3A — Friday, November 2, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

By Ed Sessa
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/02/18

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/02/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Friday, November 2, 2018

ACROSS
1 Service calls
6 Emotionally 
bother
11 Sonic the 
Hedgehog maker
15 Miller’s salesman
16 Audibly awed
17 Dirt handful
18 Commonly bristly 
covering
21 “Settle down!”
22 Watch name
23 Black shade
26 Positive aspects
27 Make the cut?
29 Christmas 
celebration
32 Sock part
33 Innate abilities
34 Ginsburg 
colleague
36 With 37-Across, 
an apt reminder
37 See 36-Across
39 Pile
43 Off the plate
46 Mooch
48 SHO sister 
channel
51 Last-minute 
deadline
54 Whaling weapon
56 Narrow inlets
57 Friend of Frodo
58 Red flag
59 World Heritage 
Site org.
61 “Things are 
different now” ... 
and an apt hint 
to three other 
answers
67 Long-billed wader
68 Like Stout’s 
Wolfe
69 Former National 
Endowment for 
the Humanities 
chair Cheney
70 Great balls of fire
71 Herd butters
72 Radiate

DOWN
1 1980s TV ET
2 Call from Mrs. 
O’Leary’s barn
3 Dingo prey
4 Cop making a 
traffic stop?
5 Nosy sort
6 Mustang’s rate of 
speed, at times
7 Selfishness

8 Delicacy
9 Sound of 
disapproval
10 Special __
11 Ponzi schemes, 
e.g.
12 Firstborn
13 Like lovestruck 
eyes
14 Pop-up source
19 Reasons to take 
painful steps?
20 Verb in the song 
“Sloop John B”
23 Mutt’s 
companion
24 “First Lady of 
Song”
25 Colorful duck
27 Polio vaccine 
pioneer
28 TV forensic 
series
30 Nasty
31 Cheese go-with
35 “Trouble ahead!”
37 “It’s __ fun”
38 Farm crawler
40 Genesis 
grandson
41 Water en un lago
42 Salon offering
44 Scintillas
45 Short still?
46 Squirrel away

47 Range on which 
7 denotes 
neutrality
48 Strictly speaking
49 “Two and a Half 
Men” beach 
setting
50 Pack without an 
inch to spare
52 First name of a 
literary “Papa”
53 Family reunion 
attendees
55 Persist, with “on”

59 Pigmented eye 
area
60 Black shade
62 “Sooey!” 
responder
63 Blood 
classification 
letters
64 Beast that 
rhymes with zoo
65 Word with living 
or dead
66 When doubled, a 
Ramone

Being a schoolgirl is not sexy. 

Trust me, I went to Catholic school 
for a whopping 15 years, from the 
moment I was potty-trained to the 
ring of “Pomp and Circumstance” 
in my ears. Before I came to the 
University, I had only gone to one 
school for my entire life, and barely 
owned clothes for the winter, 
because I had been wearing a 
uniform for at least half of the year 
beforehand. Plaid is in my blood 
at this point. But it’s interesting to 
see how the perception of Catholic 
schooling plays out in the media 
with a firsthand knowledge of 
how it actually is in real life. It’s 
a complicated thing to think 
about — some of the tropes of all-
girls education are true, but gloss 
over the deeper realities of that 
experience. There are very few 
depictions of schoolgirls in movies 
and TV that actually show them 
as they exist, instead sexualizing 
or 
emphasizing 
certain 
traits 

that marr the truth behind those 
characters beyond recognition.

That isn’t to say that we didn’t 

play into it: My first year of college, at 
least 10 of my 28-person graduating 
class went as sexy schoolgirls for 
Halloween. Now, we already had 
the materials — the high school I 
went to was very Catholic, all-girls 
and everyone rolled the bands of 
their skirts to the point that pink 
slips were no longer a punishment 
in their ubiquity. The point of this 
was to be trendy more than sexy, 
and create some control within the 
rigid lines of our dress code. Despite 
this, no one ever dressed up. These 
skirts, however short they were, 
often countered baggy sweatshirts, 
giant wool blazers, messy buns 
and makeupless faces. But I think 
that the difference between media 
portrayals of schoolgirls and their 
real-life counterparts goes beyond 
the length of our skirts or even 
our image itself — we were mostly 
trying to impress each other rather 
than a male voyeur, keeping it 
trendy and on par with our own 
fashion senses, not to explicitly 
reflect a fantasy. The interplay 
between media’s expectations of us 
and our expectations of each other 
was complex, a relationship that 
could either act as a mirror or an 
example of stark contrast.

There were many layers to that 

relationship, as both the media and 
the people around me influenced my 
perception of myself as a schoolgirl. 
The disconnect there was more 
abstract than I realized when it was 
actually happening — while I was 
never the sexy archetype depicted 
in media imagery like Britney 
Spears’s “Baby One More Time” or 
even the conniving, manipulative 
version of schoolgirlery in “Kill 
Bill”’s Gogo Yubari or “Battle 

Royale,” but those aspects of the 
uniformed, flirty images all around 
us infused a sense of self-awareness 
into the way I dressed and acted. I 
would often forget I was in uniform 
until I got weird looks from men 
on the street, and although there 
were several Catholic schools 
in 
my 
conservative, 
largely 

wealthy 
white 
neighborhood, 

that hyper-observation of my 
surroundings continued every time 
I was in public. There was always 
a consciousness in the back of my 
mind about what the people around 
me were thinking: Did they notice 
my skirt? Did they even care?

I have heard stories, specifically 

from friends who live in larger 
cities, that going out into the world 
in uniform is a treacherous thing 
— that the catcalls only escalate, 
that they feel like bait while just 
trying to get to school. “Schoolgirl” 
is a highly-searched term on any 
internet porn website, and that’s 
just the beginning. These portrayals 
of uniformed teenagers are often 
infantilized, but they exist among 
over-adult depictions as well. The 
girls that I spent every day with 
weren’t anything like the extreme 
versions of themselves shown in 
hyper-sexualized 
imagery, 
but 

they also weren’t like Blair Waldorf 
and Serena van der Woodsen of 

“Gossip Girl” legend. We didn’t go 
out clubbing every weekend, didn’t 
have wild trysts with teachers 
or administrators, didn’t sit on 
the steps of local museums and 
certainly couldn’t do the kinds of 
things they did with their uniforms. 
The schoolgirls shown in media 
like “Gossip Girl” weren’t girls; 
they were women. And I certainly 
wasn’t a woman when I wore that 
skirt, and neither were most of my 
friends and classmates.

However, 
as 
realism 
seeps 

into the media and more female 
directors take their first steps with 
fantastic films and TV shows, 
these stereotypical images of life 
in uniform are softening, taking 
more realistic shape in movies 
like Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird.” 
When I saw the trailer for that film 
initially, I was slightly skeptical 
— would she do that experience 
justice? Would Gerwig be able to 
capture the awkwardness, the 
laughter, the tears and the intense 
female bonding that an all-girls 
school can foster? I finally saw 
the movie, and was sobbing by the 
end. It was the first time that my 
thoughts and feelings around life as 
a schoolgirl were actually realized 
on screen, without a sexual or 
violent edge like I had seen in other 
media before. Everything, from 
the gross sweatshirts to the shitty 
theatre department with a brother 
school, to the sadness that comes 
from a male-teacher crush in a 
world full of women, was accurate 
and piercingly honest to the pure 
awkwardness and reality of what 
being a schoolgirl really means.

We need more media like “Lady 

Bird,” because I loved my life in 
plaid, and it wasn’t sexy; it was just 
fun and supportive, a community 
that I could fall back into when the 
going got tough. So the next time 
you see the flash of a plaid skirt on 
the street, don’t think of Britney 
Spears. Think of friendship, of 
laughter in hallways and the slam 
of lockers as school lets out. When I 
see my younger sister in uniform, it 
makes me smile. Being a schoolgirl 
is much more than what we look 
like — it’s a way to equalize, to learn 
under the same umbrella of terrible 
fashion during the best and worst 
years of our lives. Don’t turn it into 
a whistle on the street.

Plaid skirts & white shirts

DAILY GENDER & MEDIA COLUMN

CLARA 
SCOTT

Big Ticket Prod. organizes 
display of rising music acts

ANNIE KLUS / DAILY

G-Men combine spectacles 
of talent for annual G-Fest

A group of best friends, 

heartthrobs 
and 
talented 

singers, the Michigan G-Men 
are ready to let loose and have 
fun this Friday at their annual 
variety show “G-Fest.” The 
premier all-male a cappella 
group 
will 
be 
performing 

alongside 
other 
University 

performance groups including 
Revolution 
(a 
performance 

collective 
specializing 
in 

Chinese 
Yo-yo, 
Photonix, 

glowstick visual artists) and 
Midnight Book Club (an improv 
comedy troupe). 

The G-Men have been on 

campus for 24 years, and their 
hard work has continued to 
impress audiences. The group 
commits to participating in 
philanthropic 
events 
and 

a concert tour around the 
country. Rehearsing for seven 
hours a week, the G-Men 
are dedicated to mastering 
their collaborative talent and 
eclectic sound, carrying with 
them an array of voice parts 
and personalities. Their sets 
usually 
consist 
of 
ranging 

music genres from modern pop 
to experimental rock and more. 
Two of their untraditional 
but popular hits are “Eleanor 
Rigby” and “Skinny Love.”

During their travels, the 

guys have been able to share 
their talent as well as meet 
other students with similar 
interests and experiences. “We 
travel a lot and are asked to 
perform at competitions and 

shows,” said LSA Senior Daniel 
Honet. “You get to connect 
and meet all these incredible 
people that you wouldn’t get to 
know otherwise,” which also 
reflects the embodiment of 
G-Fest. 

Their effort in creating a 

stimulating and entertaining 
performance represents the 
G-Men members. Many of the 
guys are not SMTD majors, 
but are involved in all types of 
fields and still commit time to 

singing and working with the 
group. 

“The G-Men is where I can 

relieve all the stress that I get 
from academics and stuff like 
that,” said G-Men President 
and LSA Junior Kyle Kim. 
“We’re always having a lot of 
fun.” 

Although 
the 
group 
is 

used to performing within a 
musical, a cappella setting, 
G-Fest shows its uniqueness 
by bringing together various 
artistic mediums. The concert 
showcases a “specific niche of 
Michigan culture, so it’s nice 
to see them coming together 
… spectacles of all kinds,” said 

LSA Senior Jake Wilson. 

Designing 
a 
mosaic 
of 

flavors and artists, G-Fest is 
an event made for anybody to 
enjoy. “G-Fest is always just a 
really enthralling performance 
for the people who are in the 
audience because it brings 
something for anyone of all 
ages,” Wilson added. The event 
is hosted on parents’ weekend 
every 
year, 
so 
they 
can 

“come and see which student 
performing 
groups 
are 
on 

campus and what this campus 
has to offer.”

Whether that be parents, 

students 
or 
community 

members, the audience feeds 
off the performers’ energy. 
Kim, 
Wilson 
and 
Honet 

emphasized the notion that 
when showing up with smiles 
on their faces, being goofy and 
radiating how much fun they’re 
having, the audience can’t 
help but to party alongside 
them. “The audience is so 
supportive,” Honet added. “The 
crowd is constantly supporting 
anything happening on stage, 
even if someone messes up.” 
It’s evident that this is a 
notable trait of the G-Men and 
their familial bond.

“My favorite part about the 

G-Men is just having a support 
network,” Wilson said. “U of 
M is a big place, so it’s nice to 
have a group of people that 
you know are going to be there 
for you week-in and week-out, 
both in person and in spirit.”

Excited to highlight their 

work and the talents of other 
artistic collectives, the G-Men 
present “G-Fest 2018” this 
Friday at Rackham Auditorium. 

ERIKA SHEVCHECK

Daily Arts Writer

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

“G-Fest 
2018”

Nov. 2, 2018 @ 

8:00 p.m.

Rackham 
Auditorium

Students $7, 
General $12

The enthusiasm was nearly 

as tangible as the rain as 
students 
crowded 
into 
the 

Hill Auditorium with their 
umbrellas 
Saturday 
night. 

Despite the Halloween scene 
and festivities, there was no 
denying the ardent presence 
of the concert (soon to be 
party) 
goers 
donning 
their 

costumes for the A R I Z O N A 
concert hosted by Big Ticket 
Productions. The excitement 
for the opening acts were as 
high — T-shirts and posters 
bearing “Mikky Ekko” and 
“Electric Guest” were seen 
throughout the crowd. By the 
looks of it, the concert was set 
to be an absolute spectacle for 
fans who’ve been waiting for 
the recognition of these up and 
coming musicians.

I’ll admit it: I couldn’t quite 

grasp it at first. I came because 
of a friend’s recommendation, 
a tabula rasa and a skeptic to 
the alternative rock genre 
 that 

prevails 
oversaturated 
and 

derivative across Spotify. I 
couldn’t bring myself to listen 
to a single track before the 
show. Nonetheless, I kept an 

open mind and curiosity for the 
acts of the night and the type 
of energy they’d exude; could it 
compare to the passions of their 
fans?

I tentatively sat between my 

just-as-clueless friend and a 
girl who screamed ecstatically 
when the lights dimmed to 
the entrance of Mikky Ekko. 
As someone whose experience 
with opening acts is a general 
disinterest, I was wonderstruck 
by the charisma and force 
Mikky Ekko delivered. His 
thunderous, synth-heavy vibe 
was immersive and emotion-
packed, albeit a bit chaotic; it 
felt as though it came in waves 
of 
percussions 
and 
dense, 

poetic lyricism. It paired well 
alongside 
his 
spazzed 
out 

dancing that carried to the 
beat like an exorcism. He didn’t 
just move to the beat, the beat 
moved him. His voice was calm 
and melodic, adding a balanced 
undertone to the performance. 
Ekko’s 
closing 
rendition 
of 

“Stay” by Rihanna showcased 
how multifaceted his vocals are 
as he shifted to a rawer tone 
gainst the sparse instrumentals: 
melancholic and delicate. His 
moves were just as present and 
emotive, as he closed his eyes 
and swayed to the beat.

Following 
Mikky 
Ekko 

was 
Electric 
Guest. 
When 

the lead singer stormed onto 
the stage with a plastic mask 
and animated dance moves, 
my friend turned to me and 
said: “How is he not lip-
syncing?” 
His 
falsetto 
was 

perfect, 
energy 
contagious 

and his moves, though not as 
grand as Ekko’s, were deft 
and smooth. The lead singer 
could swing from low to high 
register with ease and overall 
proved a stunning performer. 
Though blithe and laidback, 
their sound had a light, almost 
nostalgic energy to it with its 
sunny 
instrumentation 
and 

varied vocals. The band had a 
cool, LA-esque element to their 
music that I’m usually quick to 
dismiss, but their swagger and 
charm was contagious. The 
band’s penultimate song of the 
night “Oh Devil” now holds a 
prominent place in my most 
recent playlist.

It was roughly two hours 

into the show by the time A- 
R I Z O N A finally made an 
appearance. 
Despite 
their 

labeling as the headlining act, 
their performance lasted only 
the final hour of the show. At 
that point, the crowd notably 
whittled down then flourished, 
as fans of the opening acts 
departed and those of the 

DIANA YASSIN

For the Daily

main act packed themselves in. 
Despite A R I Z O N A’s sound 
having elements from those of 
the opening acts, their entrance 
was on a different plane. It was 
a lot less energetic, more well-
paced, upbeat and, dare I say, 
more conventional — it wasn’t 
so much that I was unimpressed 
but that their music felt a lot 
more traditionally pop. That 
being said, their performance 
was far from lackluster as the 
band could handle songs from 
all across the board, from 
dance jams to slower, more 
poignant serenades. I will say, 
I really preferred their slow 
songs and the way they flowed 
to their dreamy aura.

A R I Z O N A’s aesthetic 

is everything you’d expect 
from 
a 
contemporary 

band 
experimenting 
with 

’80s 
synth: 
a 
bit 
angsty, 

a 
bit 
minimalistic, 
but 

very 
ambitious. 
There 

were 
snippets of lyricism 

and 
emotion 
that 
were 

profound and translated well 
through 
the 
lead 
singer’s 

higher vocals. There were 
points 
where 
the 
synth 

felt flat and instrumentals 
underdeveloped, not unlike 
an incessant metronome — the 
saving grace of variety for this 
band was their skillful guitar 
player 
and 
his 
occasional 

solos. The singer’s vocals were 
also versatile for the types of 
songs the band played: He was 
a skillful live singer even when 
dancing. And the band has a 
certain magic on stage; you 
can tell they’re comfortable 
and in the zone, even when 
they do share a laugh or two 
or give one member a special, 
momentary spotlight (even if 
he didn’t want to speak; major 
props to the lead singer). 
Overall, it was a wholesome 
display of togetherness many 
more illustrious bands fail to 
capture in their performances. 

Packed 
between 
songs 

were 
mini 
motivational 

speeches based on the band’s 
tribulations, lasting the length 

of a song. Though admittedly 
trite at times, the lead singer 
spoke to the experience of 
college students struggling to 
find their place in the world. 
This also went on to showcase 
a willingness to connect with 
the audience beyond inviting 
them on stage and reaching 
out for their hands during 
performances, as his remarks 
were based on questions he’d 
ask the audience to raise their 

hand to.

Despite having a similar 

genre and musical elements, the 
three acts had their own distinct 
glimmer throughout the show. 
Big Ticket Productions did a 
fantastic job of organizing a 
concert that allowed for each 
artist to showcase their music 
and unique presence. I can 
definitely say that by the end of 
the night, I would call myself a 
fan of each performer. 

CONCERT REVIEW