by Brad Horton’15

It was just last year that Owen Davenport ’14 discovered his talent for 3D Art from his 3D Art and Clay and Sculpture classes. Now, he is a Scholastic Gold Key Award winner with a promising artistic future.

In grade school, Owen took art classes at the Beck Center and had a key interest in them. However, Owen’s ability really began to stand out at Ignatius. “I am the first 3D art portfolio for Mrs. Kyle, she wanted me to be in A.P. art. Mrs. Burrows saw pieces I did last year and she wanted me too.”

Owen’s ability began to stand out to the world. “That (The Scholastic Gold Key Award) was for my Fleur-de-lis. It went to the Scholastic Art Fair as an accident. I thought I was saving a profile for it on the website, but I was actually resubmitting it and got an award.”

Owen has also completed other great works like the Key and a bust of himself. “They are beautiful when they are simple”, says Mrs. Burrows, “Owen’s artworks are simple and bold.” Currently, Owen is working on clay bowls made from pieced together slabs of smoothly textured clay.

Owen hopes to have a career in industrial design, hopefully leaning towards automotive design. He wishes other students try new things like he did and try to find their interests, “You don’t have to keep doing it, you just have to try it. You really need to find out what you like and then just go with it.”

by Kevin Malloy ’15

On four Fridays stretching through October and November, a small ensemble from the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra performed in Rade Hall during lunch. The ensembles consisted of a percussion group, a string quartet, a brass quartet, and a woodwind quintet.

The purpose of these ensemble’s performances was to create excitement about the full orchestra’s subsequent performance in front of the student body, as well as to promote awareness about classical music in general.

Members of the orchestra have visited several classes, including AP European History, physics, and math, in order to explain how classical music can be related to these topics.

The school organized the conferences in the hopes of developing an appreciation for classical music and the fine arts in the student body.

“Our mission as a school is to not only promote academic, spiritual, and service formation, but also to promote a better understanding of the fine arts,” said Mr. Gavin, the Dean of Academics. “This program with Blue Water helped expose the students to classical music and how it can be applied to their education”.

Mr. Gavin enthusiastically said that he hopes to continue this program with the Blue Water Orchestra. “

We are very fortunate to have such a talented group of musicians nearby and willing to get involved in the school,” he said. “It is definitely something that should be utilized.”

And today I lived well. It may not be boot-season but it is soup season. And with that in mind this week I ventured to The Souper Market with my good friend and associate Antonio Zodda.

When first walking in one might not be completely impressed by its spartan layout. The register and where you order are immediately at the entrance, next to the oddly arranged salad bar setup, and stools are along the windows for eating.

But when you come here you’re not interested in aesthetics, you’re interested in one thing and thing only: soup, and their soup business is booming. Souper Market prides itself on the making of soups all from scratch and with local ingredients.

To properly survey the variety that is offered at the Souper Market, I got Potato Spinach and Swiss, Jambalaya, and Chicken Paprikash. All of their soups come in varying sizes but I recommend the eight ounce for a quick bite ($4 and under) or the 12-ounce if you want something more filling and still affordable. Soups are also served with a daily house-baked bread.

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The creme de la creme of its soups is the thick Chicken Paprikash….It tasted like they kidnapped a Hungarian grandmother.

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The Potato Spinach and Swiss is a creamy and hearty soup, consisting of thick spinach leaves and diced potatoes. It is a vegetarian’s delight and just as enjoyable for a meat-lover like myself. Perhaps the most unique aspect of this potato soup is the added swiss cheese.

The next soup I moved onto was the Jambalaya; tomato-base composed of pulled chicken, chicken andouille (a chicken sausage), and shrimp as well as diced tomatoes and green peppers. This behemoth of delectability is worth at least one purchase. Its spicy flavor is perfect for the season, warming your body while its frigid outside.

The creme de la creme of its soups is the thick Chicken Paprikash. The first spoonful made me only want infinitely more. It tasted like they kidnapped a Hungarian grandmother and had her cook this famous top-seller. Each ingredient, the spaetzle dumplings, the al dente mushrooms, and the perfectly- stringy chicken, not to mention the phenomenal base, all come together in each spoonful.

Souper Market is my top recommendation for eating out after school this winter. It is close to school, has countless warm and hearty soups (including weekly specials), an amazing soundtrack (songs from David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Van Morrison), all creating an incredibly fulfilling and affordable experience.

by Bradley Merk ‘14

2013 is stacking up to be an impressive feat for cinematic quality and entertainment. It feels like nearly weekly for months now new films have been infiltrating Ignatian conversations due to the plethora of great movies that, maybe someday, will be considered classics. Luckily, the films that have made up this year show no signs of slowing down (Anchorman 2 and The Wolf of Wall Street, anyone?) as we turn to December and the new year. Now as we look back, there is a great opportunity to showcase what movies have epitomized the year:

Gravity
Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity has shown us that movies do not need terrifying antagonists or complex plots to enthrall us. Gravity is a quiet, albeit destructive tour de force of what the film medium is capable of. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as two astronauts on a clean up mission in space when space debris from a recently destroyed nearby vessel comes flying towards them and their crew. Gravity will leave you breathless as it depicts the terror and awe of space in a way no film previously has. Also, take notice of the amount of times the camera actually cuts between one shot to another. Gravity is an astounding and captivating feat showing what the combination of great storytelling and special effects can do for modern filmmaking.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Jennifer Lawrence can do no wrong. The sequel to The Hunger Games has already proven to be a massive overhaul and success over the original; critics and the box office both agree that Catching Fire is a worthwhile sequel with a tighter plot and higher budget. The sequel to the worldwide phenomenon manages to surpass its predecessor in showing the cruelty of Panem as well as creating a more direct and intelligent criticism of our own. If you haven’t yet seen this or the original Hunger Games, get on it. The impressive acting, unique story, and fascinating world-building creates one of the best cinema going experiences you can get all year.

Captain Phillips
The actual story of Richard Phillips and the hijacking of his ship is continuing to produce controversy. However, whether the film portrays the situation correctly or not, there is no denying this is a wonderful film. Tom Hanks brings home an Oscar worthy performance as the merchant mariner who finds him and his crew taken hostage by Somali pirates. Barkhad Abdi is also a highlight as he brings a remarkably sympathetic and beautifully acted look to a Somali pirate and the true desperation this man went to in such a terrible situation. Tense, gripping, and smart, Captain Phillips manages to depict a terrifying situation with phenomenal control and direction.

Others to See: The East, The Kings of Summer, Frances Ha, Star Trek Into Darkness, Prisoners, Only God Forgives, The Great Gatsby, This is the End, Side Effects, The World’s End, Stoker, Blue Jasmine, Dirty Wars, Upstream Color, Enough Said, and Spring Breakers

by Matt Nicolay ‘14

Arcade Fire – Reflektor

Reflektor, the indie rock band Arcade Fire’s fourth studio album, follows Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs. The album features songs very influenced by techno, with dance thrown in at certain points. It has a rough start, as the first three songs, “Reflektor,” “We Exist,” and “Flashbulb Eyes” are rather sub-par, but “Here Comes the Night Time”, the fourth track, is a great improvement upon the first three. The album picks up after that, and the first disk ends with perhaps the best song on the album, “Joan of Arc.” The second disk, though much weaker than the first, still has a couple good songs to offer, like “Here Comes the Night Time II” and “Afterlife”. “Supersymmetry,” the final song on the album, is pretty good, though it does have an obnoxiously long outro part consisting of ambient synth sounds. Overall, the album is all right, but a lot of the songs seem to sort of fade into the background of modern music and don’t really make a huge impression.

Lorde – Pure Heroine

Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor, better known as Lorde, a seventeen-year-old singer songwriter from New Zealand, starts out strong with her first full album, Pure Heroine. The songs on the album all have a simple theme to them, with few backing instruments, which really compliment Lorde’s excellent voice and driving vocals. “Tennis Court” is a pretty good start to the album, and sets the simple tone for the whole album. If you haven’t heard the third track, “Royals,” you’ve been living under a rock for a few months. At the same time, it is still a great song, albeit a tad bit overplayed. “Team” is possibly the best on the album, but it’s probably a tie between that and “Royals.” The songs on this album are very good, but they are also very similar–almost too similar. There’s a lack of variety but it’s certainly not as if every song is exactly the same. I would definitely recommend giving Pure Heroine a listen.