowley would alternate between the villain and an ally to the Winchesters. His mother Rowena is also introduced in Season 10, play by Ruth Connell and she experiences the same character development as villain and ally as Crowley does. Eventually, Crowley sacrificed himself fighting against Lucifer at the end of Season 12.
Season 12 also reintroduces Mary Winchester, the mother of Dean and Sam. She is played by Samantha Smith in all but two episodes. She is brought back to life by the villain, turned neutral ally of season 11, Amara. Mary struggles to adapt to the world that has changed greatly from what she once knew and the changes in her sons.
Jack Kline introduced at the end of season 12 is played by Alexander Calvert. He is a Nephilim and the son of Lucifer. Jack was taken in by Sam Winchester and Dean Winchester who would teach him how to master his powers. He eventually kills Michael, an alternate world archangel. Jack begins to damage his soul as he uses his powers after a confrontation with Lucifer, which results in him killing Mary by accident. His attempt to bring Mary back to life only restores her body, and when Castiel goes to Heaven to retrieve her soul, he learns that she has been reunited with John Winchester in Heaven, prompting Castiel to let Mary stay dead so she can be with him.
The end of season 14 begins an intense arch to end the series. Mary has been killed, God shows up once more and when the Winchesters don’t do as he wants, Jack is smote by God. A number of villains and the monster of the week from times past are resurrected.
Dean, Sam, Castiel and Rowena are fighting to keep the world in one piece as season 15 begins.
If you’ve been following the entertainment industry for the past few years or at most 2 decades, then theirs is one man whose name dominated the box office: James Cameron. The Canadian born director has made many hits over the years and has gotten some of Hollywood’s biggest names involved with his movies, including Arnold Schwarzenegger for the killer T800 robot assassin in Terminator and Leonardo DiCaprio as the master of flight and apparently drowning in frigid waters, Jack Dawson.
Cameron’s movies have included Terminator and Titanic, the latter became a box office smash and became the highest grossing film of all time. Cameron, being the less than humble narcissist ass of a human being that he is, referred to himself as being the “King of The World” in an Oscar acceptance speech, a reference to a line uttered by DiCaprio’s character in the film, although with 14 Oscar nominations for that film alone, can you blame him?
The 1997 hit wouldn’t find itself sinking for many years to come, however this all changed 12 years later with the release of his film Avatar in 2009. Then, Titanic would become the shadow of Avatar in as the 2nd highest grossing film of all time. So, for over 22 years, James Cameron Dominated the top spot at the box office, but he would later find himself stepping aside from that in 2019 when Avengers: Endgame surpassed both, with a surprisingly humble response from Cameron on Twitter, congratulating the directors and the teams at Disney and Marvel Studios, saying this:
“An iceberg sank the real Titanic. It took the Avengers to sink my Titanic,” He wrote, going on to say: “Everyone here at Lightstorm Entertainment salutes your amazing achievement.”
When Endgame toppled Avatar, everyone seemed to expect Cameron to have something petty to say in response, and he remained surprisingly Calm, although this is perhaps because of the fact that he has confidence in the sequel to Avatar which is set for release in December of 2021. So, what’s so good about Avatar? Well, no one really seems to know.
Part of it was likely the Sci-Fi aspect of things, as this was the same guy who brought us the Austrian Cyberdyne head-hunter drone, the Terminator, and the with all the money that he made with Titanic, it was likely going to have a big budget. And it did.
So, besides having a fat wallet along with a dual citizenship and home in New Zealand, James Cameron has 2 more Avatar films planned, but the problem is that it maybe hard to get people hyped after waiting 12 years to make a sequel. Obviously, people will likely point out that Star Wars went without making movies for long gaps between trilogies, but the reason why Star Wars did so well after many years of hiatuses is because it managed to stay both culturally relevant and it also had done 3 movies at a time before going on the long hiatuses I referred to, which is plenty of time to get us acquainted to the characters and emotionally involved with them. One movie doesn’t often do that, although Titanic did, but that’s because Titanic was based on true events, whereas Avatar is a complete fantasy that has blue cat people and honestly, despite it being the highest grossing film of all time up until Endgame, can you even name a single character from it? If it was so iconic and popular then I’m damn sure someone besides the people involved with the movie know the characters, because if I walked up to you right now and asked you to name at least two of the Avengers, chances are you’d have no problem with that. Avatar on the other hand? No.
So my challenge is without Googling the answer, write down the name of a character from Avatar, and give me the piece of paper, along with the names of the main core members of the Avengers, or at least 4 out of the 6, and I will do whatever topic you want to suggest in next week’s article. I’m a man of my word, and if you want to take me up on this offer, text (204) 730-8733.
In all seriousness though, Avatar 2 may seem promising until you get back to the reality of the situation. It’s got a forgettable line of characters and an egotistical nut directing it who holds a grudge like Thanos holds an Infinity Stone.
I don’t see it doing all that well, but there is promise in at least one area. Actress Zoe Saldana is slated to play a role in the sequel, as she was in the first, and she also appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, with her star power being a powerful magnet to sci-fi fans, especially those who are wanting a change from seeing her as a green alien to go as a blue one.
If James Cameron does manage to get more big stars, he could do well in that sense, but it takes more than just a star studded cast to make a good movie, and with some of the bad terminator sequels, he should know that a little creativity goes a long way, not just depending on a guy who yells “CHOPPA” and “I’ll be back” and most notably: “I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger and you’re watching the Job Terminator, otherwise known as the Celebrity Apprentice.” (That last one isn’t one of his quotes, but looking back, it seems like a missed opportunity for them to use that as a slogan.)
So, I guess we’ll just have to see how this one plays out.
With Halloween fast approaching and many having gotten their costumes, a fun activity that would make great use of students love for Halloween would be volunteering for the BUSU Halloween Food Drive. BUSU will be holding its annual Halloween Food Drive on October 31st. Partnering with ACC and the Samaritan House, a citywide food drive will be orchestrated and everything collected will go towards each institution’s respective food banks. Volunteers will be able to dress up and go trick or treating for non-perishable food items.
Unfortunately, only student groups are welcomed to sign up for the trick or treating portion of the food drive. Whenever a student group signs up, they can expect to win $0.25 for every pound of food they collect. This money can go towards any group activities or events.
If you would like to volunteer but are not part of a group you are more than welcome to help BUSU with the following.
1) Weighing food as it comes in during the event
2) Separating expired food items during and after the event
3) Organizing non-expired food items into specific categories
To sign up both student groups and volunteers can visit the BUSU office and sign up on the Sign-Up sheet. If you are unable to go to the BUSU office, you can phone 204-727-9660 and a BUSU representative will help you sign up over the phone. In regards to the event, all volunteers are expected to meet at Samaritan House on October 31st at 5:00 pm. The event will run from 5:00-9:00pm.
The entertainment industry seems to be absolutely booming with
blockbuster films within the past few years, and the company we mostly
know responsible for churning out hit after hit is Disney, who seems
to have almost everything these days, with their top two highest
grossing franchises being the Star Wars films, and also the cash cow
that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU for short.
Earlier this year, they released several Marvel movies, with them
doing quite well, like Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and
Spider-Man: Far From Home. The MCU started all the way back in 2008
with the first film in the franchise being John Favreau's cult classic
superhero movie Iron Man, which starred Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark
AKA Iron Man, and this film got RDJ from that crackhead who had no
hope of making it in Hollywood, to the real life and fictional
millionaire playboy philanthropist we all know and love 3,000 today.
Far From Home is the latest addition to the MCU, ending phase 3, and
apparently now the hopes and dreams of Peter Parker seeing his fellow
Avengers again. But how did it get to this, and where did the MCU
start, and how did it end up without Spiderman, gaining him, then
losing him? Well, that's what I'm about to explain.
In the past decade, the MCU has included more heroes and teamed them
up in great movies like the Avengers, and it seems like so many of the
stars we know and love have been in the MCU at some point or another.
That's why after Iron Man's post credits scene with Samuel L Jackson's
Nick Fury and then 2008's The Incredible Hulk, who starred notorious
control freak/beloved actor Edward Norton in addition to having a Tony
Stark cameo, fans had hope of seeing a team up film, which we got in
2012 with The Avengers, and we were waiting patiently for everyone's
favourite web head join his fellow Marvel heroes in the MCU. During
Iron Man 2, a young boy in an Iron Man Costume is saved from a robot
gone rogue at a convention by Tony Stark, and fans had theorized that
the little boy dressed as Iron Man was actually a young Peter Parker,
and the idea was something that had us waiting in anticipation.
So in 2016 during Captain America: Civil War, Disney had finally made
our dreams come true by bringing Spider-Man into the MCU, this time
being played by British actor tom Holland, who replaced Andrew
Garfield after Sony's canceled Amazing Spider-Man film series.
The problem with the MCU though is that Disney doesn't have the rights
to make movies with all Marvel comic book characters. Remember the
Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton that I mentioned before? Well that was
actually co-financed by Universal, who have the distribution rights
for any Hulk solo films, which is why after that box office bomb,
Disney hasn't made another Hulk movie since then. Up until recently,
they also couldn't have the X-Men or Fantastic Four because 20th
Century Fox owned those, the only two exceptions being Quicksilver and
Scarlet Witch, who were featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron, as Disney
bought the rights to have them appear, but the term “mutant” wasn’t
used when referring to the backstories of the characters, and their
backstories were altered due to legal reasons. Even Deadpool wasn't
able to be in there, although Josh Brolin played both the villain
Cable in Deadpool 2 and the purple stone loving genocidal brute Thanos
in the MCU, and Deadpool joked about this in the movie.
As for Spidey, Sony owns the film rights to the characters from
Spider-Man, which is why 2018's Venom wasn't a part of the MCU, and
was its own standalone film. Spider-Man film rights were acquired by
Sony in the 1990's when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, so they
sold the film rights to Sony, who produced two separate depictions of
the character prior to them merging with Disney to put him in the MCU.
The first and only Spider-Man trilogy produced by Sony debuted in
2002, starring pre-dance career disaster Tobey Maguire. Along with
him, their was Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin AKA Norman Osborn, and
featured other notable stars like James Franco as Harry Osborn and JK
Simmons in the iconic role of J Jonah Jameson, who I would love to see
my boss dress as for Halloween while yelling at me “DAMN IT PARKER I
WANT PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN!”
Spider-Man 3 tanked and so did Tobey Maguire's career in just one
scene with James Brown and the worst dance sequence in cinema history,
where Peter literally wears a black suit and dances like John Travolta
Saturday Night Fever style down a street. After that, Sony made more
theatrical abominations which were their ironically named Amazing
Spider-Man series, which spawned only two films before being cancelled
in favour of him being placed in the MCU. According to most fans, Sony
hasn't got a damn clue what they're doing.
After the box office shattering records produced by Avengers: Endgame,
which managed to surpass James Cameron's movies Titanic and Avatar,
fans were sad to say goodbye to Tony Stark, as RDJ was ending his
contract with Disney, but it seemed like Peter Parker was hyped up to
be his successor, and we got a more in depth look at this in
Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is the follow up for Avengers:
Endgame. In far From Home, Peter goes on a class trip to Europe, only
for strange creatures made of fire, water, storms, and rocks called
The Elementals, to come along and crash his summer vacation, but he
has help fighting them thanks to a new dimension hopping hero named
Quentin Beck AKA Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and some new
sunglasses called “EDITH” (which stand for Even Dead I’m The Hero)
from Tony Stark that control a lot of tech, including some dangerous
drones that Peter comes very close to accidentally committing a murder
with.
We got some Easter eggs and the film left on a cliff hanger, as J
Jonah Jameson showed footage of Mysterio seemingly dying after a huge
battle in London England, and Mysterio name drops the identity of
Spidey in the video, and it was just before the film left theatres
that Disney and Sony failed to reach an agreement on how to split the
earnings of the films. Far From Home had become Sony's highest
grossing film of all time, surpassing the James Bond movie Skyfall.
Within a day people were going nuts about the news that Sony was
pulling the character from the MCU, and even big stars reacted to
this. Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye in the MCU asked for Sony to
return the bug bitten teen to his home in the MCU via twitter. Fans
even took to the twitter of Ryan Reynolds, who stars as the Merc with
a Mouth, AKA Deadpool, replying to questions of whether a Deadpool
Spider-Man team up is possible, to which he replied:
“There already is one, but you can only see it in my heart.”
It’d seem that what it all boils down to is money and a lack of
communication and negotiating, with greed and egos getting in the way
of both studios ability to come to an agreement. Spider-Man: Far From
Home did indeed earn over $1,000,000,000 at the box office and also
became the highest grossing Spider-Man film of all time, but this is
largely in part to the MCU, and characters like Tony Stark, who were
paired up in the films with him and also allowed for his storyline to
be intertwined with the MCU timeline that is responsible for this.
Sony seems to think that much to the chagrin of fans and the
obviousness of their past failures that despite all that and with how
well Venom did as a standalone film, that they can sill capitalize on
the success and that they think they can achieve with the character of
Spider-Man. All characters introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming are
now a part of Sony’s Venom-verse, as well as Peter Parker and Aunt May
who made there debut in Captain America: Civil War.
Even though Sony has had big stars in there Spider-Man and spinoff
films, like James Franco, JK Simmons, Kirsten Dunst, Andrew Garfield,
Jamie Foxx, Denis Leary, Paul Giamatti, and Alfred Molina, it doesn’t
stop their movies from sucking. It seems that perhaps Sony just needs
another kick to the face to realize that the fans want what they want,
and if they don’t try and work things out, they may ultimately fail
with the character like they did before. Without the MCU, it seems the
web crawling teen is screwed. Or so it would seem, as there is a
loophole.
While Sony indeed owns the film rights, Marvel is still allowed to
make and distribute Spider-Man TV shows and have him appear in
anything under 40 minutes in length without risking any legal issues
with Sony. The new streaming service Disney+ is set to launch in
November of this year, just barely 6 or 7 weeks away, and they do plan
on making series like there “What If?” which showcases alternate
realities of the universe that their characters share. It was
confirmed at least two episodes will center around the two Spider-Man
films in the MCU, so potentially what they could do is make a live
action series starring current Spider-Man Tom Holland, keeping it
intertwined with the MCU timeline while still avoiding any legal
issues with Sony, so we could still see him interact with the
Avengers, but he wouldn’t be allowed on the big screen or in anything
over 40 minutes in length, which is a small price to pay, but hey, at
least he gets to stay in the MCU if they do that, while Sony can
continue to produce disasters that make Tommy Wiseau’s films look like
James Cameron’s in comparison. Maybe if enough fans get on board we
could see this happen. #spideymcuseries
Fans had been eagerly waiting for a response from stars Tom Holland
and Zendaya who play Peter Parker and MJ respectively. They've been
quiet about it, much to fans disappointment, but for good reason, as
either way they still are contractually obligated to appear in more
Spider-Man films regardless of who holds the rights, along with Jon
Watts, who directed both Homecoming and Far From Home. It was pointed
out by fans however that both of the stars mentioned had unfollowed
Sony on Instagram. Many fans have been hoping that negotiations will
still be ongoing, but Sony's CEO has stepped up to say that it's not
happening and that for now, he's not in the MCU, and fans will just
have to get used to the idea for the time being, but said that they've
got a lot of plans moving forward for the character, but that doesn't
change the opinions of many fans, including myself. Sony also doesn’t
seem to have any negative opinions of Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige,
saying that they believe he has too much on his plate with him being
busy trying to integrate the X-men and Fantastic Four into the MCU
after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
So after all the effort that the Avengers had to put in to undo the
decimation caused by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Sony
has got the legal Gauntlet, and they just snapped Spidey out of
existence in the MCU. Perhaps Disney shouldn't have put all there eggs
into one basket, or Sony should get their asses in gear and realize
that the catalyst for their success with the last two Spider-Man films
was actually because of the MCU. I think I speak for all Marvel fans
when I say that I can't wait to see him swing back into the MCU,
either that or Disney should get on making a Night Monkey movie (Go
see Far From home to understand that reference).