By: KiMiya Eason and Ci’Niyah Taylor
Category Archives: Entertainment
Opinions on AI
By: Jannely Gomez Pacheco and Yalecxy Hernandez Lopez
Chapter 4 summary and review of ‘Twilight’
By: Ivy Dahl
Summary:
In chapter four of ‘Twilight’, Bella begins to dream of Edward Cullen every night for almost a month.
The guy who almost hit her with his car follows her around giving endless apologies, and her brush with danger seemed to revive all the attention on her that had only just died down. Bella returns to her place next to Edward in biology, with him also now ignoring her again.
When Bella arrives at home, Jessica calls Bella and asks her if she would be upset if she asked Mike to a school dance, to which Bella says no, and that Jessica should definitely ask Mike.
The next day, once again, Edward ignores Bella throughout class, but this time he says her name once the bell rings and the classroom is empty. This grabs Bella’s attention and she listens keenly as he mutters an apology for ignoring her, but also insists that it’s better if they aren’t friends. This sparks Bella’s temper, saying that he should have figured that out before he saved her life, since he clearly regretted it. Now Edward, also angry at her response, tells her she doesn’t understand anything. Bella attempts to flee their argument but trips and her books spill out all over the floor. Edward picks them up for her courteously.
Bella continues her day, and after school she finds her classmate Eric leaning against her car awkwardly. He asks her to the school dance, which she evades by telling him she’ll be in Seattle that day. Later that day, she continues this cover up by asking her dad if she can actually go to Seattle, and he agrees.
The next morning, after Bella arrives at school she has a confusing interaction with Edward Cullen, who now has golden eyes, and is offering her a ride to Seattle. Bella reminds him that he told her that they shouldn’t be friends, to which he responds that he’s just tired of trying to stay away from her. Then bizarrely, before leaving, he warns Bella to stay away from him.
Review:
The fourth chapter of ‘Twilight’ has less drama and action then the previous ones, focusing more on fleshing out the building tensions between the characters. Because of this slower pace I’d give it a rating of 6/10. You can buy the book ‘Twilight’ on Amazon.
My review of ‘On My Block’
By: Kendra Shanklin
*Warning: This review contains spoilers
‘On My Block’ is a show about a group of teens named Caeser, Monse, Jamal, and Ruby who have complicated lives, and who are trying to juggle between school and friendships while trying to find rollerworld money. This show was released March 16, 2018 and is rated TV-14 because it contains gangs, violence, and strong language.
*Recap
In the first season of ‘On My Block’ the group of teens were watching a high school party from over a brick wall. They were talking about how freshman year will be awesome, and they were also mentioning that they wanted to get their friend Caesar out of the Santos gang, but it was hard for them to help him because they had no money. So, in order to help Caesar all the teens came together to try and find the rollerworld money, which was money that was supposedly hidden by the Santos gang.
Monse and Ruby think that there’s no rollerworld money so they start losing hope until Jamal starts putting the pieces together. After that, Jamal ends up finding the money but keeps it a secret because the group was having a complicated time and he didn’t want to stress anyone. They had no idea how much the money would change their lives, but they all felt the pressure building. In the end, the whole group had to decide whether finding the cash was worth all the secrets and drama it brought with it.
*My review
‘On My Block’ is a binge-watch worthy show and I love watching it in my free time. I like how it shows the complicated loving relationship of growing up in Los Angeles as a teenager. I also love how there’s drama in the show as it shows the reality of what goes on in Los Angeles.
If you like drama and comedy I recommend you watch this show. Overall, I give this a 9.5/10.
Thank you for reading my review and I hope you’re willing to watch this show🤍.
You can watch ‘On My Block’ on Netflix.
How social media can be negative & positive
By: Seng Nhkum
Today many people use social media, and approximately 5.66 billion people globally use social media, representing about 68.7% of the world’s population. Some examples of social media are TikTok, Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, and X. I think social media can be negative and positive and these are my reasons why.
First, a reason why I think social media can be negative is harassment and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is when someone is repeatedly creating harmful behavior using technology to threaten, harass, embarrass, or target another person. This can be negative for social media because although it’s easy to just block them they can still continue making accounts to harass you. Also, cyberbullying and harassment can lead up to damaging the person’s mental health and well being.
Another reason why I think social media can be negative is stranger danger. There are tons of people on social media which means lots of people you don’t know. Strangers can try to take advantage of you and manipulate you especially if you are still young. Strangers can take advantage of you like if the stranger knows about what you’re struggling with they could try to take advantage of that and try to manipulate you into doing something. Like what happens a lot is when a minor runs away from home to secretly meet with the stranger, which leads to a negative outcome because they don’t even personally know the person but still chooses to meet up with a stranger.
Then a reason why I think social media can also be positive is communication and awareness. Social media can spread news quickly and this leads to faster communication making communication more efficient. Also, social media can spread a lot of awareness about many things, for example like any social issues that are happening in the world, and this is positive because it shows people what things are happening in the world changing their perspectives on anything.
Lastly, another reason why I think social media can be positive is you can make a career off it making lots of money. Like many people called influencers, who post videos on social media, have made a career out of social media and being really famous while making tons and tons of money.
Overall, social media is negative and positive because it can put you in dangerous situations, but could also provide for you, or help you. Always use social media safety and use it wisely.
Shortbread cookie recipe and review
By: Nils Hilleson
Ingredients:
- Two sticks of butter
- 207 grams sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 320 grams flour
- 1 egg white
- Decorative sugar
Steps:
– Add butter, sugar and salt Into a stand mixer
– Beat at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated and smooth, around 3 minutes
– Add egg yolk and mix until combined
– Add all the flour into the bowl and mix at low speed, after roughly 30 seconds the dough will be in large clumps
– Remove dough from bowl and form into two 9 inch logs (doesn’t need to be exact)
– Wrap the logs separately in parchment paper and twist the ends closed
– Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
– Heat oven to 350, line baking sheet with parchment paper
– Brush the surface of the logs with egg white and apply a lot of decorative sugar
– Slice the logs into 1/2 inch cookies
– Lay the cookies on the baking sheet and space them 1/2 inch apart
– Bake until the cookies are golden at the bottom edges, or 18 to 22 minutes, rotate the baking sheet halfway though baking
– Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely
Cookies last for up to 3 days
Making these cookies was pretty simple since it’s mostly butter and flour but they taste really good, they’re very buttery and sweet just over all delicious.
I made one set with red decorative sugar and one with green decorative sugar. Getting the decorative sprinkles on the dough was a little tedious. Cutting the dough into cookies was also a little tedious but also didn’t take the longest. I think the red ones may have come out a little undercooked since they were a little chewy but still delicious.
I was able to make a lot of cookies with this recipe. Making these cookies was pretty simple so I’d be interested in making more cookie some time. Once the cookies cooled down they were pretty crunchy and had a good texture for a cookie.
Me and my family all really like the cookies. I took these cookies to Thanksgiving and the rest of my family liked them quite a bit.
I might have to make these again sometime.
This is a rewritten New York Times recipe
Movie review: ‘The Black Phone’
By: Marina Yang
*Warning: This review contains spoilers
The movie ‘The Black Phone’ was made on June 24, 2022. It was directed by Scott Derrickson and co-written with C. Robert Cargill, based on the short story of the same name by Joe Hill.
‘The Black Phone’ is a thriller and supernatural horror movie that revolves around our protagonist Finney Blake, Gwen Blake (sister of the main character), the antagonist/kidnapper being called the ‘Grabber’, the 5 other victims (Bruce Yamada, Billy Showalter, Robin Arellano, etc.), and others.
The movie starts off with missing posters of kids, indicating that the kidnappings have been going on for a while already. Our main characters’ family, as others are, are more wary and scared about this situation as the disappearances pile up with no lead. Then, one day, when Finney is walking back home after going separate paths from his sister (context: Finney’s sister sleeps over at her friend’s house every Friday night), he sees an odd black van with a man coming out of it. The man drops his groceries, and as most people who pass by in this kind of situation, Finney helps the man. Then the stranger pops up a question, “You wanna see a magic trick?” which Finney as a kid is easily fantasized by and answers, sure/yes. The strange man opens his door, revealing several black balloons, and then snatching him into his truck to his house. Finney then has to survive the next few days in an enclosed basement room as the mysterious, broken-like, black phone rings with advice from the past victims to help him escape. Meanwhile Gwen desperately is trying to find an answer from her dreams to draw a conclusion of where her brother may be located or a hint on the killer’s identity.
The story mentions the undetermined/unrevealed details of missing cases. Throughout the movie, we never really know what the killer’s true intentions were with these kids and why he hinted at creepy things. It greatly speaks about the terror and how scary it is being in the position of the kidnapped victims (children in this case), and the strategic thinking you need to plan an escape in a confinement-like area. This is heightened by switching the perspectives between the worried families trying to search for their lost family member(s) to the kidnapped person struggling to reach back home safely.
I’d rate it a 4/5 because I thought it was a pretty good storyline, even if it had been based off of something else, the plot is interesting. Though I’d by lying if I said that I wouldn’t feel some kind of emotion if the killer was never caught in the movie. Especially if Gwen never had this psychological dream-reading trait of hers because she was so helpful throughout the movie, helping the officers make leads and get a step closer to solving the case.
You can watch this movie through a subscription on Peacock or renting/buying it from other services (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, etc.).
Top five Thanksgiving foods
By: Alayanna Bouwens
Thanksgiving has some very unique and delicious foods. Let’s rank them all from most well known to least and break down why they may be so popular.
- Roast Turkey
What would Thanksgiving be without its classic roast turkey? After all when you think of Thanksgiving you think of turkeys; whether it’s a cartoon turkey, a president pardoning a turkey, or a cooked and sliced turkey. They are an obvious choice as they are big enough to feed large amounts of people, turkeys are relatively common and easy to raise, and turkey also goes with countless other dishes making it a good universal Thanksgiving food.
2. Stuffing
Of course what would the turkey be without its stuffing. What’s in the stuffing varies house to house but it traditionally has breadcrumbs, herbs, and diced vegetables. It offers a variety of flavor and fiber as well as comfort. The stuffing goes great with the turkey making it an obvious choice.
3. Pumpkin pie
When we think fall we think Thanksgiving and when we think Thanksgiving we think pumpkin pie. What would a Thanksgiving dinner be without delicious pumpkin pie for dessert? The pie is usually topped with whipped cream and nuts. Pumpkin pie offers a unique sweet taste as well as texture.
4. Baked macaroni and cheese
What would Thanksgiving be without its comfort food baked mac and cheese? It’s a fan favorite with its bread crumbs and carbs. Thanksgiving mac and cheese is typically baked in an oven till the top layer is a little bit crispy. No matter how you make it, mac and cheese goes with any other food and serves as an excellent side dish.
5. Cranberry sauce
What would all of the other foods be without cranberry sauce, bitter or sweet cranberry sauce goes with any and all Thanksgiving foods, you can dip your turkey in it, side it with any other food, or just eat it plain; anyway you serve the cranberry sauce it remains delicious.
It is important to remember that although all of these foods are delicious the true beauty of Thanksgiving is in taking a moment to be thankful and show gratitude to the small and big things. A great thing to be grateful for is the delicious Thanksgiving food or just food in general. Take some time to reflect on all the beautiful things that you are grateful for and find a way to show your appreciation to those things.
Note: All images created with Adobe AI
Starbucks holiday drinks review
By: Norah Hoglund
Starbucks has recently come out with their holiday drink selections for the year! They have quite a few options, so I decided to test them in order to give insight on which ones you should try this year.
The drinks I tried were the Carmel Brûlée latte, the Peppermint Mocha, the iced Sugar Cookie latte, and the iced Gingerbread Chai.
Review
Caramel Brûlée latte:
This drink was, in a word, unremarkable. I liked the drink, but there was nothing that stood out about it. I didn’t really taste a lot of caramel in the drink, though I did like the caramel bits on top of it. It just tastes like a normal latte because the flavor is so mild. I would rate this one a 6.5/10.
Peppermint Mocha latte:
This drink was very flavorful. It tastes exactly like how you would think a Peppermint Mocha should taste. You can distinctly taste the peppermint and the chocolate, which are equally balanced. There is also a good balance of coffee flavor, though if some people like a stronger coffee flavor they might want to get an extra shot of espresso in this. Overall, it’s a great drink, and I rate it 8.5/10.
Iced Sugar Cookie latte:
This drink was not very sweet. The sugar cookie flavor is there, but it’s not a very good flavor. It doesn’t really remind me of a sugar cookie and it kind of just tastes bland. It definitely tastes like coffee, and the syrup isn’t sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of the coffee. I rate it a 4/10.
Iced Gingerbread chai:
This drink was probably my favorite one that I tried. It has a distinct gingerbread flavor, and it is nice and sweet. The gingerbread flavor is very reminiscent of Christmas. It comes with cold foam on top, which always takes the drink up a step. I rate this drink a 9.5/10.
‘Madea Christmas’ review
By: KiMiya Eason and Ci’Niyah Taylor
