Issue 10 | November 2013
Staff Letter Letter from the Staff
Jacob Lambrecht Contributing Writer
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Managers & Editors Lord Brandon Dannenhoffer Lord Eric Cole Lord Jason Stack Lady Keren Moros Lady Jordan Kahle Lord David Pantoja Lady Eefje Savelkoul Lady Katherine Taylor
Founder Editor in Chief Entertainment Editor News Editor Reader Submissions Art Director Sr. Design Lead Sr. Design Lead
Graphics & Design Lady MaddieValley Lady Rosie Strom Lady Mayela Gutierrez Lady Hayley Pike Lady Tiffany Kuo Lady Jackie Files Lady Jessika Raisor Lady Kenza Samlali Lady Vaiki Tress
Designer/ Illustrator Designer/ Illustrator Designer/ Illustrator Illustrator Illustrator Illustrator Illustrator Illustrator Illustrator
Writers Lady Marissa Hubelbank Lady Alyssa Nabors Lady Cecily Dreyfuss Lady Sarah Mills Lady Melissa Heineman Lady Lucy Pegg Lady Joie Ling Lady Kaya Mendelsohn Lady Ruth Tirado Lady Pallavi Pillutla Lord Jacob Lambrecht
Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer Writer
Social Media/ PR Lord Mert Keceli Lady Tristan Dane Lady Megan Manzano
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The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
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Table of Contents 03
NFS: Jon Cozart
08
The Interesting Tale of Dr. Donna
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Celebrating 50 Years of Dr. Who
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Let’s Talk About Martha Jones
12
Music Theory Chameleon Circuit
13
Nerdy Gift Ideas
14
Gifts for the Growing Nerd
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Film Apocrypha: Doctor Who Edition
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Joel Watson Interview Part 1
23 Something Borrowed, Something Blue 24
The Exploding TARDIS Brought us ...
26
Time for the Ladies
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Santa Claus’s Many Faces
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Top 10 Inspirational Dr. Who Qoutes
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The Future was Yesterday
31
History of Thanksgiving
33
Death an Consumerism
35
Selfie Culture
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Art & LIterature Issue 10 November 2013 | The Anglerfish
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Reader Submissions
Nerdfighter Spotlight Jon Cozart Jon Cozart (youtube.com/paint) is a filmmaker from Austin, Texas who casually created a viral video with nothing but his voice, a camera, hours spent editing, and an extensive knowledge of Harry Potter. His impressive, creative, and hilarious a cappella videos have made him into a YouTuber you don’t want to miss! by Kaya Raven Mendelsohn
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The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
Reader Submissions The Anglerfish: So, when I first saw “Harry Potter in 99 Seconds” it already had over a million views. (Then, I watched it 10 billion times and showed it to everyone in the Harry Potter club at my high school.) What were you thinking when you uploaded it? Did you expect such a big response?
I’d take a cynical approach to Disney. I recently went back to Disneyland and was shocked that it held just as much magic as when I was a kid. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a fabrication. Just lights and mirrors and such. So I wanted to pull the Disney princesses into our world and see what would happen.
Jon Cozart: Up to that point I’d been on YouTube for about 5 years and had no luck with getting an audience. So I made that video and released it the day before the final Harry Potter film premiered. I had no idea it would take off. But tumblr got ahold of it and the rest is YouTube history! :) I was just really excited to contribute to the fandom of Harry Potter. And now I have an audience that I can relate to, because we all love the same stuff.
AF: I love that. What did you think about the Fine Brothers’ “Teens React” video to “After Ever After”? Was that sort of the reaction you expected?
JC: I just thought I’d try it out and see what happens. “[Harry Potter] in 99 Seconds” was my first venture into a cappella and it worked out well! So I’ve just been expanding and adding more tracks and more complicated arrangements. It’s actually a lot of fun.
AF: Did you get to meet anyone that was especially exciting for you?
JC: I absolutely loved it! It was exactly what I had hoped it would be. I think about half the teens understood what I was trying to do. They thought of it as a satire and saw the bigger picture. The other half just enjoyed the a cappella and didn’t listen to the AF: That’s so cool. When I rewatched all your videos, I noticed message, or they resented me for throwing Disney under the bus, that even the ones from a few years ago which is a perfect reaction if you ask me. had great production value. Because of I wanted the video to work on multiple if you’re just that and because of the attention “Harry levels and I was so excited when it did! making stuff Potter in 99 Seconds” got you, do you feel pressure now when making new videos? AF: There are so many things about for the sake it to appreciate! When it went viral, The of impressing an JC: I feel pressure all the time. It’s Washington Post and Huffington Post interweird having an audience to impress, viewed you. What was that like? audience, you’re whereas before I was only concerned with probably doing impressing my friends and my mom. It’s JC: Gosh, I couldn’t believe the reaction. a bittersweet moment each time I finish The next week after I released the video it for the wrong a video. No matter how successful it is I was like a dream. I spent every moment reasons. know I have to make something equally responding to one amazing offer after the amazing next time. And my videos take so next, and my audience grew and grew and long to make that I get discouraged. But it’s honestly my love for grew. To be recognized outside of YouTube by legitimate news the fandoms and my love for YouTube that keeps me going. organizations was very surreal. When I did a Skype interview with [The] Huffington Post my mom kept complaining that the house AF: Your a cappella videos are amazing and the audience probwas messy and the background looked bad. It was so odd that we ably takes for granted how much work goes into each 3-4 minute were having a conversation like that. video. What’s your editing process like? AF: That’s every content creator’s dream! Speaking of other JC: I come up with a concept and write lyrics first. For the YouTubers, this past summer, you attended your first VidCon! Disney video it took about 3 weeks to write the lyrics. Then I How was your experience and what was it like interacting with the record the song. I arrange everything by ear, so it takes a while if I YouTube community? screw something up. Then I shoot and edit, which only takes a few days. Recording the audio for the songs takes forever. The Disney JC: I’ve been obsessed with YouTube since maybe 2007, so just one took over a month. as a YouTube fanboy it was insane. I’ve never been in the presence of so many people I genuinely respect. And to meet people who AF: That’s crazy. Did you have experience with a cappella watch my videos was crazy! I’ve never really felt like a celebrity before? Or did you just decide to give it a try? Arranging by ear is but going to VidCon and signing autographs and taking pictures such a daunting task! was the closest I’ll ever come. I can’t wait to go back next year!
AF: In one of your vlogs, you said that “After Ever After” basically doubled your audience. I know that I was surprised when it took such a dark (and awesome) turn… What was your inspiration for it? JC: Honestly I just wanted an excuse to sing Disney songs. If I change the lyrics, I’m covered under parody laws, so I thought
JC: Ahhh yes! I had a conversation with Hank Green that I’ll never forget. I met The Fine Bros, Phil DeFranco, spent an evening with an entire hoard of amazing British YouTubers, and I saw panels with John Green and Charlie McDonnell. AF: Plus you sang “After Ever After” live! (I was there and it was incredible :) ) How was that different than other live songs you’ve performed? JC: Thank you! I was in musicals during high school but that’s
Issue 10 November 2013 | The Anglerfish
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Reader Submissions about the only stuff I’ve performed live. That performance was the first time I’ve sang original work in front of a crowd. It’s weird to describe. I saw people singing along with me and I became very dizzy, haha! Insanely surreal.
AF: Awesome advice. Okay, now for some fun ones! Here at The Anglerfish, we’re big on fandoms. Do you consider yourself part of any fandoms in particular?
AF: So crazy. Have you tried to explain that to people who don’t watch your YouTube videos?
JC: Harry Potter definitely. And Lord of the Rings. And I’m on the Hunger Games train right now. :D And YouTube of course.
JC: I’ve mentioned it in passing from time to time to a few of my friends who don’t watch youtube. Generally they think it’s cool. Hahah! I sort of reserve those moments for myself. As long as I can keep the memory of what it felt like, I don’t need to explain it very often. :) AF: So you keep YouTube and your offline life pretty separate?
I think it’s really healthy to have relationships that don’t revolve around work. JC: For the most part, yeah. If I’m in need of ideas or inspiration I’ll occasionally ask my roommates for help. But I think it’s really healthy to have relationships that don’t revolve around work. AF: For sure. Has someone at school or in passing ever recognized you from your videos? JC: Every few days someone will stop me and chat about YouTube. It’s really cool! And some of my professors talk to me about it. Being a film major lends itself to a lot of great conversations about YouTube and entertainment in general.
AF: Favorite Harry Potter book? JC: The Prisoner of Azkaban. Not too dark, but still really, really cool. Plus time travel. THE BEST! AF: Agreed!!! Favorite YouTuber? Whose videos can you not wait to see? JC: Charlie McDonnell is by far my favorite. Also Peter Hollens and Pentatonix are the best musical channels. And the Vlogbrothers of course. Alex Day is a high on the list as well. AF: Favorite musical? :D
JC: Sweeney Todd or Light in the Piazza. Gosh these are tough. AF: Askin’ the hard-hitting questions! Favorite Disney movie?
JC: Mulan or Hercules. I watched The Little Mermaid last night and was TERRIFIED! My three male roommates and I were all huddled around the TV screaming.
don’t make excuses for why you can’t make stuff. Just make it!
AF: As a college student, I know that questions about the future can be the last thing you want to hear, but… When you graduate, do you want to keep making videos like you make now? Or do you have other plans for future projects?
AF: Hahaha that’s so great. Urusla really takes it a step too far!! Favorite member of One Direction?
JC: I definitely want to stay on YouTube, but I also want to write and direct films. I think if I have a supportive audience they can help me fund future projects. Hopefully I can expand.
AF: Good answer. Best class you’ve taken since starting college?
AF: Can’t wait to see what you do next! A lot of our readers make YouTube videos or are interested in making YouTube videos. You said that you were making videos for a long time before you gained an audience, so it wasn’t always a smooth road. Do you have any advice for potential content creators? JC: My best advice is don’t make excuses for why you can’t make stuff. Just make it! And it can be discouraging in the beginning when you don’t have people watching, but every video that gets no views is experience. The more experience you have, the better you’ll get. Just go and make stuff and keep making it! Because if you’re just making stuff for the sake of impressing an audience, you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons.
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The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
JC: My favorite member is their manager. Brilliant man.
JC: I’m in a screenwriting class taught by my prof Richard Lewis and it’s brilliant. It’s definitely the most valuable class I’ve taken. AF: That’s awesome! And finally, anything else you want to say to the Nerdfighter community? JC: DFTBA of course! I’ve been a Nerdfighter for over 3 years and there’s no greater joy than meeting people who help decrease world suck. :D AF: Thank you so much, Jon! It was so nice talking with you. JC: Nah, thank you! It was a pleasure.
Reader Submissions
Need more Jon Paint Cozart? you can find him all over the internet! Tumblr - jcozart.com Twitter - @JonCozart instagram.com/cozart# facebook.com/paint.joncozart paint.spreadshirt.com
art provided by Jon Cozart
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Entertainment
The Interesting Tale of Dr. Donna The Doctor’s companions come and go and the majority of them have been women. In fact, from the Ninth to the current Eleventh incarnation all of the main companions have been women (not counting Mickey, Rory, etc. who were really companion companions.) Every companion from nine onwards has been a young woman in her twenties, except for Donna Noble. She stands out like a sore thumb amongst the current group of companions, and it is her unique relationship and personality that makes her such an awesome character. No companion has been the equal of the Doctor, standing her ground and giving him a good slap when warranted. By David Pantoja Let’s get a little background on Donna, starting with our first introduction to her. Donna Noble is a thirty-something woman working as a temp secretary for a security firm, which happens to be a front for the secret government agency Torchwood. Her first run in with the Doctor happens when she is “beamed aboard” the TARDIS in the middle of her wedding. Donna, upset about the sudden strange events, is understandably in no mood for the Doctor’s babbling so she slaps him - and not for the last time. Donna takes no guff and is one fiery character, capable of standing her ground against The Doctor’s sci-fi babbling. After nearly becoming alien chow and learning her fiancée plotted against her, Donna tries to return to her normal life, but to no avail. No longer happy with the “small” things of daily life Donna begins looking at the bigger picture and crosses path with The Doctor, this time choosing to join him in his travels. Donna, unlike other companions, has a clearer self image. Travelling with The Doctor does not define
who she is, but it broadens her views. Donna is not just a companion but truly The Doctor’s equal. While he goes off on tangents looking at the larger scale of events, Donna sees things on a more human and personal scale. The compassionate conscience of The Doctor she begs him to stop when battling the Racnoss Empress and nags him to save the lives of a family in Pompeii. She is the strong female counterpart of The Doctor constantly reigning in his darker nature. She backs him away from “the edge” and reminds him that the little things matter. The two share a relationship unlike any companion has shared with The Doctor in the current series. There is no unrequited love between the two, and Donna does not cling to him as a positive male role model; instead, Donna fights with him and generally is a pain in the backside when he is wrong, just as any friend would be. Donna is a strong and worthy friend to The Doctor at a time when he teetered too close to reverting to the dangerous Time Lord he was during the Last Great Time War. Donna sees The Doctor through one of his darker times and we learn that, if not for Donna, The Doctor would have died and the world would have been destroyed.. The Ood see the worth of Donna Noble, before anyone else. They refer to her as Dr. Donna, a name both The Doctor and Donna assume to be a mistake. In fact, the Ood are not mistaken, as Donna later saves the world once again while imbued with the sum of Time Lord knowledge, becoming half-Time Lord. Donna finally sees the larger picture and, sadly, it nearly kills her, but in truth, Donna was never meant to have such a wide scope. Her strength lies in her attention to all the small things that make living worthwhile. As The Doctor tells Donna, “you’re not special. You’re not powerful. You’re not connected. You’re not clever. You’re not important,” her mundane simple life and her outspoken character is what makes Donna more than worthy of being The Doctor’s companion.
by Katherine Taylor
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Entertainment
Commemorating 50 Years of Time and Space! Or is it 1000?
by Hayley Pike
Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th birthday, so we hop in our TARDIS to take a closer look at the show’s history. by Jacob Lambrecht “Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!” Those nine words got me addicted to ‘Doctor Who’. Well, not exactly those nine words since the show has so many awesome catchphrases, but you get the picture. I first watched ‘Doctor Who’ on a whim, as it was a dreary, fall weekend and some friends had been talking about it recently; I had nothing better to do. So my roommate and I fired up Netflix and started watching “Rose.” I could not help but wonder as Rose wandered through the abandoned department store basement looking for the another shop worker if my friends had steered me towards a horror show. Then the enigmatic Doctor showed up going on about “living plastic creatures” and “beans on toast.” The episode continued on, and I learned The Doctor was a Time Lord who could travel anywhere in time and space with his TARDIS.
As The Doctor defeated the Nestene Consciousness and the episode came to a close, I did not stop Netflix from loading the next two episodes about the end of earth and about Charles Dickens, ghosts, and Christmas. I was hooked! While it seems hard to believe the day I first watched “Rose” was over two years ago, what is even more incredible is that ‘Doctor Who’ has been around for 50 years, making it one of the oldest shows on television. It all began when producers Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert came together to create a family-oriented program that both explored scientific thought and revisited historical events. Since “The Unearthly Child” (starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor) first aired on November 23, 1963, ‘Doctor Who’ has slowly become a cult classic. From the show’s conception in 1963, ‘Doctor Who’’s popularity has only grown, resulting in a TV movie in 1996, the rebirth of the show in 2005, three spin-offs shows — ‘Torchwood,’ ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures,’ and K9 — and countless books and audio dramas. (Fun fact: John Kennedy was assassinated on the November 22, 1963, the day before
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‘Doctor Who’ debuted. The Doctor is later spotted at Kennedy’s assassination in archived footage in “Rose.”) Something that may surprise even the oldest Whovians is that the show’s iconic villains, the Daleks, were almost entirely excluded from the show. Terry Nation was commissioned to write a serial for ‘Doctor Who’ titled “The Mutants”, and he wrote about a war between the Thals and Daleks. The concept was rejected by Newman and Lambert because it had bugeyed aliens, but pressure from the BBC to have a great second story coupled with a lack of other completed scripts caused “The Daleks” to be aired. The Doctor eventually met and battled another classic enemy, the Cybermen, in “The Tenth Planet” serial. At the end of this confrontation, The Doctor’s body was too old and weak to carry on, which introduced the concept of regeneration. Regeneration allowed the showrunners to explain how a new actor was playing the same character that neither looked nor sounded like Hartnell. The Doctor has been on countless other adventures since his first encounter
Entertainment with the Cybermen: he encountered the Cybermen again on the planet Telos [“Tomb of the Cybermen”] (one of the scariest ‘Doctor Who’ stories I have watched), fought the legendary, yet evil Time Lord Omega [“The Three Doctors”], traveled the universe to find the Key to Time [“The Ribos Operation,” “The Pirate Planet,” “The Stones of Blood,” “The Androids of Tara,” “The Power of Kroll,” and “The Armageddon Factor”], witnessed the creation of the Daleks [“The Genesis of the Daleks”], outwitted the Master on numerous occasions, and was even put on trial for crimes committed by The Valeyard, an evil version of The Doctor from his own future. But then the Doctor’s adventures came to an end when the BBC’s Jonathan Powell suspended the show in 1989. While the show was technically suspended, it was not renewed for a 27th season, effectively cancelling the show. ‘Doctor Who’ was off the air for seven years until Fox and BBC worked together in 1996 in an attempt to revive the show in the form of a TV film starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Sylvester McCoy temporarily reprising his role as the Seventh Doctor. Alas, the film was only partially successful, and ‘Doctor Who’ did not make another screen appearance until its 2005 revival spearheaded by Russell T Davies. The new series’ first episode, “Rose,” resumed after the events of the 1996 film, with Christopher Eccleston taking on the role of the Ninth Doctor. Having fought in and being the lone survivor of the last Time War, the Ninth Doctor is more distant
and quicker to anger than his previous incarnations; however, traveling with Rose helps heal some of his old wounds. The Doctor’s travels bring him face to face with his old enemy, the Daleks. The Doctor is able to stop the Daleks from cleansing the earth, which they intended to use at their
Something that may surprise even the oldest Whovians is that the show’s iconic villains, the Daleks, were almost entirely excluded from the show. new home, but he’s fatally wounded in the process, regenerating into his tenth incarnation. The Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, travels with a host of companions (including classic Who companion Sarah Jane) whilst facing old enemies and new. He reencounters the Cybermen in a parallel universe, battles the devil, gets sent back in time by the Weeping Angels, and again faces off against the Master, who just cannot seem to die. In a different confrontation with the Master and Rassilon, the Doctor reaches the end of his current life and regenerates into the current Doctor,
portrayed by Matt Smith. The Eleventh Doctor crashes around the universe for a while with Amy Pond and Rory Williams until he loses them in time. The Doctor withdraws from saving the universe for a while until he meets the Impossible Girl, Clara Oswald, who he has met several different times in his past, but who dies each time he meets her. He eventually figures out how Clara has been scattered throughout his life, which brings us to the 50th anniversary episode. As Charles Dickens saunters aways from the TARDIS at the end of the third episode, I could not help but wonder who the Doctor really was. It seems we may finally learn more about the dreaded Time War in the upcoming 50th anniversary episode. But every time we learn something about the Doctor, it generates even more questions. Who is John Hurt’s “Doctor”? What do Zygons have to do with the Time War? And why does Queen Elizabeth I have a painting of Gallifrey? These questions may or may not be completely answered in the upcoming episode, since Moffat loves to keep us guessing. Regardless, I will still tune in, with my sonic screwdriver remote in-hand to aid the Doctor in, what is perhaps, his darkest hour.
by Hayley Pike
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Entertainment
Disclaimer
This is my opinion about Martha Jones’ character. I do not claim to represent the feelings of everyone who has ever had problems with her. My only intention is to support my own view with points I feel are relevant to this discussion.
This is a thorny subject in the ‘Doctor Who’ fandom, so before we jump in, make sure you’ve read the disclaimer at the top of the page. Now, everyone, take a deep breath. By Marissa Early-Hubelbank I think the aimless (and therefore, pointless) romantic subplot between Martha and the Doctor killed a lot of sympathy the fandom might have otherwise had for her character. Taking a step back and rewatching the season, you realize it’s worse than that. You realize that Martha’s arc is entirely stemmed from the Doctor’s involvement in her life.
This is a problem. (To clarify, an “arc” is a character’s development throughout a show, from the moment they’re on it to the moment they leave. When a character leaves, that means that their arc is meant to have been completed; that there is nothing further their development – or the plot – can gain from appearance.) If you don’t think that’s fair to say of Martha, we can look at Russell T. Davies’ other companions. Rose’s arc revolved around her growing up, growing out of her crappy life, and greatly around the Mickey-Doctor love triangle. That makes for one area of growth she otherwise wouldn’t have if she had never met the Doctor, but she always had other stuff going on, other relationships to occupy herself with. (That doesn’t even begin to touch upon the ways she affected The Doctor, especially Nine; she pushed his character development through more growth than any other character could ever do for Ten.) Then there’s Donna. I don’t think there’s much argument within the fandom here; she is a smart, independent companion that actually tells the Doctor from the start that she wasn’t just going be his little sidekick. She was strong, intuitive, and sassy – and her capacity for compassion and forethought ran deeper than that of any other companion before her. (This might have had something to do with her age, but that’s not entirely it – her life was virtually stunted in growth when we first met her character, an entire season before she even became the companion.) In short, I could sing
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the praises of Donna Noble all day long. She is, unabashedly, my favorite companion. Now, let’s go over Martha’s companionship. Her general plotline was that she had to get over her love for the Doctor and, all the power to her, she does – and she leaves the show for that explicit reason. Then there is also the fact that she doesn’t want to endanger her family any further when she leaves the show. Eh, okay, but she had spent the entire show putting her family at risk and being perfectly unaware of it. So she had barely any lasting anxiety for
Illustration by Eefje Savelkoul
Let’s Talk About Martha Jones
Entertainment
Music Theory: Chameleon Circuit We’ve all heard the sound of the TARDIS and scrambled towards the source of the sound, only to be soul crushingly disappointed, thinking “No, he hasn’t come for me yet.” Even the opening theme song is short but oh so sweet to hear. Some would say that it’s too short. Luckily, since 2008, a ‘Doctor Who’ themed band called Chameleon Circuit has been creating music for all Whovians to enjoy as they await new seasons. By Ruth Esther Tirado Chameleon Circuit, named after a component of the TARDIS which allows it to change shape to blend into the environment, was created in 2008 by Youtuber Alex Day (a.k.a Nerimon). Inspired by
Vworp vworp vworp! -TARDIS
Wizard rock, Alex began writing songs about the British TV series and called the genre ‘Time Lord Rock’, or ‘Trock’ for short. Other Whovian YouTubers, such as Liam Dryden (Littleradge) and Chris Beattie (CowInParachute), joined with Alex to produce their first album as Chameleon Circuit. Since 2008, Chameleon Circuit has produced two albums under DFTBA Records level; Chameleon Circuit and Still Got Legs, a reference to one of the first 11th Doctor’s first lines. Both contain songs that reference the 9th Doctor up to the very recent 11th Doctor. You might find “Exterminate, Regenerate” particularly amusing while thinking “The Doctor Is Dying” is downright heartbreaking. (And even cruel if Tennant was your favorite.) If you’re a die-hard Time Lord with a fixation on all things Doctor Who, you might already have your own sonic screwdriver, a bowtie, the image of a TARDIS (but none of the Weeping Angels), the memorized ‘Don’t Blink’ spiel, and quite possibly your own homemade cosplay. But do you have the music? Both Chameleon Circuit albums are available on DFTBA.com for all Whovians to enjoy! Image by Genevieve under a cc licence via wikimedia commons
it throughout the season, and it therefore had nothing to do with her arc. So that’s it. That was Martha’s arc, and her development as a character. She didn’t have to grow up or get smart – she was already plenty smart and accomplished when we met her. Her medical status gave her character an inherent, implied sense of compassion, which she certainly didn’t lack for. But as for actual growth? (That thing which makes any character of any show interesting.) It was all stemmed from one problem: her attachment to the Doctor, a.k.a., the only constant male character. I think that really sucked for a lot of people. Here we have the first companion who is a woman of color, and she’s practically a doctor. She has a fantastic start in “Smith and Jones”, essentially saving everyone’s lives when the Doctor can’t. Right away, we know that she has amazing kick-ass potential as a character. And then it flatlines. The first half of her appearance in the third season was just “one more ride” in the TARDIS – she even wore the same clothes for days. Her two greatest moments of heroism – watching over the humanized Doctor and having to save the entire freaking world – were direct, strict instructions from the Doctor. Donna and Rose take things in their own hands in practically every episode (and often even blunder their way through). Martha ended up acting like the Doctor’s lovesick servant – WHICH could have been forgivable, if she had anything else going on. In the end, she left when her arc was finished – rather, when she gave up on loving the Doctor. And it felt like nothing important had happened there because you knew from the start it wasn’t going to happen. At least for me, the most heartbreaking moments in any show is when a fully-developed character (Donna) reaches the climax of their arc (Donna) and are then booted off the show before their full potential can be reached (Donna). Martha goes to on to get some badassery in her blood when UNIT recruits her – but by then she’s not a companion anymore, and any subsequent so-called arcs are split between appearances on Doctor Who and Torchwood. For me, the frustrating thing about Martha was not the idea of Martha herself; it was the way her character was written. It is her wasted potential that kills any hope of me liking her. And now that Moffat is the head writer for Doctor Who … let’s just say that I’m glad she isn’t on the show anymore. (But that’s a whole other can of worms.)
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Entertainment
Nerdy Gift Ideas
‘Tis The Season to be Nerdy
Having difficulty thinking of that perfect gift for the nerd in your life? Well, let The Anglerfish lend you a hand with some gift suggestions that will be sure to put a smile on your fellow nerd’s face! By: Eric Cole and Jason Stack 1. Teefury.com - T-shirts are a fantastic way to express your personality and to let everyone know how proud you are of being a nerd. Nobody gets that more than the people over at teefury.com. Everyday, you will find a new, limited edition t-shirt submitted by various talented artists. Oftentimes, these shirts will be fandom/nerd inspired ranging from video games such as Zelda, Pokemon, and Mario, to books such as The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, to films such as Tron, Avatar, and The Godfather. What is the best part about the whole process? These shirts will only be available for 24 hours before they are shut down, and never sold again. It is a great way to not only snag a fantastic shirt, but to also get something that is truly oneof-a-kind. Retail Price: $14 (includes shipping) 2. Boy Meets World: The Complete Collection - For that nerd who is stuck in a time warp, one of the quintessential 90’s shows is now out in a
COMPLETE COLLECTION! Any 90’s kid worth their salt remembers Friday nights on the couch, popcorn in hand, ready to check in with Cory, Shawn, Topanga, Eric, and, of course, Mr. Feeny. Now relive all the memories again alone, with your friends, or with the little ones in your life. Retail Price: $74.99 (does not include shipping) http://dft.ba/-77cp 3. Retro Duo Portable SNES/NES Game System - For all of the gamers in your life, this system is the perfect way to celebrate the season. Gamers are nothing if not nostalgic. They revel in reliving the memories of their youth when they played Mario Kart with their friends all night, or stayed up ‘til 2 AM to beat the final dungeon in Zelda. Now gamers have the chance to do all that, and relive their past, all on the road. What more could a gamer possibly want? Retail Price: $99.99 (does not include shipping) http://dft.ba/-7897 4. Star Wars and Lord of the Rings Lego Sets - For those nerds in your life who crave creativity, why not help them expand their imagination with some Legos? From The Millennium Falcon (http://dft.ba/-77xf) to a Death
Illustration by Hayley Pike
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Entertainment Star set which includes 25 characters (http:// dft.ba/-78Lw) to a functuional R2D2 (http://dft. ba/-780v), these sets are sure to please any nerd hoping to go to a galaxy far, far away! For those who would like to travel to Middle Earth, why not try your hand building all six levels of The Tower of Orthanc, where the wizard Saruman resides (http://dft.ba/-78-7), recreate the battle of Helm’s Deep (http://dft.ba/-78Lx), or take over a pirate ship and Peter Jackson with the help of Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn (http://dft.ba/-780x)? Whatever the nerd in your life enjoys, Lego is there to help you recreate your favorite fandom, one brick at a time! 5. ThinkGeek.com - Or if you’re not quite sure what your nerdy friend would enjoy, Thinkgeek is bound to have something that will tickle their fancy! From fandom-specific items (Sonic Screwdrivers, phasers, etc.) to multipurpose tech to bizarre April Fool’s pranks made real to creative kits for the kiddies, there are things of all shapes, sizes, and prices for the “smart masses”, to paraphrase their motto. And the best part about Thinkgeek is that you earn points that can go towards special offers, so you might want to get saving if you want that Tauntaun sleeping bag (http://dft.ba/-78M3).
Other Gift Ideas 1. Mockingjay Pin - Retail Price: $19.99 (does not include shipping) http://dft.ba/-782E 2. An Authentic Wizarding Wand from http:// www.alivans.com - Retail Price: $10.98 - $89.00 (does not include shipping) 3. Anything from http://dftba.com 4. Hayao Miyazaki films, including ‘Spirited Away’ (http://dft.ba/-782H), ‘Princess Mononoke’ (http://dft.ba/-78x0) and ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ (http://dft.ba/-77zr) - Retail Price: $14.00 - $19.00 (does not include shipping) 5. Jingle Spells: Leaky’s Holiday Wrock Albums 1 - 4 (can be found for download on Itunes) Retail Price: $9.99 (each album)
Gifts For The Growing Nerd Looking for a gift for the youngling in your life, maybe one that encourages their growth in the nerd-ish direction? Here’s a list of toys to encourage creativity, curiosity, and interest in science! By: Alyssa Nabors Roominate: http://www.roominatetoy.com/ A building toy designed especially to get girls interested in engineering, Roominate kits allow a ton of variety in what you can build, as well pulley systems, motors, and lights. The creators manage to strike a good balance between appealing to girls without being screaming-hot pink. If you’ve got a girl in your life who seems uninterested in STEM fields, this might be a good place to start her out. Creationary: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e617/ LEGOs are always a good idea for a growing mind (that is grown enough not to swallow the small bits, of course), and Creationary has the added benefit of encouraging family time as well. You might guess from the sound of the name that this game might be something like Pictionary, and you’d be right! However, instead of drawing until the time runs out, you’re building! Snap Circuits Micro: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?produc tId=24945686&cp=2255956.2273442.2256398.225 6399.2838514&parentPage=family This kit and products like it allow kids to experiment and learn about electronics without needing to solder or manipulate tiny elements. The experiments and activities a kid can do with a kit like this will not only teach them about individual circuit component functions, but also about converting analog signals to digital, sensors, and programming commands. Starry Night Master Kit: http://www.perpetualkid.com/the-starry-nightmaster-kitz.aspx The Kidzaw MasterKitz series is designed to help kids develop their artistic skills and, at the same time, learn about art history. These kits include paints, markers, and stencils to help recreate a classic work of art, and a booklet about the artist and the work
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Entertainment Inspiring a love of books is a great way to grow the inner nerd in any kid! in question. Also available from Kidzaw are the MasterSculpz kits for cubism and surrealism. HTML For Babies: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/eacc/ Your two-year-old niece might not actually learn to build a webpage from this board book, but as she’s growing up in a world where web presence is more and more a part of everyday business and everyday life, so it doesn’t hurt to get an early start! Instant Super Snow Bucket: http://www.perpetualkid.com/instant-super-snowbucket.aspx Especially for kids in places where it doesn’t snow around the holidays, this is just a great, fun gift that might have kids asking “how does this work?”. That’s when you get to whip out your Googling skills and help them figure it out!
Live Butterfly Garden: http://www.amazon.com/ dp/B00AFL5YXM/ref=gs_htljs A cool idea, but be warned, you have to send away for the larvae and food. However, watching caterpillars grow and change into butterflies is one of the most landmark introductions to the wonders of nature that a kid can experience! This habitat is reusable, so a resourceful budding entomologist can watch the transformation again and again. Books: Neil Gaiman, Dr. Seuss, Leo Leonni, Eric Carle, Roald Dahl, Bill Peet All these authors have multiple c h i l d re n ’s books with gorgeous illustrations and fantastic stories that really inspire the imagination. Fostering a love of books is a great way to grow the inner nerd in any kid!
Glow Crazy Pattern Painter: h t t p : / / w w w. a m a z o n . c o m / 0 1 1 7 2 - G l o w Crazy-Pattern-Painter/dp/B00DI78GM6 Another fun art project with absolutely no mess! Special stencils, paper, and a paintbrush allow kids to create more than fifty different glowing patterns. Everything is very portable and completely reusable, meaning that when ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ plays for the ninety-ninth time, you’ll be the hero for bringing a gift no one minds that the kids open right away! Suspend: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-4371Suspend/dp/B007EA4UBY/ref=sr_1_15?srs=2596 407011&ie=UTF8&qid=1383626054&sr=8-15 Melissa & Doug is one of my favorite brands because of their clean designs and sturdy builds, and this game is no exception. Like a slightly more complex Jenga, you try to keep metal rods balanced while moving them from one place on the stand to another. This is a great game for older elementary age children, and it encourages cognitive skills and hand-eye coordination.
Photo from stockfreeimages.com
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Film Apocrypha: ‘Doctor Who’ Edition Just can’t get enough of your favorite Doctor Who actors? Here are five films you might have never heard of featuring your favorite companions and Time Lords. All of these films can be found on Netflix, iTunes, or Google Play! By Alyssa Nabors ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ This surreal biopic, based on the life of Ian Dury of The Blockheads, stars Andy Serkis as Dury and features Arthur Darvill as Mick Gallagher (a member of the band) and Noel Clarke as a recording studio owner. The film follows Dury’s rise to fame and focuses on his rocky relationships with his ex-wife, lover, kids, and band member, as well as how he deals with a disability brought on by a childhood bout with polio. Fans of musical films like ‘Across the Universe’ may enjoy ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ for the songs and imagery, as well as the segments where Dury imagines he is explaining his life to adoring fans from a stage. Viewers who have enjoyed biopics like ‘Thirteen’ and ‘Blow’ will enjoy the drama and intimate look at the interactions between the characters. ‘The Calcium Kid’ A mockumentary about a match between an English boxer, Pete Wright, and an American champion, Jose Mendez, that gets derailed when a milkman volunteers as Wright’s sparring partner and his calcium-enriched skull breaks the boxer’s hand. The film stars Orlando Bloom as the Calcium Kid, a.k.a. Jimmy Connelly, the milkman who takes Wright’s place in the fight. Billie Piper plays Angel, one of Jimmy’s ring girls and his eventual love interest. A well-executed parody of sports movies in the same vein as ‘The Office’ and ‘Best in Show’, this is a fun watch for anyone. ‘Jude’ Based on the novel ‘Jude the Obscure’, this film stars
Christopher Eccleston as Jude Fawley, a stonemason in Victorian Era England who aspires to go to university. He meets and falls in love with his cousin Sue Brideshead (Kate Winslet), who eventually returns his affection. Unwilling to get married because of a family superstition, the two eventually decide to live together despite the social stigma. While primarily seeming to be a love story, Jude’s main struggle is with his identity as an incredibly intelligent scholar stagnated by the social limitations of his class. If you like period films like ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Jude’ may be worth checking out. ‘The Last September’ Set during the Irish War of Independence, this film focuses on life at a country manor where Sir and Lady Naylor, a family of Anglo-Irish nobility, reside. David Tennant plays a British officer stationed near the manor who is romantically interested in the Sir Naylor’s niece. While a party of visitors causes tensions at the Naylor manor, the nearby violent conflict between the British and the Irish dangerously escalates . Reminiscent of such ensemble dramas as ‘Gosford Park’, Agatha Christie mysteries, or ‘Foyle’s War’, this film can’t be said to be particularly cheery, but it captures the characters and the period extremely well. ‘Like Crazy’ This films starts out looking like your typical romance, but very quickly becomes a bit graver when Anna (Felicity Jones) and Jacob (Anton Yelchin) are separated after Anna overstays her student visa and is prevented from coming back to the US. Alex Kingston appears as Anna’s mother, and Jennifer Lawrence appears as Jacob’s co-worker. The film is a biography of Jacob and Anna’s relationship, and has a depth and a stark realism that greatly contrasts it from the usual rom-com. Fans of ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men’ and ‘Thanks for Sharing’ will enjoy the feels that ‘Like Crazy’ inspires.
Art by Katherine Taylor
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Entertainment An Interview with Joel Watson
PART I
Continuing The Experiment
In our February Issue, Joel Watson, creator of the webcomic Hijinks Ensue, contributed some of the information he posts in his blog, The Experiment, to an article about pursuing your creative passions professionally. The Experiment chronicles Joel’s transition to fulltime cartoonist, including his most recent decision in September of this year to change from largely fandomthemed comic strips to characterdriven story arcs. Joel was able to
talk with us again this autumn to talk about the switch, being a geek dad, and pursuing creative passions full-time. This is part one of our three-part interview with Joel: by: Alyssa Nabors The Anglerfish: So you’re making another pretty big change with the comic, transitioning to storylines instead of your usual fandom jokes. What made you want to make that change? Joel Watson: I feel like I had said
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everything I had to say in that area, which was something I did not expect, but over the course of six years - not doing the same jokes, but the same kind of jokes; I found myself instinctively wanting to repeat myself. It wasn’t that I had run out of ideas, it was that when you make commentary on pop culture, or any subject I guess, it becomes cyclical. The things I had made fun of five years ago were sort of happening again, just with different movies or TV shows. It used to be “How many jokes can I make about Joss Whedon shows getting cancelled?” and these days he’s not getting cancelled. You comment on that
Entertainment once, and there’s not much more to say about it, even if it happens over and over. Let’s say I was talking about J.J. Abrams having certain qualities to his movies; if I make three comics about that, even if he keeps doing it, there’s nothing else to say, at least not without being repetitive. I think that’s kind of why commentary comics, even
political cartoons, have this repetitive nature and these tropes- you don’t really need to know what the joke is to know where it’s going. And I didn’t want to be that anymore. It had a lot to do with things I was learning from my readers at conventions and thing I was learning from other cartoonists about the types of fan responses you get to character stories versus gags.
And I was seeing my other friends that I was doing conventions with have people come up who were really connecting to the characters and the worlds they had created and the stories they had created. I guess in simplest terms I envied that. I knew that the types of comments
I would get from fans in public or at conventions were “I like this, it’s funny, it’s so good” and then typically end with “I haven’t read it in a while but” or “I used to read it every day but I got so busy”. And I’m like “Why are you qualifying your compliment with a reason you don’t read my work anymore?” But I realized I had not created something that demanded repeat attention. Let’s say I went on
a jag making comics about ‘Breaking Bad’, but you don’t watch that show. So I might make a week’s worth of comics exercising jokes that I feel are relevant about this thing that I really enjoy, and maybe 15-20% of my audience is right there with me. And maybe a week of not knowing what’s going on is enough time to forget
about a thing on the internet completely. And I think I was right, I think I was almost catering to the short-attention-span internet audience, a much smarter and more specific area of that kind of reader, but I wasn’t catering to the part of them that wants something ongoing and involved, or a different kind of reader that is drawn to something more engrossing. So it was easy to make a comic that can be shared on tumblr or
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Entertainment I realized a few months back I was eventually going to do this full-time, and I didn’t want to be sitting on all this stuff that I was excited about for six more months-I wanted to do it now. facebook or reddit, but then instantly forgotten about, or a comic that no one would ever care what the source was. My own creative drive was pushing me in a different direction, and it seemed that my audience and the internet in general had already moved in a different direction. If you want to deal in that sort of disposable internet humor, and I don’t mean disposable in a negative way- it’s just the stuff that you can look at for one second and then move on to the
My attention span was also changing, as far as what I really cared about. The stuff I cared about wasn’t being represented in the comic at all. I care about parenting, being a geek dad, the stuff I talk about in The Experiment, trying to make a living doing what you love and not waste your time on Earth, and I wanted to talk about all of that in a funny, humorous way. Those were the kinds of jokes and kinds of stories I felt I should be telling if I was going to be more
next hundred things, without having to ask questions about where it came from or who made it- I realized that because that’s what the internet had become, making a gag strip that was really going to capture people’s attention had basically become somewhat impossible. And because Hijinks Ensue didn’t already have a huge audience to begin with, it was there but not mammoth, I couldn’t count on hundreds of thousands of people coming every day to see what I made regardless of what it was.
honest with myself and with my audience. TA: Do you think, with the amount of work you’ve already done, do you feel these characters you’ve created will transition easily to a storyline, or will you be drawing more from your everyday life; will it become more of an autobiographical comic? JW: Well what’s weird about that is, in a lot of ways, I’ll be returning to the roots of where these characters
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came from, because they were inspired by myself and two of my friends. The problem for me early on, having never done character development or character creation in a significant way, was that I didn’t realize how lucky I was that I had sort of made an autobio comic without the reality aspect of it. It gave me characters that I knew what they would do, I knew how they would behave, I knew how they would react in situations, because they were my friends already. So they were fully realized in my head, so they were very easy to write for, especially when I was constantly around those real people. And then there was a period, after the comic became my full time job, where I saw my friends very rarely, maybe once a month, especially after we had a kid and none of our friends had kids. The thing that really happened was that I became
the guy who needed a week or more notice to do anything, because our life revolves around our child, and none of my friends were in that position. After a couple of years of that, I realized that I had stopped writing the characters with individual voices, and I was basically writing a three-headed version of me. And then I realized, based on feedback I got from my peers, that I was essentially writing stick figure gag strips that just so happened to have better art or more
Entertainment art, and the same three people over and over again. But these characters weren’t necessary or adding to anything, these jokes could be said by faceless creatures or animals or anything. I think I was confusing my audience by saying “here are some characters, care about them”, and then not giving them anything to latch on to other than the humor. About a year ago, I said, “I’m going to course correct here- I’m going to start mini-story arcs, and see what happens” and I found that as I did those, I did not want to go back to the pop culture gags, I would rather keep the storylines going on and on. It made writing easier, it was more fun; I didn’t hate the work I had done before, I was very proud of it, but I felt I had exhausted every source of inspiration I had in that area and I was ready to something different. Doing those story-
lines for the past 8 or 9 months felt right. I realized a few months back I was eventually going to do this full-time, and I had all these ideas, and I’d written pages and pages of notes. In my mind I was going to wait until 2014 to start it, but then I realized I didn’t want to be sitting on all this stuff that I was excited about for six more months-I wanted to do it now. TA: The announcement that you were making this transition coincided with the introduction of a character based
I don’t ingest as much pop culture as I used to, I don’t see as many movies, but I do have a lot in common with geeky people trying to make future generations of nerds and weirdos. on your daughter. How do you approach talking about your child on the internet, where you have this fairly sizeable following? Do you have any reservations about that? JW: I always have. The reason you haven’t seen her or my wife or anything that personal in the past, is that I felt it wasn’t up to me to put them out there. First of all, I used to have this strong anti-photo policy where I would never
post pictures of my wife or kid because I didn’t want to see anyone do anything with them. But as I eased into it, I would occasionally write about parenting; I would write about drawing with my daughter and teaching her how to draw, other things we had done together, and maybe post a little photo. I found the people who came out with enthusiasm and support for that kind of content were really the part of my audience that I had more in common with. I don’t
ingest as much pop culture as I used to, I don’t see as many movies, but I do have a lot in common with geeky people trying to make future generations of nerds and weirdos. And that’s where I felt I had something original to say. The more and more I would put stuff out there, I realized I had cultivated a very kind and gentle audience. I have not built a reputation on cruelty or meanness, so I’m not getting that back from
my readers. When I say “oh here’s my kid in her first karate class” and I put that photo on the internet, I don’t get any negative feedback. I started feeling better about that- someday some creep is going to ruin it for me, but right now in measured amounts, I don’t mind sharing this stuff. And then this year my wife started doing her own online projects this year, so I needed to promote those as well. I can’t really hide them anymore. Putting my kid in the comic- I’ve changed
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she likes Ninja Turtles and she likes Powerpuff Girls, and she likes My Little Pony and she likes swords. In our house there is no distinction on what she can be interested in
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Entertainment her name, and it’s not really going to be her, but a representation of the child I am raising. It’s going to be this character of me, who has a child, and these are things they go through together, but it’s not going to be like reading her diary. If something bad or embarrassing happens to her, that doesn’t mean it’s going straight into the comic. That would be, I think, a violation of privacy and a thing she’s not even equipped to give consent on yet. I would rather she decide what of herself to put online other than the occasional “here’s me and my kid” cute photo. But at the same time, she’s the biggest part of me, so if I’m going to share myself I have to share that parenting aspect as well, and I can’t do that if my character doesn’t have a kid. In a lot of ways, I felt my character was stunted developmentally or emotionally or maturity-wise, because I’ve had a kid of six years, and these are the things I think about, and I’ve never addressed them with my character. He seemed permanently mid-twenties while I am rapidly approaching mid-thirties.That was the reasoning behind it, and I’m going to try to stay honest without violating her privacy or giving creeps too much ammunition. TA: You mentioned raising a new generation of geeks. With all the controversy that keeps popping up over women in geek culture- have you thought about how you’re even going to approach that topic? JW: I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for her ever- there are certain things that I feel are horrific that my generation is dealing with that by the time she reaches an age where someone asks her a question about them or she is confronted with them, it’s going to be the same way we look at racial segregation, it will be with disbelief. I can’t believe the world was ever that backward, and I think that’s how she’s going to look at the chauvinism and misogyny in video game culture and comic book culture and certain other aspects of geek culture. I can’t imagine that we will not have solved a lot of that in the next ten years, and if we haven’t woe be unto us. I don’t tell her about all the of the human rights atrocities committed against homosexuals in America - she knows that we have gay friends and she
has zero questions about that, because when you approach things with an open mind that hasn’t already been poisoned by hatred, then things that are natural appear natural, they are not colored by someone else’s bigotry. She doesn’t understand that there are different races, she doesn’t understand that not everyone is allowed to be with who they want to be with, she just approaches everything with common sense, and all the stuff that makes those things an issue has to be taught. I hope that hers is the generation that will not be brought up that way for the most part, so that by the time they have kids, they will not understand that we were ever so backward as to exclude women from anything- anything fun, that humans would want to be a part of. At the same time, I’m not raising her to make sure she’s as girly as possible, which is something we’re seeing in a lot of her friends. She has a friend who asked for a dinosaur cake and was told by her parents that girls can’t have dinosaur cakes, girls need princess cakes, or some crap like that. And she is definitely not that kid, she likes Ninja Turtles and she likes Powerpuff Girls, and she likes My Little Pony and she likes swords. In our house there is no distinction on what she can be interested in. I think that eventually some stupid kid is going to come along and try to screw that up, at school or something, but as while it’s within our power to shape her perception, we’re not putting any limitations based on what parts she has- that’s just stupid. It’s sort of heartwarming and invigorating to see a little girl running up and down the aisles of Toys R Us picking from what she does not understand is the “boy’s”toy aisle just as much as she wants an Easy Bake Oven. I really hope, optimistically, that I will never have to broach those issues with her, but if I do, if really comes down to “A lot of people are still dumb, but you can do whatever you want, and no one can exclude you- if the club you want to be a part of isn’t inviting you, start your own. If you want to draw comics for a living and Marvel and DC aren’t hiring women… you know, I don’t think there’s even going to be a Marvel or DC in the next couple of decades. I don’t think there are going to be these gender-based gatekeepers to geek culture to keep her out, and if there
are, by the time she cares, they’ll be so irrelevant that no one will be paying attention to them. .
You can read Joel’s comic here, http://hijinksensue.com/ read about The Experiment here, http://hijinksensue.com/experiment/ read the lastest Lo-FiJinks here http://hijinksensue.com/comic/ uncancelling-the-adrunkalypse/ and follow Joel on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter. https://www.facebook.com/ hijinksensue http://hijinksensue.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/hijinksensue You can meet Joel in person December 7 & 8, at Webcomics Rampage at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy in Austin, TX. http://dlair.net/austin/ Comics are featured courtesy of Joel Watson. Check back next month for Part 2 of our Interview with Joel!
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Something Borrowed, Something Blue In this edition of “Something Borrowed, Something Blue”, we’re looking at two best-selling Jodis who explore fantastical and historical fiction in their most recent novels, paying homage to ‘Peter Pan’ and Holocaust literature. by Marissa Early-Hubelbank Something Borrowed: ‘Tiger Lily’ was written by Jodi Lynn Anderson in 2012, and it follows the exploits of an old cast of characters as an imaginative, YA prelude to J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’. Tiger Lily is a fifteen year old girl in the Tribe of the Sky Eaters, which is a richly cultured society living in the jungles of Neverland. She is our strong, kick-ass protagonist and the daughter of a two-spirited shaman named Tik Tok. In this retelling, Tinker Bell is the narrator to Tiger Lily’s evolution from an isolated, tormented child to a headstrong, athletic – and maybe even cursed – young woman. She doesn’t want to belong to anyone: not her tribe, and certainly not a husband. So falling in love with the terrible, infamous Pan was never what she thought she wanted, especially since it is her fate to be married to someone else. To sum it up shortly, this book is really great. It gets its messages across without being preachy, and it gives a whole new layer of context and depth to a classic. And of course, the narration gives you an entirely new look at Tinker Bell’s character. This spin-off holds up and stands separate from ‘Peter Pan.’ ‘Tiger Lily’ is swiftly paced, but still retains emotion well. Overall,
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it’s well worth the read – and it’s probably worth checking out Anderson’s other books too, if they’re all written this well. Something Blue: Jodi Picoult’s ‘The Storyteller’ came out early this year. In a Picoult classic sense of style, she writes from the POV of multiple characters. Sage Singer is a shy, isolated young adult haunted by her mother’s death. When an old man named Josef starts coming to her grief support group, it seems as though she has finally found someone she can connect with. This unlikely friendship takes a frightening turn, however, when Josef reveals to her his darkest secret: he was once an SS guard for the Nazi party. Sage is a Jew, her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, and Josef wants Sage’s forgiveness, so that he may finally die. This book is exceptional. See, Picoult does her research for every book she writes, and talks to people who have been in her characters’ situations. To write this book, she talked extensively with Nazi hunters, human rights activists, and survivors of the Holocaust itself. She puts their lives and experiences into this cohesive story, and that’s what makes it so real. She maintains the level of responsibility and respect one should have for writing about real-life horrors such as genocide. This is a book which calls for the pursuit of justice against those who commit crimes against humanity – but it isn’t one long, exhaustive rant. It recants the stories of those who have suffered – without appropriating or trivializing the trauma (which unfortunately happens too often). This story, to exaggerate dramatically, is remarkable and important, and asks us to recall depths of empathy we will never be able to fully summon – and it gives ultimate recognition to that fact. Reading it is absolutely worth the emotional struggle; it will suck you in, right up until the last page.
Entertainment
The Exploding TARDIS Brought Us Together On the first day of university, my mom helped me move my luggage and boxes into my dorm room, we cried a little, and then she left me on my own with my new roommate and a kiss on the forehead. I took a deep breath and began to carefully put my room together. Folded clothes in dresser drawers, neatly stacked books, and a perfectly straight Doctor Who poster right above my bed. I received it the prior Hanukkah-a print of the Van Gogh-esque exploding TARDIS set against a blue and gold starry night sky. Even though my roommate had no idea what it featured, I felt confident that someone would. il
we both hated the makeup artist who did Billie Piper’s mascara, so it all worked out. That day, we went to a few orientation events together and spent the time quoting “Blink”, making Dalek jokes, and pointing out every guy wearing a bowtie. Later that year, we made a point of hanging out each week to watch the new episodes, lounging on her bed and yelling about the convoluted plotlines over cupcakes. Flash forward to the end of October when Hurricane Sandy hit New York and power was out across the city. Unlike some whose families lived close to school, I couldn’t pack up and go home to California for a few days while the city coped with the damage. Instead, I went to Julia’s house in New Jersey, where we ate home-cooked meals and watched ‘Doctor Who’ episodes she had downloaded onto her computer. Julia and I have more in common than our obsessions with British sci-fi shows, but lu str at By Kaya Raven we might’ve never figured that out if not for ion ‘Doctor Who’. My poster gave us a springboard from by :D I had spent an obscene amount of time overwhich to dive, helping us to create a friendship based av id analyzing the decorations for my dorm room, telling on mutual love, admiration, and criticism of art. I think this Pa nt oja myself that first impressions could mean a lot in college. is the biggest success of fandoms. Two people who like the After much deliberation and one small meltdown in Bed, same thing instantly have something to talk about, joke about, Bath, and Beyond, my comforter was a deep purple, my sheets and do together and, because of this, I can thank fandoms for a bright blue, and my Exploding TARDIS poster tied it all together. uniting me with some of my closest friends. In the end, it doesn’t As I made my bed and chatted to my roommate, the doorbell matter that some began with the Nerdfighter fandom and others rang. I answered it and was greeted by a petite girl with a camera with the One Direction fandom; we found each other through a around her neck, who introduced herself as “Julia who lives down mutual affection and desire to discuss something we love. the hall.” She came inside and we began talking about school and Without ‘Doctor Who’, Sandy could’ve left me stranded in a majors and how crazy it was to actually be old enough to be at residence hall with no wifi or hot water. Without ‘Harry Potter’, college. As soon as we got into my room, Julia stopped walking I wouldn’t have had any friends that one year at summer camp. and let out a small squeal. “You like ‘Doctor Who’?” she asked, Without One Direction, my current roommate and I may never pointing at my poster. I could feel a wide smile spread across my have met. Without Nerdfighteria, I wouldn’t be writing for this face. “Yes! It’s the best!” I said. magazine. Fandoms bring us together and give us the perfect We talked about our favorite episodes and our mutual love for friendship pick-up lines. So thanks, ‘Doctor Who’, for giving me a David Tennant. Even though she loved Donna and I loved Martha, friend I love to Gallifrey and back.
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Entertainment
Time for Time Ladies Even though the Twelfth Doctor has already been cast, the controversy over the idea of a female Doctor still refuses to go away. But when the time comes, which women would be best to take their turn in the TARDIS? By: Lucy Pegg The idea of having a female Doctor has been long suggested and contested. Though many objections are brought up against the proposal, these are mainly rooted in sexist assumptions or closed mindedness about the future of the programme. Though it could change the dynamic of the show (not necessarily a bad thing given the last series), the fact remains that if hair colour can change, so can gender - after all, it’s just genetics. Who even knows if Time Lords have the same binary constraints of gender that we perceive on Earth? More importantly though, the Doctor is and always will be a role model and idol for children, and the fact that he remains stubbornly male limits the aspirations of both young girls and boys. After Matt Smith announced his decision to leave Doctor Who and the frenzy over who would take on the role next grew, one thing was distinctly different from the speculation around previous casting decisions. For once, female actors were being seriously considered alongside their male counterparts, a huge contrast to back in 2008 when Doctor Who Magazine’s rundown of possible Elevens included everyone from Ben Whishaw to Jason Statham without mentioning a single woman. This time around John Barrowman, Stephen Hawking and Helen Mirren were just a few of the famous faces adding their support to the campaign for a female incarnation of the Time Lord. Though it may be too late for the Twelfth Doctor - although given Steven Moffat’s propensity for screwing over logic, it could probably still happen - which women
should be in the running when Peter Capaldi decides to step down? Here are some humble suggestions: Lara Pulver Known to ‘Sherlock’ fans as Irene Adler, she not only has a dark mysterious look that would suit the enigmatic 1200-year old, but the command and manipulation she showed in the aforementioned role would be an interesting element to add to the Doctor’s character.
Doctor we’ve seen recently. Helena Bonham Carter Does she play a very similar character in every single project she’s in? Yes. Would it be amazing to see Bellatrix Lestrange/Mrs Lovett/The Red Queen/Madame Thenardier take over the TARDIS? Absolutely. If there’s one thing ‘Doctor Who’ is, it’s quirky, and, conveniently, Helena Bonham Carter seems to possess that quality in bucket loads, too.
Helen Mirren As mentioned earlier, she’s already expressed an interest in a female Time Lord and, in fact, playing the part herself. Plus, she’s proven she can take on a traditionally male role in her performance as Prospera in the 2010 film adaptation of ‘The Tempest’. Having such an established actor would be especially helpful in proving that the change in gender is something other than just a quick joke.
Gwendoline Christie Most famous for playing Brienne of Tarth in ‘Game of Thrones’, Gwendoline Christie would be a formidable enemy for any Daleks or Cybermen to find themselves up against. Just like Tilda Swinton - another popular suggestion for the part - there is already something slightly alien about her, and it would be really nice to see her attack the part with the same aggression she uses in Westeros. Perhaps this would be a portrayal more akin to Christopher Eccleston’s than more recent Doctors?
Zawe Ashton An actress perhaps less well-known outside the UK - although she did have a role in ‘St. Trinian’s 2’ and played Sally Donovan in the ‘Sherlock’ pilot - her edginess and ultramodern look and personality would be very much the opposite of the cosy, friendly
Whichever women we might - or might not - want to see as our favourite Time Lord they could be coming to our screens sooner than we think. Peter Capaldi has admitted his contract could only last for a year, so perhaps this article won’t entirely have been wishful thinking...
Who would you like to see become the first female Doctor? Emma Thompson - suggested by tumblr users themadgrad and 42bottlesofbeer Evanna Lynch - suggested by tumblr user echomagic650 Gina Torres - suggested by tumblr user choosingthelabrynth Olivia Coleman - suggested by tumblr user ed-ingle Helena Bonham Carter - suggested by tumblr user cymbaldryness Emma Watson, Emily Blunt, J.K. Rowling, Judi Dench or Maggie Smith - suggested by tumblr user 42bottlesofbeer
Illustration by Vaiki Tress
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Santa Claus’s Many Faces “He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly! He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!”
-Clement Clarke Moore,
By mid-November, his Jolly face can be seen in every shop window and mall. Nearly everyone recognizes the mirthful face of Santa Claus and his iconic red and white suit. But the image we immediately connect with the spirit of giving and joy during Christmas is not as global as we think and has not been the same throughout time. Like the doctor regenerating, Santa Claus has had many different incarnations and changed in many ways over the years. by: David Pantoja
illustrated by: Jacquelyn Files
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While Christmas for Christians is certainly a focus on the celebration of humanity’s salvation, born to the world in the form of Jesus, there is no denying that Santa Claus has become the secular face of Christmas. Santa, as we mostly know him, especially in the states, is the result of pop culture mixing Christian and pagan beliefs. Santa Claus is a very American character classic stories and legends from a selection of ethnicities were melded together into something new and wholly American. Not every version of Santa Claus is kid friendly or jolly and pleasant, and this “dark side” is likely the premise for the punishment aspect of the Santa story. Breaking down Santa Claus into his “base” elements is no simple task because so many tales have lent their weight to the character. St. Nicholas of Myra - Yeah, actually, there was an old St. Nick. Hailing from the third century, Nicholas of Myra was a bishop of the Christian church. St. Nicholas, as he would later be canonized, was well known for his largesse. You may have heard of the story about St. Nicholas becoming the patron St. of prostitutes after giving presents to them. Well that isn’t true, at least according to the legend. St. Nicholas did not give gifts to prostitutes. He actually gave a man enough “money” to cover the dowries of his three daughters so that they would not turn to prostitution. Apparently, way back in olden days, if dad couldn’t afford to marry you off it was off to a house of ill repute with you. Another legend has St.
Entertainment Nick resurrecting three slain boys that a butcher meant to sell as meat pies (Yeah, I know. Grim). Every legend about the prowess of the St. is a classic morality tale about generosity involving the sacred number three. St. Nicholas’s altruistic nature has lived on in our modern Santa in the form of his yearly gift giving. Father Christmas - the personification of eating, drinking and making merry. Papa Noel, Pere Noel, Ded Moroz, Babbo Natale, etc. are all different names for the personification of Christmas. While each iteration of Father Christmas differs slightly, they share a common trait: they are the spirit of merry making. Father Christmas is not the gift giver that St. Nick is; in fact, he is more interested in merriment and revelry than in gift giving. Father Christmas makes a cameo appearance in Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” as the ghost of Christmas present. He is pictured in Dickens’s work as a larger-thanlife man set upon a mountain of food and drink, wearing a green fur-lined robe hung loosely about him. It was not until later that father Christmas slowly became the gift giver that Santa Claus is and the two characters have become so similar that it is impossible to separate them. Father Christmas is the merry in Merry Christmas, and this character embodies the merry and festive spirit of the season that we equate with Santa. Kris Kringle - Not just gift giving at the office. Christkindl or Christkind is the German name of the “Christ child,” a yuletide gift giver in the form of a young child wearing a golden crown, carrying a tiny tree of light with a head of blond hair and angelic wings. The christkindl were thought to be messengers of Christ and givers of gifts to celebrate the event of his birth. When the tradition came to America, the name was quickly Americanized and over time, Santa, being more popular, absorbed these diminutive gift givers into his own legend. Sinterklaas - You don’t want to be naughty around this guy. Sinterklaas is the Dutch equivalent of St. Nicholas and the character is popular in the northern and western parts of Europe. “What is the difference between Sinterklaas and St. Nicholas?” you may be asking yourself. Sinterklaas travels in many stories with a companion and these companions are not always the nicest lot. Black Pete is a mischievous helper who travels with Sinterklaas carrying a bag of
illustrated by: Jacquelyn Files
sweets and a willow broom. Good children get a treat from the bag; bad children get spanked with the broom (sounds worse than a lump of coal, eh?). Did I mention Black Pete is a man dressed as a Moor in black face? Black Pete seem a bit racist? Yeah, he does. So let’s talk about Krampus another of Sinterklaas’s companions. In some tales, Sinterklaas travels with a demon named Krampus who threatens to eat the bad children (well, that escalated quickly). Sinterklaas wouldn’t allow the eating of children right? No, I guess not, so instead he allows Krampus to whip or torment the bad children. Odin - The All Father loves himself some Christmas. Yes, the Viking Lord of Asgard, father of Thor and a number of other gods and goddesses, lent some of his panache to good ole Santa. Odin was seen as an older man with a long white beard and locks, the same visage that Santa shares. Most importantly, Odin was master of the Wild Hunt, stalking his prey across the skies. While on this hunt, Odin would ride his eight-legged horse Sleipnir, leaping
through the skies. Norse Children would leave their boots next to their hearths with carrots or straw stuffed in them for Sleipnir. In return, Odin would leave gifts for the children in their boots. Isn’t it a wonder that Santa has eight reindeer and is known to leave gifts in stockings after munching on cookies left out for him? Santa Claus is a mix of many different myths, legends and characters that have been melded into one character, a character that has become the secular symbol of Christmas. Santa has for many become a symbol of seasonal consumerism and advertising but he is a lot more. Think of Santa as an excellent mix of cultures and how significant it is he has widespread popularity. At the very least, Santa has become a heartwarming symbol of a season centered on giving, family and enjoying the year’s bounty before the grueling winter months.
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Top Ten Inspirational ‘Doctor Who’ Quotes
“There’s always something to look at if you open your eyes!” — The Fifth Doctor
et t
hb om uc so much madder . An r. And e k r ds da
rried. Get a hou
u om s s It’
d, a n
ch
se . H a ve a ki at ’
is: th
e world is so much s t r an g er
29 The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
u th e tr
Illustration by Jessika Raisor
t th
at .
“This is an opportunity. Whatever happens here will create its own timeline, its own reality, a temporal tipping point. The future revolves around you, here, now, so do good!” — The Eleventh Doctor
up .
dt h
4 5
“You spend all your time thinking about dying, like you’re going to get killed. But you never take time to imagine the impossible: that maybe you survive.” — The Tenth Doctor
. er
’Gr ow
t ma . Ge
“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant” — The Eleventh Doctor
a kid, they tell you ou’re it ’s a y n he l l,
jo b
“Courage isn’t just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It’s being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.” — The Third Doctor
W
“When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all, ’Grow up. Get a job. Get married. Get a house. Have a kid, and that’s it.’ But the truth is: the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.” — Elton Pope
ta Ge
1 2 3
“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.” — The Eleventh Doctor
t h a nt h
Many memorable quotes from the brains of genius writers like Moffat and Davies have made ‘Doctor Who’ not just an adventure show, but also an inspirational one. These quotes continue inspire no matter how many times our favorite Time Lord regenerates. In honor of the 50th anniversary, we at The Anglerfish have determined and compiled the top ten inspirational ‘Doctor Who’ quotes.
“In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important” — The Eleventh Doctor
9 10
“We’re in a library. Books are the best weapons in the world. This room’s the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself.” — The Tenth Doctor
Bu
By: Joie Ling
6 7 8
“Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.” — The Tenth Doctor
t.’ si
The show ‘Doctor Who’ is much more than a show filled with aliens and guys with British accents. From this show, there have come many quotes that inspire mankind.
News
The future doesn’t look like we imagined it would, with sliding doors and various colored jumpsuits. Is this blinding us to the miraculous developments happening right now? by: Alyssa Nabors According to USA Today, Lady Gaga will be the first recording artist to sing in space in 2015. Plans are in the works for Gaga to take off on a Virgin Galactic Spaceship following a performance at the Zero G Colony music festival in New Mexico. Will this influence more young people’s interest in space travel? Or will the prevalent lack of interest in space travel continue? Why the gradual growth of neglect of this field? Why, as technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, are we disinterested and unenthused at the advances that are made? It might be because the changes are incremental. A VCR allowed you to record television, but a DVR does it without the tape. The first iPhone had almost every function a Blackberry did except that it integrated the iPod player functionality. While the introduction and rapid spread of the smartphone has had a major impact on our culture as well as our day-to-day lives, was it as revolutionary an event as the introduction of the personal computer? Or the television? Or even the telephone itself? One major obstruction to enthusiasm about technological innovation is the gradual implementation of change. When a new technology is invented, it is usually expensive to replicate and has a very low level of usability. It continues to be improved upon, with better design and cheaper materials and production techniques. By the time everyone has one, no one is quite as impressed with the technology. The biggest factor is, everyone seems preoccupied with the
illustration by: David Pantoja
The Future Was Yesterday
way people imagined things would be by now. Despite the innovation of automobiles that run on alternative sources of energy or include sensors that prevent accidents and increase comfort, they still look and handle much the same way. “Where’s my flying car?” is the most common response to any claim that we are “living in the future.” Similarly, a small faction may be excited about the possibilities offered by 3D printing, but since it doesn’t yet resemble the replicators of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (and again, is not widely available) the public at large is just not intrigued. The actual year of 1984 has come and gone without any all-seeing Big Brother government structures (although the NSA is veering unpleasantly in that direction). The date Skynet was supposed to activate passed with only the creation of a couple of gag Twitter accounts, and we’ve only got about fifty more years before the Jetsons live in sky homes (theoretically because the Earth below has become so polluted that they have no other alternative). But because we DON’T have artificial intelligence with Genuine People Personalities roaming our offices or teleporters of any kind, it’s hard to get people excited about our ability to videochat with anyone in the world, the creative ways various companies are making Wi-Fi available to remote areas, or even Google’s selfdriving car. Our cultural expectations of the future have not gotten any less grand, although the aesthetics have been updated and seem vaguely more aligned with current trends. “The Hunger Games” has us anticipating genetic manipulations and holographic capabilities far more advanced than what we are currently capable of and multiple space operas have us anticipating laser weaponry. We may be setting ourselves up for more disappointment in the less important arenas while we miss the amazing advancements happening just out the corner of our eyes.
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News
istory of Thanksgiving The first thanksgiving was the result of the first pasty white people in America who apparently never joined boy or girl scouts because they sucked at surviving in the wild. So the Native Americans decided to show mercy on the poor white people and taught them how to farm, fish, and hunt in the new world. After the harvest, the English held a big meal to celebrate with their Native American friends and that was the first Thanksgiving … Not really. Written & Illustrated by Katherine Taylor The history of Thanksgiving actually starts before 1621 and is a bit more interesting than the Peanuts gang’s reenactment in the origins of Thanksgiving. Prior to the settlement of Plymouth, Europeans had been colonizing random parts of the Americas since 1492 (Except for the Vikings and their temporary settlement in Maine some 400 years earlier). Spaniards and Portuguese in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and from Florida to California, and the French had been fur traders in Canada all the way down to New Orleans, and parts of the Caribbean. They had a fairly good relationship with the indigenous peoples. Because of these earlier contacts with the American Indians, European diseases had already begun to spread. When the Puritans first landed in Plymouth, the local tribes, the most powerful being the Wampanoag, had started to succumb to these diseases. Estimates put the death toll in 7 out of 10, or as high as 9 out of 10. The Wampanoag, led by Massasoit, saw the Europeans as a means to help regain their grasp on the region while allowing the settlers to keep their own area the Puritans may have actually intended to share the land for the time being. In the generation following “The First Thanksgiving” it would seem that things were on the up and up. Cases of intermarriage were acceptable (not common), trading between groups was easy, and relations where good. That was until the Massachusetts Bay Colony happened. The tradition of the harvest feast between the American Natives and settlers died alongside “King Philip” a .k.a. Metacomet, the son of Massasoit. (Because the British are so culturally sensitive). His father had been the chief who initiated peace between the groups, and his head rotted in Boston for 20 years (the rest of his body’s fate is unknown), while his own sons were sold into slavery in the West Indies. The puritans of New England liked the idea of thanksgiving, but “white washed” it
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until it was more like the national services of thanksgiving in England. The official proclamation holders were originally church leaders and by the time the American Revolution rolled around, civil leaders got in on the action, including George Washington (This day of Thanksgiving and praise was Dec 18! That communist!). By this time however, the Wampanoag and other local tribes had been forced into “prayer towns,” thereby completely ignoring the meaning of coexistence and cooperation with one another. Thanksgiving failed to catch on as a national holiday at this time because two of our first five presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, felt it infringed on the separation of church and state. In 1815, President James Madison proclaimed three separate days of thanksgiving: August 20, 1812, September 9, 1813, and January 12, 1815. Once again, Thanksgiving would fail to catch. Madison was the last president to call for a national service of Thanksgiving until 1863. The holiday remained popular in New England. In 1846, Sarah Hale, editor of “Godey’s Lady’s Book,” Boston’s “lady” magazine had begun to write essays calling for national celebration of Thanksgiving, even pinning a time of year (the last Thursday of November) even though the original was probably in mid-October. She even began petitioning state and federal governments, slowly gaining support over 17 years until reaching the attention of President Lincoln’s Secretary of State William Seward. Which brings us to the official first thanksgiving as we would call it today, or at least the beginnings of it. President Abraham Lincoln, most likely after being shown the hundreds of letters written by Sarah Hale, made the official first proclamation of a national thanksgiving day. Of course most people where are little too busy and concerned with the civil war to really get into Thanksgiving. From 1863 on,
News Thanksgiving was annually observed. From region to region thanksgiving traditions differed. In New England, congregations would have raffles and the winners would receive a goose or turkey. In New York City, ragamuffin parades were held (which by 1950 was completely replaced with the modern Halloween). During World Wars 1 and 2, rationing made Thanksgiving go vegan with the main dishes sometimes focusing on corn bread or muffins. Thanksgivings without turkey comas mean you would actually have to talk to all those awkward relatives who showed up to eat all your food. 1921 was the 300th anniversary of “the First Thanksgiving.” Massachusetts erected a statue of the Wampanoag leader Massasoit (insert stereotypical Indian here). The inscription commemorates him with “Massasoit, Great Sachem of the Wampanoags, Protector and Preserver of the Pilgrims, 1621,” obviously sticking to the Romanized version of history and ignoring the eventual slaughter and cultural destruction of the Wampanoag people -or that Massasoit’s son Metacomet would risk life, limb, and his family to try to fight the settlers -- or that, depending on which part of the country you are from “The first Thanksgiving” history completely differs. In 1924, a staple of modern day thanksgiving, especially in NYC, was created: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Inspired and spearheaded by many of Macy’s firstgeneration immigrant employees who wished to celebrate America’s Thanksgiving in grand fashion. Some other city-wide parades did exist at the same time, but it was Macy’s partnership with the puppeteer Tony Sarg, who created the first balloons for the parade, that sealed its fate as the Thanksgiving Day parade, with the first large balloon being Felix the Cat. Tony Sarg was also the first man responsible for the elaborate window decorations for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, which Macy’s also continues the tradition of each holiday season. In 1934, the Great Depression was in full swing but that didn’t mean Thanksgiving had to lose its shine. The National Football League hosted the first Thanksgiving Day football game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. The game was broadcasted by NBC Radio through 94 stations nationwide. Except for the years of World War II, this became another Thanksgiving day tradition that many a family of nerds across America have rolled eyes at ever since the television broadcasts
began in 1956. In 1947, President Truman pardoned the first turkey the day before it was meant to be the main course. Every president since has kept this tradition, while each lucky bird gets to spend out the rest of its days at the Herndon Virginia Petting Zoo. In recent years, no new traditions have been added to this hodgepodge of a holiday, but some more interesting events have occurred. In the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, a flag honoring the Wampanoag peoples few over the capitol building. On Thanksgiving Day in 1970, twenty-five American Natives dressed in traditional garb and held a day or mourning for their and the Wampanoag ancestors. First gathering around the statue of Massasoit, they then proceeded to bury Plymouth Rock under a mound of sand. A year after the Wampanoag flag flew over the capital, a descendant of the Plymouth settlers presented it to the current Chief of the Wampanoag in a special Thanksgiving Day Ceremony. Our Pilgrim and American Indian first Thanksgiving is actually not the only contender to the title in the Americas. Other first Thanksgivings include one from spring 1610. After the successful colonization of Jamestown, the settlers held a service of thanksgiving after a supply ship arrived. The harsh winter beforehand saw their numbers drop from 490 to 60 survivors. The ship was a welcome site. In June 30, 1564, French Protestants known as Huguenots celebrated a solemn thanksgiving after settling near Jacksonville, Florida. The settlement was destroyed a year later by Spanish raiders. In May 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led his men in a thanksgiving celebration at the Palo Duro Canyon. The Daughters of the American Colonists commemorated this as the first thanksgiving in 1959. There have been, no doubt, countless celebrations of thanksgiving by various explorers and colonists that all compete for “the first thanksgiving.” (I would give it to Columbus but he never actually set foot on the continent, only the Caribbean islands.) The foods of our thanksgiving -- potatoes, yams, stuffing, cranberry (the real stuff), pumpkins, rolls, and corn -- all symbolize the harvest. In a strange way, Thanksgiving in the new world can also be seen as a child of the ancient harvest holiday of Samhain. You could say Thanksgiving is Halloween’s sister holiday, both equally battling against Christmas during the holiday shopping season.
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News Black Friday Special Opening at 12am Why even worry about eating Thanksgiving Dinner?
S-mart
Shop smart, Shop S-mart
Death and Consumerism Beginning as a term used by Philadelphia police in the 1960s to describe the amount of traffic on the roads the day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday” is now the biggest spending weekend in America, reaching a record $59.1 billion last year. However, in recent years, the term “Black Friday” has taken a darker turn as more and more people resort to desperate, oftentimes, violent methods to get the sale items they want. Therefore, the question must be asked, should we allow the day to continue? by: Eric Cole
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of a Target. Fellow Black Friday shoppers simply stepped over his body while they continued to hunt for bargains. In 2011, a Los Angeles woman pulled out a can of pepper spray and maced her fellow shoppers to gain an advantage in getting a discounted X-box 360. Twenty people were hospitalized and treated for various injuries. In 2008, a Walmart worker in Valley Stream, New York was trampled to death when an insane mob of people broke through the glass doors of the store at 5 a.m., knocked him to the floor, and ran over him in their attempts to get at those deals. When police shut down the store because, you know, someone had been
Of course, the answer to that question is complicated and well out of the control of any number of editors, writers, or journalists who have the misfortune to report the violence of the day. Let’s face it, as long as companies continue to make HUGE profits on Black Friday, the day will continue as it always has. That doesn’t make it any less of a shame though. In fact, it makes it even more of a shame because it sends a clear message that money is more important than people’s well beings. That kind of blatant consumerism makes it hard to believe that we Americans can even exist, especially when these kinds of incidents happen every day after Thanksgiving: •
In 2011, 61-year-old Walter Vance died from a heart condition, collapsing in the middle
Free Concussion & Trampeling for first 20 Customers ! Only available at select locations. While supplies last. Must be a raging fool present at Door Buster event. No more than one concussion per houshold. Trampeling will occur with in minutes of associates opening the store doors. Void where Prohibited. May result in uncomfortable side effects such as death. S-Mart and it’s sunsidiaries is not responsible for any deaths.
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The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
News
S-mart
Shop smart, Shop S-mart
Black Friday Special Opening at 12am Why even worry about eating Thanksgiving Dinner?
AMAZINIG DEALS! If you Survive.
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killed, some shoppers had the nerve to be indignant and try to keep shopping anyway, complaining that they had waited all night. In 2010, several people were injured at a Target in Buffalo, New York when they were shoved to the floor by the mob behind them and trampled as people madly rushed in. In 2012, a man in Long Island was arrested for threatening to set off a bomb at the Home Depot in his desperate attempt to get into the door first and shop at those to-die-for prices. Finally, in 2012, two people were shot at a Walmart in Tallahassee as two people fought over a parking spot at midnight.
In case you couldn’t tell, there was a lot of sarcasm above. It is hard not to have an opinion on this kind of topic, especially when people are dying over a few saved dollars. Can you imagine being that man who was trampled to death? Can you imagine having that conversation with his family, trying to explain to them their loved one would not be around anymore because a bunch of crazed individuals couldn’t wait to get their hands on a Tickle-Me Elmo, or whatever the hot item was back in 2008? Does it all just seem a bit stupid to anyone else? I get it, really, I do. When you are living on a budget those few dollars could mean the difference between a lousy Christmas and a really good one, but is it really worth killing, macing, or shooting people over? The short answer is no, and so, if you are planning to do some Black Friday shopping this holiday season, here are some friendly tips to keep you safe because while the shopping day known as Black Friday might never end, hopefully the violence can.
Tip #1 Do your shopping online! The best way to stay out of harm’s way is to never be there at all. Many companies, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, offer the same deals online as they do in the stores without the hassle of being pushed and prodded in the back. In addition, many online stores, such as Amazon, offer deals well in advance of Black Friday, such as a 50-inch LED TV marked down 40%. That is not a joke. Check it out! Tip #2 Get there early and get the heck out! Many places such as Toys “R” Us, JCPenney, and Macy’s have learned that the best way to attract customers is to get your doors open. That is why, this year, more and more places will be opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day. Heck, K-Mart will be opening their doors at 6 a.m. that Thursday. What does that mean for you? Well, with many people having their turkey and watching their football, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to make a pre-emptive strike against the Black Friday vultures and get in there before they ever knew you were there. Tip #3 JUST WAIT! Really, what is the rush to go out and get the deals? Is it really worth fighting through a mob, risking getting punched or stabbed or worse just to get a two-dollar waffle maker? Seriously, if you can, just wait out the storm in the comfort of your own home. There are always more deals right around the corner. As much as I wish this were not true, Black Friday will always be around. At least, for the foreseeable future. There is too much money at stake for companies to just drop their cash cow because of a couple of deaths. But that is exactly why it should be dropped because those deaths speak to a larger element of the human condition. When $300 big screen TVs are at stake, people will do anything. What a sad world we live in. Black Friday indeed.
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News
The Blame Behind The Selfie
Recently it seems the selfie has been used to define today’s youth. Vain and vapid, it represents the complete self-absorption that anyone under twenty-five is wallowing in -- or at least that’s how it seems if you listen to the mainstream media. Everyone from the Huffington Post to Time Magazine have something to say about the phenomenon and the word has even been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. What seems to be being missed though is that the very media institutions that are bemoaning the practice are the same ones which encouraged it in the beginning. While selfies of course can be, and are, taken by a wide range of people, the main perpetrators seem to be young teenage girls, perhaps mainly those between thirteen and seventeen. This group is perhaps one of those most submersed in popular culture, a subset of society who have always grown up with a TV and computer at their side, who have spent their whole lives walking past airbrushed billboard advertisements, and for whom the figure of a scantily-clad woman advertising another mundane product is entirely expected. I’m part of this group, and though feminist I may be, it’s only recently that I’ve really begun to take notice of how many images of objectified
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women I encounter every day. When girls -- and boys -- are surrounded by such imagery at all times, is it really any surprise that eventually they begin to create their own to accompany it? But however they come about, is the result really so negative? I’d say that’s debatable, but I’m not so sure. Perhaps to some extent
it’s good that girls are confident enough in their appearances to spew their picture out over social media -- and if selfies were a bit more diverse I’d argue this was a valid point in their defence. But the picture we see again and again is that of a conventionally attractive girl, which only emphasises the mainstream media’s influence over the culture. It seems to me that people of color, people who don’t wear makeup and have the “right” clothes, people who aren’t stick thin, don’t post their pictures online as much. If girls do have confidence in how they look it’s only when they conform to a very specific standard.
The Anglerfish | Issue 10 November 2013
There’s also the argument that girls are dressing and behaving more sexually than is appropriate for their age in these photos. While I don’t believe that using cosmetics is necessarily a great evil or that expressing your sexuality is bad at any age, selfies seem to show this being done within confines that have filtered through from pornography to TV, film and advertising, and now onto Facebook and Instagram pages everywhere. Most literally this is shown in the removal of an image posted on the latter by photographer Petra Collins, in which her bikini showed a very small amount of pubic hair — a taboo specific only to women — that apparently violated the terms of service. As Natasha Walter writes in her book Living Dolls, we live in a “claustrophobic culture that teaches many young women that it is only through exploiting their sexual allure that they can become powerful.” The selfie illustrates this perfectly. So who is to blame? While it is individuals who takes the picture, I’d say it’s almost certainly the wider society they live in that causes them to have the impulse to do so in the first place. While people have been interested in their appearance and others’ perceptions of it for most of history, it is only in the modern era that it has been expressed in ways similar to the selfie. What’s changed is that the media has become part of every fiber of our lives, and for better or worse their judgments, prejudices and practices are being passed down to consumers young and old. fje Savelkoul Illustration by Ee
It seems the selfie is the latest piece of youth culture to fall victim to mainstream criticism. But what’s really behind the seemingly harmless images plastered over social networks, and could the media who criticise the phenomenon be the ones to blame? By Lucy Pegg
Art & Literature By Jacquelyn Files
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Art & Literature
Yellow By David Pantoja
By Kat Taylor
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The Anglerfish | Issue10 November 2013
I am four. Bubba picks me up from preschool in her teal car that smells so strongly of laundry detergent and her floral perfume, and we drive to her little yellow brick house. We make a stop at Noah’s Bagels and buy a challah to go with dinner and a chocolate chip bagel for a snack. When we get home, I race inside, wondering what project she has in store for us. Bubba tells me to take off my shoes, and I do, tossing my pink rain boots to the wooden floor. I spy gumdrops and gingerbread sitting on her kitchen table. I run to them, my eyes wide with delight. “Lets make a gingerbread house,” Bubba says. By Kaya Raven When my mom arrives for dinner, I show off our creation and glow with pride as she tells me how beautiful it is. I believe her instantly and say that she can take a gumdrop from the roof. She smiles and pops one in her mouth. Bubba serves us dinner: no meat, because I am a vegetarian. She lights the candles and we sing the Jewish prayers loudly and out of tune. We all laugh, sitting at Bubba’s round table, the gingerbread house displayed in the center. I am six. It’s odd to see the walls of the yellow house without Bubba’s decorations: no black and white picture hanging in the living room, no hat collection in the hall. Bubba has moved to LA for a new job, and my mom and I live in the yellow house now. It’s ours. We replace Bubba’s photograph of Georgia O’Keefe with Matisse’s The Dance. We replace Bubba’s office with my room, her computer with my beloved stuffed panda named Panda. We replace Bubba with a dog. We keep her squashy brown couch, sinking into it on cold nights to watch movies and drink tea by the fire. My mom tells me I cannot paint my walls, so I stick pages from American Girl Magazine everywhere I can reach. I play dress up, looking at myself in the five mirrors that hang in the hallway before I enter the living room, strutting to my mom as she giggles. Each time I enter in a new outfit, she introduces me to the imaginary guests at my fashion
Brick House show. She says I’m a princess, a queen, a supermodel—the beautiful, talented, oneof-a-kind Kaya Raven. I am twelve. I walk home to the yellow house from my middle school and let myself in with my own key. Some kids still get picked up by parents in minivans, but I am old and mature enough to walk by myself. I throw my backpack in my room, stopping to admire my Zac Efron poster before heading to the kitchen. I make mac ‘n’ cheese and leave half sitting in the pot for later. I call my best friend on the phone and walk around the house in circles, talking to her about how stupid pre-algebra is and how excited I am for drama class next semester. My mom brings Chinese food home. I tell her about the boy I have a crush on and how pretty his blue eyes are. We both attempt to whistle at our cat to annoy him, but neither of us makes a sound. We fill the small dining room with laughter as we try to pucker our lips in the right way, hoping to push out a clear note. We can’t whistle, but the cat’s annoyed anyway. I am sixteen. My mom has given me one rule in the yellow house: no boys if she’s not home. I have never broken a rule before. I have never disobeyed her. But Tyler wants to come over to watch a movie. He’s older than me and he talks too much, but he’s tall and funny and always has a big grin on his face. He comes over and we sit on the couch, a safe distance apart. We watch Rent and I try not to laugh when he tears up at the end. As far as breaking the rules go, it feels very tame. He doesn’t try to kiss me or get me to smoke in the kitchen or have sex on my mom’s bed. We just talk and I sing along to all the songs in Rent and then I awkwardly hug him goodbye. I am bad at keeping secrets from my mom and she gets it out of me. She says she’s disappointed, which I recognize as a clichéd line from every teen rom-com, but that doesn’t make it sting less. I sit on the porch, feeling stupid. I rest my head against the window seat and close my eyes. I am seventeen. I am crying hysterically on the couch, alone in the dark. The yellow house is drafty and, even though the heater is on, I am bundled up and still chilly. My hair is in a messy bun on top of my head, my sweatpants have holes in them, and my nail polish is chipping. I am breaking down,
crying because I have not slept for more than four hours at a time in over a week. My homework keeps piling up and I just caught a mistake in a college essay I have already submitted. I am so tired and so stressed and my future seems dismal and ruined. My mom walks in the door and I hear the little bells jingle cheerily. She sees me slumped into the brown couch, defeated and sobbing. She asks what’s wrong, which makes me cry harder. I will never get into college. None of them will want me. I will end up doing some job I hate, staying here forever, never leaving or doing anything good. My friends will move on without me. No one will ever love me. I’m going to fail all my classes and the SAT, and my admissions essays are terrible and I’m not special and I’m going to die. She lets me cry for a little while before dragging me from the couch to my room, past The Dance, past the mirrors that show me how much of a disaster I am. I tell her I have more homework to finish and another essay to write, but she ignores me. She pushes me onto my mattress, grabbing Panda from my bookshelf and shoving him into my arms. She kisses my forehead and tells me that if I don’t go to bed, I’ll be grounded. I laugh and begin to drift off to sleep. I am eighteen. My room is far from empty, but all my clothes and most important knick-knacks are packed away in my shiny red suitcases. I hug Panda with one arm and cling to my bed with the other. I did not expect leaving to feel like this. I did not expect it to hit me all at once. The yellow house is old. The paint is chipping in the bathroom, the windows rattle, the landlord painted the bricks out front yellow. The yellow is obnoxious and the house number is hidden by the jungle of plants in our front lawn. The fence is falling down in places, the lemon tree is dying, the grass is already dead. I know that the new house will be nicer. I know that when I come home for winter break and find my mom settled in the new house with her fiancé, I will be happy. But right now, I feel as if someone is squashing my childhood like a grape. It is not the important moments—the birthdays, Thanksgivings, Hanukkahs with stockings hanging above the fireplace— that flash through my mind as I lay face down on my bed. I am not clinging to the
Art & Literature
events I have been told would be significant: I want the little moments back. I want to go on living, mundane and boring, in my cozy yellow house with the familiarity and safeness I have built. I would rather live in the beautiful house on the hill where my mom will simultaneously have the best view and save money she can then spend on me. I would rather live in a cramped dorm room in New York City, every adventure awaiting me outside my door. I just want the yellow house to be there, exactly where it is, so that I can come home.
On The Road How I long for Doubtful beauty The excerpt from a story written without contempt and beauty lays beyond I want to raise up Take my pen and elevate Fill an empty mind with all that I stored inside I must leave these thoughts and restore reality And U will always come first
By Kenza Samlali
Submit your art or writing to us at theanglerfishmagazine@gmail.com! It doesn’t have to be Nerdfighter related, share what you want to share. Have you submitted something and it’s not in The Anglerfish? Don’t worry, we’re probably just saving it for a future issue.
Issue 10 November 2013 | The Anglerfish
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