Sasha Arijanto – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Sat, 01 Dec 2012 01:10:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Sasha Arijanto – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 The Stanford Lifestyle https://stanforddaily.com/2012/11/09/the-stanford-lifestyle/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/11/09/the-stanford-lifestyle/#respond Fri, 09 Nov 2012 08:35:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1072855 In our pessimistic, postmodern times, change feels confined to Obama posters and Beyoncé videos. But true change has taken over Intermission, and what was once your beloved “Arts and Entertainment section” now proudly hosts all things cultural di Stanford. That’s right, we’ve gone Lifestyle.

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In our pessimistic, postmodern times, change feels confined to Obama posters and Beyoncé videos. But true change has taken over Intermission, and what was once your beloved “Arts and Entertainment section” now proudly hosts all things cultural di Stanford. That’s right, we’ve gone Lifestyle.

Baffled ye may be, but those deceitful claims that “Stanford has no culture” will be annulled faster than Kim’s marriage. We’re keeping our critic caps on with film and music reviews, but we’re amping up our Stanford coverage, looking at what Stanford’s doing. Not just student performers and artists, but professors, visitors and our neighbors down Palm Drive.

“But we already have a lifestyle section. It’s called sports,” you say. At such a thought we throw our hashtag #LOLs! So far we’ve added profiles of student groups, the Fresh Set –a feature of notable Stanfordians, like student DJ Wiley Webb— and our pages boast two regular sex columns (but we’re looking for more perspectives, if you know what we mean). And this issue premieres two more installments that hold the mirror up to Stanford.

The first, Tattoo Tales will feature one student’s tattoo and all the inky details. This week, Charlotte Camacho gets the scoop on Tom Mallon’s track-inspired tat. The second, Scene at Stanford, marks the beginning of our visual exhibition of Stanford people and culture.

We’ve assembled a master team of student photographers with lenses poised to shoot residents of our fair Farm. We hope to highlight the vibrant aesthetics of students pedaling fixies down Santa Theresa and plucking violins in the CoHo. So buff those wing-tips and practice your pucker, because, when post-apocalyptic Pangeans discover The Daily Archives, will you want Stanford to only be remembered for its clutch athletics and blasé sweatpants?

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Big Ride: Rivalry Done Right https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/21/big-ride-rivalry-done-right/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/21/big-ride-rivalry-done-right/#comments Sun, 21 Oct 2012 07:30:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1072083 On a campus where taste and dignity are confined to closed-door fundraisers and alumni mixers (we like to imagine), the Stanford Equestrian Team continued its reign as the most dignified host of refinery with its first Big Ride.

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On a campus where taste and dignity are confined to closed-door fundraisers and alumni mixers (we like to imagine), the Stanford Equestrian Team continued its reign as the most dignified host of refinery with its first Big Ride. A more civil nod to the Big Game (Go Card! Or whatever), the Big Ride marries the Stanford team and that of those Bears across the Bay, if only for a day of fundraising and good sport.Big Ride: Rivalry Done Right

Don’t expect hot dogs or foam fingers at this sporting event, though. Students of a more manicured affectation delighted in a showing of horses at Stanford’s hidden gem the Red Barn, tucked cozily between fairways and tennis courts. Prepared bites and Hermes accessories decorated the main arena’s flanks, as visitors donated to their team of choice.  The low-key afternoon replaced the Red Barn Festival, the team’s all-out soiree of fundraising and equestrian spectacle, for the fall at least.

Big Ride: Rivalry Done Right
Sasha Arijanto/The Stanford Daily

So is it the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic of Stanford? Not quite, but it’ll keep our glasses full until we don brimmed hats for Derby Days.

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8 Indicators You Should Work For Intermission https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/01/1071260/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/01/1071260/#respond Mon, 01 Oct 2012 10:00:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071260 Have you ever felt like a plastic bag? Not even the one in “American Beauty?” Well you might suffer from physical displacement, or you might find your other plastic bag friends over at The Daily offices with Intermission in our bastion of cultural self medicationg. The following are indicators that the later is your diagnosis.

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8 Indicators You Should Work For IntermissionHave you ever felt like a plastic bag? Not even the one in “American Beauty?” Well you might suffer from physical displacement, or you might find your other plastic bag friends over at The Daily offices with Intermission in our bastion of cultural self-medicating. The following are indicators that the later is your diagnosis.

Someone once told you what you wrote was good.  And/or laughed, giggled, smiled, gasped or grew outraged by your penned point. While we don’t work for external validation, if other people like your artistic product and you remembered it, we’d like to talk. Bring your scented resume and tastefully thick business card. Romalian type. Moms, friends and creepy professors count, but if it came from someone without incentive or personal connection, we are really feelin’ it.

 

You consider watching television, seeing movies, listening to jams and peeping Instagram research.  “We go to Stanford, we’re always busy,” says the studious premed buried in p-sets and gross that’s already enough! We get you, you uncultured yahoos, but our breed of Intermission beasts make the time for our daily doses of cultural high. There are serious structural elements to plot and character that you can only learn by watching “Breaking Bad” episode to episode.

 

You’ve considered a pixie cut.  The boldness of your deliberation over pixie cut versus long layers but your ultimate reasonableness to hide amongst the crowd promises a levelheaded brazen aesthete whose intellectual sap we’d like to tap. Tap like sap, not like, “I’d tap that.”

 

You could recognize who Scott Schuman, Anna Dello Russo, Liandra Medine and Jane Aldridge (optional) are … by their aliases!! Okay, even if you don’t keep up on The Sartorialist clickin’ pics of ADR and The Man Repeller, or the portraits on Sea of Shoes, we can teach you that stuff! It’s more your appreciation that signals your place at home in the layout Batcave of The Daily.

 

You think @kimkierkegaardashian is the greatest thing since Goldman Sachs Elevator.  “Did you guys like the season finale of Keeping Up With The Kardashians??? My whole life is an epigram calculated to make people aware.” If the intertext of Catholic existential philosophy and hyperreal exposé tele-persona under the visage of social media really gets your funny bone bouncing, Intermission’s the place for you! Especially if you also indulge in flagitiously delicious tweets of overpaid suits, we’ll take it! RKOI can count too.

8 Indicators You Should Work For Intermission
Courtesy of Twitter


Grammatical errors, fashion faux pas, cinematic travesties piss you off in a verbally or visually prolific way.  Have you noticed we don’t use Oxford commas (AP BAY–BY). Think the tracking shot is tired? Is it him and me, not him and I? Grab your reporter’s notebook and come with us.

 

“WATCH: Drew Barrymore Tries Fashion Photography With Charlotte Gainsbourg” —  that headline caught your attention.  Social media, required. Intended exposure to popular news a plus.

 

You know who really said, “To thine own self be true.” Not only that, but you also appreciate the adaptive prowess of “Clueless” and the socio-political commentary it makes on the follies of youth and the game of courtship.

 

If at least one of the above (or the pixie cut one + another) describes you, email Intermission@stanforddaily.com to join your brethren.

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Culture Found: PAIFF https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/01/culture-found-paiff/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/01/culture-found-paiff/#respond Mon, 01 Oct 2012 07:32:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071268 People who complain that Stanford has no culture don’t look in the right places. They may misguidedly pander their misery to the sympathetic ears of partygoers and pedantic hipsters who count fraternities, athletic wear and Will Ferrell among their pins on a “Loathe” board. The merry seeker of cultural-delight finds, instead, steadies himself with the […]

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Culture Found: PAIFF
CLAIRE FRYKMAN/The Stanford Daily

People who complain that Stanford has no culture don’t look in the right

places. They may misguidedly pander their misery to the sympathetic ears of partygoers and pedantic hipsters who count fraternities, athletic wear and Will Ferrell among their pins on a “Loathe” board.

The merry seeker of cultural-delight finds, instead, steadies himself with the periodical planks of pop-up events, most recently the Palo Alto International Film Festival. Intermission’s mouth watered at the promise of free screenings, Pixar exclusives and food trucks, but the kick of the films in that traditional film-fest bent we had almost overlooked warmed our wanting hearts the most.

We started the weekend on Thursday at the premiere of Pixar’s digital Short … in 3D! The 1950s black-and-white “Paperman” stole our hearts before we could lose it watching the remastered-in-3-D Hitchcock classic “Dial M for Murder,” and yes, Grace Kelly pops even more with that final dimension. We sprinkled in some documentaries, shorts, Curry Up Now and even cried when Omar Sy of “The Intouchables” couldn’t make his scheduled talk, but it was “Renga,” the video game under the guise of a movie that really held our attention.

They said, it was a movie. It was really a video game on a big screen, manipulated live and played by the entire audience with lasers — yeah, like laser pointers — pointed at the screen. The audience worked together (but mostly in loud verbal conflict) to gather quads to build a ship while not getting destroyed? Something like that.

Shouting, laser light shows and even a sassy Hal-esque bot made for a surprisingly engaged half-hour of big screen game play. Dropping in at the fest between meetings and homework (and Endless Summer), festivalgoers to PAIFF can rest assured that culture is for the determined of mind.

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Lunice, Show Stealer https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/28/1071191/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/28/1071191/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:59:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071191 At 330 Ritch in the bowels of San Francisco, Rockie Fresh was set to play. After half a dozen emcees tried their hand at the mike with varying degrees of blunder, the audience was not having it. For a 7:30 ticket time, by 10:20 the energy was like a roaring Stanford crowd at a Cardinal ping-pong tournament. And then, Lunice took the stage.

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At 330 Ritch in the bowels of San Francisco, Rockie Fresh was set to play. After half a dozen emcees tried their hand at the mike with varying degrees of blunder, the audience was not having it. For a 7:30 ticket time, by 10:20 the energy was like a roaring Stanford crowd at a Cardinal ping-pong tournament. And then, Lunice took the stage.

A dorky black kid with his shirt buttoned up (all the way) and backpack strapped on, looking like some pre-politician from UVA, Lunice’s unassuming air and cheeks-wide grin felt almost twee in contrast with the almost hostilely impatient SF skater/rap crowd. Lunice Fermin Pierre II (we can’t believe that’s his real name either!) hails from Montreal, and his pack of beat-making utensils was enough to crush the crowd in less than three minutes.

It’s a scene from almost every Disney underdog movie (aren’t they all?): geeky outsider acts out some weird pre-performance routine, cut to skeptical crowd, give him a sec and everyone is abashedly impressed. (It’s also a scene from “Britain’s Got Talent.” See: Susan Boyle.) Such a ritual ensued, as Lunice oddly crossed his heart several times and looked to the sky in prayer set to some Gregorian chant sound-alike. Then, with swift and rapid taps of his fingers, he harnessed the crowd with some truly mad beatz.

BEATZ.

In the mix were 2 Chainz’s “No Lie” and Trae Tha Truth’s “Fighting Words” and “I Don’t Like.” For that last one, Lunice flew the stage and moshed with the crowd. I was texting my mommy one second, dancing with the artist the next. His almost hour-long set, all as an opener to the headlining Rockie Fresh mind you, closed near 11 p.m., when the hype men practically ushered him off stage.

His last track, which mixed Waka’s “Fuck the Club Up” over electric beats, exemplified what Lunice does best: re-crafting hefty rap songs with beeps and boops to straddle the line between hipster chic and raw hip-hop.

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Hey, Freshmen! ‘For a Good Time, Call…” https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/18/hey-freshmen-for-a-good-time-call/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/18/hey-freshmen-for-a-good-time-call/#respond Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:31:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1070695 When you freshmen realize the Stanford Calling Center is really just pimping you out, maybe you, too, will have the sense or the entrepreneurial spirit to start your own phone sex line out of Larkin or wherever else it is you live. Write a script about it with your roommate and you’ll be the next Katie Anne Naylon.

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Hey, Freshmen! 'For a Good Time, Call..."
Courtesy of Focus Features

When you freshmen realize the Stanford Calling Center is really just pimping you out, maybe you, too, will have the sense or the entrepreneurial spirit to start your own phone sex line out of Larkin or wherever else it is you live. Write a script about it with your roommate and you’ll be the next Katie Anne Naylon. Naylon, who ran the sex line 1-800-FSUTITS out of her Florida State dorm room, called her script “For A Good Time, Call…” and it finds an unlikely roommate pairing, Katie and Lauren, operating a phone sex line from their New York citadel when hilarity ensues.

 

In the semi-autobiographical comedy—perhaps the best comedy of the summer and at least the greatest comedy about working girls since “9 to 5”—Katie’s part is played by Ari Graynor, whose inebriated performance in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” caught the eye of co-writer, co-star and real life FSU roomie Lauren Anne Miller. Intermission was lucky enough to speak with the two riotous comediennes about this hearty pro-chicks but not chick-flick flick.

 

Here, Intermission interprets Graynor and Miller’ reflections on the film as lessons for freshmen.

 

It’s freshman year: plan all you want but save perfection for the senior one

Lauren Anne Miller (LAM): What’s great about comedies is finding something in them, finding what’s funny, and we do that through improv. So a lot of these comedies have these takes where it’s long and going on and on and on and they can find all these funny jokes, but we did not have that luxury [shooting in only 16 days] and had to spend a lot of time ahead of time working on things…. We didn’t get more than three takes most of the time. We had to be tight with it…as soon as something felt good we moved on.

Ari Graynor (AG): We wouldn’t have it any other way, but we just wouldn’t do it that way again [laughs].

Hey, Freshmen! 'For a Good Time, Call..."
Courtesy of Focus Features

 

Good things come from different roommates

LAM: The most autobiographical portion of the story is the dynamic between Katie and Lauren. Katie and I were very different people and we met in college. We were a random roommate match, and she would make fun of me because I would ask where the recycling was, and Katie is Katie and lots of jokes and lots of talking and whatever. So we weren’t the obvious best friends right from the very beginning. The movie is in no way this phone sex documentary or the real true story of Katie running her own line. It’s the backdrop to a story about friendship and two girls figuring out who they are as individuals together.

AG: All of the phone sex calls and the men’s coverage—that was improvised. Kevin Smith, Seth Rogen and a lot of Justin Long’s stuff was almost completely improvised. We sort of found this balance between this dynamic that Lauren and I had worked on before we got to set, trying to keep that in line and certainly let there be room for discovery. But in terms of the script, it was more about letting the other people go off the rail more.

 

Lose yourself, but find yourself too.

AG: I think every character that I play has been an extension of myself. I recently read a quote, I forget from who, saying that rather than lose yourself in a character, try to find yourself in a character. There’s a lot of Katie’s spirit that I love and appreciate and think that I have…presenting myself with a certain amount of confidence but really having that mask a lot of insecurity…and at the same time my general life vibe is really different from Katie…The script that the real Lauren and Katie had written was so smart and so clearly drawn that it was easy to fall into the world that they had written.

 

And explore your sexuality (and the SHPRC)

AG: I think there were some by-products that while we were working on [“For a Good Time, Call…”] were certainly not the focus, but we want to put in there that it’s important to own your sexuality and to embrace that part of yourself as a means to better get to know yourself. By opening yourself up to someone else, you also get to know yourself better.

 

Sasha lived in Larkin as a freshman and can be reached at 1-800-LSJUTIT.

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‘Looper’ Journey in Time and Genre https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/looper-journey-in-time-and-genre/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/looper-journey-in-time-and-genre/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:29:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1070679 From what might certainly be one of the best-spliced trailers of 2012/the summer/all time, moviegoers might expect from director Rian Johnson’s latest, “Looper,” a mind-bending, time-traveling bounty hunt wherein a Bruce Willis version of a main character aims to kill a Joseph Gordon-Levitt version of said main character (or vice versa?). Mix in some Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, club scenes and dub-step, and the stage of cinematic expectations has been set.

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'Looper' Journey in Time and Genre
Courtesy of Sony Pictures

From what might certainly be one of the best-spliced trailers of 2012/the summer/all time, moviegoers might expect from director Rian Johnson’s latest, “Looper,” a mind-bending, time-traveling bounty hunt wherein a Bruce Willis version of a main character aims to kill a Joseph Gordon-Levitt version of said main character (or vice versa?). Mix in some Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, club scenes and dub-step, and the stage of cinematic expectations has been set.

Indeed, the viewer would expect the action slash sci-fi slash existential mindfuck that the “Looper” trailer would imply, and she would happily see what presents itself as a quality but stock film we could contently stack near our “Bourne,” “Inception” and “Drive” DVDs.

But just as with a disappearing act, we watch it anyway, for the sake of the illusion, for the craftsmanship. And it’s because we know what we can expect that we find ourselves delightfully unsettled by the routine the magician suspends before us. In the case of “Looper,” Rian Johnson has managed to wave the cloth of magical time travel over genre-bending sci-fi fixtures to produce a maturely novel version of a story old as Eden.

In the nearish future of 2044 (just around this writer’s 30th Stanford reunion), a young Joe (Gordon-Levitt) stacks his silver by killing future bodies thrown back in time by the mob. There’s not much hunting; thanks to the time-transcending technology, Joe spends the assassination portion of his Looper life pointing a never-failing blunderbuss at his marks like a kid knocking off bull’s-eyed ducks at the county fair. With a Bazooka. Little more than fish in a barrel until events conspire to place old Joe (Willis) before young Joe’s blunderbuss, and the hunt is set into motion.

'Looper' Journey in Time and Genre
Courtesy of Sony Pictures

The film’s unexpected plot—rightfully unspoiled by that trailer and this writer—lays it on thick, and the neat yet complex story wraps itself in a surprisingly uplifting package. Gordon-Levitt, that chameleon boy-wonder, slips into Joe, a morally ambiguous but ultimately likable anti-hero, in a way that has us wondering if our beloved JGL was in the film at all—and not just because he looks strikingly like Bruce Willis.

Johnson credits Gordon-Levitt’s eerily apt performance of a young Old Joe to his mimetic study of an older Willis, using “Sin City” rather than the first “Die Hard.” Guarding himself from the audience like his character from his pursuers, Bruce Willis strikes his balance between dramatist and action star. The result is two Joes, the same character(s) separated by time and life experiences, who play different because they are, even if they aren’t.

'Looper' Journey in Time and Genre
Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Emily Blunt, one of three women—all strong, independent and more or less disposable—gives an adequate but forgettable performance, which speaks more to the film’s story than to Blunt’s ability. Blunt’s Sarah echoes Johnson’s writing, which draws women faithful to their form but confined to a singular angle. The women, all unequivocally good, stand starkly against the men, who as Gordon-Levitt describes are neither good nor bad. Indeed, the viewer relishes that queasy uncertainty of who we ought root for.

Johnson’s treatment of action thankfully mirrors that of time travel; “Looper” is “a movie that uses time travel, but it’s not about time travel,” Johnson says. What creeps into the critical mind for movies like “Shutter Island,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and even the anointed “Inception”—the need for an explanation of technical details we know are not real or possible or sanely reasonable but distract and frustrate us anyway—flutter away in the case of “Looper.” Johnson’s “Looper,” he claims, has a rule that a vigilant viewer could construct despite the deliberate lack of a chalkboard scene that explains the mechanics of time travel. But we don’t care. We willingly suspend our disbelief to accept the magic of “Looper” because we want to be fooled, just this once. And it is perhaps the ambiguity, the impossibility of the space-time continuum that imbues a sense of faith into…no spoilers!

But even with great acting, a fresh story and some stunning visuals, the real prestige of Johnson’s magical display is the deftness with which he gets around somewhat tired themes in a carousel of genres each taking the stage, passing through the projector’s light without drawing attention way from those other dazzling pieces. As in “Brick” and “The Brothers Bloom,” archetypal genres mix together in a smooth pastiche of film noir, spaghetti Western, sci-fi and mob movie in such a way that has us wondering not why it hasn’t been done before—it has—but why these genres aren’t all the same anyway.

And in that way each genre complements the next, airs out their differences and injects life into what very well may have been an uninspiring script under the thumb of any other director.

At the heart of “Looper” is a philosophical question cheapened by ambitious blockbusters and belabored by effete art films. Instantly appealing and unrelenting in its ability to conjure genuine contemplation, introspection and—gasp!—moral consideration, “Looper” will win our thumbs up and settle in to our deep places of film favorites.

 

Young Sasha is a current junior but wrestles with her old self over the merits of CS versus journalism classes.

 

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‘DREDD,’ or How to Survive Freshman Year https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/dredd-or-how-to-survive-freshman-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/dredd-or-how-to-survive-freshman-year/#respond Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:23:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1070686 It’s freshman year: you may (likely) fail a test. Give thanks that the curve, and not a field test with Judge Dredd, will determine your final grade.

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'DREDD,' or How to Survive Freshman Year
Courtesy of MCT

It’s freshman year: you may (likely) fail a test. Give thanks that the curve, and not a field test with Judge Dredd, will determine your final grade.

 

In this year’s “Dredd,” a remake of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone charger, a freshman judge named Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby, “Juno”) eludes failure  with her psychic ability (Go to office hours) and earns a field test with Judge Dredd, the future’s brand of judge, jury, cop, detective, bounty hunter and on-the-spot executioner. A Rambo among badasses, Dredd patrols a mega-city with his psychic pupil when a routine criminal cleanup lands the pair in the lap of a drug queen-pin whose penchant for violence and control over her crew smack of the Stanford Prison Experiment (Do some psych studies).

 

Lena Headey plays this ex-hooker drug lady, Ma-Ma, with a heart of coal and a hatefulness equal in kind but greater in degree than her role as Cersei Lannister on HBO’s hit show “Game of Thrones.” Ma-Ma’s death grip over the 200-story residence/drug ring known as Peach Trees will have even the thickest of audience members recoiling in squeamish empathy (Stay on your RF’s good side). Karl Urban carries Judge Dredd with only his forceful voice, for nothing but his chops show, a feat rightfully impressive if only because Olivia Thirlby’s complex female lead convincingly plays off a character whose eyes—window to the soul, mind you!—are never seen. “Dredd” sets aside modest expectations for kill-or-be-killed action bangers in favor of a story tight with suspense and payoffs complemented rather than compensated for by its indulgent use of violence and comedic timing.

Indeed, “Dredd” is no pic for the faint of heart, or for the bitter mind. Those who are sick of routine dystopian justice flicks that flop around on screen like imitation crab stunned to life with a defibrillator will be pleased to find a crisply violent action melee whose inventive techniques for making spectacles of death and pain are rivaled only by its creative display of digital graphics.

In a sea of overdone “Avengers” types and never-ending action series, “Dredd” offers a refreshing spread of high-tech bloodbaths sprinkled with a welcome dash of irreverence.

 

Sasha Arijanto was a freshman once, when she was Judge’d by Chem 31A. Her psychic ability didn’t help.

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Reviews: Angus Stone and ‘Broken Brights’ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/reviews-angus-stone-and-broken-brights/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/17/reviews-angus-stone-and-broken-brights/#respond Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:16:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1070688 Stanfordians come in three ages: students, sketchy grad students and professors. Until we re-enter the real world for vacations and trips into SF, we almost forget about the younger crowd, confined to high schools by day, swarming concert houses by night.   Such was the case last Wednesday night, when Slim’s was doused with teeny-bopping […]

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Reviews: Angus Stone and 'Broken Brights'
Courtesy of Nettwerk Music Group

Stanfordians come in three ages: students, sketchy grad students and professors. Until we re-enter the real world for vacations and trips into SF, we almost forget about the younger crowd, confined to high schools by day, swarming concert houses by night.

 

Such was the case last Wednesday night, when Slim’s was doused with teeny-bopping jailbait and Bieber-coiffed riffraff at Angus Stone’s San Francisco stop. The Aussie singer-songwriter and one half of Angus and Julia Stone found himself amid a sea of chilled-out hipsters and starry-eyed youngsters, swaying softly to his rubbery voice and saccharine lyrics. But we were thankful for the youth, if only because their infatuation with Stone inspired élan in an otherwise zestless crowd.

 

Cooing titles off his debut solo album, “Broken Brights,” Stone’s mouth dribbled such mellifluous nothings, one might expect a cartoon robin to fly right out and gift pearls to the crowd, who were so bewitched by the dulcet sounds from the stage they might have been petrified. On a stage lined with about a dozen guitars in different shapes and degrees, a second singer sounded of Bob Dylan, while a leftward guitarist feigned Bryan Callen in a Janis Joplin wig. The setting was sublime.

 

Above the Mission crowd, the ragged-looking singer met the expectations of a modest but satisfied following. After returning for his encore, Stone closed with a track a little funky, a tad groovy and not too far from the tunes one would imagine jamming to in the days when the Mission made a name for itself.

 

The perfect soundtrack for gloomy Caltrain rides, “Broken Brights” will get some play in hushed library rooms as we wave goodbye to summer and lament our younger years.

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Makers’ Remarks: JGL and Rian Johnson on ‘Looper’ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/16/makers-remarks-jgl-and-rian-johnson-on-looper/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/09/16/makers-remarks-jgl-and-rian-johnson-on-looper/#respond Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:00:17 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1070699 In “Looper,” this year’s dose of existential quandary set to science fiction aesthetics, Rian Johnson (“Brick,” “The Brothers Bloom”) directs Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one version of Joe, an assassin who finds himself marked to kill or be killed by his older self, played by Bruce Willis. Intermission was lucky enough to pick the brains of director Rian Johnson and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Here the two reflect on just a sampling of the questions “Looper” raises.

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Makers' Remarks: JGL and Rian Johnson on 'Looper'
Courtesy of Sony Pictures

In “Looper,” this year’s dose of existential quandary set to science fiction aesthetics, Rian Johnson (“Brick,” “The Brothers Bloom”) directs Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one version of Joe, an assassin who finds himself marked to kill or be killed by his older self, played by Bruce Willis. The multi-faceted experiment in genre tackles themes as multifarious as the corners of the human psyche, and Intermission was lucky enough to pick the brains of director Rian Johnson and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Here the two reflect on just a sampling of the questions “Looper” raises.

 

On moral ambiguity

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL): Joe’s not a hero; he’s sort of a lost soul and low on the totem poll making his money. I like that about him, that at the center of an action movie is not a particularly admirable guy.

There aren’t really good guys and bad guys in “Looper,” and I like that ‘cause I think in real life there aren’t really good guys and bad guys. Even though it can be fun in a movie to root for the heroes and the villains, in real life I don’t think anyone is black and white; everyone’s some shade of gray, and I think it’s particularly intriguing to cast Bruce in that light. We’re used to seeing him as a hero, and everyone thinks that they’re doing the right thing. And I love that because that’s how human beings really operate.

 

On identity and self-suppression

JGL: I studied [Bruce Willis] and watched his movies and ripped the audio off of his movies so I could listen on repeat. He even recorded some of my voiceover monologues and sent me the recordings so I could hear what they would sound like in his voice. Letting it seep in is a really fascinating way to create a character and become somebody else. That’s always my favorite thing, is to transform, become somebody else, and if I watch a movie and I see a moment that reminds me of myself I always feel that I messed that up. I want to see somebody different. The premise of “Looper” really poses a unique challenge in that way, and I had to really transform. “Looper” is the most transformative of any movie I’ve ever done.

 

On challenging

JGL: [Rian] really is one of my dearest friends in the world. So to get to work with someone that’s your friend like that is rare, and a pleasure. It just makes it fun.

Obviously there’s differences between “Brick” and this one. [“Looper”] is a much bigger-scale movie, and he and I have both grown and done a lot of other things. But I think the similarities are more striking than the differences. Even though this is a big action sci-fi movie, we still were just making something we thought would be cool. There was never any desire to cater the story to commercial market research nonsense. And that’s a real testament to him, that he just tells the story that he wants to tell because he would want to. He never talks down to his audience. Speaking of Chris [Nolan, director of the recent Batman trilogy], that’s something they have in common, Rian and Chris. They never talk down to their audience and they’re never afraid to challenge their audience, and I think that’s a big part of why people love Chris’s movies and a big part of why people will love “Looper.”

 

On time travel

JGL: It’s pretty simple, the time travel in “Looper.” It’s a movie that uses time travel, but it’s not about time travel. And I like that. Most of my favorite sci-fi is that way. It can be fun to watch the sci-fi movies that are more about the shiny objects, but I think the best sci-fi for me is the stuff that uses it as a springboard to get at the really basic human questions.

Makers' Remarks: JGL and Rian Johnson on 'Looper'
Courtesy of Sony Pictures

A lot like “The Dark Knight Rises” is a drama—it’s a superhero movie but it’s ultimately a drama—“Looper” too is a sci-fi movie but it’s ultimately a drama. It’s about what you would say to your future self if you could have that conversation. And obviously that can’t happen in real life, so Rian uses the genre of sci-fi and the device of time travel to dramatize that question. That’s really its place, and beyond that it really gets out of the way.

 

Rian Johnson (RJ): The model I really looked to was “Terminator.” Especially the first—that movie is so deft with its use of time travel it’s easy to forget it’s a time travel movie, and that’s a great example of how time travel lights the fuse and then steps back. The situation time travel has created is what drives the film until the end.

I’m a big sci-fi fan myself. I’m a big time travel nerd; I love time travel movies. I didn’t want to use those marching orders to myself as an excuse to be lazy with the time travel element of it. I did spend quite a bit of time coming up with what my rules were for how the universe dealt with time travel paradoxes and what the particular logic of this was gonna be and coming up with a system that was very—I cant say it makes sense; no time travel movie makes sense if you look hard enough at it—but that was a consistent set of rules that we stuck to for it. And then it was a matter of disciplining myself to not explain those rules but to just show the effects of them.

My hope is that even though we don’t have a chalkboard scene where we describe the rules for 20 minutes, my hope is that if you’re really into that you can take a look into the cause and effect, take a look at how it plays out, and reverse engineer and realize there is a net underneath these of a thought-out system. “

 

On inspiration

RJ: There’s nothing I can point to with the directness the way that [author Dashiell] Hammett was to “Brick.” When I wrote that short, it was right when I discovered Philip K. Dick and I was in the middle of blowing through all of his books. My head was kind of steamed in that. Also, in a general sense, Bradbury for me, as the master of that thing that I love the most about sci-fi—where it uses a concept like this, it uses this kind of magical construct of this phony technology of time travel to amplify a very human emotion or very human theme to get to something that’s going to leave you crying at the end of it.

One movie I studied that I owe more to this movie than to any science fiction is “Witness” with Harrison Ford. That movie is just masterful the way it keeps the tension up even when they get to the farm. I studied and diagrammed that script and tried to figure out how they did it.

 

On the future

RJ: There’s no cushion, there’s no middle class—you either have your stack of silver or it’s straight to the bottom of dangerous destitution.”

JGL: That’s that endless cycle that the movie’s describing. If everyone just looks out for themselves you sort of get this perpetual loop, everyone pointing fingers and everyone blaming each other and everyone killing each other, and it takes an act of selflessness to break that.

 

 

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Sash Angeles: Admit it https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/16/sash-angeles-admit-it/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/16/sash-angeles-admit-it/#comments Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:59:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1069744 Since the beginning of summer, I have intended to write an article on what I call the Stanford Perception Syndrome: an effect I’ve observed that occurs when people treat Stanford students/alumni according to a preconceived notion of them. Sometimes--thankfully, usually--this has positive consequences, like assuming a level of capability or know-how. But sometimes it feels challenging, almost hostile, and sometimes--not to go all Gretchen Wieners-levels of “Sorry I’m popular” and fall into a crowd of un-extended arms--it feels bitter.

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Sash Angeles: Admit it
Courtesy of Stanford Photo

Since the beginning of summer, I have intended to write an article on what I call the Stanford Perception Syndrome: an effect I’ve observed that occurs when people treat Stanford students/alumni according to a preconceived notion of them. Sometimes–thankfully, usually–this has positive consequences, like assuming a level of capability or know-how. But sometimes it feels challenging, almost hostile, and sometimes–not to go all Gretchen Wieners-levels of “Sorry I’m popular” and fall into a crowd of un-extended arms–it feels bitter. This previously planned article would have been aptly timed and relevant, given recent experiences as an intern, in the workforce and the rest. But instead of writing an article about other people and how they treat me (us), I’ve decided instead to write about me (us), and how we got this way.

 

They might call the flip side of the Stanford Perception Syndrome the Stanford Duck Syndrome–when you’re freaking out below the surface but calm as Bugs Bunny up top. That’s one half of it. From any NSO meeting you’ll surely find professors, deans and parents assuring the newly official Stanford students that they’ve got something great, that it wasn’t an admissions mistake and that they’re one of the lucky ones. Hurrah!

 

Funny, isn’t it, how NSO is all reassurance that each student deserves to be there, but Admit Weekend is all about being so proud and so confident for getting in? So what changed between the sales pitch and handing over the keys? Why the switch from “You’re the best, we’re the best, Stanford’s the best!” to “Don’t worry, Little Lotte, and don’t rustle those feathers”?

 

It makes sense, at least to me, a delicate fuzzy scorned by parents and belittled by engineers, that we Stanford students ride a wave of highs and lows, elated at our admission then bashed to humility by the accomplishments of our peers, and made guilty by those who fall by the wayside.

 

A few weeks ago I misguidedly read an article on the Washington Post Social Reader whose title, “Why getting into Harvard is no longer an honor,” seemed sure to stoke the cross-coast rivalry that broils within me. Nope. Instead, education columnist Jay Mathews introduced and published an anonymous letter complaining about the college admissions process. Aside from unjustified conclusions about admissions criteria and assumptions about accepted students, the article suffered from a lack of meaningful argument or any analysis that could hold across the higher education spectrum. As I finished this frustrating missive, I scanned the comments hoping to find a word from a fellow Stanford student (I did; it was good). Not just any school or even an Ivy League, but a Stanfordian–it’s as if only we understand.

 

We as Stanford students have to constantly navigate this space between defending ourselves against those who challenge what our admission means and believing in ourselves enough to survive the stresses of our institution’s/parents’/own expectations, all while managing to maintain some modicum of humility. Surely some people picture us standing around in rugby shirts laughing at the 93 percent of rejected students while sloshing whiskey around in a racket club. Our Stanford admission is a tricky beast.

 

We aren’t allowed to feel like we deserve it. No more than anyone else, anyway. Maybe we worked for it, earned it, achieved it, but we don’t deserve it. So what do we do with an admission we have to rise up to but can’t champion?

 

I propose, without dipping too deep into sentimentalism, that we shouldn’t treat our admission like a thing. Our admission isn’t a validation of our intelligence or initiation into some boys’ club of elites. It’s not a talisman of achievement; we do not hang it on a wall to tell the world of our adequacy–maybe we display a diploma, but even such flimsy totems as a diploma mean little when propped up against the possibility our admission provides.

 

We should treat our admission as a chance, a challenge to prove ourselves. Because we as Stanford students are constantly tested, constantly asked to prove why we deserve our diploma, if not our admission, and we must excel beyond getting in by making something out of the education we got when we made it through Montag Hall.

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Sash Angeles: A look at brand loyalty https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/09/sash-angeles-a-look-at-brand-loyalty/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/09/sash-angeles-a-look-at-brand-loyalty/#respond Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:59:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1069503 The world of progressive, meat-eating Southerners was rocked weeks ago when our beloved--anointed, even--Chick-fil-A announced its horribly backwards stance on gay marriage (it’s against it). Not only is this a blow because of the general anti-free-love vibes which are just harshing my mellow, but also because I love Chick-fil-A. I mean, I want to boycott the restaurant, but it’s just so good. (But is it too good?) This is no new conundrum; people have been conflicted with whether to buy or boycott since the less-than-glamorous Boston Tea Party--though we’d like to believe that that self-inflicted embargo was because of the subjugation of India and not high tea prices.

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Sash Angeles: A look at brand loyalty
Courtesy of MCT

The world of progressive, meat-eating Southerners was rocked weeks ago when our beloved–anointed, even–Chick-fil-A announced its horribly backwards stance on gay marriage (it’s against it). Not only is this a blow because of the general anti-free-love vibes which are just harshing my mellow, but also because I love Chick-fil-A. I mean, I want to boycott the restaurant, but it’s just so good. (But is it too good?) This is no new conundrum; people have been conflicted with whether to buy or boycott since the less-than-glamorous Boston Tea Party–though we’d like to believe that that self-inflicted embargo was because of the subjugation of India and not high tea prices. (Get it, high tea?)

 

So how do we anguished aesthetes grapple with such a seemingly inextricable net of political incorrectness, desire, brand-image, taste and pressure from our social networks? Well, friends, free yourself of this inner turmoil with some tips on how to deal when your favorite brands forget social corporate responsibility, back the wrong political party or just plain screw up.

 

Put it out of your mind

The most basic and probably most used tactic of the woeful consumer: ignorance. It’s not for real! These peeps just feign it, don’t talk about it and politely dismiss it like a mother looking past her eldest son’s growing cocaine addiction. Confronting the fact that Louis Vuitton doesn’t actually make its bags by hand, that they’re in fact made mostly by machine, makes that label markup hit harder. This one’s easier when the corporate crime is more chill (like being unfairly priced) and harder when it’s something evil (like ignoring sexual assault).

 

Rationalize

Like a next step in the Twelve, this one allows you to still indulge in the forbidden fruit of a fallen company, but with the mental backing of some justified rationale. You might cringe, for example, to learn that Target gave money to support a candidate against gay marriage–but hey, they probably supported him for other reasons, too, right? One issue can’t be the only thing. And boycotting only hurts those nice ladies at the register with long nails and two mortgages. They need me to buy fairly priced generic-brand over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. I have friends who have worked there.

 

Conscientious objector

This one is a deep rationalization. A conscientious objector does not abstain but instead partakes in the fun, and copes by projecting some morally correct scheme onto the consumption. I will not deny myself (entirely) the tender-fried-goodness of Chick-fil-A upon my nearing pilgrimage back to the South, not because I support not supporting the union of gay people–I do support their union–but because I will create change from within! I will fill out cards, send emails, comment on FB statuses. And it’s not for naught.

 

Think about it. If there were no conscientious objectors, the world would be totally bereft of sweet uniformed-kisses photos and the tales of gay Marine fathers that both break the mold and inspire. That’s not only a shame; it’s a disservice (no pun intended). If all those strong gay LGBT men and women just said “up yours” to the Army, the Boy Scouts, the football teams and all the other downers out there and packed it up for theater camp, we’d have no change at all. And that’s worse than slow, painful, no-chicken change.

 

Find a similar substitute

Naaahh.

 

Rally behind the ones that are great

It’s a struggle that every well-meaning hypocrite faces: I hate when companies use their corporate power to support political/social agendas I don’t like, but I am all for it when it’s a good one. So total bummer about Wal-Mart, Chick-fil-A and Boy Scouts of America, but on the flip side, think about how great Apple, Google and Microsoft–which all support equal rights–are every time you make a call or listen to iTunes. Heck, just watch Ellen and feel good about it!

 

Boycott them completely

For only the most hardcore of principled people, the boycott is an option, though often ineffective and saddening. Sometimes you’ve got to do it; sometimes it makes no difference–like my refusal to listen to any Chris Brown song, even though my literally quiet defiance of a frat house iPod will affect no one. Sometimes it’s an excuse to not like something you already think is gross but for other, less social reasons. This photo was enough for me to hate all things Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy.

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Sash Angeles: The 2012 #Olympics – A meta media analysis https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/02/sash-angeles-the-2012-olympics-a-meta-media-analysis/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/08/02/sash-angeles-the-2012-olympics-a-meta-media-analysis/#respond Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:01:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1069216 You know that feeling when you’re watching “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and you really just want Kim and Kourt to apologize to Khloe, by far the funniest and most verbally abused one in the family, but that little part of you creepily hopes Kim will leave her a scathing voicemail, just to keep the tension soaring? That’s just like watching the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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Sash Angeles: The 2012 #Olympics - A meta media analysis
Courtesy of MCT

You know that feeling when you’re watching “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and you really just want Kim and Kourt to apologize to Khloe, by far the funniest and most verbally abused one in the family, but that little part of you creepily hopes Kim will leave her a scathing voicemail, just to keep the tension soaring? That’s just like watching the 2012 London Olympic Games.

 

It all started when that Greek triple jumper, Voula Papachristou, posted that racist tweet and was given the boot, apparently without so much as an email from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) before or after an official press release.

 

The IOC has a bunch of social media rules, but that hasn’t kept the Twitter community at bay. With only five days behind us, there have already been at least two viral hashtag uprisings, two athletes kicked out, a fan arrested and a (wo)mano a (wo)mano feud–not to mention that irate campaign against broadcast monopolist NBC when the streaming went awry–all over Twitter. They’re starting to call it the Social Media Olympics. And just as we waited for the day that scandal would fracture the seemingly impregnable RobSten (pun intended), so too do we await the eruption that is the ticking time bomb of the 2012 Olympics.

 

This is what makes all the press coverage of the Social Media Olympics so absurd. The Olympics are not just a sporting event; they’re apparently a magical summer solstice by which the hallowed rings of ancient Olympia touch down onto our terra firma, suspending all global alliances, unathleticism, broadband service and, above all, sense of propriety. This is not a sporting event; it’s a spectacle. So if you don’t want to see Kim call Khloe a fat bitch and you think that the Olympic athletes should shut up and just stick the landing, you clearly don’t understand the genre.

 

Yeah, you might cheer for a gladiator, but you’re really watching to see a lion bite off a torso. Now, in our civilized society, we want social pariahs and public intra-national rivalries. This is what we watch for. We want to see athletes as enemies–Michael Phelps giving Ryan Lochte a loaded, evil grin, or a huge women’s gymnastics upset. We want to see the photo of that sad South Korean fencer fighting because a timer got reset. And we want Usain Bolt to be pissed–even just a little–that he got beat out by none other than his own teammate, Yohan Blake. And if not that, at least for him to stop trying to say they aren’t nemeses in a Professor Xavier/Magneto used-to-play-for-the-same-team-but-are-now-enemies-unless-the-battle-is-against-everyone-else way. And here, “everyone else” should mean the Bolt/Yohan trash talking, victory dancing against all those other measly runners–but instead they’re taking it out on us! The loyal, cable-provider-paying fans who just want to see a good show!

 

Because, news flash to the athletes, the IOC, NBC, etc.–this is what makes the Olympics happen! Yeah, we watch for sports, but these idolized, sensationalized celebrathletes are what make it an event. It’s what pays the bills, gets an over $14 billion budget for London to lay a track down and blocks programming across NBC for an entire week. So stop complaining and play your characters! If we wanted silent athletes with no mouths and no glory, we would have watched jai alai or competitive backgammon.

 

Even reaching back to the ancient Greek Olympics, excitement was all in the subtle dramas of the nations. For the Olympic Games, countries would call a truce so that their players could journey to the games without fear of ambush, and the winners were considered heroes in their homelands. These bragging rights are what make all those McDonald’s commercials worthwhile (not the P&G mom one though–that one gets us every time). And the way America managed to make it American to root for both the hegemonic champion (Phelps) and the semi-underdog (Lochte) in just one event is a PR/athletic gold medal right there.

 

So keep doing what you’re doing, Olympic athletes! Win races, pump iron and get yourself involved in a tweeting scandal or announce your virginity. Or better yet–both.

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Sash Angeles: Perspectives on violence in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/26/sash-angeles-perspectives-on-violence-in-the-dark-knight-rises/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/26/sash-angeles-perspectives-on-violence-in-the-dark-knight-rises/#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:01:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1069053 Media voices have been quick to defend "The Dark Knight Rises," a violent action movie based on a comic book, against blame for having influenced or caused this senseless massacre. And though in the end, the film truly can’t be blamed for recent events, the relationship between the shooting and the violence depicted in the film certainly needs to be examined.

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With the very real death of “The Dark Knight” star Heath Ledger, the Batman movie franchise was destined to find itself at the center of speculation and controversy linking fictional content to real life consequences. Unfortunately for the films and for the victims of a shooting in Aurora, Colo., the line between fantasy and reality blurred again as a gunman opened fire on a crowded theater of buzzing fans at a midnight screening of the third and final installment of the Nolan Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

 

Sources report that gunman James Holmes told authorities he “was the Joker,” and the suspect “had died his hair like the Joker,” the fictional villain of the trilogy’s second piece. With a military-style AR-15 assault rife, a shotgun and two handguns, the article reports, Holmes committed the massacre after months of planning in a fashion not dissimilar to the Joker’s senseless assaults on Gotham City.

 

The media has pounced on the shooting from all angles, with full pages dedicated to the event, the victims and the effect on “The Dark Knight Rises.” Media voices have been quick to defend the film, a violent action movie based on a comic book, against blame for having influenced or caused this senseless massacre. And though in the end, the film truly can’t be blamed for recent events, the relationship between the shooting and the violence depicted in the film certainly needs to be examined.

 

The film takes a hard-line stance against violence and organized crime, particularly weapons dealing and acts of terrorism. But as the principal character straddles his roles of hero and vigilante criminal, and as virtually all media consumers continually glorify the Joker, perhaps the movie’s anti-violence message falls on deaf ears. The films’ overarching attitude against crime and violence recedes in the frames of cinematographically grand visuals.

 

What’s more–and this is no fault of the audience–the movie takes an often-ambivalent approach to portraying violence. In this third installment, mercenaries (the bad guys) wear costumes reminiscent of media portrayals of Middle Eastern militants; they don khaki cargo pants and military vests, strap huge bullets to themselves and tote chunky weaponry suitable for guerillas. They are even swathed in scarves with scruff and suntanned skin as if they have been roughing it in a desert, despite the snowy setting of the film and the mercenaries’ access to resources. Google “Iraqi militant” and you’ll basically find the Gotham mercenary, only with a pulled-down headscarf. Watching this, one cannot help but consider the thinly veiled association of these bad guys with depictions of Middle Eastern “rebels,” the American media version of comic-book bad guys.

 

By contrast, the police officers wear navy caps and uniforms, pristine and complete despite having lived in a cave for three months. Not a scratch or stain mars the look of the American “hero.” They courageously wield civilized pistols against brute force.

 

The film may not be outwardly pro-violence or racist, but leaning on these stereotypes to conjure a sense of fear and antagonism towards these “foreign” mercenaries invading Gotham City is not only simplistic profiling, but poor storytelling. Even out of the context of the violent shooting, these stereotypical tropes of good and evil contribute to a subtle form of ideologizing not unlike the racist and sexist ideas Disney princess movies have suffered criticism for.

 

But beyond even this perhaps esoteric reading of the film, and regardless of my personal opinion of the movie, even an uncritical viewer will notice the militarization of Gotham City–a central tenet of the plot–as an all-too-real parallel to events that have occurred in America and American-occupied states, though this is perhaps out of the mind of most of the film’s audience. Even if Batman saves the day and the film’s point is to stamp out the evils that cause these wars, the victory the audience savors is not the moment a mayor reveals an honorary statue or bestows a military medal. They cheer and clap when big guns fire and missiles explode like Fourth-of-July fireworks and heat-seeking missiles in enemy territory. Violence that plays on stereotypes and big bangs is easier to digest than a lofty moral message against that violence that entertains so engagingly.

 

The fact that we as a society are entertained by watching events of suffering speaks volumes about the state of our country. But good art, like Nolan’s films, holds a mirror up to nature, and unfortunately our nature is one that has grown increasingly obsessed with violence.

 

I saw “Rises” at 12:15 a.m. Friday and didn’t sleep for two days. Of course there are the “What if there had been a shooting in my theater?” thoughts, the concerns for Coloradan friends I have, the simple sadness for the lives taken and mourning families and bystanders. But even after all the criticism I could hurl at the violence depicted in “Rises,” the way that the media and even fans have drawn conclusions that a movie could cause someone to do this is both immature and offensive. In Christopher Nolan’s official statement on the shooting, the director laments that someone would “violate” such an “innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way.” And just so, those who accuse a film, a piece of literature that at most reflects our society, of creating a massacre, violate the sanctity of the theater.

 

What happened in that theater was truly a tragedy, but we are blind to blame our societal problems on the creative stuff of Hollywood.

 

Yes, we should turn a critical eye to our gun laws and our entertainment. But, no, “The Dark Knight Rises” cannot be blamed for the violence caused by a killer. This is not a time for blame or accusation, but for mourning and reflection. And perhaps audiences absorbing the film’s grandiose violence will consider the troubling stems in reality.

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Sash Angeles: Why ‘The Dark Knight’ isn’t that good https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/19/sash-angeles-why-the-dark-knight-isnt-that-good/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/19/sash-angeles-why-the-dark-knight-isnt-that-good/#comments Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:00:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068879 Fine. I don’t like “The Dark Knight.” In fact, I will say that I hate “The Dark Knight,” if only because everyone else is so utterly, blindly and unquestioningly in love with “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan and matte black that I just can’t take it anymore. I’m coming out of my reticent party corner to dispel these ridiculous misconceptions of what could and should have been the greatest movie of our time, and why it spiraled so delicately into a pile of simply written dialogue and morally lofty set pieces.

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Sash Angeles: Why 'The Dark Knight' isn't that good
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

I was recently caught off-guard this past Saturday night when, in the middle of talking to a guy–not un-cute, I might add for my own vanity–he suddenly stopped with a look of epiphany mixed with suspicious disgust in just the right ratio that I may have mistaken it for awkward flirting. Until he asked, with such a look, “Are you the girl who doesn’t like ‘The Dark Knight?’” So, what, this is now a stigma to describe me by? A marker of my cultural pariah status?

 

Fine. I don’t like “The Dark Knight.” In fact, I will say that I hate “The Dark Knight,” if only because everyone else is so utterly, blindly and unquestioningly in love with “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan and matte black that I just can’t take it anymore. I’m coming out of my reticent party corner to dispel these ridiculous misconceptions of what could and should have been the greatest movie of our time, and why it spiraled so delicately into a pile of simply written dialogue and morally lofty set pieces.

 

So here it is: a list of the three reasons why “The Dark Knight” just isn’t that great–not to prove a point or administer a tirade against the lionized film, but because I seriously wonder if people are that bad at movies or if they’re willfully blinding themselves to the creaky screws of the “Dark Knight” machinery…

 

Sash Angeles: Why 'The Dark Knight' isn't that good
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Joker

We’ll start here because it’s most obvious that if there’s anything good about this movie, it’s the Joker. From his eerily dapper digs to Heath Ledger’s lip-licking utterances, the Joker is the perfect villain…just not a comic-book villain. But why is he such a devil without a cause? Oh yeah, there’s no reason.

 

Over the course of the Batman franchise history, the Joker has had several backstories, the most prevalent of which has him as an aspiring comedian who quits his engineering gig only to tumble into a brew of nuclear waste. With his pregnant wife and unborn baby dead–household accident, whodathunk?–the deformed goon goes all the way to loony land. Now, isn’t that satisfying?

 

Our beloved “Dark Knight” Joker has no interesting backstory, and that was on purpose. Chris Nolan and company elided the Joker’s origin story so that the character would be presented as “absolute.” Pure, irrational evil, however, is only relevant during a horror movie or a biblical tale. What makes a character interesting is the tale of how they came to be (“Batman Begins,” anyone?) and the inner conflict the audience experiences upon realizing that there is no good and evil but only motivations and desires, of which the Joker has none. Even Regina George had depth.

 

Hell, that’s the whole appeal of Bruce Wayne/Batman; he’s a spoiled rich kid in a corrupted city who can’t decide whether to use his resources to buttress the failing law or just take it over himself. Dil-emm-a!

 

I’d almost forgive the mindlessness of the Joker’s craziness, but Nolan decides to limply create dimension by having the Joker spout a few contradicting little “daddy killed mommy” backstories that occur too infrequently to paint the portrait of a conniving or delusional mastermind. Maybe the other origin stories got relayed to the deleted scenes.

 

Moral dilemmas…?

While we appreciate the magnitude and gravity of most comic-book tests of strength, we’d prefer them without a simplified moral conundrum to oh-my-gosh complicate our heroes’ paths. The first of these comes as a delightful love-triangle trolley dilemma as Batman must choose his true love, Rachel Dawes, or the one district attorney who can maybe save Gotham City, Harvey Dent. The one he loves or the potential many Dent could save? Holy heart failure, Batman! I smell a deontology/utilitarianism mist wafting over this one! And don’t forget that Dawes doesn’t love Bruce and she’s about to marry Dent.

 

Now that we’ve added that whole jealous almost-lover bent in there, Nolan can cue the dramatic and visually striking death device that is…Dent and Dawes strapped to chairs in anonymous warehouses full of tin drums. Tin drums!? Man, how will Batman ever make a decision?

 

Points for sure because Bruce goes to save Dawes, hinting at a shred of preserved humanity. But minus double for the fact that the Joker–what a prankster, that one–actually told Batman and the entire Gotham City PD that Rachel was where Harvey really was and vice versa, like a sneaky game of Go Fish.

 

Perhaps the only more tired homily than the Dent-Dawes bit is the two-boats-in-a-harbor dilemma that gets audience participation. Will the boat of morally upright citizens blow away the certainly morally destitute convicts lest they all be bombed to smithereens? Not if that one extra-tough convict has anything to say about it! Points for playing on racial stereotypes by having the big black guy be the only level-headed one? Hell no…it’s as if Nolan et al. are ridiculing themselves with the tropes on tropes on not-tropes.

 

Also, if you’re going to have something so absurd, could at least one of those Titanics of innocents have exploded? The everyone-gets-saved grab bag is so deus ex machina that even “The Amazing Spider-Man” doesn’t deal that.

 

Genre drifting

The greatest failure in straying from the comic-book genre is that “The Dark Knight” has a ton of visually pleasing, perhaps even mentally probing scenes, but it doesn’t do anything. At the end there is a great live-action storyboard with panes of editing, sets, shots, but no story. Which is just part of the reason why I have little hope for “The Dark Knight Rises.”

 

I’m sure that the majority of responses to this rant will be along the lines of “You don’t like it because everyone likes it!” And to that I say, yeah, a little bit, but not entirely. I really, desperately want to love “The Dark Knight.” Because the only thing worse than liking something everyone else hates (Lana Del Rey) is not liking something everyone else is obsessed with.

 

Perhaps it’s not the fault of the movie, but the hype machine that is the Internet has blown a cloud of smoke so thick over this mirror that I fear audiences everywhere will be blinded for decades. This movie has had people everywhere from Facebook friends to respected journalists touting it as the messiah of our cinematic century. And now “The Dark Knight Rises” has been grandfathered into this anointed franchise, with publications ladling ridiculous praises like “potent, persuasive and hypnotic, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has us at is mercy.” Really, L.A. Times? I wasn’t aware this film has a corporeal perfume.

 

What’s worst is that when you ask these disciples what it is about the movie they love so much, they first scoff at the fact that you don’t feel the same way, as if loving “The Dark Knight” is as essential as breathing oxygen or showing a U.S. passport at the Tijuana border. Then they try to convince you of how “epic,” “amazing” and “bad-ass” it is.

 

And so no, I don’t have much hope for “The Dark Knight Rises.”

 

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Sash Angeles: Market Research https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/12/sash-angeles-market-research/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/12/sash-angeles-market-research/#respond Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:59:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068669 Stanford is the only school I ever wanted to go to--before I knew it was hard to get in to, before I knew it was even a good school. I just thought it was cute. Like most things in life, I was attracted to the packaging. Call me shallow but it worked out, amirite?

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Sash Angeles: Market Research
SASHA ARIJANTO/The Stanford Daily

Stanford is the only school I ever wanted to go to–before I knew it was hard to get in to, before I knew it was even a good school. I just thought it was cute. Like most things in life, I was attracted to the packaging. Call me shallow but it worked out, amirite?

 

I have this theory that unless you’re in a market, it’s really hard to gauge the pragmatic dynamics within it. For me one of these foreign markets is alcohol. You see, I don’t drink, and I’ve realized only in recent months I may never fully understand the brand value of most alcoholic beverages. I thought Smirnoff was good but apparently it’s the Pontiac of vodka. I was fooled by all the “Mad Men” integrations. This isn’t terribly sad, save for the reality that when my friend Paco says Delta Dude* is the Popov of fraternities, I have to phone a friend or Google it to decipher any meaning.

 

But markets don’t exclusively refer to products. Take, for example, the popularity matrix of a grade above or below you in school. You can try to use heuristics like friend groups and attractiveness to determine the relationships and/or hierarchy, but it doesn’t always work. In high school that phenomenon helped out a kid in my year named Tom, who, though awkward and dweebish to most of my grade, was empirically fit and so was desired by many a younger lady and even the occasional lad.

 

And yet the most pressing example of this phenomenon, the faulty advertising, is what occurs when I try to understand schools other than Stanford.

 

Sash Angeles: Market Research
SASHA ARIJANTO/The Stanford Daily

Because I never wanted to go anywhere else, I never really considered what it would be like to go there, the one exception being that when I pictured myself at Yale, I was always wearing a constricting blue V-neck with accent-white stripe and giant Y, sometimes in reverse colors, seated Indian-style in a crowded college at the feet of Ludacris and an anonymous white male moderator while we all threw our heads back in laughter and sipped tea from fine china. This fantasy/expectation is the direct result of a Yale tour group in which the guide described a recent visit from Luda to a “tea party” which he concluded by saying, and I quote, “Ludacris loves Yale.” This savory admissions nugget would go on to be my mother’s key ammunition to try to convince me to go to Yale. If nothing else, let that seemingly tangential anecdote illustrate how easily distorted are the workings of university marketing. Aha! Aristotelian I am!

 

Now, being away from Stanford and in the thick of things at UCLA’s unofficial campus, Westwood, combined with the fact that I’m an Alabama native and know only Alabama (good) and Auburn (evil), I’m confronted with the difficulty of understanding anything about other universities. Not just the prestige, but actually how good the schools are, how smart their students are, how much respect they command from employers and whether or not their students are known for depression-tier stress levels during finals (MIT) or their parents’ George-W.-tier religious beliefs and contracted maids (Pepperdine).

 

Applying my conceptions of brands in other markets often helps, because a blacked-out M6 is so the Batman of cars, right? But the obvious ones for this scholastic conundrum–Hogwarts houses–only go so far. I used to think Ravenclaw, the house of smart, sharp-tongued students, would be Yale; the amiable dorks of Hufflepuff would be Brown (dork equals indie in these, our modern times) and Dartmouth, with Slytherin being the Princetons and Columbias of the world. But if that leaves Harvard as Gryffindor–good alumni and PR–what does that make Stanford? Obviously different than all of those, and by most standards better. It’s not really fitting.

 

I suppose that’s the other side of the coin of the blessing it is to go to Stanford: that, for at least the four to five years I’m here, it’s the only thing I’ll know. Which is fine by me, because if Stanford is the “Harry Potter” of young-adult-targeted, adult-adopted book series, then Cal is so “Twilight.”

 

*Fraternity names have been changed.

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America: The land of the free (refills) https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/05/america-the-land-of-the-free-refills/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/05/america-the-land-of-the-free-refills/#respond Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:55:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068442 If you’ve been keeping up with “The Newsroom,” passed by a newsstand or even filled up your tank in the last six to eight years, you know that America has had its share of missteps. Sometimes we may even feel that the only thing we’ve got going for us is our extensive value menus and our can-do attitude, but we also have another policy in this great nation of ours: When it’s your birthday, you get a free pass.

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America: The land of the free (refills)
Courtesy of MCT

If you’ve been keeping up with “The Newsroom,” passed by a newsstand or even filled up your tank in the last six to eight years, you know that America has had its share of missteps. Sometimes we may even feel that the only thing we’ve got going for us is our extensive value menus and our can-do attitude, but we also have another policy in this great nation of ours: When it’s your birthday, you get a free pass.

 

Why is the Fourth of July different from all other days? On this day we truly love America. So in case your memory has faded or you’re foreign to the wonders of this oft-woeful country, remember this: free refills.

 

Yes, Europe may have a slightly better exchange rate, less gun violence and no sales tax, but we have free refills so that when you order your Coke for $1.50, you know that’s all you’ll pay to not see the bottom of your plastic cup until all the hot wings are finished. The constantly flowing high fructose corn syrup may seem a triviality, but when the heat is hot and you’ve got a date to impress at the local barbecue, that stream of ice-cold comfort is all you’ve got. And that’s America.

 

This country is almost always there for you, but sometimes it’s not. We were raised to think America was all apple pie and handjobs, and we got to college and realized how messed up this country can be. I don’t need to rattle off statistics to make the point that when you dreamed of being president as a kindergartener, you probably weren’t thinking about the fact that when you finally turned 18, your vote wouldn’t even count that much anyway. Sometimes the Coke is flat.

 

But they’ll keep bringing it as long as you’ll keep drinking. And that’s America. There’s always room for improvement in this great country of ours, as with many things. And if Advanced Placement U.S. History taught you anything, it’s that the only thing we can do about this country is change it. And we can, and we will. As sure as the sight of that topped-off, buzzy Cola marching towards our table, we can change America.

 

America: The land of the free (refills)
Courtesy of MCT

Excuse me, that first-person plural implied that we are all cut of the red-white-and blue, star-spangled and stripe-sodden cloth. Perhaps you were raised that America was just bland, the enemy or the jock in the locker room who thinks he can tape your buns together with no punishment. Indeed America is all of those, but your internationality grants you no exemption. “I let my haters be my motivators,” as America always says.

 

What makes this night different from all another nights? We are not black. We are not white. We are American. We are not Christians or Jews, not Sikhs or FSMers. We are only American. We are not Republicans or Democrats, we are not fiscally conservative and socially liberal. We are Americans. We are not even Stanford students. We are Americans.

 

And so what if you can see the Great Wall of China from space? Don’t forget who put the first man there (America). So swallow up, señors, and enjoy another one from the tap.

 

Sasha Arijanto ’14 is an American Studies major, which either makes her extremely qualified to write this article, or journalistically unethical.

 

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Turning Facebook stalking into an art form https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/05/turning-facebook-stalking-into-an-art-form/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/07/05/turning-facebook-stalking-into-an-art-form/#respond Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:30:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068435 Between sketchy housemates and sorority sisters, my Facebook-stalking skills have become as finely tuned as those of the CIA. Too bad my penchant for pot-stirring cancels out any secret-finding ability with secret-telling. Perhaps investigative journalism will make a nice compromise, but that’s a different article. So, have you ever Facebook-stalked anyone?

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Between sketchy housemates and sorority sisters, my Facebook-stalking skills have become as finely tuned as those of the CIA. Too bad my penchant for pot-stirring cancels out any secret-finding ability with secret-telling. Perhaps investigative journalism will make a nice compromise, but that’s a different article. So, have you ever Facebook-stalked anyone?

 

I have, but I still fact-check every detail I find. I imagine that if I ever realized I was interested in the same sex, I would still double-check during a date, too, just to make sure. “Wait, wait…you’re a lesbian, right? Okay, cool, that’s totally what I thought, just makin’ sure.” I would ask then for the same reason I ask now, and it’s not simply for the sake of fact-checking. I’m scared of rejection, and of not knowing what to say. Yes, we all are, but none of us admit it.

 

It’s almost impossible to effectively introduce things these days if you’re not the host of an awards show or a corporate bro making the rounds, which is why FB stalking can take the edge off things–you’ll already know exactly what to talk about.

 

Today, I’ll be trying to introduce you not only to this article, but to this little regular piece I’ll be writing, a column if you will, because the only thing worse than making introductions is when people go ranting off to you without stating their existence. So here it is.

 

I am Sasha and I will on occasion write this column to you, faithful (existent?) reader. I am presently residing in Sash Angeles (what they call Los Angeles when I’m in town) and am soon moving to join my FroSo roommate and our fellow Larkin lover to live in Westwood. Actually, I am incrementally moving there because, by some clown-car trick, I managed to fit more in my Murray dorm room than I can manage to fit into my SUV in two trips. But a couple days ago, I was lucky enough to exchange awkward introductions with my neighbor, the hottie.

 

My introduction with Hot Neighbor was awkward, yes, but what I lacked in charisma due to personality-stunting medication, he made up for in plucked grins and Nordic bone structure. Palms clammed, pulses quickened, hearts swooned (all mine). And, of course, Facebook stalking ensued. And what did I discover of Hot Neighbor? He’s a model.

 

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given that this is L.A., where models roam the streets looking for billboard opportunities like post-apocalyptic zombies search for human brains. Plus he’s just really hot. But there goes any hope of this being a summer sex column and me being the next Carrie Bradshaw. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder…

 

So that’s my introduction to you. Just one girl in the big city, moving to pretty-close-to-Bel-Air-but-still-quite-modest. Also, did I mention that I pay my own rent? With money that I earned myself? Seriously, someone get me an introsem to teach.

 

Sasha started her writing career with notes under the pen name “Mom.” She did not live in FroSoCo, but the term “FroSo roommate” is more succinct than “roommate from freshman and sophomore year.” Make your introductions with her at sasha.arijanto@stanford.edu.

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I Love This City: By the minute https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/27/i-love-this-city-by-the-minute/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/27/i-love-this-city-by-the-minute/#respond Mon, 28 May 2012 02:29:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1067564 As the sun dropped in the distance this weekend of May 25 and 26, so too did the beat at Live Nation’s I Love This City festival featuring a slew of electronic musicians who rocked three stages of Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre.

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As the sun dropped in the distance this weekend of May 25 and 26, so too did the beat at Live Nation’s I Love This City festival featuring a slew of electronic musicians who rocked three stages of Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre. Into the masses of +16s decked out on furry leggings and minimal clothing, Intermission sent Sasha Arijanto to explore the laser lights and pulsing bass with only a cell phone, fanny pack and photographer. This is her diary of that fateful journey.

6:01 I’m late to pick up Maddy who will be photographing the night’s show. We aren’t quite sure what to wear to this. I’ve heard it’s rave-y, but I can’t tell if that means rally or straight crazy. We test out the waters in semi-rally, fit for perhaps a Volleyball game but not quite for Band Run. I use the drive to wonder what this will be like. I think the only thing that makes outdoor concerts any different must be that you can smoke outside and sit on the ground, and it doesn’t even seem that different from a Stanford party, except that you don’t have to be squished up next to people like Ellis island immigrants or worry about creepers asking to dance.

6:25 Maddy and I meander down to the Main Stage, where a long-haired Asian man in sweet skeleton pants works a beat to a half-full stadium. The half bowl extends high up into a lawn like a roman coliseum, which separates the classes with the most daring in the heat of a pit before a man I deduce to be Steve Aoki. We find a place to stand and groove for a moment before a gaggle of girls grabs us to take their photo. One girl in cheetah print lingerie discovers we’re covering the show for The Stanford Daily and confesses she just graduated from Cal. “Go Bears!” she screams into my face and admits her whole family attended Cal.

I wonder what went wrong. She starts to ask me about how hard it is to get classes and I am caught off-guard, trying to understand the appeal of Steve Aoki, Chewbacca-in-the-making, and this chick’s inquiring about the difficulty of getting into a seminar. Then I get it. She sprays into my face “You have to understand that you go to a private school and it’s a blessing.” Who knew the epiphany I’d find in an EDM concert would be about the luck of Stanford. I’ll take it!

It’s hard to take her seriously with the acrylic silver face paint suggesting her sexy-cat/bunny/cheetah-ness distracting me; I wonder how healthy that is and if she’ll die of clogged pores like that Bond girl. But I can feel her sincerity, and I do feel blessed for my sweet education and for the divine press-passes that let me meet this Cal girl with Tree-envy.

7:03 Main Stage. After chucking two bottles of water into the crowd, Aoki comes to Champagne shower, to the beat, the entire crowd. It’s just like a post-rush party. This isn’t so strange.

7:24 We venture to the Bass Stage for Crystal method. It’s what it sounds like. Lots of bass. There are food trucks, though, which is cool if only for novelty.

7:35 Park Stage, literally a parking lot, where less than 50 drugged-out hipsters sway around to Holy Ghost! with no inhibitions. This is strange.

7:58 Duck Sauce will be taking the stage, and concert workers are throwing out plastic duck bills to the crowd. These, like masks, are strapped to the face. The crowd suddenly becomes ducks, like some post-Bird Flu-apocalyptic Asian country and where, in an ironic turn of events, those blue health masks are replaced by actual bird bills. This is swell. I applaud the creativity and only wish that Stanford games entailed crazed cheerleaders throwing us fake axes to strap to our bodies, or at least branches and leaves.

8:03 We jam.

8:28 Some girl asks me if I’m rolling. That, of course, if the same as asking if I’m on ecstasy. I tell her abashedly “no,” to which she replies, “You have great energy!” Now this is the type of perceptiveness I wish for my future employers. Right before they recognize I don’t have enough industry experience.

8:36 A fight breaks out between several very tall, very attractive men in bro tanks. Maddy and I retreat in fear. Sparks literally fly from cigarettes. Perks of outdoor concerts?

8:37 They fist-bump it out.

8:42 These Duck Sauce guys, otherwise mediocre entertainers, start to bump along to it. The seem like they could be those Stanford guys—you know the ones—who come to Stanford and think they’re DJ’s or something, and the next thing you know they be posting Sound Cloud links left and right. Or at least they could be Berkeley guys.

Cue the strobe lights. It’s amazing how much your perspective can change when you see yourself only part of the time.

9:02 Sebastian Ingrosso immediately has the crowd jumping.

9:50 Florence + the Machine “You’ve got the love” cover.

9:53 “Somebody that I used to know.”

10:16 Creeper asks me to dance. So much for that perk.

10:50 We dip lest we wade through traffic and hit several pedestrians.

 

 

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My Man Crush on Joel Stein https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/25/my-man-crush-on-joel-stein/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/25/my-man-crush-on-joel-stein/#respond Fri, 25 May 2012 07:59:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1067439 Man Crush. It’s a term generally used to describe when a straight man has a crush on another man, in an idolizing way, and I’ve got one on Joel Stein ‘93.

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Man Crush. It’s a term generally used to describe when a straight man has a crush on another man, in an idolizing way, and I’ve got one on Joel Stein ‘93

. Okay, so I’m, by most definitions of the word, a woman, but “Man Crush” is the only phrase to describe my adulation of the columnist whose first book, “Man Made,” hit the stands last week. A simple “crush” doesn’t fit, because this is not a Lolita situation and I am not creepy; he’s not quite a “mentor,” because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually know who I am; and it’s not a “girl crush,” because, despite Stein’s 300-page-long quest for manliness, he is technically male. Alas, I have a man crush on Stein because, well, he’s the type of man I want to be.

Struck with the fear that his sonogram-baby’s penis will eventually grow to full human form and that he must teach his penis-baby the tricks of the man trade lest that baby seek help from friends’ fathers or coaches, Stein decides to embark on a journey to find his own masculinity. If you don’t know Stein as well as I claim to, the humor writer for “Time Magazine” has contributed to the likes of GQ and the Los Angeles Times and even began as a columnist for The Stanford Daily. Maybe I look up to Stein because I’m the type of person who isolates two obscure similarities between myself and a potential idol, finds a desired outcome and then concludes that there is hope for me, the struggling artist with a figurative beret and literal dreams for semi-stardom.

So when I found out during one of Stein’s campus talks that he also didn’t start at The Daily until sophomore year, that his back-up plan was a life of lawyerdom, too, and that he contributed to GQ — nothing less than my dream job and the subject of my college essay — I was certain that I too would some day make it in this society. All alumni should be so inspiring.

I remember the first time I met Stein. It was just before I was ducking out of a class to attend Stein’s actual talk with The Daily. He was wearing a brown suit, like a monkey. And then I met Stein again when he spoke during iDeclare week to a group of sophomores, sitting around him and a panel of other speakers in folding chairs with mediocre refreshments that made it feel more like a self-help slap in the face than a career-planning venture. When a former Wall Street Journal journalist asked me what I wanted to be when I graduated from Stanford, I announced to the room that I wanted to be Stein. The room laughed; iDidn’tDeclare.

The last time I met Stein, I cornered him after his TEDxStanford talk to sign my copy of his book. His talk introduced “Man Made” with just a tad of suspense for those who haven’t yet flipped through the essays of wanton manliness, but that was about it. He concluded that the dagger of unmanliness — or for those of us blessed/cursed to move through life with a vagina know, of weakness in general — is just fear of confrontation. That’s it! He didn’t even read us “The List,” his top-secret list of life lessons reserved for only Laszlo, his oddly named penis-baby. And some people paid a lot for those TEDx tickets.

But “Man Made” is worth the read even if it doesn’t reveal all of life’s secrets to pretty successful success and even for those readers who aren’t women who secretly want to be dapper, sturdy gentlemen. Yes, there are life lessons to be learned — like the importance of a knowledge of American history, particularly of our success in wars, to the apparent perception of manliness — and Stein makes a point to mention Stanford many times, which will in turn make any Stanford reader feel both special and closer to the author. (That last one may just be me again.)

But no, not for knowledge or manliness or even for a Father’s Day gift should you pick up this book. Do it for the laughs. Any Stanford student immersed in spoiled discontent or mild frustration at the limitations of a comfortable upbringing can appreciate Stein’s journey through manliness as if in some modern Orpheus story, rescuing his own man-imus from himself and from society’s expectations. It’s no “Eat, Pray, Love,” but it is a barrel of laughs and will probably become a TV movie starring Casey Affleck if they can’t get Matt Damon. Plus, the book is a lot cheaper than TEDx tickets anyway.

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TEDxStanford aims to illuminate https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/21/tedxstanford-aims-to-illuminate/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/21/tedxstanford-aims-to-illuminate/#respond Mon, 21 May 2012 09:08:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1066938 On Saturday, 27 speakers and artists delivered performances, demonstrations and talks to a packed CEMEX Auditorium for TEDxStanford 2012, Stanford’s first independently organized TED conference. The event, produced by the Office of Public Affairs in partnership with the Graduate School of Business and the School of Engineering, was organized around the central theme of illumination.

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On Saturday, 27 speakers and artists delivered performances, demonstrations and talks to a packed CEMEX Auditorium for TEDxStanford 2012, Stanford’s first independently organized TED conference. The event, produced by the Office of Public Affairs in partnership with the Graduate School of Business and the School of Engineering, was organized around the central theme of illumination.

The performances and talks were organized into three sessions throughout the day, dividing into the categories “Cultivate,” “Captivate” and “Celebrate.” The speakers – current students, alumni, professors and deans – delivered talks in their respective fields of expertise, ranging from yoga to virtual reality to early detection of cancer.

Speakers such as Jeremy Bailenson and Dan Klein ’90, communication and drama professors, respectively, who currently research and teach at Stanford, presented their work on virtual reality and improvisation. Bailenson and Klein’s talks were meant as a sample of their classes – Bailenson’s Virtual People and Klein’s Beginning Improvisation.

While many of the event’s talks focused on innovation and new technology – reflecting Stanford’s entrepreneurial ethos – there were several instances during the day when speakers cautioned against excessive innovation and drive that lacks mindfulness for context and human needs.

Krista Donaldson M.S. ’98 Ph.D. ’04 of D-Rev and a researcher at The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (informally known as the d.school) urged budding innovators to consider context when developing and delivering new technologies.

Banny Bannerjee M.S. ’00, also of the d.school, warned that students’ tendency for binary, oppositional thinking leads to self-doubt and misguided self-reassurance.

Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89, associate vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of freshman and undergraduate advising, suggested in her talk that parents foster more independence in children rather than cultivate safe spaces for undirected achievement.

Some talks more closely resembled demonstrations, and the speaker would call upon the audience to act out a series of instructions. Louis Jackson ’91, whose teachings fuse the traditions of yoga with modern health science research, had the audience performing breathing exercises to achieve peace of mind.

Klein called on audience members to create the longest run-on sentence possible with those seated near them, while Esther Gokhale, an anthropologist and back pain expert, instructed the audience how to relearn proper pelvic posture and how to sit.

Notable performances included 14-year-old cello prodigy Ila Shon and Pamela Z, who pioneered the live digital looping technique for music recording. Pamela Z projected a video with dance elements that created a multimedia experience in the auditorium.

TEDxStanford comes on the heels of STAN (Science, Technology, Art and Nature), which was produced last May as a prototype for events involving short talks interspersed with performances.

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Frisky on the Farm: Exotic Erotic and Beyond https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/04/frisky-on-the-farm-exotic-erotic-and-beyond/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/04/frisky-on-the-farm-exotic-erotic-and-beyond/#respond Fri, 04 May 2012 07:37:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1065491 In case you hadn’t heard, Newsweek came out with their College Rankings for 2011, and Stanford’s ranked fifth. For horniest, that is. Now, we made the cut many times over in those silly areas like Most Return on Your Investment or whatever, but let’s face it: You can get a good education anywhere. That’s why God (and Horace Mann) invented public school. When you choose a college, it’s like picking out a car. It has to go from point A to point B; that’s the given. What you’re really looking for is something fun and sporty, something that will take you there fast and preferably comes in Cardinal red.

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Frisky on the Farm: Exotic Erotic and Beyond
LUIS AGUILAR/The Stanford Daily

In case you hadn’t heard, Newsweek came out with their College Rankings for 2011, and Stanford’s ranked fifth. For horniest, that is. Now, we made the cut many times over in those silly areas like Most Return on Your Investment or whatever, but let’s face it: You can get a good education anywhere. That’s why God (and Horace Mann) invented public school. When you choose a college, it’s like picking out a car. It has to go from point A to point B; that’s the given. What you’re really looking for is something fun and sporty, something that will take you there fast and preferably comes in Cardinal red.

And any rep/tour guide/student/alum/Dean Julie will always give you the same used-car-salesman spiel: Yeah, we have the best teachers, and campus, and whatever, but it’s really (and they draw it out here, so you KNOW they tellin’ the truth) the students that make it the best. I know how it works; I wrote those “Why WhateverCollege” essays, too.

But when you’re making your list, will YOU want your roommate to be the future co-founder of a giant company, which you may try to swindle 40 percent of later? No, no, you’re not going to Harvard. You’d rather they be the wingman to your Friday nights and Sunday Fundays.

And really, what does “Horniest” mean anyway? Like horniest students, or professors, or curriculum? I mean, I did hear about some wild IHUM they offered for a year, but that got axed (insert Cal joke here), and everyone is always chatting up that French Cinema (porn) class, but is this mark cause for concern? Or celebration?

As far as I can tell, I guess it’s pretty true. Living down the hall from he-who-shall-be-known-as-RushCrush during freshman year certainly opened my eyes to the world of walks of shame (and no names), empty bottle evenings and un-returned phone calls (of both the literal and figurative variety). But the real reason why this list has got me thinking is, what does this mean for the rest of ‘em? I know people who go to the colleges that placed one through four on the list – do they just blow off class for orgies and cocktails all the time? How can I look at Bo Levine (names changed, for confidentiality…and as a precaution against cyber bullying) without wondering what goes on in all those colleges of Yale? Or is it more of a gradient? Yalies (#1) are just like, Manwhores and Lady Pimps; Stanfordians are ladies on the street, but freaks in the sheets; and then my friends at Brown (#25), you know, they get some action, but they aren’t bragging in the boys’ room? I just don’t know what to think of them, or even my other classmates.

Does this Cardinal H imply a certain amount of reciprocity? Is prudence more Princeton (not listed) style? And how exactly did the admissions officers screen for this? Are they calling me a ho? Are they calling all you other Stanford kids hos? Or congratulating us for being smarties with needs?

I think, in reality, somewhere between Full Moon on the Quad and Mausoleum Party, every freshman class loses all sense of propriety and restraint and realizes that the last four years of over-achieving have brought about a pressing need for rebirth, in the form of over-crowded, under-dressed, perspiration-laden frat house floors rife with questionable make-out sessions and copious amounts of rally.

I mean, if that sounds horny to you, I guess we earned our ranking. Congrats Stanford – now lets go party.

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Top 5: Fictional Stanford Movies https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/27/top-5-fictional-stanford-movies/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/27/top-5-fictional-stanford-movies/#respond Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:49:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1064814 We live in a time when people casually throw around sayings like “the soundtrack to my life” and “my life is a movie, and you just Tivo,” but this week, Intermission’s wondering, if our Stanford lives are really reel-worthy, what would the movie be like? Here are our top five picks for Stanford movies that haven’t been made (yet).

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We live in a time when people casually throw around sayings like “the soundtrack to my life” and “my life is a movie, and you just Tivo,” but this week, Intermission’s wondering, if our Stanford lives are really reel-worthy, what would the movie be like? Here are our top five picks for Stanford movies that haven’t been made (yet).

“Full Moon On the Quad”

Part “American Werewolf in London” and part “National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze,” this romantic thriller documents a young freshman girl in her experiment with debauchery and moonlight. Meanwhile, a lurking senior boy is not as he appears. Hits theatres at midnight by the second moon of the school year.

“PWR2”

In this sequel to “PWR1,” former freshman flings rekindle an old flame while pondering the rhetoric of politics of business on the Internet. After parting ways during a frenzied spring quarter and summer vacation, these two sophomores realize their maturity in a familiar, sophomore-only environment. In theatres autumn, winter and spring quarters of the second year.

“Benj and Tim Go to Chipotle”

In this buddy adventure, a philosophically inclined Benj and his techie-friend Tim crave some late-night, semi-ethnic food, but when they run into mischief and campus security between Serra and Serra Street, hilarity ensues. “Benj and Tim” promises to be the brogrammer comedy of the year. Some knowledge of C++ helpful; no children under freshman year allowed.

“Hot Prowl

This Hitchcockian, cerebral drama follows our junior heroine, Angelica, as she fends off a creeper in the night. Missing window screens, wandering videophones and the scent of apples lead to paranoia and suspicion in the mystery to discover just who stalks the streets from the Faculty Club to the Rains houses. Campus security advises you keep your windows shut and doors locked and to stay tuned for a screening near you!

“Elections”

With all the power plays of a courtroom drama and the intensity of a countdown mystery, “Elections” tells the tale of a Daily journalist in his investigation to unwrap scandal and deception in the heat of spring elections. MemeChu-worthy actors run the gamut of political brawls, but only the truth will make it to print. For limited release this spring.

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‘The Cabin in the Woods’ director talks genre and career https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/13/the-cabin-in-the-woods-director-talks-genre-and-career/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/13/the-cabin-in-the-woods-director-talks-genre-and-career/#respond Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:34:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1063189 For those of the techie variety, winter quarter was a time of scheduled interviews, job selections and contract signing. In the cold of winter, computer science majors and engineers across Stanford took refuge in the certainty of their summer plans. But for fuzzies, especially those pursuing careers in entertainment, April is the cruelest month.

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'The Cabin in the Woods' director talks genre and career
Courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment

For those of the techie variety, winter quarter was a time of scheduled interviews, job selections and contract signing. In the cold of winter, computer science majors and engineers across Stanford took refuge in the certainty of their summer plans. But for fuzzies, especially those pursuing careers in entertainment, April is the cruelest month. While many of us await emails or still manage to schedule phone and Skype interviews, the possibility of an unpaid summer internship reading (and rejecting) scripts is but the light at the end of a tunnel leading to yet more unsteady jobs and precarious life plans. And this is the gravest of many students’ problems. In the thawing of winter and the rush of spring quarter, it’s easy to forget how easy we have it at Stanford, but Drew Goddard’s “The Cabin in the Woods” kindly reminds college students everywhere of their triviality in the world as well as their capacity to seriously mess it up.

 

Goddard, known for his writing work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Cloverfield,” teams up with Joss Whedon (“Buffy,” “Toy Story”) and J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Super 8”) again—this time for his directorial debut. In the practically titled film, five friends find themselves alone in—you guessed it!—a cabin in the woods, prepared to enjoy a weekend of daring, debauchery and experimentation. From its premise to its trailer, the film has all the trimmings of a standard horror movie.

 

“I would be shocked if “Cabin” is anything like those movies. Anything like any movie, ” Goddard said with an audible pause surrounding his shock when I asked if “Cabin” will join the ranks of typical thrillers like “Silent House” and “House at the End of the Street,” both released this year.

 

'The Cabin in the Woods' director talks genre and career
Courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment

“When I wrote ‘Cabin’ my hope was for in the future, down the line people to be saying, ‘Well, is this like “Cabin?”’ not ‘What is “Cabin” like?’” he said.

 

And he’s right. “The Cabin in the Woods” defies expectation as much as Goddard defied mine. When I met the 37-year-old director in the parlor of a Ritz-Carlton hotel room, he appeared nothing like the Drew Goddard I had studied from photos and press interviews. Dressed in all black with the facial hair to suggest a pretty good Halloween attempt to render Wolverine, Goddard had the poise and impatience that speak to his experience with these sorts of interviews.

 

“It’s an homage to the horror movie really. It comes out of the love for all horror movies,” he said. “It’s not really one movie; it’s about my love for the genre.”

 

The film may pay homage, but it certainly turns the genre on its head. Five friends in the woods is where all conventionality ends, and any viewer who thinks she knows what’s coming will be in store for a rule-breaking story. As many fuzzies can attest, or perhaps even a Stanford student stuck in the right PWR might have heard, “Buffy” has received record amounts of critical and academic coverage for its seminal status as genre-setting. In the same way, “Cabin” shrugs off its ostensibly similar counterparts and fits more aptly in the horror-comedy genre with the likes of “Jennifer’s Body,” “Dead Snow” and “Zombieland.”

 

And where those films excelled in tight dialogue and a surging craze, “Cabin” shines with surprise and clever crafting, answering an age-old question: “Where do horror movies come from?” If the meta-plot does not sate the keenest of intellectual viewers, perhaps the Friday the 13th premier date can at least assuage those with a sense of humor.

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‘The Ex Trials:’ A Stanford original goes legal https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/02/the-ex-trials/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/02/the-ex-trials/#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:00:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1060150 Anyone who has ever been in a relationship—or anyone ill-fated enough to have friends in relationships—knows first-hand how much a breakup can rock even the tightest-knit friend groups. Part true-facts, part satire and part courtroom drama, “The Ex-Trials” an original play written and produced by Savannah Kopp ‘14 and directed by Laura Petree ‘15, seeks to illustrate just that.

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'The Ex Trials:' A Stanford original goes legal
(MADELINE SIDES/The Stanford Daily)

Anyone who has ever been in a relationship—or anyone ill-fated enough to have friends in relationships—knows first-hand how much a breakup can rock even the tightest-knit friend groups. Part true-facts, part satire and part courtroom drama, “The Ex-Trials” an original play written and produced by Savannah Kopp ‘14 and directed by Laura Petree ‘15, seeks to illustrate just that. Complete with gavel-wielding kidnaps, Watergate-tier reconnaissance and flirtation recapitulations, “The Ex-Trials” captures with accuracy and comedy of a group of five friends dealing with the aftershock of a nasty breakup.

 

After Jack and Erika—the couple formerly known as Jerika—part ways for ambiguous reasons, their three theatrical friends take them hostage and set them on trial. Hilarity ensues when the judge, jury and defendants take on revolving roles, casting blame and veiling bias in what becomes the O.J. trial of friendship, taking us back to the high school days of shenanigans and immaturity—oh wait, those are our college days, too. The five recount stories of failed flirtations, dubious fidelity and a custody agreement for a shared treasure while offering social commentary on those ‘compromises’ we think we make for our partners, and the sacrifices they make for us.

 

In the lead male role, James Seifert ‘15 meets the expectations he has set in other Stanford roles, namely as Leland Stanford Junior in this year’s “Gaieties” and in “Playing Co-Op,” both Ram’s Head productions. As in those roles, Seifert exhibits a skilled dorkiness, but ups the ante with slides of rage and diffidence in “Trials”. A more dynamic role than his previous parts, Seifert demonstrates a multi-faceted capacity hopefully to be harvested in his next three years at Stanford.

 

Nora Tjossem ‘15 plays the female half of Jerika with all the vindictiveness and acerbity reserved for the scorned teenage female. Though not quite the typical teenage girlfriend absorbed with 160-plus character text messages or obsessing over her boyfriend, Erika lists flirting, bossiness and aloofness as her vices. Tjossem plays her to a biting tee.

 

But it’s the energy of Austin Caldwell ‘15 that will have the audience in stitches. His brewing supply of energy surfaces, explodes, and then re-charges for the next right moment. Caldwell’s performance is an awe-inspiring feat, combining many caricatures into one character, which bears an effusive energy that flutters off the stage and will have the audience laughing.

 

“The Ex-Trials” wraps up with two plot twists worthy of “The Usual Suspects” that will have the audience laughing at just how absurd real life relationships are. The jealousy, vengeance, lusting and rejection that doom the breakups of our own lives become a hilarious pastiche in this Stanford original.

 

“The Ex-Trials” is funded by a Spark! grant from the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts.  The play will run in Roble Theatre at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 3.

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SImps shine in winter show https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/10/simps/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/10/simps/#respond Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:40:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1057627 Chances are anyone who has attended freshman year at Stanford has encountered the work of the Stanford Improvisors, known as the SImps for short. Stanford’s only improvisational performing troupe, the SImps performed their winter showings last Friday and Saturday night brewed an uncalculated mastery satisfying loyal fans and those less familiar with the group’s work.

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Chances are anyone who has attended freshman year at Stanford has encountered the work of the Stanford Improvisors, known as the SImps for short. Stanford’s only improvisational performing troupe, the SImps performed their winter showings last Friday and Saturday night brewed an uncalculated mastery satisfying loyal fans and those less familiar with the group’s work.

 

To start the show, the SImps tackled SuperScene, a formula allowing student choice to whittle down from an array of improvised scenes, each directed by a SImp, until the “winner” performed the final scene, capping off the show. Among other plots, the billing included a drama-suspense-thriller about an eavesdropping telephone operator in WWII America and a 1930s French circus stirred by infidelity. The show ultimately finished with a musical between two aspiring high school musical stars auditioning for a part in “High School Musical Stars.” After each of the scenes played out, the audience voted by applause until one by one, a winner was reached. The Oscars should be chosen like this.

 

While spontaneously scripting their own scene, the improvisers took cues and the sporadic line from their directors who, like handlers in a horse and pony show, took the improv and comedy out in strides. The scenes developed in turn, usually escalating in stakes and silliness, with the director pausing and changing plots and lines. The ripe scenes pleased the crowd with refreshing comedy, but the real joy came from watching the fumbles and recoveries. The audience sympathized, reveled in the awkward and absurd and relished the rewinds and do-overs. And the direction was as funny as what became of it. The show progressed, and the audience found itself reluctant to cast a vote that would eliminate any of the superb options. The jaunty performances, so tightly wound but delightfully turbulent, had everyone suspecting the group planned the scenes and reveling in the fact that they didn’t.

 

As the scenes developed, the players’ respective talents grew to fit the scene. Max Sosna-Spear ‘11 ended the show on a high note, as his lyrical acumen strung together several impressive songs with lyrics as fixed and mawkish as any Broadway melodramedy. Graduate student Mathias Crawford’s narration of the bizarre circus, interspersed with cuckoldry, spiked the fabulous accents with a sense of sarcastic irony that kept the audience in stitches: an inside joke for the whole crowd. Chris Young ‘10 scored the show with his improvised piano work. From what must be a fully stocked repertoire of genres and tunes, Young simultaneously followed and guided the improviser’s inclinations, almost instructing the audience what to feel and what to expect.

 

But of all these entertainers, one stood out as the crowd favorite, motivating plots and bringing an unmatched playfulness as a genuine scene-saver. James Mannion ‘13 is the funniest male on Stanford’s campus. Somewhere between his accents and composure, Mannion proved himself an asset to any scene he can slip into, commanding roaring laughter with even obvious lines or kitschy body movements.

 

With no scripted lines or pre-planned plot, the SImps rely on each other to keep the show going and the audience interested, and Mannion certainly embodies the SImps at the top of their game – responsive and supportive.

 

The second installment of the show, “Spontaneous Broadway,” had several SImps propose musicals to the producer-audience based on their spontaneous renderings of songs extracted from the musical. The performers conjured up lyrics against Young’s tunes with only the title of a song to go on; the audience provided fake song titles before the show, which were then drawn out of a hat and ranged from the soulful “Meatloaf Monday Blues” to the tale of licentiousness in “My Lover’s Name is Jose.” Before each number, the SImp would cue in Young as to the tone of the song and the plot of the musical. By audience vote, “There’s a Fire in My Loins,” an aria by Lindsey Toiaivao ’13 from the ‘”musical” “Amazon on Top,” received the most funding, and the full-length Broadway show commenced.

 

A 10-minute pause to workshop the play and the land of women resumed, revealing a structure to the play but the substance undecided. The female ensemble played against a male trio in what seemed like an endless upstaging, leaving all its players winners. The songs satisfied the audience’s anticipation as the players grappled for harmony and humor. With only their eye contact, the improvisers communicated their hopes and needs for the scene. There is beauty in the struggle. They continually raised the stakes in this tale of the Amazon women and patriarchal invaders, suspending the play on the verge of cultural and sexual collision – the audience grasps at the next scene, yet to be determined.

 

But the best was that when the audience knew the improvisers had faulted, the performers acknowledged it and threw it back to the audience, inciting even greater laughter. Those beautiful moments of nonplussed short circuits spark into obvious “Aha!” moments that neither script nor plan could produce.

 

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Video Orgy: Pick me up https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/video-orgy-pick-me-up-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/video-orgy-pick-me-up-2/#respond Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:58:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056794 Though the god Apollo has blessed us with the likes of Adele and Mumford & Sons, the musical world has seen its darker days. When clouds gather and Kanye starts to think he can sing or Taylor Swift performs live, there’s only one remedy to the noise -- indulging in the classics.

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Video Orgy: Pick me up
Courtesy of Columbia Records

Though the god Apollo has blessed us with the likes of Adele and Mumford & Sons, the musical world has seen its darker days. When clouds gather and Kanye starts to think he can sing or Taylor Swift performs live, there’s only one remedy to the noise — indulging in the classics. The following list of music videos, from classic rock to straight bizarre, runs the gambit from guilty pleasure to prime quality. Whatever your musical preference, no one can deny a boogying Christopher Walken.

 

“Africa” — Toto

Unverified fact: Stanford houses the piano used in this music video.

Toto’s saccharine tale of longing and nostalgia probably has little to do with most Stanford students, even those freshmen still condemned to harried, long-distance relationships. The song narrates the pining for “the rains down in Africa,” taken as literally or as sexually explicitly as the listener desires. Meanwhile, the video’s plot pairs shots of a researching safari man, an astute looking black woman and a miniature band performing on the cover of a book entitled “Africa.” Close-ups of a globe, specifically of Africa, remind us that Toto’s “Africa” not only provides us with a brilliant image of the ’80s take on international relations and otherness, but also makes us wonder if there actually is anything more to Africa than maps, primal masks and safari men — all included in this video. The jingle will not escape your mind and soon, you too will miss the rains.

 

“The Universal” — Blur

The entrancing violin that strings along through “The Universal” sets the tone for Blur’s most self-aware piece: unnerving calm. In a tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s rendition of “A Clockwork Orange”, the band casts itself as the droogs with Damon Albarn as its haunting leader. Albarn performs with a sense of drama and theatricality fit for any of Shakespeare’s fools. The modern setting, bedecked in cool whites, blues and scorching reds, contains miniature plotlines of its own. A seductive vamp peers from a crowd of men; the Red man and pedantic gawker converse while a priest and young man laugh. As discontentment brews outside, the plot thickens and ends with a silenced bang. “The Universal” will add in nicely to any cinephile’s or optimist’s collection.

 

“Weapon of Choice” — Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” flows like a dream, if the kind of dreams one has contain bounding and twirling Christopher Walken. Walken, dressed as a deflated businessman, ostensibly hears Fatboy Slim’s invigorating track and begins to prance and bop around a deserted hotel. The surprisingly agile actor taps on tables and sashays through corridors, fulfilling the adult version of “Home Alone.”

 

Video Orgy: Pick me up
Courtesy of Columbia Records

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” — Bonnie Tyler

This classic rock hit surfaces everywhere from the “Glee” ensemble’s cover to oldies radio stations, and it still hasn’t lost its cheesy ‘80s niche. The delicate crooning and melancholic piano create a sincere love ballad, jiving awkwardly with the visuals presented in this iconic work. Tyler’s memorable video does better without description, only faith in the wonders of ‘80s music video making and the desire to witness a pastiche of visuals set to classic rock. There’s a reason why it topped VH1’s list of “most cheesetastic” music videos.

 

And in case you’ve been riding the Grammy wave, check out Nicki Minaj’s latest foray into the crazy.

 

 “Stupid Hoe” — Nicki Minaj

Though VEVO quite readily brags that Nicki Minaj’s newest video “clocked 4.8 million views, the highest single-video VEVO number in 24 hours EVER!” the video plays like an epileptic nightmare of disjointed scenes over a track equally inane and garbled in the many personas of Nicki Minaj. Hype Williams, the mad hatter of the hip hop music video world, manages to match the audio energy with the frenetic editing, but the harmony ends there. Bizarre — albeit expected — shots of Minaj accompany superimposed star graphics fit for ‘90s computer games. A caged Minaj in cheetah accents interplays with shots of — you guessed it! — a caged cheetah, while another Minaj plays the innocent child with visual distortion reminiscent of Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Minaj’s lyrics equal the music in quality and pace, especially with the last line, “I am the female Weezy.” The pronouncement comes not so much as a shock or incredible claim, but as a sad realization for the state of Young Money Entertainment. Here’s hoping Drake steps it up.

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SWL: The #KobeSystem https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/swl-the-kobesystem/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/swl-the-kobesystem/#respond Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:55:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056687 The idea of loving Kanye West, Kobe Bryant or Aziz Ansari isn't foreign. But when you put them all together alongside the bests of business and entertainment, in the most dapper of duds and wrapped in self-satirizing Illuminati pretension, that just tickles our fancy into a whole new arena of idolization.

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The idea of loving Kanye West, Kobe Bryant or Aziz Ansari isn’t foreign. But when you put them all together alongside the bests of business and entertainment, in the most dapper of duds and wrapped in self-satirizing Illuminati pretension, that just tickles our fancy into a whole new arena of idolization. We love Nike’s ad campaign: the KobeSystem.

After watching half a dozen of these videos — minute-long YouTube promotions released by nikebasketball– still not quite sure what they’re advertising. Premised around a fictional seminar taught by Kobe Bryant on achieving success beyond success, this unabashedly absurd mini-mini-series showcases the best in the business, in the broadest celebrity-sweeping marketing move since the telethon.

The first installment, “Welcome to the #KobeSystem” introduces the situation and characters, who are all at the top of their games in their respective fields: Leehom Wang (Chinese megastar), Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) and Aziz Ansari (comedian). Kobe promises the answer to the conundrum of where to go if you╒re at the top: over the top!

A clever logo, visually and metaphorically reminiscent of Mason iconography, adorns each member to the Kobe clan, and Kobe╒s ridiculous black and yellow (blackandyellow) track suit sets the color scheme for the logo and product as well. I think it might be basketball shoes? I can’t be sure.

Following the pilot, later episodes reveal different “levels” of the Kobe System, each ostensibly offering some didactic commentary on varying areas of success, in sports and in life. Of the seven levels released (so far), my favorite, hands down, comes from “Kanye West: Level 6 Beastion”. In 32 succulent seconds, Kanye proves he has the attitude (and maybe even acting skills) to please in any arena. And whoever wrote this cryptic scene has a knack for capturing that alluring sense of enigma while simultaneously parodying the modern trend of blind adulation. And therein lies the secret juice to these sweet videos: They exude pretension, and at the same time, slap it in the face.

The absurdity seeps off the screen, but like some meta-viewing phenomenon, only the truly keen will grasp it in full. The culturally inclined will laugh, bros and basketball freaks will bump fists, but only the critical cognoscenti will appreciate this work for its comedy and artistry. Facetiously celebrating indulgence and elitism — products of hard work rather than passive inheritance, mind you — makes a refreshing return to the world of advertising, where in recent months general opprobrium and one percent-directed detesting has dominated the airwaves. And whatever it is that the #KobeSystem advertises will probably do great in sales — it even has its own hashtag.

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The best and worst of Oscar nominations https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/the-best-and-worst-of-oscar-nominations/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/the-best-and-worst-of-oscar-nominations/#respond Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:40:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056838 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is like a group of guys at a bar. You want them to recognize all the hard work and success of your performance for the evening, but if they don’t -- who needs them! The latter situation applies to this year, a shocking cast of awards overlooking many gems in what seemed like a year of Oscar heavy hitters.

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The best and worst of Oscar nominations
Courtesy of MCT

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is like a group of guys at a bar. You want them to recognize all the hard work and success of your performance for the evening, but if they don’t — who needs them! The latter situation applies to this year, a shocking cast of awards overlooking many gems in what seemed like a year of Oscar heavy hitters.

 

Though recent years have shown an increase in obvious Oscar-grabbing blockbusters and “indie” toting artsy pieces, this year’s slew of films included many unrecognized jewels that those in the critical crowd feel were snubbed. In a year where many actors and actresses gave what were widely considered the best performances of their careers, those billed for awards were mostly of the pleasantly adequate grouping, sprinkled with nuggets of brilliance, like Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) and Gary Oldman (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”). But the eerie performances of Kirsten Dunst (“Melancholia”), Tilda Swinton (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”) and Ryan Gosling (“Drive,” “The Ides of March”), which ranged from winding depression to psychologically obscure, went completely unnoticed. Even Clint Eastwood and Leonardo Dicaprio’s “J. Edgar” fell completely off the Oscar grid and failed to earn a single nomination, which, if not deserved, was at least expected.

 

And could somebody please give David Fincher an Oscar already? Fincher (“The Social Network,” “Benjamin Button”) released the critically acclaimed and audience-appreciated adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” but to no avail in the categories for Achievement in Directing or Best Picture. Instead, the Best Picture category is filled with a motley batch of duds from sparkling directors (“Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen; “War Horse,” Steven Spielberg; “Hugo,” Martin Scorsese), evenly sentimental pieces (“The Help,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”), and a few genuine pieces of artistry (“The Artist,” “The Tree of Life”). Despite the crop of dazzling works to chose from this year, the batch of films in the Best Picture category represent the lot of the 2012 Academy Awards nominees: ranging from exceptional to blasé, and wholly incomplete.

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Pop goes the video https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/27/video-pop/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/27/video-pop/#respond Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:47:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1055844 January may be nearing its end, and you may have already given up on your New Year’s resolutions, but that’s no excuse to shirk your pop culture responsibilities. In case you’ve been under a rock or buried in winter quarter p-sets, here’s what you need to know. And remember--you weren’t one of 7 percent selected to just turn out a philistine, even if you are pursuing your CS degree. Read on, you uncultured yahoo!

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January may be nearing its end, and you may have already given up on your New Year’s resolutions, but that’s no excuse to shirk your pop culture responsibilities. In case you’ve been under a rock or buried in winter quarter p-sets, here’s what you need to know. And remember–you weren’t one of 7 percent selected to just turn out a philistine, even if you are pursuing your CS degree. Read on, you uncultured yahoo!

 

The Nike+ Fuelband counts. Nike’s latest technological project, a bracelet that measures everyday fitness–“fuel”–and promotes a healthy lifestyle, is almost as cool as its promotional material. In addition to the “#makeitcount” hashtag for the fitness equipment complete with its own Apple-engineered iPhone app, YouTube videos have caught the eyes of slothy bloggers and fitness gurus alike. The best of these videos, “Counts,” lists all the activities that count in terms of Nike+ fuel data, set to videos clips of Serena Williams, “Rocky,” “Edward Scissorhands” and a myriad of other popular and obscure titles and characters. Groove Armada’s “I See You Baby” hypes the band with appropriate intensity and playfulness. If not for the fitness benefits and the chance of actually keeping up with your New Year’s goals, get this Fuelband and resolve to stay stylish.

 

Re-cut trailers revive old favorites. Remixes to old videos are no new phenomenon in a world of YouTube, but re-cut trailers for familiar favorites provide a unique pleasure when the genre morphs completely. “The Shining Trailer” by FinalCut6 encapsulates the magic of re-cut trailers, with a genial voiceover fit for a ‘90s family flick and the mellifluousness of Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill.” Heck, if we didn’t know that Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is one of the most celebrated horror films ever, we might have taken our kid nephew to the Sunday matinee of this happy “Shining.” But let’s be honest, knowing just how psycho Jack Torrance goes and the burning image of Jack Nicholson popping through a door makes this re-cut trailer that much more satisfying.

 

“The Dark Knight Rises” is up for grabs. Yes, Disney recently re-released “Lion King 3D,” and, yes, Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” will complete the revamped trilogy this summer, but this trailer is about neither and both of those movies at the same time. Brad Hanson synced the audio of the “DKR” trailer with visuals from “Lion King” and from that embryo came sweet, mashed up film nectar. While our fancy for literary criticism compels us to draw extensive comparisons between “Batman”, “Hamlet” and “The Lion King”, we’ll leave it at the wonders of parody. Other than the hilarious pairing of indulgent melodrama and animated innocence, “The Lion King Rises” proves that much like its record-breaking predecessor, “DKR” is fair game for lionizing and lampooning alike. Also see “Tangerine: Fall On Your Sword.”

 

We’re still listening to “Sh*t Girls Say.” You might still have a flip phone if you still aren’t aware of the “Sh*t ____s Say” meme happening (see our cover story last week on Stanford’s own incarnation), in which case, put the scrunchie down and get yourself to the 2010s. If you are aware of this phenomenon, click over a few YouTube channels and start surfing the update: it’s all about the sh*t people say to specific groups. “Sh*t White Girls Say…to Black Girls” offers first-person political commentary on friendships between white and black girls, but with the same humor and candor as the most frivolous of YouTube vids. As with any “Sh*t” video, the deepest of laughs come from the humbling realization that you have actually said many of the satirized comments, which in this case may offer some racial insight. Warning: upon viewing, you may consider yourself a white girl. Consult sequel.

 

Lana Del Rey Bombed on SNL. But we still love her. In our first edition of this year, we called that Del Rey would be big on oh-12. Unfortunately, so far it’s for wailing worse than Kanye West after that whole “808s & Heartbreak” singing stint. She may have sounded like a drunk girl passing out in the back of a cab, but with her first album “Born to Die” set to release on Jan. 30, we’re waiting until the lady sings on the album before we count her out. Hey, Kanye’s still popular. Right?

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‘One Acts’ a bright (and sparkly) spot of winter quarter https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/20/one-acts/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/20/one-acts/#respond Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:00:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1054808 “The Original Winter One Acts,” Ram’s Head’s winter production, hits the spot. In Stanford’s arguably bleakest quarter, the three short plays packaged into one show offer a drop of cultural relief that soothes the belabored mind.

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'One Acts' a bright (and sparkly) spot of winter quarter
(LUIS AGUILAR/The Stanford Daily)

The Original Winter One Acts,” Ram’s Head’s winter production, hits the spot. In Stanford’s arguably bleakest quarter, the three short plays packaged into one show offer a drop of cultural relief that soothes the belabored mind. The board of Ram’s Head, Stanford’s oldest theatrical company, selects a student producer who then works with the board to choose three student directors, each of whom directs his or her own production. The result is a triptych of organic one acts, Stanford-grown from the writer all the way to the director and players.

 

Sparkle Time,” the first installment of the evening, flows from the pen of Samantha Toh ‘11 and may just answer that ever-present suspicion that yoga seems a little too sexual for coincidence. The set to this light-hearted comedy provides insight into the plays’ plot: an orange yoga mat placed enticingly before a mirror draped in sparkly cloth, a studied arrangement of glassware and alcohol waiting to be drunk, a tempting red and black lacey bra tossed wantonly aside suggesting the sensuality to come. What begins as a tantric liaison quickly turns to a farcical conundrum as a frenzied woman balances her cuckolded husband, a mid-divorce sister and a forbidden lover. But what appears to be a simple situational comedy grows in absurdity and humor when a straight-laced cabaret surprises even the keenest of observers.

 

Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” ushers us into the next one act, “The Days.” This poetic piece reads like an ode to disastrous love with a stifled desperation like a choked scream. From the first scene, the palpable tension waxes and surrenders only in the play’s unique narrative manner. A love story in reverse, “The Days” plays with dramatic flares through the set and sound to heighten the tension of the love without feeling kitschy; the filmic flavor develops the drama in the period of a one act but with the intensity of a feature. Lawrence Neil ‘14 and Jessica Waldman ‘15 deliver painfully honest performances that swallow hard and drop down to the most vulnerable part of the audience’s belly. The pure brutality winds itself back to the stage of innocent bliss, coloring “The Days” with a predictable but deeply satisfying sense of soured love. Ashley Chang’s script feels like a raw “The Glass Menagerie” with the local color of modern day.

 

'One Acts' a bright (and sparkly) spot of winter quarter
(LUIS AGUILAR/The Stanford Daily)

Playing Co-Op,” written by Patrick Kelly ‘12, directed by Harry Spitzer ‘12, caps off the show with a Stanford-centric comedy of video games and desire. The story portrays two best-friend gamers of opposite sex who vie for the companionship of a recent transfer and fellow gamer of bisexual preference. Between the geeky Roy (James Seifert ‘15) and the abrasively glib Lisa (Amanda Hechinger ‘12), “Playing Co-Op” finds enough material to ride giggles into full-fledged guffaws. Cultural allusions, awkward situations and well-crafted wit waft a sense of comical absurdity over the very real phenomenon of Stanford courtship, nodding to the wholesome nature of such a contrived practice. Seifert, who starred as an ill-fated Leland Junior in Ram’s Head’s fall production, impresses again with tightly wound wordplay and tactical vibrancy. The awkward innocence of Seifert’s Roy plays against Hechinger’s artfully brash Lisa to create a hilarious charade that will have the audience ready for a sequel.

 

“The Original Winter One Acts” will be playing this weekend, Jan. 19-21 at 8 p.m. in Pigott Theater. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for general admission and are available at tickets.stanford.edu, the Stanford Ticket Office, White Plaza and at the door.

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Video Orgy: Kicking off the new year https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/13/video-orgy-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/13/video-orgy-2/#respond Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:56:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1054200 It’s official: 2011 is over. We have said our goodbyes, tearfully and with good riddance, and now we have 11 months until the end of the world. To make these last months on Earth matter, here are a list of videos that will rightfully inform you of the trends--old favorites, unfortunate ones that refuse to go away and delightful newbies--that will keep on keepin’ on into 2012.

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It’s official: 2011 is over. We have said our goodbyes, tearfully and with good riddance, and now we have 11 months until the end of the world. To make these last months on Earth matter, here are a list of videos that will rightfully inform you of the trends–old favorites, unfortunate ones that refuse to go away and delightful newbies–that will keep on keepin’ on into 2012.

 

Ray Charles,” Chiddy Bang

Some blame it on the hipsters with their penchant for thick glasses while others call it the “Mad Men effect,” but there ain’t no denying the explosion of all things vintage on the pop culture scene this year (see “Pan Am,” “The Playboy Club,” high-waist pants). It seems 2012 promises more of the old with Chiddy Bang riding the retro chain for the video to their newest single “Ray Charles” off their upcoming album “Breakfast.” Chiddy and Xaphoon Jones, the band’s complete cast, get meta as they watch VEVO videos in the basement of Chiddy’s mother’s house. After landing on an iconic Ray Charles clip, the two realize they have literally gotten into character as Charles and a saxophonist, and then travel through music video history in a nod to ‘80s rap videos and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s summertime. The playful track throws back to revered times that we can get behind in the New Year.

 

You Da One,” Rihanna

Remember all those hypnotizing pop songs of oh-leven that seemed to only have two lyrics? They’re here to stay and still pouring out of our favorite simple-yet-seductive songstress. Rihanna’s “You Da One” may only have variations of the line “You da one [insert positive action],” but with her darling Caribbean accent and the edgy girl-next-doorness that only Rihanna can possess, we’ll take it! The video boasts black and white graphic lighting with superimposed lyrics, playing on 2011’s trend of lyric videos (“All of the Lights,” “Who’s that Chick?”) with a refreshingly calm energy. Rihanna’s nod to “A Clockwork Orange” and a–gasp!–optimistic love song gives us hope for the pop scene that grew a little too planar last year.

 

And We Danced,” Macklemore x Ryan Lewis

Pick your poison–maybe it’s Skrillex, Taio Cruz or anything by LMFAO, but this year everybody had a dance track. Seattle rapper Macklemore’s “And We Danced” parodies the dance track craze through the persona of an English party boy with the bravado of a pioneer and the wardrobe of Ziggy Stardust. The epigraph for the video sets the tone as a paean to the Dancy Party and a criticism of the normal forms of fraternization in the fraternity scene. The humorous and self-deprecating lyrics combined with the simple thumping piano leave a beat fit for booty-bumping on the dance floor and a lampoon clever enough for the critical listener.

 

Antidote,” Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party

Oversized headphones and frat houses everywhere witnessed the arrival of electronic recordings spilling over with energy and toeing the line of dubstep. “Antidote” seeps into the New Year threatening to keep the electronic/dance craze strong in 2012. This frenetic track plays over a (sort of) first-person shooter game complete with a strip club setting and insinuations of gangster dealings in some unknown country. Strangers to electronica and video games alike will find this combination a harmonious synergy, and those familiar with both will realize the marriage of violence and “The Drop” they had always suspected.

 

Born to Die,” Lana Del Rey

Her breathy soulfulness and vampy style may beckon listeners to draw comparisons to the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse, but “Born to Die” proves Lana Del Rey is a beast of her own breed. Filmed in Château de Fontaineblue, the video accompanies the fervent song with grandiose edginess. Del Rey clings to her tattooed lover in passionate embrace, while other shots show the depth of their twisted affair. Undulating shadows wash over the lover beside her, playing to the haunting nature of soured love. What appears only a simple, though satisfactory, montage of this love turns haltingly into a tragic story, with the final shot revealing the consequences of their romance. Aside from her annoying tendency to mime her own lyrics, Del Rey proves herself a born performer with the promise she will be big in 2012.

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Midseason check-in: ‘Gossip Girl’ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/13/gossip-girl/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/13/gossip-girl/#respond Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:47:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1054210 If only landing a job, stealing identities and choosing baby-daddies could be so glamorous. The fifth season of “Gossip Girl” has turned the disappointment of last season’s Serena-obsessed train-wreck into a delightful reverie of the main cast moving up in society--except for Dan, of course. Oh Lonely Boy.

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Midseason check-in: 'Gossip Girl'
Courtesy of The CW

If only landing a job, stealing identities and choosing baby-daddies could be so glamorous. The fifth season of “Gossip Girl” has turned the disappointment of last season’s Serena-obsessed train-wreck into a delightful reverie of the main cast moving up in society–except for Dan, of course. Oh Lonely Boy.

 

Thanks to the unwelcomed and ill-received publication of Dan’s social satire, “Inside,” all of the characters fizzling out in season three have caught new flame, and in case the unobservant viewer didn’t quite grasp the purpose of that failed novel, Serena spells it out as the plot driver to fuel change. And we like the change.

 

We feared Nate, arguably the cutest of the Upper East Siders, would find a fate similar to his previous flings Jenny and Vanessa, written off in exile. He feared it, too. So, yeah, he had to sleep his way to the top, and even that was arranged by Grandfather van der Bilt, but hey, if it guaranteed full control over a major publication and a corner office, we’d take that GSB class.

 

But Nate isn’t the only one with a new job. After a season-long documentation of Serena’s acumen for affairs, she thankfully finds herself in the background as a media intern. Again. However, Serena repeating her PR job with a new boss isn’t as surprising as her apparent competency at her tasks. Somewhere between Serena’s non-affair with her Columbia professor and Dan’s excoriation, Serena either determined she needed to turn her life around or the writers realized just how boring the blonde had become. We’re betting on the latter, and with thanks.

 

With Serena out of the way and Blair wrapped up in the usual “Should I be with Chuck!?!?” routine, “Gossip Girl” has presented us with a gift in Charlie Rhodes, aka Ivy Dickens, aka Season Saver. Despite her annoying existence last season, always bashfully attempting to demystify Serena’s “world,” this second blonde installment has proved an interesting character of her own. Yeah, we’re pretty tired of all the other blonde characters saying things like, “You’re a Rhodes now!” and “Rhodes girls stick together!” as if it means something, but we’re willing to pay that price to live vicariously through Charlie. Unlike Vanessa’s smug disapproval, Jenny’s insatiable social climbing and Dan somewhere in-between, Charlie possesses that outsider innocence with genuine appreciation for family and privilege. And with Max at her heels and caution thrown to the wind, Charlie promises to excite and deliver a season of duplicity and scandal reminiscent of the Constance days. Sigh.

 

Though we can long for those past days of Met-steps tiffs and Chuck-and-Blair lechery, the writers have comforted us with a familiar favorite: well-dressed debutantes in hospital waiting rooms. The season hiatus capped off with a political car crash leaving Chuck in critical condition and viewers gasping for closure. We’ve seen this before. After Serena’s overdose, Bart’s car crash, Serena’s car crash and Eric’s stint in the asylum, we’ve grown used to seeing concerned Upper East Siders sporting gowns near patients.

 

Luckily, the fear of Chuck’s death after his reconciliation with Blair and his agreement to father her bastard royal child is enough to keep us watching. And if that’s not enough, photos of Blair in her wedding whites and a CW teaser trailer of Blair hitting the prayer bench up the ante for “The End of an Affair?”, airing Jan. 16. We’ll be tuning in.

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Trailer Park: Ho-ho-holiday films https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/07/trailer-park-ho-ho-holiday-films/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/07/trailer-park-ho-ho-holiday-films/#respond Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:00:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1052978 Winter break probably seems ages away right now but whether you believe it or not, there will eventually come a time when you're relaxed enough to kick back, sip some hot chocolate and watch some cheery holiday films on loop. You might even have time to hit up the movie theater (what???). Luckily, Intermission has done the homework to keep you in the know about what flicks will soon be playing at a theater near you.

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Trailer Park: Ho-ho-holiday films
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Winter break probably seems ages away right now but whether you believe it or not, there will eventually come a time when you’re relaxed enough to kick back, sip some hot chocolate and watch some cheery holiday films on loop. You might even have time to hit up the movie theater (what???). Luckily, Intermission has done the homework to keep you in the know about what flicks will soon be playing at a theater near you.

 

 

The Sitter”  (Dec. 9)

Jonah Hill’s latest film “The Sitter” appears to fit seamlessly in the actor’s curriculum vitae, perhaps anachronistically nestled between “Superbad” and “Get Him to the Greek,” in what could be a trilogy of the modern court jester. As in those films, Hill finds himself in a comically volatile situation–on the run from drug dealers and on the hunt for sex–all the while babysitting a gaggle of kids; think “Pineapple Express” (from the same director) meets “School of Rock,” but no one’s learning a lesson in this movie. The trailer showcases a myriad of lewd and dangerous spectacles that seem to drive the film more than the witty dialogue that audiences expect of Hill. Tenuously relevant (and decidedly awkward) interactions with gangsters and hooligans wind down the trailer, suggesting that like most drug-slinging, boob-ogling comedies of today, “The Sitter” will fizzle with chuckles but fail to pack a punch.

 

Trailer Park: Ho-ho-holiday films
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

I Melt With You” (Dec. 9)

Despite the bizarrely sentimental title (taken from the popular Modern English song) and the seemingly trite premise, this buddy-reunion film’s trailer promises a new spin on the white adult male relationships popularized by the likes of “The Hangover,” “Horrible Bosses” and “Old School.” At first the trailer feels like it gives the game away: four college friends (Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane and Christian McKay) gather every year for a retreat of ribaldry, mischief and self-medication. The montage of good times quickly turns to shots of desperation and busied isolation as the words “A BURIED SECRET” flashes over plotted sand, indicating a mystery movie. But we’ve seen this film before, the one where several friends on holiday revisit a scarred past–until the trailer smolders into Camera’s maudlin track “Defeatist” in a hastened montage suggesting that “I Melt” is less about the wacky situations of white men than a character study of four men and the psychological warfare of the everyday.

 

Girl With a Dragon Tattoo” (Dec. 21)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last four years, you know about Stieg Larsson’s novel “Girl With a Dragon Tattoo,” and unless you’ve actually read the bestseller, you probably have no idea what it’s about. The first teaser trailer of the (second) cinematic adaptation hailing from David Fincher (“Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “The Social Network”) reveals little information in its minute-and-a-half montage of visuals set to Trent Reznor and Karen O’s screechy rendition of “Immigrant Song.” The trailer clues us in on the dual periods of the film, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, a Lady Gaga lookalike and not much else. Shouting its “Feel Bad Movie” status in text, the trailer promises “Dragon Tattoo” will be yet another cool movie in Fincher’s repertoire.

 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” (Dec. 25)

The trailer for “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” reads like a mini-version of the feature-length version: establishing admiration for the son and father’s (Tom Hanks) relationship, ripping it with halting visuals of the falling Twin Towers and a melodramatic montage set to U2’s saccharine “Where the Streets Have No Name.” By now, we can expect the unrealistically sagacious voiceover from screenwriter Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and the music-narration combo delivers the entire premise and emotion of the movie–a boy searching for the mysterious lock to which the key his dead father left him fits encounters and changes the lives of many people, perhaps a metaphor to be realized in the film. “Extremely Loud” could be a fresh look at the effects of the tragedy of 9/11 from the perspective of a child in a hybrid feel-good-mystery drama, but the trailer leaves little to the imagination.

 

New Year’s Eve” (Dec. 9)

From the same writer and director of “Valentine’s Day,” this sort-of-sequel documents the transition from 2011 to 2012 for several hopeful romantics and wizened curmudgeons. The “New Year’s Eve” cast is as equally star-studded as the lovers’ flick and has more daring, diverse additions like Robert De Niro, Seth Meyers (“Saturday Night Live”) and Sofía Vergara (“Modern Family”). It plays its ensemble parts in the intertwining fashion of “Valentine’s Day” and “Love Actually”, with a healthy dose of similar feel-good holiday spirit.  Set to P!nk’s “Raise Your Glass,” the trailer has a party attitude with a nod to the magic of New Year’s Eve.

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Robber Barons deliver laughs with ‘Mystery House’ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/07/robber-barons/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/07/robber-barons/#respond Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:39:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1052996 When executive producer Tristan Kruth ‘12 took the makeshift stage of a lecture hall in the geology corner lit by floodlights and swathed in black sheets last Friday night, audiences may have expected a show of ghoulish creeps and haunted mansions from the Robber Barons’ end-of-quarter show “Mystery House.” And they delivered, in time and moderation, a ghost story in four parts, with interruptions of sketches diverse in matter and manner.

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When executive producer Tristan Kruth ‘12 took the makeshift stage of a lecture hall in the geology corner lit by floodlights and swathed in black sheets last Friday night, audiences may have expected a show of ghoulish creeps and haunted mansions from the Robber Barons’ end-of-quarter show “Mystery House.” And they delivered, in time and moderation, a ghost story in four parts, with interruptions of sketches diverse in matter and manner.

 

The Robber Barons, Stanford’s only sketch-comedy troupe, performs original sketches à la “Saturday Night Live” and “MadTV” but, in true Stanford fashion, have an air of self-deprecation and relevant kookiness that, shall we say, pushes boundaries. The Robber Barons’ players collaboratively authored the show, and their energy permeated the chamber as initial chuckles built to full-fledged guffaws. The show played out like a train wreck, with cars piling up one atop another until the caboose piles on, but instead of ending in calamity, these train cars carried a precious cargo of top-notch jokes secured to hilarious players. The result? A conflagration of comedy.

 

The show started slowly but amusingly with a squirrely tour guide too emphatic about home improvement despite the corpse in the closet, but quickly elicited audience approval with a myriad of humor styles, from parody to sing-a-long to “realistic” comedy. A few gems included boys going gaga for Lolcats, an old grump’s caustic yet playful harassment of a pestering child and that awkward bed situation when the male denies any true relationship, escalated to ridiculous proportions.

 

Relevant songs cued the transitions almost in reprise of the preceding jokes, like last-call punch-lines with a badum-bump-chh flare. Sophie Carter-Kahn ‘13, the head writer, sang a mini-guitar manatee panegyric, decorated with undulating boys and an angry captain to marry hilarious dancing with lurid violence; “Under The Sea ” followed. Henry Schreiber ‘15 performed a meta-skit, pitching possible sketch ideas to Andrew Luck that revealed an escalation of obsession and split personality as the Robber Baron came on to the quarterback in awkward bromance, a phenomenon perhaps not uncommon to Stanford’s male population. “Why Can’t We Be Friends” trailed.

 

Other notable performances include Kevin Hurlbutt ‘14 as a crazed office man in the guise of Satan, churning out a bottomless peroration with such expression and cadence, a truly grand gymnastic feat of words. In “Scary Story,” Mari Amend ‘13 played a freakish spinster with an equally halting execution replete with quivering moans that incited due chortles.

 

Of all the skits, though, “Girls Are Funny” proved the most dynamic and, in turn, won the audience’s full-bellied laughter. The ‘50s piece suggested an homage to “Mad Men,” then quickly recanted. Instead, the ensemble poked fun at the customs of the era in a sophisticated jeer at racial and gender comedy. Doused in (fake) alcohol and boundary-pushing, Kruth, Carter-Kahn and Sam Corrao Clanon ‘13 (director) captained the skit, proving the cardinal rule of Robber Barons: no sketch will turn out how one expects, but it will definitely make the audience laugh.

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Gender-neutral ‘Gossip Girl’ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/02/gender-neutral-gossip-girl/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/02/gender-neutral-gossip-girl/#respond Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:59:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1052792 Can girls have sex with girls? Do Emirati princesses eat fried dates on sticks? Why is it that only girls are called over-achievers? Blair or Serena? These are but few of the questions that may enter the mind when watching “The Winifred Bennett Academy For Not-So-Little Princesses,” the senior project of drama student Kristen Elizabeth Gura ‘12.

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Gender-neutral 'Gossip Girl'
MEHMET INONU/The Stanford Daily

Can girls have sex with girls? Do Emirati princesses eat fried dates on sticks? Why is it that only girls are called over-achievers? Blair or Serena? These are but few of the questions that may enter the mind when watching “The Winifred Bennett Academy For Not-So-Little Princesses,” the senior project of drama student Kristen Elizabeth Gura ‘12.

 

The play finds the world of The Winifred Bennett Academy–an elite boarding school bent on molding its all-girl student body into socialites with diamond validations–shaken by the arrival of its very first foreign exchange student, an Arabic princess. Protagonist Tiffany Soleste (Max Sosna-Spear ‘11), must sort out her own anxieties of youth, sexuality and success while dealing with all the pressing issues of womanhood like evading predators of the dance floor hunt, discerning what exactly “hooking up” really means, and just how one can gracefully confront the Other Woman.

 

Lyric McHenry ‘14 plays Princess Nadia with a broken English that brings a sense of foreign playfulness to the kindergarten wisdom of the play that any Stanford student can relate to. Adding to the competition between Tiffany and Nadia, a rebellious debutante Winny (Bronwyn Reed ‘12) and the sensuous Southern Belle (Xandra Clark ‘12) engage in a confusing liaison that becomes a love triangle, then square, then pentagon, in a hilarious debacle of blissful ignorance and painful maturation all too familiar in the lives of most young women.

 

Gura staged the reading with a tongue-in-cheek nod to her own boarding school experience (she attended Phillips Exeter Academy), with precious matching uniforms and sparkling pink accents. Her fresh look into the comedic culture of estrogen-heavy breeding zones comes together with the innovative structure in a happy marriage of laughter and resonant meaning.

 

“Everything about [Tiffany] is so true and honest–even through this convoluted lens, she struggles…I think we all have anxieties about being the best at the things we think we’re the best at,” said Sosna-Spear ‘11, the male actor cast as the female protagonist.

 

Though Sosna-Spear dons the garb and make-up of a lady, Gura made the decision to stray from the “over-the-top drag” look and instead opt for a post-gender portrayal that focused on talent.

 

“I wanted to play it with a gender-blind casting decision. To be completely honest, it wasn’t really a deep philosophical reason for making Tiffany Soleste a man [played by Max], it was basically…a great actor expressed interest in playing a girl and I have an idea for a play–let’s put it together,’” Gura said.

 

“I learned at a really young age what was expected…in a professional working environment, and that’s something I have tried really hard to bring to rehearsals and performances here [at Stanford] …People don’t realize it’s a lot like a varsity athlete, our time commitment,” Reed said, who has performed in professional productions since age eight.

 

She thinks “Winifred Bennett” has come together harmoniously.

 

“I don’t think we could get a better group than the one we have because Kristen wrote it with us in mind…I do think [Stanford] is sort of the ideal venue for it, it being her senior project and us being all so close together,” Reed said.

 

Perhaps the most powerful adages and laughs come from Sosna-Spear’s portrayal of the pathologically proper young lady as compared to McHenry’s inquisitive intruder, showing the culture clash of the American princess and the actual princess.

 

“The princess element was added last. My favorite director in the whole world, Andy Fickman, has called me ‘Princess’ since I started interning for him…I kind of decided, a la his inspiration one day, ‘I should make this princess themed,”’ Gura said.

 

Andy Fickman (“She’s the Man,” “The Game Plan”) spoke last year as a guest lecture and has mentored Gura for several years.

 

“I pay homage to Andy in Act 2, Scene 4.5 titled ‘She’s the Man’…He has been in my career path. He’s been a huge influence and really positive; I think you always need that one person who almost believes in you more than you believe in yourself,” Gura said.

 

Gura’s passion and talent for the stage seep off the page and into the laughter that will surely permeate Nitery this weekend.

 

“It’s going to be something that every girl on this campus can relate to…I think there’s literally something for everyone.”

 

And if that’s not enough to get an audience in the seats, Gura goads, “Girls will be making out!”

 

“The Winifred Bennett Academy For Not-So-Little-Princesses” runs Dec. 1-3 at 7 p.m. each night in the Nitery.

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Frank Oz talks career, Hollywood and being Yoda https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/16/frank-oz-talks-career-hollywood-and-being-yoda/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/16/frank-oz-talks-career-hollywood-and-being-yoda/#respond Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:59:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1051824 In a basement screening room of Cummings Art on Monday night, Yoda materialized in front of students of Adam Tobin’s Film Production class. Not the little green Jedi in command of the force, but the voice actor and puppeteer Frank Oz who crafted him into the lovable character we all know.

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In a basement screening room of Cummings Art on Monday night, Yoda materialized in front of students of Adam Tobin’s Film Production class. Not the little green Jedi in command of the force, but the voice actor and puppeteer Frank Oz who crafted him into the lovable character we all know. Oz lists director, actor and producer on his curriculum vitae, and his account of the grueling process of finding life in an inanimate object proved more interesting than the emerald tutor himself.

He spoke of the difficulty of working with actors and directors from both sides of the camera and finding life in characters like Yoda. But with adjustment and labor, Oz voiced Yoda and conducted his every calculated movement along with a team of operators. The discussion — a true dialogue between speaker and students facilitated by Oz’s refusal to simply lecture — often took to this theme of perseverance as Oz directed students to follow their visions with aplomb.

Oz’s directorial career boasts star-studded productions and cult-classics including “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Death at a Funeral” and “The Stepford Wives.” He covered topics ranging from his experience directing actors like Marlon Brando and Edward Norton, to his role as Bert from “Sesame Street” and preserving artistic integrity in a world of test audiences and Hollywood producers.

“If [a producer has] a good idea I say, ‘You’re right and I’ll change,’ but it’s my decision,” Oz said. “I won’t change it because they wanted it. I’ll change it because I believe in it. That’s why I’ll change it.”

Oz’s words resonated with any Stanford student under the pressures from parents or societal expectations. In the end, Oz believes you should always go with your gut.

“[That movie] didn’t work,” he said. “And that’s because I didn’t follow my own instincts. I thought I should listen to other people and I shouldn’t have…At the end of the day you’re going to be saying, ‘Why didn’t I listen to myself?’”

Oz is not the first entertainer to speak with Stanford students; this quarter has already seen the likes of Michael Moore and Slavoj Zizek, and last year’s first day of classes saw an appearance by the cast and writer of “The Social Network.” Professor Adam Tobin, who orchestrated Oz’s talk, considers such speakers — particularly Oz — to be enlightening and responsive to the many Stanford students who hope to pursue careers in the arts and entertainment.

“[The talks show that] these are regular people and that it’s acceptable” Tobin said. “You could conceivably do work like this. People are tackling the challenges, but it’s accessible,” Tobin is encouraging but realistic about futures in Hollywood.

“The flipside is that it’s hard,” he continued. “It takes a lot of work and discipline.”

“If you want to get into film, it’s really hard work. Constantly. It’s great but it’s really hard,” Oz echoed, reveling in the challenging but fun work he has done.
Students questioned Oz about his own films, where he thought CGI was taking film and the physicality of the cinematic experience. Oz answered with anecdotes and wisdom about the business, descriptions and regrets with his own works.

Confident and inspired, Oz claimed he would never suggest his role as Cookie Monster on “Sesame Street” or Miss Piggy of “The Muppets.” And for all those fans wondering why the syntactically retro Jedi master speaks the way he does, Oz has his own idea.

“In my opinion, language is bastardized today,” he said. “The way he speaks is the way old Jedis speak. He is like an old Navajo trying to keep that language alive. He speaks that way hoping it will rub off…Trying to keep the integrity of being a Jedi, that’s what he’s doing with that language. He’s teaching without teaching.”

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Gaieties undergoes changes, nudity remains https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/11/gaieties-undergoes-changes-nudity-remains/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/11/gaieties-undergoes-changes-nudity-remains/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:00:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1051656 Amidst the celebration of Stanford’s spot near the top of the BCS rankings, the anticipation of our upcoming game with Oregon and impending foray with those foes across the Bay, few students have stopped to consider that all of the Farm’s gloriousness is owed to the death of one beloved son. The 26 cast members and 27 staff of Ram’s Head’s annual production of “Gaieties” have been doing just that.

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Amidst the celebration of Stanford’s spot near the top of the BCS rankings, the anticipation of our upcoming game with Oregon and impending foray with those foes across the Bay, few students have stopped to consider that all of the Farm’s gloriousness is owed to the death of one beloved son. The 26 cast members and 27 staff of Ram’s Head’s annual production of “Gaieties” have been doing just that.

This past Tuesday evening in the rehearsal space of Roble Gym, a buoyant cast and buzzing staff met for a final rehearsal of this year’s production of the 100-year-strong show, “Gaieties 2011: Leland Junior Must Die.” Students bedecked in lamé and animal prints rehearsed sashays while others turned back handsprings.

“You guys, you’re gonna rock this shit,” exclaimed director Brendon Martin ‘13, more in awe than in direction as he stood amongst a huddled company of seasoned returners and “Gaieties” newcomers.

The 100th-anniversary rendition of one of Stanford’s longest-standing traditions trails the controversial showing of “Gaieties 2010: The Last Temptation of Cal.” The biblically themed production was anything but heavenly, and its over-the-top lampooning of sensitive groups and topics incited much criticism including a walkout of 36 Ujamaa residents frustrated by the disturbing and divisive stereotype-driven humor.

In an attempt to accommodate the various sub-groups alienated by last year’s performance, Ram’s Head created an advisory board with the hope to represent those communities during the editing process, an effort co-head writer Harry Spitzer ‘12 thinks makes for a better script.

“We established this because there was so much negative feedback over some of the content of the show,” Spitzer said.

“[The “Gaieties” advisory board] throughout the process would give us feedback, tell us what kind of jokes they thought would be offensive and it kind of forced us to veer away from crude and potentially offensive and stereotype-based humor to more character-based, situational-based humor,” Spitzer continued. “I actually think it ultimately benefited the script a lot, because we were forced to be more clever in order to be funny.”

The script, helmed by Spitzer and Sara Grossman ‘12 along with eight other writers, certainly delivers. The historically driven plot spans three epochs and involves members of the original Stanford family, the 1911 creation of “Gaieties” and the present day. Martin laces the intricate script over dynamic blocking, lending a cinematic quality to interwoven scenes that jump-cut and converge in a cohesive story. At times an action-thriller, at others a biting satire of the life and times on the Farm, “Leland Junior Must Die” incorporates strictly Stanford humor that sets out to entertain all from the freshest of ‘15s to the wizened alums of yesteryear.

“People are going to be very surprised at the changes that we’ve made,” promises “Gaieties” producer Nora Martin ‘12. “Since it’s our 100th anniversary…we really wanted to make sure we brought the tradition back to what it’s meant to be, which is supposed to be: a huge rally event before Big Game. It’s what unites the whole campus.”

Those changes have done wonders to rid the once-shamed play of its cheap thrills. They have completely excised the insensitive shock-based jokes and replaced them with the kinds we like: Stanford-specific quips, sexual insinuations, freshman roasts and combinations of all of the above.

And with a cast as creative and talented as this year’s, it may be hard for the audience to exit without charging directly to Stanford Stadium to cheer on the Card. The jubilant ensemble dazzles in six original numbers, giving way to stellar solo performances of the motley gang of Stanford frosh, most notably Alex Walker ‘13’s crisp portrayal of an overzealous upperclassman whose hilarious hash-tags provide updates on the status of the play. Also of note are Tim Borgerson ‘14 and newcomer James Seifert ‘15, whose respective dialects and impressive vocals will hopefully make returning appearances in Stanford’s theaters.

But it is the performance of veteran Ram’s Header Mary Beth Corbett ‘12 as the head Cal villain that steals the show. A regular installment on the Stanford playbill, Corbett’s interpretations have not grown stale and with this wicked script she hits a high note–even as a Cal student.

“Get ready for a ton of jazz hands!” offers Monica Vu ‘14, speaking to the flashy visuals that zest the musical compositions of Jacob Boehm ‘12. The script, the cast, the music and the esprit de corps of this Big Game-week starter are not to be missed.

And for any ambivalent freshmen, Vu offers more prudent advice–“Don’t worry about the nudity, you’ll get used to it!”

 

“Gaieties” runs Nov. 16-18 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for faculty and $20 for general admission.

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Video Orgy: These videos…so hot right now https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/04/video-orgy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/04/video-orgy/#respond Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:54:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1051452 Despite the raunchiness suggested by its title, “Love On Top” is an upbeat throwback to the love songs of the ‘80s in the style of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul.

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Video Orgy: These videos...so hot right now
Courtesy of Columbia Records

Love On Top,” Beyoncé Knowles

Despite the raunchiness suggested by its title, “Love On Top” is an upbeat throwback to the love songs of the ‘80s in the style of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul. This video has no gimmicks or optical stunts; it’s just Beyoncé doing what Beyoncé does best: singing, dancing–and changing wardrobes. With a handful of male back-up dancers, she shuffles through moves that would make the Temptations proud and Janelle Monáe jealous. Don’t worry–that little black leotard is there from start to finish. Though it may not have quite the bedazzling cache of that one video others, most notably Kanye West, have deemed “one of the best videos of all time,” “Love On Top” has a refreshing innocence that is sure to stick.

 

Lonely Boy,” The Black Keys

“Lonely Boy” is the first single off The Black Keys’ seventh album “El Camino,” set to hit stands Dec. 6, and the video is just that: a lonely boy. He’s more of a man, but he sure is lonely and must have spent hours perfecting his dance moves to rival Carlton Banks [from “Fresh Prince”], Beyoncé and even that Flea Market Montgomery guy. The song itself resonates rough and raw in true Black Keys fashion, and if their sound isn’t enough to entice you, this part-dancing, part-miming man will ensure you can’t pull your eyes away from the screen. It’s like a glorious train wreck. Or a really good dancer at a club.

 

Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye feat. Kimbra

The visual rendition of this Belgian-Australian troubadour’s frank post-breakup rant is simple in form and bewitching in spirit. Stop-motion animates the blank background and Gotye’s naked body to infuse a feeling of deep thought and meaningful abstraction to the mundane lyrics. I could probably discuss how the artistry attempts to emulate Kandinsky’s Bauhaus pieces, or how it embodies Schwitters’ “Merzbau,” but the truth is the video is just fun to look at, and Gotye and Kimbra’s voices captivate the listener in spite of somewhat trite and brassy lyrics.

 

Video Orgy: These videos...so hot right now
Courtesy of Interscope Records

Sexy And I Know It,” LMFAO

LMFAO’s latest release from “Sorry For Party Rocking” is still pending fratstar status, but the lamé and animal print video is sure to usher this track into crowded dance floors and stuck-in-your-head success. The simple declaration of self-confidence in the song lends itself to a suspenseful plot of battling boy bands (literally and figuratively) who duke it out on the streets and speakeasies of Los Angeles. Think “Grease,” “The Outsiders,” “West-Side Story,” but with boom boxes and studs. Though LMFAO leave little to the imagination, I’ll leave the video to your future viewing pleasure. With guest appearances from Ron Jeremy and Wilmer Valderrama (Fez!), you will not want to miss “I’m Sexy And I Know It.” This is one (literally) ballsy music video.

 

We Found Love,” Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris

The sweet electro-house stylings of Scottish singer-songwriter-DJ Calvin Harris inject Rihanna’s reliable vocals with a frenetic energy yet untapped by the Barbadian pop princess. “We Found Love” plays like an episode of “Skins” complete with an epigram from English model Agyness Deyn, a dangerous liaison with boxer and model Dudley O’Shaughnessy and a whole lot of pills. The video has met criticism from all angles including an eviction from the original set for one of Rihanna’s signature moves–scantily clad prancing in an open field (see “Only Girl In The World”)–and comparisons between O’Shaughnessy and Chris Brown, insinuating the song and video’s autobiographical connotations. Yet, Rihanna and director Melina Matsoukas remain adamant that the video’s message is related to drug addiction and toxic relationships.

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Video orgy: Halloween edition https://stanforddaily.com/2011/10/28/1051175/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/10/28/1051175/#respond Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:47:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1051175 It’s that time of year. Bust out your “Party with Leland” tank, prep the candy corn and get that rally gear ready: it’s decorative gourd season, also known as Halloweekend. Whether you’ll be spending All Hallows’ Eve out by ol’ Jane and Leland, screaming in the stands of USC’s Coliseum or tucked away watching “Rosemary’s Baby,” these music videos will help you get in the mood...for fear.

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It’s that time of year. Bust out your “Party with Leland” tank, prep the candy corn and get that rally gear ready: it’s decorative gourd season, also known as Halloweekend. Whether you’ll be spending All Hallows’ Eve out by ol’ Jane and Leland, screaming in the stands of USC’s Coliseum or tucked away watching “Rosemary’s Baby,” these music videos will help you get in the mood…for fear.

Video orgy: Halloween edition
Courtesy of Epic Records

”No One Believes Me” by Kid Cudi (2011; from “No One Believes Me– Single;” directed by Craig Gillespie)

This paranoiac track, featured in this summer’s remake of the ‘80s classic “Fright Night”, burns slowly to Kid Cudi’s incantations of isolation and suspicion. Director Craig Gillespie sprinkles a “Let the Right One In” vibe on this clear homage to the zesty feature film as Cudi saunters through the lonely suburbs flashing fangs and stalking his prey.

 

“99 Problems” by Hugo (2011; from “Old Tyme Religion”)

Another favorite from “Fright Night”, this bizarre blue-grass cover of Jay-Z’s ’04 hit spins the gangster anthem into an eerie banjo strain. Blood-spattered torture chambers bedecked with drooping chains and red-lit iguanas set the stage for grisly hooligans, Hugo and yes, even fighting ladies of questionable moral standing–a problem? You decide.

 

”Helena Beat” by Foster the People (2011; from “Torches;” directed by Ace Norton)

From the indie-pop people who brought us summer’s other favorite sublimely creepy hit “Pumped Up Kicks”, this song plays like a sequel, only this time the kids have taken over in a post-apocalyptic free-for-all. Part “Mad Max”, part “Children of the Corn”, the video shows a savage band of children terrorizing the captive band members.

 

Video orgy: Halloween edition
Courtesy of Def Jam

“Monster” by Kanye West feat. Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and Bon Iver (2011; from “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (2010); directed by Jake Nava)

Every song from this album could probably make it onto the list, but it’s the perverted visuals and stellar performances of this video that make it the most memorable–and creepiest–track of “MBDTF.” West supplies the hook, and Jay-Z and Rick Ross deliver ample verses about their money-making monster statuses, but it’s Minaj’s theatrical performance–both in verse and in video–that takes “Monster” from visual expose to cinematic delight.

 

”Thriller” by Michael Jackson (1984; from “Thriller;” directed by John Landis)

You read “spookiest music videos” and you knew “Thriller” would make it on the list. But before you go patting yourself on the back for having “ESPN or something,” remember that this zombie-werewolf hybrid from the King of Pop is a classic for good reason. At 13 minutes, this movie within a movie realizes every youngster’s greatest fear–that his or her beau is actually a varsity jacket-sporting square by day, red leather jacket-wearing freak by night. Complete with a dancing zombie flash mob and Michael’s killer moves set to funky beats and a ghoulish voice-over, “Thriller” guarantees to grace spooky playlists and Halloween dance parties for years to come.

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