My thoughts are quite nearly the opposite of my fellow Buenos Aires blogger, Amanda.

I’m currently sitting on the better side of the Potomac River (Maryland for those not from the mid-Atlantic) from her and am itching to get out. Yes, I love almost everything home has to offer me, including watching the Redskins, Capitals and Wizards break my heart every season. But I know I’m young once and it’s cheaper down there.

I leave in a week and haven’t started packing, but I’m already there in my mind. I’ve been dreaming of mate, soccer, steaks and nights lasting until 6 am. I may be missing Mad Men every Sunday, but everyone makes sacrifices, right? Oh, and to my friends and family at home and friends at NU: I’ll miss you too, but I’ll come back in December with fuzzy stories and sharp photos.

So stay with me for the next few months as I wander the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires pretending that I’m not some gringo looking to empty my bank account.

Unfortunately, those things aren’t going to be easily available in Buenos Aires, where I’ll be spending the next four months pretending to speak Spanish, being just as lost in a new city as I am in my hometown in Virginia and hoping that I manage not to fail all my classes.

While I am of course very excited for the next four months of adventures, parties, traveling and occasionally class, I am also scared shitless. I have a tendency to hate new places until I learn to love them — I’m nervous that it might take all of the four months I’m abroad to grow comfortable in Buenos Aires, and by then, it’ll be time to leave. Stay tuned as I work to prove myself wrong.

And there’s Emir, for example, who runs a small cafe right off of Iskitlal Avenue. From my observations, a small black fedora appears to be permanently affixed to his head. He sports a goatee plus a few days’ worth of general stubble. He sits in his cafe and plays classical Spanish guitar on nylon strings. He uses the call to prayer as his cue for a smoke break.

Iskitlal was home to Istanbul’s Gay Pride rally just a week before I arrived.

But this is Beyoǧlu — where European traders set up shop during the Ottoman Empire. This is not a microcosm of Turkey, or even of Istanbul.

On the less progressive side of Turkish current affairs: Youtube is blocked in the entire country. The government began censoring the site after some Greeks made videos bashing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (slandering the founder of the modern republic is illegal in Turkey).

In our classes, we’re often asked to think about Westernization. What is it? Does Turkey need it? Does the rest of the world need it?

I cannot remove my own values from this question. But I also do not think that women’s rights or freedom of speech are Western ideals. I think that they are human ideals that are often featured in modern Western culture (and I do not believe that they are somehow embedded in Western society).

I hope that someday these values can spread globally in a medium free from the Western cultures that currently contain them. That is, I think that Iranians should be allowed to criticize their government, but I also think the Iranian government should be entitled to keep alcohol illegal. (That one’s for you, Frances Willard.)

This is a global issue — perhaps the global issue today — and I think Turkey matters. I’ve seen what Turkey does best: it offers the best of the West to the East and vice versa.

Example: Middle Easterners love Turkish soap operas with social dynamics outside of strict Islamic tradition. Women love the strength of the female protagonists. In the popular drama “Noor,” the titular character is not afraid to keep her husband, Muhannad, in check. This is Turkey showing the Middle East — especially women in the Middle East — how appealing gender equality can be.

To paraphrase Prime Minister Recep Erdoǧan, Turkey is more than a crossroads. Turkey is a center. It is our most crucial ally in a global fight for social development, and it is crucially important that the West use it as such.

But I doubt that Emir thinks about that.

Read Nick’s previous post | Check in with Nick next week for a new post!

It’s hard to talk about Istanbul. It’s beautiful, obviously. The weather is perfect, the food is fresh, the people are friendly. But, minus the “people are friendly” part, I might as well be describing L.A.

Saying that Istanbul is a mix between Europe and Asia is like saying that a hockey is a mix between cricket and boxing. It has features of both, perhaps, but the synthesis of its two halves creates an entirely unique product. A city reminiscent of — but essentially different from — its heritage.

The city’s bustling with life. It’s similar to the Mexico of Alfonso Cuarón’s Y tu mamá también. Every street and ally is filled with Turks chatting, selling food and items, gambling, smoking, drinking coffee, drinking beer. Or some unholy combination of the aforementioned. Stray dogs and cats wander the streets. Shopkeepers grab you and push you into their stores, shove tea into your hand and start talking about their knockoff sunglasses.

Istanbul is wild and untamed. It’s somehow untouched by the niceties of Western Europe. You can’t expect locals to understand English, or your culture, or that you’re just being polite and that you don’t want their sunglasses.

My first week of six is only beginning.

Read Nick’s next post

The Northwestern Outing Club painted the Rock Sunday night. According to the Outing Club, they had planned to guard the Rock on Thursday before they realized members of the Lovers and Madmen Rock Show Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) would be guarding it all weekend to use in the show. Instead, they asked someone from the show if they could paint the Rock on Sunday night, once it was over.

However, annoyed that someone had painted over their hard work only a few hours after they struck the set, some members of the Goodnight Desdemona production team added a few messages of their own in gray paint.

Though their show was done, assistant producer Shannon Desmond says that they were irked that the Outing Club did not go to all of the effort to guard the Rock. “The fact that there’s this tradition and we as Lovers and Madmen honored that tradition, and spent six nights at the Rock, and they spat in the face of that tradition and painted the Rock without following that traditional protocol is just sort of obnoxious,” she said.

A 25-year-old male student was found dead in a bathroom of the University Library around 9:20 a.m. Sunday, May 30, an Evanston Police Department news release said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed the identity of the student as Brian Tsay, who was enrolled in the School of Continuing Studies. Tsay attended New Trier Township High School and graduated in 2003, a friend said.

A memorial gathering will be held Monday, June 7 at 5:30 p.m. in Vail Chapel, Lloyd R. Kittlaus, director of Lutheran campus ministry, said in an email. The SCS Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Services Timothy Gordon said in an email that a moment will be dedicated to Tsay at SCS Convocation on June 19 in Alice Millar Chapel.

The police release said that there was no sign of foul play or indication as to the cause of death. Evanston Police Commander Tom Guenther said that police were awaiting results from the medical examiner’s toxicology report.

A representative from the medical examiner’s office said that the office would not rule on a cause of death for 8 to 12 weeks, after the toxicology report is completed.

“The UP are assisting the Evanston police in the investigation,” Vice President for University Relations Alan Cubbage said. Dean of Students Burgwell Howard said the student community did not face any threat.

Photo by Nick Castele / North by Northwestern.

Police guarded library doors for much of Sunday morning, and police cars were parked outside the library and nearby on Campus Drive. A large black van was parked near the library’s loading dock. University Police Commander Darren Davis was at the scene but did not offer comment.

Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis announced the death to the Northwestern community in a statement released Sunday afternoon by email and on the Northwestern website.

The University Library did not open that Sunday, but were open according to schedule the rest of the week. Parts of the library remained closed Monday, but staff members said it was due to reduced staffing on Memorial Day and had nothing to do with the incident.

“The Library remained closed until the police had finished all their work and until the area was certified clean and safe,” University Librarian Sarah Pritchard wrote in an email Monday.

Library employee Megan Sugrue arrived for her 12:30 p.m. shift, but a police officer at the main entrance turned her away. The Weinberg senior did not receive any prior notice that the library was closed. McCormick sophomore Jack LaFreniere, who works in Deering Library, received an e-mail from a co-worker who had been similarly turned away. As of 2:30 p.m., he had not heard anything from his supervisors. Pritchard said that that library administrators informed some staff members of the situation Sunday morning.

“Any loss to any university is very difficult to deal with,” Howard said. “We are making sure services are available to students who are affected by this incident and to those who knew the student.”

I am saddened to report that a 25 year-old male student in the School of Continuing Studies was found dead in the University Library on the Evanston campus shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday, May 30, 2010. The Evanston Police Department, with assistance from University Police, is investigating and awaiting information on the cause of death from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The preliminary investigation indicates that there is no threat or potential danger to other members of the Northwestern community.

The University is not releasing further details regarding the student’s identity at this time at the request of his family.

On behalf of Northwestern, I offer our deepest sympathy to our student’s family, friends and fellow students. The death of any one member of our community affects all of us.

The University Library will be closed on Sunday, May 30, 2010. Members of the Northwestern community may use the Science and Engineering Library, 2233 Tech Drive, today. The University Library will re-open on Monday, May 31, 2010.

Staff members from Counseling and Psychological Services are available for students who may wish to speak with a counselor. CAPS can be contacted at 1-2151 or 1-8100 after hours.

Again, we extend our deepest sympathy.

William Banis
Vice President for Student Affairs

On May 30th 2010, at approximately 9:20 a.m. Northwestern University Evanston campus library staff discovered an unresponsive male in a men’s bathroom within the library. Evanston Fire Paramedics responded and determined that the subject was deceased. A joint investigation was then initiated by Evanston police and Northwestern University police.

Subsequent investigation determined that the deceased was a 25 year-old Northwestern student, identified as one Brian Tsay. Preliminary investigation indicates their were no signs of foul play or physical evidence indicating cause or manner of death.

Furthering this investigation, a postmortem examination was conducted by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, cause and manner of death still remain undetermined. This case is now pending a Cook County Medical Examiners toxicology examination, results expected in several weeks.

Additional reporting by Caty Enders and Gus Wezerek.

]]> http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/84854/university-library-closed-police-on-scene/feed/ 3 http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/84293/goodnight-desdemona-paints-the-rock-may-26/ http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/84293/goodnight-desdemona-paints-the-rock-may-26/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 01:01:36 +0000 Shaunacy Ferro http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/?p=84293

The crew of Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) painted the Rock on Wednesday morning. The show will take place at the Rock this Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 8:30 p.m.

This episode has been hailed as a tribute to Lady Gaga. But it isn’t just about her — KISS dominates a large portion (which means a lot of makeup). The episode really pays tribute to visual expression and theatricality — just look at the title.

It all starts when Higgins confronts Tina about looking goth, and how that is somehow related to vampires — Twilight-obsessed much? The club decides to go a step further and look to the fabulous, also known as Lady Gaga. Meanwhile, Finn and his mom move in with the Hummels, which turns to be a constant bickering fest in a ’30s-inspired dressing room. Rachel confronts Shelby (Idina Menzel), the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, about her about being her mother — shock! They look and sound so similar! Puck serenades Quinn about their future baby, and the Gleeks stand up for themselves and accept being “freaks”…clad in Gaga and KISS attire, of course.

Music Tip: Rachel calls for Brad, the accompanist, and says that he’s always around. I would just like to say that accompanists are wonderful musicians who have lives. They are also paid by the hour or gig for what they do. Brad just happens to apparently live in a high school.

For fans of the beautiful game, Nike has released a stunning ode to the cultural power soccer has over the world without sacrificing the athletic prowess players have. This video is more of a mini-epic than a commercial.

A year ago, Nike released a soccer commercial in a similar vein. Guy Ritchie signed on to direct, and it truly shows what it looks and feels like to be on a pitch during a game. His three-minute drama shows how much soccer can mean to one person, and how badly I want to be good at it.

Whatever happened, happened. Live together, die together.

So it turns out the detonation of the Jughead didn’t create another timeline. It was the “Incident” and it just moved all the characters back into place. What we’ve been calling the flash-sideways timeline all season turned out to be purgatory, or some middle-verse designed by the Losties so that when they all died, they would find each other again, achieve atonement and move on.

I know it sounds cheesy. I know many of you out there love this ending, and I know many of you out there hate this ending. Honestly, I was satisfied. It was elegant. It worked.

Ultimately, I guess the way you see this ending depends on why you watch Lost. One of my favorite TV critics, Alan Sepinwall theorized that if you watched Lost for answers to its mysteries, the finale was most likely a disappointment. But if you watched it for the characters, you were probably pleased. And I agree.

I guess I fell more in the latter category. As intriguing as the mysteries were, I watched it for the characters, for the relationships, for the way each of them found themselves and each other through their journey on and off the Island. For me, “The End” delivered more than enough moments to make me feel fulfilled and to make me go cry my eyes out when the ending title card appeared one last time.

So what did I like about the finale?

In the flash-sideways/afterlife/whatever you want to call it, I liked every one of the “awakenings”: Jin and Sun after the ultrasound, Charlie and Claire after the birth of Aaron, Kate waking up then helping Jack remember, Sawyer and Juliet at the vending machine, Locke after a successful surgery and yes, even Sayid and Shannon, with the help of Hurley and Boone. I liked how some characters entered the church and moved on while others, like Ben, Ana Lucia and Daniel didn’t. They were simply “not ready” or still had work to do.

I liked the final conversation between Ben and Locke. I liked hearing “You All Everybody” a final time at the concert. I liked Kate’s “I’ve missed you so much” line to Jack (I’ve always been a Jack and Kate supporter. Sue me.) I liked Christian Shephard, for once. Finally, I liked Ben and Hurley’s little exchange, because from it, we can infer that they stayed on the Island for a long time, protecting the light, the Source.

And speaking of the Island, I was happy everything came full circle. Richard is finally aging, Rose and Bernard are alive, Flocke is dead, Frank Lapidus is alive, Jack passed his job on to Hurley, Hurley chose Ben as his number two, and what I like to call “The Ajira Six” (Claire, Kate, Frank, Miles, Richard, and Sawyer) made it off the Island. In the end, Jack walked through the bamboo forest to die where he first woke up on the Island and closed his eyes as the Ajira plane passed overhead. It was a great scene that bookended the series beautifully.

But if you’re frustrated with this finale and absolutely hated it, I understand. Lost asked so many questions, and too many were left unanswered. Why can’t women have babies on the Island? Why is Walt special? What is the Source? What do the Numbers mean? Who was shooting at them from the outrigger when they were flashing through time? How did the wheel become frozen and why does it move the Island places and how did it get built and why does it make people turn up in Tunisia and why did the Dharma Initiative build a station over it and…etc. etc. etc.

Sure, I’m a little frustrated by the lack of answers, but in the end, does it really matter to us or to the characters what the Island really was? It would have been nice to know, but from the beginning, the show has been about the survivors. Everything else just brought them where they needed to be. Like Locke once told Jack in the Hatch, it’s called a leap of faith.

Sometimes it’s better not to have everything explained. Remember when they explained Jack’s tattoos? Yeah, me neither. Remember when Michael showed up this season and explained the Whispers? I felt a little let down by the reveal, actually. Poor Michael, stuck on the Island for eternity for his sins.

My interpretation of the ending is this: it’s there to reassure us that it was their destiny to find each other. Whatever else happened in that afterlife universe was there to help each of them find peace, if they weren’t able to when they were alive. Jack’s son helped him deal with his daddy issues. Sayid let go of Nadia and realized he was a good man by saving Shannon. So when they do find atonement, they can move on. If they don’t, they’ll just have to wait. Ana Lucia is still a corrupt cop. Charlotte and Daniel need to help each other remember. Ben needs forgiveness from Alex.

Lost has been a journey, a crazy and entertaining one, at that. And even if the ending is not universally loved, or completely perfect, it’s the six seasons of intrigue and cast of characters that kept us addicted. So celebrate the journey the show was, because that, in the end, matters more than the destination.

And with that, I guess it’s time to say my farewells.

Thank you, J.J. Abrams, for making Lost happen. Thank you, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, for writing such an intricate story, for creating some of the best TV characters (Locke! Desmond!), and for sticking with those characters to the end. Thank you, Matthew, Josh, Evangeline, Terry, Henry, Emilie, Jorge, Daniel, Yunjin, Naveen, Michael and many more for stepping into these characters’ shoes. Thank you, Michael Giacchino, for the unforgettable music. Thank you, Lost, for giving us six seasons of “OMG WTF.”

See you in another life, Lost.