ACROSS
1 Gain experience
(from)
6 Leg muscle
10 World Golf Hall of
Famer Karrie
14 First host of “The
Tonight Show”
15 Like some history
16 Original thought
17 Old-time bandits
20 “The Time
Machine” race
21 Goes out
22 First extra inning
23 Dallas Mavericks
org.
25 Old Mideast
alliance: Abbr.
26 Narc’s quarry
32 Nova Scotia hrs.
35 City SW of St.
Augustine
36 Young boys
37 Place for a
pedicure
38 Special forces
mission
42 Bi- halved
43 Cambodian cash
44 Polar explorer
45 Butter-on-hot-
griddle sound
46 Anonymous
holiday gift giver
48 Bowl-shaped
cookware
49 __ in: surround
50 Delta rival, as it
was once known
53 Tosca’s “Vissi
d’arte,” e.g.
56 Magic charm
60 Air marshal’s
possession
63 “The Mod Squad”
role
64 Automation prefix
65 Superman’s
makeup?
66 __ code
67 Mess offering
68 Brits’ boob tube

DOWN
1 Pathetic, as an
excuse
2 Airline to
Jerusalem
3 In addition
4 Put the spark
back into, as a
relationship

5 Salem-to-
Portland dir.
6 It may help with a
mop
7 Many a Syrian
8 Metallica
drummer Ulrich
9 St. with a
panhandle
10 Three-lane, 
vis-à-vis two-lane
11 “I Dream of
Jeannie” star
12 Buddy of Kermit
13 Big party
18 Leader with a
.edu address
19 Beehive State
24 Animal
symbolizing the
25-Down
25 World power
inits. until ’91
26 Magical start
27 Tappable
cellphone images
28 “Miles Smiles”
trumpeter
29 Poker-faced
30 Come to a point
31 Fred’s dancing
sister
32 Chinese or
Japanese
33 Hurling or curling

34 Tucker of country
39 Taxing trip
40 Semicircular
church section
41 One who might
go to bat for you?
46 Achy
47 January warm
spell
48 Modern witch’s
religion
50 Home of the
NCAA’s Bruins

51 Evening in
Quebec
52 Klein of fashion
53 Lotion additive
54 Singer McEntire
55 Star adored by
many
57 Autobahn auto
58 “Piano Man” man
59 __ child
61 Branch
62 Approx. repair
cost

By Timothy L. Meaker
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/28/16

09/28/16

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

HEY.

YOU'RE 
DOING GREAT 
AND WE 
know you 
can do it. 

Don't give up!

WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.- 

COM
734‑332‑6000

SEEKING EGG DONOR ‑ U of M:

Korean, Female student (Blood type A or

O). Full Compensation. Please contact
Hwan at: hwlee01@hotmail.com

HELP WANTED

FOR RENT

Having an account on social 

media is like living a double life. 
On the internet and our mobile 
devices, we show the parts of 
ourselves that we want people 
to see, but not necessarily the 
entire picture of who we are. 
We 
frequently 
display 
the 

good parts of ourselves, not 
the more vulnerable aspects of 
our personality and daily life. 
Essentially, what we create, 
produce and express online 
becomes our virtual identity.

Since the dawn of the modern 

selfie, Instagram has become 
one of the more prominent 
determinants of virtual identity 
in the digital age, totaling 
about 400 million users since 
December 2015. Facebook and 
Twitter 
have 
given 
people 

the agency to connect with 
friends and post their personal 
thoughts on specific issues, 
but Instagram has been the 
forefront of showcasing the 
image and lifestyle of a person.

 Along with every other 

social 
networking 
site/app, 

Instagram is a program that 
feeds us the autonomy to 
present what we want to our 
friends and followers through 
sharing 
photos 
underscored 

with funny, witty and thought-
provoking captions. But more 
importantly, it’s how we present 
ourselves on Instagram that 
dictates the kind of person we 
want to be perceived as online. 
Two recently growing trends 
on Instagram, “finstas” and 
“thirst traps,” have established 
just how our virtual identities 
can either feel genuine or 
excessively distorted. 

Finstas? Thirst traps? What 

are these strange words you 
speak of? Don’t worry, Baby 
Boomers and Gen-Xers. Let me 
break it down. A “finsta” is short 
for “finstagram,” a combination 
of “fake” and “Instagram”; 
the word itself refers to a 
second, 
private 
Instagram 

account users create in order 
to post funny, embarrassing 
photos of themselves, only for 
their closest friends to see. 
Though a finsta is deemed as 
something “fake,” the irony of 
it is that a finsta account is the 

closest thing your friends have 
to seeing an unfiltered, real 
version of yourself.

“Finstas 
provide 
an 

opportunity 
to 
post 
things 

without the typical barriers of 
social media,” said Engineering 
senior Susan Rusinowski. “It 
allows users to reclaim the 
platform and have fun without 
the fear of being judged.”

Rusinowski is among the 

multitude 
of 
mostly 
high 

school 
and 
college-aged 

students around the country 
who’ve 
created 
a 
finsta 

account. In addition to being 
more 
unfiltered 
(literally 

and 
figuratively), 
finstas 

are also less concerned with 
creating and publishing the 
perfect 
picture 
with 
the 

perfect caption, acting almost 
like a personal photo diary 
exclusively for the eyes of the 
users and a select group of 
people. In fact, finstas can even 
have the power to build self-
esteem. Rusinowski notes that 
having a finsta has made her 
a lot more open about herself, 
as well as less embarrassed at 
funny or unflattering pictures 
of herself on social media.

“It’s forced me to be more 

real about my day to day 
life on social media and feel 
more comfortable laughing at 
myself,” she said.

This contrasts greatly to 

the other popular trend on 
Instagram, the “thirst trap,” 
which, according to Urban 
Dictionary, 
is 
any 
photo 

or 
statement 
on 
a 
social 

media 
platform, 
especially 

on 
Instagram, 
posted 
to 

intentionally create attention 
or “thirst.” A thirst trap can 
be anything as suggestive as 
a steamy workout selfie or as 
explicit as an almost completely 
nude, 
just-got-out-of-the-

shower photo.

Make no mistake: thirst traps 

are not the same as ordinary 
Instagram users posting selfies. 
There’s 
a 
huge 
difference 

between posting a selfie for 
the sake of attention, showing 
off your sexiness, a photo blog 
tracking your health and fitness 
progress or a post with a body-
positive message. In any case, 
posting photos of yourself is in 
and of itself a form of flaunting. 

Yet thirst trappers capitalize on 
this flaunting by objectifying 
their bodies and publishing 
totally perfected versions of 
themselves. 

Take English thirst trapper 

Liam Jolley (132k followers), 
for example. Nearly all of the 
photos that appear on his 
Instagram profile are shirtless, 
nearly nude pictures of himself, 
whether at the gym, in the 
bathroom or by a luxurious 
pool (note: the phrase “TURN 
ON POST NOTIFICATIONS” 
is emblazoned in his bio). 
Most thirst trappers, such as 
Jolley, attempt to relate to 
their audience, captioning their 
photos with common phrases 
or an abundance of hashtags, 
even when they have literally 
nothing to do with the photos 
themselves.

While 
thirst 
traps 
may 

have the most benevolent of 
intentions, they can have a 
negative, 
even 
detrimental 

impact on the users themselves, 
as it can affect men and women 
suffering from body dysmorphia 
and eating disorders. A recent 
article on Out.com changed 
that 
most 
thirst 
trappers, 

predominantly gay men, are 
suffering from body dysmorphia, 
having to exercise and take 
photos of themselves constantly 
in order to feel somewhat better 
about their self-perception.

This all goes back to this 

idea of not just how we want 
to present ourselves on social 
media, but whether or not we are 
willing to be more vulnerable 
on our online accounts. Based 
on my observations, I find that 
finstas allows us to embrace our 
flaws, while regular Instagram 
allows us to hide them, and 
thirst traps allows us to repress 
them excessively. Sure, it’s nice 
to look at attractive people and 
there’s almost nothing like the 
dopamine rush you get when 
your profile picture or the 
gorgeous pic you took of the 
sky gets a ton of likes. Then 
again, anything we post, publish 
and 
share 
isn’t 
necessarily 

100 percent of who we are. 
Sometimes, it’s who we want to 
be. Though it may be impossible, 
we should strive to at least try 
to be the realest person we can 
be on social media.

SAM ROSENBERG

Daily Social Media Columnist

SOCIAL MEDIA COLUMN

Finstas and Thirst Traps: 

Deconstructing virtual identity

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

What happens when two of 

America’s most impactful and 
famous icons, President Teddy 
Roosevelt and Elvis Presley, join 
together 
to 
set 

out on a soul-
searching journey 
to 
Graceland? 

Rachel 
Chavkin, 

Libby King and 
Kristen 
Sieh 

explore 
the 

possibilities of this 
wild 
adventure 

in The TEAM’s 
production 
of 

“RoosevElvis,” 
coming 
to 
Ann 

Arbor next week.

Based out of Brooklyn, The 

TEAM is a performance group 
that 
draws 
material 
from 

American history and mythology 
to create original productions 
that comment on modern issues. 
From these stories spring themes 
of hardship and triumph meant to 
inspire new ideas and challenge 
the status quo.

Centering 
around 
a 

hallucinated 
journey, 

“RoosevElvis” focuses on two 
characters: Ann, an introverted 
meat-processing 
worker, 
and 

Brenda, a taxidermist with a 
bubbly personality who grew 
up in North Dakota. When 
Ann and Brenda decide to take 
their imaginary adventure to 
Graceland, they choose to embody 
the personas of Elvis Presley and 
his idol, Theodore Roosevelt, 
respectively.

In an interview, Libby King, 

who plays Ann/Elvis, described 
what it’s like to play two different 
characters in one.

“I am doing things that I would 

never be comfortable doing,” she 
said, like dancing on stage as a 

confident 
figure 

with “male energy.” 
Despite her fun role 
as 
Elvis 
Presley, 

King also has the 
challenge of playing 
Ann.

“The 
harder 

parts 
are 
Ann’s 

character 
and 

her 
story… 
she’s 

incredibly 
lonely. 

But there is a lot of 
loss in Ann’s life 
and Elvis’ life,” she 

said.

King co-lead for “RoosevElvis,” 

Kristen Sieh also designed the 
costumes for this show, including 
her own character of Brenda/
Teddy.

“I always try to think in this 

sense of stage picture or ways that 
design can communicate story 
or feeling,” she said, adding that 
her character Teddy is “trying to 
be a badass in the West,” and she 
is “always keeping in mind of the 
constraints of the kind of clothing 
people would wear in the 1870s.

Alongside King and Sieh is 

associate director Jake Margolin 
and director and co-writer, Rachel 
Chavkin. The winner of two Obie 
Awards, Chavkin has directed 
many shows not only for The 
TEAM, but other off-Broadway 
production groups. Nevertheless, 
“RoosevElvis” is a show that is 

different from the rest.

“ ‘RoosevElvis’ is the most 

intimate work The TEAM has 
made … not only in terms of the 
vibe, but the fact that there were 
only four of us in the room writing 
this together.”

The show stands in a category 

of its own for many reasons: 
a two-woman show with four 
characters, 
the 
experimental 

use of light, design, music and 
choreography and the modern 
themes of gender, sex and identity. 

“The demand for consistent 

emotional 
and 
intellectual 

complexity, nuance upon nuance 
and layering upon layering of 
image and language … that is a 
thing I don’t find anywhere else,” 
Chavkin said.

From touring in places like 

London and Boston, The TEAM 
is anticipating a different and 
younger audience here in Ann 
Arbor.

Because the show exemplifies a 

powerful theme in self-discovery, 
having an audience on a college 
campus goes hand in hand with 
the concept that young people 
are “still solidifying their sense of 
self,” Sieh said.

In addition to the show, there 

will be a Q&A on Thursday, 
with The TEAM. Given their 
excitement for a younger crowd 
and the show’s discussion of 
gender 
archetypes, 
Chavkin 

finished the interview with one 
question in mind: “It feels like 
there is such a live conversation 
that 
gets 
at 
the 
center 
of 

Americans … who gets to be a hero 
in America? That, for me, is really 
the heart of this.” 

ERIKA SHEVCHEK

Daily Arts Writer

‘RoosevElvis’ makes Michigan stop

The eclectic two-woman show is an exciting quest for identity

RoosevElvis

Thursday, 7:30 p.m. 

Friday, 8 p.m. 

Saturday, 8 p.m.

Lydia Mendelssohn 

Theatre

$12 students, $25 

adults

ABC

“I’m now realizing we’ll never be ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’ “

Fall TV season is here, and with 

it comes the return of series with 
vague, dramatic, one-word titles. 
Turn on “Scandal” 
or “Revenge,” and 
the next 40-some 
minutes 
will, 

without 
doubt, 

be 
filled 
with 

blackmail, 
not-

so-secret 
affairs 

and, if we’re lucky, 
a 
mysterious 

disappearance. 
While these high-
drama 
shows 

border on ridiculous, they do 
promise to be entertaining. At the 
very least, they should deliver on 
some good, old-fashioned, heart-
wrenching angst, however ABC’s 
new drama series “Notorious” 
falls short of even the bare 
minimum.

“Notorious” centers around 

the 
(corrupt) 
relationship 

between a news producer and 
criminal justice lawyer, working 
together to influence the media. 
The lawyer Jake Gregorian (Dan-
iel Sunjata, “Graceland”) is able 
to control his clients’ public per-
ceptions, while producer Julia 
George (Piper Perabo, “Covert 
Affairs”) gets insider tips on 

breaking stories. Jake and Julia, 
characters that creator Josh Bur-
man (“Drop Dead Diva”) based on 
celebrity attorney Mark Geragos 
and “Larry King Live” producer 
Wendy Walker, write a narrative 

absent of ethics, 
morals and integ-
rity. Sexy, right?

Wrong. 
The 

series 
kicks 
off 

with a pilot that 
stuffs in one pre-
dictable twist after 
another, throwing 
originality out the 
window and set-
tling for less than 
mediocre. All the 

boxes for “just another network 
drama” are neatly checked off: 
the high-profile murder, the 
unprofessional affair, the threat-
ening blackmail. The “surpris-
ing” developments come and 
go so fast that any semblance 
of anticipation or heat simmers 
down to nothing. As the series 
attempts to move at a fast and 
exciting pace, the “Notorious” 
pilot becomes a textbook case of 
quantity over quality, confusing 
lies for drama and power for sex 
appeal.

While the drama attempts 

(and fails) to hit the audience 
with punchy plot lines, character 
development 
is 
completely 

neglected. By the end of the 
pilot, Jake and Julia still read 
completely flat as Perabo and 
Sanjata deliver lines that are 
painfully 
overdramatized. 

Without any insight into their 
backstory or the foundation of 
their relationship, the audience 
is unable to connect with the 
two main characters, who are 
seemingly driven only by power 
and success. The pilot does not 
create a deeper understanding 
of their motivations, nor does 
it allow viewers to empathize 
with the backhanded way Jake 
and Julia go about reaching 
their goals. There’s no chemistry 
on a personal or professional 
level, 
making 
their 
super-

secret relationship hard to buy. 
Unfortunately, 
they’re 
just 

boring.

“Notorious” has some big 

shoes to fill as it stands in for 
“Scandal” on ABC’s coveted 
TGIT 
lineup 
of 
Shondaland 

shows. But despite the beautiful 
people and high-drama plotline 
that fall suspiciously close to 
the 
Shondaland 
structure, 

“Notorious” 
is 
not 
even 
in 

the same ballpark as Shonda 
Rhimes’s series. The characters 
are weak, the story directionless 
and the drama convoluted. After 
only one episode, “Notorious” 
already tastes stale.

‘Notorious’ is far from 
Shondaland’s elite work

DANIELLE YACOBSON

Daily Arts Writer

New ABC drama misses the opportunity to be something good

TV REVIEW

C-

“Notorious”

Pilot

Thursdays at 9 p.m.

ABC

6A — Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

