I

6A - Monday, October 10, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com


NATURE TALKS
TEDx flourishes in the Arb
Nichols Arboretum hosts gathering of people
and ideas in zero-waste environment
By Jeff Waraniak I Daily Arts Writer

'Thrones' wins,
others die

Attending a TEDx event is like
taking a much-needed deep breath:
enriching, rejuvenating and some-
thing you might only have the
opportunity to do every once in a
while.
Yesterday afternoon, over 200
students, University staff mem-
bers and environmental enthu-
siasts took the opportunity to
gather in the Nichols Arboretum
Amphitheater to hear a series of
talks focusing on environmental
sustainability and its applications
in all areas of life - ranging from
education, to art, to the deep-
breathing practices of yoga.
TED is a nonprofit organization
that began in1984 with the mission
to connect people acrossthe realms
of technology, education and
design (hence the acronym). Since
then, TED has evolved into a global
platform for innovative thinkers to
share their ideas through online

videos, annual conferences and
independently organized events
under the title of TEDx.
"TEDxNicholsArboretum"
marked the third TEDx event held
at the University in the past two
years. Unlike the previous confer-
ences, no formal advertising pre-
ceded yesterday's event in an effort
to generate zero waste.
D.J. Ferguson, an English teach-
er at Chelsea High School, kicked
off the sustainability talks by ask-
ing audience members to remem-
ber something important they
learned in high school. As audi-
ence members racked their brains
for an answer, Ferguson demon-
strated that the most valuable les-
sons probably didn't come from a
textbook.
"Human beings learn through
experiences," Ferguson said in
his talk. "We're not designed to
sit down. Sitting down is the most

unnatural position you can be in as
a human being."
Ferguson explained his belief
that the purpose of education
should be to create sustainable
human beings, not to plow through
lesson plans or bolster standard-
ized test scores.
"We are literally educating our-

selves away from everythingthatis
essentially human," Ferguson said.
The second speaker, profes-
sor of physics and yogi Jasprit
Singh, connected the sustainable
mentality to the practice of yoga.
Explaining that yoga calls for its
practitioners to "build themselves
See TEDX, Page 8A

T V RE V IEW\
'HIMYM' continues legendary run
By Kelly Etz I Daily Arts Writer

We need to talk about
"Game of Thrones."
You know, the HBO
show about the feuding king-
doms in a fantastical realm,
nomi-
nated for
13 Emmys
in its first
season
(including
Outstand-
ing Drama
Series) and
winning for KAVI
Support- SHEKHAR
ing Actor PANDEY
in a Drama
Series
(Peter Dinklage, like a boss).
Indeed, I already slathered
the show with praise midway
through its run, but its excel-
lence increased exponentially
as the season wound down -
the final few episodes would
have probably earned The
Michigan Daily's first six-
star reviews. By the season
finale, "Game of Thrones" had
already catapulted from the
"best shows on television" to
the best shows of All Time
discussion, partly because
of a devilishly magnificent
sequence that changed dra-
matic television forever.
Beware all ye who ven-
ture further in this article:
HUMONGOUS SPOILERS for
"Game of Thrones" lie ahead.
Throughout the season, the
show has captured numerous
storylines in tandem, each
with its own protagonist -
from the roguish dwarf Tyrion
Lannister (Dinklage) to the
solemn, honor-bound Jon
Snow (Kit Harington) to the
fierce, oft-disrobed Daenerys
Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) -
but the lead leading man was
unquestionably Ned Stark
(Sean Bean), the reluctant,
think-first stab-later ruler.
Ned's dilemmas have been
not only the centerpiece of
show, but also the marketing
campaign, as Bean was the
most recognizable actor ina
cast almost entirely composed
of unknowns (sorry, chubby

There are few shows that can to
carry a storyline as well as "How
I Met Your Mother." For six sea-
sons now, the
CBS show has.*** a
led its audience
on a merry chase How I Met
toward finding
Ted Mosby's Your Mother
(Josh Radnor) Season seven
wife-to-be. Sea- premiere
son seven isn't
giving anything Mondays at 8 p.m.
away just yet, CBS
as it even makes
clear we're nowhere near the end
of the story. While this kind of
drawn-out storyline could become
tiresome for other sitcoms, "Moth-
er" pulls it off perfectly.
Season seven kicks off by tying
up all the loose threads left over
from last season's finale. There's
Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) as a
groom, but no hint as to whom his
bride will be just yet. Four episodes

in, it looks to be a toss up between
Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Nora
(Nazanin Boniadi, "Iron Man").
Knowing the way the series usu-
ally goes, the answer won't be
revealed for quite a while.
The new episodes also tie in
Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily's
(Alyson Hannigan) news about
their baby on the way. The series
has already set up some sure-to-be
entertaining plotlines surrounding
Haaave you met

"She had some big v.ersonaiity "


the mother? established - MarshalldaringBar-
ney to wear a tie covered with rub-
ber ducks for an entire year. These
long arcs are no stranger to "Moth-
the pregnancy, including Marshall er" and prove to be something the
and Ted attending a birthing class series does best - remember the
together (without Lily) and a flash- slap bet?
forward scene of Lily in the deliv- Of course, it wouldn't be "Moth-
ery room sans Marshall. er" without the love drama. The
Another season-long joke is also new season has Robin mooning

over Barney, while he's smitten
- or so it appears - with Nora.
There's also Ted's realization he's
not going to give up on love just yet,
which again leaves him toeing the
line between endearing and whiny.
And Victoria (Ashley Williams,
"Something Borrowed") returns,
announcingthat maybe Ted isn't as
See MOTHER, Page 7A

guy from "A Knight's Tale").
Plus, Bean has the epic-geek
cred for playing fan-favorite
Boromir in "Lord of the Rings."
After setting him up as the
Glorious Hero of "Game of
Thrones," in one of the most
startling moments in the his-
tory of the medium, the ninth
episode of the series concluded
with the merciless execution
of Ned Stark in front of hun-
dreds of spectators ... including
his daughters. Beloved father
and husband, steadfast soldier
and the only decent man in
all of Westeros - Ned's dead,
baby. Ned's dead.
True, this twist was first
unleashed in George R.R.
Martin's novel from which
the series is adapted, but to be
able to effectively pull it off
in an immensely expensive
television series is astonish-
ing. TV shows kill off major
characters constantly, even the
main characters - but never in
the penultimate episode of the
first season. Imagine if Jack
Shephard died after falling
ins aheroin-smuggling plane
instead of Boone on "Lot"
Or if Tony was popped by the
thugs sent by Uncle Junior at
the end of the first season of
"The Sopranos."
SPOILERS
are coming.
No viewer would have even
imagined that either of those
characters could have died,
because television conventions
dictate thatrdoes notrhappen -
that's why "Game of Thrones"
changed the game. Itcraised the
stakes to a level once thought
impossible, where any charac-
ter from the presumed lead to
the stray extra is expendable.
Ever since The Incident (the
clever term I coined for Ned's
execution), it's been impossible
to watch other shows with the
same level of investment and
enthusiasm. Take last season
of "True Blood": At the end
of the eighth episode, Sookie
gets shot in the gut and starts
to bleed out. Pre-"Thrones,"
the cliffhanger would have
barely registered, knowing
her life was never actually in
danger - o and behold, Sookie
made a full recovery within
the first five minutes of the
next episode (vampire blood
works wonders). But in this
post-"Thrones" world, it felt
cheap, almost pathetic in its
predictability.
This issue is exacerbated
in network television, which
takes even fewer risks and has
even lower stakes. As much as
I like "Terra Nova," its formu-
laic necessity makes sure there
is no tension thatthe Shannon
family will ever be ripped to
bits by a T-Rex at any moment.
The only network show to
come close to the incredible
stakes of "Game of Thrones"
was "24," where any given
supportingcharacter could be
killed off in any given episode,
no matter how beloved they
were (miss you, Edgar Stiles).
But the key phrase is support-

ingactor - at the end of the
day, Jack Bauer was always
goingto be fine.
"Game of Thrones," in its
impeccable greatness, has
ruined all other dramatic tele-
vision for me. Until the rest of
the industry catches up to this
new bar of television storytell-
ing, I'll just have to bide my
time with the passing flings
of fall premieres and pilots.
(There's always a chance one
of the stewardesses on "Pan
Am" will get murdered. Oh
wait, no there isn't) Of course,
that's only until "Game of
Thrones" returns in the spring
- in the meantime, I'll be
chanting "April is coming" as
my new mantra.
Pandey is recruiting for his
Dothraki army. To join him,
e-mail kspandey@umich.edu

I
I

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RELEASE DATE- Monday, October 10, 2011
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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(c)2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc'

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