Month: March 2024

Helpful YouTube Videos for College Students

Welcome to the Youtube Corner! In this section, you will find three videos that will be helpful for time management, water consumption, and writing.

YT1: How I Manage My Time:
The Tri-Calendar System

YT2: The Benefits of Drinking Water

We’d all rather drink coffee, soda, or an energy drink to keep us awake during these grueling school days. This video tells us about the benefits of water and how water helps us stay healthy and energized.

YT3: 3 Easy Tips to Write Better College Essays

As college students, we often have to write essays and discussion boards. Oftentimes, we may be unsure of how we sound and how to write. This video gives a few quick and easy tips on how to write better for us college students!

—Kelsey Vanderpool, YouTube Editor

Positive Affirmations

Positive affirmations are phrases or statements loaded with encouraging words, outweighing negative or unhelpful thoughts. Most times, affirmations are used to motivate people, encourage positive changes, and boost self-esteem. Personally, every morning I say a different affirmation depending on what I have planned for the day. I was introduced to positive affirmations when I was struggling, at first, I thought they were stupid and wouldn’t help. As I slowly started saying them, writing them, or even hearing them, I noticed they helped me start the day off on the right foot.

Using Positive Affirmations: You may be thinking, how do I incorporate these into my everyday life? Simply set a reminder on your phone to display when you wake up. Have a sticky note with an affirmation written on it and put it somewhere you’d see it every morning, like a bathroom mirror or the back of your bedroom door. This one is more common and simple to do. It is also powerful to look in the bathroom mirror and say something positive/empowering about yourself to your reflection. Putting positive affirmations on a sticky note and posting them in various locations throughout the day has a beneficial effect.

Benefits: There are numerous benefits to using affirmations. In simpler terms, they better your mental and physical health. Boosting confidence, reducing anxiety, decreasing stress, improving physical health, and improving emotional well-being are just some of the positive impacts. There are major rewards for using affirmations every day or as often as you can, and those are strengthening your sense of self and starting to change your mindset. Now these two benefits also correlate with the others, because ultimately the goal is to help you improve your self-worth and make you a more confident person.

Potential phrases: I am strong, I am beautiful, I am smart. These phrases are basic ones that would be easy to start with. Putting “I am” in front of a powerful phrase adds a sense of self-empowerment to it. My best work is enough, my needs and wants matter, my problems are solvable, and my potential for success is limitless. Now these phrases get a little more in-depth, but their contents scream powerful, successful, and amazing.

Personally, these would give me all the confidence I needed to conquer the day, but you don’t have to use these exact phrases. You can come up with phrases that will benefit you because they are aimed at helping you promote self-care. I can assure you that they help, even though they may seem cheesy. Words can change the way your brain processes, thinks, and reacts, so with these positive affirmations, your brain will start to rewire itself more positively. You can use these as often as you need or want to. Using positive affirmations is a step in the right direction of putting yourself first!

Whether you’re looking to do a calming, solitary hike in the woods of Northeast Wisconsin or to throw an impromptu beer and brats party on a sandy beach, we have recommendations for the best nature scenes in NE Wisco!

Sugar Creek County Park

Sugar Creek County Park, up past Brussels in quiet lower Door County, is a wonderful escape for solo travelers and groups who want to get away from it all. Here, you can play disc golf; take a kayak or boat out into the wavy but not wild waters; and enjoy the sights, sounds, and earthy smells of Wisconsin woodlands and the bayside beach. One great appeal of this area is the relative cleanliness of its waters compared to other bayside parks. It doesn’t quite compare to those park counterparts on the Lake Michigan shores, but the park’s waters are wonderful to swim in nonetheless.

—Logan Meek, Nature Feature Editor

Momentous Small Businesses

Pay It Forward: St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent De Paul in both Marinette and Green Bay have volunteer opportunities available. The goal of the organization is to offer aid to anyone in need on a person-to-person basis. They understand that every situation is different, and through the diverse programs offered can assist in situations including intervention, consultation, direct financial assistance, or in-kind services such as the food pantry. Their goal is to provide help to the public while supporting the confidentiality of the situation and the dignity of the people involved. Green Bay is looking for volunteers for stocking and rotating merchandise in the store, organizing clothing, processing and sorting donations, and making popcorn. Marinette is looking for volunteers to aid in food drives, food bagging and distribution, thrift store sorting, organizing and shelving of merchandise, straightening and restoring sections of the store, and maintaining the cleanliness of the property. Whether you are only available for a day or are able to commit to a regular volunteer schedule, help is always needed. Just follow the link to fill out the volunteer form and start helping our communities grow.

To learn more and apply to volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul Green Bay, visit this link.

Access the Marinette St. Vincent de Paul Volunteer Application Form here.

—Tiffany Jablonowski, Local Favorites Editor

Finding Community: Early March Events 

Do you have a song or poem you want to share? On March 1st, Sigma Tau Delta is hosting an open mic night from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Common Grounds Coffeehouse on the Green Bay campus. This event is open to all creative writers/musicians who wish to share their work. If you don’t have a song, poem, short fiction, etc. to share, come out to support the creative minds that are giving voice to their passions.

Were you a fan of any of the Pitch Perfect movies? The Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center is presenting the MadHatters, an a cappella group singing in a variety of genres, on March 2nd at 1 p.m. Founded in 1997, this University of Wisconsin-Madison group has entertained across the Midwest. Tickets are available through Ticketstar for $21.

Do you find yourself questioning how to make delicious maple syrup? Head on down to the Spirit House in Menominee on March 2nd from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a workshop that covers everything from tree identification to cooking and evaporation techniques. Other topics will include tapping tips and harvesting and storage information. This event has a cost of $15 to cover the class, but a bottle of the syrup that Johnson Maple Farms produces is given to every attendee. They do prefer attendees to be 18 +.

Are you an avid reader looking for other book-minded people to spend time with? Come join the Relax by the Fire Book Club at the Forgotten Fire Winery on March 7th at 6:30 p.m. For March, the theme is historical fiction and the book to read for this meeting is A Curious Beginning by Deanna Rayborn. This book club will be meeting the first Thursday of each month, and the book for the next month will be voted on by the attendees at the meeting. Attendees can be under 21, and no purchase is necessary to join.

What is better than saving lives? The Cottages at Lake Park Senior Living in Marinette will be hosting a blood drive on March 8th from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Anyone available to donate is welcome to come in and help save lives.

Have you ever wondered how to craft a cute cow sign? On March 12th at 11 a.m. the Craft Corner in Marinette will show you how to sand, paint, and assemble a highland cow sign. The sign is approximately twelve inches, and the cost is $25. This is a prepay class, so stop in or call 715/587-4643 to reserve your spot.

Are you enthusiastic about the independent film industry? March 9th from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. the Tarlton Theater is hosting the 2024 Green Bay Film Festival. For $20, you can engross yourself with independent feature films, documentaries, and short films shown with the focus on giving emerging filmmakers a platform.

—Tiffany Jablonowski, Local Favorites Editor

Serial Killers

The podcast Serial Killers by Parcast Network, presented by Will Trent, provides a fascinating look into the world of true crime and serial killers, examining the sociological and psychological factors that shaped these people into the monsters that they became. By referencing academic and other useful sources throughout, this entertaining, informative podcast is not something that I would classify as true crime sludge, made carelessly and without consideration for the victims. Rather, it’s a well thought-out and respectful presentation of real-life events.
—Logan Meek, Podcast Editor

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

As is traditional of the Yakuza games, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a long, detailed story with lots of mini-games and sub-stories. This game stands out from the series in three major areas: Never-seen-before Ichiban Kasuga is the new protagonist in this spin-off game, combat is now turn-based, and audio is available in English for the first time in the series’ 15-year run. Just like all Yakuza games, this one will be more than 80 hours of gameplay with many sub-stories and minigames included.

I’d hate to ruin this massive game for anyone, so this review will be spoiler-free. Yakuza: Like a Dragon openly and honestly adapts many elements and themes of the Dragon Quest games, the 1989 RPG games which established and cemented many elements of the genre. Dragon Quest games are still being made and are still enormously popular in Japan. The protagonist, Kasuga, loves the series and is inspired by them, flatly stating he fights like they do in those games, like a hero. Therefore, combat allows the use of skills which cost “MP,” basic attacks which cost nothing and restore MP for “magic” classes, use items, flee, switch party, and guard. Unlike Ichiban’s imagination, the game is still based in reality. “MP” stands for mental points, a fire spell spits alcohol through a lighter, an ice spell throws cold liquid on enemies, etc.

The acting in this new English audio is good, sometimes excellent. Kaiji Tang, the voice of Ichiban Kasuga, is excellent at playing loud goofballs, so he absolutely nails the role. He also plays Satoru Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen and Owain in Fire Emblem, the two roles I knew best before he was Ichiban Kasuga. Given his boisterous nature, when Kasuga weeps, it really hits hard, and Kaiji’s fantastic abilities in this performance just make it hit harder. As the co-star we have the golden voice of Greg Chun doing a deep, gruff impression of a homeless man, which almost seems like a waste of such a smooth voice, but he does sing the famous “Baka Mitai” in English, and it’s gorgeous. The minor characters of the game can sometimes be rough, and very minor talk (like overhearing conversations, dialogue from generic enemies, and store greetings and dismissals) is still in Japanese. The hidden jewel of the cast is George Takei, most known as Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek, playing Masumi Arakawa, Ichiban’s Yakuza boss. His mature voice makes his macabre character all the more authoritative and noble. Funnily, he is the only character with a trace of a Japanese accent.

Wacky and amusing, this game is fun. Enemies have funny names, so sometimes you have to fight a drunken “beerserker” or pirate-like “Pier Reviewer,” Sometimes you have to fight an excavator or a tiger by punching it. Characters ragdoll when hit hard enough, hurled into a wall or limply sliding across the pavement. Keeping up with tradition, you can have a chicken work at your company, but now you can also hire a giant roomba after you defeat it in combat.

The whole game, Kasuga’s hair is a ridiculous bush on his head. So many things, big and small, make the game good, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes story-focused and can set aside 80 hours over the course of a month or two for this game. There is, hidden away in the options menu, a glossary recounting all the events and characters you’ve encountered in the story, making it a little easier to jump back in after a hiatus. It might be a good idea to play this game before playing the new sequel, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Available on Xbox One and Series X/S, and PlayStation 4 and 5.

—Gage Wilson, Anime Editor 

Red Dead Redemption 2

The trouble I’ve found is that the 60-dollar standard for these types of games never really reflects the level of content you’d expect.

60 dollars, no, 70 dollars nowadays could get you something like Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones—a 2024 release with less content and quality control than its predecessor Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag from nearly 11 years ago. Suppose it’s me being picky, but if I’m dropping that much up-front? You’d best have something to offer.

So trust me when I say that this game delivers that in spades. Seeing those end credits took me and others well over 100 hours, half of which was the main campaign. Everything else? Side missions, collectibles, hunting and selling pelts, crafting specialty items, committing crimes up and down five whole in-game states—Red Dead Redemption 2 boasts a depth unparalleled these five years later. For eight months, I was shy of breaking that ever-elusive 100 percent completion—a select combination of items refusing to drop and there being, you know, over 550 different entries will do that to a first-time player.

You play as Arthur Morgan, second-in-command of the Van der Linde gang, in a fictionalized version of America set around the turn of the 20th century. No more are the days of a lawless frontier as the consequences of the gang’s risky, largely unsuccessful heists catch up to them. It’s up to the player to choose how they respond per the game’s honor system, all in service of a sprawling narrative that has made me cry more times than I can count. Since the game is a prequel, don’t worry about playing the first Red Dead Redemption to understand what’s happening.

Word of warning, however: this game’s controls are a thing of infamy. Speaking as someone who’s played this on-and-off for a year before committing to a full playthrough, I even have instances where pressing the wrong button causes me to shoot the NPC I’m trying to talk to, possibly cutting off a whole chain of random encounters and missions and incurring the wrath of the local law. Sure, some level of jank is expected for a game of this scale, but it requires the player to slow down and commit the controls to memory.

Compared to current-gen standards of 70 or more dollars that offer substantially less content, Red Dead Redemption 2 thankfully costs just a cool 60 dollars (with the occasional sale or two) for all we’ve covered here. An ultimate edition priced at 100 dollars is also available, but I recommend avoiding it—some cosmetics and a couple of side missions aren’t worth another 40 dollars for what you’d already be getting with the base game. Available on Xbox One and Series X, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Windows.

—Sasha Bouyear

For the romantics among us who like to read reviews before we shop….

The Book Bachelor: Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy: The original literary dreamboat. You first met him at age 10 when your mother subjected you to the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. You were pretty bored, but the dresses were pretty, and you’d had a crush on Keira Knightley since Pirates of the Caribbean.

But this isn’t about her. This is about Mr. Darcy. You don’t remember much about him from this adaptation, but he must have been pretty good, if there are this many dreamy edits of him on Google Images. Either way, he didn’t leave much impression on you until you were forced to read Pride and Prejudice for a lit class.

“Okay,” you thought, “I guess I can see the appeal.” But how much appeal can a 19th century Englishman truly hold for an enlightened, 21st-century bachelorx? How much of a heartthrob can he really be? Let’s see how he holds up after 200+ years.

Dependability:
One of the most dependable men in Regency England. Sure, he can be kind of a jerk, but at least he’s consistent about it. ★★★★★

Affection:
He gets there. Eventually. You’ll have to deal with him thinking he’s better than you for a while, though. ★★★☆☆ 

Cuddlability:
He’s too much of a gentleman to instigate, but in my heart of hearts, I know he’d be down for hugs in the name of love. ★★★★☆

Charisma:
Trick question. His lack of charisma is kind of the point. ★★★☆☆

Funness of dates:
Depends on your definition of “fun.” Stimulating intellectual conversation, anyone? ★★★☆☆

Listening/communication skills:
He starts out rough, but his ability to accept and adapt to criticism is one of his best qualities. ★★★★☆

Intelligence:
Mr. Darcy is an intellectual, for better or for worse. Some might call him pretentious. ★★★★★

Coolness:
Some might say that his being English makes him cool. Others would argue this makes him the opposite. Either way, he’s kind of a square. ★★★☆☆

Overall:
You could do worse, especially in Regency England. ★★★★☆