The Music of Death Stranding: More Popular Than You Might Think

On November 8, game designer Hideo Kojima released his newest video game, Death Stranding. Kojima is most popularly known for his stealth-action series “Metal Gear Solid” and more recently Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. While Death Stranding is one of the top-grossing games across the world, it has faced fierce criticism by gamers in the US. Kojima attributes this to Americans lacking “artistic sensibility.”

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Getting to Know Our Theatre Majors

As one of the top liberal arts colleges in the South, Covenant College is well known for its support of the fine arts, including music and theatre. As far as integrating faith into the dramatic disciplines, Covenant seeks to “help [students] become both skilled in dramatic craft and mature in Christian discipleship, that they might one day enter the professional stage and film worlds in order to

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Combing through Country Music

An overall-wearing, wheat-stem-chewing banjo player from southern Mississippi two-steps into your mind as you hit the play button on Luke Combs’ opening track, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” After just the first two measures of the song, however, our Billy-Bob-looking friend slings his banjo over his shoulder and hops behind a drum kit. He smacks those skins harder than anyone ever has, thumping us into the blazin’, twangin’ country-rock sound of Combs’ new album, “What You See Is What You Get.” Luke Combs’ second full-length album crashed into the country scene on November 8, although he had previously released several of its songs as singles. The record deals with many of the themes that Combs has become trademarked for, like rueful breakup stories and beer—lots of beer. Combs is quickly ascending the Coors-stained staircase of country music, and he has used his new connections with the genre’s legendary superstars to land features from the likes of Brooks & Dunn and Eric Church. 

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Even though the new album is driven by heavy rock drums and flashy electric guitar riffs, an attuned ear can detect the authenticity in the classic mandolin, banjo, and dobro twang in Combs’ music. Some of his songs highlight country’s deep roots more than the others. “Dear Today,” for example, begins with pure acoustic guitar. Combs’ lyrics are especially rich with the experience of a blue collar country boy. He even has a song on the album called “Blue Collar Boys.” In this track, along with many others on the record, Combs sings about the beautiful simplicity that lies at the heart of his, and many of his fans’, rural American upbringing. His thematic range also includes tender, emotional topics, like fatherhood in “Even Though I’m Leaving,” that pluck the twangy heartstrings of country fans. He stays true to the style of authentic country by avoiding the snap tracks and house drums that have become a staple of modern pop-country, and thus keeps the respect that he has earned from old-school country music homers who want to preserve the genuine country sound. 

Luke Combs is a relatively new country star who has, with his new music, jumped boot first to the forefront of the tradition-rich genre. So if you decide to give “What You See Is What You Get” a listen, fire up your truck, roll them windows down, trade your flatbill for that worn-out ball cap on the dash, and crank it on up.


Kanye's New King?

In October, Kanye West released his 9th album, JESUS IS KING. In November, he produced his opera “Nebuchadnezzar” and spoke at Joel Osteen’s church while also performing with his Sunday Service Choir. Public reception for this new Kanye has been mixed, to a sometimes scathing degree. Is this new change the result of a new heart-change or genuine conversion? Or is this merely the stunting of a ego-centric multimillionaire.

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Spoken Word is Important for God’s People: Quina Aragon

Photo by Eden Anyabwile

Photo by Eden Anyabwile

Quina Aragon is a spoken word artist based out of Tampa, Florida, and on November 7-8 she came to share her art and her work with Covenant’s community. Aragon lives in Tampa with her husband and three-year-old daughter, and has recently published a children’s book entitled “Love Made,” as well as contributed to the devotional “His Testimonies, My Heritage,” edited by Kristie Anyabwile. 

Aragon performed three of her poems in chapel on Thursday night, and then afterward sat down on the chapel stage and answered questions about her practice, her experience as a Christian woman of color who is also a performance artist, and the inspiration behind her poems. 

Aragon began writing poetry when she was in high school, and when she first did a poetry project for her English class, she did not do well and never thought that it would later become such a huge part of her life. However, she continued to write, especially after she became a believer, saying that, as an internal processor, poetry was the best way for her to process all of the things she was learning. Eventually, one of her teachers found out about her closet poetry writing and encouraged her to attend a poetry slam event and share some of her poems. Aragon described this as a formative experience for her, as before then, she had not publicly shared her faith through her art. 

Photo by Marie Bowen

Photo by Marie Bowen

When asked about how her work is important for the church, Aragon responded that poetry is a beautiful way to share with others what God has been doing in the poet’s life. She went on to say that it is not selfish to share work, but rather it is a way for God to articulate for others what He has been doing in them in ways they might not be able to, building and encouraging community in a sweet and unique way. 

Harmonee Keitt ’20, English major and spoken word artist who performed as E.M.O. in Mountain Affair this year, commented on this idea of spoken word as ministry, saying, “I think it’s one thing for someone to verbalize ‘Oh, this is the gospel,’ and maybe provide some examples, but there are some people that need a visual, or need metaphor and that sort of thing in order to understand, and I think spoken word provides that.” 

As performance art, spoken word not only provides visual pictures, but is an actual embodiment of words, mirroring Christ in the way “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.” (John 1:14) 

When asked about the embodiment aspect of spoken word, Keitt said, “I think that poetry in general is meant to be spoken. Even with the pieces that I’ve written, I was like, ‘Yeah, this could easily be published and I could sell it as a book, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything if no one’s at least heard me speak before.’ If they’ve heard me speak, then they know how I would possibly put inflections on words, versus if they’ve never heard me speak, they’re just kind of guessing their way through it.” She went on the describe how the interactive aspect of spoken word is particularly important to the message, and the audience is able to understand and respond in unique ways because of that. 

Aragon’s performances on Thursday night and Friday morning provided a new way of thinking about how art can function in the church, bringing theology to the people of God in a new and unique way, and encouraging those who have these gifts to share them. Keitt summed it up by saying, “I would encourage those people that are closet poets to come out, because your work needs to be heard.”


Tartuffe: Comedy and Cunning

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Deception, hypocrisy, and false piety all play a central role in Covenant College’s upcoming theatre production of “Tartuffe.” Its author, the classic French playwright Molière, was known to push the limits of what was an acceptable topic of a play during the 1600s. The play was banned for its “heretical” focus on false piety and religious charlatans in 1669, three years after its first release. 

This was just one of Molière’s plays that was banned by the French court⁠—his next play “Don Juan” disappeared mysteriously from production. However, while Molière was working on getting “Tartuffe” re-released under a different name, the ban was removed. After this, the show came to be a rousing success. The comedy of this show has managed to surpass time and culture to continue to be uproariously funny and accessible to its modern audiences. 

In Covenant’s modern take on the French classic, the con artist Tartuffe has managed to weasel his way into the home of the rich Orgon and establish himself as Orgon’s main confidant and religious advisor, to the horror of Orgon’s family. Tartuffe has so entrenched himself in Orgon’s life that Orgon turns a deaf ear to his family’s concerns and even promises Tartuffe his daughter’s hand in marriage. Determined to get rid of him, Orgon’s wife, brother-in-law, and maid band together to expose Tartuffe’s charlatan ways to the oblivious Orgon. Unbeknownst to these schemers, however, Tartuffe has his own plan to foil them all.

This show is not just here for kicks and giggles though. It brings to the surface important topics about piety, especially for a Christian audience. How do we tell the difference between true and false religious zeal, and how do we handle false teachers? In an era where some might say there is too much knowledge at our fingertips, sometimes it is even more difficult to differentiate between the false and the real. It is at times like this that the advice of friends and family can be the most important and trustworthy.  

“Tartuffe” plays on November 15, 16, and 22 at 8 pm and on November 23 at 2:30 pm. After the last show, there will be a discussion panel with Dr. Bill Tate, Dr. Jiewon Baek, and Professor Camille Hallstrom. 

Tickets are $7 for students, seniors, and staff, and $10 for everyone else, though there is a group rate of $5 per person with groups of five or more. Tickets can be purchased right before the show at the door or in the Great Hall during lunch and dinner. Tickets can also be reserved by contacting the box office by phone at 706-419-1051 or by email at boxoffice@covenant.edu


One to Ten

On a scale of one to ten, how sad are you?

you almost say seven but the answer floats in your lungs like rising mud. you shift your shoulders. some part of you is already forming an excuse. that it’s not that bad sometimes. one, two, three on a day that the clouds are out. you’re just complaining about stuff. yesterday you laughed past a brick of a four, does that make the brick come down to a two-point-five.  the solid seven panic attack of last tuesday feels somehow like a little thorn, just a regular day full of a gentle three-point-nine earthquake rocking after yesterday’s close-to-an-eight. see but if tomorrow you have a real bad day, it will make today look simple.

and what if. what if tomorrow it’s a big old red eight-point-nine. like one of those days where sirens are going off in every part of you but you’re stuck behind a glass window watching it all burn down. like one of those days that your skin against the air feels foreign. like too much of everything. like sitting-in-the-shower, like can’t-eat, like the tide isn’t just coming in, it came while you were sleeping and now you’ve gotta learn how to swim. like bounce me against a bullet hole kind of day.

you keep numbers like nine and ten way out of reach. those are for the people who really are suffering. you’ve got no excuse. nine and ten are funeral numbers, for real problems, not yours, no. and sometimes you’re fine. and you’re kind of used to it. and it’s not sad, it’s just numb like a television caught on static. numb like i can’t remember if i care about this. numb like nothing works but i can’t be bothered to fix it. that’s not sad that’s everyday stuff. everybody feels like this, right? feels like they’ve been shut off. right.  

maybe five. right in the middle. like not gonna shoot myself but i’m not wasting your time. a nonanswer. like could be worse could be better. like i need help but i don’t want you to worry even though i need someone to worry about me because i can’t worry about myself. maybe five. but what if five is too small. what if five is too big. what if -

“on a scale of one to ten,” he repeats into your silence, and then pauses. “and please be honest about this.”


John Hamm Performing Arts Series: Andy Harnsberger, The Percussionist

On October 17 the Covenant community had the opportunity to see and hear Andy Harnsberger and his three assistants, Dr. Seabury, Dr. Jones, and Dr. Herring, play some amazing percussion pieces for us. 

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Andy Harnsberger is currently an Associate Professor of Music and Percussion Coordinator at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Dr. Bailey Seabury is currently the Adjunct Instructor of Percussion/Drumline at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Caitlin Jones is an active performer with the Aiken Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Scott Herring is currently the Professor of Percussion at the University of South Carolina. At University of South Carolina, Dr. Herring directs the Percussion ensemble and the Palmetto Pans Steel Band. 

Andy Harnsberger and his trio played “The Traveller” by Gareth Farr, “Dead Reckoning” by Adam Silverman, and “Saragordia Sound” by Benjamin Finley. They also performed other sets such as “Words Unspoken,” “Unbreakable,” and “Vertigo” composed by Andy Harnsberger himself. 

They brought a five-octave marimba to Covenant. Covenant only has a three-octave marimba. They also brought two vibraphones, bongos, a gong, and many other instruments. The marimba was being played with 4 mallets—meaning 2 mallets in each hand. 

In Finley’s song  “Saragordia Sound,” the vibraphone was played with 2 bows that are normally used to play a stringed instrument like a violin or cello. Harnsberger’s written piece “Words Unspoken” was a solo marimba piece. One interesting thing he did as he played was switch out his mallets. It was amazing to watch him do that because it takes so much skill to switch out the type of mallet that you are currently playing with while also playing with two mallets in one hand. In the last song, “Vertigo,” closer to the end of the piece, watching Harnsberger play the marimba was attention grabbing. He played the marimba excellently, but what was so cool is that he was having to reach complete opposite ends of the marimba within seconds, which meant that he was jumping back and forth on stage between those octaves due to how big the marimba was. 

Finally, Dr. Seabury, Dr. Herring, Dr. Jones, and Andy Harnsberger gave an excellent performance for the community as well as showing us that percussion can be played as a solo. Anyone watching surely would have been amazed that four people can come together from different areas of the country and be able to play these songs with little practice time together. 


Hong Kong and Cartoons: Art and Its Influence in the Pro-Democracy Protests

Hong Kong and Cartoons: Art and Its Influence in the Pro-Democracy Protests

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For anyone who has been living under a rock (or on top of a rock I guess), the protests in Hong Kong have now reached their fifth month of continuation. First initiated by opposition to an extradition bill passed in March, these protests have begun to draw international support such as the American Congress’ passing of bills in support of the defense of human rights and liberties in Hong Kong. On June 15, after 13 weeks of protests, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam announced that the government would suspend the bill. 

The protests did not end, however. Many believed that the government had not done enough and a broader democractic regime change movement ensued. As of October 29, these protests show no sign of stopping anytime soon. But how has this movement been able to continue with increasing support?

Very early in the movement’s lifespan, cartoonists quickly began satirizing the extradition bill that Lam’s government had passed. Popular cartoonists such as Badicuao and Zuni released images depicting all sorts of rhetoric in favor of the protestors. 

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Outside of Hong Kong cartoonists, a popular image has taken root within the Hong Kong movement: Pepe the Frog. While the Anti-Defamation League has deemed Pepe as an alt-right image depicting racism and anti-Semitism, he has taken on a new role for the protestors in Hong Kong. In an interview with the New York Times, resident of Hong Kong Emily Yue said, “different countries have very different cultures… symbols and colors that mean something in one culture can mean something completely different in another culture.”

It has also led to the creation of “sticker packs” for use on apps like WhatsApp and Telegram depicting Pepe wearing the garb of protesters.

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Cartoons are a large part of the peaceful protests of Hong Kong. “Shrines” to Lam have been established all throughout the city satirizing her government and the people’s oppression. 

Before the ban on mask usage by Lam and the Hong Kong government, protesters even began to wear masks of Winnie the Pooh and other childhood favorites to further show how they are the innocent group being oppressed by the Communist government. 

While there is no evidence to show that cartoons have encouraged the growth of the protest movement, they are without question a result of state oppression and show the large pro-democratic sentiment within the city. These cartoons have undoubtedly  proved to serve as a free press of sorts filled with anti-government and pro-democratic ideas that are much harder to restrict since they are not mainstream news outlets. 

For more information, see the Associated Press and the Hong Kong Free Press.