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Ambassadors of Cool

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EIC
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Foxygen returns with a new album that is one part 60s, one part mad hatter

By Kristina Charania

Although Foxygen seem like a bunch of kids who enjoy MDMA and smoke pot a little too much, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is a healthy mixture of the music that spawned from classic 60s and 70s stars — vocalists like Jagger, Dylan, Bowie, and Lennon come to mind. Foxygen is delightfully wacky in cementing snippets of older sounds together into music without recycling them. It’s Ambassadors’s clean yet distinctly-still vintage sound that surpasses its fuzzier predecessor Take the Kids off Broadway, while pleasing both the hair-filled ears of a Beatles fanatic and those of the modern listener.

“San Francisco” begins with the cutesy tinkling of a xylophone and a flute. Accompanied by occasionally quirky lyrics (“Your eyes are like a cup of tea”) and sing-songy vocals, the tune adopts the theatricality of Alice in Wonderland’s mad tea party — on a lot of acid. The song’s music video is no less sober. It shifts between listless wandering in a forest and a pink-walled room containing a floral couch, coffee table, skulls, likely poisonous apples, and the two lollygagging members of Foxygen: Sam France and Johnathan Rado. Ambassadors’ lead single “Shuggie” is another stellar tune — it will trick you into expecting an experimental rock/ jazz trumpet number until it smoothly morphs into a chorus backed by a gospel choir and snazzy pianos. Here, the lyrics are nostalgic (“Hey man, have a soda / It’s on the house) — because, seriously, when is soda ever free these days?

The title track is unquestionably the album’s best — badass Elvis-esque guitar riffs and snippets of calm frame Sam France’s dynamic singing, which dissolves into a yowling mess of words that is nothing short of an absolute freak-out and a treat to witness in concert. Crazy album title and vocal meltdown notwithstanding — you’re probably dying to know what the hell a Foxygen is. According to Village Voice, France’s friend Libby touted a sixth grade crush as her “foxygen” in an AIM conversation with France. Putting all the sickeningly adorable puppy love aside, that nickname signaled the first glimmerings of the duo’s current success, including opening for Of Montreal, signing with Jagjaguwar Records, and writing their second release with The Shins’ keyboardist, Richard Swift.

Ambassadors is a solid throwback album that lives up to the indie blog hype surrounding it. If anything, Foxygen’s production is flawed in only one way: they could have perhaps picked a longer, more tongue-twisty album title. Keep it handy for a trip to your local record store or the homely little burger parlour that your uncle owns — it’ll put you right in the mood.

Zero Dark Thirty: “Go on, we’re all listening”

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EIC
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The film about the search for bin Laden leaves audiences in suspense, proves it’s worth its salt

By Will Ross

Nothing turns the public’s ears to a filmmaker like a Best Picture Oscar win, and their next film tends to be an ambitious, singular work of interest, be it good (A Serious Man) or bad (Les Miserables). The latest such statement is Zero Dark Thirty, from writer Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow, and three years out from their Iraq bomb-squad thriller The Hurt Locker, one can scarcely ask for a more definitive post-Oscar statement. Zero Dark Thirty expands on its predecessor in every way: in style, in scope, in ambition, in controversy. The subject matter affords those expansions: a dramatization of the US’s near-decade long manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The hunt is depicted through the eyes of CIA officer Maya (Jessica Chastain), a woman with a self-admitted lack of friends and interests that don’t directly further the search.

At the outset, Maya is faced with moral issues, namely the torture of captured al Qaeda operatives in the interest of procuring intel. This sequence has brought the film much heat, not for portraying torture as moral (it is clearly a horrible, unconscionable ordeal) but for allegedly falsely presenting torture as having been necessary to the eventual killing of bin Laden. But the film hasn’t earned half the scorn it’s received; first because it’s not certain whether the torture gives the characters the only possible access to this information, second because actual records of torture and interrogation in the US can’t possibly all be declassified for the public, which therefore limits our knowledge of it enough to permit artistic liberties, third because the film strenuously opposes torture on the more important level — the moral one.

But politics aside, Zero Dark Thirty is an extremely compelling film, a tense, episodic story with an incredible economy of character and narrative: we know very little background about Maya, but Boal’s script and Chastain’s performance draw out everything we need: her personality, her motivations, and what she’ll do to get what she wants — it doesn’t take long for Maya to become a huge pain in her bosses’ asses, nor to table any squeamishness she feels over torture.

Further multiplying the film’s gravity is its replete set pieces, which more than equal those of The Hurt Locker. The suspense scenes in Zero Dark Thirty always feel just on the verge of disaster, particularly in the film’s climax, an exhausting, thirty-minute depiction of the famous raid on bin Laden’s compound. I have never heard a packed theatre as quiet as I did during that climax. Not one cough, nor rustle, nor any soun but gasps and jumps.

As the operation concludes, the weight of the two-hour procedural that preceded falls upon us, and we feel the importance of what has happened. And, in the final scene, the realization shared between us and Maya that only in the end do we understand the cost of it all.

Women’s Wrestling: National Champions!

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EIC
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Women’s Wrestling Win their First National Dual Title

By Clay Gray
Photos by Mark Burnham

At five in the morning on Jan. 10, head coach Mike Jones and the Mat Pack piled into a few vehicles and drove to Seattle to catch a flight destined for St. Louis, Missouri. Upon arrival, the women’s wrestling team was driven in rental cars to complete the final leg of their journey to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, CliffKeen National Dual Championships in Springfield, Illinois. The tournament didn’t begin until Saturday, but the team settled into their hotel, and got an early night sleep. Friday was used for preparation, it consisted of the Mat Pack going through their pre-competition routine and for some the process known as cutting weight, wherein athletes attempt to sweat out extra water in order to bring their body weight inline with their respective weight classes. This process was easier for some than others. When it came time to step onto the scales on Saturday, one wrestler missed weight. Fortunately, Jones had brought along backup wrestlers and filled in the vacant 116-pound spot with Nikkie Brar, a third-year from Abbotsford.

SFU’s dual-team came into the National Duals ranked third behind Oklahoma City University and the King’s College of Bristol from Tennessee. Although SFU had beaten the first-ranked team earlier in the year, but the championship format varied slightly and due to OCU’s five-straight National Dual titles they entered this year’s tournament as the favourite.

It was clear the Clan was fighting an uphill battle from the start. The Clan’s only dual on Saturday had a late start, beginning at 8 pm. In the first round of the tournament, the Clan rolled over Cumberland College from Kentucky without losing a single match. The tournament venue closed for the day, sending the Mat Pack back to their hotel with high hopes for their next dual against the second-seeded King’s College. The Clan dropped the occasional match against King’s College but the Mat Pack proved to be too much for Tornadoes, downgrading them to a low-pressure system and handing them a 27–12 defeat.

The victory over the Tornadoes set the Clan up for a rematch against the first-seeded and five-time defending National Champions, the OCU Stars. The dual started off in a grim fashion for SFU. 101-pound sophomore Darby Huckle lost via technicalfall, putting the Clan in a 0–4 hole. However, the Clan rallied and went on a four-match win streak sparked by Victoria Anthony. At 109 pounds, she dished out a technical- fall win over Brianna Rahall, tying the dual at fours. In the 116- pound matchup, Brarr lost the first round, but rebounded to win the second and third rounds to take match and the lead in team points, 7–5. The 123-pound showdown pitted senior Laura Wilson against one of OCU’s seniors, Joey Miller. Miller defeated Wilson in the first round 2–5 but could not hang with the “Tofino Terror” as Wilson recovered to secure the win, 10–5. Jones commented on the situation, “OCU pulled national champions out of their usual spots in the line-up and put them up against our lesser recognized athletes Brar and Wilson. Both responded well with Brar winning all three of her bouts, two against returning national champions and All-Americans.” At 130 pounds, third year Helen Maroulis hit the mat ready to go and served OCU’s Brieana Delgado a loss by pin in less than 60 seconds, which gave SFU a 10-point lead at the halfway point in the dual, 15–5.

The Clan stumbled by dropping the 136- and 143- pound weight classes, allowing the Stars to shorten the Clan’s lead to five, 16–11. The reputation of SFU’s next wrestler, Danielle Lappage in the 155- pound weight class, preceded her, and OCU admitted defeat. In doing so, they bumped their 155-pounder up a weight class. With no one to wrestle, Lappage walked on the mat to receive her forfeit taking back the Clan’s ten-point lead, 21–11. Some of you may be asking yourself, why would the fivetime defending champions forfeit a match in the finals? The answer is to win based on criteria; in the event that a dual is tied, the officials look to see how matches were won by each team with the more dominant team coming out on top. The criterion begins with a pin count, simply who had the most pins. So, knowing that Lappage would have won by pin and that because of that they would have had to win both remaining matches by a pin anyways, OCU forfeited the match to prevent SFU from winning another pin.

With two matches left in the dual, OCU’s hopes of a sixth straight National Dual title were quickly fading. Third year Justina Di Stasio stepped up to seal the Clan’s victory and their first National Dual title with a decision victory over OCU’s three-time All-American, Brittany Roberts, 24–12. The Clan had already won the dual and the title, but there was still one more match left to be wrestled.

In the heavyweight matchup Jenna Mclatchy lost the first round 0–3 but rallied back taking the second and third rounds 5–1 and 5–0 respectively. The final score card read Clan 27, Stars 13.

When asked to comment on his team’s performance, Jones said, “This is the fourth year we have been invited to the team championships and we have placed second and third, but never won title before this event.” He attributed the success to his team, saying, “Having international class athletes like Lappage, Anthony, and Maroulis as well as returning Canadian junior national champion Justina Di Stasio had OCU adjusting their lineup trying to get around these athletes. . . . Everyone wrestled well, and to be honest, it may have been the best total team effort I have seen in the 36 years I have coached here at SFU.”

Helen Maroulis was given the Outstanding Wrestler award, but when asked how it felt to be the recipient, she stated, “Winning the OW felt good, but it didn’t compare to winning the team title. Everyone wrestled their hearts out and you could tell we were all doing it for each other. Wrestling is mainly an individual sport but this weekend wasn’t about that.” The Clan will be back in action at the traditional national championship, Jan. 25, where the wrestling women of SFU will be on the hunt for individual titles.s

SFU has solid showing in Seattle

By
EIC
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Five Clan athletes gain automatic qualification into GNAC Championships
By Bryan Scott

It is once again track and field season, and Simon Fraser’s men and women began their two-month indoor season in Seattle, Washington. The athletes competed to become an automatic or provisional qualifier in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship meet. This year they managed to get five automatic qualifiers, all on the women’s side.

Helen Crofts was the star of meet, taking home Red Lion Athlete of the Week. This was her first tournament after missing the 2012 season with a leg injury. She placed third in the 800-metre race with a time of 2:10.75. “It was my first track race in nine months due to an injury,” explained Crofts in a press release, “I was focusing on being strong and competitive without worrying about times, and it turned out quite well.” She also played an important role in the team’s second place finish in the 4X400- metre relay race.

In the same race, two other Clan automatic qualifiers emerged, Michaela Kane placed fourth, with a time of 2:13.64, and Sarah Sawatzky came in ninth, just over a second later. Lindsay Butterworth performed well in mile race, placing eighth with a time of
5:05.41 earning herself an automatic qualification in the GNAC championship in March.

Freshman Kim Neville-Rutherford, locked in SFU’s final automatic qualifier of the day after jumping 1.57 metres in high jump. She also earned herself a provisional qualification for 60-metre hurdles. Four other women and five men reached provisional qualification. The teams travel back to Seattle on Jan. 25 with the goal of qualifying more athletes for the GNAC Championship at the end of the season.

SFU swims to Victory

By
EIC
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Men and women both win for SFU in the pool
By Bryan Scott

Both Simon Fraser swimming teams were in the action this past week. The women battled it out with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks and the University of Puget Sound Loggers. The men went head-to-head with Loggers only.

The Clan did well, taking a majority of the events that took place. The women defeated the Nanooks 75–44, and the Loggers 87–32. Individually, Carman Nam was a double winner, taking home the 800- metre freestyle in 9:22.84, and the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:24.85, both times beating her follower by over a second.

The men defeated UPS 146–111, with help from Dimitar Ivanov and Julian Monks who both finished with two wins on the day. Ivanov won the 800-metre freestyle in a time of 8:39.87 and then completed his second win with a showing in the 200-metre backstroke.

Monks did not make it fair to his opponents, crushing their times. He clocked 1:05.85 in the 100 meter breaststroke, and 2:24.38 in the 200-metre breaststroke, giving him victories of nearly eight and 20 seconds respectively. Both teams were extremely successful throughout the day, finishing in first and second position in several events. They took home both 200-metre medley races as well.

The next tournament for the Clan was in Claremont, California where the Clan took on the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens and the California Baptist Lancers on the women’s side, and just Pomona-Pitzer on the men’s.

Clan take over second place

By
EIC
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0

Clan lose a close game, bounce back at home

By Bryan Scott

The Simon Fraser women’s basketball team was in Bellingham, Washington to battle the first place Western Washington Vikings. The resulting game was a barnburner all the way through.

The Clan led most of the first half. Erin Chambers chipped in six points, while Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe dropped four points, and had eight rebounds in the half. SFU was up 29–23 heading into the second half of the game.

The Clan rode their six-point lead until two minutes in. With the score 34–28 in favour of
SFU, the Vikings started to deploy their attack. It took them five minutes and a 11–0 run to take the lead 39–24 with 13 minutes left in the game. The teams traded the lead for the rest of the game until the Vikings ended up on top. They took the conference battle 59–57.

Raincock-Ekunwe recorded her ninth double-double of the season. She had 14 points and an enormous 21 rebounds against the Vikings.

Next, the Clan hosted another conference rival, the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets. The winner of the game took second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Clan took the early lead only to lose it a few minutes later. The game stayed within a few baskets for most of the game until just under five minutes left, with the score tied 30–
30. The Clan finished the half on a 14–2 run, enjoying a twelvepoint lead into the locker room. SFU didn’t want to lose another first-half lead, so they scored early and often to start the second. They punished the Yellowjackets in every category, pushing their lead to 33 near the end of the game.

They didn’t lose much ground in the end, winning the game 89–58. Two members of the Clan earned double-doubles in the game. Kristina Collins recorded 16 points and 10 assists, and the consistent Raincock-Ekunwe 11 points and 10 rebounds. Collins expressed her happiness with the team’s overall play, “We came out and showed we can be a confident team that plays together.” The Clan took over second place in the GNAC, behind the Vikings.

Stephen Harper spotted eating bucket of Chicken outside Theresa Spence’s home

By
EIC
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2

Stephen Harper stops by the Attawapiskat reservation for lunch free of ulterior motives

By Gary Lim

OTTAWA — Intrigue and the delicious scent of seven secret herbs and spices were in the air when prime minister Stephen Harper suddenly and unexpectedly arrived at the home of activist Theresa Spence with a bucket of fried chicken.

According to eye-witnesses, the prime minister arrived at the Attawapiskat reservation at approximately 3 pm in a taxi-cab lacking the usual pomp and circumstance. The leader of the Conservative party then signaled to the driver to pop open the trunk, where he pulled out a lawn chair and picnic basket. He settled down at the front stoop of Spence’s home, where he sat down and began enjoying his lunch of a family-sized bucket of fried chicken with all the fixings.”

The Peak was able to sitdown with the Mr. Harper, who was loudly asking for dining companions, stating that there was “plenty for everyone, and then some”. “Look, I don’t know what everyone is so anxious about. I may be the prime minister, but even I have to eat, and you can only take so many meals in the Parliamentary Cafeteria before you get sick of Casserole Wednesdays. So I decided to take my lunch outside today, what’s the big deal?”

When asked why he’d chosen the Attawapiskat reservation as his choice of dining spot, given the current political upheaval between the First Nations and the government of Canada, he responded, “Oh, shoot is that where I am? What a coincidence, my favorite fried chicken joint is just around the corner, and I figured that sitting in front of this random house would be as fine a place as any for me to get my grub on. And what a meal it is,” continued Harper, switching to a voice several octaves louder.

“Succulent crispy fried chicken, with a side of fluffy, airy mashed sweet potatoes and crisp green beans just like mom used to make. But careful now, it’s piping hot. Here, let me help you cool that down.” shouted Harper, carefully angling a fan to carry the wafting aromas into an open window of Spence’s home.

Spence, who has been under a self-imposed hunger strike of fish broth and medicinal teas as a sympathy ploy for the Idle No More protests, was unable to comment, as she was in one of her seven or eight daily hunger-induced black outs. As of press-time, prime minister Harper was attempting to shove a pecan pie into the mail slot of Attawapiskat residence.

Join the Club!

By
EIC
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By Gary Lim

New to SFU? Missed clubs days? Finding it hard to make friends? Tired of sitting alone on Friday watching Dream Girl Fighter Squad X? Well I’ll bet there’s a club that can take your mind off KAWAII DESU- ^^ thoughts! JOIN THE CLUB is a feature that showcases some of SFU’s lesser known clubs!

Founded in 1896 by the late King George the 7th, the Compulsive Liars’ club has a history as long as it is storied. Originally started as a secret society, the club has existed for 200 years as an invisible hand to guide the masses. It revealed its existence to the public in 2006 by signing as an official SFU club with the SFSS.

Boasting a membership that includes Nobel Prize winners, Tour de France champions and several prominent movie stars “who couldn’t make it because they’re in Europe right now filming something,” the Liars impressive roster of members does not say anything to them barring quality over quantity.

The Compulsive Liars boasts an impressive membership totaling of “well over 40,000 students.” Although The Peak was unable to ascertain what the club does, it is assured by members that the Liars do “awesome stuff every day,” including but not limited to sky-diving, dining ad five-star restaurants, and performing physical feats outside the realm of possibility.

Anyone wishing to join the Compulsive Liars is advised to check out one of their meeting, every Tuesday at 7:30 in their secret moon base.
 

SFU LipDub receives disappointing straight-to-YouTube release

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EIC
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By Brad McLeod

After years of planning and countless hours in both pre and post production, the SFU Lip-Dub “End of the World” video was finally released on Dec. 21 2012, but unfortunately suffered the fate of direct-to-You-Tube distribution.

Despite having a large budget and a talented cast and crew, the ‘Dub was ultimately unable to garner the public interest required to receive a theatrical release and will only be made available as a YouTube video.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” commented one SFU student upon hearing the news and being reminded what a LipDub is. “I was really looking forward to going out and watching it but now I don’t know how I’m ever going see it. . . I’m not sure if I even own a YouTube player.”

Other students have expressed equal frustration at the release, especially those who participated in the video, who worry that its intended effect will be lost.

“This was supposed to be our big opportunity to showcase SFU to the world” explained Colin Chang, who has a brief cameo in the LipDub as Inexplicably Excited Person #147, “but by only releasing the video online, how can we truly convey to people how behind we are on trends?”

The video’s failure to secure the backing of a major bewildered, especially after its Halloween première, which drew crowds of tens of people, many of whom were unfortunately undergraduate students with little to no Hollywood connections.

“I may not be a big time movie producer, but I think that the LipDub would have been a huge success at the box office,” one of those undergraduates told The Peak. “I mean I know that 10 minutes isn’t the traditional length of a feature film, and most movies have more dialogue than just pop song lyrics, but it’s still got to be better than Jack and Jill, doesn’t it?”

Although organizers of the LipDub have claimed that YouTube is actually the “exact medium that the video was intended for,” and that they never planned to release the project in theatres, the delayed release of the video has caused many to believe that just a cover-up for the LipDub’s failure to make its way on to the silver screen.

“It doesn’t seem to matter how big or expensive they get, LipDubs just seem doomed to go right to YouTube or even worse, the dreaded direct-to- Vimeo release,” explained a local film expert. “It’s almost as if movie executives can’t see the artistic value behind running around mouthing the words to pop songs.”

Although the news may be disappointing for SFU, some good has come from the LipDub’s direct-to-YouTube release, with the video’s comment section finally giving an outlet for SFU and UBC students to come together to compare schools and determine once and for all which university is more of a “garbage” institution.

Last Word: 2013 – A Peak into the New Year

By
EIC
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Written By Ljudmila Petrovic
Illustrated by Eleanor Qu

So, the Mayans screwed up and duped us all; we’re still here. Fear not, however, because amid catching up on all the things you didn’t do because “the world’s ending anyways” or “but it’s Christmas . . . time,” there are still a lot of things to look forward to in the coming year. Instead of giving you a comprehensive list of things that happened last year, The Peak is here to give you a peak into the future (and may it be filled with many more puns).

Science
Comets!
2013 is a big year for stargazers. The big one is the Comet Ison, which should appear by the end of the summer. By the end of the year, it will be visible to the naked eye, and it is expected to stay visible for several months after. In March, the Comet Pan-STARRS is projected to pass by Earth. It’s not going to be as bright as Comet Ison, but comets are great no matter what.

Culture… and babies
Hobbit replaces Twilight
For what feels like way too many years, the Twilight series seems to have been spewing movie after movie after movie. Well, now that both Team Jacob and Team Edward have retired, we can finally move on with our lives. Luckily, our itch for over-extended, big-budget series about mythical creatures will not be left unscratched: thanks to Peter Jackson’s ability to turn a 300-page book into a trilogy, we still have something to look forward to. The quality of the plot and premise cannot even be compared, so 2013 promises to be a vast improvement upon last year if only in this aspect.

Famous babies
Kate Middletown and Prince William are finally expecting a baby and it’s a big deal, because this will be the heir to the figurehead throne. Really, all we can hope for is that it will be a good-looking baby, and that it doesn’t inherit its father’s early pattern baldness. That being said, this child is being born in the midst of a debate about whether the gender of an heir should be taken into consideration, so it might be interesting for more than just the tabloids. Speaking of tabloids, Jennifer Aniston is also allegedly pregnant and happily in love with the father. If this idyllic situation is true, then this might be the downfall of the tabloid, not to mention that we’ll never see what Jen looks like as a cat lady. And let’s not forget Kanye and Kim Kardashian’s child — there’s not much to say, but we’re all curious to see what that happy little
family will look like.

JBiebs
Love him or hate him, he still sells the papers. The Biebs was named the top Canadian newsmaker of the year. That’s right: he beat out our Prime Minister and Luka Magnotta, the infamous killer. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is just an awkward phase for Canada’s readership and 2013’s headlines see less of his crotch-grabbing antics.

Provincial
40th BC General Election
Okay, so it’s not exactly the kind of thing that most people wait on the edge of their seat for, but the provincial election still has a huge impact on our everyday lives. On May 14th, Christy Clark and her opposition, headed by Adrian Dix, will address many of the issues that made local headlines in the past year, including the Enbridge pipeline, the hated HST, and poverty throughout the province.

U-Passes
As of Jan. 1, 2013,Translink has increased its fares. People around the Lower Mainland can’t stop bitching about it, but university students remain unaffected and can enjoy the luxury of our U-Passes. So, whenever you’re in front of your laptop eating Ramen noodles at 3 a.m. after a 10-hour paper-writing marathon, just think: at least you don’t have to pay
more to take a bus. On that note, 2013 will also see a referendum for BC students to vote on whether they wish to continue with the U-Pass program, so keep your eyes open for that date.

World
Obama’s inauguration
The election was nerve rackingly close, which just means that there’s added pressure for Obama to prove himself in the face of faltering support. Not to mention that his inaugural speech the first time around was an epic one, so the bar is high for inspirational oration on his part.

EU
Speaking of high bars, the European Union just won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, and they’ve named 2013 the “European Year of Citizens,” meaning that the focus will be on the rights that the EU’s citizen countries have. Europe had a rough year, so here’s hoping that the Union will embody the values of the Nobel Prize for a better 2013.

Technology
Blackberry 10
Blackberries are all but obsolete these days, but RIM’s still kicking around. In an attempt to catch up with the iPhone and Androids, they’re launching the Blackberry 10, the first of their models with an all-touchscreen. This is pretty much all they have, so we’ll see if this will have any effect on the face of technology.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024