Classifieds Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com ACROSS 1 Home of the Nobel Peace Center 5 Loafed 10 Wharf 14 Scandinavian royal name 15 Black, in Bordeaux 16 Johnson of “Laugh-In” 17 Lose it 20 Takes advantage of a cloudless night 21 Grating sounds 22 “Oui, oui,” across the Pyrenees 23 1-Across locale: Abbr. 24 Lose it 30 Kentucky college or its city 31 Cod cousin 32 __ gratia artis: MGM motto 34 Spot in the control tower 35 Lose it 37 Twosomes 38 Brillo competitor 39 Alert 40 Packers quarterback Rodgers 41 Lose it 45 NASA affirmative 46 Big name in speakers 47 Prophetess 50 Works like a demon 55 Lose it 57 Lowly worker 58 True-crime author Dominick 59 Wine barrel sources 60 Applies gently 61 Hilarious types 62 Bout enders, briefly DOWN 1 Sounds of amazement 2 Blind part 3 Basalt source 4 Exceed, as one’s authority 5 One way to pay 6 Humdinger 7 Poem piece 8 Coastal raptors 9 Opus __: “The Da Vinci Code” sect 10 Persian Gulf native 11 “Exodus” novelist 12 Resting upon 13 Hankerings 18 Stomach discomfort 19 Orwellian worker 23 Footwear company named for a goddess 24 Serf of ancient Sparta 25 __ whiskey 26 Music from monks 27 “The Pit and the Pendulum” monogram 28 World’s smallest island nation 29 Clean and brush, as a horse 30 Air gun pellets 33 Form 1040EZ info 35 Rubberneck 36 60 minuti 37 Lacks the courage to 39 Virginia of the Bloomsbury Group 40 On the briny 42 Synthetic fabrics 43 Not answering roll call 44 Satisfies the munchies 47 Calif. law force 48 Lower intestinal parts 49 “We’re not serving liquor,” briefly 50 Spitting sound 51 “That isn’t good!” 52 Minn. neighbor 53 Northern Nevada city 54 Meeting of Cong. 56 New Deal pres. By Gary J. Whitehead ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 11/18/15 11/18/15 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, November 18, 2015 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis xwordeditor@aol.com THESIS EDITING, LANGUAGE, organization, format. All Disciplines. 734/996‑0566 or writeon@iserv.net APARTMENT ON A horse facility. New one bedroom, 15 min from main campus. Must be an accomplished horse person. Light farm and horse work and farm sitting in exchange for rent. Email all inquiries to jchaconas@ccim. net WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.- COM 734‑332‑6000 DEFENSE OF FACULTY misconduct cases Nachtlaw.com 734‑663‑7550 DEFENSE OF STUDENT sexual misconduct cases Nachtlaw.com 734‑663‑7550 ! NORTH CAMPUS 1-2 Bdrm. ! ! Riverfront/Heat/Water/Parking. ! ! www.HRPAA.com ! FALL 2016 HOUSES # Beds Location Rent 6 605 E. Hoover $4350 6 716 E. Kingsley $4500 5 515 S. Fourth $3500 5 1019 Packard $4350 4 827 Brookwood $2800 4 927 S. 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Queen Elizabeth II recently appointed him Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his flawless acting and charitable efforts. This prestigious title is only one step down from Knight status. At this point, he might as well be listed as “Sir Benedict Cumberbatch” in the end credits of the upcoming “Dr. Strange.” While he has had an estab- lished presence in British films since 2002, he only recently started dominating the Ameri- can film industry. Domestic moviegoers received their first taste of him in “War Horse,” where he portrays the harsh Major Jamie Stewart. Cumber- batch then extended his cruelty to outer space when he played Khan, the evil genetically- modified creature who tries to destroy San Francisco in “Star Trek: Into Darkness.” Although his roles are significant in both these movies, Cumber- batch still didn’t get what he deserved — the lead — until he perfectly captured the essence of the impeccably intelligent Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game.” Ultimately, what makes Cumberbatch an incredible actor is his ability to fully immerse himself into every role. Unlike Christoph Waltz’s lackluster villain performance in “Spectre,” Cumberbatch is rarely ever questioned about his characters’s credibility; there isn’t a second of “The Imitation Game” when we doubt Turing can crack German enigma. Along the same lines, Cumberbatch can evoke emotions in even the most stoic person. As he physically collapses and sobs in Knightley’s arms at the end of “The Imitation Game,” every person in the audience started searching for the tissue buried deep in their purse. However, he’s not only known for his acting anymore. Over the years, Cumberbatch has been involved with 20 different organizations, such as research funds, anti-war campaigns and charities, but he has devoted most of his efforts to The Prince’s Trust, which assists homeless and mentally ill 13- to 30-year- olds through counseling and monetary donations. He even encourages fans to donate to the organization on his birthday instead of sending him cards and gifts. Benedict Cumberbatch is very much in his prime at the age of 39. With his charming personality, undeniable talent and, lest we forget, admiration from Her Majesty, he’s well on his way to earning the title of “World Leader Sir Benedict Cumberbatch.” Or, maybe not. The idea that audiences should go to cultural events — concerts, exhibitions, readings — to be passively enlightened, quiet and stationary, is an invention of the past 150 years. Compare the above scene to accounts of Franz Liszt’s recitals, a pianist who “revolutionized the art of performance ... Everything we recognize about the modern piano recital – think Keith Jar- rett, Glenn Gould, Tori Amos, or Elton John — Liszt did first. Even the name ‘recital’ was his invention.” This same article recounts some of the most striking visuals of the moment in class music history called “Lisztomania”: “Liszt was tearing up the polite salons and concert halls of Europe with his virtuoso performances. Women would literally attack him: tear bits of his clothing, fight over broken piano strings and locks of his shoulder length hair,” the NPR staff said. All this might seem just a fragment of a “simpler time.” It should be underlined, though, that the recital was caught up in the process of racial and class segregation that accompanied the emergence of our models of receiving and enjoying culture. In 19th century New York City, the movement to institute bas- tions of culture — museums, concert halls and the like — to exclude workers, black Ameri- cans and immigrants culminat- ed into the Astor Place Riots of 1849, the most violent episode in New York history. What is taken for granted today took decades of state repression to accomplish. This history survives now in certain conventions and pro- hibitions, which concertgoers abide by: Don’t clap between movements! Don’t cough! An upcoming performance with Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian concert pianist and chamber musician, on Friday, Nov. 20 at Hill Auditorium, will be no exception. He is one of the powerhouses of contemporary classical music whose North American tour stands as his first major stint in solo perfor- mance after a multi-year-long project playing and record- ing all five piano concerti by Beethoven. Yet, for a winner of “Best Recording of the Year” from BBC Music Magazine and the German Critics’ Award, what jumps out from Andsnes’s biog- raphy is his commitment to unpretentiousness in his per- formance career. In 2005, when the power went out at his recit- al in Rome, he offered to con- tinue with the performance in the dark. “The hall declined the offer ... citing safety concerns,” notes a biographical document about the pianist from his man- agement. “What I really dislike some- how is the feeling when you come into a concert hall and you have the kind of people who really know how it’s sup- posed to go, and they cough in between all the movements because then you are allowed to do that,” Andsnes said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. “If Beethoven, in his time, saw that people weren’t clap- ping after his first movement of a piano concerto, he would have thought, ‘What the heck is going on?’” Andsnes said. “He would have thought that no audience was there. I mean, they would always clap and they would clap, even, after a great cadenza.” Andsnes remarked that he has “nothing against” people taking the break after the first movement of a piano concerto to clap. At the same time, he doesn’t want to take away from the beauty of the silence that reigns over concert halls “that is so rare in today’s society.” Andsnes takes great joy as a performer in frustrating expec- tations about program selec- tion as well. The program for his upcoming performance, jumping from short pieces by Sibelius to a piano sonata by Beethoven, forms creative con- nections between what some purists might deem an unlikely pairing. “I’ve always loved making recital programs to combine music that people will think, ‘Ah, I know this, this is famil- iar territory,’ with music that is very unfamiliar and also see how one can affect the other one,” Andsnes said. Andsnes has also served as co-director of the Risør Festi- val of Chamber music in Risør, Norway, a historic shipping and fishing town that attracts many tourists. Andsnes described how he has developed some of the most lasting musical rela- tionships through these events over the past 20 or so years. Holding this festival out- side of the major metropolises of the world is yet another indication of Andsnes’s com- mitment to working within, but also sometimes against, conventions of classical music performance. A prohibition on clapping between movements is not equivalent to the violence that laid the basis for so many of our dominant cultural institu- tions. It exemplifies an aware- ness of history that is essential when we participate in this con- sumption and of how we think through the norms that define the experience of art. Andsnes is, besides his virtuosity, an exceptionally thoughtful per- former who takes these ques- tions seriously. ANDSNES From Page 1A A s I write this column, Shia Labeouf has just finished his #ALLMYMOVIES event, during which he watched every one of his films over a three- day period. There was no explanation as to why he undertook such a cause. I do not under- stand this man — I very much want to. Labeouf (alternate spelling: Labeef) is perhaps the greatest enigma of a human being. He’s chameleonic but obvious, masterful yet simple, unpretentious yet completely in your face. I just can’t get a read on him. Gone are the days of “Even Stevens” and “Holes,” which starred an unassuming Shia when he was young, meek and, dare I say, innocent: “Shia La-weak,” one might say. Gone, too, are the days of straightforward performance: the animated surfing penguins film, “Surfs Up,” the Hitchcock-inspired “Disturbia” or the feel-good sports film “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” Even in “Transformers,” Shia seems at ease — if not in his element, then at least comfortable enough to deliver a performance that is … direct. Today’s Shia is something different — not an actor but a perpetual performer, living and breathing his act. I suppose you could call it “performance art,” but that doesn’t quite capture what Shia is doing. But, then again, what exactly is Shia doing? I must admit, for the longest time, I detested Shia Labeouf. I despised his confused face that stares perpetually into nothingness. I reviled the movies he chose to take part in, only to deliver an insipid, uninspired performance of the lowest caliber. I abhorred his apparent inability to deliver a line or to complete a sentence without stuttering, as if it meant he was “acting.” I loathed his ego off-screen, which oozed superiority. But to my Shia-surprise, I have seen the error of my ways. I realize that Shia is a philosophical mind, a thinker that has taken the Hollywood image and exaggerated it far beyond its traditional scope, cruising past parody into almost scientific case study. He pushes the limits of fame to see just what he can get away with, to see when people finally call out his antics. The funny thing is, the more he pushes, the more I am drawn to him. It began when Shi-Guy created a short film that he plagiarized out of a comic, and then he apologized with a public letter that was also plagiarized (which in a way is genius; he opted to subvert a two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right premise and transform it into a weapon of public aggravation). Then came the “I’m not famous anymore” paper bag he wore to the premiere of “Nymphomaniac.” Then he took on #IAMSORRY, an event where participants could enter a vestibule and interact with a silent paper-bag-clad Shia in any way they chose. That last enterprise was an interesting one indeed. Mr. Labeouf expected to be harassed by his visitors, but, he said that many simply comforted him about his fall from grace (or ascension to nirvana; it’s in the eyes of the beholder). But he also claims, and others confirm, that a woman sexually assaulted him during the event; but if you read his explanation of it, he’s so casual, not hurt or damaged, just — for lack of a better phrase — bummed out. Which raises so many questions: If Shia halted his performance to prevent such an assault, would that mean his performance was a failure? Does the fact that such a detestable act occurred constitute a failure in and of itself? Or does it elevate the performance into something intangible: a real-time experience of the tragic artist, intimately in-tune with real human suffering? And these don’t even begin to prod the legal and ethical ramifications. It’s so easy to write off celebrity antics as “stunts” or “machinations of an unsound mind.” Not to say that all such antics are performance, but certainly these are far more than antics — a series of interconnected statements meant to illuminate some kind of truth: call it the Shia-ning. But what is that truth? It seems to me that Shia wants to tap into something paradoxical: expression through isolation and openness concurrently. It creates an internal conflict — it creates pain. And from that pain, by simply putting himself within these bizarre situations, Shia creates art … or else complete and total bullshit. There’s no script to guide him, no director to offer advice. There’s only a mind and a will to achieve a perfect artistic manifestation of human emotion, whether it be dejection, depression, damnation … or he’s a slighted, self- absorbed professional bullshitter. It ultimately doesn’t matter: Shia doesn’t care — he just does it. I wanted to give something back to him to show I recognized the insanity and the clarity within that insanity. I couldn’t be there to watch #ALLMYMOVIES, but I could watch at least one on my own — one I had never seen before, one of his worst reviewed movies ever. “Charlie Countryman” is a trip: it drags, it makes zero sense, it’s dull, it’s generally awful and I’ll never watch it again. But it contains the best cinematic performance from Shia I’ve ever seen. Instead of pretention, he oozes absurdity that’s barely held together, chaos just beneath the surface. It comes through when Shia’s eponymous protagonist realizes that the passenger next to him on his transcontinental flight has died; he asks the flight attendant for help, “My hands! Listen! I need a wet nap!” as he squirms in his seat. It comes through when he downs several painkillers and hallucinates that the dead passenger speaks to him. Charlie stares, bug-eyed, slightly crossed, his face is as calm as it is manic. It comes through in the most tortured smile in the history of smiles. It comes through when he drops acid (which Shia actually took) with Rupert Grint (who plays an aspiring porn star who takes six Viagra, in case you were interested). And it comes through when Charlie, in a state of utter euphoria, runs through the streets of Bucharest, only to be hit head on by a taxi. That’s a pretty apt metaphor for actual artist Shia Labeouf. The world will kick him around, but he’ll just get back up — the breathing embodiment of that Chumbawumba song. The world is his oyster; he can do anything. I don’t know what he’ll do next, but it will be worth watching. The fact is, I’ve never seen a public figure so aware of his place in the spotlight and so willing to stretch the limits of that spotlight — someone so endowed with a sense of humor about his relationship with the public, as a celebrity and as a performer. You’ve done it, Shi- Guy; you’ve won me over. I’ll follow you anywhere — except another viewing of “Charlie Countryman.” Bircoll is alone in his room making more Shia puns. To send him yours, email jbircoll@umich.edu. FILM COLUMN Shia Labeouf knows what he’s doing JAMIE BIRCOLL To all you Cumberbitches.