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Deerhoof playfully brushes off Breakup

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EIC
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Breakup Song just wants to keep dancing.

By Max Hill

Advertising their new album as “noise jingles for parties,” Deerhoof doesn’t disappoint. Indeed, 2012’s Breakup Song is as close to a dance record as the group is going to get. It’s unmistakably a Deerhoof record: inventive, aggressive, and noisy, with bright, summery pop milling just underneath the surface. There are elements of jazz, classical, chiptune, noise, and even rumba to be found in the L.P.’s painfully short 29 minutes, but each song feels cohesive, as though these genre elements were meant to blend together effortlessly.

Tokyo-born Satomi Matsuzaki — whose endearingly accented vocals reminds one of BMO from the cartoon Adventure Time — is full of childlike energy throughout the album: she brushes off a breakup in the title track with “You say it’s over/Hell yeah/Hell yeah/Anyway,” setting the stage for a record that doesn’t see the end of a relationship as a setback, but as an opportunity. Her sweet accompaniment to the band’s usual boundary-pushing sonic experiments toe a line treaded many times before by Deerhoof: cute versus aggressive, innocent versus dangerous.

The band is well-known for refusing to repeat itself, and Breakup Song stands alone amongst their last few records, substituting carefully written and recorded songs for DIY- spirit and reckless abandon. This is definitely a good thing: Deerhoof is at its best when it embraces its pop leanings and just lets itself go. The album was allegedly written and recorded within the space of a few months, and it shows: there’s a sense of spontaneity throughout, suggesting a band comfortable enough with themselves and their image to be able to let loose and improvise. Tracks like “The Trouble With Candyhands” and “There’s That Grin” change melodies and shift moods almost at the drop of a hat; it’s as though the band were so excited about all of their ideas that they couldn’t commit to one for more than five seconds without moving to the next. Breakup Song is the kid at the party who’s still dancing long after the lights have gone out, and often it’s hard not to get up and join in.

The second half of Breakup Song is undeniably stronger than the first: the one-two punch of “Mario’s Flaming Whiskers III” and album closer “Fête d’Adieu” might be the record’s best passage, whereas weaker tracks like “Bad Kids to the Front” and “Zero Second Pause” turn up much earlier. Some might also find the album’s unwillingness to take a break exhausting. However, fans of the band will surely be satisfied: there’s a lot to love here for those who’ve been with the group since their Apple O’ days. For listeners who are still new to Deerhoof, and don’t mind a little sugar in their cereal, Breakup Song is a great introduction to the idiosyncrasy the band is known and loved for. The album is short but sweet, and you’ll probably find yourself wanting to listen again as soon as it’s over.

The Virtual Self leaves us wondering

By
EIC
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0

Nora Young’s latest book may be better left on the shelf.

By Monica Miller

Nora Young, the lively host of CBC Radio’s The Spark, published her first book in April of this year, which explores the impact our digital activities have on our life. The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us has received a lot of buzz in social media, and as a student of communications, I decided to check it out.

Unfortunately, I never finished the book. My main issues were her continual repetition, the lack of big-picture implications, and the general structure of the book. The tone and writing style is very conversational and accessible, much like The Spark, but my current frame of mind in academia left me craving something more. I wanted stronger correlations, sources cited (or even just footnotes), and more in-depth analysis of the consequences.

At the end of the first chapter, Nora poses all the questions that have been bugging me so far: why we do this, what are the consequences, how does this change our relationships, etc. And then she performs the cardinal sin of essays: she doesn’t answer the questions she posed. I understand that this is a tactic used to further engage readers, to dangle the carrot so that we keep reading. However, in my opinion, if you’re still dangling these carrot-ledes at 30 pages into a 200-page book, something is wrong. By the end of the first chapter, readers should have a clear view of what the scope of the book is about, what the current situation is, and why it is important. The remainder of the book should build on this foundation. So, in the hopes that Young was building a foundation (albeit slow and painfully) I continued to read.

My criticism of repetition and structural organization of the book go hand-in-hand, and sometimes it was the colloquial tone that attributed to the repetition. However, this doesn’t excuse the fact that the book has little direction. Young spends the first half of the book talking about self-tracking and how we do this, and some of the obvious whys, but doesn’t go much deeper. At one point, I actually wrote in the margin (in pencil that I erased since it was a library book), “So what?”

I admit that a little over halfway through the book I stopped paying a great deal of attention. I flipped through the next few chapters absent-mindedly.

Throughout the book, Young brings up (in passing) a number of key phrases, including “life-caching,” “the Quantified Self,” “spime,” “feedback loop,” “stats-driven objectified activities,” “the selling of our information/demographics,” and “surveillance of self,” among others. To have all of these concepts in a 200-page book is incredibly ambitious, but if you never actually define them properly or go into in-depth analysis, you can easily just name-drop them all in.

The Virtual Self isn’t completely terrible. While Nora does have some general suggestions for us as users and as a society, the book left a lot to be desired in my mind. However, if you are interested in reading The Virtual Self, don’t be deterred on my account. I think the accessibility of the writing is a strong selling point, especially if the intended reader is not heavily knowledgeable in the digital world, media, and communication.

When friend becomes a verb

By
EIC
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 Urban Conspiracy Cabaret tackles isolation and disconnection.

By Monica Miller

In an increasingly global city, urban society, and interactive culture, why do we feel more isolated than ever? Vancouver has a bad reputation for being unfriendly  and unengaged.

“Isolation and disconnection in the urban environment is an issue that requires a different approach to find solutions,” explained Shauna Sylvester, executive director of SFU Public Square. The Vancouver Foundation tackled this question with a survey of nearly 4,000 residents of Metro Vancouver, resulting in the June 2012 report on Community and Engagement. It revealed a “powerful yearning for stronger connections in and between our communities.” SFU Public Square also launched in June to address SFU’s new vision as “engaging the world,” and features an annual summit focusing on a local or international issue of public concern.

After the Vancouver Foundation’s report was released in June, coordinators began to discuss what a week of activities and discussions around this topic could look like. Open conversations, community display space, dialogues and panels, and even a film festival were all in the mix. The Alone Together: Connecting in the City summit runs from Sept. 18–24, 2012, and is no conventional conference, with 11 distinct events.

Am Johal, community engagement coordinator of SFU Woodward’s cultural unit, and Michael Boucher, director of cultural development and programming at SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, also wanted to see how the creative community explored these themes of engagement, connection, and citizenship.

“Artists, comedians, musicians,” Johal explained, “all take a less didactic approach [compared to academics].”

Enter the CBC Debaters’s Richard Side and Charles Demers, throw in a few local artists of poetry, music, and performance, and you’ve got The Urban Conspiracy Cabaret: an entertaining evening of arts for civic change, political engagement, and comedy. The cabaret program will allow each performer 10 minutes, with comedic interludes from Richard and Charles.

“With Charlie and Richard you can only script so much,” Johal laughed.

Performers include poet Colin Browne, jazz musician Paul Keeling, Balinese music ensemble Gamelan Gita Asmara, soul and blues band High Society, Vancouver singer-songwriter Veda Hille, and theatre group Project Limelight. Composed of performance-driven kids, Project Limelight launched in January 2012. It was conceived by two sisters to give back to the community after their mother passed away, and has partnered with the School of Contemporary Arts to offer performing arts education in the Strathcona neighbourhood. Johal warned not to underestimate the talent of Project Limelight just because they’re kids — “they’re not amateurs.”

The Urban Conspiracy Cabaret takes place Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, in the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at SFU Woodward’s. Tickets are only $10 online or at the door, and include drinks and mingling before and after.

Meaty eats sure to bring out the Wildebeest in you

By
EIC
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0

Wildebeest is not for the faint of heart.

By Ljudmila Petrovic

Located at 120 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C.

Wildebeest started with co-owners James Iranzad and Josh Pape’s mutual love for good food and drink, and developed into Gastown’s newest trendy restaurant with a concept. Organic ingredients, using whole animals, and sharing plates. “Everything feels so honest,” said Pape about the menu. There are no real boundaries in terms of the direction the restaurant will take, he said.  The genius behind the menu is executive chef David Gunawan, whose hand-picked kitchen staff have all worked with Gunawan and each other before.

A friend and I went in on a Wednesday night at 7:30 with no reservations, and the trendy interior was packed. Faced with the option of waiting until 9:30 for a table to open up, we were instead seated at a communal table with another party. Take note that it is only open in the evenings (from 5 p.m. onwards), and is closed on Mondays.

All the servers are very helpful and knowledgeable about the food and drink they serve; they were able to answer every question in immaculate detail, down to the specific details and intricacies of preparation.

There is a huge selection of unique cocktails and an extensive wine list. In fact, the downstairs is a wine bar, which is currently open only at certain times on weekends. Both are pretty pricey. Drinks are by no means a small part of the concept though, so they are worth trying out.

Skip the crispy pork skin. At $4, it’s not a huge gamble, but it’s also not particularly worth it; they were basically pork-flavoured chips. In fact, don’t waste time with any of the appetizer options (various olives, breads, oyster, and ham plates). The prices are mid-range (mostly hovering around $15), but it is the quality and richness that you’re paying for, not the portion sizes.

The fois gras (duck liver) torchon was served with three tiny pieces of black brioche (not enough to accommodate the rich fois gras). At $18, I was a little taken aback at how little we got — until I tasted it. It was amazing, and so rich that there’s no way I could have eaten any more. Next we got the lamb tartare ($14), which was served with pickled wild onions and herb croutons. It is served with grilled lamb heart, adding to the tartare’s raw texture. This dish was as good as the last, though less rich; I could have gone with a little more.

This might be a good time to warn you: if you’re not in the mood to eat meat, or you’re not willing to experiment, this is not the place for you.

Highlights of our meal included the honey-cured steelhead trout and the beef tongue (make sure to eat every bite with the mushroom marmalade it’s served with). As an impulsive and masochistic afterthought (both for my wallet and my stomach), we ordered the pork jowl (served with oats and bourbon maple syrup). I never thought I’d find comfort food at a place where portions are smaller than the palm of my hand, but there it is, folks. This meat literally melts in your mouth.

Because I don’t really care about my arteries, we also got dessert: dark chocolate sorbet, served with honeycomb and cherries. It’s worth it.

Wildebeest is not cheap by any means, nor is it a hefty meal. However, the food is delectable and you won’t regret a single bite — until you get the bill, probably. That said, it is significantly cheaper than most places where you would get fare of the likes of fois gras and tartare. Wildebeest is just trendy and daring enough that it has a lot of potential to make it big with the Vancouver crowd it caters to. Keep your eyes out for this gem if you ever want to splurge on a night out — it can only get less affordable from here.

SFU sizes up food options on campus

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EIC
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By Samantha Thompson

University employees take a look at the nutritional value of current meal choices

As students get back into the school routine, the pressure is on to maintain a healthy, balanced diet while simultaneously spending hours studying. Rosie Dhaliwal, a gealth promotion specialist for SFU, emphasizes the importance of maintaining good nutrition while completing a post-secondary education.

“It comes down to your ability to concentrate and perform well on your assignments or other tasks for the day,” said Dhaliwal in an email to The Peak. “Even your mood is impacted by what you are eating.”

The 2012 health profile for Vancouver, released by Statistics Canada, states that 39.4 per cent of people living in the Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area consume fruit and vegetables five times or more daily. In addition, 31.7 per cent of the population were identified as being overweight or obese, and 58.3 per cent participate in a physical activity in their free time.

In light of such statistics, health consciousness has been placed in the spotlight, particularly after multiple health plan initiatives launched locally over the past several years. This year, the City of Vancouver commenced their “Healthy City Strategy,” which aims to develop “a long-term strategy for healthier people, healthier places, and a healthier planet.”

SFU, too, has been promoting healthier lifestyles, most recently with the changes in on-campus dining. The university has altered its approach to available food options, in order to meet the demands of students looking to make a healthier choice.

“We really wanted to try to focus on what the students were requesting from us and provide them with some more options,” said Kelly Dooley, the manager of student experience for SFU dining, adding that what students wanted most was more variety, more value and different options when eating on-campus.

“We’ve added some focus on more fresh cooking and comfort foods,” said Dooley. “In MacKenzie Cafe we have a new manager and a new culinary team, so they’re really focusing on more hearty, fresh home-cooked foods, as well as nutritious foods.”

The all-day breakfast station in the cafe now uses free-range eggs, and the soups and sauces are made from scratch. “You can definitely taste the flavour,” said Dooley.

In addition, the Residence Dining Hall options have expanded, now including the customizable “My Pantry” feature, where students can have more say about what goes into their meal. The dining hall’s hours have increased, remaining open 24/7 — the first of its kind in Canada.

Students learning about nutrition and how to cook may see positive results, in their wallets as well as with their health. “It will enhance their academic success, their overall health, and save them money,” says Dhaliwal. “Your money will take you way further if you are preparing your own meals rather than purchasing them regularly. I can’t emphasize enough that 80 per cent of chronic diseases are preventable through low-cost strategies such as eating well and active living.”

Even with nutritious options on campus, there are things students can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle without relying on the university’s dining services. According to Dhaliwal, students should be eating every three to four hours; consuming balanced meals (one quarter of the plate is protein, one quarter is carbohydrates and the remaining half is comprised of fruit and vegetables); and carrying around portable snacks like plain nuts, seeds or fresh fruit.

As students delve deeper into another semester of long days and short nights, Dhaliwal reminds them to enjoy the experience when it comes to food.

“Food is part of a lot of social events throughout the semester,” she says, “[but] I like to use the 80/20 rule — 80 per cent of the time we stick to guidelines from Canada’s Food Guide, but 20 per cent of the time we allow ourselves a treat and we enjoy it.”

University Briefs

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EIC
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1

By Alison Roach

UVic unveils gender-inclusive washrooms

Two washrooms in the main concourse of the UVic Student Union Building which were formerly gendered have been reassigned as gender-inclusive, allowing any person of any gender to use the two spaces. UVic is the first campus on Vancouver Island to try out the multi-stall, gender-inclusive layout.  The physical changes are limited to a new partition around the urinals in the former men’s washroom, and the replacement of the signs at the entrance of each.

 

Two Canadian universities pull top ranking spots

The 2012 QS World University Rankings was released on Monday, with McGill University ranked 18th, and the University of Toronto put in 19th place. This is the first time that two Canadian universities have been designated in the top 20 universities in the world. U of T has been rising in the ranks steadily in the past few years, placing 29th in 2010 and 23rd last year. One thing that U of T’s higher standing is attributed to is an increase in international students.

 

University of Regina students text each other anonymously

A new social media outlet at the University of Regina allows students to text each other randomly and anonymously. URconnecting.com matches students to other users of the site and lets them text each other from their cell phones. Students sign up with their campus email account and provide their age, sex, and area of study, while keeping their personal phone number private. The website touts itself as “ChatRoulette for SMS.”

Bidding wars: the science of spite

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EIC
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By Muntasi Mavhima

Dr. Kimbrough of the economics department looks into the cause of over-bidding during online auctions

 

The science of bidding wars was the subject of an independent study conducted by Dr. Erik Kimbrough of SFU’s department of economics in conjunction with Dr. J. Phillip Reiss of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, particularly at auctions run by eBay. The subjects used were students of Maastricht University, mostly German and Dutch.

The drive behind the study was to investigate the phenomenon of over-bidding during online auctions, and was inspired by another paper published in 2011. Speaking on the paper, called “The Bidder’s Curse”, published in The American Economic Association Review, Dr. Kimbrough said, “They document the empirical facts, they have some models, but we weren’t 100 per cent compelled and wanted to see if we could use the lab to elaborate a little further.”  And the data collected presented some very interesting results. Commenting on the unexpected data, he said, “This was a case where we accidentally got interesting data.”

The study was a two-stage, eBay style auction, where subjects bid on an item in the first round. This item has a fixed, “buy now” price. After this they were made aware of the highest bids and allowed a second bid. A “spiteful bidder” was seen as one who raised their initial bid, not to win the auctioned item, but to simply make someone else pay more than they would. A “non-spiteful” bidder was one who did not change their initial bid. The study also showed that most people were either spiteful or non-spiteful, with only a small portion of subjects between the two extremes.

The results were so interesting, in fact, that the study has sparked debate about human nature, in particular, whether or not we are naturally inclined to be spiteful to one another. These results show a clear distinction between “yes” and “no;” some people are spiteful when given the opportunity, and some are not. This study was carried out in anonymity, so there was no risk of revenge or retribution from any aggrieved parties. Subjects were free to do as they pleased when it came to the bidding.  “We hope that we’re measuring something that’s consistent about these people over time . . . that some guys are spiteful types and some are not spiteful types,” said Kimbrough

The reasoning behind each individual’s personal decision is unclear, and a psychiatric/psychological study is more suited to clarify that aspect of the study. Dr. Kimbrough did touch on the psychology and the motivation behind the spiteful act in the study, having spoken to a professor of psychology, but no concrete conclusions have been made. However this has prompted him to refine any future studies and, in his own words, “laser in on spitefulness, [and] make sure that’s the only thing that we’re focusing on.” Raising more possibilities is the idea of using different subject groups — such as students from different parts of the world, or subjects of a different age range — in studies. Cultural, socio-economic and personal factors may contribute to the level of spite in individuals and communities. So next time you bid on eBay, think about which side you’re on.

MOU terms reached by SFSS and SFU

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EIC
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1

By Graham Cook

Document lays out how Build SFU project will move forward

 

The Simon Fraser Student Society and Simon Fraser University have released a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the construction of a Student Union Building (SUB) and stadium, known as the Build SFU Project, at the Burnaby campus. It formally sets out the conversations and mutual understanding between the two groups about the project and how it will move forward.

One provision that it lays out is the two possible locations for the 100,000 to 120,000 gross square foot SUB. The first potential locale is a repurposed Lorne Davies Complex, including the areas that currently contain the east gymnasium, pool, recreation offices, and coaching offices. Option two involves both groups finding another space to construct a SUB. In both cases, the university will own the land and lease the space to the SFSS for a nominal fee, and may “retain an amount of space in the [building],” for things such as athletic and recreation administration. This lease is outlined as being long-term in nature, possibly lasting up to 99 years.

Under the “financial arrangements” section of the document is the agreement that the Build SFU Project will be entirely financed by the student society.  It states, “SFU will provide assistance to the SFSS in securing financing, where possible . . . SFU will not incur any debt or financial liability . . . to construct the stadium or the new SUB.”

In an email to The Peak, SFU’s associate VP students, Tim Rahilly, said, “The University is pleased that we have been able to negotiate an MOU with the SFSS to proceed with the project.  The process has been highly collaborative and . . . I think the University is as excited as the students about the next steps.”

In a separate email, SFSS University Relations Officer Jeff McCann mirrored Rahilly’s feelings, stating, “I’m excited about the progress we have made to date with the Build SFU project. We are on an aggressive timeline and look forward to getting as many students involved in the process as possible.” McCann went on to write that the SFSS “will be appointing members to the . . . Build SFU committee in the coming week,” and that he encouraged interested candidates to contact him. According to McCann, the next step is to fill the two positions and start broadly consulting students.

McCann added that he was “impressed with SFU in their commitment to this process and the undergraduate students . . . Tim Rahilly has been instrumental in his role as the prime university contact.” He concluded by sharing his hopes that “this agreement will serve as the road-map for future boards to follow to create the best student space possible.”

The Student Union Building and Terry Fox field stadium project has an approximate cost of $65 million, with $5 million going to the stadium and $60 million going to the SUB.  Last March the undergraduate students of SFU approved a referendum to implement a student levy to fund Build SFU. The levy will begin at $10 a semester and increase by $10 annually until it reaches $90 a semester.

Tracing queer history on campus

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EIC
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Out on Campus’ Queer History Project seeks to demonstrate SFU’s continued engagement with the queer community at large.

By Rachel Braeuer
Photos by Mark Burnham

For many, October is the month spent busily readying a Halloween costume that will inevitably be lost to the night. Not true for the folks at Out on Campus; for them October is Queer History Month, and this year marks the 40thth anniversary of queer activism at SFU. Out on Campus is now in the process of planning a Queer History Project to trace a trajectory of queer activism at SFU, and how it plays into the history of the Vancouver LGBTQ community at large.

SFU’s history as a radical activist university is represented in Vancouver’s news archives, and Out on Campus hopes to find examples of SFU’s first queer activists’ actions both on and off campus to chart not only SFU’s queer community, but the intersectionality present with the queer community at large. “A lot of the things that have happened in SFU reach to the larger LGBTQ community activism; a lot of things going on at SFU were informed by the things going on in the larger community of Vancouver, so I’d be really interested in us linking those things together, because I think it’s really easy for folks to forget how influential SFU has been,” said Samonte Cruz, Out on Campus’ Volunteer and Office coordinator, who is heading the charge to get this project off the ground.

The project itself is expected to take the form of many smaller endeavours that together will shape the project as a whole. One potential starting point is a panel discussion between former queer activists to outline their experiences at SFU and demonstrate the ways they and their peers’ efforts have informed the queer community at large. Cruz notes that tracking queer activism on campus and influential activists is difficult because of “the nature of the university, where people are around for a limited amount of time, and then they move on.” Cruz hopes that ideally the panel session would identify “the discussions that actually started at SFU,” which will demonstrate the far-reaching nature of the campus’s activism. Other hopeful sub-projects include radio shows and websites documenting the findings of the archival research, and Out on Campus is open to suggestions from volunteers about how they would like to see the project take shape.

Right now, plans for the Queer History Project are in their infancy, and Out on Campus will require a strong volunteer base to see the project through to fruition. Because of the archival nature of the project, volunteers are in need to help with that, but anyone interested in the general concept of the project is more than welcome to join. The volunteer-run status of the project means that it’s up to SFU students to create and shape.

New study profiles sexual killers

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EIC
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SFU criminology professor investigates previous Canadian sexual homicides

By Ljudmila Petrovic

When imagining a sexual killer, most people picture a loner, lurking in the shadows and waiting for his next victim. Not so, says a new study by SFU criminologist Dr. Eric Beauregard. One of the largest studies of its kind in Canadian criminal history, it looked at 350 Canadian cases of sexual homicide from the last 62 years. The most significant finding of the study was that many sexual killers are not actually as socially isolated as was previously believed. In fact, in more than 40 per cent of the cases, the attackers used a social ruse to approach their victims, rather than attacking them outright — only 20 per cent actually used physical force to overpower their victims. This can be seen as an indicator of developed social skills. Most sexual killers in the study also did not seem to be serial offenders — 80 per cent did not have any official sexual convictions in the past. However, they did have 1.7 past convictions for violent offences that were not of a sexual nature, and 7.3 past convictions for property offences on average.

The study found that the average sexual killer was a single, white male in his late 20s, usually with a thin or average build. Their victims were often around the same age, with a shocking 90 per cent being female, and a strong majority (62 per cent) being white, closely followed by aboriginal victims (33 per cent). Many of the victims had a history of alcohol or drug abuse, and 17 per cent had at some point been sex workers. Contrary to the general stereotype of the sexual serial killer that plots his victims carefully in a basement, it turns out that more than 80 per cent of the victims in the study were not specifically targeted, but were randomly selected.

“The fact that more than half of the offenders did not use any forensic awareness strategies is very interesting,” said Beauregard in terms of analyzing the findings, “This suggests that a little bit more than one out of two offenders do not pay attention to the evidence he may be leaving at the crime scene.” Beauregard notes that the culture of criminal shows on television such as CSI would be hypothesized as having an effect on actual crimes, as offenders would learn what kind of evidence they should hide or be careful about.

In the past, there has been a misconception of what a sexual killer’s profile looks like. However, with this new study, Beauregard hopes these findings will aid police and investigators, giving them a better of idea of what they are looking for in suspected sexual killers. “One of our next projects is to investigate what are the factors related to the solvability of the sexual homicide,” said Beauregard about the future of research in this area. “In other words, we are interested in looking at what sexual murderers are doing to avoid police detection.” This area of research is one that is essential to public interest and safety, and this study is leaps and bounds ahead of other Canadian criminological studies of its type.

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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