T hanksgiving – Elegant dinners with family and friends H ere at last, reminiscing the past A time to be thankful Web Graphic N ew dreams we have cast K indness and caring, kindled with love S haring each moment with help from above G oblets of crystal and delicate wares I nclude silver place settings, tho’ some may be rare V ictuals, plentiful, prepared in advance I ntense flavors, aromas N oteworthy G randeur and splendor everywhere.

Christmas is a joyous time, which everyone who celebrates it can enjoy. However, it is often hated when people like myself start to celebrate the holiday as soon as Halloween is over. As soon as the calendar hits November, I pull out my Pentatonix Christmas albums and start to sing many songs that are correlated with the season. And yes, I am often asked why I start celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving has even arrived. Eli Rankin | The Advocate The first reason is my a

I never would have thought that someone would make a sequel to the 1980 classic “The Shining,” but it happened, and it is better than I could ever expect. Director Mike Flanagan had one of the toughest jobs with adapting this story to the screen: Not only did he have to adapt the “Doctor Sleep” novel written by Stephen King, but he had to create a sequel to the Stanley Kubrick-directed film, which King famously hated. Web Photo This big conflict in production created one of

It’s the age-old question, asked after every Marvel movie: “What would you do if you had superpowers?” The answer, at least for most of us is, “I’d have fun,” or “I’d make the world a better place” or would somehow produce “world peace.” Eli Rankin | The Advocate But would you? What people constantly seem to forget during this mental exercise is that they are just as human as the rest of us – superpowers, or no superpowers – and with that humanity comes human nature. People o

Although its meaning can apply year-round, the Christmas season is a time where we normally do exchange gifts and remember to have love for our fellow man. There exists a story which takes place around this time of year and reminds us of this: Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. Given that the story was originally published 173 years ago and has endured to this day, I feel that it is worth exploring. A simple synopsis of this yarn would read s

With the sociopolitical climate being what it is in November of 2019, it may be difficult to see how Nazis or anything related to the tragedies of World War II could be funny. But director Taika Waititi challenges the notion with wonderful artistry and punctual comedic timing in his latest movie, “JoJo Rabbit.” Set in 1945 Germany, this comedy-drama follows the story of a young boy, Jojo Betzler, who fanatically idolizes Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, so much so that he ma

Midterms might have just now ended, but for students all over campus, the work is never really over. With over a month of classes before Christmas break, it’s all too easy to focus on maintaining grades and completing the seemingly endless homework assignments. But making time to decompress and forget about the stresses of your college courses is just as important as studying. And what better way to decompress than a good movie? Thanks to MHCC’s Multicultural & Diversity Res

Nothing is boring about Boring’s bigfoot museum. Owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Cliff and Melissa Barackman, the new North American Bigfoot Center is the first center of its kind to open in Oregon. The center opened in early August, and two weeks ago, unveiled its main hall, an exhibit dedicated to the sightings, bigfoot casts, and history surrounding bigfoots. On the sign that wraps around the balcony above the center’s entrance, it says, “Explore the mys

The MHCC Theatre Department has begun to perform Kathryn Schultz Miller’s “Sword in the Stone” this week, with busloads of elementary school students from all around the Northwest coming to see the show. We were fortunate enough to sit in on one of the dress rehearsals to get a glance at the play before the seats were packed full of restless children, and found the production enjoyable. The script has been brought to life by the students of the Mt. Hood Theatre program, and t

A nebula is nothing more than an “excited gas cloud” in space, according to MHCC’s Planetarium director, Pat Hanrahan. The most exciting thing about nebula, though, is how beautifully they photograph in the night sky. On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Hanrahan hosted “Amateur Astronomers Photograph the Night Sky with Amazing Result” at the Planetarium, which showcased photos by many local astronomers, as well as some from around the globe. Much of the work was by the Rose City Astronomer

I’ve always loved going to the movies, and I saw a number of entertaining films in theaters this year. These are some of the ones I would recommend, based on interests: “The Lion King” I love this musical! I actually saw it twice in the theaters. I thought it was a great remake of the original. The music is amazing and powerful, and the digital effects are great. Although the plot is heartbreaking at times, I really enjoyed the happier ending of the movie. It was especially f

Ruben Trejo was a Mexican-American artist, sculptor, educator, father, mentor and inspiration to many. Now, his impressive works of art are on display in the Visual Arts Gallery at MHCC, where his influence on art instructors remains strong. Nathan Orosco describing how influential Ruben Trejo and other pioneers of art and culture have been in the Northwest. Piece by Ruben Trejo in the VA Gallery.Half of the Art display set up in the VA Gallery. The show, which runs through N

On Oct. 23, Lukas Graham performed at the Crystal Ballroom in downtown Portland. The Danish soul-pop band, commonly known for their 2015 hit “7 years,” put on a solid, if unspectacular, show. It was their first appearance here for a while. Lead singer Lukas Forchhammer explained the band had stopped touring for a short period so that could he spend more time with his daughter, Viola. The opener, Lauren Duski, prepared the crowd for the emotional rollercoaster to come. Duski

“Fallout 1st” is the “Fallout Worst”! Fallout: It’s one of the biggest franchises in gaming history. Even if you don’t play the games, you’ve heard the name. Cherished by gamers for its unique sci-fi setting, intelligent writing, and satisfying RPG gameplay, the Fallout franchise is a juggernaut of the role-playing genre. But not everyone is a fan of RPGs, and it would seem not even Bethesda Game Studios enjoys them anymore. If you’ve been keeping up with internet trends ove

There is a watch that is so accurate that it can redefine time itself: It’s called an atomic clock, and these are nothing to be played with. Often, clocks are talked of in terms of accuracy, like 3 seconds off of a month, or one second off of a day. The most accurate wristwatch is the Citizen Chronomaster at a remarkable 5 seconds off a year. But atomic timekeeping is a whole other demon. Bear in mind that atomic clocks are so precise that they supply time information to the

Hozier was at the Moda Center on October 17 for his 2019 ‘Wasteland, Baby!’ tour. Opening for Hozier was Freya Ridings (photographed above). During her set, someone from the crowd asked if she would marry them, to which she gently replied, “no.” After having a good laugh with the audience, she gave a mellow performance and warmed everyone up for the main event. Hozier’s first song was illuminated by a changing light show that flashed deep red, bright white, and dark blue. The

After more than a year of teasing and several unfulfilled release dates, Kanye West finally delivered his ninth solo studio album, “Jesus Is King” on Oct. 25. And it is a shame that even after all that extra time, this work is so clearly in need of revision. West has been long-known to be a perfectionist, repeatedly delaying his projects to make sure they are to his very specific liking. He famously did this with his 2016 album, “The Life of Pablo,” which saw major artistic c

Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” revolutionized the art of horror films. The premise for the film’s structure seems generic at surface level, but it stands out due to its unique approach to said genre. For example, there’s almost never a jump scare or a cheesy horror trope throughout the whole thing. Instead, the film drives the stylistic pattern of Kubrick not using quick cuts and cheap jump scares. He views the horror in a similar artistic lens he that views outer space in “