Month: November 2023

Categories
Entertainment Opinion

Thanksgiving movie review *CONTAINS SPOILERS*

After seeing Thanksgiving, you’re going to want seconds.

My honest opinion about this movie is that it’s filled with so much gore and unexpected kills. Each kill is some brutal kind of way but each one is just different.

This movie is just unexpected but filled with that classic “whodunit” feeling, after waiting till the end you are going to be shocked about who has been the killer the whole time.

The movie takes place in a small town in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and people are getting ready for a black Friday sale at a store. That’s where the massacre happens.

During the black Friday sale, people are shoving, pushing, and fighting each other to enter the store. But as the doors are opening, people are just getting crushed by other people which makes the door break, making the store free for people to enter the store but as the door is being opened, that’s where the first kill happens. The doors break open leaving glass still attached to the frame of the door, as people are entering the store a guy gets his throat slit by the glass leaving him to bleed out.

Just seeing the first 20 minutes will just leave you in shock because a lot more drama happens and that’s where the killer (the person dressed in the pilgrim outfit) is looking for revenge. 1 year passes by and the pilgrim looks for revenge for those lives that have been lost during the Black Friday sale.

I’m a big fan of horror movies but this movie does everything to make it as good as possible.

The main group of teens is wondering why this pilgrim is coming after them but after realizing why, you’ll get to understand the movie more. The kills are just amazing and gory. It was just shocking to see people die this way or that way, but trust me some parts of the movie will leave you disgusted. I like how the pilgrim kills people with Thanksgiving materials because it makes it more fun for the movie.

This movie is good because they know what they are doing and they are taking their time to get where they need to go. Finding who the pilgrim is and why he is looking for revenge is just amazing because during the whole movie, you’ll find yourself making guesses about if it was this person or if it was that person but it leaves you in shock about why that person is looking for revenge.  

I also loved enjoying this movie because it won’t ever be a movie like this during this month because other months have that movie like October has Halloween horror movies but for Thanksgiving, I’m just grateful that they did make a movie like this.

The pilgrim is looking for revenge because during the black Friday sale, there was this cop or sheriff doing his job but seeing his loved ones get killed during the sale just leaves him in shock for revenge. As the year passes he kills those same people. just being the distressful person to him so he finds a way but every time he kills that person, it’s just amazing how the sheriff can kill this person this way but very unexpectedly it also makes you wonder if it is Bobby because at the end of the movie, he has a pilgrim outfit but its really not him. I also thought it would be Ryan because he has a role where everyone in the group just hates who he is because he’s not a popular person but a weird one as well. 

I highly recommend this great movie because it will leave you in shock but some seems will make you jump. Seeing the reviews of this movie is just amazing and shocking but I promise you this movie will make you want seconds.

Categories
News

2023 Festival of Plenty

Black Student Union’s Festival of Plenty was held this Friday, November 17, during lunch in the lunch quad. The event included cultural dishes from all sorts of clubs on campus, all of which were delicious and very affordable to students. Clubs and organizations often hold fundraisers on campus, but this was one of the first events in which all the student union members collaborated in one big feast. The Festival of Plenty was a great way to kick off the Thanksgiving season and our upcoming break.

From savory entree to a sweet dessert, there was something for everyone at this Festival of Plenty. With so many unique options, the Festival of Plenty was a great way to have a delicious lunch and support McClatchy’s cultural clubs on campus. 

Black Student Union planned this whole event and undoubtedly had the most vast spread of all the clubs there, but there were tables all around offering something unique to the culture they represented. Black Student Union’s menu included chicken, fish, mac and cheese, collard greens, and many more sides and beverages; Meanwhile, the Raza Collective was serving aguas frescas, the Pacific Islanders Union had spam musubi and pork buns, and the Hispanic and Latinx club offered elote, pan dulce, and gansitos. There were also tables for the Young Lines/K-Pop club which sold cupcakes and ramen and the Jewish Student Union which had cupcakes too, all of which sold for $10 or less. 

The event was a huge success for everyone able to participate. With all the different foods offered during the festival, you would think that lines would spread out over all the open booths; However, each stand seemed equally bustling with customers, hopefully meaning that all the clubs present were able to benefit from this fundraiser. Most of the food sold out pretty fast, so if you didn’t get your fix of whatever meal you were hoping for, be sure to keep up with the organizations there to see when they will have a booth again. 

Fundraising like this is also a good time to get familiar with clubs you may have missed at Club Rush, so if any of the clubs mentioned above sound exciting to you be sure to find their Instagram or a member to keep updated on meetings and other events in the future. However, events like these only happen every so often, so try not to miss them when they do!

This potluck was a great send-off to the upcoming break. In the Thanksgiving spirit, it was nice to see everyone enjoy working together to create such a nice meal on the last day of school lunch. Hopefully, this inspires others to do the same with their family and friends and celebrate gratitude however they see fit. Thank you to the Black Student Union for organizing such a wonderful event!

Categories
Cuisine and Recipes

How-to-Cheesecake

Today I will be showing you how to make this delicious cheesecake that my dad and my aunts have shown me how to bake. It is a delicious but different kind of cheesecake, the recipe has been passed down to me by my family.

TOOLS:          

• bowl

• mixer

• spoon

• store bought pie crust

• blender

 INGREDIENTS:

• 5 eggs

• 1 condensed milk (as much as you think you’ll need)

• 1 can of evaporated milk

• 1 bar of cream cheese 

• vanilla extract (as much as you think you’ll need)

BEFORE MAKING THE MIXTURE: 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees 

STEP 1:

Add in all the ingredients in a medium/ Large bowl

STEP 2:

Mix it all together with a mixer 

If the consistency looks like this with cream cheese chunks in it still

STEP 3: 

You get out a blender and pour it all into the blender so you get a better consistency of the mixture. Blend until you think it is good enough.

STEP FOUR: 

Take out your pie crust, two of them 

STEP 5:

Pour the mixture of the cheesecake into the pie crust evenly

STEP 6:

Once they are both evenly poured into the pie crust you can now put them in the oven, preferably the middle rack

STEP 7: 

Bake for 45-48 minutes, you need to take it out and check on it once it hits the 45th minute and if it needs more time pop it back in for another 2-3 minutes 

STEP 8:

Take them both out and let them chill in the fridge/freezer for a bit 

STEP 9: ENJOY!!

Categories
Opinion

Lords of Dogtown: Why you should watch it!

Movies have been around for more than 100 years and have always been the best way for people to come together and enjoy something they all like, whether that be horror, action, comedy, or in this case, a true drama story about skaters from Venice Beach.

The movie being reviewed is Lords of Dogtown, a 2005 drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke. I am reviewing this movie as it is my personal favorite movie, as well as a great movie in general. It is a true story about 3 teenage skateboarders from Venice Beach. It progresses with the beginning showing the three being regular, poor surfers, and skaters becoming wealthy skaters as they become sponsored. They battle the hardships of greed over friendship.

The movie starts off with three teenagers sneaking out of their houses to go surfing, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams. Jay launches off of a house with his board and over some homeless people as he skates towards the beach. Tony is the more daredevil of the group, so he bombs an intersection but gets caught up on gravel. Stacy is considered the outsider as he at first isn’t that great of a skater, so he bikes his way to the beach. That is really the beginning of the movie, just introducing the characters in a way that foreshadows later on in the movie.

As the three meet up at the beach, they find that there are others at their spot, and you come to find out that those guys work at a local surf shop, with Skip Engblom, the owner of the shop. After they all surf the very low tide, you get a montage of the three skating through the city in a great moment where they skate in between cars and hold onto a bus. It cuts to the surf shop where Skip is meeting with a businessman who is trying to sell “oil wheels” that can grip the wall and allow you to surf with a skateboard. Skip tries to tell the guy that “this is a surf shop” and he basically has no need for skateboard wheels, but he ends up just taking the wheels.

Soon after, the three come through the door of the skate shop, where you meet Sid, a kid who works at the surf shop. Sid explains to the guys about the wheels. Skip then takes all of the skaters he knows and shows off the new wheels at a skate spot. “Who’s got bad karma?” Everyone fights for the board with the new wheels with the winner being Tony and he tries out the wheels first. Then everyone tries out the wheels. It cuts to later in the day and everyone is skating. Skip is talking to the guys we met before during the surfing scene and he is telling them that he wants to set up a skate team, but the guys are telling him that they “just sell surfboards” and that’s it. Skip doesn’t listen and the next day he makes the team.

Skip tells everyone that they made the team, except for Stacy, tying back to him not being that good of a skater. Jay goes to tell Stacy that he didn’t make the team, as he wasn’t there to hear it. Soon Skip enters the team into a skate competition, and guess who shows up to the competition, Stacy. Stacy beat out all of the team and managed to take first place. After the competition, Skip goes up to Stacy and hands him the team shirt, implying that he is now on the team.

Everything goes great with the team from there, until they are offered to be on the front page of a magazine. That is when everything goes downhill. Not for themselves individually, but for their friendship. The team is cut down to the main three, Jay, Stacy, and Tony. They all begin to not skate for themselves but for the money. They feed on greed and they turn on each other. They end up quitting the team and joining a new sponsored team, except for Jay. Stacy created his own brand, Powell Peralta. Tony made his own brand, Alva. Jay joined no group but turned to his past and joined a gang.

It wasn’t until Sid had gotten cancer that they would all become friends again. The last few shots of the movie were of them skating a bowl together.

Overall, I thought this movie was great and very underrated. Being my favorite movie I have watched it hundreds of times and have not found much that I would have changed. The only thing I did not get was why they made Skip a completely different person, from when they introduced him to the second time you see him. He goes from a great surfer who seems nice to a drunk who makes fun of the kid who works for him.

I would rate this movie an 8.5/10, I liked it and I liked how it foreshadowed the characters from the very beginning and sort of gave a Cinderella story of rags to riches with them going from basically nothing to being the most well-known skaters at the time. It was also great how they showed Jay not turning to greed as from the very beginning he only used his money to get his mom out of her terrible job that kept her from morning to night.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who reads this as it is great to watch when you want something to focus on or something you just want to have in the background.

Categories
News

Pocky Day

You may have seen this holiday on your phone calendar, but what is Pocky Day? Well, most people now probably know about the famous chocolate-covered biscuit, Pocky. But why does it have its own holiday?

International Pocky Day is held on Nov. 11, because the “1” in the date is similar to the looks of a Pocky stick. Pocky Day is largely celebrated in Japan and South Korea. It was established in 1999, by Glico, the company Pocky comes from. This holiday is a great time for fans of Pocky to enjoy their favorite treats.

People love Pocky so much that on Nov. 11, 2013, a Guinness World Record for the most mentions of a brand name was broken. Pocky was mentioned a total of 3.7 million times! 

Many find this treat addictive and delicious. Flavors range from the original chocolate to cheesecake! Many flavors can only be found in a single country, making new flavors very hot commodities. But, Pocky had to start somewhere. In 1963, Pocky was created by Ezaki Glico. These biscuits were an instant hit, but many found the chocolate to melt in their hands. To solve this issue, Glico decided to remove the chocolate from the bottom of the stick. This gave consumers a place to hold their Pocky without getting their hands dirty.

Pocky became a huge success. Years after their creation, flavors evolved from just chocolate to a variety of flavors like almond and strawberry. Pocky spread all across Asia, finding its place in various countries like Thailand and South Korea.

By 2003, Pocky had successfully made its way to North America. More Westernized flavors were made available, like Cookies & Cream, Chocolate, and Strawberry. Matcha was also sold, but the flavor was noticeably less strong than the original Japanese version. Now, Pocky is widely enjoyed in the United States. Plus, with the increase in imported foods from Asia, we have more flavors available to us than ever. If you decide to step into an Asian grocery store, you’ll find Pocky.

Pocky Day isn’t a super widespread holiday. Still, it can be as fun as you make it. It’s the perfect day to enjoy Pocky for all it is. You can even try a bunch of different flavors with friends and rank them!

Overall, Pocky is a very popular treat in Asia and the West. Feel free to celebrate to your heart’s content, by eating tons of delicious Pocky.

Categories
Short Stories

Sweet Dreams: A Short Story

*This story contains disturbing imagery*

Two boys named Eric and Joseph are on a trip to their grandparent’s house. It is 1975 and they are on their way to Lathrop, CA.  Eric is looking out the window, watching as the cars pass by. Soon, he notices a man at an empty gas station, staring and waving at him. He doesn’t take much notice of it though. 

Soon they arrive at their grandparent’s house. Eric and Joseph get their bags out of the car, while their parents go greet their grandmother. Eric finishes getting the bags out of the car and goes into the house. Everyone is sitting down with his grandmother. He looks around to say hello to his grandpa, but he can’t find him. Eric asks where Grandpa is. Everyone is silent

They sit Eric down to tell him what happened. They tell him that his grandpa had been killed near the trail. Eric’s grandparents live in an area near a trail that is known for weird occurrences such as this one. His grandpa had gotten curious and decided to go explore the trail. Well curiosity had gotten the best of him, he is gone now. Everyone is stunned and quiet. 

Night comes and everyone is asleep. Eric is awakened abruptly by the sound of the back door opening. He realizes Joseph is not in his bed. He goes outside and follows Joseph. Eric asks his brother what he is doing. Joseph tells Eric that he is looking for his grandfather. Joseph still believes that he is still alive and out there somewhere, so he is going to look for him. Eric doesn’t think that this is such a great idea, but Joseph doesn’t care and continues to walk. Eric, being the older brother, follows Joseph. He catches up as they are stopped by a fence. Joseph then begins to climb the fence, but Eric tells him to stop. Joseph is at the top and looks down at Eric to tell him to shut up. As he does that he falls off the fence to the side. Joseph is in much pain as he has broken his leg. He shouts out and cries. 

Eric starts to climb the fence to help his brother. Soon when he begins to climb the fence a man comes from the side of the trail, out of the forest that surrounds them. Eric yells telling Joseph to get up. He tries to get to the other side, but his shirt gets caught on the fence. Joseph can’t get up, he is in too much pain. Joseph looks behind him and the man gives a frightening smile. He grabs Joseph up by the shirt and takes him deeper into the trail.

Eric tears his shirt to be released from the fence. He then scales the rest of the fence to go run and find his brother. He runs down the trail and finds Joseph, hung up on a tree. His hands hanging down, his skin all cut up. Then the man comes around the tree and tears Joseph from the tree, staring at Eric as he does. The man then begins to tear apart his brother. Eric watches in fear of making a sound. Then Eric screams as he watches his brother die. 

Suddenly, Eric wakes up from his dream. He breathes heavily, and soon he hears a sound. It is the sound of the backyard door opening…

Categories
News Sports

Frogtown Subsections

The McClatchy cross country team really said, “We are the champions, We’ll keep on fighting to the end”, as they traveled up to Frogtown, Calaveras to run at sub-sections. The team did incredible with the varsity, jv, and sophomore boys teams qualifying for sections.

Jonas Johnson is a junior at McClatchy and has been running cross country since seventh grade. He is the fastest boy on the team and ran a good race at sub-sections with a time of 16:40 minutes for the 5k. Although he hasn’t been feeling too well in the weeks leading up to sections he gave it his all.

“So Mr. Johnson we’ve heard that you haven’t been feeling so well leading up to subs, can you elaborate on what you’ve been experiencing?

“So about two weeks out from this race I started feeling a pain in my femur and it ended up being a reoccurring pain due to stress. So I’ve been going to the gym and using the elliptical instead of running, but I’ve been able to do workouts with the team.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been feeling that way, but hey on the bright side you trained to do your best and you did. You ran an excellent race and got another shiny medal to add to your collection. What’s your game plan going into sections?”

“My game plan for sections is to get out to that front pack at the start and stick with them for as long as I can.”

“That sounds like a very challenging plan Jonas. Are you sure you can handle that? I think you could go about this more strategically.”

“Well for these last two weeks I haven’t run so I was worried I would lose some of my drive and maybe I could go about this more strategically but the top pack has a big gap between the other runners, so if I don’t want to fall behind I have no other choice.”

“Ok ok well you are the fastest guy on the team and I’m sure you can get through this!”

The varsity girls team unfortunately didn’t all qualify but Jillian Palmer and Isabel Neff did and will be representing for the varsity girls at sections.

Isabel Neff is a sophomore and has been running cross country for only two years now, but is so incredibly fast!

“You ran fabulous Bel! I know this wasn’t your best race but you still got an amazing time of 22:38 minutes for the 5k. In your eyes, how did your race go?

“Looking back on my race I’m so proud of how I did! Right before my race, while warming up and stretching, I was not feeling it. My legs felt sore and my throat had been dry since that morning, these things tend to happen to me whenever I’m about to race. But once the gun went off, all of the pain went away and was replaced with lots of adrenaline. I can’t remember much of the race, except the steep hills and all the dust in my eyes. I do remember the relief that I always felt when crossing the finish line. I thought the race was hard, but in the end, the effort I put in paid off and that’s what makes me so happy and proud of myself. These races are just as much mental as they are physical.”

“Your efforts sure did pay off, since you’re going to sections! It’s really unfortunate that all of the varsity girls didn’t qualify though. How does it feel to be going to sections?

“I’m really sad that the whole team didn’t make it to sections, but there’s always next year. We had a great season as a team and I’m so proud of all of us! For me, this entire season has felt like a comeback. I had the worst season last year, fracturing my foot early into summer conditioning, which put me out for the majority of the cross-country season. The rest of my freshman year was followed by another fracture and a hematoma on my hand. I spent the spring of 2023 working with a personal trainer trying to strengthen my body and prepare for a healthy sports year. This season I’ve been able to regain my strength and confidence in running and stay healthy. I’m beyond proud of myself for making it to sections and I seriously couldn’t have hoped for anything more. I’m so happy that Jillian and I get to represent CKM for the cross-country girls!”

“Wow, you’ve been through so much and I’m so happy that you still have a positive outlook on everything. Keep striving for greatness Bel!”

This was the last race for many runners on the team, but they all went out with a bang and ended their season wonderfully. As for those on the team that qualified, make sure to look forward to what they will accomplish at sections this Saturday, which will be held at Willow Hills in Folsom. That course has some crazy hills but the runners have run it many times before so I know they can do this. Go lions!

Categories
Digital Editions The Prospector

Fall Digital Edition 2023

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IXYHvvO_7p1Nq41cbMp6T1xp8zLFBdp1/view?usp=sharing

Categories
Entertainment Opinion

Fall Activities

Here are a few activities that I like to do during the fall when I am bored or when I want something to do. Even if it’s super cold outside, there are still many things to do for fun especially if you’re just at home on your bed just laying there out of boredom.

One of the things I love to do most is as soon as October is over and it hits November 1st, I go straight to looking online at some stuff that interests me so that I can keep it in mind or screenshot it and put it on my Christmas Wish List. Yes, it’s true, I started on my wishlist at the beginning of November, there’s nothing wrong with that. It just gives me some ideas of what I want. It’s a good way to keep you busy while window shopping if you like to do so.

Another thing I love to do during the fall is go on walks. I like to stroll around my neighborhood and listen to music, preferably calmer music. I like morning walks or afternoon walks, during this time of the year is the best time because of the weather and the scenery. It feels good to go on a walk when it is about 60-68 degrees outside and the sun is out but just not all the way out and then there’s a nice cool breeze that hits your back. And then you can go back home and take a warm shower and relax. On top of being soothing, it helps you get your steps in.

One other thing that I do during fall is clean my room, and not just clean but deep clean it. I like to get rid of all my summer clothes and take them to a storage center. Then I also go through my clothes and donate whatever I don’t want anymore. It’s a good way to get rid of clothes and help others simultaneously. Cleaning my room brings me peace, especially when I am listening to music and being productive. I feel like I just achieved the biggest thing to ever exist on earth. When you are finally done cleaning, you can light a candle for the finishing touch and lay down and relax while watching a movie. 

I think a good thing to do during fall is bake, experience some new recipes, experience, or add to your baking skills. I usually throw on some Christmas music and bake a batch of cookies while having a Christmas movie playing in the background. It is a good way to keep you busy and you can also have your siblings or your parents or family come and join you. They can learn the different types of ways that you can make a cookie, it’s a good bonding experience with family and friends.

The second to last thing that I do during the fall would be to have a movie marathon, whether it’s by myself or with friends and family. Watching movies usually takes up a lot of the day so I like to start the movie marathon around 6 pm after I have finished what I had to get done. I am not picky about the movie, though I do love to watch all the Harry Potter movies during the fall until Christmas.

Finally, the last thing I enjoy doing during fall is journaling. The weather is beautiful, the feeling of it just being fall brings it all together. Journaling can be relaxing and it can help you a lot with stress and anxiety. Writing whatever you want and putting all your thoughts and feelings down on paper makes you feel like you no longer have anything to worry about. It brings me peace like I have no more worries that are weighing down on my shoulders.

Categories
Entertainment

Fall Playlist

Head Over Heels – Tears for Fears

This song reminds me of the opening scene of Donnie Darko, one of my favorite fall movies, about a kid’s hallucination of the end of the world. This song is also just a new-wave classic, the perfect kind of music to enjoy during this season. 

Rainy Day – Susan Christine

Other than new wave or alternative, one of the most appropriate fall genres is of course folk, and this song is a perfect example of how fitting it is. Her downbeat song albums like Paint a Lady are a peaceful addition to a mellow afternoon and will always suit a rainy day well. 

The Nightingale – Julee Cruise

Like the foremost song, this piece makes me think of one of my favorite shows, Twin Peaks. It’s a murder mystery, and as the plot slowly unravels throughout a slow and twisting show, so does the community at hand. This is all ultimately very typical of writer and director, David Lynch, who, if you can stand the dark aura of Twin Peaks, has also created many other bizarre stories, like that of Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, all excellently weird movies to watch during this dreary time of year.  

Only When I’m Dreaming – Minnie Riperton

If you don’t care for the dark energy of the previous show or song, Minnie Riperton’s whimsical, soul music will surely suit you much better. Honestly, I could listen to her all year long, but when the leaves change color, I always want to celebrate with her fanciful jazz. 

September Song – Eartha Kitt

There are maybe hundreds of different “September Songs” out there, but this one is without a doubt my favorite of them all. It’s old and sounds like it could be from a Disney Princess movie, but I think it’s purely magical. A bit older than the other choices on this list, but a  comforting, nostalgic song for autumn nonetheless. 

Flowers In December – Mazzy Star

This song may be the closest I will ever get to country, and yet it’s still one of my favorites on this whole list. Mazzy Star is the master of melancholy, and even with a harmonica, her music is still slow and quiet, like a December day. This entire album is very delicate, especially during this serene season. 

Sleeping Lessons – The Shins

I could sleep to this song every time it comes on. The backing track specifically is rhythmic, I could listen to the piano riff at the beginning all on its own for hours on end. I honestly wish The Shins would release that version so I can sleep to it. 

Fool in the Rain – Led Zeppelin We end with possibly the most upbeat song on this playlist, and surprisingly that is a Led Zeppelin song. I feel like the lyrics paint the scene of a dark, gloomy day that I can relish in all the better when it is dark and gloomy outside. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy Fool in the Rain, so listen while it’s still meteorologically relevant!