April 26th, 2023
Electronica and “Plunderphonics”
Adventures on the Floating Island (2019)
by Monster Rally
Much like Tame Impala, Monster Rally is actually just one guy. He produces a type of music called “plunderphonics,” which, if you haven’t heard of it before, is not for pirates. Most of the music is made up of samples of other songs, twisted and mixed together into something brand new. It leads to a strange, yet wonderful mixing pot of sound. The album, like most of Monster Rally’s music, has a heavily tropical sound. The vibes are immaculate, like a vacation for the ears, beachside with your toes in the sand. It’s warm and inviting, never overstaying its welcome. Any way you slice this mango, it’ll be a tasty reminder of the warm weather yet to come.
—Andrew Wiegman, Music Editor
In Decay (2012)by Com Truise
Seth Haley, also known as Com Truise, is an American electronic DJ that has gained popularity since 2011. Much of his work contains little to no lyrics, giving his synthwave production the full spotlight. Com Truise’s sound is inspired by electronic genres from the 1980s, providing a contemporary but recognizable feel on his three studio albums released since 2011. Interestingly, Com Truise gained more recognition when he remixed a song with fellow electronic artist Daft Punk for the soundtrack of the film Tron: Legacy (2010).The album In Decay (2012), begins with a calm, welcoming track titled “Open,” which starts the album off with a refreshing sound. Com Truise provides a digitally inspired musical style, and the glimmery track “Alfa Beach,” which is in the center of this album, provides a smooth transition to the second half. I often listen to this album when reading because I can focus and enjoy dreamy music that has no lyrics. This is my personal favorite of Com Truise’s work because it showcases his talent for always adding a bright feel to his albums.
Seth Haley, also known as Com Truise, is an American electronic DJ that has gained popularity since 2011. Much of his work contains little to no lyrics, giving his synthwave production the full spotlight. Com Truise’s sound is inspired by electronic genres from the 1980s, providing a contemporary but recognizable feel on his three studio albums released since 2011. Interestingly, Com Truise gained more recognition when he remixed a song with fellow electronic artist Daft Punk for the soundtrack of the film Tron: Legacy (2010).The album In Decay (2012), begins with a calm, welcoming track titled “Open,” which starts the album off with a refreshing sound. Com Truise provides a digitally inspired musical style, and the glimmery track “Alfa Beach,” which is in the center of this album, provides a smooth transition to the second half. I often listen to this album when reading because I can focus and enjoy dreamy music that has no lyrics. This is my personal favorite of Com Truise’s work because it showcases his talent for always adding a bright feel to his albums.—Kayu Brooks
If you were the kid who never actually learned how to play the game—and just ate the pieces—this one’s for you. The goal of Hi-Ho! Cherry-O is to collect ten cherries from your individual trees into your bucket. Taking turns that continue clockwise, every player must spin the action wheel in the middle. Perform the action that your spin lands on, and the play continues to the next person.
Have you ever sat back and wondered to yourself, what was that game called where the elephant blew butterflies out of his trunk? Maybe you weren’t thinking that, but if you were, do I have the answer for you! Elefun is “the butterfly catchin’” game by Hasbro. In this game, one fills up the elephant’s trunk with the little butterflies and flips the switch by the elephant’s tail. This turns the little fan on, and the butterflies start flying out of the trunk. Each player then has to catch as many butterflies as possible. (You can even grab them from off the floor!) Once all of the butterflies are released from the elephant’s trunk, everyone must stop grabbing butterflies and total the number they have caught. (Catching those little butterflies is harder than you think!) The person with the most butterflies wins a token! The individual who wins three tokens wins the game. Yet no game is a good one without a little twist. The twist in this game is the special blue butterfly! The person who catches this butterfly automatically wins the token no matter the number of butterflies others catch. The game allows 2 to 4 players and is available for ages 3 and up. Although this game is meant for a younger audience, it can be fun for almost all ages. I definitely have fond memories of running around the living room playing it and would absolutely play it now. Who wouldn’t want to feel like a kid again?
This game is very easy and doesn’t require much effort to leave you with hours of enjoyment. This fun activity requires you to use plastic fishing rods with magnets attached to catch the little multi-colored fish while their mouths snap open and close as the little plastic pond they’re in spins. The goal is to catch as many fish as possible before the other player can. To make things more challenging, players can choose to catch only fish of a single color. I personally started playing this game around the time it was released in 2006. It has left many generations of kids, including me, with fond memories. I rate this game a 7/10 simply because over the years it got pretty repetitive (seeing as I am no longer a child). This game can be purchased on Amazon for around $8-10 and even includes free returns just in case you somehow aren’t satisfied with your hours of mechanical fishing.
Wake up, Detective. We have a murder to solve. In the heart of an impoverished, war-torn city of Martinaise, a hanged body has been reported in the backyard of a local cafeteria. The Revachol Citizens Militia, the law enforcement agency of the city, sent one of their best, Kim Kitsuragi, to investigate the murder—and sent their worst. You. To make matters worse, you’ve woken up in your apartment with a throbbing headache, a shattered window, a bathtub full of booze bottles, hardly any clothes on, and worst of all, you don’t remember a single thing.
In Risk of Rain 2, you find yourself stranded on a hostile alien planet. The game is a roguelike, which means there isn’t one set storyline; rather you play individual games, or “runs.” At the start, you select a character and are dropped into the randomly generated world empty-handed. The runs are broken up into stages, and your goal for each stage is to find the teleporter at the end, while being attacked by a whole array of enemies the entire time. Throughout the world, there is loot you can acquire to make your character stronger, but don’t get too attached because death is permanent. Each run provides you with a unique experience, with loads of new items and characters to unlock and secrets to be found all over the place. Play with a few friends, or just face the deadly aliens alone in this fun but challenging, chaos-fueled ride through space. Available on Steam and for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. 
The 2023 Northern Lights Literary & Arts Journal will be launching on Thursday, May 4th, and you’re invited to the party! Join us at 6:00 p.m. in the campus library to hear contributors read from or talk about their works, and to be among the first to get a print copy of the journal. We’ll also have light refreshments!
John Thornberry is a Lecturer at the Mariette Campus who is a part of the Department of Theatre and Dance. Hailing from Kentucky, Mr. Thornberry has earned a handful of degrees. He earned two Bachelor of Arts from Berea College, one for English and another for Theatre. At the University of Louisville, he acquired his greatest degree, Master of Fine Arts for Acting. He is currently helping run Theatre on the Bay as a director, designer, and technical director. On the side, he’s been working on a newer theatre company, Coastal Players, and has helped local high schools with their productions. Before that, he was across the United States in the Big Apple itself, New York City.
Finals Week is right around the corner, and unless you have amazing study habits (and we hope you do!), you might have found yourself pulling a few all-night cram sessions or essay-writing marathons in the past. Does the thought of doing that again sound awful? It is. But with a week-and-a-half left before the end of the semester, you still have time to prevent cramming and all the stress that comes with it.
Feeling particularly clownish this week? Well, you might as well double down and learn how to juggle. Plus, once you’ve figured it out, you’ll be able to slightly impress any party for the rest of your life!
As children, my siblings and I spent much of our time playing with Play-Doh. We made cupcakes, ice cream cones, and a variety of other food-inspired objects out of it. As we grew older, we discovered modeling clays that we baked in our kitchen oven, usually in the shape of animals or, once, a partial nativity set. I’ve yet to actually play with the brand Plasticine, a kind of clay that doesn’t harden with air or heat.