The club began with light refreshments before the dancing. Each person took a partner and learned the new dance for the week. “The club members were challenged with an open style Cha Cha routine, which included quick turns and drops,” said club founder, Natasha Andriyanycheva (’10).

The dance requires the girl to swing sideways while stabilizing themselves by holding hands with her partner. Shortly after, she must lean backwards, looking at the ceiling while relying on her partner for support.

Although the partners had to practice the move various times, members enjoyed the Cha Cha very much. Rob Scheffler (’10), present at every meeting, says, “I was very excited to try out the new dance. It had been a while but we’re all happy to be back.”

Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, tells the story of an overweight, illiterate teen that is pregnant with her second child. Precious’ father is also the father of both of her babies. She lives in a house with her mother, for whom she cooks all meals and does all chores while her mother berates her constantly. Precious feels hopeless.

Depicting the harsh reality of Precious’ life is impossible. Watching it on screen is almost as inconceivable. Vivid rape and strong verbal abuse scenes are often too much to handle.

However, the movie does have great qualities. Precious’ dreams of becoming famous that interrupt her real-life situations are well edited. Additionally, the school that Precious attends gives the audience a much-needed comic relief in the middle of all the horror. 

Gabourey Sidibe does a wonderful job as Precious, truly bringing the sadness to life. Hearts ache for the depressed teenager that cannot seem to get any breaks in life. Mo’Nique plays a great atrocious mother, but she doesn’t necessarily deserve all of the recent credit that she has gotten for her role. In some scenes it seems as though screaming is her only acting tactic. It strays from acting at some points and feels more like a soap opera.

While Precious contains various qualities that make it a technically good movie, the story makes it too uncomfortable to watch. Yes, the saddest and most depressing movies tend to evoke the most feeling and compassion from the audience, but when one must turn one’s head away from the sheer pain of watching, it has gone to far.

Precious gives an important message, but it certainly doesn’t give it in the most tactful way.

courtesy of filmofilia.com

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One gets a feel for the general attitude of the movie with the opening seen showing a Jewish couple preparing for dinner. The husband states that he has recently seen a man that the wife claims to be dead. After the wife stabs the supposed ghost, the husband cries that they are forever cursed.

Whether this opening relates at all to the rest of the story is up to the viewer; however, the main character’s, Larry Gopnik’s (Michael Stuhlbarg), constant run-ins with bad luck bears an uncanny resemblance to the curse mentioned in the very beginning.

The rest of the movie follows Larry Gopnik while he receives countless pieces of bad news. His wife, Judith Gopnik (Sari Lennick), and kids, Danny (Aaron Wolff) and Sarah Gopnik (Jessica McManus), along with his job serve as the sources of most of his issues. As he encounters more life issues, Larry continuously attempts to talk to Rabbi Marshak.

Larry’s encounters with various rabbis are gut wrenchingly funny but oddly realistic. One rabbi’s connection between life and a parking lot will give anyone a good laugh. In most cases, the movie does not include many laugh-out-loud moments like the rabbi scenes, but the humor is certainly evident.

The music is a fantastic addition to the film as well. Unobtrusive yet effective, the score by Carter Burwell gives the movie that strange eerie feeling of uncertainty. The creepy, horror-like music continues to play during seemingly everyday scenes such as when Larry simply observes his front yard. While this kind of nonconformity between imagery and soundtrack would usually be unsettling, in this case it works perfectly and even gives the audience a chuckle.

Going back to my initial statement of how the last thing a movie should be is predictable; the ending of A Serious Man eliminates all predetermined outcomes of the viewer. It’s partially why the movie works so well. Some writers and directors cannot pull that off: the whole, seemingly incongruous plot with the whacky ending thing. But in A Serious Man, the plot makes just enough sense to keep the audience engaged and keep them thinking long after an initial viewing. The picture continues to improve as one goes back to contemplate it.

Of course, the film isn’t for everyone. It can be taken as quite offensive and thus you should avoid it if easily upset by common stereotypes. But if there is a chance you might get past it, A Serious Man is worth any rental fee.

The film is quite frankly a work of art. It cannot truly be explained to its full potential and therefore it is a must see for anyone with a very broad sense of humor.

courtesy of fandangogroovers.wordpress.com

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The members rehearsed “Candle on the Water” many times until they ran through it cleanly for the first time. This song will be featured in the Spring Concert on May 20. Additionally, the club practiced “On My Own” from Les Miserables today. This song will also be sung at the Spring Concert. They were able to practice “On My Own” for the first time while playing belles and singing at the same time.

Belles ended 30 minutes early today so that some of its members could go to rehearsal for the Spring Musical, “Man of La Mancha” which premieres this Friday, March 5.

Belles will be traveling to Rosa International Middle School next Friday, March 12 in order to encourage middle school students to join music clubs when they come to East.

The CARES Institute provides help to children who have experienced abuse. In addition, the staff provides training for various professionals from areas such as medical, mental health, law enforcement and child protection. Dr. Deblinger and Dr. Finkel, two parents of students at East and directors of the institute, shared with those in attendance how the profits of Coffee House would go towards providing much-needed care for the children that they work with.

The carnival-themed coffee house showcased a stage in cafeteria two framed by vibrant curtains and balloons, while the floor was packed with chairs, tables and even sofas. Teddy bear and lottery ticket posters hung from the ceiling and all of Cafeteria one was decorated with bright colors, balloons and of course, coffee beans. Cafeteria one held a moon bounce, face painting, cookie decorating, balloon animals, wii games, juggling, a bake sale and an art sale from the Commercial Art, Advanced Foundations of Art and AP Studio Art classes.

The night’s performances were all met with thunderous applause. The show featured 21 acts with performances ranging from singing, to dancing to imitations of scenes from shows like “SNL” and “Scrubs.” The event began with East’s band Inspiration playing “Imagine,” while the rest of the acts ranged from group mash-ups to songs from Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors and Wicked. “Guy Love” from Scrubs was a hit, and there was even Avenue Q’s “Mix Tape,” puppets and all.

Everything came together to make the coffee house even more fun than an actual carnival. “This is our 5^th year doing [coffee house],” said Mrs. Lausi, East Singer Director, “and it’s our best one yet.”

Be sure to stop by East’s Coffee House on January 23rd, 2010. The event will be from 7-10 pm, and all proceeds will go to NJ Cares, an institute dedicated to helping children who have suffered from child abuse.

For more recipes and ideas, go to www.bakerella.com

Recipes:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles (courtesy loveandoliveoil.com)
Makes approx. 3-4 dozen.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

14 oz dark chocolate candy coating

Directions

Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).

Cake Balls (courtesy of bakerella.com)

Ingredients
1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

Directions
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

homemade cream cheese icing:

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 stick butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
heaping 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar

Directions
-beat all ingredients together in mixer until thick and creamy

No Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas
2tbsps butter
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar and cocoa. With clean hands, mix in the water, vanilla, bananas and peanut butter.
heat butter in a skillet until it caramelizes slightly and then add to batter.
Wash hands, then roll the dough into balls 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Roll balls in confectioners’ sugar until thickly coated.
Chill 20 minutes before serving.

The Bridge is a new club meant to “bridge the gap” between middle school and high school for students at Beck. Ritter, a teacher at Beck, believes that the program will be a major help for transitioning students and says that the faculty and students of Beck are looking forward to the new tutoring opportunities.

The Bridge is a nonprofit organization that addresses social and academic issues of middle school students. It will work Monday through Thursday every week after school at Beck. Monday and Wednesday will consist of tutoring in language arts, humanities, and foreign language while math and science tutoring will be available Tuesdays and Thursdays. The tutors can be from any grade at East, giving Beck students a wide range of knowledge. The Bridge will also try to keep the same tutors with the same students so that a relationship can build between them.

After the tutoring session, The Bridge will hold a “Rap Session” from 4:00 to 4:30. This time is meant to help middle school students to understand more about life at high school. It will be a chance for the Beck students to ask any questions in an open forum about what to expect at high school such as what tools are necessary to be successful.

The meeting had a large turnout of about 40 students. A Tutor Code of Conduct and Tutor Application were given out. The application is due Friday, January 8.

Recipes:

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 large egg

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices to combine; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the molasses and egg until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place the cookie shapes onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Light Egg Nog

Ingredients
2 cups nonfat milk
2 large strips orange and/or lemon zest
1 vanilla bean
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Directions
1. Combine 1 1/2 cups milk and the citrus zest in a medium saucepan. split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds; and the seeds and pod to saucepan an bring to a simmer over heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl until light yellow.
2. Gradually pour the hot milk mix into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then pour back into the pan. Place over medium eat and stir constantly with a wooden in a figure-eight motion until the eggnog begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk to stop the cooking. transfer the eggnog to a large bowl and place over a large bowl of ice to cool, then chill until ready to serve.
3. Remove zest and vanilla pod. garnish with nutmeg

Cupcakes:

1 box cake mix
1 cup buttermilk in place of amount of water called for on box of cake mix
Amount of oil called for on box of cake mix
4 eggs, instead of number called for on box of cake mix

Use a hand mixer to moisten batter, then beat for 2 minutes on high.

For the decorations:

Ice cupcakes and roll edges in sweetened shredded coconut. Place small cupcake on its side on the large cupcake.

Scarf: Cut Fruit Roll-ups into scarf shape with serrated knife. Wrap around “neck” of cupcakes.
Mouth: Insert chocolate sprinkles into smaller cupcake in the shape of a smile
Nose: Microwave an orange starburst for a few seconds until it is soft enough to form with your hands into the shape of a nose. Form points on both ends, insert one end into small cupcake.
Eyes: Insert a mini choclate chip on the small cupcake, pointed side in, for each eye.
Hat: Take one half of an Oreo cookie and use icing to apply to the “head” of the snowman. Use icing to apply a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup with the inner brown wrapper still on.
Earmuffs: Cut a Fruit Roll-up into the length of half of a scarf, and roll it together to form a long tube. Use icing to attach a skittle or M&M to each side. Put in the freezer for a minute or two to allow it to set so the skittles of M&Ms stay in place.

Recipes:

Egg-in-a-Hole

Ingredients:
slice of bread (any kind)
large egg
butter
salt
pepper

Directions:
Cut a hole in the center of the slice of bread (about 2 in diameter)

Put 2 tablespoons of butter into a frying pan. When it gets bubbly, add the slice of bread

Crack the egg into the hole in the bread. Let it cook for a minute or so, until the bottom of the egg starts to appear white.

Flip the bread and remove once the egg is cooked (be sure not to cook too long so that the yolk is dry or too short so that the yolk is runny)

Put the cutout part of the bread into the pan to sop up the rest of the butter

Salt and pepper the egg to taste

Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
1 mango
2 kiwis
1 pint of strawberries
2 bananas

Directions:

Cut the mango, kiwis, and strawberries into bite size pieces as shown

Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge until ready to serve

Slice banana into the salad right before serving