Author: thelighthousetve

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Arts and Culture

Virgil’s Aeneid: How the Behavior of the Gods Reflects Human Qualities

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by Lucas David

Human desire to project themselves onto the divine is highlighted by how the most honorable roles in society are often connected to godlike qualities. Virgil’s Aeneid, written as a Roman epic for Emperor Augustus, subtly explores politics while highlighting these divine ideals. The gods are more powerful than humans, yet their behavior often mirrors mortal traits. By showing the divine as flawed reflections of humans, Virgil helps explain why people act as they do. This connection between human ambition and divine example allows readers to see their own values and flaws amplified in immortal beings.

The gods’ human-like motives are evident in their emotions and actions. Juno’s relentless pursuit of Aeneas reflects stubbornness, jealousy, and personal grudge-holding that are all too human. She acts out of emotion rather than justice, demonstrating that even the powerful can be petty or vengeful. By giving the gods these traits, Virgil emphasizes that desire, anger, and pride are universal across mortal and immortal beings. The gods, then, act as mirrors that reveal human passions in an exaggerated and enduring way.

The gods also reflect political ambition and human manipulation. Jupiter, for instance, balances the ambitions of other gods, acting like a ruler managing competing factions. Minor deities, such as Allecto and Iris, carry out secretive schemes that resemble human tactics of propaganda and covert influence. Through these examples, Virgil shows how pursuit of power often involves deception, strategy, and ethical compromise. The epic suggests that ambition is inseparable from the challenges of moral and social responsibility.

Moral inconsistency and emotional volatility further link the gods to humanity. Juno and other gods often justify their actions while breaking their own laws, showing hypocrisy and moral relativity. Their feelings can shift quickly, from rage to protection or favoritism, much like human mood swings. Neptune’s sudden change from stormy anger to calm guidance illustrates this emotional unpredictability. By portraying the gods this way, Virgil highlights the complexity of morality and the struggle to act ethically, even for the powerful.

Ultimately, the gods in the Aeneid reveal human nature on a grand scale. Their passions, grudges, and ambitions make the epic relatable, even its immortal cast members. By exaggerating human traits in immortal beings, Virgil explores timeless themes of conflict, loyalty, and moral struggle. The divine challenges Aeneas, emphasizing that heroism comes from navigating both fate and human flaws. Virgil’s brilliance lies in using the gods to humanize his epic, showing that understanding human behavior is as important as understanding the world itself.

Arts and Culture, News

The Beginning of The Great Dickens Christmas Fair

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by Ava Amara Salado

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is taking Bay Area locals and tourists alike on a journey back to the heart of Victorian London. For just five weekends every holiday season, they graciously bring back the sights, sounds, and even scents of that beautiful period to history.

Image by San Francisco Chronicle

Imagine this, you stroll down narrow streets dotted with unique and authentic carnival games, English pubs with heaps of hot food being made before your eyes, and specialty shops selling handmade goods from all over. From street sellers and chimney sweepers singing carols, to characters like Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, & Future, and even Mr. Dickens himself, will wander the alleys. The streets of the fair are crowded and bustling with people dressed in elaborate 1800s costumes, including sailors and seamen, businessmen, suffragists, thieves, and nobility. Numerous stores filled with presents, books, jewelry, textiles, artwork, and apparel pass by as you wind through neighborhoods and roads that have been meticulously recreated. You can smell hot, candied cinnamon almonds, pine and burnt wood, hot toddies, and musk. All of this, and just in the heart of the Bay Area, San Francisco.

Image by Fifty Grande

The fair, which has been a much beloved Bay Area institution for now 55 years, is still one of the most intricate and detailed Victorian Christmas events in the world. The Cow Palace is the site of The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, a long-standing Daly City facility that holds a variety of events, including concerts and even rodeos. It has opened its doors to the public since 1941, being the site of many of the historic conventions and moments for California. But once you enter during the holiday season, you time-travel back to Victorian London, completely forgetting that only 20 minutes ago you were struggling through thick 101 traffic.

The History

  • Image of Ron & Brian Patterson

But where did this incredible tradition start? The majority of visitors to Dickens London are likely unaware of its unique origin at a very different kind of fair in Los Angeles in the 1960s; Renaissance Faires. The birth of wide spread Renaissance Faires in America were arguable all thanks to the work of Ron and Phyllis Patterson. The Pattersons, still on the high of their successes in early “novelty themed” fairs made the decision to throw a small but special holiday party at their Hollywood Hills home in the winter of 1968, for their closest friends and family.

Image by Marin Mommies

They moved away from their tried-and-true Renaissance roots for this occasion and looked to Charles Dickens’ works and late 19th-century history for inspiration. The occasion’s costumes, food, décor, and activities were so enjoyable to the Pattersons and their guests that they proposed holding the event annually, possibly on an even larger scale.

In the meantime, the Pattersons had extended their Renaissance Faire productions to Marin County in Northern California, hosting it in the historic brick warehouses along Fisherman’s Wharf in nearby San Francisco. The scenery was reminiscent of the covered marketplaces of Victorian London, and the experience served as the inspiration for an extravagant Victorian Christmas Fair open for the public to enjoy. What started out as a house party was transformed into a large indoor fair for the Bay Area community. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair (or Pickwick Comic Annual, as it was once known) soon was born. In December 1970, the Anchor Works, a historic warehouse next to San Francisco’s waterfront Embarcadero neighborhood, hosted the first Dickens Fair for only three weekends. At the time, a newspaper article poignantly compared the Fair experience to walking onto a movie set. 

Image by Marin Mommies
Image by San Francisco Chronicle

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair has changed over the course of its over 50 year run because of the participation of three generations of the original Patterson family, a big multi-talented ensemble of performers and artists, and thousands of loyal patrons and visitors. The only festival of its sort in the entire globe, it has grown to be one of the most cherished and eagerly awaited yearly events in the San Francisco Bay Area! 

What to Look Forward to

From traditional English pantomimes and juggling acts to music hall concerts, sea shanties, and scenes performed from “A Christmas Carol” across the venue, there is always something to see. With numerous stages and activities, you can never really be bored. You can sing along with boisterous performers at Mad Sal’s Dockside Alehouse, learn a new dance at Fezziwig’s Warehouse, or even just listen in on the goings-on of the streets. The hand-powered Adventure Carousel, “Punch and Judy” puppet shows, Victorian fairy home crafting, and, of course, a visit from Father Christmas are just a few of the magical moments that await at the fair. And you are welcome to dress the part too. Costumes that are appropriate for the time period are not necessary, but they are highly encouraged. 

Image by Secret San Francisco

By inspiring the resurgence of local art, food, community, and music, the idea of living history fairs give back greatly to our beautiful Bay Area culture. We find connection in creation, and that cannot be lost. So, if you need a break from the hustle and complications of today’s world, take a trip to somewhere that brings you joy and warmth, for many that is The Great Dickens Christmas Fair. They offer a chance for playfulness, an opportunity to be both a performer and the audience, a reason for coming together to, just for a moment, emphasize the true spirit of the holiday season; connection.

Below a collage of photos by Sheri Salado

Stories

“After the Rain” – A Poem

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by Meru S.

After the rain,

Droplets of water release their hold on the tips of leaves

To mingle with the green below,

To quench the thirst of the blades that ripple with the wind.

After the gusts,

A void of silence remains,

Haunted by the fading whistles of lingering echoes,

Waiting in tense anticipation

To be adorned and enlivened

With chirps and buzzes and warbles.

After the drear,

The clouds depart with the wind,

In meek submission to the sun,

Whose wintry gleam is like a jewel—

Cool, precious, scintillating,

Piercing down in shimmering shafts.

Arts and Culture, Stories, Student Life

A Collection of Art & Poetry for Winter

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Poetry by Johnathan David

The Fire

As the thunder roared and the wind howled,
We see the light in the distance.
And as the fire raged and burned,
Comes the instance,
Where temper is unleashed, and thoughts are telled.
But the assistance is come,
Yet the cries are yelled,
And the mental resistance is held.

Where the Wind Walks

Come, we must go
To where the wind walks.
For there we can know,
To where it stalks,
And to where it blows.
For where the wind walks,
The leaves follow.
And don’t talk,
Until tomorrow.
But keep moving
Past the racks and stacks,
Through the trees,
And under the breeze.
On the seas,
But around the bees.
Because where the wind walks,
The seeds will follow.
And we need the seeds,
To feed our hungry,
Because our trades south have failed,
After we bailed,
And sailed,
To new land,
And in this land, We stand,
Hand in hand.
So come, lets find
Where the leaves follow,
And the seeds go.
Where the weeds sway,
In dying light of day,
To find what to say.
Lets go,
Where the wind walks
The night away.

Today

What are you feeling today?
Or would you rather not say?
I myself am feeling a bit under the hay.
So could you stay?
Because I may.
And I don’t know where to go anyway.

Art by Camden S.

Stories

The Tanks, They Think

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by Elaina David

Tapping tortures the tips to the toes, transmitting things that take time to talk through. Tingling turning to tough tarps taking turns tearing the thoughts that twitch through the thrashing tracks traced through time. To think that the tanks that take their thoughts, they think the thoughts though they tall, turn the tables, they think terror that terrible thought. Torches turn the tempest tint, they that think through the transparent throng. The thrum that thoughts they tilt the titan, the tall tree that twists the tempest to the themes that tell the tale they took. The throng the thong, the thing that takes the tame thoughts to turn them to tricky traps that thrust, that throw, that tangle the thinker’s tank.

Arts and Culture

How an Opera Comes Together – Part 2

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by Aleena Haimor

Stage Directing:

Soon after the actors and actresses first came together, staging rehearsals began. That was where they started setting the stage and working on choreography. A wonderful stage director, Omer Ben Seadia, and amazing choreographer, Gina Cerimele-Mechley, worked together at staging, setting out props and objects to really make the story come to life. 

Ms. Ben Seadia, whom I had the pleasure of talking to, came in from Oakland to Bloomington for the opera. She is a world-famous director who has done numerous operas, and is also an incredible person. Her interview was so fun to do!

Aleena Haimor: What is the largest responsibility that comes with directing an opera?

Omer Ben Seadia: The biggest responsibility is to build the artistic world where the story takes place, and setting the tone of the rehearsal process, which you share with the conductor.

AH: What’s your favorite part?

OBS: My favorite part is when I convince a singer that they can do something they never imagined they could do.

AH: Any advice for young stage directors or actors?

OBS: You can make as many performances as you want. You don’t need to wait for someone to give you an opportunity. 

Thank you so much, Ms. Ben Seadia!!

As you can see, directing an opera is a huge responsibility. The director is in charge of everything the audience sees on stage!

Orchestra Rehearsals:

Actors and actresses aren’t the only part of an opera. The orchestra plays a huge role in shaping the opera’s story! 

Alongside the staging rehearsals with the stage director (and the conductor), there are orchestra rehearsals as well. The musicians, like the actors, first discovered they were playing for the opera around May. There are five student orchestras with IU, and the one playing for both shows was the fourth one. 

At rehearsals, my dad, Fawzi Haimor, stood at the front of the room at a podium. They would start the rehearsal by reviewing notes and tuning instruments, then move on to doing a run-through of certain parts of the pieces. Since the opera was only 45 minutes long, they performed another piece, Bolero (also by Maurice Ravel) before the opera. Overall, the show was only about an hour and five minutes. 

After playing certain parts of Bolero and the opera and making notes, the orchestra would do run-throughs of the entire show.

My dad agreed to speak with me about his experiences conducting where he went to school.

Aleena Haimor: What has been the most difficult thing about working on this show? What was the most nostalgic thing for you, being back at IU?

Fawzi Haimor: I wouldn’t say that anything was particularly difficult, but I’d probably say that the most challenging part is getting to the point where you’re putting all the pieces together: staging, set design, and of course the music.  When you work with incredibly talented people, like I did at IU, the whole process actually went rather smoothly.

AH: You’ve conducted many orchestras over your career, what particularly stood out to you about this student orchestra at IU.

FH: I was so impressed by the level of talent these students had at such a young age. They were so hungry to play music at the highest level.  They genuinely were enjoying every moment of this experience and I had so much fun working with them over the month-long project.

AH: Okay, now for a general question. What is the best piece of advice you’ve received over your career? 

FH: The best advice I ever received was from my father.  He said “You were born with two ears and one mouth, try to listen more than speak.”

Thank you to these incredible people for enabling me to write this article!

Actors/Actresses: Sarai Burgos, Leah Nykaza, Chloe Hopson, Kathleen Simunek, Natalie Vong, Pelagia Pamel, Maggie Stall, Kathrine Barbour, Jisoo Choi, Morgan Feeney-Davies, Brynn Jacobs, Nate Paul, Jeremiah Angel, Evan Gunter, Cody Horne, Andreas Psillos, Molly Singer, Cathrine Tamayo, Ana Ambartsumian, Ambriehl Ivy, Nina Royston, Kirsten Tierney, Yixin Yang, and Langelihle Mngxati.

Chorus: Julianna Banfe, Emma DiSanto, Savanna Holley, Laura Looper, Ruby Miller, Sabrina Schubert, Lauren Smedberg, Brittany Weinstock, Issana Yaguda, Simo Brea, Tynan Butler, Robbie Erickson, Lane Harden, Gannon Hays, Xiang Li, Preston Rogers, Stephen Stavnicky, and Tyler Whitney.

Production: Fawzi Haimor, Omer Ben Seadia, Walter Huff, Lydia Spellman, Russell Long, Gina Cerimele-Mechley, Olivia Essebaggers, Virgil Fok, Katrina Keat, Rachel Rock, Jennifer Hong, Miles Swaminathan, Shuichi Umeyama, Chuck Prestinari, Janice Kim, and Elsa Quéron.

Sources: 

https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-opera/

https://www.glyndebourne.com/opera-archive/explore-our-operas/explore-lenfant-et-les-sortileges/lenfant-et-les-sortileges-synopsis/

https://operaballet.indiana.edu/events/lenfant-et-les-sortileges.html

Stories

The Midgard Serpent – Percy Jackson Fanfiction ~ Ch. 14

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by Emery Pugh

Chapter 14

Percy

I woke up.

My vision was blurry, and the peripheries were dark as if I was viewing the world through a binoculars.

I had no idea where I was. The walls around me were constructed of simple gray bricks with a single dull wooden door. Everything was plain.

I grasped my mind for memories – why was I here? What happened? Where was Annabeth?

Suddenly, I remembered. I’d been struck by a droplet of venom in battle. I wondered whether this was what it was like when you died. It’s quite possible that I was in the Underworld.

My fears of being in the realm of Hades disappeared as the door opened to reveal Annabeth.

“Percy!” Annabeth ran over to my bedside.

“Annabeth, I thought I was in the Underworld until I saw you.” I tried to sit up on my elbows, but my right arm was still injured. I collapsed back down.

“Ow!” I winced. “Dang, that arm still hurts.”

“It’ll take at least a few days to heal,” said another voice at the door. I recognized him as Pranjal, one of the camp’s medics. “You’re lucky that it was a small droplet of venom, and it hit your arm instead of your head, for instance. Some others were struck by much larger ones, and…”

He didn’t need to explain further. The three of us fell silent.

“So… how do we fight the siege tower?” Annabeth pondered. “Even Imperial gold won’t hold up against the venom – and that’s the strongest material we have.”

I shrugged. Pranjal didn’t have a response either.

Frank and Hazel, the praetors of New Rome, entered the room.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Hazel murmured. “You’re okay.”

Frank gave me a thumbs-up and grinned. He had some eagle feathers stuck in his hair, likely from transforming into an eagle. Other than that, the battle left him unscathed.

“I’m just as glad that you’re alright,” I said. “Any details about the fight after I went out? And speaking of that, how long was I out?”

Frank tilted his head and frowned, trying to recall the memories of earlier. “You’ve been unconcious for a few hours. About the battle, turns out the venom can only shoot at a relatively short range, and it’s pretty inaccurate. Most of the campers successfully retreated.”

“Ballistae should do the job, then,” I remarked. “It’s a ranged weapon, and we can all just stay out of range of the venom.”

“It should,” Annabeth agreed. “But the tower has some sort of magical protection, and our projectiles can’t get anywhere near it.”

The memories of the battle suddenly flooded back to me. I remembered how the ballista cannons failed to penetrate an invisible barrier. “Oh. Yeah, I remember now. That’s gonna be a problem.”

“Well,” Annabeth continued. “All magical barriers have some way to deactivate them. We’ll have to somehow sneak inside the siege tower and disable the protective magic.”

Nobody was excited about that. It was practically a suicide mission. You’d have to wade through hundreds of monsters, evade the venom, somehow find out how to turn off the magical barrier (undetected is optimal, but not possible), and get out alive.

“Those people are going to need a lot of unicorn horn shavings,” Pranjal murmured.

“Someone is going to have to do it,” I said. “It doesn’t look good, but that’s what we do, right? We do hard things.”

We do hard things sounded like an advertisement. Call us at 999-999-9999 and we’ll do all your hard things for you!

Frank sighed. “We’ll assemble a team for that soon. Camp Half-Blood contacted us a little while ago that their part of the quest team is ready to go. We’ll have to decide who we send for that quest too.”

I noticed a small window just behind me. Outside, Jormungandr’s image flashed again, and was gone as quickly as he had come.

Suddenly, the room darkened and the window shattered and was replaced with bricks. The door toppled over and more gray bricks flew in to replace it. Thousands of projections raced by on the walls, depicting scenes of monsters overrunning Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. In another, Jormungandr rose above the camps and spat swimming pools’ worth of venom, devouring the camp in poison.

Then, I realized I was alone. Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Pranjal had vanished. The flashing projections had been replaced by one massive serpent on the far wall.

I reached into my jeans and thankfully found Riptide in pen form. I uncapped it and the gleaming Celestial Bronze blade shot out. It wasn’t much, and it was going to do anything to an illusions, but it gave me confidence.

The serpent laughed a deep, guttural, and cruel laugh. He whispered, Come to me. You cannot keep your precious little camp… or should I say, camps, safe.

I yelled and tried to throw Riptide at the serpent, but no sound came out. Since I was using my left arm, I threw the sword short and it clattered onto the floor.

The seas will rise and flood the earth. I can finally exit my freezing waters and enjoy warm, tropical waters. Humans, spewing gases with their factories, aid me greatly, he hissed. As a son of Poseidon, shouldn’t you be happy about this? The whole world will be your father’s realm. I will destroy Poseidon, and I will be the sole god of the sea. All land will be flooded with endless ocean – in fact, I have to thank you for that. Gaea’s power is no longer here to stop me. In return, I will let you and your girlfriend, Annabeth, roam anywhere you please. I shall protect you from the wrath of Tartarus… who has not forgotten you. Or… you can choose to fight me, and you will die in a pathetic defense of your camps against a force so powerful you cannot stop.

I’ve been tempted with many offers before. But honestly, this one was the weakest. Yeah, I like the sea, but the world shouldn’t be drowned in it. I would love roaming free with just Annabeth… but I would never let all my other friends die without me. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter would be demolished – I would never allow that to happen.

Unfortunately, he was right about the factories – climate change caused dangerous amounts of rising sea levels. Humans were accelerating their own destruction.

One thing puzzled me, though: the wrath of Tartarus. I escaped Tartarus with Annabeth during our quest to stop Gaea and the giants… but why would he bother chasing after a mortal? I recall him remarking that he didn’t even care about the Olympians themselves.

“No! Never, slimy serpent!” I yelled. This time, my voice reverberated around the room, gaining volume with each echo.

The serpent growled with annoyance. Fool. You will be destroyed with everyone else.

The illusions disappeared, and the window and the door reappeared in their proper places. The four others reappeared in different locations in the room. Annabeth clutched her dagger with white knuckles and looked like she was ready to throw it. Frank had his bow at the ready. Hazel was in the process of summoning hundreds of millions of dollars worth of jewels. Meanwhile, Pranjal menacingly held a fork.

“You guys saw that too?” I asked. “The illusions with Jormungandr and all that?” Annabeth gave me a sharp glance. I suddenly remembered that I wasn’t supposed to say his name.

Frank nodded. “I did. He told me that he was going to destroy the world by flooding it or something. He offered to spare me, and he said I could morph into a sea creature and have the seas to myself.”

Annabeth looked shaken. “He gave me an offer similar to what the gods gave me on Mount Olympus… the serpent said he would let me design an underwater mansion for me to live in.” There was something else implied – for Percy and me to live in.

“He offered me the chance to live with my father, Pluto,” Hazel said. “I never really knew him.” She sighed, and Frank put an arm around her.

“You guys have such cool weapons. Look at mine.” Pranjal glanced at his fork. “Anyways, the serpent offered me a selection of medicines that could cure anything… something I’ve always wanted.”

“He’s offering something that each of us wants,” Annabeth noted. “Not exactly a new tactic, though, and it’s not hard to resist his deals.”

Frank nodded. “I’m not tempted at all.” The rest of us echoed what he said.

“Well… that still leaves the venom siege tower problem,” I said. “And the quest problem. And the monsters problem.”

“We’ll have a Senate meeting sometime later today or tomorrow,” Hazel’s eyes seemed distant, as if still in the illusion. “As of now, Percy, get some rest and heal up.”

Arts and Culture

Amari And The Despicable Wonders – a book review

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by guest author Johnathan David

Amari And The Despicable Wonders, by B.B. Alston was a fun read. It had an interesting plot, intriguing twists, and there was well done balance between the highs and lows. For example, there are times in the book laden with suspense. But, there are also points that are straightforward and clear. The book showed good story design, with a solid start, great build up, amazing conclusion and a bitter-sweet finish. Set in a modern time, you follow teen girl Amari as she races to get “the wonders” before the villain, Dylan Van Helsing finds them. It is recommended for ages 8-12. I don’t want to give away too much information, but if you’re a fan of adventure and mystery, you might enjoy this book.

Arts and Culture

Animation Tips – Part 2

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by Lucas David

If you’ve ever made an animation yourself, or have watched a decent amount of animation yourself, you will have noticed that some animations look more lifelike than others, especially in different art styles. In this essay, I will be breaking down one of the components of an animation that makes such a difference in its believability.

I call this aspect of creating a convincing 2D illusion “slow ins and slow outs”. To help explain it, I will compare two iconic pieces of animation. One is of a character from the cartoon Steamboat Willie

In the video above, you saw Pete the Cat turning from Mickey Mouse to the wheel of the ship. You probably also saw that Pete’s body moves completely evenly through the entire motion. When you are making an animation, this can often feel like a good idea, but in reality it creates a very machine-like movement. In real life, we have the most energy in the middle of a movement, because we have the most momentum, and we have to slow down at the end of each movement to stop. Even movements that stop suddenly slow down at the end as your muscles stop your momentum.

Above is an example of an animation with a slow in and a slow out, which is noticeably more natural than the one before it. This is because it is an animation of a living creature, and therefore should imitate the behaviors of a living creature. There are exceptions to the slow ins and slow outs rule, such as a motion being interrupted un-naturally, or a mechanical creature that moves robotically, but more often than not, successful use of slow ins and outs are key to creating a convincing animation.

Overall, animation is like acting with drawings. Every movement says something to the audience, especially with the movements of a living creature. To create convincing animation, you not only need an ability to draw, but also an understanding of what we expect movement to look like. Hopefully, this information will help you bring your animated stories to life.