“Year of Yes”

“If you want crappy things to stop happening to you, then stop accepting crap and demand something more.” –Christina Yang, Grey’s Anatomy

The magnificent creator of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and executive producer to How to Get Away with Murder all share one thing in common…Shonda Rhimes. She has become a household name and is the super woman behind these hit television shows that own Thursday nights! Aside from being a producer, screenwriter, owning a production company ‘Shondaland,’ and being a mother to three girls, she is also the author of the book, ‘Year of Yes.’ When a person has that much going on it makes sense that Rhimes would say no to anything outside of writing for her Thursday night hits. Although Shonda is a busy woman that wasn’t the sole reason why she continued to turned down opportunities, but I’ll explain that a bit later.

Rhimes prefer to being behind the camera, why, because she’s a liar and she enjoys every second of it. Shonda Rhimes admits to the thrill of making things up in the opening of her book, “I’m a liar. And I don’t care who knows it. I make stuff up all the time.” Now before you freak out about that statement and boycott her shows, she gets paid to make stuff up…she writes for the shows that keeps her audience on the edge of their sofas every week. Now here’s the real reason Shonda use to skip out on opportunities, because she’s extremely shy! Rhimes explains in her book how much of an introvert she is, having panic attacks before television appearances, and saying ‘no’ to anything that involved her being the center of attention. Then on Thanksgiving Day 2013, Deloris, Shonda’s sister mumbled six simple words “you never say yes to anything.” Shonda, being the brilliant person that she is, decided to challenge herself and for one year said YES to everything that scared her.

“Year of Yes,” is a journey of how Shonda Rhimes transformed from saying “NO” to all things that scared her to saying “YES” to all things that scared her. That meant one day giving the commencement address to Dartmouth University in front of thousands upon thousands of people and even appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, something that the old Shonda wouldn’t have done. I think this is a book that many people around the world could benefit from, because it challenges people to stop living life afraid of the unknown and to stop being comfortable in the place they are familiar with. As 2017, is slowly starting to come to a close this is the perfect time for those that want a change in their life to take on the “Year of Yes” challenge for 2018.

“New year, new me,” will be the statement that will be circulating around social media on January 1, 2018, so why not really mean it this time by doing something you’ve never done before? Do you feel like your life is a little stagnate, do you feel like you haven’t accomplished anything, still feel like you are the same person you were a year ago? If you answered yes to any of these it’s probably because you’ve been living your life in your little bubble that most called “a comfort zone.” A person’s comfort zone is a place that is familiar and nothing bad can come from it if a mistake happens. However, guess what, nothing extraordinary can happen from it either. So, with that being said I’m giving you a homework assignment, but don’t worry it’s not due until December 31, 2018.

I want you to go out and buy a notebook, and throughout the year write down every scary opportunity that is offered to you. Of course, you said yes to it because you’re participating in the “Year of Yes” challenge, right? Write down what was going through your mind when the opportunity presented itself and your experience after you completed it. At the end of the year reflect on what type of year 2018 was for you. I guaranteed it will be your most fulfilling year yet.
Good Luck!

Holiday Movies

Whether it’s at home with family, or snuggled up with hot chocolate and a blanket in your dorm room, there is something special about watching movies that celebrate the holidays. Students around campus were asked to submit their favorite holiday movie they watch every year. From classics to current, these suggestions will leave you without question on what you need to watch this season.

Hocus Pocus- Katie McCorkle

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Home Alone – Brooke Rayburn

Elf – Landon Porter

How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Rebekah Drennon

The Polar Express – Sharda James

Christmas in Connecticut – Victoria Marshal

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation – Misty Jones

White Christmas – Rebekah Drennon

Die Hard – Austin Powers

Original Ghost Busters / New Years – Misty Jones

Thor Ragnarok: Calm Before the Storm

Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and Brief Suggestive Material

Thor Ragnarok represents the calm before the storm – the latest in the ever progressing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it works to answer lingering questions while setting the stage for the highly anticipated Infinity War films. Unfortunately, it isn’t much aside from that – Ragnarok tries to be some sort of 80’s film homage and succeeds, much to its detriment.

Underneath the highly appealing aesthetic, Ragnarok is chiefly concerned with Thor saving Asgard from, well, Ragnarok – the prophesied apocalypse he’s been receiving visions of since prior MCU films. The film moves full speed ahead to resolve this plot, quickly tossing aside plot points from The Dark World to make way for new dilemmas, such as whatever happened to the Hulk or to throw out there that the antagonist of Ragnarok is Thor’s heretofore unmentioned sister.

It isn’t as though the film is inherently bad – the fight scenes are nice to look at, the music adds to the energy of the film and the chemistry between characters (such as Thor and the Hulk, who can now speak) makes for great laughs. It’s more so that the only aspects of the plot that feel like they were thoughtfully done are those related to Infinity War and unfortunately, they’re the sort of things that make Ragnarok a required view for those fans of the MCU that want to keep up to date for it. But that Ragnarok seems so keen on doing away with old plot points for the sake of progressing the MCU makes me a little concerned that these portions of the movie will be just as simply discarded for the sake of Infinity War.

Thor Ragnarok – come for the Hulk, stay for the post-credits scene!

Assassins Creed: Origins — First Impressions

Rated M (17+) for Blood and Gore, Drug References, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language and Use of Alcohol

Assassins Creed Origins is the newest installment in an ongoing series of historical action-stealth games developed by Ubisoft. For the uninitiated, the series has focused on a fictional conflict between two groups, the Assassins (generally embodying freedom and equality) and the Templars (generally embodying order and security), whose ideologies clash in various historical periods revisited under the context of this conflict carrying on into the modern-day, with descendants of major figures from both groups (usually the Assassins, hence the title) reliving the lives of their ancestors through technologies originally developed by or reverse-engineered from the products of the Templar’s modern-day iteration, Abstergo Industries. The recent release of Assassins Creed Origins is notable for its setting being Ancient Egypt, a time period long requested by fans of the series, and that this game was developed in twice the time Ubisoft has usually taken to develop and release its games – normally a yearly affair, the added time to develop Origins sees the series return under a massively reworked system. As a longtime fan of the series, this is written to offer some first impressions of the game with a full review planned to release before the holidays.

As mentioned before, the game is both old and new – new in that the foundations of Origins are built on an open-world role-playing game (RPG) system and old in that Origins is intended to depict the ‘origins’ of the Assassin Brotherhood, an heretofore uncovered subject now playing out in a highly requested era of history. It’s clear that the new system works incredibly well to redefine the series’ gameplay – Origins introduces RPG elements such as a levelling system and gear system to better embody a sense of progression, pacing it out over a vast and sprawling landscape. Quests within Origins are thoughtfully designed, with each that I’ve completed at the time of this writing feeling engaging and distinct. They often use traversal methods that are a staple of the Assassins Creed series, scaling large structures and navigating spaces in a style reminiscent of parkour, to better sell the idea that you can approach scenarios you find yourself from varied angles – which is better fleshed out by the gear you acquire, your animal companion who can soar above and scout out these locations and that Origins vastly widens the scope of what is traversable in-game to include almost any surface – whereas methods to scale a building or structure were once clearly defined, Origins contextualizes it within common logic – structures with texture are climbable, whereas a completely smooth fortress wall isn’t. As a game, Origins has an impressive set of lungs, allowing Egypt to be depicted as a living space that is a joy to explore.

Yet as an Assassins Creed game, Origins seems to falter – or at least, it isn’t inclined in the slightest to allude to the beginnings of the meta-conflict present within the series like you’d think it would. While this is only a first impressions piece and I won’t fault the game completely for this as I’ve not completed the story, it seems a bit odd to only receive the iconic item of the Assassins, the Hidden Blade (a wrist-mounted blade that springs forward from your wrist as an assassination tool), about 6 hours into the game with no real explanation of what it is or why it exists as of yet, leaving certain questions about its design that an Assassins Creed fan would want to have answered still lingering.

For the moment I can only give Origins the benefit of a doubt that all will be answered in due time and enjoy what I can get out of it now in its engrossing open-world gameplay. Expect a full review out in time for the holidays.

Holiday Season In Texarkana

Thursday November 9th

  • Hands-on Texarkana The Great Escape Wine event. 6:00p.m-8:00p.m. at 1915 Olive St., Texarkana Texas 75503. Outdoor event and tickets must be bought in advance because seating is limited.

Friday November 10th  

  • Jamey Johnson will be at Scottie’s grill at 8400 West 7th Street. Show starts at 7pm and tickets can be purchased at the Scottie’s Grill Website.
  • The Outsiders, a play based on the classic novel by S.E. Hinton at Texarkana College starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are 15$ per person.

Saturday November 11th

  • T-Town Showdown, a car, truck and bike show, at the Four States Fairground from 11am to 4pm. Tickets can be bought at the door, $8 per person.
  • The Outsiders, a play based on the classic novel by S.E. Hinton at Texarkana College starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are 15$ per person.

Sunday November 12th

  • Meet and Greet with Cinderella at 1:00pm-2:00pm at 120 E Broad St. Texarkana, Arkansas 71854. Southern Grace and Designs, Party and Gifts. Tickets are $25 per child and $5 per adult.
  • The Outsiders, a play based on the classic novel by S.E. Hinton at Texarkana College starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are 15$ per person.

Friday November 17th

  • Mistletoe Fair at the Four States Fairground from 12:00pm – 7:00pm. $7 per person at the door or a $12 pass per person for the weekend.

Saturday November 18th

  • Breakfast With Santa at the Central Mall from 10:00am to 11:00am
  • Mistletoe Fair at the Four States Fairground from 12:00pm – 7:00pm. $7 per person at the door or a $12 pass per person for the weekend.
  • Christmas Card Creations at the Ace of Clubs House, 420 Pine St., Texarkana, TX from 2:30pm-3:30pm. Members get in free while others pay a $5 admission fee.

Monday November 20th

  • Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer at the Perot Theater, 221 Main Street, Texarkana TX at 7:30pm-9:30pm. Tickets can be bought online and cost $36-54 per person.

Saturday November 25th

  • Charming Charlie Fundraiser for the Randy Sams Shelter at the Central Mall, from 10:00am to 5:00pm. It is a shopping event where a portion of what you spend is donated to the Randy Sams Shelter.

Friday December 1st-Saturday December 2nd

  • Holiday Open House and Art Market at The Regional Arts Center from 10:00am to 5:00pm. This event involves homemade arts and crafts that can make the perfect gift.

Monday December 4th

  • Main Street’s Annual Christmas Parade at 4:00pm.

Sunday December 10th

  • Christmas at the Perot at 4:00pm. Tickets cost $28-51 per person. Hosted by the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra.

Saturday December 9th

  • 1st Annual Christmas Car Show at the Central Mall from 9:00am to 2:00pm.

Thursday December 14th

  • Cirque Dreams Holidaze at the Perot Theater starting at 7:30pm. Tickets can be purchased online and cost $36-54 per person.

Mad Science on Demand

On Friday October 28, students performed stage plays and showed a short film for Mad Science on Demand. The shows were all written directed, and performed within 24 hours. Theatre on Demand had been an activity at the college for a few years and is open to all students who are interested. They got the topic at 8pm on Friday night and had to put together their shows by 8pm on Saturday. The theme for the productions was mad science, which falls under the PLACE theme for the year of science and technology.

The first production was a short film, Menopause in a Bottle, directed by Hollis Thompson. In the film, two students, Adam and Evelyn, meet with their professor to work on a project for extra credit. The professor traps Evelyn in a glass box and gives her hormones, causing her to have rapid and unpredictable mood swings. After the film, we all took seats in front of the stage in Eagle Hall to watch the stage productions.

The first stage play of the evening was The God Complex, written by Samantha Gallegos. In the play, Dr. Vir is responsible for ending humanity and her apprentice, Wanda, is seeking excitement. While running errands for Dr. Vir, she meets Victor, a young scientist who is afraid of science.

Rachel Mudd, director of The God Complex said her main responsibilities as a director were lighting, sound, and stage direction.

“I had to keep the actors focused and help them memorize their lines,” she said. She enjoyed the experience and sees herself participating next year as a director.

The second stage play was Promises Are for The Weak, written by Edwin Hinojos and directed by Allyson Couture. Professor Chase Morrison wants to get his hands on the youth serum created by his student, Patty Grambles. She insists it is not ready, but he does not listen to her.

The final stage play was Persistence of a Loveworst Mind. The great-granddaughter of Dr. Frankenstein kidnaps a student and replaces his brain with her deceased husband’s. Alex Eyespy goes to her lab to find out what happens to the student and discovers her experiment. Maggie Bunch directed the play and said putting together an entire production in 24 hours was challenging, but writer, Caleb D. Gammons did an amazing job with the script. With such a short time period, there was a question of what to do about props.

“We had to improvise with the props and used the university’s stools,” said Bunch.
David Zwirn has been acting since high school, but this is his first A&M production and Theatre on Demand. He played the comical role of Alex Eyespy. Prior to being in the production, he only knew a couple of people who were participating. The event allowed him to make new friends and meet other people who also shared his interests.

“It’s like Iron Chef, where you only get certain ingredients to work with,” said Zwirn. “We only had a certain amount of time to memorize lines and que. We rehearsed all day from 9am to showtime.”

Zwirn wants to be more involved in the theater program at A&M.

“Dr. Billings wants the program to grow and expand. The more talent we get, the better it will be.”

Fright Night: Games for Halloween

Looking for a way to celebrate Halloween from the comfort of your own home? Here are two games (neither for the faint of heart) you might consider picking up to play – The Evil Within and Friday the 13th the Game!


The Evil Within (Released in 2014)

Rated Mature (17+) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language

The Evil Within is a 2014 Third Person Survival Horror game developed by Tango Gameworks and Published by Bethesda Softworks.

You play as Detective Sebastian Castellanos, who has been separated from his team and transported to a nightmarish mindscape after arriving on the scene of an apparent mass murder at Beacon Mental Hospital. The game takes place over several Chapters, wherein you’ll attempt to sneak and survive as you progress through various areas populated by all manner of hostile monster. The Evil Within takes this a step further by introducing you to various special monsters who act as a sort of flavor-of-the-week for a time, impeding your progress until you eventually face it in a straight on fight and defeat it.

If you’re in the mood for something you can play on your own, consider giving The Evil Within a try! If you’re not able to pick it up, there’s a wealth of footage of it on YouTube and surely no shortage of streamers on Twitch that will be playing it for the evening. However, if you have already played it, they just released the games sequel, The Evil Within 2!


Friday the 13th the Game

Rated Mature (17+) for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes and Strong Language

Friday the 13th the Game is an Asymmetrical Multiplayer Survival Horror game developed by IllFonic and published by Gun Media. Seven survivors must work together to secure various means of escape from a player controlling the iconic Jason Voorhees, who must systematically hunt down and kill  the seven survivors. The game uses a unique audio system wherein survivors may communicate over long distances using radios but they must be mindful of what they say, as the player controlling Jason can hear both ends of the conversation if he is near one of the two.

The games tense and often frantic atmosphere makes it a great game to play with friends and perfect for the Halloween festivities. It is not, however, a game you may enjoy for long periods simply watching.

Spooky Shows For Halloween 2017

This Halloween is on a Tuesday. So unless you planned to go to a party this weekend, it is just going to be another boring weekend in October. In order to stay in the Halloween spirit, here are some suggestions of some newer spooky shows to watch this weekend.

Netflix:

Stranger Things, Season 2 — if you haven’t watched the popular Netflix show Stranger Things yet, it’s never too late to start. Season 2 is just in time for Halloween, so grab the popcorn and binge watch season 1. Season 1 starts out when a young boy vanishes and a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.

Gerald’s Game – A woman whose husband dies of a heart while she’s handcuffed to the bed is stuck in a remote lake house with no hope of rescue. She begins to hear voices and seeing strange visions.

1922 — A farmer pens a confession admitting to his wife’s murder, but her death is just the beginning of a horrifying tale. Based on Stephen King’s novella.

Movies:

Jigsaw — Part of the popular, gory Saw series. Jigsaw is back. Bodies are turning up, each having met a unique demise. As the investigation proceeds, evidence points to one suspect: John Kramer, who has been dead for ten years.

Happy Death Day –– This movie is more fun than it is scary. So if you are light-hearted and not a fan of horror movies, this will be the Halloween movie for you. A college girl relives the day of her murder over and over. It is like the movie Groundhogs Day only with a terrifying twist.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – SATURDAY ONLY at 9:30 PM. The classic horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be on the big screen again for the 40th anniversary of the film.

Go to https://www.cinemark.com/north-texas/cinemark-texarkana-14 to get tickets or https://www.netflix.com/ to start watching!

Field to Fashion

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live the life of a model? To walk down a runway with all eyes on you? Wearing amazing clothes, and your hair and makeup styled to perfection by a professional artist?

Sophomore Julianna Summerlin, a Mass Communication Major from our campus, gives us the inside scoop. However, her story is much bigger than just posing for the camera. She juggles school, modeling, and plays for our women’s soccer team. Activities that certainly take some time management. Both her soccer and modeling stories began long before she graduated from North Hills Preparatory in Dallas, TX.

Julianna began playing soccer at age four. Not surprising, considering her four siblings also played. The first four years were purely recreational, but second grade started to get competitive leading her to college ball. She emphasized the transition by saying “I was playing with girls and coaches I didn’t know, doing drills I had never seen before, making me the most exhausted I had ever been in my young life.”

She began her modeling career in the sixth grade. She has always been on the taller side, and decided to pursue her interest after being persuaded by a friend. She was signed to The Campbell Agency at the age of twelve years old. With a strict 5’8”-5’10” height requirement, and limiting sizes 0-4, this narrows down the number of women that can even begin their process with the agency.

She describes her first impression of modeling as being very intense, but having a sense of “extreme amazement.” She said, “At twelve I was an awkward, gangly, stinky, five foot seven tomboy… and barely spoke.” She used the first few years as opportunity to shed her shy personality, and work towards building up to the confidence level she possesses. Modeling has given her the opportunity to network with “models who grace the covers of “People Magazine” and the Victoria Secret Runway, to makeup artists who create highly successful charity organizations in their free time.” People most young women only dream of interacting with.

Both modeling and soccer require her to maintain a healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally. The overwhelming stereotype that models don’t eat is false. “My agency loves me, they care about me, they want me to be healthy. No one has ever encouraged me to stop eating or hurt my health in any way during my eight years as a model.” The agency is big on girls reaching their body goals in a healthy fashion. She aims for a diet filled with protein and veggies, and an exercise program based off of intense circuits to keep her in shape year round.

However, the older she gets, the more competitive it is with both activities. “Modeling consistently causes you to compare yourself to others; what your measurements are, how many pictures are in your portfolio, how many agencies you are signed to, how big your social media following is.” With soccer it is a lot of comparing times and how much better someone else is at winning the ball. Even though it can be hard to not take these criticisms personally, she said “There are days I may feel a little defeated after a hard practice and an email saying I didn’t get that runway show I interviewed for, but I just have to remember it’s not the end of the world.”

To sum it all up, Julianna stressed how blessed she is for both. With soccer being part of her life for as long as she can remember, it is impossible for her to imagine life without it. As far as modeling goes, she says “I am sure I would have maintained my shy and awkward ways if it were not for modeling– it really pushed me out of my shell.” Juggling school, modeling, and soccer, she has without a doubt become a much stronger person.

Review – Annabelle: Creation

October is known as the month of ghosts, goblins, and other paranormal phenomenon.  What better way to celebrate, than watching a scary movie, such as Annabelle: Creation.

Though the remake of Steven King’s classic, It, has gotten a lot of attention, the creepy clown has nothing on Annabelle.  In Annabelle: Creation, written by Gary Dauberman, a former doll maker and his wife had lost their 7-year-old daughter, Annabelle, in a horrible accident.  A demon, posing as Annabelle, preyed on the couples vulnerable state.  Desperate to see or speak to their daughter again, the couple unknowingly gave the demon permission to inhabit their daughter’s doll.  Years later, thinking the demon had gone, the couple allows a young nun and six orphaned girls, to stay with them in their farmhouse.  The horrors that awaited the girls were unimaginable.

Annabelle: Creation was released in theatres on August 11, and grossed over $301 million worldwide.  The film had relatively positive feedback from critics.  The average critic rating was 6.1/10 stars.

I completely agree with the critics.  Annabelle: Creation did not disappoint.  The film produced multiple, jump-out-of-your-seat, scream out loud moments.  Between the victims being young children, rather than teens or adults, and the top-notch special effects, this movie was a horror buff’s nightmare come true.  As for this horror-buff, I would take the creepy clown, Pennywise, over the terrifying doll, any day.  I give this film two thumbs up.