Thanksgiving Traditions

It is a time of year when families come to town, food smells up the house, and relaxation for everyone in the family. A time of year that gives people vacation from school and work, and more time for everyone to bond with loved ones and enjoy in the festivities. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November and is a day to spend with family and people who mean the most.

Most people typically on Thanksgiving Day will stay home, eat turkey, and have a bunch of family come over, but people also do many different events during this time of year, visiting family or go on vacation. Minnesota weather is cold and people just want to get away and go down south to warmer climates. A lot kids visit relatives during this time and have family gatherings with family members they maybe don’t see all year round.

Thanksgiving is not all the same foods either. Turkey is probably the most common thing eaten during the this time, as said by Daisy Coria (see interview) but some families go out to eat somewhere special where they go every year on Thanksgiving or change up the menu on what they eat, like Dayana Loera eats a traditional Mexican dish. People tend to have their own traditions on what they eat, as Loera said she eats something that is more of a culture aspect of tradition. People tend to call this time of year the day where they are allowed to overeat. It’s not a time to count calories and be on a diet, but to enjoy what everyone has and splurge on what’s around.

Shopping is another big popular event seen during this time of year. With Christmas coming a lot of people, after Thanksgiving, gather up for shopping Black Friday which is the day after Thanksgiving, in which many stores offer good offers in town and usually people wake up early morning rushing to get the best deals. They have a coffee in their hands and shopping carts filled with the latest toys and items. Best Buy is one of the most popular places to shop during Black Friday, with tons of electronics on sale at low prices people are sometimes tenting outside of best buy at night to get their electronics. A lot of Christmas shopping and holiday shopping is taken place during this time, for restaurants and stores it’s the most important day of the year for businesses.

Thanksgiving is a great time of year, with more holidays arriving after it; it’s a turning point of the year. People cooking and shopping is something very popular around this time. Everyone has their own way of celebrating, by bringing in their own culture and vibe into their celebrations and making them unique. Businesses, households, and towns all pitch in to make this time of year easy and exciting. The key idea to Thanksgiving traditions and ways of celebrating is to always have people to celebrate with and having the time to relax and enjoy this once in year time.
image from google

Jackass 3D

The third Jackass movie brings back the Jackasses we’ve come to know and love. This time there’s more stunts to make the audience laugh and gag. The stunts are amplified by the extended use of slow-motion cameras and for the first time in Jackass history, shot in 3D.

The movie starts as the previous two films did. It has a quick introduction shot mostly in slow-motion and had a montage of the crew being hit by random items. The introduction wasn’t anything too special but it was a good attention getter. From that point on it was nothing but the wacky shenanigans the Jackass crew is known for. The one stunt that was closest to making me gag (which I rarely do in movies) was the sweat suit cocktail. The stunt consisted of a person running on a treadmill whilst wearing a closed suit. The sweat from the person would funnel into a cup. Then they had to drink the sweat out of the cup. This part almost made me gag but luckily it moved on and I didn’t have to have the taste and smell (imaginary of course) of the sweat. Perhaps the most disturbing stunt was the Poo Cocktail Supreme. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it goes somewhat accordingly to what the stunt name suggests. I should also mention that those who have weak stomachs may want to divert their eyes for part of this stunt.

In terms of physical stunts, The High Five was probably the best. It consisted of a giant hand held back, then suddenly let go. The hand would then swing around the corner and slam whoever would be standing there to the ground. It was also set around the dining area, so most of the people hit had their hands full with a tray of food. They would get slammed so hard that they would almost instantly be pounded into the ground.

Jackass 3D received average to above-average ratings from critics for its mischievous pranks and outrageous stunts. Meta-critic rounded up reviews and gave the movie 56 out of 100. Fans, on the other hand, gave the film 7.4 out of 10. Some say that Jackass 3D was the best out of the three and others say it was the worst. Ryan Inwards, a senior at Mayo High school, stated, “I thought it was surprisingly enjoyable even though I am usually skeptical of immature humor.” Regardless, it still lived up to the Jackass name.

I would definitely recommend Jackass 3D, but only to those who are old enough or mature enough to make it through. I can speak for us all when I say that little kids shouldn’t be watching movies of people (sometimes nude) doing stupid, dangerous things. The increase of nudity is another reason why you shouldn’t bring your kids to it. That said, this movie was super hilarious and worth watching. I would say it is also worth watching at least once.


http://www.metacritic.com/movie/jackass-3-d
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OMHy_G6FX48/TI9zY13s0iI/AAAAAAAAEoM/f1gvIL3pjPE/s512/Jackass-3D-1.jpg

State Tennis Tournament

After school last Monday, October 25th, 2010, the Mayo girl’s tennis team all boarded a bus headed to the Twin Cities for the Minnesota State Girls Tennis Tournament. Amazingly this is the 14th consecutive year that the team has been able to compete in the state meet. During an interview with senior captain Jessie Edwards she said, “Coming into the State tournament this year we had very high expectations and realized that we will have to bring our A game if we want to achieve all our goals.”

The Spartans first team match was against Brainerd. Brainerd was an easy opponent for the Spartans, hence the 7-0 victory. The team enjoyed their modest win and prepared for a tough match the following day against Mounds View High School in the semi finals. Mayo had played the Mounds View Mustangs earlier in the season and had played great, but unfortunately the Mustang’s strong individual players clenched the victory for them, so the Spartans lost 3-4. When the Spartans walked on the court for the semi final match they were immediately welcomed by over 50 howling Mayo High school students who all took a fan bus up so that they could support their girl’s tennis team in their aspirations for a state championship title. The cheering Spartan fans quieted down as the head coach from each team announced the line for the day. The line ups hinted that the Spartans had the advantage in all the doubles matches while the Mustangs had the upper hand in the singles matches. As the line ups had predicted, the Spartans won all three doubles matches while the Mustangs won all four singles matches, thus ending with a Mustangs victory. Sadly the Spartans goal of being the Minnesota Girls State Tennis Champions was crushed.

Some of the Spartans were feeling disappointed, but they had a chance to redeem themselves in the third place match against Minnetonka. The third place match went well as Mayo beat Minnetonka 5-2, winning third place in the Minnesota State Girls Tennis Tournament. According the senior captain Hannah Stroebel, “Minnetonka’s doubles were surprisingly better than Mounds View’s double[s] so we only won two of the three matches[.] [B]ut we won all but one of the singles matches so we are very happy. I really enjoyed my senior year season as a whole and am happy about how it ended.”

Some of the Spartans also competed in the doubles tournament. One of the doubles teams from Mayo, Jessie Edwards and Kylie Boyer, took third place in the tournament. Jessie Edwards talked about the doubles tournament. “My partner and I played very well during this tournament and most importantly had a lot of fun while doing it. We had some very close matches and in the quarterfinals match we played 3 sets that took about one hour each. For our third place game we played the other doubles team from Mayo. This made it tough to play them but we overcame that and won the match.”

The Spartans didn’t come out of the state tournament as champions as they had hoped, but they won third place in the tournament which is something to be very, very proud of.

Heavy Rivalry on the Field

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre returned to Lambeau field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Monday, October 25, 2010. As he walked onto the turf, a roar of “BOO” from the crowd encompassed him. This was no surprise to anyone because of last season’s repeat. This bitter rivalry has gone on for centuries and continues, especially because the Vikings acquired their old quarterback. Surprisingly, with the Vikings current poor record, this game turned out to be a “nail-biter.”

First quarter started out with a bang. Packers were able to score early in the first quarter leading 7-0. The Vikings were able to make a comeback with only one-minute left in the first-quarter. Percy Harvin was given the ball by Favre and was able to find a slight break in the Packers defense to slip through. The end of the first quarter ended 7-7. Second-quarter started just as the first one did. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw a dart straight to tight-end Andrew Quarless, Packers now lead 14-7. Sadly, Vikings coach Brad Childress was unable to notice the Packers tight-end not maintaining possession of the ball as he fell onto the field and did not challenge the touchdown. Again Percy Harvin attempted another touchdown. This time Harvin dived into the end-zone unable to stay in boundaries. Packers coach Mike McCarthy was quick to challenge this touchdown; refs soon called the touchdown no good. Vikings obtained the ball again after a short turn-over. Favre was able to find a straight opening to tight-end Visanthe Shiancoe in the end-zone. McCarthy was quick again to challenge this touchdown. Refs called the touchdown no good because the ball hit the ground.

Favre’s poor decision making plagued him once again this game. Within the first five minutes of third-quarter he threw an interception to Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was quick to complete this turn over with a touchdown pass to Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings. With the Vikings possession of the ball returned it was only a matter of time before another interception pass was thrown. Sadly this occurrence happened a little faster than expected. On the second down Favre tried a fake but accidentally threw the ball to Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop. In return Bishop scored a 32-yard touchdown, Packers lead 17-28. With only four minutes left in the third-quarter, Vikings knew they had to do something soon so they decided to try out new wide receiver Randy Moss. This was an excellent idea that ended with a touchdown, the score then changed to 28-24. Fourth-quarter was the most exciting one of the game. The key word to this quarter was “effort.” Each team tried their hardest to score, but neither team was successful. One touchdown during the last quarter was controversial though. With only seconds left in the game, the Vikings decided to thrown the ball all the way into the end-zone to wide receiver Percy Harvin. This touchdown was called back by refs because Harvin caught the ball with one foot in and one foot out of the end-zone, thus causing the final score of the game to be 28-24.

The Vikings current season has been known to be sad and disappointing. This game has displayed that the Vikings have started to come around and work together. Although the outcome wasn’t on the Vikings side, it’s evident that they are coming back and are fighting every chance they get. This individual game turned out to not to only be Favre’s fault, but also the rest of the team’s fault. When asked about the game, Rochester fan Kristy McGee said “It was Favre’s fault partly, but the Vikings need a better offensive line so that all of the pressure isn’t always on him.” Another Rochester fan Kelly McGee went on to say “with different calls by Vikings coach Brad Childress, the end results would have been different.” Not only is it Childress’ fault, McGee continued to say “on paper we have the better team, but we don’t show it.” Hopefully the Vikings turn themselves around and start winning again. Vikings fans can only hope for another chance for a spot at the Super Bowl XLV.

Image: purplejesus.wordpress.com

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