Leisure8

Colin Svoboda | Staff Writer

Kevin Jewell | Staff Writer

Take a look at

a few of next

month‛s highly-

anticipated fea-

ture fi lms!

Movies in the Making!

Zombie Apocalypse Survival TipsThe Mayans predicted it: the world is on its way to an immediate end. According to the Mayan calendar, December 21st, 2012 marks the date when the clock takes an unfortunate turn backwards, and seals the fate of humanity. Many skeptics and apocalypse believers are currently arguing over the matter. At Mount Michael, the subject of a possible apocalypse has many students and faculty members excited. Whether the end comes or not, here are some helpful tips in case the 2012 “End of the World” comes, in the form of a zombie apocalypse.

In the past decade, the music industry has experienced a storm of new small artists. In 2005, over 18% of all music sales were from independent labels, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This number has been on the rise with small artists and bands releasing mix tapes every week. One of these artist is Ben Haggerty. Haggerty, known by his stage name Macklemore, recently released his debut al-bum The Heist. Macklemore has been on the up and coming since his senior year in high school, and The Heist gives his fans the great-est taste of his musical genius thus far. The fi fteen track album was released on Oc-tober 9, 2012. Macklemore and his producer, Ryan Lewis, have been working on the album tirelessly since last year. Though the album is labeled as hip-hop, Macklemore often crosses the boundaries of traditional hip-hop and in-corporates pieces of his life into his music. Leading up to the release, Macklemore re-leased “My Oh My” a joyous tune describing the Seattle Mariner’s comeback win in the 1995 American League Division Champion-ship, an important part of Macklemore’s child-hood. “My Oh My” is one of the best songs that a listener has never heard. Though Mackl-emore is talking about his childhood, the song is relatable to almost all listeners. Being a small time artist has its advantages. Macklemore is able to write songs about his struggles being censored, and he often talks of his struggles to overcome his addiction to al-cohol. However, Macklemore does sing about lighter topics, like being frugal in his song

“Thrift Shop” that utilizes fast, catchy beats. Likewise, the synonymous theme through-out The Heist is Macklemore’s use of upbeat sounds and catchy lyrics. Songs like “Jimmy Iovine” and “Same Love” tell the story of Macklemore’s childhood through the same in-strumental sounds. Brendan Walsh, an assistant dean and a ju-nior at thr University of Nebraska at Omaha, enjoys discovering small-time artists. “Big colleges have aided greatly to the rise of these small artists with such a clash of different tastes and cultures present at these institutions,” said Walsh. Possibly the greatest aid to the young artists has been apps like Pandora and Spotify. These apps randomly shuffl e songs based on songs that the user has liked. For instance lik-ing a song by a popular artist will often lead to similar songs by small artists. The Heist is a perfect example of what makes small artists so appealing. Macklemore effec-tively uses upbeat tempos and sounds to de-scribe his life. I personally found every one of his songs a new and creative way of telling his life’s story. Look for artists like Macklemore to be on the rise with their authentic lyrics and growth of music fi nding apps like Pandora and Spotify. Macklemore and other small artists can be found across the internet and blogs. Most importantly, small artists grow through students sharing music. So in the coming weeks, broaden your music tastes and try to listen to the Macklemore station or another small artist on Pandora. I think you’ll love it.

The distinction between videogames and reality are beginning to interfere with one-an-other. According to Junior Elijah Buckhold, a veteran gamer, the immersive environment of a videogame is very satisfying. “I love im-mersion. At some points in BF3 (Battlefi eld 3) I actually feel as if I am there in the war.” Buckhold likes the consequences of a video-game better than reality. “In reality war is hell, but in games it is fun and a bit scary at times. In video games, you have complete free will and have no punishment for your actions be-side the immediate.” Buckhold fi nds beauti-ful detailed graphics to be another key to the immersion of a video game. “When you fi re a bow, the arrow parts grass and plants in its path. When you shoot the arrow through a wall of fi re, the arrow is set on fi re and does addi-tional damage.” Along with veteran gamers like Buckhold, doctors and surgeons fi nd that video games improve their surgical practices. According to Verena Dobnik, a writer for nbcnews.com, “doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparo-

scopic surgery and performed the task 27 per-cent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.” Buckhold agrees, he prais-es the capacity of mental and logical thinking that a video game challenges. “Video games can help to train the mind in different ways. Shooters train refl exes, RPG train problem solving and management, and Strategy games help with decision making.” From high quality graphics to fully immer-sive gameplay Buckhold is able to benefi t from the interconnected space of the digital world as well. Through a video game, players like Buckhold can communicate and play with their friends through an internet connection. Buckhold uses this benefi t to his advantage. “...due to the fact that I am here and far from all my friends, video games are the only thing we can really do together.” Although Buckhold enjoys the interconnect-ed immersion of the cyber world, Junior Ben Connealy has a different point of view. “Real life is much more interesting. If I spent all my time in a fake world I wouldn’t have time for the real one. The real life equivalent to any vid-

eo game is ten times more intense.”According to an online article, Obesity In Children & Video Games from LiveStrong.com, the writ-er Alexandra Moymer stated, “Health profes-sionals have determined that a great number of children are infl uenced by gaming obses-sion, leading to a lack of physical activity.” Connealy understands that real life activities are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t going to regret not playing a video game. You will regret not getting out there and living your life.” Although there may be a few glitches be-tween videogames and real life, the reality and virtual reality that people surround themselves presents positive and negative outcomes. With this, certain people will continue their adven-tures of gaming while others enjoy their out-door adventures too. Between the two sides of reality, the feud still rages on. While people like Connealy continue to separate themselves from the video game world, people like Buck-hold continue to embrace their virtual one.

sionals have determined that a great number

sion, leading to a lack of physical activity.” Connealy understands that real life activities are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t going to regret not playing a video game. You will regret not getting out there and living

Although there may be a few glitches be-tween videogames and real life, the reality and virtual reality that people surround themselves presents positive and negative outcomes. With this, certain people will continue their adven-tures of gaming while others enjoy their out-door adventures too. Between the two sides of reality, the feud still rages on. While people

are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t

Colin Svoboda | Staff Writer

Real vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamer Sticky Sayings!

Cory Keegan- [bowls a bad ball]

Mr. Roshone- “Can you give

me some personal traits for

Abraham Lincoln?”

Kevin Jewell | Kevin Jewell | Kevin Jewell Staff Writer

:Ra� er on the Rise

Mr. Roshone- “Josh, do you

know anything about Napo-

leon?”

Josh Rauterkus- “Uhm, he

was short?”

Grant Ramm- “Look! There’s

a big duck!”

Jake Recker- “Grant, that’s

a crow.”

Mr. Cormier- “Cory, you make me physically nau-seous.”

Connor Coon- “He was a car-

penter.”

Mr. Roshone- “No, you’re

thinking of Jesus.”

Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger returns to the fi lm-ing industry in this action-packed movie; a town sheriff, Schwar-zenegger, fi ghts off a well-known gang of drug cartels.

THE LAST STANDBilbo Baggins and his fel-low dwarves and hobbit friends return to the cin-ematic spotlight as they begin their adventure to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug.

THE HOBBITDirector Kathryn Big-elow reveals the truth behind the SEALs’ hunt for the al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in operation Zero Dark Thirty.

ZERO DARK THIRTY

vs.Real vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamer

Cartoon by David Bastian