The Current — Nov. 21

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We need a little Christmas Goodman Theatre brings holiday spirit

BY SARAH RENSE It might not be December yet, but these days, the holiday season starts as soon as Halloween costumes are stuffed into the back closet. Christmas is closing in on Chicago, and one of the city’s holiday classics, “A Christmas Carol,” is returning to the Goodman Theatre for its 36th season.

Elizabeth Ledo is also returning to the Goodman for her third year playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past. As Christmas Past, Ledo takes Scrooge back in time to revisit past love and loss so he can begin to see the error of his ways.

The Ghost of Christmas Past, and her adventure with Scrooge through time, sparks hope in Scrooge’s heart, and this gives Ledo a strong connection to her character.

“I get to take him on this journey, I get to watch his heart warm a little bit, and I get to watch the cracks start to happen within him,” Ledo said. “It’s one of my favorite stories of all time. It’s a story about redemption.”

Though Ledo currently lives and works in the theater world, she found her passion for acting later than most.

“I wanted to be a marine biologist,” Ledo said.

But although Ledo excelled at goofing off and socializing during class, high school math and science stumped her.

One day, acting on her teacher’s advice, she tried out for the fall play and was cast in her first theatrical role.

“All of the sudden, I understood it,” Ledo said. “I responded to it, and people responded to me doing it.” She had found her calling.

Today, Ledo has successfully turned her passion into a career, and one of her favorite gigs is “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre. As she explained, “It’s a story that’s such a great reminder to give and of humanity and of goodness and of generosity. We can all make the choice to be good to one another, and it’s just the best time of year to be reminded of that.”

In preparation for the holiday season in Chicago, Ledo puts her energy into a “physically grueling” four-week rehearsal period that flows into nine shows a week from mid-November to the day after Christmas. The show is taxing, and although Ledo is very close with the cast and crew, she said she misses out on much » See GOODMAN THEATRE, page 2

Source: Goodman Theatre and Creative Commons

@thecurrentnu

INSIDE: Odds & Ends 2 | Columns 3 | Reviews 4

Page 2 | The Current

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Odds & Ends

Goodman Theatre From page 1

of her own holiday season.

“I see these guys and gals more than I see my partner or my family,” Ledo said of her castmates.

The show is quite a production, and even though it does not change much from year to year, it is still technically demanding. Ledo’s own costume is covered in lights, and she is strapped into a harness and lifted through the air. Though she enjoys the flying, Ledo

admits that before her entrance from above, her mind starts to play tricks on her.

“That’s when it gets a little scary,” Ledo said. But she has complete faith in the show’s crew, and the audience loves the dramatic effect.

One of the audience members this year will be Desmond Pope (Kellogg ’11). Pope is a “scenemaker” on the junior board at the Goodman Theatre. Scenemakers are young Chicago professionals who work to raise awareness and funds for the theater. Pope, already a member of the Chicago professional scene, became a scenemaker to extend his

involvement into the city’s art scene.

“You can go anywhere in the country and live, but what makes it enriching is art,” Pope said. “It’s places like the Goodman in particular that bring that aspect to the community.”

This won’t be Pope’s first time seeing the show. “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman was a holiday tradition in Pope’s family when he was a child, and the story carries a powerful message for him.

“Even with what we’ve done in the past and getting caught up in that, we still feel we can make conscious decisions to change how

we’re living,” Pope said. “We can make a better impact on others going forward. ... Once (Scrooge) changes, he is able to embrace the Christmas spirit.”

As this same holiday spirit envelopes the city, families like Pope’s will buy their tickets to continue the “Christmas Carol” tradition, just as Ledo will continue to play her part in this annual show.

“I am truly honored and humbled to be a part of that for so many families,” Ledo said.

“I have one of the best jobs in the world.” sarahrense2016@u.northwestern.edu

Q-and-A w/

Alex Cheatham

You’ve seen them zipping between cars in Evanston traffic. You’ve seen them jogging up the steps to Kresge with helmets on and sandwiches in hand. But how much do you really know about the knights in shining spandex we call Jimmy John’s delivery guys?

Rain or sun, these cyclists deliver Wildcats the 8 inches of mayo-slathered baguette they need to get through the day.

And believe it or not, one of them could be sitting next to you in lecture before jumping into uniform and returning to duty, Peter Parker-style. The Current sat down with Bienen senior Alex Cheatham to discuss his double life as a member of the JJ’s team.

THE CURRENT: So what’s the deal with the bikes?

Do they make sure you can ride one before they give you the job?

ALEX CHEATHAM: Some guys start seriously biking when they get the job, but I’m on the road racing team for Northwestern, so I basically saw this job as getting paid to train and paid to eat. We’re pretty fast here.

THE CURRENT: How fast can you bike?

AC: Around here for short distances, I average about 22-24 miles an hour. It helps that we can go through stop signs and lights. We pretty much have the run of the place.

THE CURRENT: What’s your craziest delivery story?

AC: Once I get called to a classroom, and I walk in, and

it’s this humongous room. So I walk into the middle and say hi. It was the instructor, and they were debating how fast the order would take. And they figured out it takes longer to order than it does to be delivered, when you get to a certain number of sandwiches.

THE CURRENT: How much did you like your job in this week’s weather?

AC: Normally when it rains, we get more orders. I still have plastic bags on under these shoes. And I went through two pairs of shoes yesterday. That monsoon that hit? We had like 10 inches of rain to bike through. I actually got blown off my bike (Sunday) night by the wind.

THE CURRENT: Is that spandex uncomfortable?

AC: I’m used to walking around in one-piece lycra skin suits, so this is baggy to me. It’s second nature.

THE CURRENT: What’s your favorite JJ’s sub, and what would you create if you could make a new JJ’s sandwich?

AC: My favorite one is probably the Italian Night Club.

The one I normally get is the Turkey Tom. … We were talking about creating gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with banana options or bacon. We couldn’t actually do it, but we were musing.

THE CURRENT: How into sandwiches were you before this job?

AC: Me and sub sandwiches were just made for each other.

I would eat a sub sandwich twice a day everyday if I could — which I have, at times. samanthacaiola2014@u.northwestern.edu

By SAMMY CAIOLA the current

Brian Lee/Daily Senior Staffer

JJ’S TO THE RESCUE Alex Cheatham’s time on the road racing team for Northwestern helped him perfect his biking skills.

Source: Facebook

HERE WE GO AGAIN Source: Creative Commons

Last week “The Daily Show” host and New Yorker Jon Stewart began quite the uproar when he expressed his dislike for Chicago-style pizza: “Deep dish pizza is not only not better than New York pizza. It’s not pizza.” In case his point was not already clear, Stewart went on to argue, “This is tomato soup in a bread bowl! ... When I look at your deep-dish f---ing pizza, I don’t know whether to eat it or throw a coin in it and make a wish, and if I made a wish, it would be that I wish for some real f---ing pizza!” Daily staffers give their opinion on the pizza debate: — Chanel Vargas

“Nothing creates decision paralysis like the yoghurt section at the Whole Foods. I’ve been here for 10 minutes. I’m freezing to death.” — Actress Felicia Day to her Twitter followers.

“Of course, obviously, the only concern with having a spire like that on top of a New York skyscraper is keeping stripper King Kong off of it.” — “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart on One World Trade Center.

— Paige Leskin

“Nobody ever argues about flatbread.”

— Mackenzie Broderick

“It’s better on top – cheese.”

— Scott Brown

“Deep dish, get inside me.”

“Thank you, balloon animals, for letting children experience the lifecycle of pets even faster than usual.” — Jimmy Fallon shares his #ThankYouNoteFriday on Twitter.

— Chanel Vargas

— Tanner Maxwell

“Pizza shouldn’t require a knife.”

— Chelsea Sherlock

HAYLEY GLATTER

PINTEREST COLUMNIST @HAYLEYG6994

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is in need of some repair.

The psychologist’s theory of human motivation outlines the idea that humans need to satisfy basic needs, like breathing, before moving on to conquer issues of safety, love, esteem and self-actualization.

However, one new subcategory needs to be placed on the base level of the hierarchy because there is one thing humans need more than water and sleep.

Humans need cookie dough.

Yes, cookie dough is included under the food category at the hierarchy’s base, but something needs to be done to persuade parents to let their children consume un-baked cookies.

The fear of salmonella must be repressed. Who knows where I would be if my parental units had allowed me to consume uncooked batter? I think it’s a safe bet to say I’d be somewhere in the league of Mark Zuckerberg.

But, until Kid President, the political figure most likely to champion this cause, is able to figure out a way to help the now-dead Maslow rise from the grave in order to alter his famous theory, Pinterest will have to help with cookie dough experiments.

The raw egg in cookie dough prevents many a human from consuming it, but Pinterest has a variety of recipes to get the cookie dough taste without risking salmonella. The pin I chose features just five ingredients, most of which you

can find in a dining hall or C-store. Though not actually dough, the pin claimed this Greek yogurt-based recipe has the same taste.

I was not thrilled to see that this recipe had a Greek yogurt base because I think it’s gross.

The texture is a little too close to cottage cheese for me, and despite its trendiness, I think the yogurt has a nasty, sour aftertaste. That being said, I dove into this recipe with a marginally open mind, piled in the peanut butter, vanilla, sweetener and chocolate chips the recipe called for and began to stir.

After a little bit of mixing, my creation kind of resembled what the pin looked like if I squinted a little bit and tilted my head to the side. It was time to taste.

I grabbed a pretzel and dipped it in, hoping only that what I was about to eat didn’t taste anything like Greek yogurt. The good news was that it didn’t have the nasty sour aftertaste. The bad news was that all I could taste was peanut butter. The ingredient overpowered everything else, so if I attempted this again, I would use less peanut butter. Other than that, however, the mock cookie dough was edible, and I may make it again. hayleyglatter2016@u.northwestern.edu

MARTINA BARRERAHERNANDEZ ON A BUDGET COLUMNIST

It’s that time of year again — time for peppermint mochas and Michael Buble’s Christmas album paired with runny noses, itchy eyes and throats full of phlegm. Everyone is coughing during lecture

Source: Creative Commons

Quarantine your sick friends Think zombie apocalypse. If you don’t stay away from them, they will eat your brains. In other words, hanging out with your sick friends means you will definitely get sick in the next few days. It might be difficult to stay away from your sick roommate

Between the Sheets:

Why we should cut out the circumcision debate TONYA STARR SEX COLUMNIST

Hayley Glatter/The Current

For full recipe, find Pincidents at www.dailynorthwestern.com/current

On a Budget: Beating the winter sniffles

Skip the party While you might not realize it, going out every Friday and Saturday (and Wednesday and Thursday for some) is incredibly taxing. You’re walking outside in the cold, going to a crowded, sweaty basement full of germs, drinking from dirty cups and going to bed at four in the morning — a recipe for disaster. This weekend, get some friends together to have a movie night or order some yummy takeout as a treat. Trust me, there will be plenty of parties in the future to make up for your absence.

“You can’t fold Chicago pizza.”

The Current | Page 3

Columns

Pincidents: Cookie dough dip proves decent

and dropping out of discussion section like flies to curl up in bed with a box of tissues.

Yep, it’s winter all right.

A few days ago, my roommate and I realized it was the first time since we got to Northwestern that neither of us were sick. What followed this realization was a really terrible high-five and a recap of what we did to finally get better.

How do you do it?

“I’m not typically walking around naked with a plate of bacon. I don’t really eat bacon.” — “Survivor” host Jeff Probst on his “Two and a Half Men” guest appearance.

V.S.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

or good friend, but at least don’t share drinks or promote him or her to No. 1 cuddle buddy.

Strike a pose No, I don’t mean practice your best Blue Steel for the upcoming “America’s Next Top Model” season. Instead, try out a yoga class in the gym or even look up some yoga videos and follow along. Not only will it be a nice break from homework, but you’ll also feel more relaxed. If yoga doesn’t float your boat, any exercise will do.

Go on a run by the lake with a friend or hop on a bike — anything to get yourself moving.

Don’t be afraid to go to Searle We all hate going to the doctor, but sometimes you just need to make that extra push. If you’ve been sick consistently for more than two weeks, or something feels particularly wrong, take the time to trek across campus (maybe that’s only a trek for me) and see a doctor. You may be dealing with something more serious than a cold that you are not aware of, Martina Barrera-Hernandez/The Current so the sooner you go, the better. And while you’re there … GET YOUR DARN FLU SHOT. Release your inner 2-year-old By this, I mean take naps. Please don’t throw a toddler tantrum in order to stay healthy and then blame me when it doesn’t work. If you can’t get to bed early because of homework, try to wiggle in some naps between class or homework assignments throughout the day. Without rest, your body won’t be able to combat all of those germs floating around. Set an alarm on your phone, and nap on. martinabarrerahernandez2017@u.northwestern.edu

Over the past week Norway made clear political moves toward banning male circumcision — a practice that has also been hotly debated in the United States and continues to garner scrutiny from “intactivists” (They want to keep the penis intact, get it?). But the truth is, circumcision is a private matter. Government officials should keep their heads (intact or otherwise) out of it.

Opponents of male circumcision fight for the “genital integrity” of infants, claiming the removal of the foreskin from the head of the penis is an invasion of a child’s bodily rights. Personally, I’ve encountered a number of circumcised penises, and not one of their owners has expressed outrage, or even discontent, at the fact that their members were de-hooded. An infant is incapable of making a decision about the aesthetics of its own genitals.

Hence, the right to choose is on the parents. The government has no more of a place here than it does in a mother’s decision to abort or a gay couple’s choice to marry.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 56 percent of American men are foreskin-less, though the number only includes circumcisions performed in hospitals (home circumcisions are considered common ritual practice in the Muslim and Jewish faiths). Concerns about the safety of nonmedical circumcisions led San Francisco lobbyists to push forward a ban on the practice in 2011, but California Gov. Jerry Brown nipped it in the bud after an outcry from religious factions that continues today. Just last week, the University of Maryland’s Jewish a cappella group released a loaded cover song entitled “Mohels” (a play on Lorde hit “Royals”), in which they take a stand in defense of mohels, the religious men who perform the circumcision ritual on Jewish infants. Here are some of the lyrics: “We’re gonna stay mohels/we’re not afraid of a little blood/your man-made law just ain’t for us/we serve a different kind of boss. ... Circumcise your vanity.”

The music video features young men holding up statistics like “Circumcisions prevent HPV” and “Circumcision leads to less STDs.” Which is valid, given that the American Association of Pediatrics recently changed its policy to recommending circumcision after 13 years of advising against it. In the realm of health and hygiene, most men say it’s fine either way, so long as it’s cleaned on a regular basis.

But there is one factor that tips the scales toward the intact: sexual pleasure. According to sex blog Pleasure Mechanics, men with foreskin contrive a great deal of pleasure from the head of the penis moving in and out of its foreskin, much the same way that women enjoy the rubbing of the clitoris against the inner lips of the vagina. When the penis is erect, the foreskin hugs the shaft beneath the exposed head, creating a nerve-packed band called the “vascular ridge.” The head itself, once exposed, is extremely sensitive from having been protected by foreskin most of the time. Circumcised men, whose heads are constantly in contact with fabric and other elements, experience some head-desensitization, making sex slightly less pleasurable.

Whether parents are concerned about adhering to a religious tradition or ensuring the quality of their child’s future intercourse, the decision to make the cut is up to them. So let’s all calm down and treat all penises equally — “intact” or not. tonyastarr14@gmail.com

THE CURRENT

Editor in Chief Annie Bruce

Assistant Editor Laken Howard Design Editor Jessica Fang Assistant Design Editor Rosalie Chan

Writers Devan Coggan Chanel Vargas DJ Oh Hayley Glatter Martina BarreraHernandez Sarah Rense Sammy Caiola Alex Burnham

Page 4 | The Current

Reviews

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Slim Shady falls short in new LP MUSIC COLUMNIST @afburnham

Marshall Mathers, known by his stage name Eminem, joined the rap game nearly 23 years ago.

He gained notoriety for mocking celebrities and using crass language to express his opinions.

Mathers demonstrated a mechanical superiority through internal rhyming and figurative apostrophe, chronicling hyperbolic, allegorical episodes that were contrived but expressive.

But after 15 songs on his new album “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” released Nov. 5, the born-inMissouri and raised-in-Detroit rapper typifies the nature of his production. “I’m all out of Backstreet Boys to call out and attack,” he says. This summarizes the entirety of the 78-minute album.

Mathers lacks material. He also seems to lack motivation, other than the satisfaction of proving everybody else wrong. However, he fails in this regard, considering how substandard the LP sounds.

Mathers spends ample time describing how everybody will dislike the album, or how people consider him washed up, but the rapper is beating a dead horse.

Listeners realize he is 41. They understand he’s balancing maturity and brazen disregard for the opinions of others. Yet the content of Mathers’ new album offers

few fresh songs, both lyrically and sonically.

Indeed, there are a few gems.

“Rap God,” the third single, evidences raw lyricism and technical ability. Mathers asserts his dominance in the rap world through wordplay and musical allusions.

He references the Monica Lewinsky scandal in order to establish the longevity of his career and predicate his position as a rap “god.”

Even the first single, “Berzerk,” has Mathers in his element, rapidly rapping and preparing to battle anybody in his way: musicians and critics alike. Mathers evokes 1990s pop culture — think Beastie Boys — and this piece does more for the album than most songs. He alludes to a golden age of hip-hop, one in which he had just begun to learn the “art of MCing.”

But ultimately the lengthy collection of scattered tracks falls short of anything substantial. A few songs work, due mostly to Mathers’ skill as a rapper — not the production. And most of the songs do not. The spaghetti western “So Far” seems out of place; “Love Game” evokes Smash Mouth; “Groundhog Day” sounds like the anthem for a horror film.

Perhaps Slim Shady wanted to prove something with this album, that despite his age he could still hit 16 bars. But all he really proves is that he’s irrelevant. afburnham@u.northwestern.edu

Source: Flickr Creative Commons

‘SO FAR,’ SO BAD Eminem’s new album, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” fails to live up to expectations.

DJ OH

MOVIE COLUMNIST

As one of the last big-budget action films in a year filled with blockbuster hits, “Ender’s Game” is one grim piece of sci-fi.

Set in a dystopian future after a devastating invasion by an alien species called the Formics, “Ender’s Game” tells the story of Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a child prodigy who is part of an elite adolescent army trained by the military to fight off future alien invasions.

In the movie — and original book — Earth’s military has resorted to pre-pubescent kids to do the dirty work because of their highly malleable minds, which can execute battle strategy with almost intuitive deadliness.

Ender is the child superstar who impresses the blunt Col. Graff (Harrison Ford) with his knack for sociopathic violence and unnerving intelligence.

“Ender’s Game” is a big movie with big ideas, and sometimes it feels like it’s trying to pack in too much into one movie — even though it becomes clear after the surprising plot twist at the end that Summit Entertainment wants to make this another sequel to follow up the “Twilight” series.

Throughout its gloomy ride of colorful action, the movie poses some heavy questions for the audience to ponder: In a situation of inevitable conflict with a malicious enemy, how far can you go to ensure your own survival? Col. Graff ’s demoralizing statement

“When the war is over, we can debate the morality of what we do” rings even more sincere in the context of the movie, where the fate of the planet is in the hands of a bunch of kids who are good at video game simulations.

So, in the universe of “Ender’s Game,” children are idolized as superheroes and, at the same time, exploited as a military asset that can be crafted to do what authorities tell them to. Throughout the movie, Ender struggles with his position of being the ruthless annihilator that Col. Graff wants him to be. Ender sees a residue of tenderness in himself that Col. Graff tries to eliminate, certain that Ender is “The One” (“The Matrix,” much?) who can save Earth from its impending doom.

Much of the movie’s battle sequences and training sequences beautifully illustrate the massiveness of scale and the chaotic destruction that results as Ender takes helm as mission commander. The battle simulations from Ender’s point of view are simply breathtaking: The visuals are crisp and refined to display the unfamiliar battlefields of the future.

While “Ender’s Game” fails to hit all the notes, it certainly brings a new dish to the table, with its philosophical layer for the audience to chew on. Let’s just hope the sequel lives up to the heavy questions this franchisestarter asks the audience and does not spawn another “Twilight”like series that plummets in quality as it goes on. dongoh2016@u.northwestern.edu

The

‘Ender’s Game’ launches dark sci-fi franchise

Rundown

ALEX BURNHAM

People names Adam Levine ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine was named People magazine’s 2013 “Sexiest Man Alive” this week. His title was announced live on Tuesday’s episode of “The Voice,” the NBC singing show Levine helps judge.

In other news, Ryan Gosling is weeping into his cereal somewhere and whispering, “What more can you possibly want from me?”

Leighton Meester engaged to Adam Brody Who’d have thought Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen would find true love together? Leighton Meester of “Gossip Girl” and Adam Brody of “The O.C.” are engaged. Best of luck to the happy couple, and here’s hoping the marriage has considerably less drama than a CW show.

Monty Python to reunite Amid cryptic tweets and a press conference scheduled for Thursday, Monty Python member Terry Jones has confirmed the beloved British comedy troupe will reunite for an upcoming show. The current members last performed together in 1998, but this reunion proves that like a certain parrot, they weren’t dead. Just … resting.

And probably pining for the fjords.

CNN extends Anderson Cooper’s contract through 2016 Everyone’s favorite silver fox has renewed his contract with CNN. Anderson Cooper will return to the cable news channel through the 2016 presidential election, guaranteeing us at least three more years of that glorious giggle.

Source: Flickr Creative Commons

THE ONE Asa Butterfield stars as Ender Wiggin in the new film, which was released on Nov. 1.

— Devan Coggan