buzz magazine: september 25, 2015

Champaign-Urbana’s community magazine FREE

2 buzz September 25-October 1, 2015

ON READBUZZ.COMCOMMUNITY

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FOOD & DRINK

MOVIES & TV

MUSIC

Beautifi ed

“Technologic”

Milk Bar Cookie Mix Review: Confetti

Movie Review: The Scorch Trials

Pygmalion Q&A: Elsinore

Ipek Firat

Melisa Puthenmadom

Tony Gao

Neal Henningham

Ryan Graves

Check out Ipek Firat’s column, Beautifi ed, to see what it’s like to live a day as a makeup addict, as told by Spongebob Squarepants!

Check out this interview with Patrick Singer, director of development for the Pygmalion Music Festival!

Whipping up some of New York’s favorite cookies in the comfort of your own kitchen? Sounds like a sweet deal.

Neal reviews the latest fi lm in the Maze Runner series, and if it lives up to its hype.

Catch up with local rock band Elsinore ahead of their show at Pygmalion this Sunday.

A HOME FOR EVERYONE

0706

Q&A: JESSICA HOPPERBuzz talks with music critic Jessica Hopper!

CALENDARYour guide to this week's events in CU

EDITOR’S NOTEANWEN PARROTT

IN THIS ISSUE

THE SCORCH TRIALS

08

M U S I CPYGMALION Q&A : ELSINORE B Y R y a n G r a v e s Catch up with local rock band Elsinore ahead of their show at Pygmalion this Sunday.

ESCAPE ROOM

Before I begin my raving and ranting, let me just profess my love for The Atlantic. I admire the way the publication approach-es the task of news coverage in the digital age and I appreciate their conscious pri-

oritization of voices that are often left unheard. I didn’t expect this long-standing love to rap-

idly expand in a few weeks time – but it sure did. Throughout September, a number of writers for The Atlantic have published articles examining mass incarceration in the United States. These articles – of which there are dozens, which is unusual and noteworthy in and of itself – grapple with realities that are often cast off and quieted: the normalized exploitation of prison labor, the structural iteration of inequality that is (re)produced by incarceration and, in a widely-cir-culated piece written by the brilliant Ta-Nehisi Coates, the experience of the Black family in the age of racialized mass incarceration.

I know, I know - I probably lost a few read-ers at the fi rst mention of incarceration.And I understand; these are uncomfortable topics to think about, and they are even more diffi cult to discuss. But those of us who aren’t directly impacted by incarceration must learn to stop using such criteria to justify our complacency and silent complicity. As Coates suggests in his title alone, we are living in the age of mass in-carceration. This is, perhaps, the defi ning issue of our time. And while many social justice and humanitarian issues are loudly discussed on a variety of platforms, both formal and informal, this one isn’t.

There is, however, a bright side. On a local level alone, there are a number of ways to learn about incarceration and become involved with reform efforts. If you’re a student, check out Education Justice Project and Prison Justice Project, two organizations that address issues surrounding incarceration through teaching, mentoring, writ-ing and educational forums. The IMC in Urbana does fantastic work through Books 2 Prisoners, the monthly publication of The Public I and the powerful advocacy of volunteers. A local re-entry program, called First Followers, was also recently established to assist formerly incarcer-ated individuals.

So lets’ get to work.

September 25-October 1, 2015 buzz 3

»WEDDINGSI love formal wear; I love open bars; I love dancing. One day I hope to be a less-sleazy Vince Vaughn, crashing weddings,

not for the women, but for the cake.

»OWEN'S SET AT SILVER-CREEKThat show was so intimate, he should've taken me out to din-ner first.

»YIKES..To my substitute professor using a Sharpie on a Dry Erase board in class today...

»SWEET TOOTHThe tarts and mousse at Pe-kara Bakery. All the sugar!

»PUPPY TRAIN

HEADS UP!

LIKES ELI TRACYSpecialized Content Editor

LIKES CHRISTINE PALLONMusic Editor

YIKES CAROLINE ELISEAsst. Music Editor

LIKES MELISA PUTHENMADOMA&E Editor

LIKES ANWEN PARROTTEditor in Chief

LIKES, GRIPES & YIKES

COVER DESIGN Gracie SullivanEDITOR IN CHIEF Anwen Parrott

MANAGING EDITOR Sean NeumannART DIRECTOR Alyssa Sparacino

COPY CHIEF Ali Lowery PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Alyssa Abay

IMAGE EDITOR Sean NeumannPHOTOGRAPHERS Alyssa Abay, Lily Katz

DESIGNERS Alyssa Sparacino, Gracie Sullivan, Eric PryorMUSIC EDITOR Christine Pallon

FOOD & DRINK EDITOR Shruti SrikumarMOVIES & TV EDITOR Josh Peterson

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Melisa PuthenmadomCOMMUNITY EDITOR Lauren Eiden

ONLINE EDITOR Sean NeumannDISTRIBUTION Brandi and Steve Wills

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Nick LangloisPUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER Lilyan J. Levant

ON THE WEB www.readbuzz.com EMAIL [email protected]

WRITE 512 E. Green St., Champaign, IL 61820 CALL 217.337.3801

We reserve the right to edit submissions. buzz will not publish a letter without the verbal consent of the writer prior to publication date. buzz

Magazine is a student-run publication of Illini Media Company and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of the University of

Illinois administration, faculty or students.

© ILLINI MEDIA COMPANY 2015

BUZZ STAFF

TALK TO BUZZ

KRANNERT CENTERFR SEP 25 »

10AM Dance for People with Parkinson’s // Marquee

10AM The Pygmalion Tech Festival // Marquee

11AM The Pygmalion Tech Festival Keynote: Stephen Wolfram // Marquee

6PM The Pygmalion Lit Festival: Adrian Matejka // Marquee

7:15PM The Pygmalion Music Festival: tUnE-yArDs with Patrick Watson // Marquee

7:30PM UI Wind Symphony // School of Music

10 PM The Pygmalion Music Festival: Zola Jesus with BRAIDS // Marquee

10:30PM The Pygmalion Lit Festival: Jennine Capo Crucet, Janaka Stucky, and Marcus Wicker // Marquee

SA SEP 26 »

7:30PM Steel Hammer: Julia Wolfe | SITI Company | Bang on a Can All-Stars // Marquee

SU SEP 27 »

7:30PM Jupiter String Quartet with Denise Djokic, cello // Marquee

TU SEP 29 »

6PM Krannert Center Student Association General Meeting

SPONSORS MAKE IT HAPPEN. THANK YOU.

View events, download programs, find what’s free: KrannertCenter.com/MakePlans

DISCOVERMORE!

Fall is the time for the typical festivities of apple picking, pumpkin carving and watching scary mov-ies. Though in Champaign, there’s a special kind of festival taking place in Hessel Park that needs your attention: The Punkin Chunkin Festival.

The event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26, starting at 11 a.m. There will be carnival games, a maze, face painting, hayrides and, as the name suggests, pumpkin chucking. Not only is this a great place to hang out with friends or family and enjoy the start of fall, but the pumpkin chucking is also a must-see.

The main pumpkin chucking event will begin at 3 p.m. Participants in the contest build their own catapults the week before, and a safety exporter must approve of the catapults. The festival will also have free popcorn and multiple food truck vendors on site. The New and Slightly Used, a local band from Bloomington, IL., will also be playing a set for attendees to listen to. Entry is free, so if you want to see some pumpkins fly, come on out to The Punkin Chunkin Festival.

PUMPKIN CHUCKIN’ TO CEL!EBRATE THE START OF FALL

MOLLY LEAHY


PYGMALION Q&A: JESSICA HOPPERCHRISTINE PALLON

AS Senior Editor at Pitchfork and Editor-in-Chief at The Pitchfork Review, Jessica

Hopper has solidifi ed her place as one of the most prominent music and culture critics work-ing today. Hopper’s recent collection of music criticism, The First Collection of Criticism by a Liv-ing Female Rock Critic, captures every nuance of Hopper’s sprawling career as a journalist – from her in-depth look at emo to her deconstruction of the pop star mythos. Hopper heads to Pygma-lion this afternoon to participate in a tech panel at Krannert and will read from her collection tomorrow at Exile on Main St.

Ahead of her Pygmalion appearances, we

caught up with Jessica Hopper to discuss her ca-reer and the importance of critical dialogue in art.

»buzz: I read that you fi rst got started in music criticism as a teenager after reading a terrible review of Babes in Toyland. What were you writ-ing about as a teenager?

»Jessica Hopper: I was interviewing local bands that I really liked. I was writing about feminism. I might come home from a show and write about it, and I sort of queried my friends to get them to contribute. I didn’t do the entire fanzine myself – my friends did comics, or maybe they would do a little thing or two. It was pretty standard issue fanzine stuff. I was also very in-

spired and interested in riot grrrl, which was not yet codifi ed and was still something that existed mostly in fanzines. I was very much in love with those ideas that gave a name to how I felt.

»buzz: Were you playing in bands when you started writing about music?

»JH: Yeah! It went hand-in-hand to start playing music when you worked on a fanzine. I was going to shows as much as I possibly could. I started work-ing at a record store about two days after I turned 16. As soon as I could have a job, I did. I worked at record stores and record labels and that kind of thing. I very briefl y had a job around the time I was 19 where I wasn’t working at a record store, but

after that I’ve never not had a job working in music.»buzz: I particularly enjoyed the “Bad Reviews”

section of the The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. Something I notice among younger music writers – including myself – is that there’s a hesitation to be overtly critical of music.

»JH: I think that’s one of the ways that social media has changed how young writers write about music.

»buzz: How so?»JH: Because people are afraid. People are

afraid of the backlash from all the superfans or the artists themselves. There’s a price to having an opinion in 2015. In the era of print, things move much more slowly. I don’t think

Used with permission from Jessica Hopper


easy bleezy

$10 for 8-10 posesincluding cap & gown shots

To reschedule visit illioyearbook.com/seniorportraits, email us at [email protected] or call our offi ce at 217-337-8314.

Photos are taken by Thornton Studios 1-800-883-9449.

9/14/15 - 10/3/15M - F: 9:30am–7pmSat: 10am–4pm

Dress professionally for your sitting — dress shirts, ties, dresses, blouses, dress pants

Location changed to:University YMCA1001 S. Wright St.

Wahl Room - 2nd fl oor by the stairs

Senior Portrait Session

HAPPENING NOW

print necessarily allows you to be more brave – I’m not saying that people who write [for print] aren’t chickenshit. But no one wants to get vilified on social media for giving some-thing a mediocre review or a bad review. I feel like, for younger writers, they feel like that’s at stake. I grew up reading so much independent media, reading people with really harsh opin-ions about music, and I just always felt that was part of the dialogue. If people can’t take it then they shouldn’t sell records and they shouldn’t make their music public. I’ve always stood by that. Who’s interested in being in a creative field where there’s no critical dialogue? If you look at contemporary dance, there’s only two working dance critics in America. One of them lives in New York, and I think the other one is at the L.A Times. As a result, there’s so little critical dialogue. I’m not saying that critics are the ones who move things forward, but there’s just so many people putting out terrible work, and no one ever says anything about it - that makes it sound like critics are police, but good critics start a dialogue. They start a conver-sation about something. They bring some nu-ance to their interpretation. When a band says “well, this is a love song,” a critic can say “this is a terrible love song,” or “this is a racist love song.” My hope is that bad reviews still serve a function. If you read my book, there’s only one piece in there that qualifies as a hit piece, and the other ones engage with the material much more deeply and critically.

»buzz: That makes me think about a story we ran a few months ago. We interviewed a local musician who took issue with local media. He said we weren’t being critical enough of local music - that we’re too supportive of the local music scene and not critical enough when local bands are shitty. It sparked a dialogue, and a lot of people were angry about it. I understand where he’s coming from, though, because I know I could make an effort to be harsher on local re-leases. But I feel like that hesitation comes from the fact that I know a lot of the people we write about or they’re people I see at shows, and I don’t want to create a hostile environment for new bands.

»JH: That’s been something I’ve dealt with my entire career. You have to hope that people will respect the fact that you’re engaging with their work seriously. Maybe people do want people to lie about their work, but I think people are interested in an honest examination more than a pat on the back and something that doesn’t really say anything. I would venture to say that’s disrespectful. My only rule about bad reviews is if it’s a baby band – a band that’s just getting it together. I typically don’t go after someone for their first album, unless they’re a major artist.

»buzz: When you were putting together your collection, you had to look through a lot of your older writing. In terms of what kind of content

you’ve gravitated towards and how your rela-tionship with music has changed, how would you say your writing changed over time?

»JH: The thing is, I don’t think it has changed much. The 15-year-old me is still very present. But I think my feminism has evolved. I don’t want to say it’s less polemic, but it’s sort of a feminism based in love and the idea that feminism is for everyone. I think my feminism and my politics evolving has changed the lens of things. Being older, having a family and kids, being no longer a high school student means there’s less space in my life for music in a practical sense. But in another sense, there’s been a deepening of my ideas about music and the hoops I want it to jump through. As I get older, I’m as excited about younger bands as I am nostalgic for bands I lis-tened to when I was literally a kid. I don’t put on as much hardcore these days on the stereo [laughs]. The things that made me want to listen to hardcore in high school – those feelings and the aggression – I seek different music in rela-tionship to those sorts of feelings now. There’s less space in my life now for fast and hard music.

»buzz: For a lot of people, your work, your opin-ions and your voice have definitely achieved a sense of authority; people respect your opinions and they carry a considerable weight. Is there currently, or has there ever been, a cultural critic whose perspective you value that highly?

»JH: There’s a slew of them. In recent years, Mag-gie Nelson’s The Art of Cruelty really opened my mind. During my mid-to-late twenties, I read every single bell hooks book. I often feel like I got my education as a writer from Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem. I grew up in Minneapolis with a paper called City Pages that I spent a lot of time reading as a young music fan trying to understand what the fuck was what. I was reading some incred-ibly astute critics, and it was sort of a hotbed for criticism in the 90's. At the time, there was a critic named Terri Sutton. She very much had a feminist lens and her writing was fantastic. If she didn’t have a column one week, I would feel so defeated and just close the paper. Maybe it’s unusual for a 10th grader to be bereft about what’s not in their local weekly, but I was so eager for that to help illuminate my perspective. I’ve always had those people as long as I’ve loved music. Now, some of the younger writers that I work with at Pitchfork are my favorites. Writers like Hazel Cills, Meaghan Garvey, Doreen St. Felix. There’s just an incredible host of writers who are shaping my opinion, and some of them are only 20 years old.

On Friday, September 25, Jessica Hopper will par-ticipate in a tech panel entitled “The Separation of Editorial and Advertising in Media” at Krannert Cen-ter’s Studio Theatre at 2:15 p.m. The Pygmalion Tech Festival is free UIUC students with a valid I-Card. Hopper’s Lit reading will take place at 3:30 p.m on Saturday, September 26 at Exile on Main St.


ADVENTURES IN TIME AND SPACEMELISA PUTHENMADOM

ONE of the first locations for a real-life Escape Room was in Japan in 2007,

modeled closely after a genre of online es-cape games called “takagism.” Combining el-ements of the stage, film, and video games, Escape Rooms have been popping up all over the United States and exploding in popularity as team-building exercises and tourist attractions.

Now, Champaign can get a taste of the com-plex puzzles and fast-paced, timed gameplay with Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Time and Space, founded by Anne and Chris Lukeman. The local fi lmmaking duo has been working on a sci-fi transistor punk webseries, “Once Upon a Time in the 1970s,” and has an impressive number of fi lms under Kill Vampire Lincoln Productions on YouTube. Most recently, Anne directed and Chris provided production design and visual effects for a Pens to Lens fi lm called Artifi cial Intelligence. CU Adventures, located at 123 W. Main Street in Urbana, promises provide a cinematic, thrilling experience, and a way for talented members of the local community to fl ex their artistic muscles.

»buzz: Can you share some of your experi-ences with Escape Rooms?

»Anne and Chris Lukeman: We’ve been try-ing to visit as many escape rooms as possible around the country, but in all honesty, our big-gest inspiration has probably been the proto-escape room “Wizard Quest” in the Wiscon-sin Dells. Several years ago, we happened to stumble into it on a rainy day, expecting it to be a laughably-terrible experience, and were shocked to see how amazing, awesome, and fun it was. More of a large, freeform, scavenger hunt kind of puzzle, it was 12,000 square feet of amazing, intense fantasy-inspired production

design… Up until that point we had no idea that this was a real type of business that existed. From that point on, creating something in that vague genre of “indoor physical game with puzzles” became a priority for us.

»buzz: How has your filmmaking experience translated into the game world?

»CL: For us, it’s all about storytelling. A good role playing game is like a movie: it contains a story with three dimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and a setting that brings the viewer/player in. But a movie, you only have the one-way conversation of director (and cast/crew) to audience, while in a game, the conver-sation goes two-ways—the players are part of developing the story. With that, of course, comes the risk of failure… ending the story without a happy ending wrapping everything up. That dynamic of not knowing the outcome of the story [you are telling] is so exciting to us.

»AL: Of course, running an escape room is dif-ferent from running an RPG. While we hope to add role-playing aspects as optional “add-ons” for future games, the core of our adventures is solving the puzzles of the adventure to save the world, or whatever the situation may call for. One of the ways I hope we stand out is our dedication to making sure that our set design, puzzles, and stories all fit together to make a true narrative package that makes the players feel like they’re inside a whole different (forgive me) “time and space.”

»buzz: What drew you to themes or genres for your rooms? How do you plan to keep things fresh and inject your own personal touch?

»CL: We’re all huge fans of genre entertain-ment here. Our fi lms have all been horror, sci-fi ,

superhero, supernatural, etc. And that’s what we like to watch, too. I’d say some of our biggest infl uences are Guillermo del Toro, John Carpenter, and Steven Spielberg. We’re also excited to draw from other shared cultural experiences. Players shouldn’t be surprised if they encounter referenc-es to the old Nickelodeon game show Legends of the Hidden Temple in one of our fi rst adventures.

»AL: As players can really only enjoy each sce-nario once, we’ll have to retire adventures after maybe 6-8 months apiece. The great thing is that we have tons of ideas for new scenarios, including a Knights of the Round Table room, a 90s hacker/cyberpunk room, and a giant space-ship. Each new room is a great opportunity to experiment with storytelling and try new things using technology in the puzzles. Plus, we have the added benefi t of living in an amazing com-munity fi lled with some of the coolest, most cre-ative makers and artists, who we’re so excited to collaborate with… we found our set designer, Niccole Powers, through an amazing show she did the set for at the Station Theater, called AP-PROPRIATE. The level of talent in this town is so high, and we’re so excited to be a part of it.

»buzz: What goes into planning an Escape Room?»CL: Planning an Escape Room is a strange

thing—fi rst, you’re at least partially at the mercy of the space you’re in, in terms of dimensions and layout. Then, you have to design both the puzzles and the set simultaneously, to make sure the elements work with each other. It is kind of like user experience as an art form. You have to think about how hundreds of different people will interact with every single inch of the space. Will a clue be interpreted the correct way, and if it isn’t, will it still lead players down an interesting path?

»AL: Luckily, we have a deep bench of friends and family who have been amazing in helping us with painting and building—and of course, the aforementioned art community and the amaz-ing Niccole Powers. We’re really excited to be starting a business where there is the potential to truly pay artists what they’re worth to create sets, props, paintings, etc. We’re not quite there yet, but it’s one of our main goals for the busi-ness. Right now, we’re still getting the rooms together. Once we have that done, we’ll start play testing, first with friends and family, and then slowly expanding outward to a wider audi-ence. Hopefully this will all be happening over the next couple weeks, and we should be open for regular bookings in October!

»buzz: Why do you think Escape Rooms have grown in popularity?

»AL: Aside from the fact that board games and RPG tabletop games are more popular than ever, I think that, because everything in our lives is so digital right now—and for younger genera-tions, entertainment has been purely digital their whole lives—we as a society are really craving tactile experiences, like an escape room. We want to interact with real objects, and be in a real, analog space. I think it’s such an exciting time to be interested in gaming right now.

Interested players should check out Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Time and Space on Face-book for more information about the opening, early access to games, and special offers: www.facebook.com/cuadventures

Photo by Alyssa Abay


DREAMING OF A HOME FOR EVERYONE

HALEY VENTURA

FROM The Who tickets, getaway vaca-tions to Lake Geneva, VIP tours

of museums, Fighting Illini tickets and auto-graphed athlete photographs to the grand prize of cash money, there are a lot of amazing things being auctioned this weekend at the I Hotel & Conference Center. These are only a handful of the over one hundred prizes available to win in the live and silent auctions and raffles at the “Dare to Dream, Dream to Build” fundraiser in Champaign tonight from 6 to 11 p.m.

It is a combined effort between Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County and the Home Builders Association of East Central Illinois (HBAECI) to raise money for the work they do locally with construction and education respec-tively. Both groups are nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to creating safe and happy homes for residents in both Champaign County and the counties surrounding it.

This is the third consecutive year of the "Dare to Dream, Dream to Build" fundraiser, and in the past it has been a must-see event. In the two previous years, they raised $40,000, and this year their goal is to hit $50,000. Kelly Hill, the development director for Habitat for Humanity in Champaign County, and her committee have been meeting weekly since July, and all of their

efforts will be shown in the amazing outcome of the fundraiser.

Tickets are $75 each, a lower price than in previous years, and include dinner and drinks. There will be two $2,000 prizes given out dur-ing games open to all guests and one $5,000 grand prize. The organizations are selling a maximum of 400 tickets this year.

Brian Moline of "WILL-The Morning Edition" will be the master of ceremonies and will be speak-ing for most of the event. Former Urbana Schools Superintendent Dr. Preston Williams and his wife will co-host the event as well.

Hill said that at the event Habitat for Humanity and the Home Builders Association will be giving the families of the two new homes their keys. This will be an exciting and emotional event for all who were involved in the building of their houses.

“The best part about what we do here is we really are about investing in our community,” Hill said.

Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit with the overall goal of providing sus-tainable housing for every person and family who needs it. It uses a zero interest mortgage program, which takes about 20 years for the ho-meowner to pay back. Much of the expenses of building a house are waived by using volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money,

land and materials. If a family is interested in owning a Habitat for Humanity home, they can fill out an application and will be chosen based on their housing need, ability to pay and willing-ness to partner with Habitat. If families fit the criteria, they are put on a waiting list for the next open house.

“It is a hand up, not a hand out,” Hill said. Habitat for Humanity is not giving away

houses, but rather helping families through the process of home owning. Also, it does not only provide affordable housing, but also gives a family a stable environment for kids to play and live in. This is an organization that really moves and changes a family.

“Families go from struggling, to partnering with an organization like Habitat,” Hill said.

Since the Champaign County chapter was formed in 1991, they have worked with thou-sands of volunteers and have touched nu-merous families’ lives. This is Hill’s third year working with Habitat for Humanity and says she enjoys the team effort and community in-volvement that Habitat for Humanity provides.

The money raised during “Dare to Dream, Dream to build” will be split equally between Habitat for Humanity and the HBAECI. Habitat will use its portion of the money to help build

more homes in the community and the HCAECI will spend its share to fund construction man-agement scholarships at Parkland College.

The Home Builders Association was founded in 1956. It is a group of builders and businesses in seven counties from Eastern Illinois, who are committed to construction and fi xing national housing issues - for example, mandatory fi re sprinklers in new construction. The group ad-vocates ethical business practices, educates the members’ communities, serves as a profes-sional resource, offers certifi cation programs and much more. It has about 250 members and works across seven counties in Eastern Illinois. This is the fi rst year that HBAECI is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to help build two new Habitat for Humanity homes.

Tickets can be purchased online through www.cuhabitat.org. The organizations plan to continue this fundraiser as an annual tradi-tion. If you are unable to attend the event, there are many other opportunities to be involved with Habitat for Humanity, such as donating money, working on builds and volunteering at the ReStore.

“Dare to Dream, Dream to Build” will be held at the I-Hotel on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m.

Photo by Lily Katz


MOVIE REVIEW: MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALSNEAL HENNINGER

THE struggle never ends for the young char acters in "Maze Runner: The Scorch Tri-

als" as they successfully escaped their labyrinth prison only to end up on the run through a deso-late wasteland known as the Scorch. The sequel to the surprisingly popular young adult movie "The Maze Runner" features a group of young adults fi ghting their way through obstacles to avoid the evil W.C.K.D., searching for a resistance group that opposes the menacing organization.

"Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" and its prede-cessor are based off of a trilogy of books written by author James Dashner. The movie is directed by Wes Ball, and the script written by T.S. Nowlin. Many cast members return, with Dylan O’Brien back as protagonist Thomas and Kaya Scoderlario as Teresa. Newcomers to the cast feature Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito and Rosa Salazar.

While there was plenty of source material to work with thanks to the book, this movie mostly stayed away from that and went with lots of original story. This is sure to ruffl e the feathers of those that have read the books and are look-ing for a more faithful retelling of the story. Even though the plot strays from the book’s version of

the story, it is still an exhilarating action movie that will make you want to know what happens in the next installment, which is promised to be more faithful to its book counterpart.

Changing the plot so that it was different from the book was done for people that are not familiar with the book series. If the plot from the book was used extensively, I believe that a lot of the people that haven’t read the series would have been lost and would neglect to see the fi nal installment of this series in theaters once it arrives in early 2017. Changing the plot to something more streamlined was a smart way to appeal to the masses without alienating those that have read the books. There were still some nods to the book, with the same charicter dying in both, most of the new char-acters being the same and the journey faced by Thomas and Brenda to meet up with the rest of the group after they got separated.

Character development was mostly limited to Thomas and Teresa, as their stories were the ones focused on the most out of the returning characters. The new characters were given plenty of screen time and managed to develop a great rapport with the older cast. Brenda’s interactions

with Thomas showed the chemistry between Dylan O’Brien and Rosa Salazar and made them a more believable pairing than Thomas and Te-resa. The Gladers that accompanied Thomas were unfortunately pushed to the background of the movie, which didn’t allow them to expand their roles and were instead relegated to yelling at Thomas and each other.

The W.C.K.D. villains are mostly highlighted by Chancellor Ava Paige and newcomer Jansen. Jan-sen plays the role of the main antagonist as he is the one that is tasked with recapturing those that escaped the W.C.K.D. compound with Thomas. Sharing the villain role with W.C.K.D. are the hu-mans that have succumbed to the Flare virus and turned into what are essentially zombies, intent on eating anything living they can get their hands on. The look of the Flare-diseased humans was reminiscent of the clickers from the PlayStation game The Last of Us and resulted in them being quite frightening and well designed.

The action sequences in the movie provided plenty of opportunities for the characters to showcase their running skills, staying true to the title of the series. Not only were the characters

running away from W.C.K.D. guards and the Flare-infected people, but the other serious threat they faced came from the weather, which supplied plenty of danger in the form of lightning storms and violent sandstorms. All of these obstacles lead to the fi nal confrontation between Thomas and the Gladers grouped up with the Right Arm against the evil W.C.K.D. This battle set up a looming fi nal confrontation between Thomas and the resistance and W.C.K.D. to determine the fu-ture of the human race and whether everyone will eventually succumb to the Flare virus.

This movie is sure to appeal to both those that read the books and those that have not, espe-cially with a two hour and ten minute running time. A mix of great action sequences with some jump scares will be sure to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" is a great movie that leads in to the fi nal confl ict between Thomas and the Right Arm against the evil W.C.K.D., who have taken their friends hostage and will ultimately decide the fate of the human race.

"Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" can be seen at Savoy 16 or Carkmike 13.

Used with permission from 20th Century Fox


that new season of Empire thoooo

by Matt Jones “Up With People!”--no, not the halftime show group.JONESIN’

Across1 Curly-tailed Japanese

dog6 Bit of turf10 Bone with teeth13 Gets back to full

strength15 Debtor’s loss16 Fireplace

accumulation17 Overcharge for a

cigar?19 Show set in Las Vegas20 Bygone oath21 Big name in oats23 Los ___ (“La Bamba”

group)26 Public expressions of

thanks28 Bit of wishful thinking30 Before, for poets31 Stacks of wax32 Bit of hair gel33 “___ my keep”35 Society page

newcomer36 Extinguished, as a

candle38 Meet in the middle?

42 Dessert often served a la mode

43 Many, with “a”45 Prefix for pressure46 “Honest” guy47 Address from a rev.48 Skyping accessory,

maybe50 Hay dummy?53 Giant from Finland?54 Louisiana subdivision55 Blue movie material,

slangily57 “Ew!”58 Program that just

notifies you without blocking?

63 Mendacity64 “Strange Condition”

singer Pete65 Like Aconcagua66 Old salt67 Downhill runner68 Former Russian

sovereigns

Down1 Radius setting2 Mauna ___ (Hawaii’s

highest peak)3 German pronoun4 Adopt5 Pixar movie with an

entomological theme6 Can recycler,

sometimes7 Beirut’s country: Abbr.8 Not at all transparent9 It may start as a flat

ring10 Hoist one player in a

chess game?11 Balance sheet heading12 Helicopter sounds14 Place for relaxation18 Descendants of

31-Across22 “You’ve got mail”

hearer23 Pot tops24 In the blink ___ eye25 Carnival announcer

that surfaces from the water?

27 “Ready ___ ...”

29 “___-haw!”34 Austrian psychiatrist

Alfred35 The accused37 Guy who might try to

put whiskey in your meal

39 “I shall return,” e.g.40 Antioxidant-rich berry41 Mountain cat44 Full-voiced46 Tree in a giraffe’s diet47 It may “let out” in the

afternoon49 Gets on the plane50 Knocked over, as milk51 Annual sports awards

since 199352 “Trap Queen” rapper

Fetty ___56 Focus of “Straight

Outta Compton”59 Start to exist?60 Jazz Masters org.61 Word with plug or bud62 Some hosp.

employees

Stumped? Find the solutions in the Classifieds pages.

But simplicity can be diffi cult. That’s why we offer a smaller menu that’s designed to make coffee fans of all walks of life happy. We use multiple brewing styles and years of experience to bring you something different.

FAIR TRADELOCAL MILKREGIONAL ROASTER DELICIOUS

RELAX...It’s all natural.

$2 OFFAny 12oz & 16oz made-to-order deli drink! Valid through OCT 21, 2015.

One coupon per customer .PLU: 961


BUZZ REVIEWNISHA CHOKSI

MOST Students of the University of Illinois joke about how they “love” living in the

middle of cornfi elds. An actual benefi t, however, of being surrounded by farms includes the opportu-nity to utilize locally-produced groceries. Common Ground in Urbana’s Lincoln Square, a food co-op, has this mentality and offers residents and students an outlet to eat healthy and locally. As Common Ground’s website says, “Co-ops are in business to provide what their owners want, and they are con-trolled democratically by their owners.”

On Thursday, September 17, Common Ground participated in the Champaign-Urbana event called Local Flavors. The Local Flavors cam-paign has various restaurants serve a special menu for one day, and these menus highlight the local farms and their products.

This was Common Ground’s second year par-ticipating in this event. I spoke to Katy Baldrson and Courtney Orawiec, two employees of Com-

mon Ground, about their menu this year. Last year, Common Ground served up light summer salads as their Local Flavors menu. This way they utilized some of the great produce that ripens at the end of summer. This year, they decided to serve more substantial food in their salad bar. The salad bar featured blackened chicken salad, sliced heirloom tomatoes, leafy greens, pasta salad, cole slaw, potato salad, a summer squash kale salad, a beet tomato kale salad and vegan apple pie.

When asked about their inspiration for their salad bar menu, Katie stated, “[Local Flavors] is a fun event, because it’s great to play around with the local produce in the area and how we can integrate that into the meals that we make. For example, we regularly make this lemon basil pasta salad, but we received some great eggplant and decided to add some in there. The cherry toma-toes that we use are from Blue Moon Farms, and they are so bright and fl avorful. We oven roasted

them to get the richest fl avor and added that to the pasta salad regularly.”

I tried one of their cherry tomatoes, and I can confi rm their great taste. They were so juicy and had great yield to them; when you bite into one, you get a burst of fl avor.

I ate the blackened chicken salad on a bed of greens with colorful slices of heirloom tomatoes and a side of pretzel bread. As a big fan of apple pie, I chose to have a slice for dessert. The blackened chicken salad had a smoky taste, which was cut through by their canola-based mayonnaise. Along with the pulled chicken, the salad contained celery, grated carrots and onion. At fi rst bite, the veggies and cold temperature gave it a refreshing taste, but the dressing and chicken had spices that gave the salad a surprising kick. The heirloom tomatoes were perfect as they were fl avorful, but had a mild-er taste compared to the cherry tomato I tried. It paired well with the spices from the chicken salad.

What caught me by surprise was the vegan apple pie. I normally am not a fan of vegan baked goods, because I don't like their taste and texture. I found this apple pie to be very satisfying. The crust was not too tough, which is the problem of most vegan baked goods due to their lack of eggs. The fi lling was my favorite, as the apples were perfectly coated with cinnamon sugar syrup. Instead of more crust on top, this pie had a crumb that gave each bite great texture and crunch.

Overall, I had a great lunch off campus and would defi nitely come back. The lunch was on the pricier side but I was content with this, be-cause I knew that the money was going to a local business supporting other local businesses and farmers - great food and a great cause, which in my book, is quite the win.

Common Ground Co-Op is located at 300 S Broad-way Ave #166 in Urbana.

Photo by Nisha Choksi


Place an Ad: 217 - 337 - 8337

Deadline: Thursdayfor that Friday’s edition.

Display ads: 11 a.m. Line ads: 2:00 p.m.

Employment 000Services 100Merchandise 200Transportation 300Apartments 400Other Housing/Rent 500Real Estate for Sale 600Things To Do 700Announcements 800Personals 900

Deadline:

Rates:

Photo Sellers

Garage Sales

Action Ads

INDEX

employment

HELP WANTED 010Full time

HELP WANTED 020Part time

APARTMENTS 420Furnished

rentalsFOR RENT


rentalsFOR RENT


rentalsFOR RENT

APARTMENTS 430Unfurnished

HOUSES FOR RENT 510

ROOMMATE WANTED 550

merchandise

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 245

Pick a price range.

Choose your options.

Find the perfect place to live.

classifi eds.dailyillini.com

STREAM US ONLINEAT WPGU.COM

EVERY FRIDAY

A RTS A RTS ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT

&


SEPTEMBER !" # OCTOBER $, !%$"• E-mail: send your notice to [email protected]

COMMUNITY

MOVIES & TV

FOOD & DRINK

MUSIC

FEATURED

CALENDARSUBMIT YOUR EVENT TO THE CALENDAR

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HEADLINESubhead

Body text.

THE PYGMALION TECH FESTIVALWednesday to Sunday, September 23 - 27; Time dependent on day; Krannert Art Museum, Research Park; Ranges from $30 - $110, Free for Students w/ I-Card

Check out Pygmalion’s new Tech festival, featuring Stephen Wolfram, Jessica Hopper and Will Leitch

ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS AT THE ORPHEUMWednesday and Friday, September 30 and October 2: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; 346 N. Neil Street, Champaign; Free

ORPHEUM TODDLER TUESDAYWednesday, September 30; 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.346 N. Neil Street, Champaign; Free

HOMER FARMERS MARKETWednesday, September 30; 5:00 p.m – 7:00 p.m. 500 E. Second St., Homer, IL; Free

SUSTAINABLE STUDENT FARMERS MARKET Thursday, October 1; 11:00 a.m – 4:30 p.m.1401 W. Green Street, Urbana; Free

AFRICAN DRUMMING AND DANCINGSept. 25; 4-5 p.m.; Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green Street, Urbana); Free

RACE AGAINST RACISM !KSept. 27; 1-5 p.m.; University Of Illinois Arboretum (Corner of Florida and Lincoln, Urbana); $20

"#ST ANNUAL DOUGLASS SENIOR STYLE SHOWSept. 27; 4-6 p.m.; Douglass Community Center (512 E. Grove St., Champaign); $5 tickets

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE VIEWINGSept. 21; 8-11 p.m.; William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College (2400 W. Bradley Ave., Champaign)Free

PYGMALION MADE FESTSept. 26-27; 12-6 p.m.; High dive Outdoor Annex (N. Market ST. & Main St., Champaign); Free

APPLE N’ PORK FESTIVALSaturday, September 26 & Sunday, September 27; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; C.H. Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum (219 E. Woodlawn, Clinton, IL)

Drive about an hour west from CU and enjoy Clinton, IL’s unique harvest festival, featuring 25 plus food and drink vendors, old fashioned arts and craft exhibitions and tours of the historical C.H. Moore Mansion.

THE LAND CONNECTION CHAMPAIGN FARMER’S MARKETTuesday, September 29; 4-7 p.m.; Lot on Neil and Main, Champaign

PRAIRIE FRUITS FARM & CREAMERY SUMMER OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, September 30; 4-6:30 p.m.Prairie Fruits Farm (4410 N. Lincoln Ave., Champaign)

LOCAL FLAVORS EVENT: DINNER AT TIMPONE’SThursday, October 1; 5-9 p.m; 710 S Goodwin Ave, Urbana

JAPAN HOUSE TEA CEREMONYThursday, October 1; 3-4 p.m.; Japan House (2000 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana); $8 per person. Reserve in advance.

THE $%#! PYGMALION FESTIVALWednesday, September 23 to Sunday, September 27; Various venues; Passes available online

The biggest music event of the year is back! C-U’s Pygmalion Festival brings Run The Jewels, Purity Ring, Ride, Sylvan Esso and more to town this weekend.

MOTES, SECONDARY MODERN, DR RESPONSIBLE, AGAIN IS ALREADYThursday, October 1; 9 p.m.Thee Death Tower; $5 All-Ages

BOOTS AND ROOTSWednesday, September 30; doors at 8 p.m, show at 9 p.m.; The Canopy Club ; $5 ; Ages 18+

FINER FEELINGS, ZACH VINSON AND KURT BIELEMAThursday, October 1; doors at 8 p.m, show at 9 p.m.Mike N Molly’s; $5Ages 19+

GRANDMAFriday, September 25; 7 p.m.; The Art Theater Co-op; $9.75

THE HUMAN EXPERIMENTMonday, September 28; 7 p.m.; Goodrich Savoy 16 + ; IMAX; $9.75 PATHER

PANCHALI &SONG OF THE ROAD'Monday, September 28; 7:30 p.m.; The Art Theater Co-op; $9.75

RENTAL: PLANEATTuesday, September 29; 7:30 p.m.; The Art Theater Co-op; $9.75

Sponsored by the Illinois Program in Law and Philosophy, Illinois Program for Women and Gender in Global Perspectives and others, this film touches on themes of the rise in cancer rates, ice caps melting and population increase while bringing up the common element: food. Three scientists come together to share their work and understand how the food we eat affects both us and our environment.

ATTACK ON TITAN ( PART ONE Thursday, October 1; 7:30 p.m.; Carmike 13; $10

buzz magazine: september 25, 2015

Documents