La Porte is a haven for thrift and antique stores. There are many small and large stores all across town, and I have found many new outfits and decor pieces that are truly one-of-a-kind.

The first is Goodwill, one of the most widespread thrift and donation centers. Goodwill is a powerhouse when it comes to secondhand clothing. Its competitors such as Plato’s Closet or Depop do not have the coverage that Goodwill does. Goodwill has two main types of stores, the first is the normal thrift store, and the second is the bins or superstore. There are dozens of bins filled to the brim with clothing and other textiles. Clothing is sold by the pound and is much cheaper than going to a regular Goodwill store. Although, when looking in the bins, make sure to wear gloves and be careful, as the clothing is likely dirty and will need to be washed.

The second is Coachman Antique Mall, which has many vendors selling almost everything. From toys, to books, to LP records, to a five-foot-tall Elvis statue, there is something for everyone. The prices are reasonable, especially for real antiques. When looking at antique clothing and textiles, make sure to check washing instructions. Many of these pieces are decades old, and may be fragile, so be sure to check the tags and wash with caution.

When looking for specifically second-hand books, Books And Whimsey is a great place to find them for a reasonable price. When comparing them to an average thrift store, many big thrift companies may not have the book available or not even at all, while Books And Whimsey has a huge selection of options, making it likely to find what is being sought out. I have found many of my favorite books there, and the atmosphere is wonderful. Their hours are Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and then Sunday from 12 a.m. to 8 p.m. 1Finally, a new store that has recently popped up is Hoosier Mama Thrift, which is a small, upscale resell shop with a huge variety of items from clothing to decor. When strolling through downtown, this shop is a great place to check out. The selection is wide, and it is a break from large corporation thrift stores. Hoosier Mama Thrift is open weekends, pop-up hours, and by appointment.

Modern day clothes shopping can be difficult, nothing is the correct size, everything is expensive, and the quality is much lower. When shopping secondhand, it reduces a lot of the environmental impacts of fast fashion as well as reducing the amount of clothing that goes into landfills. In turn, we get one-of-a-kind pieces of clothing that brings light back into the piece.

The Order of the Solar Temple (French: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS), or even just the Solar Temple, is a religious cult and speculated secret society that began in Geneva, Switzerland. It was led by Joseph Di Mambro, with Luc Jouret as a spokesman and second in command in 1984.

This Christian denomination is based in Catholicism and has elements of Rosicrucianism (spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order), Western esotericism (Western form of spirituality that stresses the importance of the individual effort to gain spiritual knowledge), and Neo-Templarism (term describing groups or people who claim to have revived, to be inspired by, or to be descendants of the Knights Templar). Following the dissolution of the Templars by Pope Clement V at the start of the 14th century.

Comparing OST to other cults and secret societies, they are much more ritualistic as a whole, the first being initiation. The "Reception Ceremony" of the Hermetica Fraternitas Templi Universali (the name for the OTS in the English-speaking world), which was the official initiation into the first degree Templi Noviciae, member candidates called aspirants are first given a copy of the oath they will take so they can become familiar with it.

According to Brittanica, the chief officiant then explains the ritual's purpose and tells those present to meditate on the importance of what is about to happen. The members are then brought in, and Gregorian chants are played; the chief officiant asks them if they wish to continue. They are informed that by taking the oath it reaches “beyond human limitation,” and once they take the oath their life will be towards the “path of service, of light, and unity,” and that the member's “field of consciousness will broaden and your scale of values will change, giving the full significance to the notions of honour, loyalty, courage, disciple and effort.” 

Another important OTS ritual was “cosmic coupling” or “cosmic marriage.” Jouret himself was forced by Di Mambro to separate from his wife due to “cosmic incompatibility.” Many married couples were forced to part and then put with other members. A ceremony was performed bonding the “discarnate archetypal forms” of the paired members. 1Also according to Brittanica, the group reached its membership height in January 1989, with 442 members: 187 in Metropolitan France, 90 in Switzerland, 86 in Canada, 53 in Martinique, 16 in the US, and 10 in Spain, from which they gained more than $36,000 in monthly revenue overall. Most members of the OTS had little contact with the leadership, and little or no idea of their violent plans–mass suicides and murder.

The goal of the mass suicides were to “transition” into the next life, by means of death. It was to mean a voluntary departure of the members to another dimension in space or an act of consent to bring the "germ of life" to another planet, yet, the group was said to transit to the star Sirius.  In their view, traitors would be simply murdered, while "weaker" members would be "helped" to transit, and the remaining members considered strong enough would kill themselves. Members believed that, upon death, they would acquire "solar bodies" in a faraway location in space. 

With this, 53 were dead, which is one short of their goal, this is due to the 54 templars who were burned at the state in the 14th century. After the mass murders and suicides, the OST gained even more mainstream coverage, and influenced the anti-cult movement in the United States, which was born as a reaction to the rise of new religious movements (also known as cults; New Religions) in the United States in the early 1970s. 

This cult was also the basis for many conspiracy theories because of the difficulty in explaining many OST events. Overall, it is speculated that zero members remain, and this secret society is one of the past. 1

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a Russian novelist known for books such as Crime and Punishment, White Nights, and Bobok. Numerous literary critics regard him as one of the greatest novelists in world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces. Many of his works explore themes of freedom, loneliness, and responsibility, which all tie into one theme: existentialism.

Existentialism is the philosophical belief that people are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in their lives. Personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice are essential to pursuing self-discovery and determining life's meaning. 

And yet, there are many criticisms; the main being its potential to lead to nihilism (the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.) and a lack of moral grounding due to its emphasis on individual freedom and the rejection of absolute values. The anxiety and despair it can induce by focusing on the inherent meaninglessness of existence. If people do not create a meaning, then is there even a meaning to their lives at all, is anything worth it? 

These ideas all connect back into many of Dostoyevsky’s works, one example in particular being White Nights, a personal favorite of mine. In this story, the main character thinks of himself as a dreamer, yet he suffers from loneliness, and he has made friends with the buildings on the streets. He met a girl and fell in love, while she was waiting for her lover to come home from Moscow. His hopes of real connection and love were shattered, but they stayed friends, he even delivered letters for her to give to her love when he did not come back.

Throughout the story, existentialist ideas are prevalent. The idea of being a dreamer all connect back to personal freedom. When considering personal freedom and literature, Dostoyevsky executes this perfectly. Every time people ask for freedom, they may unknowingly invite loneliness into their lives. Personal freedom is both positive and negative. Too much freedom can easily become a bad thing, but the loneliness many experience is also a bad thing. 

When many view existentialism as just a sad excuse for nihilism, the actual views on existentialism are very different. In a quote from Talking Heads hit song “Once In A Lifetime,” “And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?” This quote is one of the many questions that existentialism brings, and one of the many questions that Dostoyevsky’s literature provokes.

Heaven's Gate was a religious movement and cult founded in 1974 by Bonnie Nettles (Ti) and Marshall Applewhite (Do) in Manzano, New Mexico. This Christian denomination was a “Ufology,” which believes in the extraterrestrial and life outside humans in space. 

This religion is classified both as New Age, which is an eclectic mix of practices that emerged in the 1970s, and combines ideas of chakras, psychological astrology (the result of the cross-fertilisation of the fields of astrology with depth psychology, humanistic psychology, and transpersonal psychology), and neoshamanism (shamanism practiced by Western people without a connection to traditional shamanic societies), and a UFO religion, which, as I mentioned previously, is any religion in which UFOs are an element of belief. The central belief of the group was that followers could transform themselves into immortal extraterrestrial beings by rejecting their human nature, and they would ascend to heaven, referred to as the “Next Level” or “The Evolutionary Level Above Human.” These central beliefs are based on Do and Ti’s idea that they witnessed “endtime” as mentioned in Revelation 11.

According to Heaven's Gate, once the individual has perfected himself through the “process,” there were four methods to enter or “graduate” to the next level. The first is physical pickup onto a TELAH spacecraft and transfer to a next-level body aboard that craft. The second is natural death, accidental death, or death from random violence. Here, the “graduating soul” leaves the human container for a perfected next-level body. Another is, outside persecution that leads to death. Finally, willful exit from the body in a dignified manner. Near the end of Heaven's Gate, Applewhite had a revelation that they might have to abandon their human bodies and achieve the next level as Jesus had done. This occurred when 39 members died by suicide and “graduated.”

According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, “On March 26, 1997, Sheriff's Deputies responded to an anonymous welfare check call at a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe. In all, 39 members of the “Heaven's Gate” cult were found dead.  An investigation by the San Diego County Sheriff's Office determined they all took part in a mass suicide that took place over several days. The Heaven's Gate case remains the largest mass suicide in U.S. history.”

When these suicides were committed, members took phenobarbital (common treatment of epilepsy in developing countries) mixed with applesauce or pudding and washed it down with vodka. After ingesting the mix, they secured plastic bags around their heads to induce asphyxiation. All 39 were dressed in identical black shirts and sweatpants, brand new black-and-white Nike Decades athletic shoes, and armband patches reading "Heaven's Gate Away Team" (one of many instances of the group's use of the terms of Star Trek). 

Each member carried a $5 bill and three quarters in their pockets. According to former members, this was standard for members leaving the home for jobs and “a humorous way to tell us they all had left the planet permanently.” When a member died, a living member would arrange the body by removing the plastic bag from the person's head, followed by posing the body so that it lay neatly in its bed, with faces and torsos covered by a square purple cloth for privacy. 

After the mass suicide in 1997, few members remained. The group was very close-knit, having around 40 members at its peak during Hale-Bopp. This cult was extremely publicized after being shoved into the spotlight due to the mass suicide. Many copycat suicides happened for months after, which is one of the biggest effects of the Heavens Gate cult. Overall, this religious movement had a large aftermath, but it is not as prevalent today.

Physical media was a staple in the past, but now, the purchasing or renting of physical media has become almost nonexistent. Before the internet, physical media was one of the only ways to watch movies, listen to music, and play video games. Places such as Blockbuster, Family Video, and RadioShack were thriving places to rent DVDs and CDs for a weekend when buying them wasn’t necessary or going to the mall to find CDs to find new music. These activities just aren't present anymore due to the internet.

Netflix was founded in 1997, but it didn’t gain mainstream popularity until 2003. Then, in 2006, this marked the true decline of physical media. According to CNBC, “...between 2006 – a year after they peaked—and 2019, US DVD sales declined by 86%.” Again, in 2006, Spotify was created in Stockholm, Sweden. These numbers all correspond to the early 2000s and the rise of the internet. Overall, these all contribute to the decline of physical media across the world. 

The internet and then to an extent, streaming platforms, have directly killed the need for physical media. A similar phenomenon happened when the radio killed the record player. This new invention and its popularity eventually outshined the old. It's similar to a shiny new toy metaphor. When a child gets a shiny new toy, they'll love it to death and forget the old one; this happens until they find a new toy to obsess over. When Spotify was founded, many people flocked to this new way of listening to music because it was shiny, new, and modern. 

These advancements are both good and bad. On one hand, there is no need to have a CD case in the car or stacks of DVDs on the television stand. On the other hand, this lack of physical media eliminates the sense of ownership that actual copies of music and movies cannot provide with streaming.

There is a timeline of music listening. It begins with live music and then to the phonograph, LP records, cassette tapes, and then CDs. Finally, this leads to the iPod, iPhone, and music streaming services. This evolution of music listening directly correlates to the decline of physical media, as the internet became a part of daily life, the need for a physical copy of music was eliminated. 

Now, in the modern day, many Gen Z teenagers are flocking back to CDs, cassettes, and DVDs. Many say it is for nostalgia, but another reason could be the ownership that I mentioned previously. This idea of actually owning a physical copy of music was relevant in the past, and now, with many collecting records and CDs again, this phenomenon could become popular again.

There are 365 days a year, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, and 31,526,000 seconds. Every day, in 30-second intervals, we are shown advertisements and commercials online, and the Super Bowl is one of the biggest days for advertising every year. 

According to Vivvix, “From the opening kickoff to the final whistle, Super Bowl LIV contained 51 minutes, 15 seconds of national commercials, the fourth largest amount in history. The game itself lasted 3 hours, and 30 minutes (including halftime) which means advertising accounted for 24 percent of the broadcast.” The average Super Bowl commercial is about 30 seconds in length, and companies such as Budweiser, Nike, and Dunkin’ dominated the field. With all of this information, it begs the question: Why are the Super Bowl commercials so important?

The first Super Bowl was on January 15, 1957, just four years after colored television was introduced to the public. Fast forward to the 1980s, when commercials are more influential than ever. This turn is due to a sharp increase in viewers, which then led to advertisers flocking to push their advertisements to the Super Bowl. In a quote from Hollywood Branded, “One of the most iconic ads of this era was Apple’s “1984” commercial, which aired during Super Bowl XVIII in 1984. Directed by Ridley Scott, the ad introduced the Apple Macintosh computer and positioned it as a revolutionary tool that would break the monotony of conformity. The ad was so impactful that it only aired once during the Super Bowl.” This advertisement, as well as many others from this decade, showed how profitable and influential these advertisements were. 

Continuing into the ‘90s and the 2000s, social media was growing more popular every day. Advertisements were not just made to show a product; they were made to go viral. This tactic is still used in marketing today. Many businesses use relatability to try and relate more to the consumer, then leading to higher chances of virality. The 2000s marked the time when the Super Bowl was not just for football but for commercials as well.

With viewership growing every year and past effectiveness leading to an incentive to advertise at the Super Bowl, this 30-second ad space grew more and more expensive. The cost of a 30-second ad during the first Super Bowl was about $37,500 (roughly $300,000 in today’s dollars). Now, Super Bowl commercials are costing upwards of eight million dollars just to have the advertisement played. This does not take into consideration the cost of writing, producing, filming, editing, and putting out a commercial. This is a huge investment for most businesses, but in turn, many gain profit. 

Super Bowl LIX had an average audience of 127.7 million viewers at a time, this wide margin of viewers means that more people will see these commercials when considering virality and sharing, which will then lead to more and more viewers. Overall, the Super Bowl is a nationwide event that draws viewers in yearly, but many only watch these commercials, and there is a good reason why.

Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, and I’m wearing a gas mask. When considering holiday songs, many immediately think of Christmas or even Halloween, not Valentine’s Day. Even if many songs aren’t about St. Valentine, many love songs still capture this holiday’s contagious spirit.

To begin with a favorite of mine, “My Valentine” by Paul McCartney. This song is from his 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom, which continues to be a popular track from his discography. This song uses strategic rhyming throughout and is poetic, and with the quiet finger-picked acoustic guitar and string orchestra; it presents itself as a charming love song perfect for Valentine’s Day.

My next tune is another favorite, and yet there are no lyrics. “My Funny Valentine” is a jazz standard that has been covered and remastered many times, but the Miles Davis version is my personal favorite. This song, as mentioned previously, is an instrumental jazz chart that features a beautiful muted trumpet solo that carries through the song while the piano ad-libs till the solo later in the chart. This chart is romantic without putting it into words and is a great song for Valentine's.

Continuing with jazz charts, my next song is “It’s Always You,” which is one of Chet Baker’s many vocal tracks. While Baker is notorious for his trumpet playing, his vocal albums have beautiful melodies that are easily outside his instrumentation. This song, as well as many others off of the album Chet Baker Sings, are some of the most gorgeous love songs that are truly timeless. This album was released in 1956, and many of these songs are still played today. One in particular is “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” one of his most popular songs. Overall, Baker’s discography has many songs that are fitting for Valentine’s; I think this one has to be my favorite.

My final jazz tune for this playlist is “It’s Been A Long, Long Time” by Henry James and Kitty Kallen. This tune begins with a big band but quickly transitions into the notorious trumpet solo that is synonymous with this chart. Kitty Kallen’s vocals bring even more emotions into this song, and it truly makes it one of a kind. This song, in particular, has been a favorite of mine for years, and it will continue to be in the future. 

Moving away from jazz, “Crawling After You,” written and produced by Bass Drum Of Death in 2013, is an indie song about unrequited love. While it may not be a traditional love song, it is perfect for a Valentine's night in, watching bad rom-coms and making pasta. This song combines elements of indie rock and alternative with an almost shoegaze tone in the guitar and bass. This band and all of their songs are criminally underrated, in my opinion, and could be a great addition to the indie rock greats among The Strokes, Pavement, and Dinosaur Jr.

My final song on this playlist is “Breakfast In America” by Supertramp. This song is not a traditional love song, but a great one nonetheless. From the album of the same name, this song was released in 1979, and was an absolute hit along with, “The Logical Song.” “Breakfast In America” has the iconic synth sound of the 1980s while still having strong rock roots. This song was later sampled by Gym Class Heros, “Cupids Chokehold,” which is another indie rock song perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Valentine's is undeniably a day of love, but whether celebrating with friends, family, or a lover, these songs are perfect for this lovely holiday, or any time of year.

Local music is everywhere, and some are harder to find than others. Many local venues aren’t headlining newspapers, and many events, while they are posted, are not getting as much digital traction as they could.

Our local Civic Auditorium has many events that I have been to and recommend to anyone interested in more live music. Coming up in the next months is Marshall Charloff & The Purple xPeRieNCE, which is a Prince tribute band that is back by popular demand. This event is on February 21, and balcony tickets are $20, and doors open at 6 p.m. Another Civic Auditorium event is a Knotfest Tribute featuring The Subliminal Verses. This event is jam-packed with five different metal tribute bands from Ghost to Slipknot, and it will be an all-ages show with general admission tickets at $15 and doors opening at 5 p.m. 

My favorite local venue is LangLab in South Bend, and there are almost daily events from open mics to 10 in Two, which is 10 bands in two hours. The next big event is on February 8 with Katy Needs A Life, Tigershark Don’t Quit, and Rebel Noir. It is $10 to get in and doors open at 7:30 and music begins at 8. The next festival at LangLab is the South Bend Zine Fest on April 26. This event celebrates small press and self-publishing of art.  This event is free from 12:00  to 6:00, and the afterparty begins at 6:00 and is $10 to get in.

An event that is a bit father but is worth it is Brooklynn Charmers: The Music of Steely Dan on February 15 from 6:30 to 10:30. This band is an amazing and talented tribute to Steely Dan. This event is at Robert’s Westside in Forest Park, which is just west of Chicago. General Admission tickets are $20. This beautiful venue has a great atmosphere and this tribute will definitely be worth the commute.

Despite the great weather, it is still winter, so many bands are not doing as much due to the cold, but live music is still all over and is a great way to spend an evening or a weekend. These upcoming performances are easy to miss, so be sure to get tickets early if possible, but at the door is an option for most live shows if they are not sold out.