Home Blog Page 879

CENTRE STAGE: Just Words melds poetry and dance; flamenco, Irish tap, and belly dance share the stage in Encuentros

By
EIC
-
0
Just Words explores the importance of dance as an art form.

Just Words – Les Productions Figlio

April 27–30, Firehall Arts Centre

Serge Bennathan steps to the front of the Firehall stage, a spotlight on him as he picks up a sheet of paper. He reads off a letter that he wrote to fellow choreographer and dance artist Grant Strate who passed away in 2015. The letter shows his respect for Strate as he says “we need your grace,” as well as his thoughts on the importance of dance as an art form.

In personal, reflective interludes, Bennathan spoke directly to the audience and shared parts of his life: his experience as an immigrant, his desire to write a blog, to choreograph chaos, and he even shared an original poem with us. His words coloured the choreography as Karissa Barry and Hilary Maxwell translated the words into dance. Aside from directing his Vancouver-based dance company, Les Productions Figlio, Bennathan is also a writer and painter, and with this latest work he wanted to express himself through words and speak poetically. The love poem he shared with us, in French and then in English, was full of beautiful imagery and romantic tension.

Barry and Maxwell, dressed in black pants, tank tops, and sneakers, were at times dancing in sync and at times in opposition, pushing against each other and throwing each other aside. The steady pace of the choreography was neither overly physical nor lacking in intensity, and Bennathan was able to augment his words through rigorous movements.    

Bennathan danced with Barry and Maxwell at a couple points during the show, but for the most part he stood at the side of the bare stage while they danced. Sometimes he urged them on with directions such as “vas-y,” and traded places with them to share more of his words. With fervent choreography and thoughtful poetic interludes, this show was much more than just words.

Encuentros – Kasandra Flamenco and Caravan World Rhythms

May 1, Vancouver Playhouse

Kasandra “La China” and her ruffled red dress swirl and dip in unison. Her dance partner is the long train of her dress, following her every move as she skillfully maneuvers it. When she is joined onstage by another flamenco star, Ricardo Lopez, the dress envelops both of them in a gentle hug.

Kasandra is the artistic director of Encuentros, as well as her own company Kasandra Flamenco. Her concept for this one-night show was to bring together Irish tap dance, flamenco, and Egyptian belly dance to highlight their percussive similarities and have dancers face off in passionate encounters.

Kasandra and Lopez shared a couple of particularly passionate scenes; you sensed that they felt the rhythm in their bones and were completely in tune with the onstage musicians. One of their duets featured an innovative costume piece that kept them connected: they each wore a small vest connected by a long piece of fabric. As they danced the fabric wound around them and helped to visualize their patterns and symbolize the relationship being portrayed.

Representing Irish tap was Vancouver-based Joel Hanna, who has performed with Riverdance and has some of the most virtuosic footwork I’ve ever seen while making it look easy. He must have been working hard, though, because at one point between lightning fast footwork sequences he looked at the audience and said with a sigh, “It’s hot!”

Hanna and Lopez shared an intense scene teasing and challenging each other with increasingly difficult steps. Like an impromptu jam session between musicians, their steps shared the same rhythm and mood but displayed the different qualities of their respective genres. Kasandra had her own dance duel with belly dancer Ashley Kirkham, whose undulations and microscopic vibrations were impressive. It was interesting to see the rhythm represented through the hips and torso in belly dance, as opposed to through the feet and hands in flamenco.

Another essential element of flamenco dance is the live music. Guitarist Gareth Owen, singer Vicente Griego, percussionists Davide Sampaolo and Tim Gerwing, and Oud player Serwan Yamolky provided the perfect accompaniment to the movement.

Cries of “Ole” and “Bravo” could be heard throughout the show. It was wonderful to see these four soloists who are experts at their craft sharing a stage and showing us how their grounded, rhythm-infused styles can work so beautifully together.

Album Reviews

By
Peak Web
-
0

By: Beau Bridge and Courtney Miller

The Summer Set – Stories for Monday

The Summer Set’s latest album very much echoes their previous records, featuring an all-around pop sound with a hint of rock. Although their sound seems to have matured on the opening track “Figure Me Out,” the rest of the album, while fun, leaves the listener wishing for more of that depth. They deliver the same themes over and over again: youth, nostalgia, and their signature we-did-some-crazy-shit, most prominent on “All My Friends.”

“Figure Me Out” is the best track on the album musically, with excellent drum beats and substance behind the lyrical story. It reads as an autobiography of the band, unsure where they fit in: “I’m a bit too pop for the punk kids, but I’m too punk for the pop kids.”

“Jean Jacket” is the only other track that experiments with saxophone and a groovy, out-of-character bassline. It has the makings of a great summer album with catchy hooks and riffs, but there’s nothing risky about their music. –CM

Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness

I’ve always found Explosions in the Sky to be great study music. With mostly instrumental songs, their previous albums have been studying gold. Alas, all good things must end. This album, though recognizably Explosions in the Sky, doesn’t contend with 2003’s The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place.

The entire album is minimalistic and heavily reliant on percussion. There is a cultivated monotony to the track, like they decided to deconstruct their sound and left most of it at the side of the road.

“The Ecstatics” builds into a powerful pep talk, full of motivation. “Tangle Formations,” which follows, keeps the energizing feel, climaxing in a rollicking tune. A drummer’s epic, “Logic of a Dream” sounds like a majestic death march. Other tracks like “Disintegration Anxiety” and “Landing Cliffs” are relaxing, calming tunes, with the latter adding in a dreamy, subdued quality.

Overall, still great study music, but only for content that’s exciting in itself. –CM

Brian Eno – The Ship

For any fan of ambient music, Brian Eno’s newest release is a bountiful one, both innovative and recognizable. Listeners of 2016’s The Ship will immediately identify with the chorus’ over-sustained vocals and light strings that have typified Eno’s most well-known works: 1978’s Ambient #1: Music For Airports and 1983’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.

The four tracks that make up this album inevitably build off one another to form the sense of a movement rather than an album. This will be no surprise to those familiar with Eno’s early ambient works mentioned above. Aside from the thematic inspiration of the sinking of the Titanic — which is depicted vividly through the pieces’ progressions — Eno actually provides verbal narration in a couple of tracks that pull off as omnipresent poetry. A must for Eno fans. –BB

FOOD FIGHT: Amazing pannekoeken overlooking the New West Quay

By
EIC
-
0
Berries, whipped cream, and syrup grace the top of the perfect breakfast food.

Until the moment you devour one of Angelina’s fresh berry pannekoeken or their locally famous eggs benedict, you are missing out on seriously amazing shit. Throw Denny’s in the bin and sit yourself down at a patio table at Angelina’s, enjoy the view of the New Westminster Quay, and weep joyfully over the Dutch-inspired breakfast and lunch.

Angelina’s is a small daytime restaurant quite conveniently located across from New Westminster Station, open weekdays 6:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and weekends until 3:30 p.m. It has the nostalgic local diner feel that everybody seems to love and is often very busy. So busy that the only open tables without a waitlist are on the patio overlooking the river. Like any brunch place, Sundays are the craziest, so don’t be dumb like me and show up on Sunday at 2 p.m. starving after a night of drinking — there may be quite a wait for the food.

The menu has greatly expanded since opening and they offer all the standard breakfast fare such as waffles, French toast, omelettes, and oatmeal. But what really stood out as different was the savoury and sweet pannekoeken. A pannekoek is a Dutch pancake that is the happy medium between a pancake and a crepe — it’s every breakfast lover’s dream. Light but flavourful, it’s delicious when served sweet with berries and cream but also savoury with housemade hollandaise sauce and ‘yummy hash’: a mixture of hash browns, various vegetables, and your choice of protein (or mushrooms for vegetarians). You will be fully convinced that you can eat 40 of them in one sitting after a single bite.

Their omelettes, although quite ordinary, are done right: chock full of fresh vegetables and five cheeses to choose from, served with toast and perfectly seasoned baby potatoes. A highly recommended local favourite is the eggs benedict — even rumoured to be the best in Vancouver. I definitely neglected the lunch menu as Angelina’s is notorious for its bragging rights over a damn fine brunch, but a lunch menu does exist and consists of sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, and burgers.

Although maybe not the optimal hotspot for vegans — its menu does not include fake meats, tofu, or vegan pannekoek — Angelina’s Restaurant offers many vegetarian options alongside their bratwurst. The coffee was good but not great, and the service was friendly but not brisk enough for a busy restaurant. Price range is about $15–$20 per person, which I found a bit on the pricier side, but fair for the portions and quality of food.

At the end of the day, Angelina’s is a charming local brunch place with a nice view and homestyle fresh breakfast food, that never fails to receive a thumbs-up in response. Definitely worth a visit — just not on a hungover Sunday.

How Person of Interest resisted falling into the post-9/11 TV trap

By
EIC
-
0
Person of Interest goes beyond the typical crime drama and engages with current events, without sensationalizing them.

By: Vincent Justin Mitra, SFU Student

When Person of Interest first aired in September of 2011, I was immediately hooked.

A response to the American War on Terror, Person of Interest follows John Reese (Jim Caviezel), Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), and all-seeing citywide surveillance system The Machine, as they fight crime in New York City. The cast is also rounded out by hacker Root (Amy Acker), government assassin Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi), and NYPD Detectives Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman).

As described by the opening narration, Finch programmed The Machine to predict and prevent acts of terror for the American Government. He felt guilty though that they would ignore the premeditated murders, robberies, and domestic abuse that The Machine also foresaw. Operating in secret, Finch serves as mission control to Reese, the former Special Forces agent haunted by years of guilt, who supplies the skills needed to prevent these crimes.

It’s like Minority Report if they replaced those weird psychic twins with that scene at the end of The Dark Knight when Batman hacks into everyone’s cellphones.

What sets Person of Interest apart from other crime dramas is how, at its core, it looks to discuss current issues. Sure, some other shows might write up a quick and vaguely topical episode about the latest murder or assault case that flashed across the headlines the week before. Those shows are shallow and sensationalist in comparison, though. While those shows are about criminals, lawyers, or crime scene investigators, Person of Interest speculates about a society at the turning point where technology can become either our friend or our master.

Person of Interest engages in dialogue on issues of privacy and surveillance, freedom versus security, artificial intelligence, the ubiquity of technology, and corporate and government corruption.

It also deals much less vindictively than other post-9/11 shows — particularly when compared to the bloodthirsty, ‘ends justify the means’ attitude of 24‘s Jack Bauer. Whereas Bauer once threatened to force a towel down someone’s throat “all the way” and pull out his stomach lining during an interrogation, the characters of Person of Interest are far less sadistic; their primary goal is the protection of life.

The first episode of the fifth and final season aired May 3 and had the protagonists still reeling from the debilitating events of the previous season. The already high production values have gotten even higher in the show’s final lap around the track, and the show looks set for a spectacular finish when it takes its final bow.

When the show finally powers down on June 21, I know I will not forget the intelligent scripts and compelling characters that made up that world. Until that day, you can be sure that I, just like The Machine, will be watching.

Person of Interest airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CTV.

CINEPHILIA: Sing Street is nostalgic and clichéd but doesn’t give a damn about it

By
EIC
-
0
The boy gets the girl, and the movie ends on a happy note, but this movie so much more than just that.

You can feel the endorphins rushing to your brain watching Sing Street. It’s like the sweet-spot of a run when you only feel the euphoria, a drug trip right before the freefall, or an orgasm that lasts nearly two hours. This is superlative wish-fulfilment: unashamed, delightful, and frequently quite awesome. It’s so unabashedly earnest you couldn’t find a subatomic particle of cynicism in its genetic makeup.

Set against a job crisis and an eroding Dublin in the 1980s, a group of delightfully weird teenagers search for themselves by creating music inspired by their life in a crappy Catholic school, and their favourite countercultural artists of the time — Duran Duran, Elvis Costello, and many more. It’s an angst-ridden search for identity. If we all had to be perfectly honest, though, the whole band thing was just to get a girl and pass the time in a place that can be more boring than watching the plaster peel from their homes’ deteriorating walls.

I could tell you that the boy gets the girl, that the band nails their climactic gig, and that basically everything works out. But what good would that do you? Would you be any closer to understanding the moment where Conor, the high school band’s frontman, imagines a candy-coloured music video with a ‘50s prom? Do I need to tell you that the band nails every note in this hallucination? How about the sequence where Conor and the lead guitarist write their first song, surprising themselves with how damn good it is? How about Conor’s sloppy first make-out with Raphina, an orphaned and mysterious girl, when he goes in for a kiss while she is still chewing on a mouthful of cookies?

Sing Street transcends clichés and formulae, actively reinventing what we thought possible in our snarky and ironic times.

This film was directed by John Carney, a man whom I suspect hasn’t told a lie in his life — unless, of course, it was for the sake of graciousness. He has made two other musically-inspired films: the surprise indie-hit Once, and the totally inauthentic yet completely sincere Begin Again.

Sing Street, like two of his other musical films, has a killer soundtrack; at times it practically mounts the entire film on its airless wavelengths. All of his films are variations on familiar rhythms. There is always a girl and a boy and a band. They play music. They fall in love. They struggle, but create something special along the way.

That last part, the struggle, is just as important for Carney. He is not reducing anyone’s pain in Sing Street. He is resolving it, finding a way for his characters to heal at a time when it’s hip to be bleak. This doesn’t minimize sadness or reduce its importance. Conor’s anxieties are founded on a world collapsing around him. His older brother, who listens to records and smokes pot all day, is a victim of his country and family’s degradation. There are real problems on display here, real tragedy lurking underneath the sweet charms.

This is a great film of the rarest kind: simply beautiful, essentially perfect within its own constraints, and so committed to making you fall in love with the world, even if it only exists for the brief moments it is on screen. Sing Street is a nostalgic, clichéd, and catchy fantasy. It also doesn’t give a damn what you think about it.

Ghost in the Shell: The sad truth about Hollywood ‘racism’

By
EIC
-
3
Scarlett Johansson's casting in Ghost in the Shell is yet another case of Hollywood whitewashing.

The latest Hollywood ‘racism’ scandal that has ethnically minded moviegoers filling up their skivvies is a photo of a stoned-looking Scarlett Johansson gazing at what appears to be a wall of glass. The still-shot from the upcoming Hollywood remake of Ghost in the Shell, based on the popular Japanese anime, shows Johansson as the lead character — an ostensibly Japanese cybernetic policewoman.

All would probably have passed more smoothly if the filmmakers hadn’t decided to give Johansson the character’s original anime-style hair. Further, the fact that her clearly Caucasian film character goes by the name “Motoko Kusanagi” is so hokey it’s comedic — almost as if Johansson were a guest on Saturday Night Live.

Given the ongoing public distaste with Hollywood’s recent casting choices (think Oscars 2016), I’m left unphased by Twitter’s accusations over the film industry’s choice to ‘whitewash’ what would otherwise be an Asian character.

Though diluted from all the claims that ‘Hollywood is racist,’ there’s a fleeting truth that proves we activists are forgetting how the film industry actually runs. As always, it boils down to money, folks.

What’s forgotten is that the film studios acquiring super high-budget films aim to make all of that money back when the film is released. Given that Hollywood currently has only a handful of actors that we could label ‘A-list’ — roughly 95 percent of whom are white — filmmakers are aware that if they do not acquire wildly popular actors from this small group of people, then film studios will have less interest in acquiring the rights to their expensive films.

In other words, Scarlett Johansson is what’s saving this film from being bumped to the ‘B-list’ that makes only a fraction of what it would make with a white actor playing the lead role. Sad, isn’t it?

So, let’s revisit this question. Is Hollywood racist? When it comes to making money, Hollywood will be as racist as it needs to be, while playing off the majority of mindless American film fans who enjoy the same darn actors re-packaged in mildly different ways. This means Scarlett Johansson dressed as every action-oriented, superhuman character in spandex — regardless of the ‘proper’ ethnicity.

The real question we should be asking ourselves is why the pool of A-list actors comprising Hollywood’s successful films is so small. Why aren’t there currently any mainstream female Asian celebrities to fill these roles? Let’s face it, our blockbuster entertainment industry is a system run by profit and trepidation — something of which we should all be ashamed.

So next year, don’t boycott the Oscars because you think it’s racist. Boycott it because it symbolizes an industry that takes your hard-earned money to stab your eyes with the same old crap because it’s scared of delivering anything else. Every single time.

You want a proper portrayal of Kusanagi? You’ll have to download the original.

Drop the pot charges already

By
EIC
-
3

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]egal marijuana is upon us! Health Minister Jane Philpott announced on April 20 (oh, the irony) that the process of legalizing pot would begin during the spring of 2017. Students, stoners, and probably several of our professors rejoiced.

As most Canadians know, the federal government has been promising to legalize marijuana since the beginning of Trudeau’s campaign. It’s a promise that really resonated with the younger electorate, and I’d bet was at least partially responsible for Trudeau’s popularity at the polls.

Considering the upcoming changes to drug laws in Canada, why are law enforcers still wasting their time and our tax dollars enforcing outdated and soon-to-be-off-the-books laws? Both the general public and members of the judicial system have already begun questioning the morality of criminal marijuana charges since the government announced the pending changes.

According to CBC, tens of thousands of Canadians are still considered criminals in the eyes of the law, despite the obvious change in attitudes around personal and medical marijuana use. The delay between promise and (hopefully) implementation of this law has created a moral and legal quagmire that is difficult to navigate. The only sane solution is to stop enforcing existing laws around possession for personal use and the sale of cannabis products in shops.

Criminal marijuana charges seem especially ridiculous when compared to actual violent or disruptive crimes that occur daily. Some direction for law enforcement on negotiating the interim period would go a long way to settling the concerns for those caught between old laws and new attitudes.

Unfortunately, to most law enforcement agents, the law is the law, illogical logistics be damned. It seems the responsibility falls on the Liberal government’s shoulders to urge law enforcement to stop the criminal pursuit of petty drug charges — which are a waste of time and morally ambiguous at best. This would be the best way to protect innocent Canadians from marring their (otherwise clean) criminal records.

Luckily for us, the Lower Mainland and its associated police forces have adopted a much saner stance on drug prosecution. CBC stated last September that Vancouver Police have made it clear they barely pay attention to marijuana dispensaries. Other than instances in which dispensaries have been accused of selling to minors, or being involved in organized crime, the Vancouver Police Department won’t pursue charges.

Moreover, the current dispensary crackdown in Vancouver is due to the fact that these shops are, by city rules, too close to public schools and community centres; not because people may have been found with illegal possession of the drug.

Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer has publicly spoken of Trudeau’s legalization of pot, stating that more dangerous drugs are his priority — as they should be! Politicians like Tom Mulcair, and Neil Boyd, director of the school of criminology at SFU, have publicly urged Liberals to pardon past and present offenders.

The entire legalization procedure is complex, and I understand that the logistics of such a major change in the law take time and planning. Still, this doesn’t negate the fact that these offenders aren’t really criminals any longer, and therefore should not be treated as such.

Peak Comics: The Sound of Allergies

By
EIC
-
0

german-spring COLOUR

Woohoo, Boohoo

By
EIC
-
0

Woohoo: Croc tops

The crop top: Honey, I shrunk the T-shirt in the wash and it actually looks pretty cute now.

This top is a symbol of freedom, liberating lower abdomens and absolving body complexes everywhere. Check this belly out, baby! White crop tops make me feel like an elven queen wandering through the forests in her large feminist kingdom, looking for hot forest nymph babes to make out with.

We all have dreams, and the crop top always helps bring me a little closer to mine. The crop top is also Lara Croft’s go-to garment, and I absolutely love that “I am fully capable of killing you right now” aesthetic. The crop top is also great because it barely takes up any space; I have 300 crop tops in my backpack right now! What? What do you mean it’s strange that I have a bag purely filled with crop tops? Diversity is the spice of life!

Boohoo: Baby crocs

Look, it’s not that I’m denying that baby crocs look great. Baby crocs do look great. Crocs were made for babies — crocs become art when tastefully matched with the baby. The shoes reveal just the right amount of cute, fat baby foot to effectively entrance and seduce. The croc is a modern revolution in babywear.

My issue with baby crocs is that they’re everywhere: lying suspiciously in parks, beaches, and on sidewalks. Who are all these babies? Where do all these crocs come from? What happens to lone baby crocs once their partner has been lost?  Why do these babies keep losing their crocs? At this rate, the whole city is going to become covered in baby crocs and we will all descend into chaos. Baby crocs will flood the streets, the sea, the lakes, the parks, and the lives of unsuspecting citizens.

The a-croc-alypse is coming.

Alternative watering holes for SFU students to wet their whistles

By
EIC
-
0

Last month, the SFSS announced that  Highland Pub would be closed for the summer semester, causing an unplanned four-month hiccup in drunkenness to SFU’s Burnaby campus. But do not fret, my fellow classmates, as the notorious student-fee sinkhole isn’t the only place folks can go to for a drink on Burnaby Mountain; here are five alternatives for where you can get boozy after — or, let’s be honest, before — class.

Club Ilia: With happy hour everyday from 3 to 5 p.m. and a formidable menu to choose from, Club Ilia seems like the candidate most likely to become the go-to destination for Burnaby students to get gooned. The summer is also prime time for drinking on a patio, which Ilia counts among its amenities.

Mountain Shadow Pub: Located just a short 135 bus ride away, the Mountain Shadow Pub has been a staple of an SFUer’s liquid diet for the past three decades and… oh really? It did? Just last year? They tore it down to make room for more condos? Huh. Weeeeell let’s just keep the Shadow on this list as an in memoriam, okay?

The parking lot down the street from the new BC Liquor Store: April 13 marked a brave new era for Burnaby Mountain, with the opening of a BC Liquor Store within walking distance of campus. What the parking lot down the street from the BCL lacks in food and services, it makes up for in sprawl and pavement, solidifying its spot as a fan favourite for students to go drinking.

Visitor’s Parkade, West Mall: Are you a summer baby, but your birthday falls on a weekday this year? After class is over, round up your favourite classmates and head on down to the Visitor’s Parkade, which is adjacent to the lower bus loop. Sure, there are no fancy ‘chairs’ or ‘tables’ in this echo-filled, multi-floor parkade, but one student’s place to park their car is another student’s summer hangout spot. Just remember to keep an eye out for moving vehicles, and you’ll be making memories in no time.

A goddamn field: Let’s double-check the requirements a place needs to be a perfect haunt for you and your school chums to partake in the consumption of alcohol. Does it have ground or a floor for people to sit/stand on? Yes? Then this field passes with sky-flying colours. Just quit your complaining and make sure you keep an eye out for any buzzkill security guards who are really just trying their hardest to stop you from having fun.

1...878879880...1,448Page 879 of 1,448

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society