Photo by www.shutupandgame.com

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 is said to be the most anticipated game of the year, which finally hit the shelves on 11.10.09. Many people waited outside the game stores and providers across the world at midnight. Some gamers even skipped work, or school to try out this epic sequel. The first game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare came out a little over two years ago, but made game of the year in '09. As time progresses, so will the sales of this game. Students around FHS shared their input about MW2.

"I think it's the most anticipated game of the decade," senior, Connor Lawson said.

The very release of the game was amazingly special. Microsoft and Infinity Ward made the perfect plan to sell it the day before Veteran's day; a holiday most people at school and work, had off.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is barely two days old, but it is already breaking records. This morning, research firm Gfk Chart-Track reported that the game sold over 1.23 million units in the UK in 24 hours, nearly twice that of Grand Theft Auto IV's 631,000-unit day-one take in 2008," Tor Thorsen, from Gamespot.com says.

This shows how much potential this game had at winning sales all across the world. In campaign mode, which is the game mode continues into the journey of American Forces at work. The story's plot is about five years after the character "Soap" Mactavish goes through the hardships in Call of Duty 4. The new recruit is Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, a member of an elite Military Group called Task Force 141. He goes through various maps and locations, such as the towns of Afghanistan, the snowy mountains of Kazakhstan, to the streets of Rio De Janeiro.

In multiplayer mode, you get to play with friends and enemies in the exclusive new warfare. Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, Demolition, Domination, and the brand new Third Person Deathmatch. These exciting new multiplayer show the very essence and creativity of the game. The XP points have doubled since 4, giving you more accurate goals for the ranking and prestiging in this game.

"There are lots of changes, different perks, weapons, games, and weird changes to the leveling system," senior, Dylan Bachman said.

To add on to this statement, there are now "callsigns" and "emblems" that you can have on your gamer tag in the main lobby of the game. They have different names and pictures so each gamer could uniquely customize their tag to show what they're best at doing.

Infinity Ward will be releasing four different versions of this game for the various consoles such as Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC mode. The standard edition includes just the game disc.

"I'm getting the regular version, I don't need all the fancy packaging and extra material," Jiaming Lin said.

The second is Hardened, which includes a steel book for the game case, an exclusive "Behind the Lines" concept art book, the game disc, and the Call of Duty One Classic Download token for the Xbox. The fourth edition contains all the same contents of the Hardened Edition, but includes a pair of legitimate night-vision goggles with the Modern Warfare 2 insignia on the side. The sales of these editions alone will make most of Activision's profits. There are very limited products also made by Microsoft such as the Modern Warfare 2 based 360 consoles itself.

The outcome of MW2 should be very pleasing, all major league gamers around the world will be surely stuck on this for years to come. Does Infinity Ward and Microsoft have something even more epic planned? For instance, Call of Duty 7? Only time will tell!

Freshmen Caitlyn Chapackdee, Marly Ien, Faiza Hassan, and Arnellie Franada enjoy hanging out at Starbucks in the morning because it’s convenient, but others make the journey to coffee shops, that aren’t as well know.

Since the beginning of time, or since the beginning of Starbucks, Seattle has been synonymous with coffee. However, few tourists will venture away from the mermaid chain when visiting the city. Recently the magazine GQ made a list of the top 10 coffee roasters in America and three different Seattle roasters took top honors and made the list.

With a Starbucks on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and Rainier Ave., it is easy for a Franklin student to stop by when looking for a caffeine fix. But, with Seattle’s plethora of other options, Franklin Tolo checked out Caffé Vita, Stumptown, and Zoka Roasters to see which reigned supreme.

Caffé Vita: According to their website, Caffé Vita, referred to simply as Vita, was started in 1995 by Mike McConnell with a desire to bring great espresso to Seattle. Since then they have gone to great lengths and distances (they are often on trips to Africa, Central and South America to buy coffee) to bring exquisite espresso and coffee, as well as beautiful coffee art, to Seattle. Their first store and café opened at the bottom of Queen Anne hill and over the past 14 years have expanded to Capitol Hill, Fremont, Seward Park, and a store in Olympia. Many coffee experts consider Caffé Vita to be a leading company and roaster in the “Third Wave” of coffee making; they have turned the simple trade into an art.

Stumptown: Stumptown, originally based out of Portland, OR, is another independent business striving to bring the best cup of joe to Seattle. Started in 1999 by Duane Sorenson, the company expanded to Seattle in November 2007 and opened two locations on Captiol Hill: one on 12^th Ave E, and one on E. Pike St. Stumptown are also considered a part of the Third Wave of the coffee movement and Sorenson is often abroad searching for the perfect cup of coffee and is not afraid to pay a high price; Sorenson once set the record of paying the highest price ever for coffee beans. The quality of roasting and brewing is apparent in every cup.

Zoka Roasters:  Zoka Coffee and Tea, started in 1996 by Jeff Babcock, has four locations in the Seattle area: Greenlake, University District, Snoqualmie, and Kirkland. Like the aforementioned roasters, Zoka specializes in artisan-roasted coffees using beans from around the world. With the scent of fresh baked muffins and scones, Zoka longs to entice you into an afternoon of coffee. With a large selection of teas as well as coffees, Zoka Roasters is an integral part of each neighborhood they are located in.

Beyond just these three roasters, Seattle is teaming with others.

“Well there’s always Starbucks, but my favorite place to go is Vivace Espresso, on Broadway,” Julius Ducay, senior and coffee connoisseur, said. “They have the best latte’s.”

“Man, Stumptown is good, and Vivace, too. There are just so many choices in Seattle for good coffee,” Khadi Clamoungou, senior, said.

With almost 500 stores in Seattle, it is hard to avoid getting a Starbucks drink when looking for a coffee fix. However, Seattle is teaming with local roasters that have not only been recognized nationally for their attention to detail, but have turned coffee making into an art form complete with beautiful designs on top of their lattes and mochas.

Look beyond the green mermaid logo and try a drink from another local roaster, you may be surprised by the quality of the espresso and may even taste the love put into that cup.

Photo by Sean Cabanag. The cast of Breakfast club.

The streets are empty on a cold November night. Silence fills the neighborhoods and everything seems to be so dull, but the real reason is because all the excitement was happening in Franklin High School’s auditorium. Cars fill the boulevard and students, parents and families began to line up and purchase tickets to see the amazing showcase. The word about the show has been bubbling around the school as all the actors and actresses prepare for their production.

“The main show ‘The Breakfast Club’ is about a Saturday detention at Shermer High. The other performances are romance, comedy and drama,” Brea Roberts, senior, said.

The show is based on the 1980’s film “The Breakfast Club.” There are five students who are spending their time in detention and all of them think that they have absolutely nothing in common because they belong to different stereotypes of which were the nerd, athlete, loner, princess and criminal. Little did they know though, through this Saturday detention they learned more about each other and even themselves. The students figured in the end that they were all a mix of each of the stereotypes they saw one another as.

The FAME Company has been rehearsing for over a month during lunch and even after school for long hours to get their performance in top shape for opening night.

“The show went really well really well and the mistakes were hidden nicely,” Denny Le, sophomore, said.

With the prices of 2 dollars per student and 5 dollars per adult, the opening night of the showcase was a success. With almost a full house, the performers kept the audience entertained even when there was a switch from the serious-romantic piece titled “Blue Denim”.  Or to finding the perfect date in “The Rating Game”. The many solo performers kept their cool under the beaming spotlight to perform their monologue with absolute perfection even with a rowdy crowd at some points. After a brief intermission, the actors of “The Breakfast Club” took over the stage.

“I thought “The Breakfast Club” was pretty good, even though the audience could have been a little better,” Kelly Kong, Franklin alumni, said.

From the outfits the actors and actresses wore to the way they acted even when they were not speaking they all gave a good impression of the stereotype and character they portrayed. The fourth wall did not seem to ever be broken even when the crowd laughed at the serious moments in the scene, the performers kept going and giving their all into the performance that they have been working on for so long. Through the many scene changes and the restless crowd, the show overall was a good show.