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Music Review

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - FROOT

By Maggie Strauser

Welsh singer Marina Lambrini Diamandis (otherwise known as Marina and the Diamonds) sheds her old skin for a fresh new sound on her newest album, Froot. The pop star ultimately defied predictability and stereotype in her old albums, The Family Jewels and Electra Heart, and continues to do so now in 2015. After a two-year hiatus, the artist has been completely reborn from a preppy false-diva (Electra Heart) to a “froot”-bearing goddess.

As a huge fan of Marina and the Diamonds, I’d pre-ordered the album months before its release, not entirely sure what I was expecting, but knowing it would be amazing nonetheless. The debut song “FROOT” was released on January first, and a month later, “Happy” was released. A month after that, the song “Immortal” was released. And another month after that, right before the full-album release, “Forget” was released. All of the songs were well-received by consumers and fans were very excited about the entire album after getting monthly tastes of four delicious “froots” from the album.

Marina stripped herself bear, dropping the extra fluff and other producers from previous album Electra Heart to write and either produce or co-produce (with just one co-producer, David Kosten) all of the songs for this album. The backbone of “Froot” is made up of a sense of reflection, from what I’ve gathered, and looks inward rather than outward. It starts with the intense track “Happy” before moving on to the title song “FROOT” and all of the other amazing songs that easily evoke a variety of emotions from those who listen to them. In my opinion, the most notable songs are “Blue” and “Savages.” That may just be because they’re my favorite ones on the album, but it also could be the fact that “Blue” fosters vulnerability in its upbeat, catchy tune, and “Savages” talks about what makes humans savage and how it’s “a human trait / Hidden deep down inside of our DNA.”

Every song on the album, though similar, is different, and brilliantly so. In this album, Marina offers her fans and soon-to-be fans a variety of sounds to enjoy as well as deep, personal lyrics that come from the heart and are incredibly relatable. Froot, for me, was well worth the wait, and the hype surrounding the wait. I think you should definitely give it a listen if you’re looking for music that’s equivalent to a breath of fresh air.

Reflective Essay

FAMILIAL REFLECTION

--NICOLE MASNICAK

Most of us trudge through life without ever truly knowing who we are and where we came from. I was never like that. Throughout my entire existence, I’ve always known who I was and where I came from and the basic series of events that unfolded to get me to where I am today. But when I was young and naive, it was an albatross weighing down on my shoulders: I was embarrassed of my background, or more importantly, of being different. As the years wore on and I matured, I came to a substantial realization: I am proud of my heritage. I am proud to be different.

Small children are often fond of showing off and sharing personal information in order to gain subconscious superiority: “Your mom is forty and mine is only thirty;” “I’m half German, 25% Polish and one quarter Native American; what are you?” “My mom is a teacher and my dad is a chef.” From a small age I was always badgered with questions and statements that I felt I couldn’t compete with or even answer. The main problem for me was that there wasn’t an assortment of cultures running through my veins; I was pure Slovak, and my parents had accents to show for it, further differentiating themselves from the rest of the tight-knit community.

One year, in grade school Spanish class, our teacher had us draw family trees and label them. I have an average-sized family, and I have never been ashamed of that. The real problem for me was the names of my family members: my father was Jan, but I wrote down the American name of “Ian;” my aunt is Katarina, but I scribbled in “Kathy.” Where other kids had grandfathers named Joseph or Thomas, mine was Alojz, and there was nothing I could do about it besides feel awkward and uncomfortable.

I dragged my feet in a similar fashion for years afterward. When people asked my mother’s name I had to spell it and repeat the pronunciation several times: “Lubica.” Any time that classes changed, I would be forced to laugh off the fact that only one out of every ten teachers held the ability to pronounce my last name correctly. I always wished I was born into something different, something normal.

As my high school years passed, I became better acquainted with my heritage and I met new friends that adored my mother’s broken English and distinct accent. I visited Slovakia three summers in a row, and realized its close proximity to everywhere else in Europe, allowing for easy travel. I came to the conclusion that Slovak is one of the most beautiful languages. I was finally able to connect with my family, and I realized how useful it would be for me in the years ahead to be acquainted with another language, another culture.

In French class we were once again assigned to draw a family tree. I pulled out the one I had concocted in grade school, glad my mother had kept it throughout the years. As I read through the names, I remembered the humiliation I felt about myself for being different. And I felt bad for the old me, the naive me, who refused to acknowledge the singular beauty of being so unique. I’m not ashamed of being 100% pure Slovak anymore; in fact, I’ve more than embraced it.

I know now that my uncommon heritage is what makes me so different, and I’m proud of it. It’s a conversation starter and continuer. I love the culture and the country that my family belongs to, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s my only wish that the my younger self had realized sooner just how beautiful my heritage--and being different--is.

Festive Fotography

Works of 

Robin Kavanagh 

OCD & Anxiety

All in your head?

By Mary McGregor

Most people use the term OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, as an adjective to describe someone who likes to keep their bedroom, locker, workspace, etc., neat and tidy. In reality, that is not even a quarter of what OCD truly is.

Many signs of OCD include the repetition of actions or words and a state of agitation. Many OCD cases include an individual needing to repeat an action to keep them in their right state of mind and continue on with their daily tasks; if said action is not done, then that is all the individual can think about.

To put this into a better perspective, imagine you cannot stand touching a trash can. Although this seems like nothing, or even ridiculous, to others, it is your worst enemy, and the thought of it makes you cringe. Let’s say by accident you do happen to touch a trash can: your thoughts become flooded with all of the trash inside, making you anxious and in need of washing your hands. This is what runs through the minds of individuals with OCD.

OCD is also linked with anxiety and panic attacks, both consuming the mind of someone who suffers from these illnesses. OCD is considered a type of anxiety, but differs from actual anxiety in many ways. Anxiety is a feeling of overwhelming fear and worry about an action or an event. OCD usually has the same symptoms as anxiety, but the actions of one with OCD differ from one with anxiety.

Anxiety spans a wide spectrum, including panic disorders, panic attacks, social anxiety, and general anxiety. Panic attacks occur when your body completely fails you; your heart beats quickly and breathing becomes difficult. A panic attack makes the person having one feel like he or she is dying. The cause of a panic attack puts the person into overdrive and makes him or her become lost and feel as though he or she is drowning and no one can help.

Imagine being strapped down to a bed, not being able to move, speak, or see; you would feel lost, right? Almost helpless. This is exactly what a panic attack feels like, except your heart races and your brain completely fails you when it comes to thinking rationally. On top of that, imagine this happening for 10 minutes, or even an hour. Do you think you could do it? People who suffer from panic attacks do not have a choice, no matter how much they wish that they do.

Another form of anxiety is social anxiety. Social anxiety is when someone feels discomfort socializing or even fears it. Most people who suffer from this feel more comfortable alone; their own company is enough for them. This may be seen by others as weird or abnormal but, once again, they do not know what happens everyday when they are forced to do the one thing they fear the most: communicate.

Picture this: if you had a deadly fear of spiders or snakes, what if you were forced to hold one every day? Do you think you could do it? Again, people who suffer from social anxiety do not have a choice.

The issue with understanding these mental illnesses is just that: they are mental, not physical, and this makes it very hard, if not impossible, for others to understand what the suffering feels like. This is why I described all these cases with something anyone can relate to; the scenarios make it a little bit easier to see what it would feel like to suffer from such illnesses.

One thing I run into the most when someone has a mental illness is a second person, who has no clue what they go through on a daily basis, telling them to “Just stop.” I think it’s one of the most unintelligent things anyone can say. Why would anyone want to wash their hand 5 times in 20 minutes? Or have moments where they aren’t even sure what is happening around them, their brain and body becoming detached from one another? Why would anyone choose to be seen as different?

The answer is they don’t. All people who suffer from mental illnesses just wish for the illness to stop existing. They do not want to wash their hands all the time; their brain tells them they have to. They do not want to stutter every time someone asks them a question; their brain doesn’t allow them to speak normally. They do not want to get lost from themselves every time they see blood or needles; their brain gives them no choice.

Sports Update

True Believin’

Written by Joe Korn

When April arrives every year, everyone and everything undergoes a change. It’s the first month that is entirely spring; it has no winter like March. Everyone goes from feeling all cooped up inside to feeling free and joyful over the promise of the outside warmth. For me though, April has a much bigger meaning to it than just the outside air; it means baseball season is starting up. Spring training has already rolled through and the normal season is about to start. Teams are looking forward to a new year; they might be striving for a better one, or maybe they are trying to repeat last season’s success. I love this sport in its entirety but am a huge fan of two teams specifically: the Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are coming off a huge year with winning the Al East and making it all the way to the ALCS. They are primed to have another good year this year in my eyes. The Phillies, on the other hand, are a completely different story.

Have you ever heard of the saying, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”? That basically sums up the Phillies’ entire 2014 season. They had moments of brilliance and certain players shined brightly, like Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, but they were masked by a horrible 73-89 record. They were last in their division, the NL East, averaged 20th out of 30 in batting statistics and pitching statistics, and overall did extremely poorly as a team. A team should play as one, as if they had glue attaching them, and work together to achieve harmony on and off the field. The Phillies are like a kindergarten art piece: poorly done with certain parts of the paper falling off because of a lack of glue. I mean really, if there are players wanting to leave their team, then something is wrong.

Nevertheless, I’m sticking with the team in hopes that someday soon, they will become that team they were in 2008 or 2009 when they reached the World Series. It’s situations like this that test a fan’s devotion to their home team but all you need is one simple thing to pass the test. You need hope, a hope that your team will fix their mistakes, and will become the team that you know they can become. In other words, you need to be a true believer in your team. If you don’t believe, if you don’t have hope for their future, then you won’t be able to look past the team’s bad streak and see a future where they perform well together. Be that one true believer, even if all of your friends are abandoning them and jumping on the bandwagon for another team. Go Phillies!

Art

Work of 

Reynaldo Garcia