Why Kids Eat Junk Food

Maribel Castro

October 25, 2012

Professor Rogers

English 1A

Why kids eat Junk Food

 

     Kids in today’s world are becoming addicted to junk food without realizing the effects or consequences of it. They have been chased by junk food in their lives, so that is the only kind of food they known.  Fast food is the principal cause of overweight and it is the most serious dietary issue affecting today’s American children. We also, called it obesity, which is the result of eating more food than what is needed. Childhood obesity in the United States has doubled in the last ten years, due to the parents of these kids that don't realize the danger that they are causing to them. Most people eat fast food because it is cheap, tasty, and convenient. For example, in the United States people is always rushing everywhere, either they run to school, work, to the market, etc. In my case I almost never spend time eating home because I wake up early to go to school, and I do not have time to make my own lunch, sometimes I get home from school and I beverly have time to get ready for work. Another reason for children obesity is that their school lunch is mostly junk food and unhealthy which causes children to pack of unhealthy calories and weight. Obesity in young children is a problem that needs to be controlled and observed for its ongoing effects that will be passed on from generation to generation.

     Similarly, there are many reasons why young children become overweight. One of this reason is because their parents let them eat and drink whatever they want. In these cases, parents are the responsible because they have to be aware of what their children are eating, and make sure if they are eating healthy or unhealthy food. Many parents are always busy doing some other stuff, so they don’t have time to cook homemade food, so they prefer to go into the faster way and buy them a pizza, for example, or take them to McDonalds and get them a kid’s meal. For instance," when parent buy them a kids meal, we all know that they include a toy or a surprise inside, that will make the children to go back and eat more fast food because they know they will get another toy" (Pg.14 Swaing).  Most of these parents ignore that their children are eating unhealthy food, and that they instead are packing them of calories.  Due to the fact, these kids are on risk of healthy problems. Kids eating a lot of fast food and lack of exercise may be a cause of many healthy diseases; For example, heart and vascular diseases, cholesterol, many types of cancer, and diabetes that is one of the most common diseases in United States right now. These kids are not only getting overweight, but also on a high risk of suffer some of these diseases.

     However, children are not only eating junk food at home, but also in school. Many schools in the United States are full of fast food, instead of carrying healthy food. When I was in high school they used to give us a beagle with cream cheese and chocolate milk for breakfast, and all they offer for lunch was pizza, hamburgers, nachos full of cheese and sometimes, Chinese food. At that time, as a student I used to ignore the importance of eating healthy food, until I noticed the consequences in peoples’ bodies. I think, that schools should offer more healthy lunches; organic food will be a great option, due to the fact, that organic food does not contain any synthetic inputs and that makes the food to be healthier. Additionally, I think another cause of obesity in kids is the technology. fifteen years ago, when I was a child and when we didn't have that much technology like electronic devices as computers, video games, television, etc. we used to do more physical activities. I used to see more kids playing in groups and running on the streets, playing soccer, jumping the rope, etc. In my case, my sisters and I used to eat first and then our parents let us play outside. Now I see kids eat first and then go to the couch and watch television for hours, playing video games, without doing any exercise movement. Children should be taught to do more physical activities in order to have physical condition and have a healthy life.

      Junk food has become a serious problem in Americas’ society. Another reason, why kids shouldn't eat junk food is because when children eat junk food their bodies do not produce the necessary nutrients. When our body do not produce the necessary nutrients its function do not work correctly and it can have serious consequences during the time, especially in kids with little bodies, kids do not have all body defenses compared to an adult body, they need to eat the educated nutrients every day in order to feel strong and growth and function adequately. I think that the only responsible of kids’ obesity are the parents. Parents are the ones that have to be aware of what their children eat every single day.  They have to be conscious if their children are eating correctly; they have to be aware of what they eat when they are not home; for example, what they eat at school. Let’s be honest, "Children really learn from what their parents do when it comes to eating, particularly when they see us eating poorly." (Pg.18 by.Julien) That’s why; parents need to support their children in all their healthy decisions. It is sad when a parent is trying to teach their children how to eat correctly, and they instead are breaking the rules. Parents need to be the first to show example and if they want their children to be healthy, they need to start worry for themselves. First of all, Kids tend to imitate everything they see at home. When they are little they want to be like mommy or daddy, they think that everything that they parents do is correct and if they do the same thing they parents are going to be proud of them. But that is not always the case, parents don't always do the right thing, they do mistakes as everybody does. Parents need to be carefully on the example that they are giving to their children in this case that is good alimentation.

    Good alimentation does not include junk food. Junk food is not appropriate for any of us. I think that we are allowed to eat fast food once a month or twice if we want, but in present time most people is eating fast food daily. This habit is causing health issues in all around the world, junk food it is the principal reason of why kids are suffering of obesity. In addition, obesity brings some other diseases that can drive us to death. There are many reasons why obesity is one of the highest issues in America. One possible reason for the increase of obesity, is the facility of fast food restaurants to places of business and specially in schools, making it easier and more accessible for students and workers to grab a quickly, cheap and tasty bite to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

http://books.google.com/books?id=Up_qU0lqsE0C&pg=PA14&dq=why+children+eat+junk+food&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3_-ZUIefIoj-igKjy4HICA&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw

*Stop junk food aids for kids.

By: Cynthia Swain

* What Should I Feed My Kids?: How to Keep Your Children Healthy by Teaching ...

 By Ronni Litz Julien

 

The Help

Corrine Garcia English 1A             As I am skimming throw the channels on television; I come across a movie called "The Help". I had no idea what it was about; so I questioned whether or not to watch this movie. Because I usually only watch movies I know about from advertised previews. So my curiosity got to me, and I ended watching “The Help". The movie was empowering, humorous, and full of heart. I have seen so many movies; however you do not always come across movies that you would want to rematch continuously. This movie is mind blowing and has a way of bringing warmth in your heart.       Characters are an important aspect to making a great movie. "The Help" is an outstanding example of great actors. To me you shouldn't see the actor; the actors should shoe the true inter-character they are. That's what this movie provides; you do not see actors. You see who they are "Ordinary people". You can see in their face and hear in their voices that they believe. All characters had hope, faith, and spirit and had their heart on their sleeves. Skeeter is an ambitious girl, who never gives up. Mini and Abillean were string willing and humorous. Miss Hilly was an ignorant. Stuck up girl. Sisillia Foots was a bundle joy and May Mobally is a cute piglet. In one of the scenes, you see how genuine all the characters are to each other. You can feel the love and warmth from each character.  You don’t see any characters trying to out shine the others. You see them all treat each character with the same respect. So this story has a great way of showing how each and every single character has a meaning to the movie. They all bring something to the movie. It does not focus on one character; it has the focus on every single individually without it confusing the whole plot and conclusion.             An outstanding movie is o e that speaks to your heart. A movie that is life changing and that makes you appreciate things more than you did. "Turning over a new leaf" is what this movie brings to my attention. This movie at tines can be emotional, and brings tears if joy. "The Help" is also based on true events; so the message is overpowering. It shows you not to give up in what you believe in and most importantly yourself. The movie is so true and it is disturbing on how people can mistreat others and take precious things away from them.  This movie can make you smile, laugh, tear up an make you think what is important in life. But no matter what this movie will touch your heart.           A great movie most of all must have a good purpose, plot and conclusion. This movie is based off a book; and usually the movies do not follow up on the book as much as this movie does. The movies tend to be choppy and just has you confused on what really happened, how everything started out. "The Help" movie played smoothly, all events were organized perfectly, almost as the book. Usually movies do not have as much time as a book does in portraying the interior story. But this movie ended up having time and patients to tie everything in all together. Of course the movie did leave some things out but it still manages to keep in the key events in it. The movie is well directed that you understand exactly what is happening.            I would recommend this movie to anyone I know. The movie is just pure genius filled with faith, love and humor. What is there not to like about "The Help". It's a heartwarming movie that makes you smile from one cheek to the other. You'll have the urge to view it over and over again. It also had a wide range of categories in it. It is not just a love story; it is humorous sad and adventurous. It all plays well together. Some people can even relate to it.  We all have life changing stories but "The Help" has a way of making you appreciate life itself.                “The Help” is an enjoyable movie to watch. I have never come across a movie with so much love and energy in a film. It will have you laugh and cry at the same time, and yet the meaning behind it is so powerful. That is what makes this movie so inspiring. This movie provides a great group of actors, and has amazing purpose. This movie is a great example of what all great movies should be like.

 

Let's go Shopping

Yasmin Garcia

10/23/12

English 1A

Kristina

Let’s go shopping

Every time a new season comes or every time you’re going to go to a party or get together of some sort a girls first thought is to go shopping. It’s always the same thing, “I have nothing to wear,” when really there is two closets full of unworn clothes. Shopping can be good when you have been wearing clothes from the eighty’s or nineties but if you go shopping all the time it could be a problem.

When u think of shopping you think new clothes, accessories, shoes, etc, you think of how that top will go great with the boots you bought last week. If you really think about it shopping is just a money waster, girls just buy so many unnecessary things and don’t think about it until there broke and cant go show off the clothes because they wasted all of there money on the clothes they bought that they did not need.

Shopping can be a hard thing to stop doing because there is so much advertisement of new brands styles what’s in, there is always something pushing you to go out and buy something new. Almost all clothes advertisement says, stop wearing last week’s stile and buy this, some people really take it that way and go out and buy the new clothes. Advertisement is one of the problems that lead people to go shopping in the first place. If you turn on the TV there is always some sort of advertisement for clothes or shoes. The advertisement is peer pressuring people to go buy what’s new at the store or something that will be coming into the store and you already go pre order so you can be the first to be wearing what’s new.

If you think of what’s new now of days is really what was worn back in the seventies and eighties. Everything is being brought back from my parent’s time. Why not just take the good old vintage clothes from mom and fix it up it looks just as good and who’s going to know it was your moms if she wore it many, many years ago. Learning bargains helps a lot. Also if you wait a little bit they always put clothes on sale, you can buy the same shirt that was fifty dollars last week for only twenty this week and no one is going to notice when you bought it if it was last week or this week. All the clothes that are shoved in the closet could be used again, maybe cut up pants for the summer by making them into shorts or shirts could be worn differently maybe add a belt to a shirt to make it look different. There are many different ways of bargaining I don’t mean going to a thrift store and buying used clothes, but by just reusing clothes that are just getting unworn. No one will no the difference from a shirt you bought last year than from a shirt you bought last week, if your happy with what you look like than that’s all that should matter.

Not saying stop shopping but start shopping smart or only when really necessary. Most people really just go shopping to look better than someone of to show off something new not because they really want it, well not all but most. A shirt or a pair of pants wont kill you every once in a while but people need to learn when to stop. There is always a time and a place for everything, just because you have money doesn’t mean you need to go spend it rite away on a new shirt or purse.

People spend thousand of thousand of dollars every year buying unnecessary things that they don’t wear or wore ones. If you save up all of the money you spend on the unnecessary you could probably buy yourself something really nice maybe a car that you will use everyday. I know shopping could never stop and I not saying stop shopping just start shopping smarter, I promise it will make you feel better when you look at your check book.

Better Than Any Other Sport

Antonio Ruiz

 23 October 2012

Professor Rogers

Essay #2

Better Than Any Other Sport

            Soccer is one of the most hated sports in the Unites States.  Although so many people hate the sport here in the United States in the rest of the world it is the most commonly played sport and also the most famous sport in the world.  It isn’t only fun to play it but it is also fun to watch it.  I’ve watch and played soccer since I could remember and still to this day it is the best sport in the world.  Soccer might not be the biggest sport in the United States but it will always be the biggest sport in the world.

            A lot of people that play and like other sports like basketball, baseball, and football say that soccer is for pussies.  They say you don’t need skills to play it.  What they don’t know is that it is one of the toughest sports to play.  It is also a dangerous sport just because soccer players aren’t being tackled like football players, soccer players don’t wear much equipment to protect them.  All they wear are shin guards.  I would know because growing up I’ve also played baseball, basketball, and football and soccer is still the hardest sport to play.  You have to be in very good shape to be able to run up and down the soccer field for all ninety minutes of the game.  You also have to have good ball handling, if you don’t know how to control the ball then there isn’t much you could do in a soccer field.

            I believe soccer is the best sport because it is the hardest to play.  It’s extremely hard to score a goal it’s not like basketball or football that scoring is easier to do, and when you score it counts for more than one point.  In soccer you could be so close to score but the goalie could block it and just like that you have to go back on the defense.  It’s also harder to come from behind to win a game.  For example in basketball you could make a long distance shot and it would count for three points, in soccer it doesn’t matter from where or how far away you score from it will only count for one point.  Also soccer is harder because there could be a bad call by a referee but he coaches can’t challenge the play like in football.  Whatever call the referee makes goes, the good thing about that is that it makes the game that much more competitive.  You want to play your best that way the referee doesn't have the chance to make a risky call.

            People tell me that soccer is the most boring sport in the world.  They say this because in the United States soccer is barely starting to grow unlike in other countries soccer is the biggest sport watch and played.  Unlike baseball, football, and basketball soccer actually has the World Cup every four years where all the countries in the world try to qualify to play in it to see who the best team in the world is.  It also has another tournament where the best teams in every soccer league play to see which teams is called the best is the world.  Baseball has the World Series but only teams from the United States play in it, basketball and football do the same thing.  The closest to getting to soccer is basketball because of it being involved in the Olympics but the World Cup is still considered to be a bigger event than the Olympics.

            Not only is soccer the best sport to play but it is also the best sport to watch.  You could either watch it on TV or watch it live.  Watching it in person has its advantages.  Since soccer isn't so big in the United States I haven’t been able to go to a lot of games.  The ones I have been too though have been incredible.  The atmosphere at the games is crazy.  For one the crowd gets crazy, and I mean crazy in a good way.  But if crazy isn’t your thing you could go with your family and have fun.  Or you could go with you friends get drunk and enjoy yourself a good soccer game.  Fans at soccer games get so into it that even chants made during soccer games have become very famous.  These chants don’t only get used during soccer games anymore but they are used during all different types of sports events.  Of course I am talking about the famous wave.

            I've been told by many people why do I play soccer, that it’s a waste of time, that it is boring.  They say I should be playing a real sport like football but the people that say this have never played a game of soccer to see how fun it is and also how hard it is to play.  Even my old high school didn't like our soccer team even though we were the only sport that was always winning games.  I like to play soccer because unlike other sports you don’t need a bunch of equipment to play it.  If you just want to play for fun with your friends all you need is a ball.  You don’t need gloves or a bat like you would need in baseball, and you definitely don’t need a basket like you would in basketball.  I also like it because I know I am better at soccer than any other sport I've played.  I've played soccer since I was a kid; I think I got addicted to it and to winning.

            Soccer will always be my favorite sport and my favorite activity to do on my own time.  I still like to play other sports once in a while.  I think if people that talk bad about soccer would either play it or watch it on TV would end up liking the sport.  For example my high school soccer team was made up of nothing but Hispanic players.  One day in physical education we got one of my friends to play soccer.  He would be one of the people that would always say soccer was a boring sport.  He was your typical farmer type of guy.  We got him into playing soccer so much that he actually tried out for the soccer team our senior year.  That is just one example that people that have never played soccer don’t know what they are talking about when they say soccer is boring.  I know that if they actually tried to play soccer they would end up liking the sport.

Gruesome Place

When you think of places to eat you’re usually not thinking of a place that you’ll leave in such anger, so much that you’ll never want to go back again because of the your experience in which is claimed to be, “a fun place for the whole family”. What is considered when looking for a restaurant is somewhere that will satisfy your stomach. If you have children, you have to think of a place that can not only satisfy the children’s stomach but also satisfy the children themselves. Entertainment is a big winner when taking children out to eat, along with entertainment comes the environment. Chuck E. Cheese is a very popular choice for many children. Although it is high on the chart for children, is it worth it? With the experience I had, I would say no. Chuck E. Cheese is one of the worst restaurants because of the food, customer service, pricing, atmosphere, and the rewards.

 

Usually when arriving at a “good” restaurant, you will have a welcoming greeting and soon after you are seated. When arriving at Chuck E. Cheese, you get a stamp on your hand, and if there aren’t too many people you will be greeted. You have to find your own seats at Chuck E. Cheese, if you’re lucky; you’ll find a table without food from the previous customer. Looking around there are plenty tables open, but they all have a “reserve” sign on them which is supposed to be for a party that isn’t going to arrive for another five hours. When you go, you have to make sure there at least three adults, that way among arriving, you split up to find a seat. If you don’t waste any time looking for a place to sit, you may find a seat within the first ten minutes upon your arrival. That is of course if someone didn’t leave a cup to save the seat.

Finally after finding a seat, you get to order your food. The line you order your food in is tremendously long, there are people surrounding the line while waiting to purchase their prize from the prize line, which are a couple inches away from the food line. It’s horrible, not only are children screaming, which if you’re going to a “family outing”, you’re used to, but you also hear adults screaming at children, which is also a little normal but, you also get to hear adults yelling at adults. It’s not a very pleasant site once the adults begin to argue. The adults seem to act more like children then the actual children themselves. The adults even begin to argue about spots in the line, it ridiculous.

 In hope that the food will be delicious because of the pricing, I ordered three pizzas and a salad bar. Since the wait for the pizza is quite a while, I went straight to the salad bar. It was disgusting. The salad was nice and soggy, and even if you didn’t want a certain topping, it wouldn’t matter because they are all mixed together anyway. The Jell-O is mixed with the ranch and the macaroni salad is mixed with peaches, yummy. After every hour you would think the staff would put new food in the salad bar, but nope. The entire four hours that I was there, the same food remained in that salad.

After forty five minutes of waiting impatiently, you get your pizza. Once you actually take a look at you’re not very cheap food, you will be dissatisfied. The food that you have been waiting for, for what seems like years is not properly done. It’s hardly a pizza, with hardly any sauce. The pizza looks as if the chiefs were making a science project based on volcanoes. Not an erupted volcano, but a dry one that hasn’t erupted in years. Sending the pizzas back for a new order was even worse. You get to wait a whopping sixty minutes. It’s like a new born waiting to get fed, not very patient.

When you’re done eating, you get to play with the “oh so fun” games. There’s hardly any room to breathe. Everywhere you turn you either see a face, back, or butt. Not to mention, adults and children everywhere are coughing and sneezing with lovely running noses. The room temperature in there is unbearable for anyone, it’s almost like being in a sauna. If you’re a young child running around, you’re getting rained on, and not by rain. Everywhere you hear arguing. Most of the arguing is and adult arguing with someone’s child because of false accusation. When Chuck E. Cheese came up with the idea to sell alcohol beverages, they should’ve have thought about the position children are now opt to be in. All of a sudden “a fun place for the whole family” isn’t so when you have a under the influence parent drive children home. Although it may have been fun, for the adults, it’s not so fun for the children. It seems as if no one around cares.

At last, the time has come when you get to collect all your tickets and get a prize. The line you have to stand in is over populated with children. As workers pass by to deliver their orders, they bump you back and forth. All the children in line become fussy and irritated. When your overly excited children get to the front of the line, you get a little excited as well thinking the seventy five bucks you spent should get a good prize. Instead, you get two lovely twenty five cent green spider rings. Yippy, so excited. 

Chuck E. Cheese would not be a place I would recommend to anyone. Everywhere I turned, I found something wrong, or it found me. Although the advertisement catches your children’s attention, the reality of it is a horrible for you and your children. Your children will be glad that you didn’t choose such a crazy restaurant to have such a bitter meal at. Unless you enjoy spending waste less time and money on horrible service, entertainment, environment, and atmosphere, I would recommend you to never step foot In a Chuck E. Cheese.  It was the most gruesome place I have ever eaten at.Reply to Samantha DuarteSend

 

Moneyball

Matt Emerson

English 1A

Moneyball: How to Even Out the Odds in Baseball

            There’s a universal concept in the business world that “Cash is King.!” To quote the great Shaolin style hip hop masters the Wu Tang Clan who said “Cash rules everything around me, “C.R.E.A.M” get the money, dolla dolla bill ya’ll.”  Our society defines business success and failures in terms of equity and assets, revenue over expendures (i.e., the amount of money you gain each year vs. money lost) and the bottom dollar amount after a balance sheet has been published.

            In sports, the business equivalent of the “cash is king” is “Moneyball”—a concept that was the theme of a recent movie box office hit starring Brad Pitt.  A business model developed by Bill James, made famous by Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane, Moneyball basically establishes the idea that an average or run of the mill ball club with a less than modest payroll can obtain players that are paid “reasonable” to “bear bones” wages and compete effectively against the few teams that command giant payrolls, big business and superstar athletes, and achieve that ultimate and universal goal of all athletics: score.

            In baseball, teams are built to accomplish one universal goal-- to win a championship. It stands to reason that to be the best in the entire league takes the best effort and the best players. In accordance with the laws of supply and demand, a few teams such as the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have successfully created  dominant business structures that control mass amounts of monies which are then used to outbid their competition to “buy” the “best” ball players…just like any other business.  Moneyball challenges the idea that the team with the most money wins. The concept suggests that competent players being paid average league salaries can come together as a team to compete with players that make possibly 10 to 50 times what the average player makes, in some cases even 100 times what the average player is being paid!  Moneyball is grounded on the principle that a team of players who have an average hits and reach base can compete against a team of one or two superstars who have a high average reaching base many times or have a more frequent home-run success. How well an average player gets on base is one main rule that holds this idea together in the baseball world.  

Rather than trying to buy huge superstars who in some cases may not even continue to play well or be the best anymore (for example, Alex Rodriguez with a $275M contract) Moneyball says a team of with a mix of decent players who all can get on base well and can throw a certain way that doesn’t allow batters to reach base can build on the small things and average out over the course of a game in order to accomplish bigger tasks. Throwing money away on hyped players who don’t end up performing and losing in the playoffs or not making them at all has always been the main reasons why the monied teams do not accomplish their goals of winning a championship. Perhaps, in the end, it seems, it is the old tortoise and the hare concept repackaged in a freshly minted 21^st century package.

            Moneyball states that the small guys like the Oakland A’s with a second to last payroll of $55 million  can successfully compete athletically against superstar teams like the Yankees that that have $200M dollars to spend each year. It is ironic and to some ardent baseball fans tantamount to criminal that some superstar players make more in their contracts than whole teams have to spend in 5 years. The Moneyball strategy has led the A’s to win enough games to make it to the playoffs 2 of the last 7 years and keeps fans coming back even though the coaches do not go out during the offseason and pursue the highly paid and over-paid athletes. The A’s won’t even bring back players who exceed expectations and have years where they put up exceptional stats that give them the ability to ask for more money when the time comes. Instead, the A’s would rather trade these players who proved themselves for a year or two. Players sought out from these trades are young talents that have the upside and potential to equal the player that they have let go and in many times these players exceed the amount of talent that the one player provided to the team.

Through the acquisition of young players, the amount of total contracts can equal the amount of one veteran player. Young talent can be used to also acquire some mid-level veterans that give the team someone who is cheap but has the experience to handle certain situations that the club will inevitably face. The constant revolving door of players makes it hard for fans to continue their loyalty to the club which may trade or release fan favorites. But with the old going out it brings the opportunity for someone who is unproved to step into that role, thrive and make a name for them or fail and never reach their hype or potential.  Some might think it hard to continue success when the team has a good year but no “big” moves are made to possibly put them over the edge. In fact, some moves might appear to some that the team is unloading their roster as if they had not been close to winning enough games to make it to the postseason.

This business concept that the Athletics’ use has been adopted by a few teams across the league, who try to follow the success that Oakland has been having but the process of moneyball can take a year maybe even five years to acquire either enough talent or good enough players to compete. Plus, there is the team element that no one ever talks about which is team chemistry, liking the guy next to you or the guys who you don’t really have anything in common with at another position. The A’s find a way to get past the egos and the attitude of these athletes who make hundreds of thousands to millions a year and focus on the bigger picture to help the team while helping themselves. To make the system work, there are a lot of little things that have to go right and sometime things can go wrong too, but the way that the Athletics can come into a new season every year and not be given any respect for their abilities must be hard to deal with. But, while analysts say the team could set a new record for losses, proving them wrong is probably one of their greatest feelings of accomplishment besides winning the World Series.

“Corny Old Men Dressed As Cowboys, Say What?!”

Whilst wondering through Northern California a random tourist might ponder to themselves what fun activities are there to be done? Well, for a fun filled afternoon, downtown Sacramento would be an excellent choice. Spanning options that would appeal to all age groups from old to young downtown Sacramento has something for everybody. Not only does close proximity too many different forms of entertainment attract a diversity of tourists, but also, it’s found to be very affordable. Downtown Sacramento is one of the most-fun and exciting places for tourists, northern California residents, and fun seekers to visit because of the wide variety it provides for very little cost.
Free of charge, downtown Sacramento hosts many different types of events. One of the most popular events to many people in their late 20’s is the Underground Tour, which takes people all over down town Sacramento to visit the night life. While on the tour you’ll visit the hottest bars, the most raging night clubs, trending restaurants, and interact with locals who offer insight to daily life about downtown Sacramento. On top of the Underground Tour, this part of Sacramento provides a place for local growers to display their best produce. Varying each month local farmers participate in Farmers Markets. One can simply walk through the tented booths sampling fruit, cheeses, wines, pastries, and etc. while listening to live local music. The smell of grilled onions and baking pastries would attract even the strongest willed dieter. During Halloween parents can bring there children to Trick-Or-Treat through out this section of town. Local vendors and shop owners dress up and decorate their venues and children can wander in costume (with parent supervision of course!) throughout the town collecting tons of free candy and forming many exciting memories. One of the biggest attractions, event wise, is the free to attend Day of the Dead Celebration Festival. This festival features hundreds of booths, vendors, live music options, costume contests with prize rewards, delicious fair type food, and lively and exciting new people. If attending this festival the goer can spend the whole day walking around, soaking up the sun, and eating delicious food at very little cost. Other events include the notorious Firework show along the river, the annual ice rink they freeze close to Christmas, award winning Broadway shows, and free/ fancy art galleries. Downtown Sacramento provides a clean, safe, and large area for venues to put on such exciting and affordable events.
If walking around isn’t exactly your gig, downtown Sacramento offers more! Downtown Sacramento lies right along a beautiful river. Whether you want to sit on the antiquely and artfully crafted benches and gawk at the very attractive wake boarders as they zoom by or simply soak up the sun, the river is the place to be. The Sacramento River twists and bends all along side downtown Sacramento, so taking the ferry for tours viewing the beautiful architecture is always fun. If paying the slight fee to ride the ferry isn’t for you then drop your own boat, jet skis, canoes, row boats, or even floaters into the water and ride around. The Sacramento River is deep and wide enough to provide an exciting afternoon to anybody who wants to play in the water and enjoy the California sun. Also, many fishers come to furthest parts of the river to catch the rare fish that breed in the rivers waters. The river provides one with many options when it comes to how they can spend their day.
The number one thing recommended for a downtown Sacramento tourist would be Old Town Sacramento. Old Sacramento is a small sector of downtown Sacramento that contributes itself to giving the illusion to its goers that they are in cowboy and gold mining days. Not only is the architecture old and fascinating to look at, but the sidewalks are wooden and the streets are cobble stone. It’s something that age groups as little as 2 and as old as 86 can enjoy. Children love visiting here because it’s like a huge play ground. There’s stores are filled with toys, ice cream, and candy, there’s a railroad museum, and even a miniature play set. Many people dress up in old cowboy attire and joke around with the tourists and some even make balloon animals and draw caricatures. Parents LOVE visiting Old Town because it’s free to walk around and there is enough diversity in activity choices to please the pickiest of children. Adults love visiting Old Town because they have many fancy restaurant choices featuring locally grown food and wine. Many restaurants provide a beautiful setting along the water that gives a relaxing illusion to its customers. Also for the older crowd, Old Town Sacramento does many Bar Crawls, concerts, and romantic boat rides. The teenagers love it because there’s a huge mall right along side that features hipster stores and a great movie theater. Old Town Sacramento provides an extremely fun atmosphere and it’s free to par ooze around. 
Whether you’re going to see a broad way show, jet skiing along the water, going to a street fair, visiting the California capitol, or walking around Old Town, downtown Sacramento is absolutely a place you want to visit. It’s not expensive to vacation here and there are many different options one can fill their day with. So easily to see downtown Sacramento is one of the most-fun and exciting places for tourists, northern California residents, and fun seekers to visit because of the wide variety it provides for very little cost. If you don’t believe me simply Google the area and you’ll realize your choices are limitless, you never know what you might end up doing? But, whatever you end up doing, I can promise you it will be fun and you’ll end up wanting to come back again

A game or something more

David F

English 1A

Professor Rogers

A game or something more

The gaming community is one that is often looked down upon.  What most people don’t realize is that video games are just as immersive as a book or movie. But, just like these two, video games have different genres. They offer multiple varieties to accommodate different personalities and interests. One of these genres is an RPG “Role-Playing Game”. Role playing games are the most immersive because the fact that they put make the player the character game. Strategies used for this include graphics, character development and storyline. Paper Mario is an RPG for the Nintendo 64 and it is the best RPG because of its storyline, characters and playability.

            The storyline of a game determines what the player will feel and experience. Paper Mario does this well. Storyline can be split up into three parts: Tension, Complexity and Influence, and Originality. Paper Mario gets five stars on all three of these categories. How fast the game throws you into the action or the tension you feel when you do not want your character to get hurt or be in harm’s way. Complexity and Influence go hand in hand in RPG’s. The complexity of Paper Mario isn’t too high which means a lower influence on the character. However, due to the simplicity, a much broader audience is able to enjoy the experience. Paper Mario was the first RPG of its kind. Mario was always a two-dimensional character with no interaction among other characters. This game revolutionized the genre due to its creativity and originality. The story is really one that sticks with you throughout your life.

            Characters offer insight into the world of the game as well as someone you can get attached to. Paper Mario’s approach would involve you meeting this character, usually during an unfortunate event. Once they are acquired, the characters fight a long side Mario in various battles. Each character needs to have a storyline and background, which the game does. These characters develop throughout the game with the choices you make. Upgrading a character gives them more attributes and makes them more effective in battle. Depending on a characters relationship with the player determines who gets the upgrade. By the end of the game, all the characters are in the party. When the game is over the characters are gone, never to come back. The characters were people you did not want to get hurt and wish were real

            Playability is what determines the ease, duration and quality of game play. This is a huge factor in an RPG because a player will either get bored and stop playing, or finish the game and never come back to it. The length of a game is critical. If it is to short then a feeling of emptiness would be felt by the player. But, if the game is to long then the player gets bored unless the story can back it up. The length of Paper Mario is long but every second just adds on to the adventure. How smoothly the game performs also determines if people decide to keep playing. A game with many glitches and performance issues will put off the player and ruin the role playing experience. The end of the game hits you really hard. You ask yourself “Is it really coming to an end”. Playability is what makes a game one you long to play again.

            While there may be many games out there, a true Role-playing game stands above the rest. The three main attributes to put a game on top of its kind are storyline, characters and playability. The storyline is one that sticks with you throughout your life; the characters were people you did not want to get hurt and wish were real; And, Playability is what makes a game one you long to play again. Without these, this type of game would not be successful and Paper Mario exceeds all of them.

            

Silvia Rojas

Definition Esaay

Eng. 1A

October 15, 2012

                                                             Joe’s Crab Shack

            Finding the perfect restaurant can be hard. Many people like complete silence and others like a party like environment. Personally I like going out to restaurants that have a great environment. More that can be noisy when needed and relaxing to eat with whoever you are eating with. Joe’s Crab Shack is a restaurant where you can go and have a great time with your friends and family not only that but if you like sea food this is the place to go.

            The restaurant not only has inside dinning but there is an outside beautiful deck. Yes, it is right in the shore of the Sacramento River. When eating inside the restaurant you can see the different antique objects hanging around the restaurant. It is full of bright colorful lights that are turned on all day. If you go during the night and dine outside you can see how beautiful the yellow bridge from Sacramento lights up the city. The water is calm and the only thing you can hear is the waves hitting the shore. Even though you are in a high elevation where you can’t touch the water you can feel the breeze.

            Can you imagine going on a romantic date. It is a place where you and your other love one can enjoy. Let me tell you that not only for a romantic date can you go but for bithday’s too. They have the best waitress ever they are nice fast and attentive. When is someone’s birthday they let everyone know is your birthday and make the birthday person run around the restaurant while they sing to the birthday person. It might sound embarrassing but it so much fun. Talking about fun not only the birthday people get to have fun but everyone else too. They also have a special timing which is every hour where we can get up and dance. They put the chacha slide, the charley brown and much more fun songs that you can dance too. The waitress dance, man and women, which make you, get in the mood of dancing.

            Right now how our budget is so tight and the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money going out, going to Joe’s is the best choice. They have great prices on their food. Their plates have a portion for two. But if you get the buckets that have lobster, shrimp, corm, and much more it can serve up to four people. The bucket can range from twenty to thirty. Not bad for feeding four people. Not to mention their appetizers, the must have are the crab nachos. They are corn tortilla chips with different colors serve with crab meat, corn, some lettuce, and a special sauce. Those are the once I always get with my friends when I go. Not only they serve sea food, in their menu they have different food. For example they have Joe’s steak deal, pan fried cheese chicken, home style chicken tender and much more.

            I love when a customer gets a fancy drink called the shark, the waitress getting that certain person screens really loud “shark in the house” and they throw some sort of alcohol that is red into this big bowl of cup full of blue alcohol and a shark inside it. It is so cool, even though you get to hear it many times when being there you can’t get enough of it.

            Not only is the restaurant next to the Sacramento River but it is right in Old Sacramento. That means after you eat with your friends or family you can get the chance to walk around Old Sacramento. There are lots of little stores you can visit. Not to mention that you can ride on horse carriages and they take you all over Old Sacramento. The train station museum is also in Old Sacramento, lots of fun for children and adults. And to not forget that in walking distance is down town mall.

            Having to go to Jose’s Crab you can experience something different and unique. It’s a must go restaurant. For those who drink and have the age, they also have a bar. You can sit at the bar and have couple drinks with your friends and they serve you food to you there too.

            Having the privilege of leaving in West Sacramento I can go a walking distance to the restaurant. Me and my boyfriend ride our bikes to Jose’s. Every time we go we have so much fun. We love how friendly they are and how well the waitress treats us. That is why we keep going back.  I recommend such an excellent restaurant.

           

The Zocalo

Maribel Castro

October 9, 2012

English 1A

Professor Rogers

 

The Zocalo

 

The "Zocalo" restaurant is a place I highly recommend not only to dine in, but to have a pleasant experience as well. The Zocalo restaurant is one of my favorite places to eat, I dine in there at least once a month. It is a place where I can enjoy quality time with my family and friends. The restaurant offers a wide variety of mexican food which I love and consider good quality food. They have a very friendly service; every time I go I enjoy the good atmosphere that surrounds the restaurant. This restaurant brings me memories of my home land and reminds me of what a wonderful and happy place I grew up in. There is a special thing that I love about the zocalo restaurant, which is the amazing mariachi band that plays while we eat. This is the main part that reminds me of home.

            From the moment I walk in the door until the time I leave the restaurant, the service is magnificent.  The servers have a great attitude when taking orders, and always make our visit a pleasant one. I also love the mexican specialties; I usually start off with their homemade corn tortillas and some chips with a choice of spicy salsa or guacamole. After these appetizers, I order a delicious "azada" plate that includes beef, served with rice, beans, salad and some guacamole sauce on the side. I am pretty sure I have tried if not all, then a good amount of plates they offer. So far each one I have tasted is delicious. Since everything is delightful, at times it is hard to choose what to eat. Once in a while, I just go with a special mix of that includes three meals on one plate. This way I get a taste of everything. To complete my meal, I order a Pina colada or a margarita to finish off my meal with a nice cold drink.

            The Zocalo is located in Sacramento CA, and isn't only considered a traditional family restaurant, but also as an elegant place where dates and fancy gatherings can take place in. I can confidently say that anytime time I go, I always encounter a new and pleasant experience. Regardless of who I go with, it is always something different, yet always fun. When I go with my friends, I usually have fun by having some drinks and spending a good amount of time conversing and sharing, as well as singing along to the Mariachi. However, if i go with my family, it’s mostly to have bonding time, which I can always accomplish there. It feels more like home when I'm dining with my family because we can all relate to our homeland. In any occasion, and regardless of the people that accompany me to dine, I always have a great time. This is why I absolutely recommend this place; I think it will be the perfect place to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or any other special occasion. It can also be the perfect romantic place to have a dinner date in. It will definitely make a memorable date night.

            The first impression of the zocalo is the amazing design of the restaurant. As you walk into the zocalo building you immediately get a sense of the fantastic ambience of the crystal walls and the floor boards, to the decorations that immediately make you feel at home. The zocalo has a slightly upscale atmosphere with a really great view of both inside and outside. The first time i went there I was astonished of how elegant this place. From the outside it looks like an elegant castle with elegant tables outside that give you a great outside view. Even though, the outside has a lovely view, it is nothing compared to the inside. It has a very fashionable looking feel to everything, followed with delicate decorations like candles and wall frames.  The restaurant has a great smell that makes you feel hungry. The zocalo is often busy and full, that one should call and make a reservation in order to have a spot. I have heard from many friends that have gone on busy weekends and had to wait 45 minutes for a spot to clear up. An upside to the waiting is that the restaurant also has a bar area where customers can have a drink while waiting to dine. Another option is to sit in the nice and comfortable waiting area, where you can also enjoy the mariachi music playing. The zocalo offers music on the weekends, which can make people enjoy a part of our Mexican tradition while still being here in the United States. The mariachi is regional and traditional group that are dressed up as a cultural charro and can best represent the essence of Mexico.

     Every visit to the Zoclao I have, I always enjoy to the fullest, from the taste of the food to the friendly service. The zocalo restaurant has become one of my favorite and highly recommended restaurants.