It all began with a man and a dream. Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien led a brilliant campaign, convincing the studiosto re-release "the greatest movie ever made...Dirty Dancing!" to celebrate it's tenth anniversary.
Numerous phonecalls, and several threats against people's jobs later, the film is back in its full glory on the big screen, the way it was meant to be shown.
If you are unfamiliar with the movie, it is time you were acquainted. Ignore all comments that "Dirty Dancing" is lame and/or cheesy. Jennifer Grey puts on a terrific performance, and Patrick Swayze is gorgeous. In this monumental film, he sings ("She's Like the Wind"), he dances, and his hair looks really, really good. Also, "Dirty Dancing" contains the best love scene since "Ghost." (Yet another Swayze film. Coincidence? I think not!)
Brief summary of plot: Baby, a seventeen year old do-gooder vacations with her parents and ditzy sister at an exclusive resort in the Catskills. She meets Johnny, a hot dance instructor almost twice her age. They hate each other, they learn from each other, they love each other, her dad hates her, her dad hates Johnny, Johnny and Baby dance and stuff, and everyones loves everyone else. End of happy story. It's the feel-good movie of the late eighties.
Which part do I like best? I like the part where the hot dance instructor falls for the extremely intelligent, but not particularly attractive seventeen year old...sigh...
Movies are good...
Anywho, I highly recommend this digitally re-mastered film. Adventure! Romance! Comedy! Showtunes! Thrills! Chills! Eighties Music! Jerry Orbach!
How can you go wrong?
Sofi, ed.
Is it just me or does everyone in this school look like they need more sleep? I'm soooo tired. After much thought I have come up with a plan. We need a period where we could sleep. That's right we need NAPTIME! I have a great plan. It could take place in second period. It could be a time when you would go to a designated class and SLEEP! People perform better at school and are much happier when they are well rested. We need our sleep!
Come on, you agree with me, don't you? I bet there are a lot of people who would love to (or probably already do) sleep through second period. Now naptime doesn't have to be in second period but it just seems easier to have it then. If you agree with me tell your teachers and we might be to get this naptime thing started.
Stoopid Head
Personally, I'd take a Mickey D's salad over a hot dog anyday, but for some reason, the about 4 zillion grade 9's here at MAC differed in opinion; and appetite.
Indeed, the BBQ at Grade 9 Day last Friday was the highlight of the occasion, but it was frilled with games, activities, and some other fun stuff for the Niners.
SAC and MAA got together and organized a great event. From the feedback fed back to us, the Grade 9's had a good time socializing, exercising, and munchin' on some grub. They also were introduced to their school leaders and got to know them as team captains and event runners as they competed at various games.
So Niners, I guess you're officially Blackscots. Don't be scared, Sherko won't hit you too hard at football tryouts.
Once a Blackscot, always a Blackscot.
Last week I read a most distressing article about raisins. This article contained insults towards one of the most delectable snacks -- the raisin.
After almost calling for the public burning of MacNews (I didn't because one of my articles was published), I decided I would visit the home of the International Anti-Raisin Society, and see their whole story of their hate for Raisins. They presented a valid argument, but not enough to convince me that raisins are in fact evil. Unfortunately, many people fell for their claims of raisins causing wars.
I went in search of a site that would save the raisin from all these raisin haters. After many hours of searching, I stumbled across The International Society for Raisins. This page is devoted to saving the raisin. It has many different things to inform you on the truth about raisins. How they are made, and how tasty they actually are.
Help the raisin by joining the society. Only a few people are members of the Society, so join and help our cause!
Smutton
I moved to Quebec in 1989 and I will never regret it. At the time, I was only eight years old and I cried because I did not want to feel the pain of leaving my friends and not having any friends in my new surroundings. I thought no one would accept me for being an anglophone. But Quebec is different than Ontario and this is something no one should ever forget.
I was born in Quebec but my family moved to Toronto when I was only six months old so I felt like a native Torontonian. I thought the whole world was the same as Toronto. I thought everybody had the same political, religious, and humanitarian convictions as we did. Moving to Quebec educated and matured me in the sense that I learned the ways of the world and I did not gain a negative attitude from the experience.
The Quebecois are a very cultured, very proud, very beautiful group of people and I don't think anyone here understands that. I have talked to many students here at Mac and they all have told me the same thing: "Quebecers are all snobs and the French language sucks!"
Huh?
When I asked them why they felt this way, I got hazy answers that told me nothing. One guy said, "French sucks cuz I can't speak it." What an educated answer. And no one had substantial evidence to back up their claim that "Quebecers are snobs." I have come to the conclusion that it's a stereotype.
I believe the reason most Torontonians can't speak French is because they don't try to or they don't care. Fortunately, the last time I checked, Canada is a bilingual country with English AND french. Granted, I speak French because I lived in Quebec and I was born there and I was in French immersion from grades four to eight and everyone in my family speaks it...blah blah blah, but that doesn't mean that the people here who do speak French learned it because they went through the same experiences as I did. They learned it for one reason that I'm sure they only realised afterwards: French is a beautiful language.
French isn't that different from a lot of languages you might already know, such as Italian, Portugese, and Spanish. Quebec is a spell-binding province (I still have dreams about my trip to Quebec City). Plus, the thought of visiting Paris, France sends shivers down my spine.
What I don't comprehend is how people can be so prejudiced about a location and its citizens when they know nothing about it! If you don't know any Quebecois, how do you know they are snobs? If you can't speak French, how do you know it "sucks"?
Lately, I have been snapping at anyone who shows a prejudice against not only Quebec but other locations around the world. I thought people were getting over petty differences.
I guess all I'm trying to get across is the fact that prejudices never make anyone prosper. I hope Torontonians will realise this.
I visited St. Martin, French West Indies, in May (yes, they speak French there), and I saw a sign with a message that I think everyone should live by: TOLERANCE IS TO ACCEPT OTHERS SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY EXIST.
Cheeky
Hi, everyone! We have changed the layout of MacNews Online this past week. Instead of having a lengthly list of Past Articles right on the menu and the front page, we have placed the list on a separate page. Also, we have added a page with short paragraphs about our regular writers. Go to this page if you want to find out about your favourite MacNews writer, or if you want to find out their e-mail address.
Nony LaSouris
Monday night, as I ate my Fruit Loops for dinner before band practice, I thought to myself: Why has everyone I've ever known made fun of me just because I don't like putting milk in my cereal?
What is so wrong about eating breakfast cereal without milk? Do milk producers have a conspiracy going on with cereal manufacturers? I mean, look at those cereal boxes; a big bowl of cereal is almost always pictured on the cover, and what adorns the cereal, may I ask? MILK! LOTS AND LOTS OF MILK! Since when was there a rule that stated "Thou shall have milk with thine cereal"?????
NOW, for all you milk-in-cereal eaters out there, you may probably be wondering how I could not like milk in my cereal. It's easy. Firstly, I don't like my cereal all mushy and yucky, and secondly, I can't stand to look at crumbs floating around in my milk. (By the way, I don't dunk my Oreos in milk either). Finally, when I drink milk, it should taste like milk. It should not taste like milk with a hint of Fruit Loop or simulated cocoa flavouring.
So, hey! Don't make fun of me because I happen to eat my cereal milkless. Things could be worse, you know. At least I'm not one of those freakish people who eat it with orange or cranberry juice. Now that is sick!
Guinnes Gal
Regardless of the all the "assurances", "benefits" and the other goodies that Education Minister John Snobolen is trying to throw at us, it is pretty obvious that there is only one true objective down "The Road Ahead": to save money.
"The Road Ahead" is actually the name of a report released yesterday. Written by a commission headed by a former NDP education minister and a one-time Toronto school board trustee, it proposes that the school year should be extended by three weeks, that non-certified instructors should teach non-essential subjects in place of qualified teachers, that each examination period should be reduced from 15 to 10 days, and that the number of high school department heads should be reduced. At the same time, it is also trying to change time spent for prepping ands in order to allow teachers to be more accountable to parents.
As the government is using this report to highlight all the "progressive" changes to be made in education, it is also quietly trying to implement its Fewer Schools Act (Bill 104) while quietly cutting $500 million from the already overburdened school system. While the government is expecting a longer scholastic year but with fewer teachers in order to prop up our dismal standings in national education tests, rumour has it that the government is thinking of cutting another $1 billion.
While I do agree with their good intentions, I am certainly at odds with their methods and the process being utilized to achieve their goals. Trying to get better marks is one thing. However, trying to achieve it with less money, fewer teachers and with burgeoning class sizes is quite another.
In other words, the way that the government here is trying to "cure the ills" of the school system is like performing an operation. If you cut too many of the vital organs out, you may eventually kill the patient rather than cure his/her ailments.
All in all, I agree with the government's intentions, but I disagree with the way they're trying to implement these changes. Sure, our marks may be less than satisfactory, but further cutbacks may end up decreasing those marks. Plus with a teacher's strike around the corner, "The Road Ahead" will be bumpy.
Kathy Tam