By: Kaitlin Swick

What makes you different makes you dangerous.  One choice can transform you.  Both are taglines from the latest blockbuster, Divergent.  This film is based off the book (you would never guess) Divergent by Veronica Roth.  This dystopian film revolves around the character Tris Prior, a girl who has been trying to find her place in the world.  In their society the people are split into five groups, or factions.  Each faction highlights a different value.  Tris was born into Abnegation, which is the faction that values selflessness.  Tris feels that she has never really been very selfless.  When taking the aptitude test, the test that is supposed to help one decide what faction he or she should join at the Choosing Ceremony, (which is when every 16 year old decides what faction to spend the rest of their lives in) Tris’s test results are inconclusive. This is a rarity.  She is informed that she is Divergent, something very rare and very dangerous.  She is instructed to never tell anybody this.  So at the Choosing Ceremony, instead of choosing Abnegation, she chooses Dauntless. This faction that values courage and bravery.  At the Dauntless headquarters, Tris meets Four, a fully initiated male member of Dauntless, who is there to help oversee the training of the new initiates.  Tris soon finds that training and keeping her secret are harder than she has ever imagined, especially since those who are divergent are being hunted down and murdered.  DUN DUN DUN!

Overall, I have a love/hate relationship with this movie.  Being a huge fan of the book, I had relatively high expectations for this movie.  I loved it because the plot for the most part follows that of the book.  They also kept some of the dialogue from the book and added it to the movie.  The casting I thought was pretty decent, all portrayed their characters successfully and made some interesting character development.  The music I thought gave a perfect feeling and vibe to this action-packed movie.  Now, why I didn’t like it.  There are some very minor plot changes from the book.  Some characters were completely cut from the plot, like Uriah.  They also cut certain dialogue from the book.  Granted, they can’t have all the dialogue from the book, but they cut some of the best lines.  If you haven’t noticed, all of my reasons for not liking it is because I read the book.  So, basically, if you haven’t read the books and have no expectations for this movie, you will probably like, if not love it.  If you have read the books, you will still like it, though you may be slightly disappointed at some points in the movie.

By: Kaitlin Swick

    St. Patrick’s Day.  The day everyone celebrates being Irish, even if you are not.  The day everyone decides to wear green.  The day where you will probably see more shamrocks than any other day of the year.  But, besides what the media tells you this day is about, what is its other significance?  As the title implies, this day is none other than the feast day of St. Patrick.

    St. Patrick was born in Scotland, yes Scotland, not Ireland, in the year 385 (AD).  When he was a boy of about 15, he was captured and sent to Ireland, a pagan country at the time, to be a slave.  While in Ireland, St. Patrick prayed to God a lot.  When he was 20, God told Patrick in a dream that he could escape slavery by heading towards the coast of Ireland.  There he found a group of sailors who were heading towards where his family lived, and he was reunited with his family.  He had another dream where he was told to return to Ireland to convert the pagans living there.  Before he went back he was ordained a priest, and then a bishop.  St. Patrick next went to Ireland, to convert.  He was able to turn the all Irish towards God in 40 years.  St. Patrick died on March 17, 461.

          So what is the significance of the shamrock?  When St. Patrick was teaching the Irish about God, he used a Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.  Each of the leaves on it represents one person of the Trinity, yet the shamrock is just one plant, like the Trinity is three persons in one.

        Now for a St. Patrick’s day pop quiz.  Test your knowledge about this Irish holiday by answering a few trivia questions.

1. What US rivers are dyed emerald green on St. Patrick’s Day?

2. According to tradition, what type of animal did St. Patrick force out of Ireland?

3. What gift does one supposedly receive by kissing the Blarney Stone?

4. Name the Disney movie that is about a boy who starts to turn into a leprechaun when he loses his lucky Irish coin.

5. Where was the first St. Patrick’s Day parade held?

ANSWERS

1. The Chicago River and the San Antonio River- Don’t worry, they say it’s eco friendly…

2. Snakes- It is true.  There are no wild snakes in Ireland.

3. The gift of eloquence- To receive the this gift, you have to kiss the stone while bending backwards so that you are upside- down.

4. The Luck of the Irish -It’s a good movie.  Check it out!

5. Boston- Surprise! And you thought it was in Ireland, didn’t you?

School Collapse

By: Cassidy Shirlow

It was just a Saturday night in Anaheim, California at Servite High School, an all boys school. The girls from Rosary High School, their sister school, were in the middle of singing and dancing when all of a sudden, the stage collapses and the students all immediately collapse. Two dozen were taken to the hospital and many more had minor injuries such as bruises and scratches. Investigators discover that the cause of the fallen stage was to too many students on stage and the weight limit may have been exceeded. Some inspectors are going back to the school in two weeks to see if the permit for the stage is up to date and wheatear or not it included a weight limit. One girl states, “We were all jumping, having fun, we’ve done it five times before, and then all the sudden the girls in front of me just disappeared,” The girls were performing a performance titled “Red and Gold” which includes the girls getting into six teams and competing vocally and using their performing and acting skills, according to the school’s website. It was a scary and horrifying experience for the girls and the 600 other people who attended the performance at Servite High School, Rosary’s brother school.

The Lego Movie Review

By: Evie Hoff

The theme song for this film is “Everything is awesome,” which is fitting because

everything in this movie is awesome. Where do I begin? First of all, the animation is just

spectacular. This may come as a shock to you, but everything is made of Legos, which makes

the movie extremely fun to look at. I can promise that you won’t be bored for a second

Basically, it’s about a regular guy named Emmett who is prophesized to be the “special”

– aka, the most interesting, intelligent, and important person in the universe. He must

therefore defeat the evil President Business before he carries out his plan to destroy the world.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to like Legos to love the storyline, but you will have to

recognize the figurines of some pop culture icons, such as Batman, Gandalf, Dumbledore,

and a couple of Star Wars characters. However, quite a couple of new exciting characters are

introduced. Among these are Wyldstyle, the awesome heroine of the movie who helps Emmett

on his quest, and Vitruvius, an old blind man who offers him words of wisdom throughout the

tale in the wonderful voice of Morgan Freeman.

There is one last thing that makes this movie a must-see; it’s absolutely hysterical. Even

when the characters are in the gravest of danger, you’ll find yourself laughing your head off. In

short, if you like enjoyable movies, you should go see The Lego Movie.

Congratulations to John Wojtechko for winning the Charger Chatter contest!  Keep checking back for more contests! 🙂

By: Kaitlin Swick

After two weeks of winter sporting fun, it is time for the 2014 Winter Olympics to be over.  With every event over, the count of Olympic medals for every country has been finalized.  In first place, is Russia, with 33 total medals, 13 gold, 11 silver, and 9 bronze.  In second place, is none other than the United States, claiming 28 medals, 9 gold, 7 silver, and 12 bronze.  Sitting in third place, is Norway, taking 26 of the coveted prizes, 11 gold, 5 silver, and 10 bronze. Let’s take a look at some of the Olympic Medal stats, shall we.  In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the United States won the most medals, 37.  Overall, through all the Winter Olympics ever, Norway has won the most medals, 303.  The United States, though, has the second highest total with 253.  Taking third for overall medals won is Austria, with 201.

The closing ceremony for the Olympics was quite the display.  Russia showcased a little bit of its culture by incorporating certain music, dance, and literature.  There was a glitch in the opening ceremony when a lighted display of the five Olympic rings refused to work, disallowing one of the rings to open.  They fixed this glitch for the closing ceremony.  Ballet pieces were performed by seasoned professionals.  There was also a huge group dance number performed by dancers in sparkly and glittery costumes, making the performance mesmerizing. To close the extravagant ceremony, a big animatronic bear blew out the glowing Olympic torch.  Why a bear? This special bear was the symbol of the Olympics, and a cute one at that.

Hope you got to enjoy the Olympics this year!  If not, no sweat, you just have to wait four years.

By: Kaitlin Swick

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is underway, and so far, the United States isn’t doing too badly.  At this point, the United States has racked in five gold medals, four silver, and nine bronze.  Three of those gold medals and one of the bronze are for snowboarding.  The United States also got one gold medal, two silver, and two bronze in freestyle skiing.  One gold medal and one bronze medal were obtained in figure skating, and one silver and two bronze were from alpine skiing.  A silver and a bronze came from skeleton.  The last two bronze medals are from the luge and bobsled.

The Winter Olympics have a variety of events to showcase the athletes from different countries.  Such events include alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboard, and speed skating, which are broadcast on television.  My favorite event to watch is Figure Skating.  I love to watch figure skating because it is just plain amazing.  The competitors showcase their skill and creativity with so much grace and elegance that it looks effortless.  Not to mention the costumes are beautiful… and sparkly!

The Winter Olympics occur every four years, and the Sochi 2014 Olympics have only one week left!  So make sure you put on your red, white, and blue and don’t miss out on watching the thrilling events and don’t forget to root for Team ‘Merica.

Groundhog Day

By: Kaitlin Swick

Well, February 2nd has come and gone, and it turns out, surprise, we still have 6 weeks of winter left. That’s right, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this past Sunday, predicting that the cold will last a bit longer. But what made this bizarre system of predicting weather come around?

The date, February 2nd, is halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.The Celts marked this day as the beginning of spring, and celebrated it. As Christianity began to spread throughout Europe, they used this day to celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. A belief that they had was that if it was a sunny day, it would mean 40 more days of cold weather. The Germans, though, had their own take on this. They believed that if a badger or another animal saw their shadow, the winter would last longer. When the Germans came and settled in America, more specifically Pennsylvania, they brought this tradition with them. On February 2, 1887 the first official Groundhog Day was celebrated.

The Groundhog’s Day activities in Punxsutawney are a tradition that attract many visitors from all over the country.This popular event always had a crowd, but was further publicized in the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. After this movie Phil, the most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania, had more visitors than ever.

Syrian Peace Talks Update

By: Cassidy Shirlow

Syrian peace talks that were held in Geneva ended with no firm agreement. However, Lakhdar Brahimi (UN) noticed some “common ground”and has set a date for yet another peace talk that is said to be held on February 10. “Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the opposition were immature, while the opposition’s Louay Safi said the regime had no desire to stop the bloodshed.” Safi had said to the media that this can’t be resolved over endless talks and conferences and that the government should just consider handing the power over. Ahmed Jabar, the opposition leader, stated that he and his group only know regimes of blood and death. The two sides discussed ways to end all the violence and made agreements to end ceasefires, but some members in the UN do not think agreements on ceasefires will have an effect on some cities in Syria. Brahimi says, “Progress is very slow indeed, but the sides have engaged in an acceptable manner. This is a very modest beginning, but it is a beginning on which we can build.”The two sides couldn’t decide on the focus of the talks: opposition wanting to talk about political power and the government wanting to talk about terrorism. Some opposition groups did not even attend the meeting in Geneva, but diplomats still say the tension in the room was intense and extreme.

What’s Up with This Weather?

By: Kaitlin Swick

Unless you have been hibernating for the past month or so, you may noticed that the weather has been really cold, like record low cold.  Not that I don’t like two hour delays and cancellations, but this weather makes it painful to be outside for more than a minute.  So, why is the weather this cold?  Has Elsa really set off an eternal winter? *Frozen reference*

It is not just unusually cold in Pittsburgh, but all over the country, in fact, probably more so than Pittsburgh.  In Chicago this past Monday night, the wind chill was forty degrees below zero.  In parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota, it was fifty degrees below zero on Tuesday.  This Arctic blast came from central Canada, and it is affecting the Midwest, the northeast, and even some southern states, like Georgia and Texas.  Hundreds of flights have been cancelled all over the country.  People have been stranded on highways.  Clearly this weather is not ideal.

But, there is some good news.  It should start to begin warming up, and reaching temperatures from the low to mid 30s, which will seem pretty warm compared to what we have been given the past few weeks.  This weekend it is going to reach the low 40s! Woohoo!  So pull out those shorts (not really) and enjoy this “warm” weather that is coming our way.