Ian checks out Kenny vs. Spenny

“Since the beginning of time, mankind has been forced to compete for survival…” These are the words that introduce Showcase’s immensely popular comedy reality television show Kenny vs. Spenny, which finally drew to a close on 23 December 2010.

The series features supposed best friends Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice and chronicles their endeavours as they vie for victory in various challenges. The competitions they engage in are always ridiculous, such as “Who Can Lift More Weights With Their Genitals?” or “Who Do Black Guys Like More?”

In each episode, Spenny attempts to abide by the rules and morally do the right thing, however he becomes pretentious and arrogant in his self-righteousness. Meanwhile Kenny seeks discrepancies in the rules that will allow him to cheat yet is always a pleasant source of comic relief in contrast to the sometimes conceited Spenny.

Discounting moral codes and perceiving the show through the paradigm of ethics, one can ascertain conclusively that the tone Kenny adopts is in fact the more appropriate of the two, resulting in the audience’s revelation regarding a re-evaluation of one’s own morals while perhaps resolving to adhere more conscientiously to an established ethical frame.

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Bilal previews Sony’s ORBIS gaming system

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AHEM, SONY! Your new PlayStation is going to have problems!

Why it isn’t cool:
First of all, it’s not going to be called PlayStation 4 or PS4. The name they are giving the system is ORBIS. I think it is a bad decision since they’re breaking a long line of traditional names that all have PlayStation (PS) in it: PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3, PSPGO, PS VITA. So as you can see, calling this new device ORBIS doesn’t make sense.

But he technical stuff in the new system is even worse. First, it can’t play PS3 games, which means it won’t be backwards compatible. This is a big issue because consumers really like to play old games and have something to play before their next favorite game comes out on the new system. Secondly, they made a huge mistake with the new ORBIS system because it can’t play used games. In my family my parents are a little stingy when it comes to buying games. My dad is not going to buy a $70 game when he could get a used one for half the price on Kijiji. It’s also unfair to kids who are the biggest game consumers — and it means we will be buying fewer games. This is going to be a big problem for me if I decide to get the system.

Sony plans to release this item at holiday time in 2013.

Is it entertaining, educational or a little of both?
I think it is mostly entertaining because it is a gaming system, but I think it can be a little educational too because you could have some educational games on it.

I think it is going to have a whole new look and it is going to have many new features. Also a feature that I hope they will bring in the ORBIS is something like the XBOX Kinect because that was one of the bestselling items ever and if it can combine with one of the bestselling systems it could be phenomenal.

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Salmah checks out Temple Run by Imangi Studios

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Temple Run by Imangi Studios, LLC

Why it’s cool!
All of my friends and cousins, young and old, are playing Temple Run!

It is a very addictive game and everyone can enjoy the adventure by running, jumping, turning and even lying down.

The sound effects are exciting, but the monkeys can get a bit annoying.

The object of the game is to collect as many coins as possible by outrunning the monkeys and not dying.

Is it entertaining, educational or a little of both?
Temple Run is both educational and entertaining.

It is educational because you have to think quickly and make decisions so that you don’t fall into the water, avoid the burping monkey, crash into the walls or run into the trees.

It is entertaining because it keeps you interested and you want to continue to beat your high score. Also, you get to buy power-ups, lives and other cool stuff by collecting coins while playing Temple Run.

I like it because you can also change characters in the game. The girl with the red hair is my favourite character.

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Jordan checks out RISK: The Official Game for iPad

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RISK: The Official Game for iPad

Why is it cool?
RISK is one of my favourite games to play on the iPad.

In the game of Risk you try to conquer the world. Each player starts with different parts of the world, and then each player tries to invade other countries and take them over. In RISK for iPad you can play with your friends, or against the computer.

Because there are 3 different difficulty levels to choose from (easy, medium and advanced), anyone can try this game. Doesn’t that sound amazing?? Also, you will never get bored because there are 20 different achievements to unlock.

If you wait for a sale you can buy this app for only $0.99 (regular price is $6.99)!!!!!!

Is it educational?
The game requires a lot of strategy and planning, and it will also teach you a little about world geography, but mostly it is just for fun.

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Inés checks out Akeela and the Bee

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Akeela and the Bee

Why it’s cool:
Akeela and the Bee is a great movie because it gets kids excited about spelling, which many kids, including myself, find boring.

This movie is about a girl who is really good at spelling. She lives in a poor area in the USA and sadly has a lot of family problems in her house. The story is about how Akeela enters a spelling bee behind her mother’s back and learns a lot of lessons along the way.

After I watched the movie, I became very interested in spelling bees. I started to look up words in the dictionary and practising them as though I were in a spelling bee. I learned that even if you don’t know a word you can still spell it if you know the definition and the origin of the word. I learned lots of new words.

There was one word in the movie I had never heard before. It was logorrhoea: (Greek λογορροια , logorrhia , “word- flux”) defined as an “excessive flow of words” and, when used medically, refers to incoherent talkativeness occurring in certain kinds of mental illness, such as mania).

I thought it was a funny word and my mom thought it was funny too because I was talking during that part of the movie. I never thought I would want to be in a spelling bee but after watching the movie I changed my mind.

Is it entertaining?
Yes, it is a great story with great acting and music.

Is it educational?
Yes, because you can learn new words. As well, I learned a new strategy for memorizing words: by using a beat. Akeela tapped the letters of words with her hand to help her remember the spelling. She later learned that she could remember the words even better if she jumped rope as she spelled. I’m going to try that!

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Afro-Brazilian Beauty

Since the conception of bossa nova as a variation on the revered samba occurred in the late 1950s, poet/diplomat/composer/playwright Vinícius de Moraes has been among the most influential and innovative forces behind this musical movement.

A stunning example of his musical talent is the composition “Regra Três.” This composition can be found on the 1979 album 10 Anos de Toquinho e Vinícius, which features guitarist Antônio Pecci Filho. The suave and syncopated opening guitar melody immediately immerses the listener into a state of serene awe that is capable of transcending even the darkest of moods with its bright airiness.

Though the song is not necessarily complicated in the traditional harmonic sense there remain some changes that could surprise the listener. Yet decisions such as suspending the “I” chord and its subsequent transformation into a dominant “V” chord add flavour to the composition, seeming perfectly natural instead of adding chromatic overtones to the piece.

After what seems too short a time the song concludes with the vocalists chanting in unison as the turnaround is played through with an imminent finality. From beginning to end, “Regas Três” has the peculiar ability to enthrall listeners and remains a definitive composition by Brazilian music giant Vinícius de Moraes.

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Bella goes under cover

There are many different forms of bullying, such as verbal, physical and cyber bullying. But there is also another from of bullying that is not talked about anymore and receives no news coverage. It’s what’s written on the walls of bathrooms.

Some people can just file this under vandalism and not pay much attention to it, but it’s not just vandalism. Writing hateful comments directed towards a specific individual can be classified as bullying and filed under its own category of media. Word of Mouth is still one of the strongest and fastest ways to spread rumours.

Some comments can be extremely cruel. There are many ways of hurting an individual’s feelings — and not just with comments. The infamous “Hot List” located in many girls washrooms contains names of what guys a group of girls find hot. Once word spreads of who is on the list, probably in front of others, it singles out those who are not on the list.

One solution to avoid this from happening in the first place is to paint the walls in the bathroom. Stalls and all! And I don’t mean just slapping on “one-tone” boring paint. One group of kids got creative by getting the go-ahead to have well-known student artists take part in repainting their school bathroom with colourful paint and awesome art!

That’s one very cool way of stopping this current forgotten issue.

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Inés checks out Pizzeria Libretto

Word of Mouth Advertising Feeds Pizza Libretto’s Success

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Pizzeria Libretto – A new pizza restaurant on the Danforth

Why it’s cool:
This pizza place is an interesting example of media. It’s really popular because of word of mouth advertising: one person tells another person and they tell their friends and so on and so on….

This is a restaurant that specializes in pizza from Naples, Italy. Their style is quite different from any other style of pizza I’ve ever tasted. It is a very soft, thin crust pizza with a unique taste.

It is easy to bite and the toppings are simple but TASTY. I ordered the sausage pizza that had sausage, caramelized onion, mozzarella cheese and chilli oil.

I chose not to have chilli oil because it was too spicy for me. They have bottles of chilli oil on the table so you can put it on yourself.

The garden salad was good and very fresh.

I had Nutella ice cream for dessert and my dad had the Tiramisu. They were both fantastic.

Pizza Libretto is a very busy, popular place with lots of happy customers. There is great service and you can go there for lunch or dinner. There is a front window view with one long table so you can see out to the Danforth and watch people go by.

Is it educational?
Not really, however you can learn what Neapolitan pizza tastes like.

Is it entertaining?
Yes, because you can watch a lot of people and fill your belly with delicious Neapolitan pizza!

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Jordan checks out Coins for Change – Club Penguin

Coins for Change - Club Penguin

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Coins for Change – Club Penguin

Why is it cool?
I don’t know if you like Club Penguin but I certainly do! On Club Penguin there are so many things to do and you can never get bored. There are stamps, games, pets, houses and so many new people to meet!

When I first logged on to Club Penguin I knew that I was going to love it! Every week there are new missions and a new newspaper. My favourite thing to do on Club Penguin is to take care of my puffles and collect coins.

If I were you I would check Club Penguin out and give it a try!

Is it educational?
YES, Club Penguin is very educational because it teaches you all about the environment! This year Club Penguin hosted a party called Coins For Change and every penguin gave coins to help the world be a better place! Over $2,000,000 went to places around the world to help build hospitals and homes and to help the environment.

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Bilal checks out Google Science Fair

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Google Science Fair

Why it’s cool!
Why this event is really cool and awesome is because this isn’t your typical Science Fair. This Science Fair is held by one of the top leading companies in the world and is online, so you can participate at home.

This is the second Science Fair Google has held. It also inspires kids to do more than they are asked and that it tells them everybody has a question but only the true geniuses will find the answer.

Asian Long Horned Beetle

Another reason it is cool is because I plan on entering in this prestigious competition myself and hopefully win! All my science projects are about going green and this year I hope to build a cure or repellent that is green and does not harm anything other than the Asian Long Horned Beetle because it is estimated in 10 years they will wipe the entire Maple Tree population!

The reason I think Google is doing this is because they want to take credit for the Scientists of tomorrow and if they can somehow own up to someone’s ideas they will become an even bigger company.

Is it entertaining, educational or a little of both?
It’s definitely a little of both because you entertain yourself by doing the project, researching on what you like, and participating in a worldwide Science Fair. It is educational because you are doing a Science project and you have to experiment and research on your topic.

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