Blogs

MANGA MONDAYS | CGI: The Computers Are Taking Over

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First order of business: if you haven’t checked out Ajin yet (airing this season), then go watch the first episode to see what you think, especially if you

were a fan of Tokyo Ghoul or Parasyte (seriously, this main character is Kaneki and Shinichi all over again). At the very least, check out some GIFs, because my topic for this week is Ajin’s animation style. I was recently talking about Ajin with friends, who told me that they liked the story but dropped the show because they found the entirely computer-generated animation unbearable. So, I thought I’d take some time to discuss the role of CGI in anime.  

 

After all, Ajin isn’t the first out of recently released animes to rely almost entirely on computer generated graphics.

Blogs

MOSKOWITZ | Ithaca and Looking Out Again

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This Saturday, the world began to melt. Rays of sunlight fell down from the sky, glistening and dancing upon the shining white snow. I decided to see for myself and went for a brief run on the trails that extend past campus and into the surrounding woods. Pieces of ice gushing into pools of water filled the dirt paths that had been dry and compact in the autumn. Even the hard blocks of ice splintered into watery messes when my feet collided upon them, soaking my shoes, socks and feet into a numb chill. Some paths that ran downhill turned into streams, carryings bits of ice and sticks down the trail.

Blogs

YU | An Elevator Ride

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An elevator ride isn’t very long. Depending on the size of the building, from the time you hit the button to call the elevator until you walk out to your floor, you have what? Two, maybe three minutes max. It’s just short enough to initiate conversation or acknowledge the presence of your fellow elevator riders, but not long enough for any meaningful exchange to occur. If you were to speak, what would you even say?

Entertainment

AKABAS | Top 10 Dunks from the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Contest

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On Thursday, February 11th, over 1,000 scientists were credited with discovering the existence of gravitational waves. Two nights later, at the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine discovered that gravity doesn’t even exist at all. Gordon and LaVine put down never-before-seen dunk after never-before-seen dunk and needed two tiebreaker rounds to ultimately crown LaVine as the champion. They were so good that the other two candidates should have strongly considered just pulling a Ben Carson and not come out onto the stage. What follows is my attempt to rank the 10 best jams from what might have been the greatest dunk contest of all-time.

Entertainment

WATCH ME IF YOU CAN | Shifting from the Vaudeville Aesthetic to Comic Realism

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As ideals changed in American society, trends in what Americans considered entertaining changed as well.  A shift from a vaudevillian aesthetic to a narrative one of comic realism was necessary in order to sustain an audience. The vaudeville aesthetic dominated comedy.  It was a variety show of short units, commonly called a “revue.”  Success in comedy depended on personality, along with a rapidfire number of jokes.  There was no time for exhibition, or a plot.

Entertainment

GOOD TASTE ALONE | The Motivator

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After a refreshing romp through The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, I had to ask myself why everyone doesn’t go around making up beautiful new words all the time. Then I logged onto Twitter. And I realized that maybe words aren’t as bae to some people as they are to others. Perusing The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows made me a little uncomfortable, though. The words are pretty.

Entertainment

READ MY MIND | It Started With A Whisper

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It started with a whisper, that if that little extra fat disappeared from my body – from my stomach, from my thighs, from my arms, from my face – life might be just a little bit better. Then the whisper got a little louder. What if I no longer had to cover my body in baggy clothes and shy away from bright lights? Then it became a voice, at first a suggestive voice: maybe eat a little less at dinner? The suggestive voice was almost calling me to challenge it.

hobbies

GOD’S OLD PARTY | Why do Christians Support Ted Cruz?

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What a race it’s been for both parties. Ted Cruz won Iowa with 27.6 percent of all votes. According to the CNN entrance poll, 34 percent of self-identified evangelicals voted for Cruz, 22 percent voted for Trump and 21 percent voted for Rubio. Donald Trump won New Hampshire with 35.3 percent of all votes. CNN’s exit poll shows that 27 percent of self-identified evangelicals voted for Trump, 23 percent voted for Cruz and 13 percent voted for Rubio.

Entertainment

MARY’S MUSINGS | To Those Who Inspire Us

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Sometimes a person can change your life without even knowing how much they have impacted you.  I want to talk about one such person who kept me calm as I was rushed to the emergency room with my arm bleeding and my body and dress splattered with red. When my friends called 911 after I tried to commit suicide, there was one EMT responder, a woman, who I will be forever be grateful towards.  She doesn’t know the effect her words had on me, but I wish I could tell her.  As I was being transported to the hospital, I told her what had happened to me and about my flashbacks.