6A — Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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By Gary Larson
(c)2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/06/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
11/06/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2019
ACROSS
1 Zippo
5 State of irritation
9 Produce carrier
14 Historic British
school
15 Plains native
16 Indy participant
17 Financial support
at Kitty Hawk?
19 Skybox setting
20 Up to, casually
21 Sticky
23 Tie the knot
25 Runs like mad
29 Remove italics
from text?
33 “All __ Jazz”
35 Zones
36 “The A-Team”
actor
37 Bread served with
tandoori chicken
38 Met highlights
39 Spelling contests
40 Some iTunes
downloads,
briefly
41 Cal. entries
42 Have an
inclination
43 Siblings sharing
a ceremony?
46 “... because you
don’t want to
cross me”
47 Up-to-the-minute
51 In seventh
heaven
55 Women’s rights
activist Nellie
56 Battleship
barrage
59 Contact a
fictional pirate?
61 Fuss over
feathers
62 Stare at creepily
63 Balm ingredient
64 Change, as a will
65 They’re often
loaded
66 Continuity
problems
DOWN
1 Semiaquatic
salamanders
2 Skylit courts
3 Lacy place mat
4 With 58-Down,
“Life of Pi”
director
5 Ballpark treat
6 State that
celebrates
Pioneer Day
7 Pâté base
8 Govt. agents
9 Fancy scarves
10 Hardest to come
by
11 Whiz
12 Notable
Downing Street
address
13 Important span
18 Seen enough
22 Think tank
products
24 Tehran’s land
26 Dudes with fab
abs
27 Slipped up
28 Fast Atl.
crossers, once
30 Horn-honking
Marx
31 Country singer
Travis
32 Chow line?
33 Piglike forest
dweller
34 Swiftness
37 Successor to
Claudius
38 __-ski
39 Second to none
41 Hurry off and
hide
42 Hunt down the
source of
44 Gridiron
complement
45 High society
types
48 Deadly African
virus
49 Single-master
50 Small fry
52 What Noah
counted by
53 Constellation
named for a
mythological
ship
54 List
56 Place for a
retreat
57 Usher’s offering
58 See 4-Down
60 Folklore crone
WANTED
have
fun
doing
the
sudoku.
xoxo
DIY COLUMN
I really didn’t become very involved in my
local music scene until I came to Ann Arbor.
I’m not sure if my hometown just didn’t have
much going on, or if I just wasn’t looking
hard enough, but when I stumbled into my
first basement show, I was amazed at how
different of an experience it was for me. Even
crazier, I saw one of the guitarists from that
show on a Bursley-Baits bus the next day.
For a second, I was sort of taken aback
— why were they on the same bus as me?
I didn’t see this person as a human on the
same plane of existence as me. I seemed to
forget that they were also students, probably
stressed out by classes, running on not
enough sleep and apparently taking Bursley-
Baits everyday, just like everyone else. I saw
their existence as beginning and ending on
stage.
I think this is one of the things that’s really
special about having a local music scene and
being involved in it. At bigger concerts —
ones not held in basements — there’s a huge
disconnect between the musicians and the
audience. You’ll see them come on stage, play
their set and then walk off. After that, unless
you stand out behind the venue circling their
tour bus like a vulture, you probably won’t
see them again until the next time you go
to one of their shows. With DIY and local
music in general, besides the fact that there’s
typically no green room in a basement for
artists to hide in, you’ll see these musicians
everywhere you go. The artists on stage are
the same people you’ll see in your classes, at
parties and even on the bus.
For me, this has only made the music more
special. Seeing people that are just like you,
or that you may even have a relationship
with, get on stage and pour themselves into
a performance is an incredible experience
that has absolutely changed the way I think
about music. My freshman year, a band from
Ann Arbor called Bonzo put out an album
titled Stranger during my first fall break.
I had seen the group perform once, and
knew some of the members through random
interactions with mutual friends at parties
and shows. So, after seeing the album shared
around Facebook, and even stumbling into
their album release show, I decided to follow
the Bandcamp link that would help change
the way I view music making.
It wasn’t simply the fact that it was a good
album that was right up my alley. It was
the fact that it was all that and it was made
by people that I knew. People that I had
talked to and had experiences with prior to
listening to their music. The huge shoegazy
soundscapes felt even larger and even
more impenetrable than they already were
because I knew the people making them.
It was cathartic for me, and being made by
people that were in the same environment
I was in, who were having similar, albeit
nowhere near identical, experiences. With
bigger name artists, there’s almost a whole
mythology behind the music. That person
could be at a completely different point in
their life than I am, or could be a completely
different person than I imagine them to be,
making it difficult for me to relate or insert
myself into their music. But with Stranger,
this wasn’t the case.
Since then, I’ve encountered this same
feeling on many separate occasions (and it’s
pretty difficult not to when you live with
five other incredibly creative and talented
individuals). And maybe this stems a little bit
from me being a bit of an emotional person,
but I honestly think knowing the individuals
behind the music is a quality about local
music that truly makes it special. It not only
humanizes it, but it also furthers the feeling
of intimacy that DIY is known for.
Stars: They’re just like us!
And they’re at our school
RYAN COX
Daily DIY Columnist
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
1980s rock music blared through unseen
speakers upon entering the apartment of
Dennis Ziegler, as he slammed his door and
stumbled into his magazine and solo cup
strewn bed. Of course, it wasn’t an actual
apartment, but the black-box-esque Newman
Studio encouraged the audience to participate
in the action of the play, feeling like we were
sitting on the couch watching Dennis dance
around his apartment to scratchy records,
maybe even sharing his blunt.
Basement Arts’s production of “This Is
Our Youth,” written by Kenneth Lonergan
and directed by School of Music, Theatre &
Dance junior Skylar Siben, detailed the lives
of three teenagers in the ’80s exploring love,
drugs, family relationships and the terrifying
inescapable reality of adulthood in the best
possible way.
The three-person play portrayed the
complicated relationships among teenagers
engaging in new experiences and exploring
the world outside of high school and their
parents’ control. SMTD senior Ted Gibson’s
character was the life of the party. His
enigmatic performance brought humor and
vivacity to an otherwise dark show. SMTD
sophomore Claire Vogel and SMTD senior
Bryan Chan’s characters made an adorably
innocent couple, until their ultimate demise.
All three of them were entangled in each
other’s stories in different capacities.
With the audience surrounding the set on
all sides, the intimate stage setup made the
audience an active part of the show. While this
aspect of the play definitely made this “slice-
of-life” show feel authentic and genuine,
the only downside was that it unfortunately
blocked out parts of the performance to
certain sections of the audience. With such
an intimate, actor-driven show, seeing their
reactions to each other was essential in
understanding the plot and connecting with
the performance.
Despite this, the staging was incredibly
smart, with every detail thought through.
The
temperature
gage
doubled
as
the
apartment intercom, the backstage door was
used as the apartment entrance, the lighting
beautifully signified drug usage by trading
simple spotlights for an array of colors.
Despite having very little scenery, the show
felt utterly real. Not one eye was batted at a
stool used as a fridge or a curtain signifying
the bathroom because the actors worked hard
to make their actions revolving around those
objects lifelike. This black-box environment
was the perfect setting for such a personal
show.
The show itself is a fascinating one,
delving into important topics that capture
the experience of youth. Though the specific
experiences each character goes through are
not necessarily universal, their thoughts,
feelings and reactions to their situations are.
The connections each of the three characters
form with one another are compelling and
relatable, written in some of the most natural
and realistic language I’ve ever witnessed.
Unfortunately, some of the specific language
was a little too realistic to the ’80s culture.
Written in 1999 and taking place in 1982,
certain parts definitely didn’t age well —
namely the use of racist slurs and offensive
language.
However, the majority of the sentiments
still ring true today. This show beautifully
portrays the trials and triumphs of being
young. Though some of the characters’
lifestyle choices are unique, the attitudes and
musings are relatable to everyone — whether
they are remembering their youth or still
living it.
‘Youth’ is sweetly relevant
DANA PIERANGELI
Daily Arts Writer
There’s a moment in “See” that is meant to
be terrifying. Being chased by a ravenous and
violent army, the Alkenny villagers are running
for their lives. Paris (Alfre Woodard, “The Lion
King”), the village midwife, comes upon a bridge
that crosses a dangerous ravine. She’s not even
sure it’s there. She can’t see it — she’s blind, as is
everyone else in Apple’s post-apocalyptic series.
After a virus wiped out much of humanity, the
remaining 2,000,000 humans emerged from the
carnage blind. After centuries, they’ve adapted
to blindness, so much so that the idea of vision is
heresy. After two twins are born with sight, the
Witch Hunters — a savage royal raiding party
that hunts down heretics, such as those who
practice witchcraft or speak of vision — come
for them. The leader of the Alkenny village,
Baba Voss (Jason Momoa, “Game of Thrones”)
attempts to lead his people to a new promised
land.
The aforementioned scene is not terrifying
at all, which is the main problem with “See.”
When the characters comes upon a bridge and
wonder what it is, if it’s there or if it’s safe, the
suspense is ruined because we can obviously see
the bridge. The show has an overly-capable cast.
Jason Momoa does a great job at playing another
grisly, grunting Jason Momoa character. Other
characters excel as believably blind villagers
in a sightless, post-apocalyptic forest, if that
makes any sense. It’s clear from the way actors
deliver their lines where the tension lies, even
if the mythology of the show isn’t always clear.
The mythology is, perhaps, the next biggest
problem. That, and the show’s confounded
dedication to its own aesthetic. Visually, “See”
is stunning. The tall, evergreen forests of
British Columbia make a beautiful backdrop for
the show’s collection of atavistic characters.
Even the fur-clad villagers are beautiful (if only
they could see themselves). Yet, the show goes
to great lengths to assert its aesthetic, which is
a mash up between “Vikings” and “10,000 BC.”
This loyalty to its look comes at the expense of
storytelling technique. The mythology muddles
the show. In the first episode, at least, the idea
of vision being heresy is not sold very well, aside
from a title card at the beginning of the show. It
doesn’t even make sense why the Witch Hunters
are after the villagers until much later, which
makes the first half unusually confusing.
“See” unfortunately crumbles because of its
lack of vision. There’s nothing about the show
that is extraordinary or groundbreaking. It’s
very normal. This makes it difficult to relate
to a cast that is completely blind. There are
obviously sensory talents in certain characters,
such as Ilun (Sharon Taylor, “Smallville”) who
can count distance in heartbeats. This makes
me wonder if “See” couldn’t include these
sensory enhancements in the show. By making
sound louder, describing smell, messing with
the way we understand the show visually, the
story could become enhanced. Viewers could
be more deeply drawn into a show that is more
experimental with how it tells its story.
The true blindness of “See” is the fact that
Apple failed to realize that there’s more to TV
than a few good actors and a somewhat fresh
story. There are hundreds of shows for viewers
to choose from. As a visual form, television is
not just about the story, but the way that the
story is told.
‘See’ doesn’t quite terrify
MAXWELL SCHWARZ
Daily Arts Writer
APPLE TV+
TV REVIEW
See
Series Premiere
Apple TV+
Streaming Now
The huge shoegazy
soundscapes felt
even larger and even
more impenetrable
than they already
were because I
knew the people
making them
Though the specific
experiences each
character goes through
are not necessarily
universal, their
thoughts, feelings
and reactions to their
situations are