Category: Columns

Written By: Samuel Cobb (’27)

Look, let’s be honest here. Some people are afraid of heights, others of spiders. Then there’s me— bravely navigating the treacherous waters of a female-dominated university. Yes, the irrational fear of women, but I’m not talking about the cartoonish run-away to the Arctic type of situation. I’m not afraid they’ll hit me with their purses or yell at me for wearing socks with sandals (though it has happened). No, my fear is a bit more subtle, a little more nuanced. The truth is, women make me nervous in the most awkward, bumbling ways. 

You see there’s something about their mannerism, their mastery of small talk, that leaves my hands clammy and my tongue to swell up in my mouth. Either I end up talking too much or too little. “You like cats? I liked a cat once. He got run over by a car.” Wait, there are women at the homecoming dance? I guess I’ll hide by the punch table and snack on goldfish and fruit snacks. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s an after-class chat or just a casual encounter in the dining hall. Even if I knew them for my entire college career, the results are still the same. I freeze up like Shen Pond in December. I scramble to find something meaningful to say, something that they will look back on and think “Wow, that guy is cool.” Instead, the words that come out are not cool guy words, but “So.., you like…uh, weather? … Snow good?”

And don’t get me started on group scenarios. It’s like standing in front of a firing squad made up completely of charm and intelligence. I laugh nervously at jokes I don’t get, make a few comments on the snowfall, and pray they don’t ask the dreaded haircut question. The weather app is oftentimes my companion and friend in these situations. Whenever I manage to survive one of these encounters I have to drown my pain in a glass of Upstate New York low-fat Chocolate milk to clear my head (Current count: 85 glasses). 

Before you state the most obvious solution —therapy?— I have considered it. But I am sure that it is not that big of a problem per se, and can’t people keep their little quirks? Some people are afraid of clowns, which is valid, and I am afraid of the person who can read my very soul. And I already participate in therapy, albeit a little homebrewed version (I have an unopened Lego box in my dorm room). 

So while my soul is being read like an intriguing novel by Mary Shelly, I’ll do my best to survive the fast-approaching homecoming party. I’ll be fine as long as the opposite sex doesn’t ask me too many questions, or make eye contact for too long. Because even though women are frightfully scary I might eventually build up the courage to say “hi” before I die.

Written By: Caleb Tiedemann (’25)

Dune Part 2 was my most anticipated movie of this year. At the moment of writing this, I have seen it three times in theaters. When it was first released I got the privilege of seeing the movie in IMAX, and I was so enthralled, that I went and saw it again the very next day.

I can confidently say that the stereotype of “sequels being worse than the originals” does not even remotely apply here. Despite my love of Dune Part 1, I can admit that it is slow and long. However, I find beauty in that. Part 2, takes what the first movie did and improves on it in every way. Is it slow? Not at all. Does it manage to find that sweet spot between world-building and action? Yes. 

The movie focuses primarily on the spiritual aspects of the Dune universe. The author of the Dune series based the spiritual elements loosely on Islam, and even though I am no Islamic scholar, from what I do know, it has a fascinating sci-fi representation. The juxtaposition of believers and non-believers in the “Lisan Al-Giab” (Messiah), creates a tense religious atmosphere among the inhabitants of Arrakis – The Fremen. As Paul becomes accustomed to the Fremen ways he is worshiped by some and scoffed at by others. 

In the first movie, I scoffed at the idea of Timothee Chalamet playing Paul, who is supposed to grow into a powerful messianic leader, but I can say that Chalamet pulls the role off beautifully, being equally emotionally resonant and powerfully dominant. Zendaya plays Chani well; a skilled and capable fighter who falls in love with Paul as he ascends. Rebecca Ferguson plays Lady Jessica wonderfully, hiding so much calculating intelligence behind her eyes as she manipulates others for her and Paul’s benefit. Javier Bardem plays Stilgar, a believer of the Fremen tribe in the Lisan Al-Giab, who comes off as an intelligent warrior, intensely spiritual man, and loyal follower, almost to the point of being funny. However, the main standout is Austin Butler’s portrayal of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen: a devilishly psychotic Harkonnen warrior, equally thirsty for both power and blood. Butler plays the role magnificently. Every time he comes on the screen he commands it with menacing gravitas. 

Dune Part 2 is one of the most beautifully shot movies that I have seen in a long time. Cinematographer Greig Fraser captures the beauty and simplicity of the dunes. One would think it hard to capture beauty in a sandy environment but through twilight, eclipse, and natural lighting the color palette of Dune is surprisingly varied. At one point in the film, certain scenes are filmed using an infrared camera. I have never (to my knowledge) witnessed the use of one of these cameras in a film before and it crafted the scenes it was used in beautifully. The pale soft white is utilized to film a particularly brutal scene so the contrast of color and content was an odd but tasteful choice. Hans Zimmer’s score is immaculate. It captures an almost tribal feeling in its use of drums, unorthodox instruments, and sounds. Yet, at the same time, it is a beautiful composition, brimming with emotional resonance and profound meaning.

The last half hour of the movie is one of the most impressively shot, incredibly well-acted, and beautifully lit, endings. As I said, I have seen it three times and every time the ending’s technical aspects just floor me. You don’t have to love the first movie to enjoy the second. I strongly recommend the movie. One of the easiest 10/10 movies I have ever seen.

Written By: Caleb Tiedemann (’25)

“I’m tired, boss. Tired of bein’ on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we’s coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There’s too much of it.” – John Coffey

The Green Mile is the tale of Paul Edgecombe’s experience as a prison guard on death row. When a gentle giant John Coffey is sentenced to death, Paul and the other guards are confronted with Coffey’s mysterious healing power and do everything to stave off his execution. The Green Mile is one of those movies that leaves the viewer with so much to think about. It touches on themes of friendship, innocence, sadism, love, and guilt. Each character is so marvelously crafted to represent one of those themes throughout the movie. John Coffey represents innocence, Paul Edgecombe represents guilt, Brutal Howell represents friendship, Percy Wetmore represents sadism, and Eduard “Del” Delacroix represents love. All of these characters and all of these representations are wonderfully done with each actor giving their utmost in terms of performance. From a technical aspect, The Green Mile is in capable hands. Frank Darabont handles the camera with perfection, highlighting such visceral and raw emotional scenes. He manages to break brilliant performances from every actor. Percy is one of the vilest characters to ever exist in cinematic history and disgusts me in a way that can only be answered by throwing punches. I have to hand it to Doug Hutchinson for his performance because he gives one of the most despicable portrayals of a character. On the opposite side of the spectrum is John Coffey: a gentle giant with a very special gift. These characters are the foundation of what can be considered such a morally complex movie. Death Row is a hot topic in certain circles from the legal perspective and this movie does much to highlight the sadness and brutality of an organized death. The climactic ending is potent and seers itself into your heart and mind hitting every perfect emotional beat. The final walk on the Mile proves to be emotionally detrimental and morally convoluted. One of the themes that stuck out to me was the similarities between Christ’s crucifixion and Coffey’s death. Both were innocently convicted and killed men with special gifts of healing. Just some interesting food for thought. I cry over a lot of movies and this one was no exception. I do truly love film in a way that I can hardly explain until a movie, such as this, comes along and shows everything good about the movie-making industry. ★

Written by: Karl Schmidt

Luke 12:22-25 says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples; ‘therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the Ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storerooms or barns, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?’” We have many occasions in life to worry. What career path to take, who to be friends with, who to date, who to marry, etc., the list is never ending. Years ago, I had finished my bachelor’s degree and student teaching and was looking for a job. After a whole summer of interviews, I went back home to my parents’ house, with no job and a wife and baby. I had a great opportunity to worry. A month into the school year I was called for an interview, as a long-term sub, and finally got a job teaching history at Rushford Central School (Cuba-Rushford Central School) where I stayed for 30 years. I think all of us can look back at our lives and see how God sustained us and by doing so taught us not to worry.Besides my love for teaching, I’ve always had a love for birdwatching. I’ve been fascinated about the variety of ways birds find things to eat and what they eat: from a Belted Kingfisher or an Osprey diving from a great height into the lake to catch a fish, to Ruby Throated Hummingbirds drinking nectar from my bee balm flowers (they also eat a lot of spiders), or to Vultures that eat dead animals (they have special enzymes in their gut that can break down the most disgusting rotted meat that would probably kill us). Last summer I watched a little American Redstart, a bird in the Warbler family, like a miniature fighter pilot chase a moth, finally grabbing it with its beak and after struggling with it a little bit, swallowing it down. Once while out for a walk, I watched an enterprising Gray Catbird in front of a beehive picking off bees as they flew out. For those of you who visit Florida, you might know of the Anhinga, a bird that chases fish underwater and spears them with its beak; or the various species of herons that wait patiently to grab a fish in the shallows. Closer to home, while canoeing by a rocky island in the Adirondacks (Canada Island, Lake Lila), I watched a baby Spotted Sandpiper struggling with a dragonfly it had caught by the tail — perhaps the first meal of its life. Winter can be a particularly hard time for birds to find food. But again, God cares for His creation. Cedar Waxwings, Robins, Chickadees, and Bluebirds are sustained throughout the cold winter by eating berries left over from the Fall and the tops of Sumacs. We’ve all seen woodpeckers at suet feeders, but many times in the wild I have seen Downy Woodpeckers and Chickadees picking at the fat of a dead deer carcass. For one month in May thousands of songbirds flying north from Central America get to the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio and stop exhausted and hungry. But at that very time in early May, hundreds of thousands of Caddisflies hatch and provide the needed food for the birds to make it across the lake. The same scenario I’ve seen in birds that make it across Lake Erie at Point Pelee, a park in Ontario with a peninsula that stretches out into the lake, one of the first spots birds stop to find more to eat to replenish their supplies.Many of you may have witnessed God supplying birds with food in some way or another. The Creator of the universe has provided for His birds, sometimes specifically by how they were created, and sometimes by the impact of other parts of His creation like the Caddisfly hatch. God loves us so much, how much more will He provide for us.Karl Schmidt, Birdwatcher ☆