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Student Activities is proud to present John Mark McMillan with Kings Kaleidoscope and Citizens & Saints in concert. Join us in the Vines Center on Saturday, February 13 starting at 8 p.m. for an incredible night of music. Tickets are on sale now: student tickets are just $10 in advance, public tickets are $15 in advance, and floor seats are $18, with all prices going up at the door. All ticketing and other information can be found on our website.

John Mark McMillan has been a frequent guest of ours in the past five years, going from opening act with David Crowder in 2011, to the LaHaye Event Space in 2014, and now a headlining concert in the Vines Center on Saturday. He remains true to his original sound, a Bruce Springsteen by way of Ryan Adams, rootsy, American rock and roll, yet continues to show his progress and maturity as an artist on his latest album Borderlands. Commenting* on the album’s concept, John Mark said that it basically has to do with living in two places, existing as he says in the title track between “holding on to love” and “the law of the jungle.” It is a nod to the theological concept of already/not yet, with the album’s emphasis leaning towards the “already” side. Tracks such as Love at the End, Monster’s Talk, and Visceral address the hard truths of the here-and-now: that “life is hard, brutal”**, relationships are messy, and that we need help to make it through. However, John Mark wants to keep the “not yet” of our existence in permanent and prominent perspective. We may or may not owe a debt to “the repo man”, but the same cannot be said for our debt to “the reaper” (Love at the End). As he says in the track Monster’s Talk, “we are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.” But musically and conceptually, Borderlands is anchored by the beautiful track Future/Past, which is ultimately an elaboration of Philippians 1:6. John Mark McMillan confidently expresses the truth that our hope and our help, before us, now and forever, is in Christ’s hands, while still honestly addressing the role and consequences of our weakness.

We are particularly excited to see how Kings Kaleidoscope translates from studio album to live concert. This is a rare group, and not just for groups that are considered Christian. Their biography draws a comparison, at least in energy, between them and The Mars Volta. Anyone familiar with The Mars Volta knows what high praise that is, and likely raises a skeptical eyebrow. But one listen through their EP’s, particularly songs like Confession and What Have We Done on the Sin EP, and you can hear the expert musicianship and experimentation that characterizes the best names in alternative rock, maybe even more comparable to the best names in art and progressive rock. You can easily hear fellow Seattleites Minus the Bear all through their sound (Felix Culpa, Joy Has Dawned, and Seek Your Kingdom, to name a few), and tracks such as I Know on their latest album Becoming Who We Are call Bloc Party to mind. Lead singer Chad Garner is exceptional, part Bear Rinehart from Needtobreathe, part Corey Glover from Living Colour, with drama and power that at times even gets into Jeff Buckley territory. Their songs are skillfully and carefully crafted, but capable of grandeur and beauty (listen to Defender), equally true of their re-creations of established worship songs and their original music. Though they certainly can be called a “worship band”, it would be better to say of Kings Kaleidoscope that they are rare and gifted artists in a band that happens to make worship songs. We cannot recommend them highly enough.

Rounding out the night will be Citizens & Saints, bringing even more of Seattle’s influence to our neck of the woods. It is probably no coincidence, then, that you can say many of the same things about Citizens & Saints that you can say about Kings Kaleidoscope, though perhaps not to the same instrumental degree. Theirs is a more electronic and synth-infused sound, upbeat and full of energy, much more along the lines of Passion Pit, MGMT, and Foster the People.

It is going to be yet another amazing night of music, so don’t miss it. Be sure to get your tickets while they’re still available, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and our other social media outlets to keep up with everything else we have coming up.

*Commentary track for Holy Ghost on The Borderland Sessions

**Commentary track for Monster’s Talk on The Borderland Sessions

I think it’s pretty safe to say we here at Student Activities value good entertainment – from music to movies to art – we live and breathe it. Our events focus closely on the culture we live in, but we rarely get a chance to talk about the various books that we’re currently reading or have impacted our department (yes, people still read books and you should too!). So we asked our staff for some titles and came up with a short list we hope you’ll check out sometime this year. Whether they are current or classic, we think you’ll find all of them interesting:

1. Desiring the Kingdom by James K. A. Smith
2. Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman
3. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
4. Culture Making by Andy Crouch
5. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
6. Scary Close by Donald Miller
7. More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger
8. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
9. The Power of Broke by Daymond John
10. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Have you read any of these before? Let us know what you think. And we’d love some suggestions, too.

Student Activities is proud to present The Vespers in concert, featuring Joel Kaiser with Native Spirit, on Saturday, February 6 in the LaHaye Event Space starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance for Liberty students, $15 for general public ($18 for everyone at the door), and are on sale now at the ticket link above.

Sisters Phoebe and Callie Cryar were The Vespers prior to meeting brothers Taylor and Bruno Jones in Nashville, Tennessee in 2008, but it wasn’t until the brothers and sisters joined in 2009 that the group became the band-on-the-rise they are today. The Cryar sisters have the musical pedigree and experience, as they are the daughters of 80’s & 90’s CCM star Morgan Cryar, and had the privilege of working on various professional music projects even as young girls. Their experience in the music industry certainly contributed to their polish and professionalism, but there is no denying their talent, both as vocalists and instrumentalists. The collaboration between siblings produced three albums. The first two, Tell Your Mama (2010) and The Fourth Wall (2012), are squarely in the indie folk/Americana vein. Both have lighter, pop moments, such as the songs Not So Nice and Flower Flower. However, for the most part those albums are more delicate, folk-influenced songs, led more by the subtle vocals of Phoebe Cryar, whose voice is reminiscent of Sixpence None the Richer’s Leigh Nash or even Alison Krauss. Callie Cryar, described by Phoebe as “a vocal powerhouse”, certainly makes her presence felt on those albums, but it isn’t until their most recent effort, Sisters and Brothers, that her vocals take center stage. And yet, despite Callie’s power, the dynamic relationship between the sisters’ vocals remains strong throughout, their respective ranges providing a perfect balance to one another. Their contrasting yet complementary styles are also what allow The Vespers to tackle a wider range of musical styles on Sisters and Brothers. The album’s first track, Break the Cycle, is appropriately titled, as the introductory drums alone represent a stylistic departure from their previous works. Where their first two albums fit more comfortably in the Americana box, drawing direct comparisons to groups like The Civil Wars or The Head and the Heart, Sisters and Brothers maintains that original sound while drifting towards pop country (think Little Big Town) and even R&B on tracks like You Leave Me. Still, with all the variety, the album closes with the track Thirst No More, what can only be described as a worship chorus, revealing that they remain grounded in both the sound and faith that got them where they are today.

Be sure to check out all of The Vesper’s albums, as well as the music of Joel Kaiser and Native Spirit, in advance of the show, and keep up with us on Twitter and on our website here for information on all of the great concert events Student Activities has for you this spring.

Being from upstate New York, I am very accustomed to winters with lots of heavy snow. Snow is the reason why I love winter so much, every flake falling and gently resting on top of the last. The beauty of it all is quite breathtaking (well, maybe that’s just the cold). I don’t know if you guys realized this, but Lynchburg doesn’t do the best job of clearing off their roads when a big storm hits. Granted, they can’t really do a great job of clearing off the roads, considering the fact that my hometown that has 2.88 square miles of land area and more snow plows than Lynchburg does (Lynchburg boasts 49.4 square miles of land area). Now you might be thinking, “Oh, great. Another snow snob from the North that thinks they are a professional at all things snow,” and you would be right for thinking that, but that’s not the point of this post. The point is that I love the fact that Lynchburg is pretty awful at plowing the roads, because that means a lot more snow days.

Snow days are great, but what makes them so great (aside from not having to go to class) is the community that comes along with being trapped in your dorm or house for a couple of days. Whether it is building a fort out of sheets, blankets and pillows, which is usually accompanied with binge watching Netflix, or tackling some of your closest friends in the giant piles of snow, snow days seem to bring out the most creative ideas people have just to be able to spend time together and have a blast with friends. It seems like college kids will literally use anything they can get their hands on that could be used as a sled. Exploring new and old places with a foot of snow on top of everything makes you look at things differently, almost with an apocalypse feeling.

Though it might not seem like it at first, there are so many things that you can do on a snow day if you think about it. The most important part about being snowed in is that your friends are with you the whole time. It is so easy to take spending time with your friends for granted, but it is arguable that the relationships that you build in college are just as important as the things that you are learning in the classroom. Are you going to remember the grade that you got in Old Testament or are you going to remember the time you and your friends went drifting through the abandoned streets of Lynchburg? I’m not saying that a snow day is the only time that you should take time to hang out with friends, but it is a great excuse to just forget about your responsibilities for a day and get some quality time with your crew. So take advantage of the free day you have and get involved in a massive snowball fight, or stay up all night watching movies or playing different games, because unfortunately, the number of opportunities you will have to forget all of your responsibilities tend to shrink as you become older.

Student Activities could hardly be more excited than we are for our next Movie Night Marathon, as we present the original three Indiana Jones movies in the LaHaye Event Space on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, January 28-30. All showings will start at 8 p.m. and will be shown as follows:

• Thursday, Jan. 28 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Friday, Jan. 29 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Saturday, Jan. 30 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

A recent podcast from the great folks at Christ & Pop Culture lamented the fact that there are a great deal of action movies available today, but not nearly as many adventures. Since action and adventure tend to get lumped together, this distinction is important. And lament is not too strong a term to use either. The current state of the movie industry allows for a James Bond or a Star Wars to show up here and there, but sadly, for every one of those, there seems to be three of The Expendables or The Transporter or The (Insert Superhero Name Here) movies. There is a remembrance of and longing for stories that involve great and perilous journeys through exotic locations, places that are felt and experienced, not just driven through, bullet-riddled, or blown to bits. We want the endearing nature and warmth of stories with action that results from the adventure, as opposed to stories that exist for the sake of action itself. Almost no movie or series of movies in the past 50 years define this like Indiana Jones.

Each of the Indiana Jones movies can stand alone. Even Temple of Doom, probably the least of the first three movies, was described by Roger Ebert as “not so much a sequel as an equal” to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the greatest of the three. Steven Speilberg managed to make each movie unique, an amazing accomplishment since two of them are primarily about beating up the Nazis. His lead-role choice of Harrison Ford, who was only a rising star at the time by no means a shoo-in for the part, is one of the great “what could have been” moments of movie history: we could very easily be talking about Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones today*. Thankfully, this never happened, and Harrison Ford gets to be one of the luckiest actors ever, one who is both Indiana Jones and Han Solo. This certainly benefited his portrayal of Dr. Jones, as one critic described that character as “part Sherlock Holmes (smart), part James Bond (suave), part Man With No Name (tough), and part Han Solo (lovable rogue)”. No one plays the lovable rogue better than Harrison Ford.

On one hand, Indiana Jones is an earthy, very real set of movies. All of the chases are on horseback, trucks, tanks, mine cars, or whatever other vehicle happens to be around. Indy travels through jungles and deserts, he gets dirty and covered in spider webs, and he gets punched a lot. Heck, he spends a good bit of his time just running away from people or things that are trying to kill him. Yet, all three movies have religious and supernatural elements as major plot points, incorporated so effortlessly, the movies would never work without them. (What else besides the power of God will defeat/melt the Nazis?) Despite his sarcastic and oftentimes sardonic demeanor, Doctor Jones, archaeologist, seems to assume the power of the Ark and the Holy Grail in Raiders and Last Crusade and the magic of the stones in Temple of Doom. Rogue or not, he is still a hero, and the hero has to keep such power from falling into the wrong hands, no matter how much danger it involves. The sci-fi/fantasy and action/adventure elements of Indiana Jones combine everything we love about movies. They are as exciting, goofy, and repeatedly watchable a series of movies that have ever been made and we hope you will join us in viewing them next week.

*See Jamie Benning’s awesome “filmumentary” about Raiders – Tom Selleck screen test footage starts at 16:16.

Student Activities presents another outstanding Movie Night, featuring The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, on Saturday, January 23 in the LaHaye Event Space. There will be two showings, the first at 8:30 p.m. and the second at approx. 10:30 p.m.

As movies based on a popular book series go, you can’t ask for much more than The Hunger Games franchise. On the scale from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 to the three Radagast stains that are The Hobbit movies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 & 2 are certainly on the higher, Harry Potter side. Turning one book into two (or three) movies is definitely a “cash grab”, as at least one prominent reviewer has called it. But this is not surprising (it is a Hollywood blockbuster franchise, after all), and it is not necessarily a bad thing. That same reviewer reminds us that between the first Hunger Games movie and Mockingjay Part 2, Jennifer Lawrence went from up-and-coming star to Academy Award winner and major star. Her performance as Katniss Everdeen is nearly unanimously regarded as the defining aspect of the franchise, so from that perspective, perhaps more is better. As another critic argued, Jennifer Lawrence gave “way more” to The Hunger Games than it gave back to her.

Simply put, it’s sad when a story ends, and the quality performances from Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and rest of the supporting cast, as well as the final on-screen moments of Philip Seymour Hoffman, punctuate this. But this series needed dynamic performances, especially in the concluding chapter, to take on such difficult themes as celebrity and excess, the effects of war and poverty on a people, oppression, and racism. The various conflicts, whether external, internal, or interpersonal, are represented well in the action and on the faces of the actors. And though the series is one of post-apocalyptic action that features a good amount of violence, reviewer Jessica Gibson raises an excellent point concerning this: The violence is never glorified, and is never shown “as anything other than awful and destructive.” No one would argue that Mockingjay Part 2 was a perfect ending to the series, but it is certainly a good one. As for the lasting impact and legacy of The Hunger Games, that remains to be seen. But there is no denying it has been one of the top movie franchises of the past 15 years, so the series as a whole deserves our attention, with Mockingjay Part 2 holding particular importance as the conclusion of the story.

As usual, our Movie Night is free to attend, with free popcorn, and other concessions are available for purchase. Please contact email us with any questions or concerns, and be sure to check out our website for more information about our upcoming Movie Nights and other events.

Band Facts

• Formed in Dayton, OH in 2005
• Named for the novel by Lauren Weisberger
• Current members – Mike Hranica, Jeremy Depoyster, Andy Trick, Daniel Williams
• 5 full-length albums, 1 live album, and 2 EP’s

The Devil Wears Prada has changed a bit since their founding in 2005. From those early days, they have risen to become one of the top names in metalcore, Christian or otherwise, and have toured with almost all of the top names in the genre. Internally, the most significant change came this past year when one of the founding members, guitarist Chris Rubey, left the band to pursue other interests. In terms of the band’s sound, you can hear their maturation in albums 8:18 and their latest release, The Space EP, compared to their first two or three albums. At their core, however, they remain true to themselves and their roots, maintaining their faith and their style. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to hear a band so heavy with songs titled Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over, This Song Is Called, and Danger: Wildman, such as they had on their earlier albums. But this silliness and light, revealed for example on their Zombie EP release, is as much at the heart of the band as the seriousness and introspection of the album 8:18, which is taken from Romans 8:18 and focuses on various manifestations of suffering and misery in the lives of believers. For Student Activities, The Devil Wears Prada has been one of the most requested bands in their genre for several years now, and we are happy to present them in concert for the students of Liberty University.

Sources

• The Devil Wears Prada Biography
• Metal Outfit The Devil Wears Prada on the Bible Verse That Inspired ‘8:18’ Album
• Interview: The Devil Wears Prada vocalist Mike Hranica on his new book, One & A Half Hearts
• BCPOD 39 Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada
• Tom’s Spotlight Band: The Devil Wears Prada

I feel confident speaking for the staff members of Student Activities when I say that it is a great honor to be responsible for two of the best and longest-running traditions here at Liberty: Block Party and Coffeehouse. However, as fun and exciting as Block Party is, there is nothing quite like Coffeehouse for us. The collective effort that goes into each production seems to grow each time as we push just a little harder to improve on the previous show.

But those three words, “the previous show”, represent a history of Coffeehouse that stretches back into the early 1990’s, a continuous chain of productions that, from the very first event, started with the same hands-on, student-led approach that still makes the show what it is today. So if you’ve ever wondered what started it, here’s a short history of how Coffeehouse came to be.

“We had about $100 for those early shows…We had to be extremely creative with our finances.”

Brian Lewis eventually became an Assistant Director in charge of Student Activities, but when he first arrived at Liberty in 1993, he was basically a volunteer, helping out in the planning of Student Activities events. As the university grew, the demand for more events grew with it, and at the time, some of that burden fell on Student Government. Bryan had close connection with then-SGA President Matt McMurray, and together, along with a small group of students, decided it was time for a student talent show, which they decided to call Coffee House. “I honestly don’t remember why exactly we called it Coffee House,” said Bryan, noting that it may have had something to do with the popularity at the time of The Drowsy Poet, the now-vacant coffee shop in the Candler’s Shopping Center. The first shows that fall were in the multi-purpose room of David’s Place, the old student center that now lies somewhere under the baseball stadium. The first show budget: $0. Ticket price: $2. There were about 150 people in the building, a packed house for the size of that particular room, which Bryan says made them realize “we should have done the show twice (each night).” They also realized that there was going to be a “next show”, which made it clear that they were going to need a bigger space, prompting a move the following spring (1994) to the Reber-Thomas Dining Hall.

For the content of the show, there was a panel of several people, including Bryan, who sat in on all auditions for the performances. “We never hurt for talent,” Bryan said, seeing somewhere close to 40 tryouts, even at the David’s Place event. They utilized what is now CSER workers to help put on the show, as well as the few available staff members of Student Activities. “It was a full-fledged, volunteer basis, student-led, no money, good-luck project.” Well, there was some money, but it only came from ticket sales from the previous show. Bryan said, “…When it was time for the next Coffeehouse, we would get a couple hundred dollars for the next show. We had to be extremely creative with our finances.”

The Dining Hall Coffee House sold out too, with attendance somewhere around 800 for a couple shows (Ticket price: still $2). By the 95-96 school year, that good-luck project became 3 shows per semester, 2 performances of each show each night, in the old Schilling Center (the remnants of which are somewhere under the Library) with a total attendance reaching into the thousands. This was significant since the total population of the school was not much over 5,000. The show got a host, Steve Kyle, and various themes, including Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Country Music, the 1970’s, 1980’s, and an All-Star Coffeehouse which brought back the best and most popular talent from the shows throughout the year. Mike Stewart, Dean of Student Life at the time, said, “It was never intended to be something that happened 3 or 4 times a semester, but it got to be the biggest thing, besides concerts, that we did all year long.”

“Every show, I felt like I would throw up before it started.”

The Coffeehouse host has always been an unenviable position. Student expectations on the host have always been somewhere between Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman, a funnyman facilitator who also is never allowed to make a mistake. Matt Gallagher, host from 1997-99, said, “Every show, I felt like I would throw up before it started.” And who wouldn’t? Stepping out on stage, staring at thousands of your peers, a significant number of which were ready to pounce on any mistake or not-so-good joke, should make anyone nervous. No, Coffeehouse has never had the perfect host. It did, however, have a string of outstanding students who moved the show along, told some good jokes (and perhaps a few not-so-good jokes), and contributed to the overall excellence of a show with a now 23 year history. “A lot of credit goes to Steve (Kyle) for making the show more successful,” said Bryan Lewis. “Steve always hosted the Liberty Olympics and Block Party, so he was a natural fit to take on Coffeehouse hosting duties.” Mike Stewart said that they “had to script everything, and I had to approve everything…(The hosts) would always deviate from the script.” But, both Mike and Bryan said that in those early years, they never had a major controversy. (At least not with the host – Mike said, “We had people line dancing on stage [during Country Coffee House], which, looking back, was probably pretty controversial at the time.”) But, Mike added that the effort to improve the show was always something the host had a hand in as far as content was concerned: “It was always a challenge – we always asked ‘How can we top that [last] one?”

Two hosts carried Coffeehouse smoothly through the late 1990’s and early 2000’s: Matt Gallagher and Nic Carver. For most students attending Liberty between 1997 and 2003, the Coffeehouse they saw almost certainly featured one of those two. For Matt, hosting duties were assumed reluctantly, and initially with only a 33% chance of getting it at all. In the fall of 1997, Matt was one of three people who were given a chance during an actual Coffeehouse to audition as host. The three were then put to audience vote to officially become the next host. He went third out of the three. “I told some corny jokes, corny but clean,” he said, and after the audience voted, was selected as host. “If I had gone first, I probably would have primed the pump for one of those other guys,” he told us. But he didn’t, and he went on to host Coffeehouse for the next three school years. David “Moose” Pierce, who worked with Student Life at the time (1997-99) and contributed to the show alongside Matt said, “I cannot brag enough about Matt. I had a ton of fun writing with him because he was so willing to collaborate and work with everyone’s ideas.”

Nic Carver had a somewhat easier path to Coffeehouse host, as he was already hosting well-attended karaoke nights in David’s Place in the 2000-01 school year, and so was an easy choice to bump up to the bigger show. As for his role, Nic said he “tried to stay off the stage as much as possible” because too much stage time could easily become tedious. “The host is basically the ambassador for the audience. I wanted to do everything I could to keep myself on the audience’s side during the show.” However, Nic was (and still is) an accomplished musician, and so he was able to bring his musical talent to Coffeehouse at times, including opening a show with a song of his own that led into all of the acts on stage singing “We Are the World.” Both Matt and Nic talked about the increased prevalence and quality of technology by the late 1990’s/early 2000’s as doing the most to affect the show; by then, it was much easier to shoot and edit videos, so video content became a more prominent, and we would now say essential, part of Coffeehouse. Both of them had a significant role in transitioning Coffeehouse into the show as it appears today.

“After the show, I always realized it was worth it.”

Cosmetically, Coffeehouse has changed quite a bit from the first show in 1993. We’re in the Vines Center now, with a significantly bigger budget, allowing bigger sound, bigger lights, and more decorations. The crowds are bigger too, with over 7,900 students in attendance last Christmas alone, greater than the entire school population in the early to mid-90’s. But even with more money and bigger space, Coffeehouse is still that same student-led, all-hands-on-deck show that started 23 years ago. Bryan Lewis’ quote ties the first show to the last show: “We never hurt for talent.” Easily the most repeated statement we hear at every Coffeehouse, whether it’s by word of mouth or on Twitter, is essentially, “This student body is so incredibly talented!” The volunteers and Christian Service workers, the Student Activities staff members, the full-time leadership, the hosts, and every single act and performer, all of them have contributed from the very beginning to make this a lasting tradition that is truly by the students, for the students. And no matter the challenges Student Activities has faced, regardless of the reception of the show afterward, and despite all the long hours and sore feet, we have always been proud to be part of such an amazing tradition. The day after the show, we can always say proudly, “It was worth it.”

Student Activities is practically bursting with Christmas spirit, which is why we’re bringing you not one but two showings of Elf on Friday, December 4 in the LaHaye Event Space. Show times will be as follows:

• First showing – 8:00 p.m.
• Second showing – 10:00 p.m.

At this point, you can basically trace the all-time great Christmas movies by decade: Miracle on 34th Street and It’s A Wonderful Life in the 40’s, White Christmas in the 50’s, Charlie Brown, The Grinch, and Rudolph in the 60’s, A Christmas Story in the very early 80’s, Christmas Vacation and Home Alone in the late 80’s and early 90’s. But very few Christmas movies since Home Alone are beloved and/or display the magic of the holidays enough to be added to this list. Except, that is, for Elf.

Elf could have been much different. Elf could have starred Jim Carrey instead of Will Ferrell. Consider for a moment how your childhood could have been affected if this had been true. Thankfully, we live in a world where Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf is arguably his most popular character, and one who represents the childlike wonder and joy that everyone hopes for at Christmas. This is certainly one of the reasons Elf became so popular. However, the supporting cast of the movie is outstanding as well, and provides all the balance to Buddy that makes it so appealing. Think of the dour look and feel of James Caan (Walter), Bob Newhart (Papa Elf), and even Zooey Deschanel (Jovie). Each provides a realistic, or pessimistic, proportion to the unbridled optimism and fantasy of Buddy. And while much of the humor of Elf is the result of Buddy as a “fish-out-of-water”, the sight gags and slapstick nature of the movie makes it endearing and forever-fun, while still touching on some deeper, more difficult issues. The pressures of work and family tensions, particularly between father and son, are obvious story features and allow for the excellent supporting performances from James Caan and Mary Steenburgen (Emily).

Elf is a feel-good holiday classic because it has everything you love about Christmas. You love it because it’s silly. It has a Claymation narwhal, Buddy says “cotton-headed ninny muggins”, and he burps for 12 seconds. It is familiar, paying homage to several other Christmas classics, using the original elf uniforms featured in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and casting Peter Billingsley (aka, Ralphie) as the elf Ming Ming. It has Peter Dinklage. In the end, however, Elf is a feel-good holiday classic because it is about maintaining the belief, wonder, and joy of Christmas.

Over the past year, I have traveled more than I ever did before. I love to go to new places, especially with or to go see people that I love. Yet, I have realized that traveling can be very, very stressful, especially around the holidays.

Mainly, I’m stressed when things don’t go my way. This goes into a deeper problem that I have, which is called “impatience”, but when traveling it seems to flare up the most. When my flights are canceled and my trains are delayed and my bus number is confusing, I get really annoyed and always say to myself, “I will never take (this mode of transportation) ever again.”

Yet, this all changes for me when I turn to music.

Music, for me, is a lifeline. That may sound hyperbolic to you, and if it does, I understand. Music does not always touch souls in the way it has mine, but through the years, it has been something I can rely on. When everything around me is changing all the time, I can play a song and realize that it never changed and it never will. Its meaning for me may have changed over time, but the song itself is constant.

Because of its constant presence in my life, in stressful situations, music reminds me to take a breather. When flying to see my best friend and my flight is delayed, it is much more difficult to stress when Daughter’s soothing voice is in my ears. I can turn to The Head and the Heart and remember that it’s all going to be okay. And in every situation always, I can hear Ben Howard and remember that life is so, so good.

This is a reason I love working for Student Activities as an Event Supervisor – music and the entertainment world is something that we strive to be not only not only familiar with, but also immersed in. We do not choose to shy away from culture, especially in the music realm; instead, we pursue it and become a part of it so that we can appreciate it for what it is and stand for change where it needs to happen. Student Activities as a department encourages me to continue growing in my knowledge and passion for music, and this is not something that I take for granted.

Therefore, as the season of traveling and conundrum in general is upon us, remember that in the midst of all the Black Friday shoppers and holiday stress, there are things that we do have control over. The music that we choose to take with us wherever we go is one thing that we can control, and if we allow it to, it can enhance whatever we’re doing, wherever we are at.