Brett Favre is known to some people as the most accomplished quarterback in the NFL. to others he has become a disappointment and embarrassment. He has become an impressive quarterback throughout the years, but has had a rough end to a great career.

In 1992, The Atlanta
Falcons drafted Brett Favre as a second round draft pick, and 33rd overall pick. The beginning of his career in the NFL wasn’t impressive. He attempted four passes, two were incomplete and two were intercepted. Though he didn’t impress the Atlanta Falcons, Favre was gaining the interests of several teams. Green Bay Packers manager, Ron Wolf, thought he had potential and decided to trade for Favre.

In 1992, the Green Bay Packers traded a first round draft pick for Brett Favre. He impressed spectators and helped the Packers achieve their second best record in history. Favre played his first game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his first pass was deflected and caught by himself. The following game, starting quarterback Don Majkowski injured a ligament in his ankle, and Favre entered the game. He fumbled four times and left the team and crowed unsatisfied, but came back to win the game with a touchdown throw. Throughout the season, he developed from a back-up quarterback into a NFL Pro Bowl competitor in about three months. He was the youngest quarterback to play in the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl at 23 years. He continued an impressive career and won MVP three consecutive times from 1995-1997. He led the Packers to eleven playoff appearances, seven division titles, four NFC championships, and a victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Favre continued to impress spectators and began breaking several NFL records. In 2007, Brett favre considered retirement and couldn’t make a decision. The Packers couldn't wait for a decision and decided to move on.

The Green Bay Packers traded Brett Favre to the New York Jets
for a conditional draft pick. This trade was unexpected and people
became anxious as to how Favre could play with the Jets. He wasn’t
impressive and their season resulted in a 9-7 record. Again, Favre
considered retirement and decided it was the right option. He decided
that he needed to play for another team and came back to the NFL. He
showed interests in playing for his old rival, the Minnesota Vikings.

In 2008, Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings. This decision surprised both Packers fans and Vikings fans. Brandon McGee, a Mayo student and Vikings fan, said that he was “exited to have the opportunity for the Vikings to win the Super Bowl” with the addition of Favre. The season went great and Favre led the team to the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings were ahead to the end when Favre threw an interception, destroying their chances at the Super Bowl. After the championship game, Favre again debated the option of retirement. He didn’t retire. This 2010 season, has disappointed Vikings fans with a 1-3 record. Brandon McGee also commented saying Favre “is said to be the greatest quarterback, but younger quarterbacks are showing more potential.”

Brett Favre has an interesting background and shows the accomplishments of a great quarterback, who has been in several Pro Bowls, won the Super Bowl, and breaking a variety of NFL records. These are some impressive statistics, though some believe he has lost his potential.

Chile Mine Rescue

On August 5th, 2010 the San Jose mine in Chile collapsed trapping 33 Chilean miners inside. The Chilean miners were trapped 700 meters underground in the mine for 69 days and lived under a shelter underground until they were rescued. The men had food and other supplies delivered to them through small and narrow holes drilled down to them. Rescuers started their mission to rescue the miners on Monday October 11th 2010.
The engineers organized a plan to drill a shaft in the ground for the miners to be hoisted out to safety. Before the drilling could take place the engineers had to determine whether or not the miners could be hoisted up through the exploded rock or if they would need steel piping for the shaft. Once the drilling had begun, the works had to lower a camera in the shaft after the drill was removed to allow the experts to evaluate the state of the rock walls and see what would be the best solution for the rescue. This rescue effort is believed to be the deepest ever and the survivors have been underground longer than anyone who has made it out alive. It's also one of the most advanced of its kind, and it could help other countries and states increase their standards of mines in the future.
When October 11th 2010, rolled around, the plan finally took place, and it was a success. The 33 men that were buried alive were finally brought back to their loved ones and out of the mine. “I feel that this is a very serious and scary issue for both the miners and the families involved and I’m very happy that the plan was a success, even though I feel that they should have planned this out sooner and done more to get the miners out of the mine sooner” said student Mercedes Erpelding when asked about the current issue. It’s a big difference for people who work in mines back in the 1960s it was very likely for miners to have causalities and it was known of, they would usually send money to the widows but now its very unusual because of all the mine safety that has been advanced over the years. Hopefully nothing like this happens again and the mine safety will increase to protect miners from dangers like this.

Cross Country Controversy

Century campus was abuzz with parents cheering loudly. A football game? A Soccer game? No- it was the Century Cross Country Invite or previously known as the All-City. The Century Invite consisted of boys and girls teams from JM, Century, Mayo, and Schaffer Academy all were competing for the prestigious honor of being the best team in the city.

There was a twist this year, as Lourdes was not allowed to participate. According to the article published by the Post Bulletin, Pressbox View: No Lourdes, no Langlie Scholarship, they were banned from the event due to the unfair recruitment of a hockey player by Lourdes. It has been heard that this particular student was going to attend Century at some point and play hockey for them. Many people are upset that Century punished the sport of cross country for a hockey related incident. Senior from Mayo Billy Schimmel said in an interview “This was a hockey incident so why should we, the cross country athletes, be punished for this? It just isn’t right.”

If kicking Lourdes out of the meet isn’t bad enough, Century changed the title of the meet from the Kevin Langlie All-City to the Century Invite. Now this might not seem that bad but the change in the name upset many of the John Marshall students and parents. In the past, the All-City race has been a memorial race that honored the death of Kevin Langlie. Kevin was a top cross country runner for JM whose life was blooming during his High School years. He was loving and enjoying life to its fullest. Kevin was rock climbing with friends six years ago when he decided to take a picture of his friends climbing a rock face. It is not known for sure but the best guess is that Kevin lost his footing and tripped over a cliff to his death. His family created a scholarship fund in his name that while the meet was named the Kevin Langlie All-City, they would give two senior runners that participated in the race each a $500 scholarship. These scholarships would come from the t-shirt sales at the meet. Some fans feel that Century does not care to honor Kevin since they kicked Lourdes out and renamed the race; therefore the race is not about remembering Kevin anymore. Senior Billy Schimmel also said in an interview “Because it wasn’t called the All-City meet, they didn’t give Kevin the remembrance he deserves.”

However, a race did occur. The boy’s race had 110 athletes run in the boy’s race and junior Riley Macon finished in first place in a time of 16:48. He was followed closely junior by Steven Schimmel. Due to Mayo Varsity team’s overall speed, they clinched their third start victory at this race and made themselves the undisputed #1 cross country team in Rochester. The girls did not come in first, but rather second after putting up an incredible fight from start to finish. Mayo girls placed 2nd overall, just losing to Century. Nonetheless the Mayo girl’s put up a valiant fight with junior Frances Payne placing 2nd running 4K in a time of 15:43 and senior Andrea Louwagie placing 5th with a time of 16:09. Amidst all the drama, the event was a disappointment as it did not honor Kevin Langlie. There is always hope for next year that Century will decide to put their personal feeling aside and realize how important the All-City race is to so many people.

Written by Vince

Halloween!

Trick or treat! Its that time again, in a few days its Halloween! Bring out your candy bags and masks and get ready to go out and trick-or-treat! What makes an amazing Halloween is having good experiences while trick-or-treating. Some people don’t have such a great time .

I recently interviewed a good friend of mine, Cody Fields resident of Rochester, about Halloween experiences. I asked, “Do you have any Halloween story's?” Fields replied, “Yeah, I was trick-or-treating in Okoboji, Iowa and I was running down a street from my brother and I tripped and chipped my tooth on a curb.” I guess candy isn’t the only thing bad for your teeth during Halloween.

Trick or treating also has many traditions. Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, dressing up, passing out candy, decorating. Setup events like pumpkin patches, haunted houses, and haunted caves. There are family traditions as well. I asked Fields if he had any Halloween traditions and he states, “I always eat a large dinner with my parents and watch some T.V., I usually don’t go trick-or-treating.” Trick-or-treating should not have an “age requirement.”Halloween is about having fun.

Dressing up this year adds to the fun and feel of Halloween. Pick out a favorite costume this year and maybe you’ll get more candy.

Mayo Passion

Mayo Passion

Not all teachers are dull and boring as we think they are. They have their likes and dislikes just likes us, and this makes us human. In the case of Mayo staff, Mr. Carter and Mrs. Anderson are two staff members that have interesting activities they do on their free time and after school that make them good at what they do and teach us here at Mayo High School.

Mrs. Anderson is a great person in school and outside of school. I had her for my sophomore health class 2 years ago and I strongly think she is a great teacher and human being. She loves to help kids in school and one of the reasons she might be so successful with her job here at Mayo is because of what she does outside of school in her free time. For example, she likes to take care of herself doing simple things outdoors like gardening, and being around water and sunshine. Mrs. Anderson is into sports, she likes to play golf on the weekends also go biking. She is also into football, and is a Vikings fan. The game between Jets vs. Vikings was a game she thought was “disconnected” as Brett Favre kept on messing up during his passes. She’s a family person, Mrs. Anderson often calls her kids to check up on how and what they are doing. On Wednesday nights she likes to go out on a date night with her husband to a restaurant of their choice. I think she is successful in her job because of her style of living, maybe this is why kids come to her for help in school.

Current Human Geography and US History teacher, Mr. Carter is a cool guy and a great teacher (I should know this because I had him last year). What makes him really cool is that he has an interesting choice of activities in which he does in his spare time. When he gets home all he thinks about is to relax from a somewhat busy day at school. He has kids, and he likes to spend time with them, like playing legos with them. Speaking of legos; when he has the opportunity he likes plays Lego Star Wars a game for his Xbox360. Some stuff he likes to do is take out the dog for walks, cook and watch any kind of movie that isn’t a chick flick alone or with his wife. Mr. Carter and Mrs. Carter will go out somewhere and visit places on the weekends so most likely he will be busy during the weekend. One cool fact about him is that he likes to play, watch and coach soccer. He supports Manchester United F.C. just like me.

These are some stuff mayo staff Mr. Carter and Mrs. Anderson do on their spare time, after school and on weekends. They seem like they are boring but really their outside activities is what makes them human and successful with their jobs at school. In my opinion they are two of the best mayo staff and teachers I have had during my time at mayo.

State tennis #14

For a fourteenth straight time, the Mayo high school girl’s tennis team is headed to state this year! It may be seen as something that continues to happen every year, but there’s always something exciting to watch before they make it to state. The section final between Mayo and cross city rival Century is something a tennis parent and especially fan don’t want to miss! As quoted by senior captain Hannah Stroebel, “This is one of the most exciting times of the year and just trying to play with such anxiety and chaos is quite the challenge!” We also have a good chance of winning a state championship so I hope we can come out on top in the end and win it all!

So this year, the girls faced another good century team which had two of its singles players ranked in the top ten of the state. This had already set Mayo with a major challenge, because it would mean having to face a possible 0-2 start to the match. The main strategy for century would be that they would only have to win two doubles matches so that they could seal the win. By the time the match had begun, the Mayo girls were already quite stressed out with tough singles matches so they really had to step things up in there doubles. The girls were in for a small hint of surprise as the results would completely change and the tennis match would soon be going in Mayos favor. At first it never looked like the Mayo girls would pull anything off but then a small incident came out of nowhere. Were the Century girls going to win?

As the match began, though, there was a slight turning point for the mayo girl’s team. One of the number three doubles players for century ran into the net, twisting her ankle and therefore forfeiting the match at number three doubles, played by Stroebel and her partner Christina Hagen. This narrowed the margin to 1-2. As the Mayo girls realized that three doubles had been strengthened so that century would have a better chance of winning, winning was completely out of the question now for century. From that point on, mayo completely dominated the second part of the match winning all five of the matches with a 5-2 victory in the end. “It’s a great feeling having the opportunity to go back to state with a great team that I’ve been playing with for a while. I really do get to know these teammates of mine and there will to strive and get better at the sport”, senior captain Jessie Edwards mentioned after winning her one doubles match with her partner Delaney Edwards. This year the girls won a hard fought section 1AA final and everyone wishes them the best as the fight continues through state tennis which will be held at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota.

500th Career Touchdown Pass! and still a loss

A 40 minute weather delay to a football game usually doesn’t say good things, good things for the Minnesota Vikings anyway. On October 11, 2010, the Minnesota Vikings squared off against the New York Jets. While this seems like it would have been an easy win for the Vikings with the gain of wide receiver Randy Moss, the Vikings don’t seem like they have it together this year. Although the Vikings did start out bad, they had a comeback during the end of the 3rd quarter with a pass to Randy Moss ….followed by a pass to the opposing team. This isn’t how the entire game went though.
The first quarter of the game started out with the Vikings showing a little bit of humor. Minnesota thought it would be humorous to pass the ball to the Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, giving us a penalty flag at the beginning of the game. The game started off slowly with only a 3-point field goal for the Jets in the first quarter, Jets leading 3-0. The second quarter heated up a little more with 3 more 3-point field goals for the Jets, leading the Jets 12-0. The Vikings finally started to make a comeback during the 3rd quarter with a touchdown pass by Brett Favre to our new starting wide receiver Randy Moss. This catch made it Favre’s 500th career touchdown pass.
This hype was soon followed by another field goal by the Jets, now Jets lead 15-7. It all came down to the 4th quarter. Wide receiver Percy Harvin caught an incredible pass, only inches away from the goal line shifting the score to 15-13. Excitement consumed Minnesota and caused them to make a quick faulty decision. Instead of kicking a 1-point field goal, they decided to try for a two-point conversion. This decision was followed by an interception by Favre that resulted in a touchdown for the Jets, shifting the score again 22-13. Favre holding his arm in pain toward the last three minutes of the game caused even more tension for the Vikings. However Favre didn’t let us down, and completed a major pass to wide receiver Percy Harvin, bringing the score to 22-20. With less than two minutes left in the game, the Jets made some lacking plays causing a quick turnover. This tension increased significantly when the chance for the Vikings to make a comeback and win the game came into sight. It all came down to whether or not Favre was ready to win the game. Weak decision making came up once again for Favre unsurprisingly when he decided to throw the ball before he was sacked. This decision caused a Jets teammate to easily catch the ball and return it, only running a few yards into the end zone, thus causing the final score of the game to be 29-20.
Making it to the semi-finals in the 2009 NFC Championship should have Minnesota thirsty for the Super Bowl XLV title, but with their sad record of 1-3, it shows that the Vikings need to get things together fast. It’s hard to understand why we lose so often when we have one of the greatest quarterbacks in football history (Brett Favre) and a star running back (Adrian Peterson). This poor season has reminded Vikings fans of the previous seasons before we had Favre. The Vikings have never been the best team, but we were able to see a glimpse of hope with the gain of our new quarterback last season and this season. When asked about the Vikings current season, Senior at Mayo High School, Jake Babcock was quick to express his feelings with only two words, “we suck.” As if it wasn’t for the great number of loses already, our “great quarterback” is showing little hope for a Vikings super bowl. “This individual game wasn’t only Brett Favre’s fault, but he was a major contributor,” Babcock continued.” We can only hope that this season will turn around and we can make it to where we were last year once again.

Image by: hot-topics.blogreaction.com

Rochester Sees a Change in Color

In these first few weeks transitioning into October, many Rochester residents have taken notice to a colorful change in scenery. On Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010, autumn officially began. With a chilly start, autumn welcomed us with beautiful sights just outside our doors. Clusters of multicolored trees and piles of crunchy leaves are now calling to Rochester's free-spirited habitants this season.

Peering out windows and doing double-takes in the car, Rochester citizens are coming out to set their eyes on the wonders of nature. As most people know, when autumn arrives, it brings an abundance of color in the trees as well as large amounts of colorful leaves on the ground. As summer reaches an end, we witness a shortage in sunlight. According to Answers.com, with this new lack of sunshine, the chlorophyll responsible for the green pigment in leaves is suddenly reduced. The normal green leaves that we see will turn into various shades of red, yellow, orange, or brown, depending on the type of tree and the pigments that it contains. So now with a new span of colors alongside of the streets, many autumn enthusiasts are celebrating the arrival of their favorite season. Autumn is the preferred season for many, according to an online survey site, Quibblo.com, who provides statistics on America's favorite seasons. The results of their "Favorite Season" survey conclude that 33% of the majority votes that autumn is indeed their favorite season, followed closely by summer, then winter, and finally spring. For Evan Borkenhagen, a senior at Mayo High School this year, the autumn season is a time for change. "For most, [autumn] is a season of things going grey and dying, but for me it's like a rebirth for friends and opportunities," stated Borkenhagen. Like most kids, Evan occasionally finds himself lying with
heaps of leaves on a nice day, as seen here on the right. For frolickers or people like Evan Borkenhagen who enjoy a good time outdoors, taking a walk down a local nature trail or tumbling into mountains of leaves can prove to be a great time. The outdoorsy type may also find autumn to be a perfect time to take photos. Whether a photographer or not, everyone in the community may enjoy snapping pictures of the beautiful scenery. Seen here on the left is a photo taken near the Mayowood Mansion in south-west Rochester, where color provides the perfect touch for photography.

This won't last for long though, as many Rochester residents may have noticed, this season is going as quickly as it came. As we approach winter, we'll see less sunlight, and the leaves will soon die and fall from the trees. Don't let this sadden you though, because autumn will be back again next year. Until then, embrace this season, and thoroughly enjoy the colorful scenery and the joy that autumn brings to Rochester, Minnesota.

Not so WILD ?

In the Xcel Energy Center, an attendance of eighteen thousand Minnesota Wild fans fills the arena making it another home game sellout. The Minnesota Wild ended the 09-10 season poorly. They were twenty-two out of thirty in the league conference and second to last in their Northwest division. Now, coming back for the 10-11 season, fans are wondering what to expect for the Minnesota Wild hockey team. The old, but still new head coach, Todd Richards had big shoes to fill when he replaced Jacques Lamaire in 2009. Richards’ rookie year didn’t go very well in the first half, but once the Wild players got used to his new system they played better in the second half of the season, and that gave the fans hope for a better season this year. Also, The Minnesota Wild got a new general manager Chuck Fletcher. After some changes and losses in the past year, not only did the Wilds trade Owen Nolan, Shane Hnidy, John Scott, and Derek Boogaard, but also signed John Cullen (Tampa Bay Lightning), Eric Nystrom (Calgary Flames), and Matt Cullen (Ottawa Senators). Chuck Fletcher likes the new group of guys and is hoping that the team makes it to the playoffs this year.

Some fans agree that the Wild will make a comeback. Josh Sikkema, a senior at Mayo High School, says “I expect them to make a strong comeback; I mean they made a lot of changes last season but I believe they will come back strong.”

Maybe fans like Sikkema are correct, and the Wild will make it back strong. On the night of Thursday, October 14^th, 2010, the Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on their home opener winning the first game of the season. The Wild are now 9-0-1 for their home openers. Matt Cullen, who is just joining the team this season, was all round the net Thursday night. Cullen ended the game with 1 goal and 1 assist, making him a good add.

Or maybe the fans are incorrect. On the night of Saturday, October 16^th, 2010, the Wild fell short 3-2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Although the Wilds did not win the game, Matt Cullen had another good night. Cullen ended Saturday’s game with 2 assists, and was also the second star of the night.

Even though the wins aren’t racking in, it is still pretty early in the season. The Wild have many games to play and time to improve. Continuing to adjust to the changes they’ve been facing, it may take a couple more seasons before we see the Stanley Cup in Minnesota. Minnesota fans are loyal and hopeful, but they’ll just have to wait and see how the Wild play this season. Whether good or bad, the true Minnesota Wild fans will be there cheering them on and selling out every home game.

sources:

LeBrun, By Pierre. "ESPN.com's 2010-11 NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. .

credits for photo:
http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=534481

Crisis in the Gulf

This summer, BP created a problem that would and will affect us far into the future. What turned from being a routine oil rig installation went from good to bad. The oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded due to a blowout, and sank to the bottom of the sea. The oil well that the rig was supporting was also destroyed by the rig when it sank (domino effect). The result of the catastrophe would set off a bigger problem for BP and the Gulf States.
The oil spill accident started when the well was detached from the sea floor. The Deepwater Horizon incident was merely a catalyst to the oil spill. The well was already a concern due to problems with its foundation. BP tried to save money by bypassing some of the protocols set in place to monitor construction of off shore drilling platforms. The concrete used to hold the well wasn’t up to code. The well was resettled many times before BP decided it was good enough. When the rig moved the well, the foundation came undone and let out tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil a day.
BP was found to be the main contributor to the oil extracting process and was blamed directly for the spill. The company would spend only a fraction of what it was making. BP didn’t start working on cleanup harder until the oil found its way to the Gulf coast. The mass of oil in the Gulf of Mexico was threatening the lives of many species of fish and also affecting many companies that rely on the waters as its main source of commerce. When asked, Brandon McGee, a senior at Mayo High School said that, “BP made some really dumb decisions. What they did upset the balance of jobs but most importantly, the ecosystem.”
Many weeks went by with the well pumping oil nonstop. BP made few efforts to contain the flow but was unsuccessful at stopping the flow. The company said that it will start a 20 billion dollar fund to help with efforts on the containment of oil in the water. Many were still outraged by the responses BP made to help clean up its mess. Brandon was one of the people who believe BP should be punished. He stated, “I believe that BP should receive a greater penalty and should give more to the clean-up effort.”
To this day much of the oil has been cleaned up, but still a lot remains. The impact this will have on the ecosystem and the economy of the Gulf coast will be scarred long after the oil is cleaned up. The Gulf States served as one of the best vacationing areas, but many will have to rethink their plans.


http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text/1

Disaster Heard Around the World

In September 2010 a major flood spilled over the country of Pakistan,killing many and making lives of people more difficult than they were before. It was the region’s worst flood in years since a long time. A blanket of brown disease infested water surrounds the country and has people panicking. A country that was stable has now become a disaster site. People pushing their vehicles out of the dirty, flood water and farmers worrying about their future, with no crops and land there was is no hope on the faces of farmers in Pakistan. Farmers move their cattle with their belongings on their heads and waist high water covers them. The cities and towns faced with a crisis, businesses and shop owners supplies destroyed. People’s way of getting money and keeping a living has gone away all of a sudden because of this disastrous flood. The people in cities huddling together on cars and in towns to find ways to survive, because some people’s lives have changed. With kids sitting on the wet, muddy ground crying for food as their parents wonder what they are going to do. With hot weather, poverty, and hard times ahead how did people cope with this and continuing to deal with this major disaster?

The Indus River in Pakistan caused major water rises and a huge area of Pakistan to be covered in water. Within 48 hours of the flooding, over a million of the people in Pakistan had been killed and displaced throughout the country. Later on in the North part of Pakistan when the flood started to recede, people could see the damage done. Homes, farms, and shelter were destroyed for people and for some people that were the only thing they had. Over 14 million people affected from this flood. The Army and Navy were sent out to evacuate the city of Karachi (a major/large city in Pakistan) because of the floods impact. The Flood destroyed homes and covered the whole city with 6 feet and higher waters. Not only was it during the flood, but now after the flood the risk of catching a disease and the shortage of food and water was a huge concern for the people of Pakistan. The death toll rose after the flooding went down, but many people can help and are helping by donating money and making causes. With millions of dollars worth of damage done will the country of Pakistan ever recover from this tragic event.

Locally people have been affected. The news of this disaster was heard around the world. The Pakistani community in Rochester and people relating to similar floods locally has been impacted by this. The recent flooding in Pine Island and across Minnesota has also left people in the same kind of distress.In Mayo High School people react differently from the flood, ways of helping and their opinions on it as seen in the interview.(See Interview)

With this disaster in Pakistan leaves people wondering how can we help? With millions of dollars worth of damage done in one of the most populated countries, millions of people living from day to day wondering what do I do? This is surely a flood heard around the world and now people wonder what’s in store for this country as the people and communities recover from this tragic flood.

image fromhttp://paperforgood.files.wordpress.com/2010/08\

Step Brothers

“You have the voice of an angel, your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.” That is one of the most famous quotes from the hilarious Adam McKay 2008 production of Step Brothers. Will Farrell and John C. Riley are an unbeatable team when it comes to making the best comedy movie of the year. No one else can play immature childlike characters better than this duo. Step brothers will leave your stomachs hurting from laughter and you wanting more.
In the movie stepbrothers Will Farrell plays the character Brennan Huff and John C. Riley plays the character Dale Doback, both men are in the 40s and still living with their divorced parents. The boys are living the good life, no jobs, no responsibilities, nothing, just watching TV and playing video games. That all soon changes when Brennan's mom, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen), and Dale's dad, Robert (Richard Jenkins), meet at a medical convention and fall in love and later wed. Both Dale and Brennan couldn’t be more upset when they all live under the same roof and have to share the same bedroom considering they hate each other’s guts. Robert and Nancy both decide that it is not ideal to have two of their grown children living with them anymore. Both of their parents insist that the boys get jobs and soon live on their own. After the boys figure out they have more in common they ever thought imaginable, the two start scheming up plans and knowing them it won’t be good.
The movie stepbrothers is definitely a must see for all ages over the age of 17. It will leave your stomachs hurting and quotes in your head that you will repeat for days.

How about 'em apples?

An apple a year keeps the doctor away, this year the apples come in the form of the new lineup of iPods that the tech gods at apple have graced us with Sept 1, 2010.  

The new iPods won’t make everyone happy and its nothing that apple hasn’t already shown us, the new iPod Touch is just an iPad that fits in your pocket and doesn’t have an option for 3G data service. The new iPod Shuffle brings a small touch screen but also removes the ability to record and watch videos & pictures (not that anyone would want to on that tiny screen). Finally the new fourth generation shuffle is just a second generation model with voice controls. Big woop.

 

1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd iPod Shuffles                                                            Brand Spankin’ New 4^th generation iPods

       (Top to bottom)                                                                      (Shuffle, Nano, iTouch)

Roman times...

Gladiator, which was made in 2000, is a movie that people just won’t see every year. Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator is about a young farmer, Maximus, (Russell Crow) who was a former general in the Roman army and is condemned to die because of a trap. As he escapes death, he finds out his family has been murdered and from that point on he becomes a slave and becomes one of the greatest gladiators to fight in the arena. The Roman Empire is then controlled by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Even though the plot and the actors provide one of the most entertaining movies of the year, the music and soundtrack to the movie is the most important part of Gladiator, because it expresses the plot that the audience sees very carefully.

From the intro of the movie, there is a song called Duduk of the North, which portrays Maximus (Crow) who is a general in the beginning of the movie as he controls one side of the roman Cavalry to lead against the enemy. Once he wins the battle, the song is heard throughout the victory and while Maximus is meeting up with the head general to be congratulated. This music that portrays this victory and introduction to the movie is quite important, because it shows to the audience how important Maximus is as a general in the Roman army. The biggest thing is that most people notice that this all happens before he is condemned to death and his family is killed which changes the movie completely.

Another intriguing song to the movie that is quite supportive to the soundtrack is called Homecoming, which portrays how Maximus and Caesar, the ruler of Rome (Phoenix) meet in the coliseum after Caesar had condemned him to die. After Maximus had just won a mighty battle in the coliseum with other gladiators, Caesar comes out of his spectator box and onto the fighting ground so that he can meet the gladiator. And while Caesar doesn’t realize that he’s talking to a man he once condemned to death, he becomes frustrated as Maximus turns his back to him and then he hear that this once a Roman general who fought on the same side as Caesar. All in all, this song portrays the hardships that Maximus has suffered and how he reacts to Caesar in the end really depicts there negative relationship as the movie progresses which creates such a dramatic movie ending.

Gladiator is a mix of adventure and romance along with history of course when it comes to gladiators fighting in the Roman Empire. The most important aspect of the movie is definitely the music, because it portrays important scenes and shows the audience the true plot without the action and minimal special effects of the fighting. I definitely recommend Gladiator to any person who is open minded to a mix of action and history as an interest. Not only is there good acting as well as an interesting plot, but the soundtrack is the clear summary of the movie and it shows its true plot.

The Other Guys

“I’m a peacock you gotta let me fly” is a quote that was used in this movie numerous of times by Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). This quote also refers to Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) the best actor in this movie. The plot of this movie is fantastic and its all thanks to the director and producer of the movie, Adam Mckay. The quote is said many times in the movie because of how other officials were restricting Terry and Allen from their full capability as detectives as they waited in the shadows of 2 other cops that are like heroes to people in the city.

Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz just want their chance in the spotlight and be recognized by others. They get their chance when a small case falls into their lap which ends up being a big case instead. When detectives Christopher Danson (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and P.K Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) lose a criminal, their pride takes over and commit suicide since they nerve lose. After this, Allen and Terry take over and fill in the empty spots with a case. The case is about a multi-billionaire David Eshron (Steve Coogan) trying to recover his company’s financial losses.

As things get worse during their case, they are highly being watched and under surveillance from both the “bad guys” and officials. They are stripped from the case re-assigned to different jobs when they mess up during the case. As terry enjoys his new job as a traffic cop, Allen decides to take the case on his own and finds credential evidence. He asks Terry to rejoin him then they later find out that Eshron is not getting money from the New York Lottery Office as they thought earlier, but he is getting it from the retirement funds of the New York Police Department.

My final thought on this movie is that Adam Mckay did a great job with it and if you are looking for a laugh this movie is good for you. I personally rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars, i think its a great movie and its worth the 1 hour and 47 minutes.

image from tribute.ca