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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY & KANSAS
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
PAGE 5A
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arts & features
HOROSCOPES
Because the stars
know things we don't.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today is an B
Today is an 8
Talk is cheap. Take a long shot.
Communications could get
difficult. You've already made
the plan. Achieve a lofty goal
and advance to the next level by
taking direct action. Look before
you leap.
Today is an 8
Completion fosters creativity.
A new journey beckons. Choose
the direction that looks the most
fun. Don't get stuck trying to
please everyone. Launch your
adventure without fanfare.
Just go for it. Get sucked into
observation.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Today is an 8
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Today is a 7
Better leave some things unsaid.
Have important conversations another day, and avoid gossip altogether. Veto power could get exercised. Do your home bookkeeping, and handle pesky details. Crank some good tunes and do numbers.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Today is an 8
Choose your battles carefully.
Work out a long-term issue with a partner through action rather than words. Postpone travel and new projects. Incorporate music or a fountain's murmur into the background.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Today is a 9
Find the sweet spot at work. Not everything you try works. Provide excellent service for good pay. It could get intense...keep on your game. Gossip causes ruffled feathers, so avoid it. Make a wonderful discovery.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Today is a 7
Snooze a bit longer. Your credit is in good shape. Don't travel, or talk much about what's going on. You already have most of what you need. Clean house, relax and play like a child.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Today is a 7
Listen, rather than talking.
Handle household chores. Study leads to discovery. Wait to see what develops before signing on.
Don't fail for a sob story. Achieve your goal with quiet action.
Introspection leads to brilliant insight.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Today is a 7
Postpone travel. Unexpected loss could change plans. Dip into savings as necessary. Do what you can to help. You can afford what's needed. Share peaceful time with friends.
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Today is a 9 Don't waste energy. A moment of transformation could catch you by surprise. A career or status rise becomes suddenly available. Take action and avoid communication breakdown. Grab an opportunity.
Today is a 9 Consider travel demands. Get rid of excess baggage. Can you do your research from home? Imagination takes over. Don't buy luxuries yet. Action persuades more than talk. Good news comes from far away.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Today is a 9
Student Goran Ghafour is the author of Iraq's best-selling book, "The Statues." 30 percent of profits from his book will be donated to children who have lost their parents and children of journalists killed in the warzones raging in the Middle East and North Africa.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.18)
Today is a 7
Aquarium is a 5 Floor 19
Today is a 7
Postpone big meetings. Handle a job you've been putting off. Quiet productivity gets farther than expected. Go around roadblocks.
Make a key discovery. Work interferes with travel. Work out options and schedule. Phone home.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Today is a 7
It's not a good time to travel. You never know what you may catch.
Friends have tons of ideas.
Don't do everything suggested, but take note. Bark if you must (or keep quiet). Love gives you strength.
WAR STORIES
Student finds success writing novels from experiences in Middle Eastern conflict
DAVID HURTADO
@Lastlight343
Goran Ghafour's early life consisted of seven years of devastating warfare between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of Iraq.
"I still remember Iranian airplanes coming and bombarding the Iraqi cities and our city too in Kurdistan," Ghafour said. "It was terrifying."
Born in 1982 in the Kurdish city of Erbil, two years into the Iran-Iraq War, he and his family survived both the hostilities and use of chemical warfare by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds. However, it wouldn't be until 2013 that Ghafour and his family immigrated to the United States. Now, a student at the University of Kansas, he is studying journalism and working towards a PhD in international communications.
Ghafour has published dozens of short stories and two novels with a third not far behind. Set to hit the shelves on Sept. 15, "The Statues" tells the story of a great revolution taking place in 2022, following in the footsteps of the Arab Spring. It focuses on a man named Pola striving to make his home a better place by challenging the politically and ethically bankrupt systems which grip the region.
"The Statues' are about the chaos, violence and the ethically backwards systems in the Middle East," he said. "I'm from Iraq, in the Kurdistan region, so I have personal stories and feelings towards those dictators. Everything that is in the book, I lived through it."
Ghafour also drew inspiration for "The Statues" from the revolutions of the Arab Spring that challenged the autocracy of dictators across the region. He said despite all of the people captured, arrested and tortured, and eruptions of violence between authorities and protesters, not much has changed.
Similar to "The Statues," Ghafour's first two novels are also socio-political in nature. "President Artery," published in 2005, focuses on the responsibilities a president has to its people. Iraqi Fulbrighter, published in 2011, seeks to resolve the misconceptions and stereotypes between American and Middle Eastern people. It advocates that politics, not ordinary people, is the reason for the animosity between the two groups.
Ghafour said there are many depths to the region he grew up in that can be difficult for outsiders to fully understand. Why a young man would want to blow himself up or kill others, and how people who love art and living can live there, are questions Ghafour said he hopes to answer.
He said his next book will focus on women in the Middle East and how the cultural ideas and principles of reli-
"I still remember Iranian airplanes coming and bombarding the Iraqi cities and our city too in Kurdistan."
GORAN GHAFOUR PhD student from Erbil
gion affect their daily lives.
"I think it is really worth going into the depths of women in the Middle East because they live in hell," Ghafour said. "Their rights are violated every day and they are looked upon like objects by men. There is no chance of love for them. They all dream about love, but there is no chance to love somebody freely."
Tom Volek, associate dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Development, said Ghafour is a driven individual who is passionate about the issues
he writes about. Volek said his personality leans towards the quiet side, underneath which is a quick, dry wit.
"He came to us for his masters program from Kurdistan and finished it in a year and a half," Volek said. "During that time he wrote his first book in English. Keep in mind, this is a guy who learned English as a second language. That's pretty impressive."
Edited by Logan Schlossberg
Bubble soccer league comes to Lawrence
Bubble soccer player Amanda Ehrhardt is left upside-down after colliding with Hunter Robinson. Bubble soccer games will be held at Watson Park starting Sept. 14.
JOHN GRIFFIN/KANSAN
RYAN ROBINSON
Silverback Enterprises
president
CODY SCHMITZ
@Cody_Schmitz
If you drive past Watson Park on a Sunday, you might see giant beach balls with legs bustling about. The anthropomorphic balls are a part of a three-week tournament-style "Bubble Soccer" league hosted by Lawrence-based company Silverback Enterprises.
Appropriately titled, bubble soccer is comparable to regular soccer. However, in a game of bubble soccer, each player dons an inflatable "bubble" to play. The bubble is similar to an inflatable sumo wrestling suit. The bubbles are clear and cover the body from above the head down to right below the waist.
"This is one of those events that's just as much fun to watch as it is to play."
"Probably the most fun about the whole thing is if you get knocked over, you can get right back up," Ryan Robinson, Silverback Enterprises president, said. "It's a ton of fun to bounce your friends around."
Kaley Robinson, a sophomore from Lawrence, said she is interested in the quirky sport. She said she has heard of people who have played it before, but never in Lawrence.
Employees at Silverback have tried the sport for themselves.
Robinson said he is excited with how eager Lawrence residents are to sign up for the activity. He said quite a few college students have signed up, as well as a few restaurants and bars from downtown Lawrence.
For three Sundays in a row, starting on Sept. 14, these soccer games will be held at Watson Park at 727 Kentucky St. Robinson said the games will be tournament-style play and at the end of each night, whoever wins the tournament will get a $100 gift card to a local restaurant or bar downtown. Anyone 16 or older can sign up; the cost is $40 per person.
Robinson said the rules are exactly like soccer, minus the goalies. "There are six people on a team, but only four play at a time because it gets really tiring," he said. "For one, people are knocking you over quite a bit so you spend a lot of time getting up. Another reason is you're just laughing the entire time that you're playing."
"This is one of those events that's just as much fun to watch as it is to play." Robinson said.
— Edited by Emily Brown
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