Sarah Black dedicates her University Singers performances to her sister
It was a Sunday.
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It was a Sunday.
Starting at a young age, Paul Luft, whose stage name is Paul Rosewood, was no stranger to putting on performances with his siblings.
When Muncie Central High School senior Matt Lloyd was 12 years old, he considered himself the “weird kid” who would rather sit in his room listening to the radio instead of watching television.
For 10 minutes, members of the Ball State Speech Team had everyone’s attention and the stage to themselves as they performed their speeches.
by Avery Drane The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board. In the recent years we’ve seen an emergence of remakes and spin offs in films and television which begs the startling question: Is Hollywood running out of ideas? Disney has become notorious for their live-action remakes of several classics, which, to their credit, are sometimes amazing but just as often fall short. Disney’s repertoire of live-action remakes includes Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, The Jungle Book, and, most recently, Dumbo. These films always prove to be a success in the box office and they play on the nostalgic feeling in all of us at the opportunity to see some of our most cherished and loved childhood movies recreated on the big screen. Some may argue, however, that these recreations take away or diminish the effect of the original animated versions. This is when the questions of why begin to roll around in the heads of viewers. Why recreate such iconic films and risk damaging their overall meaning for any reason other than the paycheck? Another example of Disney’s lack of originality is the continuation of the Toy Story series into a fourth film. The ending to the third Toy Story film has quite often been praised for its emotional and moving wrap up to such a loved series and a fourth film could taint what most people thought of as a goodbye.
by Ian Roesler The world’s greatest holiday is happening on April 11. It’s not Christmas. It’s not Thanksgiving. It’s International Louie Louie Day! A day celebrating one of the most influential and covered songs in history and of special note, “Louie, Louie” has an odd connection with Indiana. However, we’ve got some history to start with first.
Frog Baby Film Festival 2019 was another excellent showing of a variety of expertly crafted student films. These films show a number of varied perspectives, many of them taking risks on the ways we tell stories. From dramas about just trying to get home, to comedies about purgatory, to even experimental films that feel like Twilight Zone episodes, this festival had it all. Although some films were stronger than others, all of these films were deserving of the honor to be shown at Frog Baby this year. This year truly highlights the creativity of Ball State students in crafting narratives that have never been seen before. - Tanner Kinney
by Tanner Kinney, Jack Gillespie, and Trevor Sheffield Frog Baby Film Festival 2019 was another excellent showing of a variety of expertly crafted student films. These films show a number of varied perspectives, many of them taking risks on the ways we tell stories. From dramas about just trying to get home, to comedies about purgatory, to even experimental films that feel like Twilight Zone episodes, this festival had it all. Although some films were stronger than others, all of these films were deserving of the honor to be shown at Frog Baby this year. This year truly highlights the creativity of Ball State students in crafting narratives that have never been seen before.
by Baylie Clevenger Here at Ball State, there are many events available for students to enjoy and participate in, but for aspiring filmmakers Frog Baby Film Festival is one of the most anticipated events of the semester. The Frog Baby Film Festival, which will beheld tonight at 8 p.m. in Pruis Hall, is free to enter and features films made by Ball State students. The organization of the festival is led by a committee who decide what films to screen, create promotional material, and organize the actual event. To get some further insight into the event we spoke Jordan Shoemaker, one of Frog Baby's committee heads.
For a year and a half, senior playwright Emma Rund has been writing and rewriting what she called her masterpiece, “Rosemary and Time.”
by Anthony Herring The wacky, time-traveling antics of ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’–which happens to be the lightest aspect of the CW’s ‘Arrowverse’–returns Monday, April first. So, now would be a very good time to do a recap of the first half of the show’s fourth season. Let’s go, Legends! The season began with the Legends–Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, Zari Tomaz, Mick Rory and Wally West–vacationing in Aruba, having just defeated the powerful demon Mallus (the main antagonist of the previous season). However, their vacation was interrupted by John Constantine, who revealed that by stopping Mallus, the Legends accidentally opened a doorway that allowed other supernatural forces to wreak havoc on the timeline. With this new information, the Legends, with the help of Constantine and the Time Bureau, form an organization dedicated to keeping the timeline intact and proceed to hunt down these supernatural fugitives. As the first half of the season progressed, the Legends managed to capture and stop several of these fugitives. The fugitives themselves were quite unique, as they included the likes of a murderous unicorn, an evil fairy godmother and a crazy, talking puppet. However, one of these fugitives, a shape-shifter named Charlie, soon joins the Legends after taking the form of Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, a former member of the team. After Charlie becomes a member, more about Constantine’s past is revealed; before the events of this season, he was involved in a romantic encounter with a barkeep named Desmond. Constantine fell in love with Desmond, and actually began a relationship with him. However, tragedy struck when a demon named Neron–who was hunting Constantine–came after the two. Desmond formed a bond with Neron in order to save Constantine, and Constantine was forced to send both of them to Hell in order to prevent Neron from causing destruction on Earth. This broke Constantine so much that he, along with Charlie, went back to the point where Constantine and Desmond had first met. Constantine’s goal in doing this was to save Desmond from his inevitable fate. Constantine successfully drives off Desmond, but this drastically alters the timeline. He tries multiple other methods to drive off Desmond without drastic effects, but each alteration results in more bizarre circumstances, such as the Legends becoming known at one point as the Custodians of Chronology–a more trigger-happy version of themselves. Constantine realizes that he and Desmond falling in love is a fixed point in the timeline, so he decides to let events transpire the way they are supposed to. https://youtu.be/7fz85uUGMWA The first half of the season ends with Hank Heywood, Nate’s father and man in charge of funding for the Time Bureau, playing a game of golf. The surprising thing about this is that Hank is playing golf with Desmond (who is still possessed by Neron, and has somehow found his way back to Earth). As a whole, the first half of this season was a crazy one. We were introduced to several new characters, such as Hank and Desmond, whose roles here offered new dynamics to the show as a whole. Not only that, but the revelation that Desmond has managed to find his way back to Earth created an interesting cliffhanger; how did Desmond return? What will happen when the Legends and Constantine find out about this? I guess there’s only one way to find out: waiting until April first, when DC’s Legends of Tomorrow returns on the CW!
by Baylie Clevenger We’ve all seen the Instagram egg. After surpassing Kylie Jenner for the most likes on an Instagram post, it seemed like a scheme for likes and attention on the internet – and maybe it was – but soon the account changed their tune. The account began gradually posting pictures of the same egg, but with cracks in it. In every post, the egg had more and more cracks. Finally, the egg account made a post with the egg completely cracked and the egg – yes, the egg itself – addressed its vast Instagram audience. The egg noted how it had recently started to crack and said it happened under the pressure of social media. The post also featured a message from the egg saying that anyone who is feeling the same kind of pressure should talk to someone, followed by a, “We got this.”
The concept of saving energy and using more eco-friendly resources has been around for years — businesses like the Indianapolis International Airport have even made the switch entirely to solar panels.
Editor's Note: This story is part of The Partnership Project, a series of content written in an effort by The Daily News to follow the formal collaboration of Ball State University and Muncie Community Schools.
Featuring 20-foot screens, lights that can be seen almost a mile away and lasers that require federal waivers, Muncie has never witnessed a concert scene like this before.
by Blake Chapman The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of Byte and Byte's editorial board. It seems Hollywood has really done a number in recent years on the image of sequels and continuations of long established series. The stink of greed and unoriginality have began to really overstay their welcome in the eye of the general public. With Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Aladdin, Dumbo, The Twilight Zone and possibly more revivals on the horizon releasing in 2019, it could be inferred that that section of the entertainment industry is drying up when it comes to “original ideas.” This outlook has not reached the same capacity when it comes to the video game industry. Fans of long dead franchises are kept salivating for another official main series title, often to no avail. For enthusiasts of Gearbox Software’s action role-playing game series Borderlands, it seems a conclusive third installment is just around the corner. Borderlands 3 is not the only sequel that should come out of limbo. Here's a list of famous franchises still waiting for a much desired sequel.
by Sam Smith The media is constantly being pushed to be more diverse and inclusive of all groups, but it seems deaf people are often overlooked. When they are included, it is important that they are portrayed accurately because it not only educates people that do not know about deaf people, but it also gives young deaf people characters they can relate to and look up to. The National Association of the Deaf said, “Media representations lack authenticity and present a distorted view of the deaf and hard of hearing community, and this misrepresentation deprives the public of an accurate understanding of a community that is rich in culture and language.” While representation for deaf people in the media could be much better, there are several deaf people who have been representing the community very well.
by Emily Reuben The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board. True crime is currently all the rage. There is a seemingly endless amount of podcasts, YouTubers, books, and documentaries all tackling the subject to varying degrees of quality. With so many choices, consumers have a ton of material to choose from to get their fix. But for many, retellings and evidence of cases isn’t enough; cases without any narrative padding can be too gruesome, or even boring for many consumers. With the rise of true crime popularity we have also seen fictional retellings based off of real cases. Just to name a few we have the biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy set to release later this year, Martin Scorsese is set to direct Devil in the White City, based on serial killer H.H. Holmes, and even My Friend Dahmer which released in 2017. Following the trend, The Hulu original series The Act released on March 20th to positive reviews, and at the time of writing this article, has currently released four episodes. The anthology series reenacts actual crimes, focusing on one specific case per season. For the series’ first season, the case of Gypsy Rose and the murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard is the season’s focus. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_5fqDZCjQo[/embed] Gypsy, a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy inflicted by Dee Dee, eventually conspires to kill her mother with her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Shortly after Dee Dee is killed, Gypsy and Nicholas were found and arrested. Gypsy was sentenced to ten years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2024 when she is 24 years old. While The Act does a great job of retelling the case, there is some creative freedom at play. To tell a compelling narrative, some liberties had to be taken to construct a cohesive, interesting narrative for the television format. For those interested in Gypsy’s story who want a non-fictional account, the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest offers a more raw, authentic look into the case. Mommy Dead and Dearest is a documentary released in 2017 and directed by Erin Lee Carr, director of another true crime documentary Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop. In Mommy Dead and Dearest, Dee Dee’s murder is discussed, but the primary focus is the abuse endured by Gypsy. Because her mother suffered with Munchausen, Gypsy was forced to play the role of an incredibly sick child suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and even brain damage that allegedly “made Gypsy have the mind of a seven-year-old child”. Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair, fed with a feeding tube, and had multiple surgeries for her various illnesses, but her illnesses were all fabrications made by Dee Dee. Dee Dee managed to convince the world she was a fiercely dedicated, loving mother who garnered sympathy and monetary donations from those who clamored to support her and Gypsy. Their home in Springfield, Missouri was built by Habitat For Humanity after the pair were supposedly left homeless after Hurricane Katrina. Gypsy was given charitable donations, was a Make-A-Wish recipient, and appeared in the local news. In actuality, Gypsy was needlessly subjected to surgeries by a mother who hindered her freedom and was forced to lie to those around her about her illnesses. Dee Dee isolated Gypsy from just about everyone. While Gypsy had made friends with her neighbor Aleah Woodmansee, her mother would keep her from speaking to her friend, calling Aleah a “bad influence.” In the television movie Gypsy’s Revenge Gypsy states, “I couldn’t trust Aleah because my mother was starting to put things in my head that Aleah wasn’t my true friend and that she was a bad influence on me so I couldn’t be friends with her anymore.” A character not given much screen time in The Act is Gypsy’s father. In Mommy Dead and Dearest the case is relayed by Gypsy herself, journalists, doctors, and so forth but also by members of Gypsy’s family, including her father. These testimonies are incredibly interesting and showcase elements of the case from a personal perspective. “I didn’t reach out to my dad because I grew up with my mom saying all these horrible things about him.” - Gypsy, Gypsy's Revenge Gypsy’s father, Rod Blanchard, was active in Gypsy’s life until around age 10 when she and Dee Dee moved to Slidell, New Orleans. After that, he was hardly allowed contact with his daughter and was not aware of the abuse she endured. Dee Dee and Rod separated shortly before Gypsy was born. According to Buzzfeed, Rod explains that Gypsy was a healthy baby, but as time passed Dee Dee began claiming Gyspy had more and more health concerns, ranging from sleep apnea to a chromosomal defect. While certain instances raised suspicion for Rod, he knew nothing about Gypsy’s local fame and the illnesses. Like everyone else who knew Gypsy, he wasn’t even aware that Gypsy could actually walk. Tired of the constant operations and heavily restricted lifestyle imposed on her, Gypsy did eventually start pushing back against her mother. On June 14, 2015 the Facebook account shared by Dee Dee and Gypsy posted a concerning message that caused alarm: After seeing the message, a concerned family friend called the police. Once the police entered inside the house, they found Dee Dee in her bedroom, stabbed to death, and Gypsy was nowhere to be found. The key difference between The Act and Mommy Dead and Dearest (other than one being a retelling while the other is a documentary) is that The Act allows viewers to see what might have been the daily life and abuse Gypsy faced. Because creative liberties could be made, there is plenty of opportunity for character building and dramatic effect. Dee Dee, played by Patricia Arquette, does a great job of being both intimidating and sickeningly sweet. Joey King, the actress who plays Gypsy, is excellent and genuinely looks and sounds like the real Gypsy Rose. Both of these performers work off of one another to make the narrative effective. However, The Act is realistic fiction, so it’s difficult to say just how accurate the interactions between are, more specifically the ones that happened behind closed doors. Because the series is still releasing new episodes, it remains to be seen how the show will handle Dee Dee's murder and Gypsy's subsequent trial. This is the appeal of the documentary format. While testimony is used and adds some drama to Mommy Dead and Dearest, it doesn’t embellish or dramatize the case. It should be noted that, while not disingenuous or manipulative regarding what information is provided to the audience, the documentary does skew towards empathizing with Gypsy and even criticizes her sentencing. There is some opinion provided, so for those looking for a documentary with little input and nothing but facts and evidence, this may be a turn-off. Despite some liberties taken, The Act is incredibly respectful to the source material. A problem many true crime stories based on real cases run into is romanticization of the crime and killer. The upcoming Ted Bundy biopic became highly controversial after the first trailer released, making the character of Ted Bundy appear to be a cool, Wolf of Wall Street-esque bad-boy. It’s easy to forget that these stories are based on real people and real victims are involved, and because of this, need to be told with expert care and respect towards those involved. Luckily, The Act manages to be both entertaining and respectful. In terms of preference, it honestly just boils down to what you’re looking for. If you want a no-frills look at Gypsy’s case, Mommy Dead and Dearest is probably the better choice. If you want a series with character development and a slow build-up, The Act will probably be more satisfactory. Frankly, Gypsy was failed by those around her. Medical professionals could have intervened and stopped the abuse had they been more vigilant. CPS failed to find anything amiss with Dee Dee’s mothering. Neighbors were manipulated and unable to help Gypsy. Gypsy’s father was purposefully kept away by Dee Dee. Whether you start watching the The Act or catch Mommy Dead and Dearest on HBO, the case of Gypsy is a tragic, sickening story of child abuse.
During the Indian holiday Holi, students had a chance to introduce their friends to Indian cultures and expose them to new ideas.
As a kindergartner, Jennifer McCormick said she was convinced she was going to be a race car driver.