Turkey Day recovery

Unfortunately, school’s week-long holiday break is over, and Thanksgiving along with it. However, is it possible to still be stuffed from all that food? I think so!

Many of you probably filled yourselves to the brim with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn, pie, and more on Thanksgiving Day. When everyone had their fill of food and family, it was time to slip into a deep slumber.

Of course, it was probably no surprise that the next day would consist of the very same foods when it came to lunch time. Once again, most people continued to eating turkey, mashed potatoes, and more. By the third day, this giant feast of Thanksgiving food was most likely not as appealing as the first day, not to mention that your belly might be feeling a bit full.

Now that we’re back in school, some of you still might have Turkey Day hangover. This means that your lunch is made up of many Thanksgiving food items, your stomach feels like it’s about to burst, and you most likely just want to sleep. Well, have fun eating up all of those delicious Turkey Day leftovers for days to come!

By: Brittany Booth

Multi-faceted Fruit

What do you think of when you hear the word apple?  Do you think of a sweet, juicy red apple?  Or a crisp green one with a sour bite?  Maybe you think of apple pie, or caramel apples.  There are tons of different kinds of apples, each with their own unique flavor and use.  Some apples are used mainly for eating, such as Gala, or Red Delicious.  Some are just for baking, like the Cortland or Haralson.  But no matter what, apples are a great, healthy snack.

Remember an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

            By. Claire Kuda

The Exciting Saga Continues

The most widely anticipated movie of the year is coming to theaters in less than two days. Tickets for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (part 1) are already getting sold out. This news is very exciting, but also quite bittersweet at the same time. Harry Potter, the world’s longest running book-movie franchise, is coming to an end.

These books and films have grown into a worldwide phenomenon, starting back in 1999, when the first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," topped the New York Time’s best sellers list. Two years later, the first Harry Potter movie was made, becoming instantly popular.

Six books and five films later, people all over the world have become attached to the enchanting story of a boy wizard and his friends who help him battle the forces of evil. This week, the first part of the seventh movie is about to come out. This will surely be an exciting and emotional journey for everyone who watches.

By: Brittany Booth

This week in chapel

This week Pastor David Williams of Westminster Presbyterian Church spoke in the high school and middle school chapel.

His message on the Lord's Prayer was a continuation from the previous week. Pastor Williams first focused on the hallowed name of God. In today's society, the name of God is used both lightly and in vain. Calling God's name hallowed, or Holy, gives His name a place of reverence, one that is too often ignored. His Holy name also creates separation. In order to align with Christian principals, one must keep the Father as the number one priority. Anyone who does not live as a Christ follower says the Lord's Prayer in hypocrisy.

Mr. Williams will be continuing his series at the return from Thanksgiving break.

By Ellie Fink

Prince William Engaged

After rumors lasting two weeks regarding Prince William proposing to long time girl friend, Kate Middleton, his proposal was officially announced on Tuesday, November 16.  The couple met about 10 years ago at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.  When the two started dating there was some disagreement because she is not royalty and it is was expected for William to marry a woman of royalty.  However, many announced that they were happy for the couple.

It has been reported that Prince William respectfully asked his own father for permission to marry Kate.  He proposed with Princess Diana’s ring, which she received from Prince Charles.  After the marriage they plan to move to Wales.  Prince William and Kate Middleton are planning the wedding to be in London, in either  spring or summer time of next year. 

            

Prince William is second in line for the throne after his father, Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth is currently on the throne.  After Prince Charles takes the throne Kate Middleton will be the princess.  Royalty watchers are anticipating this wedding to be the wedding of the century.

By: Elizabeth Farwell

Theaters stop moviegoers from quality entertainment

The Day was November 5th and right when I got home from school, I went straight to the computer and looked up show times for Danny Boyle's new film “127 Hours” which had just been released. But, to my dismay, I noticed that it wasn't playing at the Lake in the Hills theatre or in Elgin. So then I checked Barrington, which usually shows more independent films since they have more screens. I was almost sure this would be the case, but then to my complete anguish I saw that it wasn’t showing there either.

At this point I realized that to see this movie I would have to go into downtown Chicago. I was very frustrated, to say the least. I thought that with Danny Boyle's recent mainstream success in the form of his film “Slumdog Millionaire," people would jump on his next film, at the very least because of his past popularity. Also, it stars James Franco, who is a very popular actor. The fact that it is based on a true story, alone, should get some people curious about the film. But I shouldn’t have been surprised about the films limited release.

Only a month earlier a film that was receiving a lot of hype in the indie film community, “Buried,” was supposed to be released in limited theatres on Sept. 24th. Like “127 Hours,” this film was also released in limited theatres, and also like “127 Hours” I didn't quite understand why. “127 hours” and “Buried” both have a very popular lead actor. In “Buried” Ryan Reynolds was the lead, who had just garnered a lot of popularity in his film "The Proposal” in 2009.

Now, turn back the clocks to August-- there was a little Australian gangster film called “Animal Kingdom” that looked amazing, and of course--you guessed it!--that movie was released in an extremely small number of theatres as well. And this is just to name a few--the list goes on, and over the years it seems the list has been getting longer. Why has this happened? Why is it that the society we now live in promotes films like "Vampires Suck," which has literally no cinematic quality whatsoever? These "movies" (since actually referring to them as movies is degrading to the term) get months in theatres worldwide and make millions of dollars, while small independent films never get to see the light of day.

In the end, my ranting is most likely falling on deaf ears since it is you, the viewer, who is to be blamed for all this. Since there is no demand for quality films anymore, theatres don’t show them because they are trying to run a business, and, to do that, they want to make some money. Sure, movie theatres have become extremely greedy lately with high ticket prices and ridiculously expensive snacks, but that’s another debate for another time. I understand the argument that each person is entitled to his/her own opinion. But I refuse to believe that I'm the last moviegoer in the world that demands high quality films. Please, if you read this and you also enjoy watching movies, then you should speak up. Movie lovers everywhere have to speak up and save what you love. On the other hand, if it is the case that I am the last movie fanatic left in the world, then the future of cinema is going to be very bleak and it will only get worse from here.

--Ben Stevenson

Obama still on tour

Obama has been on tour for quite some time now. He recently returned from his exhausting trip and hasn’t much to show for it. He was on tour through India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan for a total of 10 days. He was hoping to make a free-trade bill with South Korea but failed to do so.

“I think Asia is eager for American engagement and leadership," Barack Obama said on Air Force One on his way back home.

However, the results of the trip speak the opposite of what he thinks. It’s as though the governments of the Asian countries he visited banded together to work against him, rather than with him. It’s very obvious that with these results the world is responding in accordance to how they think they’ll get immediate results.

The world wants results, as the American people have recently proven in the elections. The economies of Asia are “moving,” as Obama said.

“We should feel confident about our ability to compete, but we are going to have to step up our game,” Obama said.

In this economy and in the recession, the American people do not want to “step up the game.” We want recovery and jobs. One of the last things on American minds is the Asian economy. We need to stop competing with other countries and focus on our own. Was it not enough we voted most of his people out in the previous election? Obviously Obama needs to listen to the people and focus more on fixing ourselves, rather than be the world's police.

By Anais Tabor