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September 27, 2021

PAINTING PROTEST

NEWS

PUB GRUB

News Editor Nancy La

News Writers Karissa Ketter and Yelin Gemma Lee

news@the-peak.ca

September 27, 2021

CALL TO ACTION

CAPTURE AND CONVERT

NEWS

OPINIONS

Opinions Editor Lubaba Mahmud

opinions@the-peak.ca

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS

Have your say during the public engagement Sept. 20 to Oct 8, 2021

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Go to translink.ca/R6 to complete the survey and to learn how to participate in the virtual information sessions: Wednesday, Sept. 22, 6-7 pm Saturday, Sept. 25, 10-11 am Sa

Academic Quadrangle (AQ) If you’re a fellow non-geometry nerd, you’re probably wondering, “What the heck is a quadrangle?” I’m here to tell you it is essentially a square. Why wouldn’t they want to call the Academic Quadrangle the Academic Square? Besides “square” not having the same academic feel to it, I have a feeling it was because SFU is smart enough to know us “mature” university students would instantly use the acronym AS to call it The Ass (that’s where my mind went anyway). This is also the reason they changed the university name from Fraser University to Simon Fraser University because “FU” did not look great on varsity jackets. On a more serious note, the most notable spot in the AQ has to be the reflecting pond on the fourth floor (I know it doesn’t look like a “floor” but it is still technically the fourth floor, I swear). Inside the pond is a green-looking rock which is actually six tons of lillooet jade that was brought from Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon before the construction of SFU. It is credited as the founding stone of the university.

Saywell Hall Infamous for being home to what I like to call The Staircase of Death (trademark pending), Saywell Hall is actually named after ex-SFU president William Saywell. He is credited as the longestrunning SFU president from 1983–1993. Ten years — that is almost how long it takes some students to finally graduate from SFU. During his time as president “he helped initiate the development of SFU's downtown Vancouver campus and increased gender equality in SFU's hiring practices.” In Saywell Hall, there is plenty of artwork to be seen if you have the chance to look. Notably, there are pieces of Indigenous artwork like Frog Constellation by Jim Hart (Haida) and Written in Earth by Susan Point (Musqueam), located right at the bottom of the stairs in the Atrium Gathering Space. Of Frog Constellation, Jim Hart said, “The frog is quite powerful in our thinking. It’s one of the creatures that can go in two worlds, in the water and in the upper world, our world . . . The frog is one of my family crests, but I don’t know the family story, how that came to be one of our crests.” It took him close to three and a half years to finish and he refers to the sculpture as his “PhD.”

The reflecting pond where this founding stone is located was one of the special touches SFU architect Arthur Erickson added when designing the campus. He said his design for SFU was inspired by the Acropolis in Athens and the Italian hillsides (I don’t quite see it either, don’t worry). Also located on the fourth floor of the AQ is the infamous avocado statue which many students have claimed is a perfect hook-up spot (I am not talking from personal experience here, I promise). While the avocado-like shape may remind students to eat healthily, it is actually not meant to be an avocado at all. Artist Carlos Basanta called this piece of art Oval Reflections and in a 2014 interview with The Peak, joked it is neither an egg nor an avocado, but rather an “egg-avocado.” In reference to his art, Basanta said, “The egg is the most perfect and organic shape and is the symbol of beginning, fertility, and wholeness,” which is why the sculpture has its oval shape. If you look inside the sculpture, you are able to see your reflection along with some writing inside. Instead of telling you what this writing says, I encourage you to check out the sculpture and take a seat inside to really experience the intent behind this artwork.

Trottier Observatory

OPINIONS

Opinions Editor Lubaba Mahmud

MISSION MANDATE

opinions@the-peak.ca

ARTS & CULTURE

September 27, 2021

SPILLING THE TEA

Christina Liao

MONDAY MUSIC: IT’S FALL AND YOU’RE IN LOVE

SFU STUDENT

Songs for when you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy Feeling like the hopeless romantic that you are? Want some suggestions for soft love ballads that will warm your cold, dark soul? Then this article is for you! These are definitely some of the best love songs and they deserve a listen as soon as possible.

Courtesy of RedGreenYellow

“Welcome to Wonderland By Anson Seabra

Extremely underrated American singer-songwriter Anson Seabra writes the best love songs. “Welcome to Wonderland” is one of them and also serves as his debut single. This Alicein-Wonderland-esque piano ballad is still one of the most heart-warming songs I’ve ever heard to date. With lyrics like, “Dancing through a dream / underneath the stars / laughing till the morning comes,” even the most emotionless person will feel some sort of sappy. If you don’t feel anything while listening to this, you’re on your own.

Courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.

“Surrender” By Birdy

British singer-songwriter Jasmine van den Bogaerde, better known under the stage name Birdy, released her fourth studio album,Young Heart, in May 2021. “Surrender” serves as one of the earlier singles from this project. With descriptive imagery encompassing the whole song and soft, calming production, this is the definition of a love ballad well written. Birdy writes about surrendering to love and the evocative way she weaves her words is masterful. Lyrics such as “and if I could reach the Northern Lights / maybe I could understand it all / sometimes I try so hard to fight / when all I want to do is fall / into the night / into your arms, surrender,” make the song stronger than ever. This is also a perfect listen for when you’re walking around in the forest and falling deep into the world of love — it’s what I do, anyways.

Courtesy of Arista Records

“Like That” By JP Saxe

“Like That” is a single straight off of JP Saxe’s debut album Dangerous Levels of Introspection. It’s about knowing no one will ever love you as much as your significant other. This is a pop-filled love song that’s not only catchy, but also filled with endless emotion. With lyrics such as, “No one’s ever loved me like that” and “When I’m a mess or at my best / You’re the first thing I don’t second guess,” Saxe talks at length about the love he feels toward his favourite person. This is one artist you should definitely watch out for!

ARTS & CULTURE

Arts & Culture Editor Sara Wong

arts@the-peak.ca

BETWEEN THE LINES

NEED TO KNOW, NEED TO GO

Gurleen Aujla, Peak Associate

Artsy, local events to check out around the Lower Mainland

ORANGE SHIRT DAY EVENTS

DISCRIMINATING DATA

BOOK LAUNCH: FARSHID KAZEMI

September 27–October 1 FREE SFU campuses

September 28, 6:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m. FREE Online

September 29, 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. FREE Online

Join the Office for Aboriginal Peoples, Indigenous Student Centre, and First Nations Student Association for four days of programming to commemorate Orange Shirt Day. The goal is to raise awareness of residential schools’ long-lasting impact, appreciate the healing journeys of survivors, and see tangible commitments to the process of reconciliation. Events include drumming, making bannock s’mores, and visits from Elders. Indigenous counselling services will also be available. A complete list of the week’s activities is available online.

As part of the SFU President’s Faculty Lecture series, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun will be presenting on her upcoming book, Discriminating Data: Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of Recognition. Chun will discuss how predictive data analysis makes polarization and discrimination a goal rather than an error. Discriminating Data shows current machine algorithms embed whiteness as the default assumption and condition. Closed captioning will be provided and the event will be recorded. Register online.

Hosted by the SFU School for the Contemporary Arts, this event will celebrate the launch of Farshid Kazemi’s new book, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. The book is based on an Ana Lily Amirpour film of the same name. Kazemi has a Ph.D. in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and aims to combine film and media into his work. His book analyses the film through three themes: “the vampire genre, psychoanalytic (film) theory and German Idealism.” Overall, the book is meant to bring out hidden meanings in the original film. For more information, visit the online event page.

ARTS & CULTURE

September 27, 2021

Fairything and SIESKI dazzle live audience at Queer Coded pride event The local LGBTQIA2S+ artists discuss their careers as emerging musicians With the backdrop of a peachy sunset, Queer Coded’s Pride Picnic waved the summer off and treated the audience at Thunderbird Commons to a concert by performers SIESKI and Fairything (Alex Masse). Pride flags were strewn about the venue, and sandwiches were distributed to every guest. The atmosphere felt comforting, and for many like myself, this was the first live concert we’d been to since the pandemic. SIESKI was the first artist performing that night. A local queer musician, SIESKI has released singles over the last few years, with her debut EP, Dreamist, launched in 2019. In an interview, she described her work as “raw song-stories that flow and swell and absorb the listener. “I make art to connect with humans. I connect with humans to make art,” said SIESKI. “I love to share my stories with others and cultivate unique performance experiences to build a connection that is multi-faceted — thoughtful, pensive, emotional, yet also silly, light-hearted, and fun.” Her music has a sonical touch of heaven and mischief. The instrumentals felt electric, and her gentle vocals and evocative lyrics made it entrancing to listen to her. One of the songs embodying that electricity was SIESKI’s newest single, “Lady Deity,” which celebrates queer feminity and desire. The lyrics are reverent and sensual, laying out intimate, first-touch experiences between the singer and subject as nothing less than divine. However, the song that struck me the most was SIESKI’s final song of the night, “Scale Model.” The lyrics embodied the dissonance of having your mind settle into a monotone routine and feeling like you are just watching your life happen before you. SIESKI said she wrote “Scale Model” in the summer when she was working four jobs. “I felt like my life was moving, and I was just living a scale model of it, too exhausted to be present.” Calm vocals and instrumentals eased the tone and lifted the song past the drudgery SIESKI sings about. That’s how she capped the set: with clean, silky vocals that left audience members swaying. Masse began their set with plenty of good humour. A local artist, SFU student, and former Peak staff writer, Masse released their first single in August 2020. As implied by their titles, Masse’s two EPs, Lost Lunar Levels and A Year, Moonbound, have a cool, spacey quality to them. There are these fun tinkles and a moving synth bass in their pieces that sound like video game music.

Written and photographed by Kelly Chia Layout by Kitty Cheung

According to Masse, their work is based on their life experiences. “I guess I’m just putting things out there that I never had, because I never got to like echo back some of the things that I talked about — I don’t know a lot of people who make content about being a nonbinary lesbian, or being a neurodivergent nonbinary lesbian,” they said. One of the songs that resonated with me that evening was Masse’s “Princess Skin.” The lyrics are notably darker, with references to death, but in the sense of rejecting the identity put onto Masse. Throughout the song, Masse sings about shedding the rotting princess skin that has been put onto them. However, the second half of the song is empowering. In Masse’s words, “I guess I wrote it to express why I want to live how I live?” The song is dark at times, but the lilting melody of Masse’s voice, even as emotion charged through the song, was mesmerizing. While Masse was expressing truths specific to their experiences, they were also wary of the emotional toll of expressing them. “I don’t want to get to a point where I profit off my own misery because then I am chasing my own misery [ . . . ] I don’t need to do that to myself, and I don’t want to do that to other people. “I do not want trauma or sadness to be my brand, I want my brand to just be, you know, weird neuroqueer shenanigans!” After discussing “Princess Skin,” they added it was equally important to make their joy known as well. My favourite song of Masse’s set was “Genderdyke,” because it is genuinely happy. “I wanted to write a song about my gender identity because I never really see it represented and I know a lot of people don’t understand it,” they said. “So this is basically me trying to put it into words, and simultaneously celebrate it, because the world needs more nonbinary joy.” Masse hopes to make more music centred on their happiness in future pieces. “I’m liking writing happy songs that aren’t just about yearning, or fighting to figure out my gender identity and stuff,” they said. “More themes of gender euphoria, and more themes of neuroqueer love, and [ . . . ] just neurodivergent self-love.” Overall, it was a fun night to celebrate the queer feelings that struck a chord with me, and the audience.

SIESKI’s work can be found on her Instagram, @sieski_, on her Spotify as SIESKI, and on her website, sieski.com. Masse’s music and works can be found on Spotify as Fairything, and on their Instagram @itsfairything.

Performers Fairything and SIESKI (left) host Queer Coded, marking a joyful return to in-person concerts.

HUMOUR

Humour Editor Carter Hemion

PHOTO:

Ahmed A

li / The Pe

humour@the-peak.ca

HUMOUR

September 27, 2021

ARIES — Mar 21–Apr 19

LIBRA — Sept 23–Oct 22

Listen to Canada’s unsung heroes: Nickelback. They get a lot of Nickelback-lash, but if I gave you five cents for every artist you gave a second chance, you’d get your nickel back. You’ll change your opinion at the drop of a dime; it just makes cents.

Take a note from Medieval monks’ dedication to goals and start studying to Anonymous 4’s Gregorian chant. In fact, go ahead and borrow their other practices like shaving just the top of your head, donning super scratchy (but cute!) sweaters, and wearing your comfy white robe to class.

TAURUS — Apr 20 –May 20

SCORPIO — Oct 23–Nov 21

Everything you know pails in comparison to Buckethead. You, too, can wear a white mask and put an empty KFC bucket on your head. You may not be a musician, but you can be known for lurking around campus like the phantom of the opera’s weird twin.

Alright, buddy, it’s time to just embrace it. Pull out the skinny jeans, raccoon eyeliner, and the old studded belt that’s lost half its spikes. Sing along to Paramore on the ride to campus. It doesn’t matter that you’re taking the bus and you don’t really know the lyrics.

GEMINI — May 21–Jun 20

SAGITTARIUS — Nov 22–Dec 21

You thought you would’ve married a long time ago, and you still wonder where some people come from and where they go. Decompress to the fierce lyricism from Rednex. You may even recognize some of their hits, like “Cotton Eye Joe,” “Cotton Eye Joe (Line Dance Remix),” and “Cotton Eye Joe (Madcow Overworked Mix).”

Hey, watch your language! You need to listen to Kidz Bop Kids until you remember to stop cursing out TAs under your breath in class. If anything, it’s the damn prof’s fault, but we’ve barely been back a month. Calm the fuck down.

CANCER — Jun 21–Jul 22

CAPRICORN — Dec 22–Jan 19

I have The Cure for your Monday blues. And your Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday blues. Friday, you’ll be in love as you come to terms with being on campus every day under the warm, loving gaze of president Joy Johnson.

The metal band HATEBEAK is fronted by a screaming parrot. You’re free as a bird, so if a parrot can start a band, then you can easily get a degree. Just remember, a bird in the band is worth two in the bush.

LEO — Jul 23–Aug 22

AQUARIUS — Jan 20 –Feb 18

Embrace your true self as a Mii . . . Wander the campus aimlessly, change your look every time you’re bored, and listen to VGR’s Wii music covers for the remainder of your studies to achieve your dream of complete anonymity to professors and guarantee maximum dissociation.

Hey Aquarius, stop saying you discovered Doja Cat before she was cool. If you want to be really unique, you’ll listen to Elmo Sexwhistle for your fix of an undiscovered icon. They haven’t released anything since 2013, so you can also lament over a legend unappreciated in their time.

VIRGO — Aug 23–Sept 22

PISCES — Feb 19–Mar 20

If you hooked up in the snow to “Viva La Vida,” would that be Coldplay? Or would it be bold-play? Anyway, you could use a little monotony in your life right now . . . Let Coldplay’s tracks stop you in yours when you realize their discography isn’t just one long song looped.

You’ll need Walter Wanderley’s elevator music to survive at SFU. With Burnaby elevators regularly out of service, it’s important to prepare a long playlist in case you get stuck. Or just to listen while you fantasize about your elevator breaking down so you can skip tutorial.

DIVERSIONS

Business Manager Yuri Zhou

business@the-peak.ca

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

NOTICE

ATTENDTHE PEAK’S 2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING! WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20 — 1:00p.m. — ZOOM

RUN FOR 1 OF 3 POSITIONS ON OUR BOARD!

If you are interested in running for one of the three at-large positions on the Peak Publications Society’s Board of Directors, contact BUSINESS@THE-PEAK.CA for more information, or visit www.the-peak.ca/constitution/. Applications are due by October 10 at 4 p.m. IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE OF THE PEAK, YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE PEAK PUBLICATIONS SOCIETY, AND WE NEED YOU AT THIS MEETING!