fortnightly student magazine
THE WAKE
volume 18 — issue 6
Roots and Fruits
p. 7
Q&A : Dreams We’ve Had
p. 16
Still Like Wrought Anew
p. 9
The Quiet Genuis of Lucy Dacus
p. 19
Budding Parties
p. 11
Green Book
p. 22
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Art by Cheryl Willis
DEC 3 - FEB 18
VOLUME 18, ISSUE 6 EDITORIAL: Editor-in-Chief
Tala Alfoqaha
Managing Editor
Chris Shea
Cities Editor
Olivia Hultgren
Voices Editor
Farrah Mina
Music Editor
Megan Hoff
Online editor
Becca Most
Copy editors
MaiLei Meyers Hannah Haakenson
Multimedia Editor
Sebastian Alfonzo
Multimedia Producer
Daniel Elder
Editorial Interns: Hannah Olund, Sylvia Rani, Esther Chan, Jimmy Cooper, Emma Chekroun, Kathryn Merta, Callum Leemkuil-Schuerman, Abbi Kiesau, Autumn Sanders, Kelsey Bolander, Tosin Faseemo
PRODUCTION: Executive Director
Jamie Rohlfing
Production Manager
Olivia Novotny
Creative Director
Megan Smith
Finance Manager
Ella Hennen
PR/Ad Manager
Sophie Stephens
Social Media Manager
Macie Rasmussen
Art Director
Morgan Wittmers-Graves
Designers
Nicole Faouen Annie Judd Semira Mesfin
Web Manager
Nikki Pederson
Distribution Manager
Cassie Varrige
Production Interns: Jennifer Ta, Claire Redell, Jack Nachtigal, Madison Amland, Shay Jerabek Art Interns: Selena Philaphandeth, Emily Jablonski
THIS ISSUE: Writers
Emma Chekroun, Kelsey Bolander, Tosin Faseemo, Maya Ulrich, ©2018 The Wake Student Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly independent magazine and registered student organization produced by and for students at the University of Minnesota.
Esther Chan, Claire Redell, Jimmy Cooper, Emily Ness, Sylvia Rani, Joe Kelly, Olivia Hultgren, Hannah Olund, Natalia Poteryakhin, Kathryn Merta, Abbi Kiesau, Gabriella Granada, Becca Most, Jay Dooley, Maya Ulrich, Nina Raemont
The Wake was founded by Chrin Ruen & James DeLong.
Art
Disclaimer: The purpose of The Wake is to provide a forum in which students can voice their opinions. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as a whole. To join the conversation email talfoqaha@wakemag.org.
1 Brighid de Danann 2 Morgan Wittmers-Graves 3 Emily Jablonski 4 Selena Philaphandeth 5 Hannah Hyytinen Q&A photos courtesy of Dreams We’ve Had. Music Inspired by Illumination and Dr. Seuss’ “The Grinch”, Pictures in the Sky,
The Wake Student Magazine 126 Coffman Memorial Union 300 Washington Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55455
Better With You, The Sunset Tapes—A Cool Story art from original album covers. Cover & Feature art by Morgan Wittmers-Graves
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wink! one page magazine
Letter From the FBI Agent Watching You BY CHRIS SHEA Hello there, It’s me, the FBI agent assigned to watch everything you do. The Bureau was first alerted to your presence when you Googled “how to torrent movies.” This may not have been your smartest search. Since then, I have spent every moment of my work week watching what you do through that little camera at the top of your computer screen/ phone. At first it was out of suspicion that you were trying to steal someone else’s intellectual property, but it’s been fun seeing you live your life and attempting to sing along with the music of U2. Vertigo is an amazing song. That said, I do have one question for you: are things okay? You’ve seemed a bit off as of late. I mean… you’ve been constantly looking at the unofficial Bionicle Wiki. Don’t get me wrong, I know that the Bionicle extended universe is rich with lore, but do you really feel the need to watch six videos on it in a row when you have to finish a 15 page essay on how fundamental shield laws are? I’d like to help out, but federal law keeps me from doing so and I do not want to lose my pension.
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As for me, I’m doing well. We’re finally allowed to have succulents in the office — and we are looking forward to our next Parks and Rec marathon. Love, Your FBI Agent Who Is Definitely Named John
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INSIDE
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Letter from the Editor
12/9
12/31
8
Gingerbread Wonderland at the Norway House
Wild Pink [w/ Juniper Douglas, Andy Cook]
New Year’s Eve with Pho, Purple Funk Metropolis, and Radiochurch
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BUDDING PARTIES
12/20 - 12/23
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Art by Abigail Thompson
Kephra: A Hip Hop Holiday Story A
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Q&A : Dreams We’ve Had
A young woman claims and reclaims herself and her identity through hip hop and African music and dance.
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To the Professor that Won’t Put Grades In
Howard Conn Fine Arts Center
20
Hot Takes on the Holiday Season
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The Sunset Tapes— A Cool Story
7th Street Entry
Turf Club
1/25 Noname: Room 25 with Elton First Avenue
12/20-12/22 Hamlet, but Hamlet’s a Chicken need we say more? Minnsky Theatre
A
12/21 Water: Stop Line 3
B
A collaboration of art and music benefit show to stop Line 3. Rapper/revolutionary Immortal Technique with supporting acts Maria Isa, Muja Messiah, Nataanii Means, Tufawon and DJ Michel Be Cedar Cultural Center
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12/22 FEM 101 [w/ Gully Boys, The Toxenes, Sauna Accident, Mayda] C Mortimers C
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Letter from the Editor Dear reader, Congratulations! You’ve opened up The Wake’s last issue of the semester, which means you’re most likely procrastinating studying for final exams, suffering from writer’s block, or avoiding your latest group project. Just remember, this is what you’ve been training for all semester (and by this, I mean the holiday season - I see you, gift exchanges). I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly enjoying this crisp, cool introduction to winter, pretending that in a few weeks I won’t be walking outside to find that my face hurts. It’s a funny thing, living in Minnesota, to be rejoicing in the snow’s beauty one minute and cursing the icy sidewalks the next. It’s that time of year again, dare I say, the most wonderful time of the year, when we all struggle to suppress our excitement that winter break is coming because we have finals. Finals. It’s also that time of year when we’re all feeling particularly grateful, which is why I encourage all of you to take a break from studying, and to spend time with those who make you happy. Whether they be friends, family, your pet rock, or a half-full carton of Market Pantry eggnog, we could all use the energy quality time with others gives us, even if it is just that post-eggnog sugar rush. But what sorts of activities shall we do, you might ask? Fortunately, as Cities Editor of The Wake, it’s my job to know what’s happening around Minneapolis and St. Paul. The annual Holidazzle festivities kicked off a few weeks ago in Downtown Minneapolis, where local food, ice skating, and barrels of hot chocolate await. At Holiday parties abound, snowball fights ensue, and Christmas cookie-making provides a fantastic stress-baking opportunity for all. Norway House is holding its annual Gingerbread Wonderland exhibit, where you can build your own gingerbread house (shameless Cities plug, see page 8). If none of those strike your fancy, hey, there’s always The Christmas Prince on Netflix.
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Olivia Hultgren Cities Editor
DEC 3 - FEB 18
CITIES
Roots and Fruits Exploring the History and Impact of the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota 2
BY HANNAH OLUND Local art meets the national feminist movement at “Roots and Fruits,” an exhibit curated by The Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM). With 1970’s feminism as its backdrop, the show places women Minnesota artists at the forefront. Heather Carroll, the curator of the exhibit, is focused on combining essential aspects of past and present society. “Roots and Fruits was proposed in early 2017, just weeks after the last presidential inauguration, and now it is opening just days before one of the most important midterm elections in my lifetime,” Carroll said in a statement. “I feel a sense of urgency not only because of our current political climate, but also because the women in this exhibition, who have been community leaders for decades, have waited long enough for this story, her story, to be shared.” For Carroll, it’s important to make sure these Minnesota artists get the recognition they deserve. They have contributed wholeheartedly to the growth of the feminist art movement, but have received less recognition than their counterparts on the east and west coasts. With more than 30 artists coming together to create this diverse exhibition, the art ranges from textile collages to intricate watercolors. Some sketches or paintings are simple, and some are incredibly complex. Together they show the power and progression of the feminist art movement in Minnesota. An oral history booth, prints by 11 of the WARM Artists, a Curator’s Talk, and a Panel Discussion: Connecting Across the Years are all included in the exhibit. There is also an open call to all WARM members for inclusion in a digital slide presentation recognizing the ongoing creation of the organization. This exhibit takes place from Nov. 3 to Dec. 15, daily. It is free and open to the public at Catherine G. Murphy Gallery in St. Paul.
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THE WAKE
Rolling in the Deep Egypt’s sunken treasures on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art BY NATALIA POTERYAKHIN Standing in the central atrium of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, I looked up into the face of a god. There was something alien about the way light wrapped onto this massive block of stone, shadows pooling in his symmetrical features. When viewed from the side, however, his form became familiar: the shapes flattened out, coalescing into the two-dimensional figure we are used to seeing in hieroglyphics. This was the god Hapy, his stature rising all the way up to the second-floor balcony, his left leg striding forward in classic Egyptian fashion. For that alone, it may be worth paying the MIA a visit to get a free glimpse of this Egyptian relic. Pay 20 dollars more, and you can get access to the full exhibit. “Egypt’s Sunken Treasures” is the result of 20 years of deep-sea exploration focused on two lost ancient cities. Their unique roles as ports in Aboukir Bay facilitated a cultural and religious exchange between the pharaohs and ancient Greece, resulting in a hotbed of temples, trinkets, and treasure. A clever nod hints at the artifacts’ origins: the gallery walls are painted blue, immersing you in the ocean depths from whence the pieces came. In the exhibit, I regarded a still-sealed box, its lead lining hiding a mystery impermeable by our x-rays. Egyptians believed lead held magic powers… did they somehow observe what only centuries of research had revealed for us? I saw stone slabs covered in scripture, used for rituals in which one poured water over the etched words. Egyptians believed water absorbed the power of the scripture it touched. Maybe we ought to give it a try, too; they were right about lead, after all. Why not more? Looking back on the experience, I was left with a sense of dipping a toe into a vast world of knowledge and customs previously lost to the ocean depths. I’m glad it was dredged up for us Minnesotans to explore. Visit before it closes on April 14th, 2019.
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CITIES
Twin Cities’ Largest Tea Tasting Event Doesn’t Disappoint Mrs. Kelly’s family friendly get-together kicks off the holiday season BY JOE KELLY On a little corner in Northeast Minneapolis, a plain warehouse sits next to Bunny’s Bar and Grill. There’s a loading dock at the back, its doors empty and sign less. I was a little confused if this was the right place. However, the GPS told me it was the right building: Mrs. Kelly’s Tea. A group of three elderly people shuffled through the cold wind and slush towards the side door, and I followed them inside. People lined up in front of a desk where you could sign in and donate a suggested $3 to one of their charities. “You won’t be disappointed,” the man working the front desk told me. After all, this was the Twin Cities’ largest tea tasting event, bringing warmth to an otherwise cold and slushy weekend. Mrs. Kelly’s Tea has been hosting annual tea tastings for more than two decades, and this year the event fell on December 1st and 2nd. Behind the clerk was a long hall leading to a green vendor sign and a bright red door that read “Mrs. Kelly’s Tea, Welcome!” Inside lay shelves upon shelves of tea, separated into sections that included green tea, herbals, whites, blacks and blends, and oolongs. Small white cups with empty tea bags were provided for sampling. I counted over 100 flavors, anything from spearmint to crème brûlée. I went around smelling bags, spooning out ingredients, putting them in the empty tea bags, and filling the small cups with hot water, all while Christmas music played overhead. Customers of all ages wandered the shop happily and curiously, chatting away with beaming faces. I sampled 16 total tea blends, including Chai, Apricot Ginger, Pancakes ‘n’ Bacon, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Orange, Peaches and Cream, China Rose, and more. Many of the blends were lightly sweet, smooth, and pleasant. One of the highlights was the Chocolate Mint Rooibos, which had a mint and chocolate-y aftertaste. My absolute favorite was Cinnamon Roll, which smelled and tasted exactly like its name.
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I came in originally planning to interview Mrs. Kelly herself but thought better of it after seeing her busily running around the place serving customers. However, I stumbled upon her daughter, Brenna, and asked her about Mrs. Kelly’s Tea. As an entrepreneur during an era when coffee was all the craze and bagged tea was the norm, Mindy Kelly saw an opportunity to expand on something that most businesses weren’t doing: loose leaf tea. Twenty-six years ago, in 1992, Mindy made two different loose-leaf teas for a farmer’s market, but it wasn’t until 1995 when Mrs. Kelly’s Tea became a full-fledged business that stuck. When asked why her mom started the business, Brenna explained that she is one of four of her children, and her mom wanted to support them. For most of the year, Mrs. Kelly’s Tea is a warehouse where they hand-prepare loose leaf tea from family recipes based on individual orders online. In other words, they don’t have a supply of certain teas waiting on shelves ready to send out. When you order it, they make it. All employees in the business are family members, including in-laws. “We do this every year at the beginning of December as a way to kind of kick off the holidays,” Brenna explained. Along with all the charm and positive energy, there was a certain buzz around the place that seemed more than just the caffeine in everyone’s veins. I wouldn’t be exaggerating by saying this would be the perfect event for any occasion: a date, business meeting, or friend gettogether. But above all, this would be a perfect outing for a family, considering that a passionate one is behind the business that has stuck around for over a quarter of a century.
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CITIES
Gingerbread Wonderland at the Norway House 4
Still Life Wrought Anew U of M professor Tamsie Ringler’s work in the Mia’s U.S. Bank Gallery BY NATALIA POTERYAKHIN Walking in, I squint. Headlights blare from a car painted entirely gold, the light escaping its metallic shell. Known for her work with cast iron, Tamsie Ringler exhibits a range of pieces brought together under the title of “Still Life,” on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art through February 24. Her sculptures bring the conventions of still-life paintings into the real world: where once natural objects (like the usual bowls of fruit) would be immortalized in paint and prevented from decay, Ringler takes an object like a canoe or a car and preserves it in gold. Expanding on this theme, her casting of the Mississippi’s many branching waterways continues the trend of transforming organic into inorganic, the fragile into immortal. But this sounds more pretentious than it is. The exhibit is refreshingly simple, curated without much interjection from the curator and without forcefed opinion. It opens with a simple tableau of the artist’s statement, and otherwise allows you to take in these everyday things granted an ethereal quality in one way or another. The grand finale is a gazebo of sorts, a glass construction filled with hundreds of small beads inviting you in to walk around on their unique surface. It’s an adult ball pit! The experience is extra magical because of a projected colorful light on the gazebo’s back wall, reflecting off the many facets of glass surrounding you. The U.S. Bank Gallery is putting on this exhibit as one of many in a chain of local artists, maintaining a space for Minnesotan voices amidst the ancient pottery and flashy travelling exhibits. In a time of endangered natural spaces, Ringler’s work expands our awareness of the environment as well as the human response to its fragility. See it before it closes February 24th.
THE WAKE
Tweet: Still-lives aren’t all bowls of fruit, you know. Sometimes it’s painting your wreck of a car gold. See Tamsie Ringler’s work at the MIA.
A delicious holiday display BY SYLVIA RANI Driving down East Franklin Avenue on a blustery and cold day, the last thing one would expect to come across is a miniature Norwegian holiday oasis. Hidden amongst the coffee shops and churches of Ventura Village, the Norway House’s Gingerbread Wonderland is a cozy winter treasure for all ages to enjoy. Gingerbread Wonderland follows the tradition of Pepperkakebyen, the world’s largest gingerbread city of over 3,000 houses built every year in Bergen, Norway. The Twin Cities’ version contains over 100 houses, most of them tiny replicas of local buildings. The Norway House accepts all submissions from the community, so even beginner bakers can have their work displayed. The bluelit room is divided into four different sections: Minneapolis, Saint Paul, International, and Festive. Adults and children alike delight in seeing the oven-baked versions of their familiar favorites such as the Saint Paul Hotel, the Franklin Library, and the Basilica of Saint Mary (complete with tinted sugar-glass windows). There is even a mini UBS tower with a small raccoon at the top in reference to the viral news story from earlier this year. The International and Festive sections showcase detailed and creative works, including a carefully crafted Norwegian Consulate General and the Platform 9 ¾ from “Harry Potter.” While practice of building gingerbread houses originated in Germany, gingerbread itself has its roots in Norwegian culture. “It is a Norwegian tradition to eat pepperkaker, a heart-shaped gingerbread cookie, around this time of year,” one of the event volunteers informed me. The Norway House hosts this event to foster community building and creativity during the holiday season. Once visitors are finished with the display, there are plenty of Nordic cuisines available in the house’s “Kaffebar.” My friend and I went for some creamy chicken and wild rice soup with bacon, a deliciously warm brew that came with a piece of “knekkebrød,” a Norwegian crispbread. The Norway House’s Gingerbread Wonderland will be on view through January 6. Admission is five dollars free for members and children under 12.
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CREATIVE WRITING
Rules for a Conversation BY N. C. KRUEGER How to start a conversation Rule 1: don’t ask about the weather, best to make it about them. example: what does your tattoo mean? Rule 2: if you can’t start with them then complain about shared experience. example: wish they had AC on this bus. Rule 3: if nothing else just anything but the weather.
How to continue a conversation Rule 1: get their name early in the game because you will forget and have to ask again. Rule 2: talk at a comprehensible speed. Rule 3: talk about comprehensible topics not unblack metal or the Donut Man or lightsaber night. Rule 4: don’t tell them your dreams unless you know them well. Rule 5: don’t tell them you eat play-dough unless you know them very well. Rule 6: don’t say sex loudly on a bus.
How to end a conversation Rule 1: get their phone number before you go (unless they don’t want to but that goes without saying) Rule 2: make sure you mentioned God at least once
Last Rule: rules are made to be broken. sometimes you just have to talk about the play-dough
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Bu dd Pa ing rtie s FEATURE
A look at the two new political parties coming to a ballot near you. BY EMMA CHEKROUN AND KATHRYN MERTA THE WAKE
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FEATURE
Minnesotans old enough to vote and diligent enough to research candidates ahead of this past election might have noticed there were two new parties with some eyebrow-raising names: “Legal Marijuana Now” and “Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis.” Not only will these parties appear on the ballot again in the next Minnesota election, but they now enjoy verified major party status and automatic access to the ballot. This all comes after gaining around five percent of the vote in statewide races for attorney general and state auditor, and at least one vote in all 87 Minnesota counties, MPR News reported. With the acceptance of these new parties, the lofty wall barricading the goal of legalized marijuana just got knocked down a few pegs. Because there is no Initiative or Referendum in Minnesota, statewide ballot questions are not authorized unless they are constitutional amendments, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State. This means citizens in Minnesota are unable to apply a statute passed by the legislature on a ballot for the public to vote on, as defined by Ballotpedia, which boils down to an immense challenge to rally for the legalization of marijuana. But what would it look like to have a representative whose party primarily focuses on legalizing marijuana?
Voting Third Party For voters, the choice to vote for a third-party rather than the DFL or GOP is a risky choice, and legalization of marijuana may not outweigh that risk. “The only scenarios that I would vote third party are if there’s a really strong candidate...or if I didn’t feel the candidate in my party was morally right for the job,” said Harry Miles, a freshman at St. Thomas. For Miles, the candidate he deemed morally unfit this past election was the DFL’s candidate for Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is accused of physically abusing his ex-girlfriend. As a voter in today’s climate, this student’s caution is commendable given the move for greater transparency that has facilitated a torrent of assault allegations at all levels of governance. However, Ellison still won the election this November in what was a tight race, winning only 49 percent of the vote. His opponent, Republican Doug Warlow, emerged with 45.1 percent of the votes. Although this student’s vote may seem insignificant compared to the vote count of the two main parties, perhaps a shift is imminent. “If at least one third party member member gets elected to office, it could influence the votes of major party members and could potentially lead to more third party candidates on ballots and in office,” said Miles. With all the “firsts” voted into office this election year, voters like Miles believe they could usher a whole new set of “firsts” … well, thirds.
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Party Goals So with that in mind, is the goal to be in office? For Dennis Schuller, Legal Marijuana Now’s 2018 candidate for the United States Senate race against incumbent Amy Klobuchar, not really. “It’s not even really about cannabis,” said Schuller, who has been involved with Legal Marijuana Now since 2016. “It’s really about freeing people to be able to be independent and accountable to themselves and live a good life.” Schuller feels this is a way to bring the issue to the forefront of people’s minds. “All these people [candidates] should be making sense,” he said when discussing why he choose to run for an independent party and not the DFL. Schuller adds that the democratic party has had to evolve and go beyond focusing on what he feels represents his best interests. At this point, he feels that the goal of Legal Marijuana Now really is more about awareness. One of the key differences Schuller sees between the two parties is Legal Marijuana Now’s goal to really “just get it on the ballot.” He describes the party as one “birthed out of necessity” rather than defined politics, and feels Legal Marijuana Now is a party that would prefer to ignore the government, but has no means around it when it comes to legalizing marijuana due to the state’s absence of a referendum process.
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FEATURE
Differences Between the Groups “How do you engage people with this and get it out there?” Schuller asks, when referring to the challenges of legally discussing an illegal topic. But he is optimistic and, while politics do not appear to be his main interest and goes so far as to describe himself as “anti-politics,” Schuller believes there is room for more single issue parties to emerge. Chris Wright, who ran as governor for the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis party and has been involved with the party since the late 80s, echoes much of this mentality. “Once we repeal the marijuana prohibition, I’m sure the Grassroots party will change its name to just Grassroots,” said Wright. To Wright, this is a “freedom issue” focused on releasing people from prison and making neighborhoods safe — the goals of most politicians. One of the main differences Wright highlights between the two parties is the aspect of the marijuana issues each group focuses on. “All we are talking about now, is not whether we are going to legalize marijuana, but how we are going to legalize it,” he said. “That’s the big question.”
THE WAKE
The two parties split when it comes to Grassroots hyper-focus on both the war on drugs and Article 13 of the Minnesota Constitution. In that respect, Legal Marijuana is more of a spinoff from Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis than a separate entity. They even aid one another with getting signatures. “It was an experiment in democracy,” Wright said. He adds the parties started Legal Marijuana Now as a test to see if it would pull more voters and give opportunities for voters who are not as focused on repealing the drug war. Where Schuller is uninterested in politics, Wright is focused on what he deems are the pitfalls of modern government — namely the impact making marijuana illegal has on crime and improperly upholding the state constitution. Wright sees the war on drugs in extreme terms, with its final mutation being a complete police state. The conversation borders on a nightmarish reverie where illegal marijuana is the primary cause of a “trigger-happy” police force and government that has only gotten worse since the presidency of Richard Nixon.
As for the constitution, Wright feels the laws against marijuana at the moment are at odds with Minnesota’s Article 13 Sec. 7 which simply states: No license required to peddle. Any person may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him without obtaining a license therefor. The inability to grow marijuana is at odds with the state’s implied freedom to distribution, but the law excludes illegal products and can at best be dodgy with its protection. In 2005, the state supreme court decided in State of Minnesota v. Hartmann that the article did not guarantee farmers the right to sell products otherwise prohibited by law and only protected products a person could obtain a sales license for. Put simply, farmers can only sell legal products without a license. This all means that the protection of Article 13 can’t really exist until marijuana is legalized. The intense issues of freedom and a policed state seemed a sharp contrast to the candidate’s red Hawaiian shirt — complete with black hibiscus flowers and several black Chinese dragons.
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ART
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THE WAKE
Photos by Abigail Thompson
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VOICES
To the Professor That Doesn’t put Grades in When the semester winds down, grade-related stress goes up 3
BY CLAIRE REDELL Hi - it’s me again. I know you probably won’t respond to (or much less read) this, but if you do, hopefully you will entertain the idea of acknowledging this plea. I would really, really appreciate it if you would upload my grades. I let it slide for the first few weeks of the semester, but now I’m worried. At this rate, I’m not sure how many more nights I can spend falling into an existential crisis before my Canvas dashboard, wondering whether or not I did alright on my exam from back in September. I understand the semester is winding down and you’re undeniably busy (much like myself), but this is starting to feel like a double standard. Truthfully, I struggle to justify stressing over deadlines if you don’t plan on even glancing at an assignment until weeks or even months after I submit it. If I’m going to have to wait until finals week to see my score on a quiz from the first week of school, could you at least give me the benefit of the doubt when you get around to it? It’s the least you could do. Honestly, at this point, I won’t even be mad if you don’t leave me feedback. Just a grade. I shudder at the very thought of those ugly red “MISSING” notifications that occupy my grade portal. Also, if I’m being honest, I’d really like to know how much I need to study for the final exam. Speaking of which, what if I’ve been doing everything wrong this entire time and I don’t even know it? Waiting for my final grades to be posted is going to give me more stress than any exam I’ve ever taken. For now, I guess all I can do is keep my fingers crossed as I wait for the *PING* of a Canvas email. Sincerely, A (very) stressed student.
Balance: Self Care, Academics, and Social Life Tips to live the healthiest you can BY ABBI KIESAU As college students, thinking of all the responsibilities in your life can seem daunting to say the least. Though not an exhaustive list, here are some tips that help me when seeking balance. 1. Prioritize. It may seem like you don’t have time to do the things that are important to you, but if it’s important to you, you’ll do it. Decide what your priorities are and write them down if you need to; you’ll have no problem sticking to them. Remember that you know yourself better than anyone; you know what you need and when you need it. 2. Time management. Make use of every minute of your day! Getting an assignment finished between classes where you’d usually scroll through your phone will make you so much happier at night when you can feel guilt-free for relaxing. 3. Take time for yourself! Relaxing and taking time for yourself is just as important as making time for family and friends. Take a night and do whatever makes you happy. Bubble bath? Face mask? Whatever works for you. 4. Work out. This time, if nothing else, is an hour of your day when you’re not thinking about anything else. It can be more relaxing to have the mental break than it is physically hard to push yourself. 5. Journal. Getting out whatever you’re thinking and feeling can do a lot more than you think. Having this on paper can give you clarity, which usually has a therapeutic effect.
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6. Talk to someone. Whether it be your sister, your mom, your best friend, or a professional. There’s always someone who will be there willing to listen; don’t struggle on your own when you don’t have to. These tips can seem obvious, but they are easier said than done, so try putting them into practice.
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VOICES
The Quiet Genius of Lucy Dacus Lucy Dacus sings the kind of music you need to be brave to listen to, making her sophomore album “Historian” a profound, melancholic triumph. BY GABRIELLA GRANADA “I hope you are all feeling very strong now,” Lucy Dacus told a sold-out crowd at First Ave in early November, “Because you will need strength to get through this evening.” The 23-year-old Virginia native toured alongside fellow singers Julien Baker, 23, and PVhoebe Bridgers, 24, as the indie rock supergroup “boygenius” this fall. The three met in a studio in L.A. earlier this year and recorded a six-song, selftitled EP in just four days, about the same time it took me to write this 700-word article. Awesome. The three singers have experienced great success in their burgeoning careers, making it easy to forget they’re barely older than I am and would also have trouble renting a car. At the concert they took the stage one by one, singing their own sets and saving “boygenius” for the encore. They walked on stage wearing matching black blazers decorated with sewn inside jokes and emblems of songs. Drenched in a deep blue haze, they stood in front of a backdrop of twinkling lights that painted them like titans or gods with really cool blazers. Stitched on the back of Lucy’s blazer is the state of Idaho with a star where the city of Ketchum is located. It’s for the “boygenius” song, “Ketchum, ID,” a swelling, acoustic harmony about physical and emotional vagrancy. Throughout the concert, people reacted viscerally when their favorite singer stepped up to the mic. My favorite is Lucy and her Ketchum, Idaho blazer.
THE WAKE
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Lucy Dacus is an old soul. She knits; she peruses secondhand book stores; she enjoys a good, lengthy Russian novel. She told Vulture she read classics like “Anna Karenina” in preparation for writing her sophomore album. (I’m still on page 73, a less valiant effort.) She talks about words as things that are to be paid reverence to. That devotion comes through in her songwriting. If she happened to fall into another career, I have no doubt that she would, by some force of nature, end up with a pen in hand anyway. Lucy Dacus is also obsessed with time—how to control it, to slow it, to fight it. Can’t relate! The seventh song on her sophomore album “Historian” is titled “Timefighter.” There’s a line in it that, when sung by her rich, echoing voice, feels like being sucker punched in slow motion: “And I fight time / It won in a landslide.” I always thought the line was “I fought time,” in past tense, meaning she’s learned her lesson. It wasn’t until I looked up the lyrics of the song that I realized it’s written in present tense. Maybe Lucy Dacus is admitting she isn’t done fighting time just yet.
take long for others to notice. Four months later, “No Burden” was released, and within the year, Dacus was featured in Pitchfork for having 20 (twenty!) record labels compete for her. She chose Matador as her home, the same as Julien Baker. I closed my eyes at the concert as Lucy sang “The Shell” and her lyrics wrapped around me. “You don’t wanna be a creator / Doesn’t mean you’ve got nothing to say / Put down the pen, don’t let it force your hand.” “A lot of the songs are about the parts of life that people get caught under,” she told the BBC. How do you forget a person you never thought you’d need to? How do you let go? Should you fear death? What about time? Should you fight your urge to capture everything around you—or embrace it? Lucy Dacus stands still in the eye of a storm of uncertainty and begins to write. I can’t think of a more trusted historian to hold the pen.
Creating devastatingly beautiful albums at lightspeed seems to be Dacus’s forte. Her first album, “No Burden”, started as a college assignment with her friend Jacob Blizard, now her guitarist. They made the album over winter break in two days. She told Pitchfork in 2016, “We listened to it and realized, ‘This is better than we thought it was going to be.’” It was much better—and it didn’t
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VOICES
Hot Takes on the Holiday Season What are we really celebrating? BY JIMMY COOPER The holiday season in America means that every business, billboard, and coffee cup, is advertising the holidays promoted by our culture at large : Thanksgiving, Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and New Year’s. Although many families look forward to the holidays, it is important to be conscious of where they come from. Thanksgiving is rooted in colonial history to the point where most people believe it’s celebrating a melting pot dream of indigenous aid to white settlers, but the reality is that settlers invaded a Pequot festival and murdered 700 indigenous people. Christmas is a synthesis of European pagan traditions and their subsequent conversion to suit Christian needs. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are overt celebrations of consumerism that are neck and neck with the capitalization of New Year’s. Whatever your feelings on God, white people ruining the lives of people of color, and the ball drop, it’s hard to deny that the holidays have become little more than celebrations of a modernized, consumercentric American Dream. Thanksgiving is barely a break, what with Black Friday deals encroaching on Thursday night football. Christmas is now more about what you can buy than who you love. And New Year’s has become little more than an advertising firm’s dream—if you make people feel bad about themselves, you can sell them anything in the name of reinvention.
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This, in short, is depressing. If even our celebrations are falsified in the name of pushing a consumerist agenda, what does that say about us and our values? If we are lying about our history to manufacture a white supremacist daydream, what does that make us if we participate? The first step is being aware. This isn’t a white guilt “woe is us for being awful” rant because that’s not productive for anyone. Instead, I’d like this to be a call to action. Take the time to question the origins of these holidays and you will recognize that Thanksgiving is fake, Christmas is stolen, the New Year’s selfloathing schtick is false, and they have all been devalued in the name of commercial gain and capitalism. As Dom McLennon from Brockhampton tweeted, “fuck the colonizers but enjoy that family time.” Whether that be your biological family, your chosen family, or you and your cat, you’re allowed to take time away from agendas, work, and the hightension world we live in. This doesn’t have to be sitting down to an elaborate dinner or exchanging gifts, but perhaps the best way to subvert these histories and principles is in taking the time for love instead of spending money, resting instead of working, creating art and joy instead of feeding into the machine. And maybe it sounds like an idealist fantasy; however, it remains possible to live outside the structures created for us. Say fuck the
colonizers (the bosses, the CEOs, “the man,” Donald Trump, what have you. Don’t buy into the things we’re internalizing,but let’s make reconstructing these narratives emotionally rewarding, whatever that means for you. If gifts feel right to you, give your friends and family gifts. Make something for someone—even if it’s just a greeting card. Don’t give your energy to the talking heads telling you that you need more things or that you need your biological family, even if they’re toxic. This is a time steeped in a lot of dangerous talk, and it can be emotionally damaging to internalize the idea that fulfillment comes from the hottest new deal rather than your own intrinsic value and those that you love. But if you do choose to celebrate the holidays this season, it can be a wonderful time to recharge and rejuvenate, whether it’s through the connections shared with friends and family or just by binge watching The Good Place and Brooklyn-99!
DEC 3 - FEB 18
VOICES
Heartbreak Holidays Here’s to the ones whose hearts are broken this holiday season BY ESTHER CHAN As the end of the year draws closer, it’s not difficult to realize the holidays draw out the child-like joy in most of us. Considering the delight of families, friends, and food, this is hardly a surprise. Despite the increased jubilance, it stands to reason that, while the holidays incite merriment for some, they simultaneously serve as reminders of pain for another. While the sounds of loved ones’ laughter permeate your ears, another’s are deafened by the silence of vacant friends and family. That exchange from tears of laughter to that of heartbreak is the reality for countless individuals—so don’t forget them. Don’t forget the father who no longer holds his child and whose decorations are a reminder that this year, one less stocking will hang upon the mantel. Or the isolated daughter who relives the familiar flash of aching hurt when gazing at those commercials of perfect nuclear families joining hands at the table, knowing that her own has been permanently severed. Perhaps it’s the betrayed single parent whose broken heart throbs with each Hallmark Christmas film that depicts a perfect love story that is no longer their own. And maybe it’s the weary students who can only observe through the screen, denied the loving, physical embrace of their families this year.
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There is never shame in reveling in the holiday spirit, but don’t forget those injured souls. To them I say, here’s to you—the ones whose lips still smile and eyes still shine. Maybe you don’t fulfill the requirements for the “ideal” holiday, but you’re still here. You still breathe, and you still survive. Even amidst the distracting exuberance of the festivities, you are seen, you are not forgotten, and you are not alone.
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Anti-immigrant Rhetoric “Otherizes” Those Fleeing Violence How sowing hatred against foreigners works to divide us, not protect us. BY BECCA MOST Some Americans are anxious about the changing demographics of the country. They are fearful of the unravelling of tight-knit communities, of the collapse of the job market, and of people who don’t follow the traditional “American” narrative depicted in movies and history books. A couple of weeks ago, as a caravan of refugees from Central America approached the U.S. border, President Trump employed his most successful immigration strategy yet: fear. The group was an easy scapegoat. Over the course of several days he spread rumors that went unverified, claiming the caravan contained “unknown Middle Easterners,” “criminals,” and “gang members” all of whom he suggested would threaten the safety and cohesion of the country. Trump has used this tactic often, sowing fear through an aggressive campaign of antiimmigrant rhetoric. But, rather than protecting the country from foreign terrorism, his words work to dehumanize those fleeing violence and persecution, turning the refugee into a faceless “other.” “Othering” is dangerous because it perpetuates stereotypes and encourages a mindless group mentality. By classifying individuals into the group of “Middle Easterners,” “criminals,”or “gang members,” it is easier to judge them at face value and rally behind perceived differences between “us” and “them.” Anti-immigrant rhetoric is more than just an ethical dilemma, but one with physical consequences. When the caravan reached the border wall on Nov. 24, the Trump administration was criticized for using more “lethal force than necessary” when it deployed tear gas on a crowd of migrants against the fence. The gas hit men, women, and children. Most, if not all, of those waiting at the border are fleeing violence, corruption, and poverty. Despite what Trump says, they aren’t criminals. They don’t want to hurt Americans.
THE WAKE
In fact, they want to become them.
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SIX REVIEWS 1
5
Green Book
The Crimes of Grindelwald
BY OLIVIA HULTGREN
Squanderous Potentialum!
“Green Book” is one of those movies where after you leave the theater, you aren’t sure whether you’ll laugh or cry, but you sure as hell feel good. It’s probably one of those movies you’ll see with your parents in a theater filled with elderly couples, but in truth, “Green Book” does not disappoint. Set in the 1960s, the true story follows ItalianAmerican bouncer, Tony “Lip” Vallelonga, a fasttalking bouncer-turned-chauffeur who has a bit of a backwards view of African Americans. He is recruited by world-class African American pianist Don Shirley to be his driver on a tour through the Deep South. What unfolds is a beautiful, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking look at the friendship that changed these men’s lives forever. It’s a career-defining performance for Viggo Mortensen, who is outrageously charming as Lip. Mahershala Ali is equally compelling as Shirley, portraying the famous piano player with an eloquence that contrasts hilariously with Mortensen’s messy Lip. Throughout the movie, change buds incrementally within both characters. Shirley teaches Lip how to write love letters to his wife. Lip introduces Shirley to Southern fried chicken. Yet these funny, genuine moments are undercut with serious tones, as Lip begins to understand Shirley’s complicated lifestyle as an upper-class, highly educated Black man who struggles to identify with his own culture. In the end, it’s more than a backwards “Driving Miss Daisy.” It’s a tale of two men from wildly different backgrounds, forced to become friends, who in the end discover they want to be.
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BY JAY DOOLEY “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” combines a refusal to embrace a new direction for the franchise, needlessly contrived character arcs, and “mysteries” that can’t be solved without tedious exposition, to deliver a film that looks great and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The film opens with the dark wizard Grindelwald escaping from magical custody; he plans to reveal the wizarding world to the non-magical world and rule wizards and non-wizards alike. At the request of Albus Dumbledore, Newt Scamander travels to Paris to stop Grindelwald. As Grindelwald gathers his forces in preparation, Scamander and his ever-shifting allies must decide for themselves where they stand in the coming war. “Crimes of Grindelwald” undermines every development of substance that took place in the first “Fantastic Beasts” film: Credence isn’t really dead, Jacob Kowalski has a hand-waved unimpeded memory and Grindelwald’s back on the job in the first ten minutes. Worse, it squanders the opportunity for these prequels to tell anything other than the rise and fall of yet another dark wizard. The potential to tell globetrotting adventures about, you know, fantastic beasts set in the Roaring Twenties of the wizarding universe was real and tantalizing, but alas, squandered. Instead, treat yourself to a cacophony of too many characters whose scattered motives and relationships can’t be discerned without an annotated diagram. J.K. Rowling has also forgotten how to write a mystery and has instead created a puzzle you can’t solve without watching the characters muddle through it on their own. Overall, the visual effects are the only parts of this movie that are fantastic.
“Better With You” Jacob Sartorius BY TOSIN FASEEMO Jacob Sartorius is a 16-year-old Viner turned TikTok star who released his debut album, “Better With You,” on Nov. 2. The title track is repetitive but catchy, with vocals reminiscent of Justin Timberlake. “Hooked On A Feeling” features an upbeat tune as Sartorius croons about the joys of youthful infatuation. On the following track, the album takes a turn for the worse. On the surface, “We’re Not Friends” seems innocuous enough, with its stripped-back, minimal production and acoustic vocals. However, upon closer inspection, the lyrics contain a nefarious message. The entire song functions as a friend zone anthem for insecure boys too selfish to recognize the autonomy of their female friends. With lyrics such as “I do it for a reason, not just to be nice/Girl I wanna give you more than good advice” the message of the song is clear: you aren’t my friend, but merely an object of desire. From there, the quality of the album remains stagnant. “Said No One Ever” has the carefree guitar riffs of a Khalid song, without Khalid’s heart-wrenching tone and inspired lyrics. “Problems” contains a message for the haters, essentially telling them to back off or suffer the consequences. It’s the least terrible song on the album. It seems like an honest portrayal of Sartorius’ feelings, rather than a generic mess written by adults looking to exploit a young boy for money. “Better With You” is an album full of clichés and stereotypes. In today’s saturated music market of weekly releases, it makes no impact… but then again, who was expecting it to?
DEC 3 - FEB 18
SIX REVIEWS
“The Sunset Tapes —A Cool Story” Jaden Smith BY EMILY NESS Jaden Smith’s highly anticipated second album, “The Sunset Tapes—A Cool Tape Story,” dawns before a new era of musical evolution for the singer, songwriter, rapper, and actor. At 11 tracks and 36 minutes long—with no features—it is evident that Smith is challenging himself to grow as a person and as an artist. His lyrics, instrumentals, and production support this notion, transporting listeners to a sunset over the California hills no matter where they are in the world. Highlights of the album include the songs “A Calabasas Freestyle,” “Plastic,” “Better Things,” and “Syre in Abbey Road.” On “A Calabasas Freestyle,” Smith paints a dynamic picture of his life as a young man raised by movie stars. Here, he addresses why he dresses in rags when he is made of riches—proclaiming that this, along with his wisdom, is what makes him iconic. On “Plastic,” Smith raps about more mature content, such as being kicked out of a club, burning white picket fences, and putting a hit out on his doctor who “knows too much.” Being that Smith is 20 years old, this rebellion is to be expected. On “Better Things,” Smith raps about love lost. What sets this love song apart from others are the things he compliments, such as a girl’s piano-playing ability. Finally, on “Syre in Abbey Road,” Smith pays homage to his debut album “SYRE,” bringing listeners full circle as the sun sets on his debut album and rises again with “The Sunset Tapes—A Cool Tape Story.”
THE WAKE
“Pictures in the Sky” Joe Kelly BY MAYA ULRICH Joe Kelly, a University of Minnesota student, released a debut EP this November titled “Pictures in the Sky.” This EP is a introspective exploration into the role that our hopes, feelings, and physical bodies have in creating the world around us. Soft musings and guitar strumming direct the listeners into Kelly’s inner concerns and dreams— where words and weather are synonymous with one another. In the title track, the audience is introduced to a sentimentality that dwells on the possibilities we have within tangible grasp, but do not always have the emotional capacity to reach for. In this sense, the EP translates really well into a college sphere, and has a lot of potential both lyrically and musically. The strongest song on the EP is “Let You Be,” in which Kelly reflects on the difficulties of expressing his thoughts and the narrative that he has created between himself and the person to whom he is singing to. This song concentrates heavily on distance (in time and space), and how that affects how we view relationships and memories. Overall, the artist does a great job of connecting moments to imagery. The whole EP is like a love letter to someone he can’t talk to, something many people can relate to. In fact, the entire project is idealistic, soft, and perfect for the winter weather that lies ahead. That being said, many of the songs are so dreamy and static that, whether intentionally or not, they feel like repetitive lullabies that put listeners to sleep.
Music Inspired by Illumination and Dr. Seuss’ “The Grinch” Tyler, The Creator BY NINA RAEMONT Since his release of “Flower Boy” in 2017, Tyler, the Creator has made a new name for himself with music that is not conventional to his original genre of hard rap. With the recent release of his Christmas EP, “Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss’ the Grinch,” the prior statement couldn’t be more true. His EP is without a doubt unconventionally Christmas, yet it attracts the likings of any modern day music junkie with its variety of voices, lyrics, and the overall smooth R&B feel it elicits. The holiday EP begins and ends with classically Christmas sounding instrumental tracks curated by Tyler himself. The second song—and my personal favorite—is when we begin to hear a more Tyler-tinted style of Christmas music with lyrics. “Lights On,” featuring Ryan Beatty and Santigold, is an uplifting tune including voices that are simultaneously smooth and warm. Other songs like “Big Bag” and “Hot Chocolate” provide a unique and upbeat sound. His intent of this EP, as he said on his Twitter page, was to create something Christmas themed, yet “not too Christmassy.” He perfectly achieved his idea of a cool yet holiday inspired album. Tyler’s EP embodies exactly who he is as an artist: nonconforming to the traditional roles of a rapper, stepping out to create a sound and identity that holds greater importance to the times of today, and producing modern holiday music for all along the way.
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DEC 3 - FEB 18