The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, January 15, 2015 — 3B

LITERARY COLUMN

Starting the year 

on a new page

J

anuary is a time of 
optimism. The days 
are slowly growing 

longer, a fresh layer of snow 
lies 
on the 
ground 
and the 
prom-
ise of 
Spring 
Train-
ing in 
two 
months 
forti-
fies us against the bitter cold.

Invariably, with this renewed 

sense of enthusiasm for the future 
comes New Year’s resolutions. 
Maybe this year your goal is to 
get fit. Or perhaps you’re trying 
to live on a budget. While all are 
no doubt well-intentioned, resolu-
tions have a nasty habit of folding 
under the pressures of daily life.

According to a 2002 study by 

the University of Scranton, about 
a quarter of people abandon their 
New Year’s resolutions after one 
week.

If you’re still on track with 

your original New Year’s resolu-
tion, keep it up, you go-getter, you. 
If, however, you find yourself in 
the dreaded 25%, and you’re cur-
rently filled with both an entire 
large pizza and a copious amount 
of self-loathing, or you’re staring 
at a bank account sitting pretty at 
17 cents, surrounded by hundreds 
of dollars worth of impulse online 
shopping purchases (curse you 
and your outrageously reasonable 
prices, Forever 21!), fear not.

Hope 
springs 
eternal, 
for 

there’s one resolution that’s sim-
ple, effective and almost impos-
sible to screw up.

Read more!

How much more, you ask? Well 

that’s the beauty of it; it’s entirely 
up for you to decide. You could 
do the Goodreads 2015 Reading 
Challenge and choose a specific 
number of books you wish to read 
in the year, or you could set aside 
a set amount of time each day 
devoted exclusively to reading.

I, for one, am participating in 

POPSUGAR’s 2015 Reading Chal-
lenge. The challenge lays out 50 
different literary-themed stipula-
tions, from reading a book with 
more than 500 pages to reading 
a book you started but never fin-
ished. All told, if you don’t use 
a single book to fulfill multiple 
items, the final goal is to read 52 
books by the end of the year (one 
of the conditions is to read a tril-
ogy).

Because I have a penchant for 

planning ahead, I’ve compiled a 
list of titles I plan to use for each 
condition. Looking at my collec-
tion, I feel confident enough to 
say I have a great year of reading 
ahead of me.

What I like about this particu-

lar challenge is that it forces you to 
pick up works you may never have 
chosen to read when left to your 
own devices: a book that came 
out the year you were born (“The 
Giver”), a book that takes place in 
your hometown (“Split Images”), 
a book written by an author with 
your same initials (“Enormous 
Changes at the Last Minute”). The 
list is filled with enough whimsy 
and variety as to ensure a fun and 
diverse literary experience the 
whole year through.

I have put down books I’ve 

been meaning to read for years, 
like Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite 
Runner” — which will count for a 
popular author’s first book — and 
Joseph Heller’s satirical classic 

“Catch-22” — a book with a num-
ber in the title.

And I will finally, FINALLY 

read something by Neil Gaiman. 
I know, I know, I don’t know how 
I’ve managed not to read anything 
by him yet. I even follow the man 
on Tumblr for God’s sake. But I’ll 
be making up for lost time this 
year with both “Neverwhere” and 
“The Sandman,” so cut me some 
slack.

My list also includes books I 

fully intended on reading this 
year anyway, such as the always 
delightful Amy Poehler’s “Yes 
Please,” as well as my third 
encounter with the brilliant 
sophisticate 
Edith 
Wharton 

with “The House of Mirth.” One 
of the books I’m most excited to 
get started on is Joe Gola’s “The 
Satanic Bridegroom,” a self-
published work written in the 
Lovecraftian vein that, I have on 
good authority, does the Weird 
Fiction genre (a mix of ghost 
story and speculative fiction) 
proud.

Of course, some books will be 

easier to get through than oth-
ers. I’m not particularly looking 
forward to the book with bad 
reviews condition, as I’ve settled 
on a work entitled “Mr. Darcy, 
Vampyre.” It might be uninten-
tionally hilarious or downright 
torturous, but either way it’s 
sure to be an experience.

So if you’re feeling adventur-

ous, come take the 2015 Reading 
Challenge with me. And if by 
any chance someone can recom-
mend a book with a love triangle 
that isn’t (shudder) young adult 
fiction, I’d be much obliged.

Prosniewski is about to start 

another romance novel. To stop 

her, e-mail gpros@umich.edu. 

GRACE 
PROSNIEWSKI

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

University carilloneur Kipp Cortez plays the bells in the Burton Memorial Bell Tower.
University carillon 
rings above campus

By DANIELLE

RAYKHINSHTEYN

Daily Arts Writer

The bucket list of a typical 

University student reads some-
thing like this: go to Rick’s, 
paint the Rock, sneak into a din-
ing hall, blackout at Rick’s, spin 
the Cube, swing on the swing in 
front of UMMA, go to Skeeps 
after Rick’s, go see if Shady is 
really all that shady, attend at 
least 14 football Saturdays ...

And, finally, see a carillon 

being played.

The carillons — the techni-

cal name for the multiple-bell 
instruments that sit atop Bur-
ton Memorial Tower on Central 
Campus and the Ann and Rob-
ert H. Lurie Tower on North 
Campus — are played every 
weekday from 12:00 p.m. to 
12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 
2:00 p.m. on Central and North, 
respectively. At those times, 
they are open to the public.

“When people do come up 

here and see it and realize 
where this music is coming 
from, their jaws just hit the 
floor,” said University carillon-
neur Kipp Cortez.

As University carillonneur, 

Cortez plays the bells, teach-
es others how to play them 
and organizes other carillon 
necessities such as the recital 
schedule, keeping up the Face-
book page and making sure the 
instruments undergo regular 
maintenance.

The bells themselves never 

need to be retuned, but every 
year, the same bell foundry that 
built the Burton Carillon, John 
Taylor & Co., will check other 
parts of the instrument such as 
the wooden levers used to play 
it, for loose or worn-out parts.

The Burton Tower Carillon, 

built in 1936, is the third-heavi-
est carillon in the world, mea-
suring in at 43 tons, the lightest 
of which weighs 15 pounds and 
the heaviest of which weighs 12 
tons. Yes, tons.

The carillon is situated at the 

very top of the Burton Tower, 
two floors above where the ele-
vator stops. On the ninth floor 
is Cortez’s office, and at the top 
of a rather narrow set of stairs 
beginning in the hallway out-
side of his office sits the instru-
ment.

The Ann and Robert H. Caril-

lon was built in 1996 and has 60 
bells, but they are much smaller 
than those housed in the Burton 
Memorial Tower.

“We have two carillons on 

this campus, which is so unusu-
al. It’s totally not the norm,” 
Cortez said.

Cortez began his musical 

career in eighth grade, when 
he began taking organ lessons, 
which he became intrigued by 
after seeing one at church. After 
attending Valparaiso Univer-
sity for his bachelor’s degree in 
organ performance and church 
music and the University for his 
master’s degree in organ per-
formance, he began pursuing 
his doctorate in musical perfor-
mance at the University as well. 
It was during this time, in April 
2013, that he became a carillon 
Graduate Student Instructor 
and was put in charge of all car-
illon matters.

“I’m an organist, and I like 

big instruments,” Cortez said. 
“One day I decided that the 
organ was no longer big enough 
or loud enough, and I thought 
to myself, ‘Wicked cool to have 
a big-ass carillon.’ ”

While Cortez said that he is 

the one person who plays the 
instrument most often, he also 
had six carillon students during 
the Fall 2014 semester who also 
played.

“When the instrument was 

built, the dean of the music 
school said that it would become 
the voice of the University,” 
Cortez said. “What I take that 
to mean is that these are the 
musical expressions and styl-
ings of the students of the Uni-
versity. They’re able to express 
themselves on this instrument 
for the whole campus to hear.”

Cortez added that only one 

of these six students is in the 
School of Music, Theatre & 
Dance, and he would never 
deter anyone who wanted to 
learn to play the instrument.

“Most people just go blindly 

searching for ‘Michigan bells,’ 
and it turns out, ‘Oh, this is a 
musical instrument! Oh, I can 
learn to play this! Oh, this is 
awesome!’ ”

The carillon resembles a 

piano in the sense that it has 
foot pedals and keys spanning 
several 
octaves. 
Instead 
of 

the white and black keys of a 
piano, the carillon is composed 
of wooden levers that, when 
pushed down using a soft fist, 
move a lever that rings the cor-
responding bell. The foot ped-
als on the carillon are linked to 
the larger bells, as more force is 
required to ring them.

“The sound of the bells is mar-

velous,” Cortez said. “The instru-
ments we have here are just world 
class instruments. It’s such a priv-
ilege to come up here and make 
music and to share it with other 
students, with the community 
and with the rest of the campus.”

Cortez said he has an arsenal of 

songs that he generally repeats, 
but he likes to add in at least one 
new song every week, and there 
is a large amount of music avail-
able for the carillon. He also said 
there is a responsibility as a caril-
lonneur to be cognizant of world 
events and to play songs accord-
ingly.

“What we carillonneurs try 

to do is to be sensitive to hap-
penings around campus, things 
that happen in the state and 
around the world,” he said. “On 
Veterans Day or on the Fourth 
of July, we’ll do a program of 
patriotic music.”

“The day after (the Ottawa 

shooting) I played the Cana-
dian national anthem, as part 
of standing in solidarity with 
them to the north.”

Cortez said he ultimately sees 

this instrument as something 
for the students, as it reaches 
most students’ ears every single 
day. While the bells that ring 
every 15 minutes are mecha-
nized, the carillon is an instru-
ment he encourages everyone to 
learn or at least come see.

“When you hear real music 

coming out of the tower, it is 
actually a human being,” Cor-
tez said.

If you would like to learn to 

play the carillon, you may apply 
for the class through the SMTD 
website or contact Kipp Cortez 
directly at kippcor@umich.edu.

EPISODE REVIEW

Last week, Lifetime brought 

a popular British television 
show to the 
American 
screen. 
Over 

the course of 
eight 
weeks, 

the American 
MENSA holds 
a competition 
that tests 20 
of the coun-
try’s 
most 

intelligent and 
well-rounded 
children, all of whom are under 
twelve. They endure a series of 
extensive quizzes, answering 
questions on high school level 
mathematics, world geography 
and history, SAT vocabulary, 
science and other subjects. The 
show cuts from question to 
question quickly, barely allow-
ing the audience time to process 
the information or play along 
like in other game shows, dem-
onstrating how the topics fly 
over our heads even as adults.

The show opens with insight 

into each contestant’s “normal” 
home life. The preparation 
behind the scenes is toilsome 
and exhausting, but the grand 
prize is enticing: $100,000 
toward 
college, 
and 
more 

importantly, the prestigious title 
of Child Genius. Thus, for the 
kids, their days include rigorous 
intellectual training routines, 
various extracurricular lessons 
and parents who drill them 
without cessation. One mother 
justifies to her son, “I’m not a 
Tiger Mommy … (I) just don’t 
want you to look like an idiot.”

At the end of the episode, half 

of the contestants are cut – to 
their disheartening sobs, and 
their parents’ scowls. Though it 
should be uplifting to see poten-
tial in a generation that will 
lead our future, “Child Genius” 
is often labeled as “the most 
controversial reality TV show.” 
Even before they have reached 
double-digit ages, these chil-
dren’s greatest fears are failure 
and disappointment. The series 
is not unlike other reality televi-
sion programs that “exhibit” (or 
exploit?) the talents of today’s 
youth. Is this a worthwhile price 
for precocity?

-KAREN HUA

LIFETIME

C-

‘Child 
Genius’

Series Pilot 
Tuesdays 
at 10 p.m

Lifetime

SINGLE REVIEW

Doped up and peacocking 

for a pretty lady in a crappy 
diner is the premise of Child-
ish Gambino’s 
newest music 
video 
for 

“Sober.” Don-
ning 
cords 

and a cardi-
gan, 
Gam-

bino stumbles 
across a diner, 
overconfi-
dent and drugged, to converse 
with the curly-haired woman 
sipping at her soda. The lyrics 
paint the video’s storyline, “And 
now that it’s over / I’ll never be 
sober / and now I’m so high.” As 
the nervous diner chick starts 
to distance herself from the 
inebriated fellow with a pocket 
tee, the video transitions into an 
awesome 21st century mating 
ritual. Is this a stoner’s drug-
induced fantasy? Or perhaps 
this is the classic correlation 
between drunken heartbreak 
and a rebound? Or is the diner 
chick his lost love? Who cares. 

The video’s intention is untel-
lable and relatively unimportant 
in comparison with the simple 
creativity of Gambino’s perfor-
mance. 
Funny, 
idiosyncratic 

and suave, especially following 
a clever admission of “I’M SO 
HIGH,” 
Gambino’s 
perfor-

mance is viscerally enjoyable. 
This is a video not meant for 
excessive deliberation or analy-
sis; instead, as a viewer, give this 
video a quick YouTube search 
and watch a great performer 
present a great performance.

Never before has a perfor-

mance by Childish Gambino 
felt as close to the rapper’s true 
identity: comedian, actor and 
screenwriter Donald Glover. 
Gambino, in comparison to 
Glover, has always appeared 
rougher, tougher and more 
capable of actually fighting 
Drake. Complete with carefree 
air guitar performances and 
magic tricks involving doves, 
the randomness and creativity 
underlying his additions draw 
the rapper persona closer to its 
highly intellectual counterpart.

-AMELIA ZAK

GLASSNOTE

A

‘Sober’

Childish 
Gambino

Glassnote

JAMES RESLIER-WELLS/Daily

Video of Kipp Cortez playing the Carillon in the Burton Bell Tower on Tuesday. 

“...the voice of 
the University.”

