Thursday, May 8, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Loul
After long hiatus, C.K.
is back and as funny
and poignant as ever
By MADDIE THOMAS
Daily TV Editor
If there were such a thing as
artisanal, homegrown television,
"Louie" would be the brand's
mascot. Fea-
turing 13-epi-
sode seasons
of comedic
vignettes and LOtite
existential mus- Season 4
ings, each sea- Premiere
son of "Louie"
is handcrafted Mondays at
by the creator 10 p.m.
himself. Come- FX
dian Louis C.K.
writes, directs,
edits and stars in every episode
of his auteur-driven series, and
it shows. In three seasons he has
been nominated for nine Prime-
time Emmy Awards, taking home
the prize for Outstanding Writ-
ing for a Comedy Series in 2012.
Considering the creative and
emotional investment this show
requires, it shouldn't be surpris-
ing that, at the end of his third
season of "Louie," C.K. decided
that he needed to take a break. 19
long months later, we're finally
back in business, and the product
is as fresh as ever.
In the back-to-back premiere
episodes and the two additional
ones sent to critics for review,
there exists both the familiar
"Louie" material (mean strang-
ers, surreal situations, women
who aren't interested in Louie)
and an entirely new edge. It's
only been 19 months, but C.K. has
gotten older, and so has the show.
In a sly callout to his hiatus, the
first episode, "Back," includes a
stand-up story about how Louie
spent an entire year thinking he
was 44, when he was really 45.
Then on his actual 46th birthday,
a friend pointed out to him that
he was a year off in his counting.
Like his show, he aged two years
in what felt like an instant.
With his same trademark
don't-give-a-fuck attitude, C.K.
explores all kinds of hot-button
topics in the beginning of this
ie' returns Pearl and the
.- , Beard at The Ark
CHRIS TAKAHASHI AND GREG HANAFIN I
Revamping
renewable energy
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Getting to the Hill
C.K.'s show returns after 19 month break FX
fourth season. There's a long
discussion about masturbation
around a poker table with some
comedian friends, a conversa-
tion with a doctor who explains
that back pain is inevitable
until human vertebrae evolve to
accommodate for gravity and,
more seriously, Louie address-
es aging and death. But unlike
other prominent New York-based
comedians/auteurs, Louie doesn't
obsess over death; he treats it in
a nonchalant, off-the-cuff way.
When his daughter has to write a
letter to AIDS for a school assign-
ment, he pitches the opening,
"Dear AIDS, please cut it out?" In
a stand-up bit that FX has been
using liberally in the "Louie" sea-
son four promos, he explains, "A
lot of things happen after you die
... just none of them include you."
He also ruminates on women
and dating. In the season's sec-
ond episode, "Model," Louie
bombs at a stand-up gig but
ends up hitting it off with a
beautiful, young, blonde model
(Yvonne Strahovski, "Chuck").
He's invited back to the billion-
aire daughter-of-an-astronaut's
home, where he makes her laugh
and they promptly sleep together.
But in typical "Louie" fashion,
this absurdity is matched with
more absurdity. She tickles him
in attempt to make him laugh,
Louie reacts violently to tick-
ling, he ends up knocking her
out cold and hospitalizing her,
only to finish the episode with
a lawsuit from her family and a
payment of $5,000 a month in
damages for the rest of his life.
A more in-depth and truly inter-
esting reflection plays out in the
season's third episode, titled "So
Did The Fat Lady." C.K. calls out
a societal contradiction in a blunt
and thoughtful way, with help
from the hilarious Sarah Baker,
who plays the episode's "fat lady,"
Vanessa. When she badgers (in
a likeable way, I swear) Louie to
go out on a date with her and he
eventually agrees, Louie makes a
stupid comment and provokes a
rant from Sarah thr.t spouts more
truth than any othe: half hour of
television I've ever seen. In an
inspired move, C.K. allows the
episode to bask in the discussion
of the contradictions and expec-
tations of female body image and
self-esteem rather than cutting it
short to get to the "funny."
"Louie" is good because it's
a vehicle through which Louis
C.K. can inject his unique brand
of humor into almost-neurotic
musings on human nature that
anyone can connect to. "Louie"
is great because Louis C.K. is not
afraid to push boundaries and
experiment with his work. Fin-
gerprints of his personal style
cover every aspect of every epi-
sode of his show: there's no one
to blame but himself when an epi-
sode misfires. Luckily, the show
consistently hits its mark. That's
what happens when you let a
proven creative genius like C.K.
have free reign over the content
he produces: you get "Louie," a
beautiful, nuanced, emotional,
hilarious game-changing show
that has forever changed the tele-
vision landscape, for the better.
By PAIGE PFLEGER
Daily Arts Writer
I've lived in Ann Arbor for about
three years now, but this past week-
end was the first time I had visited
the Ark - a fact that I'm told is a
crime, atravesty. I mean, I like music
just as much as the next gal; in fact
I've spent most of my life behind a
marimba or singing on a stage as a
marching band and choir geek dur-
ing high school (a personality I've
since stuffed frantically into a box in
the back of my closet since I came to
college). And I go to concerts occa-
sionally, but I'm a bit poor because
college costs too much money and so
does rent in A2. After scoring a free
ticket to the FolkFest from a friend, I
fell in love with the indie-alt musical
trio, Pearl and the Beard. So going
to their show at the Ark, located on
Main Street, seemed like a no-brain-
er, especially with a press pass. Note:
I would have paid money for the
show, but who says noto free things?
The Ark was nothing like I
expected. Igrabbed my ticket down-
stairs and followed a steady stream
of people up the stairs and into the
performance space - a huge half-
oval room with a stage in the middle
and rows of chairs fanning out from
the middle. The place was already
packed, and people were scurrying
about frantically to find any open
seats. It almost felt like a church, but
if church was more popular among
hipsters and lesbians and a hell of
a lot more relaxed. By the time the
opener started it was clear that they
had over sold the venue, and people
lined up in the hallways and leaned
against walls while the local Little
Island Lakes crooned and harmo-
nized. Lead singer Bobby Voorheis
has a sound reminiscent of Sufjan
Stevens and sings like it takes no
effort. I can barely even tell that his
mouth is moving.
When Pearl and the Beard took
the stage, most people had settled
into chairs that The Ark volunteers
had scrambled to set up. The band
started with hits off their newest
album, Killing the Darlings, such as
"The Lament of Coronado Brown,"
with a straight transition into
"Sweetness."
"The LamentofCoronado Brown"
was absolutely stunning, and the
room went silent when Emily Hope
Price began plucking the strings of
hercello. Sheheld itclosetoherbody
and leaned her head towards it like
she was embracing a dancing part-
ner. "They don't know," she began
quietly, "that I love you." Jocelyn
Mackenzie joined in on percussion,
and Jeremy Styles on guitar. When
the three harmonize their voices are
indistinguishable and chill inducing.
After"The Lament"the bandsped
it up again with its hit "Sweetness."
They got the audience clapping, and
by the halfway point of the song the
person working the bar in the back
room is jumping up and down, danc-
ing wildly and clapping her hands.
Unique and
crowd-pleasing
folk music from
young band
The rest of the audience was equally
enthralled, bobbing heads in their
seats, clapping and mouthing along
with the words. Mackenzie's drum-
beats were catchy, Price's cello play-
ing mesmerizing, and Styles' vocals
loud and strong. Put together, their
songs are amazing works of musi-
cianship and multitasking.
"We're so happy to be back at the
Ark!" Mackenzie says to a cheering
crowd.
One of my favorite things about
concerts is listeningtothe stageban-
ter of the performers, and Pearl and
the Beard have witty banter down to
an art.
"I feel like a gymnast, you know,
mounting an apparatus," Price says,
holding her arms up and then pull-
ing her cello towards herself. The
rest of the band giggles at this, and
talks about its trip to the Great Lakes
Rabbit Sanctuary.
Styles realizes he has been swear-
ing and asks the audience, "Are
there children here?" The audience
laughs, and Styles follows up with
"Do you know cuss words?"
They babble more about the rab-
See PEARL, Page 9
During the 2007 football season
opener, the top-10 ranked Wolver-
ines were handed a humiliating
defeat at the hands of Appalachian
State University. With one of the
worst openers in Michigan history,
it looked like the season was lost.
A few months later and off the
gridiron, the Michigan Student
Assembly - later renamed Cen-
tral Student Government - passed
a student government resolu-
tion calling on the University to
revamp investments in renewable
energy. Citing an unacceptably low
percentage of electricity gener-
ated from renewable sources (wind,
solar, geothermal) for campus - 0.3
percent at the time - the resolution
called for Ann Arbor's campus to be
powered by 100 percent renewable
energy by 2015. Now just a year shy
of that 2015 deadline, how does the
University fare when it comes to
renewable energy?
Somewhere between three and
four percent of campus' energy
needs are met by renewable energy
today, according to the Office of
Campus Sustainability.
With the release of the latest
Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change report in late March,
the United Nations warns that in
order to stave off the worst effects
of climate change we must double
investments in clean energy. If the
University didn't heed the call of a
student government resolution in
2007 will they at least recognize a
message from the United Nations
and the world's leading scientists?
One of the greatest things about
the University of Michigan is that
we are always in a position to make
a difference. We are role mod-
els, the leaders and best. When
Michigan speaks, others listen. So
we must speak, and we must do it
loudly. Within our relatively secure
community, it can often be diffi-
cult to see the effects of fossil fuels,
but look with a wider perspective
and they are staggering. Look at
Detroit, where communities are
exposed daily to the air and water
pollution from coal and oil refiner-
ies. Look at the Great Lakes, where
plummeting water levels and spik-
ing water temperatures threaten
the economy, water security and
ecology of the region. On a more
national scale, look at the recent
drought in California, the worst
in its recorded history. And these
pale in comparison to the climate-
induced impacts on many of the
poorest and most vulnerable coun-
tries around the world.
That's why our organization
- Students for Clean Energy -
decided to act. We launched our
"Greener Than Sparty" campaign
in March and rolled out with a UPe-
tition that has since surpassed 700
signatures. Through countless con-
versations with fellow students, we
have yet to experience any trepida-
tion to support the cause. The cam-
paign continues to grow in both
student involvement and in making
our presence felt by the administra-
tion, and we have no intentions of
slowing down.
The technology is out there, it's
up to us to take advantage of it and
then improve upon it. We should
expect our University to be inno-
vative when it comes to sourcing
clean, renewable energy on cam-
pus. Take the Ohio State University
for example. OSU has committed
to a stake in wind farm develop-
ment that powers approximately
23 percent of their electricity and
will now annually save nearly $1
million. When will Michigan fol-
low suit? Are we so content to bow
down to the school down south?
As the inspiration for our cam-
paign name, Greener Than Sparty,
Michigan State is on track to power
15 percent of their campus' energy
needs from renewable sources. Our
campaign calls for the University to
either match or exceed the renew-
able energy goals of MSU by 2015.
Remember that 2007 team that
lost to Appalachian State? Well
they turned the season around,
going 9-4 and winning the Capi-
tal One Bowl. Like them, we can
turn around our attitude toward
clean energy. We envision some
poetic justice in this story - Appa-
lachian State is Michigan's season
opener this fall. Just as they will
seek redemption for their previous
defeat, so too can the University for
past failure to invest in clean ener-
gy. It's time to recognize that when
it comes to energy, there's no better
way to be Blue than to go green.
Chris Takahashi and Greg
Hanafin are LSA seniors.
Washington, D.C.,
the promised land
of internships for
all students
interested
in politics,
advocacy
and govern-
ment. After
spending
last summer
in Manhat-
tan, I knew HARLEEN
I wanted to KAUR
be in D.C.
this sum-
mer, to experience the other
big East Coast option for me
post-graduation. As someone
interested in a career in policy
work and advocacy for minority
rights, it was clear it was time
to pursue the revered Capitol
Hill internship.
I decided to apply for an
internship placement program,
SikhLEAD, which is part of a
Sikh advocacy and education
organization, Sikh American
Legal Defense and Education
Fund. After being selected for
SikhLEAD, the process began. I
had to work with the placement
organizer to focus my interests,
determine what would be a good
fit for me and start the applica-
tions for congressional offices.
The process was lengthy and
tiresome, often requiring imme-
diate responses or an application
filled out within 24 hours, send-
ing me on a complete rollercoast-
er of emotions.
After getting interviews for a
few congressional offices, I real-
ized that the process would take
a little more than I expected. A
lot of more competitive offices
were splitting their summer
internships into two sessions,
in order to allow twice as many
people the opportunityto partic-
ipate in the program. Although
this is certainly a great gesture
on their part, it made the process
more difficult personally. I now
needed to get selected for two
internships, not one, and I also
had to ensure that I received one
for the first half of the summer
and another for the second half
of the summer.
On top of school and the cum-
bersome internship hunt, there's
funding. Learning the hard way
from my ridiculously expensive
summer in Manhattan (hous-
ing alone was close to $4,000
for 11 weeks), I knew I needed
to look for funding sources early
on. Unfortunately, unlike many
of my peers, none of the aca-
demic departments I belong to
would provide funding for an
internship on Capitol Hill. I kept
searching and found the LSA
Internship Scholarship, to which
I ended up applying. But I know
that my summer will cost at least
a few thousand dollars, soI made
a visit to The Career Center with
the expectation that they could
help me locate more funding.
Unfortunately, I was disap-
pointed. The Career Center
representative I met with told
me that beyond the LSA Intern-
ship Scholarship, the University
doesn't have much funding to
support students over the sum-
mer, and there are little to no
local or national scholarships. If
I wanted to find other funding, I
would have to do it on my own.
Frustrated and disheartened, I
walked out of the office. Luckily,
I did receive the scholarship, but
without it, there's a good chance
I wouldn't be going to D.C. for
the summer.
Knowing that there are so
many factors that could have
prevented me from having a suc-
cessful internship experience
is not only disheartening, but
it makes me wonder about the
ways that these experiences are
created for a very select group
of people. Without the funding,
programs and networks I have,
it's likely that I wouldn't have
been able to make this summer
work for me.
Unpaid internships target a
very specific group of people
and leave many others out. By
capitalizing on students who
have the socioeconomic status
to pursue these internships,
these opportunities are cater-
ing success to those who are able
to afford it. When I decided my
career path, the advice rolled in:
The road to D.C.
has certainly
been a long one.
you need a law degree, a Capitol
Hill internship on your resume
is pretty much a prerequisite,
make sure you do a lot of net-
working. It doesn't take a rocket
science to see that all of these
"necessities" for success cost
money - a lot of money.
The road to D.C. has certainly
been a long one, and I'm sure my
internships will require just as
much energy, if not more. I'm
leaving Ann Arbor with excite-
ment and anticipation for the
experiences to come, but also
remembering that I'm one of the
lucky few who can take advan-
tage of experiences like this.
Although our social identities
certainly have an impact on our
daily lives, I hope that one day
they won't have such a power-
ful influence on what individu-
als are and are not able to do. If
we're all truly created equal, it's
certainly time that our institu-
tions reflect that truth
- Harleen Kaur can be
reached at harleen@umich.edu.
It was not our intention to be
disrespectful and we sincerely apologize
for the ill-advised references."
- MSNBC's "Way Too Early" anchor Thomas Roberts in response to the backlash
against his offensive Cinco De Mayo segment on the May 5 show.