 We’ve reviewed three family-friendly movies that are slightly scary but overall really fun to watch on Halloween with a younger audience. Hocus Pocus Hocus Pocus is a Halloween movie from 1993, directed by Kenny Ortega that can be found on Disney Plus, Prime Video, or Apple TV. The movie follows teenage Max, his little sister Dani, and his new classmate Allison as they accidentally revive three witches known as the Sanderson Sisters. The main trio struggle to put the witches back in the grave as they dodge the sisters' magic. The film is stellar, and once you get back the outdated references, it becomes truly astonishing. This all-time classic feature deserves its 4.4 rating and is a staple in the Halloween flick catalog.
Coraline The interestingly designed characters in this 2009 film on Netflix are known for their distinct button eyes. After moving to a new home, Coraline finds a tiny door that takes her to a world that looks a lot like hers. She comes across a woman who looks a lot like her mother but the weird part about it as she has buttons for eyes. The woman offers food, clothing and games that Caroline enjoys. She returns two other nights, but this other world isn’t everything it seems. Coraline, a stop motion film, has a pretty soundtrack and interesting character designs. The setting is mysterious and the plot has unexpected turns as we learn who the other mother really is.
The Nightmare Before Christmas The Nightmare Before Christma is an exciting, dark style stop-motion film that can be found in Disney Plus and Apple TV. It features a skeleton man named Jack called the Pumpkin King who gets curious about a different holiday called Christmas and tries to celebrate that instead of Halloween. This was a chilling, well-made movie released in 1993. The music and soundtrack was well put together and are a highlight of the film. The different character designs in Halloween Town, Jack's hometown, are very interesting and creepy looking. It seems like they have lots of time put into them and they fit the Halloween theme of the village. I recommend this movie for Halloween movie night.
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 Photo by Nathan Rupert | Flickr By Jenna K.  Photo by NegativeSpace Summer is almost here and we’ve rounded up the best spots for spending time with friends and family in Calgary during July and August.
 Here's a list of things for the serious student to do this summer: Boba shops: The bubble tea shops might not be much but the sweet relief of the drink during a hot summer really kicks off your summer and keeps you full of energy in order to tackle the day. The Malls: Shopping malls are everyone's iconic places to go to. It can be a place to find clothes for a new look or even a place to eat food and just chill out with your friends. If you really needed to you could even buy a pair of essential food items in a connected superstore at Market Mall.  Chapters/Indigo: This is for all book lovers out there. If you just need a place to find a good book so you can settle and read during your much needed spare time this is a place for you. Grab a book and kick back before delving into a world where you can escape reality. Theatres: If you like plays such as Hamilton or Nutcracker then going to a theatre is the best place to relax and enjoy the wonderful music and costumes as the actors shine on stage to show you a wonderful performance all of you can show. Snowy Village: If you like shaved ice cream and toppings going to snowy ice cream is the best choice. On a hot summer day something like this can cool you off and help you enjoy a good heap of shaved ice just like the one you can find in Korea. So if you need a wonderful place to eat and chill out I’ll recommend this one.  wanna step outside the city this summer, well here are some places that would be great for you to do that! Banff Springs: One of the most well known spots in Alberta, the iconic mountainside hotel and community is the dream destination for all who visit. Featuring the world famous hotel and all of its included activities, such as a bowling alley, countless restaurants, and the outdoor pool that puts you face-to-cliff with the gorgeous surrounding mountain range. There are also horseback riding sessions, taking you all the way through the beautiful Banff forests  Royal Tyrrell Museum: As Canada’s largest palaeontology museum, you won’t want to miss this giant museum and the giant exhibits housed within. Featuring some of the rarest and most well preserved fossils in the world, such as the Black Beauty and Borealopelta markmitchelli, RTM lives up to its title, boasting multiple floors of prehistoric exhibits and collections. Walk through the early centuries of Earth’s life, and the rise and fall of the giants who used to roam it. Want to stick around longer? There are overnight sleepover sessions available as well as interactive fossil finding and fossil making programs for all ages. Prairie Winds Park: While at first glance, this park may seem like a generic kids location, it is actually an extremely densely packed and rich environment for attendees of all ages. Prominent features include a water park, tennis court, nature walk, and even a soccer court and cricket pitch. Its’ proximity to the Calgary International Airport makes it a convenient resting stop for travellers, and it provides refuge from the summer heat without the childish flair of traditional splash pads or spray parks with a wading pool and picnic shelter.  If you are anti social and couldn't be bothered to do anything in public this summer, then do these things instead! Find hangout spots If you are anything like me, trying to organise a group of friends to go out and do something together is TORTURE; so, rather then finding a new place everytime out everytime you see eachother, find some spots where you can all meet up. This way, if you wanna see people, all you have to do is get onto your friend group group chat, and ask if anyone one wants to go to the river spot, or the 7-11 spot ect.  Summer project Being both artistic and an introvert, I often find myself enjoying my time better when I am creating something in solitude, rather than constantly being around people. If you can relate to this, then maybe you should try getting yourself a summer project. Whether it's writing a short book, or maybe building a diorama, giving yourself a goal that you know will be enjoyable to achieve is a perfect way to spend your time when there is nothing else to do.  Re- organise your space
Maybe it's your bedroom, or maybe it is simply a book shelf, but almost everyone has a space that they enjoy. If the space has become dank and boring, try revamping it, or even moving things around. Although it takes work, changing the things around you every so often is not only refreshing but healthy as it means that you are not constantly living in the same space. Change is good, so even if it's a small thing, you should do it so that life is not as repetitive as it could be.  By Silvana S.
I hate snow. I’m okay with it for the first few weeks but then it just stays for SUCH A LONG TIME. I only like snow when there is a ton of it, enough to go sledding. Then it must melt completely within two or three weeks before I get tired of sledding. Here are the statistics: Calgary gets 144 centimeters of snow a year. It starts with three centimeters in September, snows every month with November the snowiests at 25 centimeters and this snow stretch ends in May with six centimetres. But Calgary also has Chinooks which temporarily melt the snow. Frost, slush and only a tad of snow is terrible. You can’t do anything. If there’s slush your shoes get dirty. If there is not too much snow, it’ll be cold outside but you can’t even play with the snow. Or if there's frost… it’s cold and slippery. Let’s say you want to take a three-meter walk from your house to your backyard. But no, because of the ice literally glued and attached to the ground of the earth, you will trip, slip and fall, because ice is not nice. Nor is it your friend. And when finally that annoying snow melts, you are still left with that pathetic slippery ice crap that will give you a concussion whenever you dare leave your house. Like for real. And they say we don’t have permafrost. YOU’RE HIDING SOMETHING CANADA! Oh and normal people would want to go sledding or go skiing/snowboarding. Ice skating! Snow angels, snowmen, snow forts. BLAH BLAH BLAH. You can take your hot chocolate jolly old saint nick, but I do not want to let it snow, because in Calgary, you also have to take the coldest day in Calgary being -32C! Plus trust me, if you have snow from September to May, you’ll get tired of it quickly. People in tropical parts of the world think we’re so lucky to have snowball fights and stuff like that. But for real. I dare you Hawaiians to last 10 minutes in the cold, with fully prepared winter clothes and all that stuff too. Yeah, you’ll quit two minutes in. This is why I hate winter. Because in grade 8, every day you have to go outside at 7:55 a.m. when school starts and stay in the cold for an hour first thing in the morning. And you’re stuck outside unless it’s -22C. So in conclusion… Don’t let it snow.  By Silvana S.
Hundreds of years ago, there was a village inhabited by one girl and one boy. The boy said, “for no good reason I’m going to treat you like you’re inferior. If someone becomes King and they have two kids, a girl and a boy, even though the girl is older the boy will be king. Because according to my sexist opinion, women can’t lead. Oh and I’m going to marry you off to some man where your only purpose will be to cook and clean. You won’t have rights. And I will be your boss because I have muscle. And some other dumb reason like that.” And that is how sexism began. Sexism. What is sexism? Discrimination against women. Viewing them as inferior to males and not able to have their own rights. I know for a fact that even though the middle ages, renaissance and the steam-age are over, even the twenty-first century has same problems. Let’s say that boy told the girl that, “Even though you work just as hard or even harder than me, you will always be only paid a mere 78.6 cents for every dollar of what us men make.” (That’s the fulltime Gender Pay Gap according to the Canadian Women's Foundation). It’s still a HUGE issue today. You might say, “oh Silvana, how is a pitiful 21 cents so important.” Well, let’s say a man makes $1 million from being a successful real estate agent. A woman who does the same amount of work will only make $786,000t. Huh, I wonder if a $214,000 difference is a lot? IT IS! Out of the top 20 richest people in the world, only one is a woman: Alice Walton. And she is only the 9th most wealthiest person on earth, not the first. That is a huge difference. Now let’s say that man said, “All women must take their husband's last name and when they have kids, even if they give birth to that human, it will take the husband's last name.” It’s true. In our North American worldview, a lot of women see it as ‘tradition’ to take their husband's last name. With the exception of hyphenations, even if the woman keeps her own last name, if they have kids, odds are that the child will take the man’s last name. Well, the man wasn’t overly cautious and didn’t walk around pregnant for nine months and then go into labour. That is unfair. On Tuesday, March 8th, 2022, it is International Women's Day. It's the international day to remember and celebrate women and girls' hard work in everyday life. It’s also to help spread awareness about the fact that gender inequality is still here. And to help work together to put a stop to it  Photo by Shutterstock In recent years Bubble Tea has become a staple of Generation Z. Although this beverage has existed since the late 1980s and was widely shared throughout Asian culture, it has now spread throughout North America and become a massive piece of culture for teenagers regardless of cultural background. All of us here at Zed News YYC have a favourite Bubble Tea place in Calgary, and after reading Christopher Cheung’s article, My Cup of Bubble Tea, we have compiled a list to share with you.  Royaltea by Priya Migneault Bubble Tea has recently become a massive growing cuisine in North America, especially for those in Generation Z. This generation includes anyone born between the years 1997 to 2012. It has become a major food in my life since starting high school and definitely accounts for 25 per cent of my spending each month. This delicious beverage has become a key feature in many teenagers' social lives, and I would argue it has become more common to ask someone if they’d like to grab a bubble tea versus a coffee. One of the many places I love to go with my friends is Royaltea on 10th Ave. SW. They specialize in making bubble teas from fresh ingredients right in front of you. Royaltea makes all types of drinks from milk teas, to slushes, to lemonades. All of which can be made to have tapioca pearls or other toppings, such as coconut jellies, lychee pearls, or aleo jellies. Royaltea originated in China and has over 130 locations, which makes it a relatively small bubble tea chain. I highly recommended checking them out and trying my favourite drink, their Brown Sugar Earl Gray Milk Tea with coconut jellies.  The Alley by Kristina Lanuza My favourite bubble tea place to go in Calgary in my free time is called The Alley, a stylish and relaxing bubble tea shop to hang out in that sports a deer mascot to match with their aesthetic vision. They serve a variety of bubble tea flavours, with tons of variation within each type of bubble tea as well — within their brown sugar genre of drinks, there are already six different drinks not counting any seasonal or special flavours. A favourite of mine is their Brown Sugar Deerioca, a classic brown sugar bubble tea with, in my opinion, a near-perfect ratio of brown sugar syrup and pearls to milk. On top of having a great variety of drinks, they are also served in an aesthetically pleasing manner— you could say that aesthetics is their key aspect when it comes to marketing. Seeing a perfectly served brown sugar bubble tea drink with syrup running down the sides of their rounded cup, it’s both a treat to the taste buds and to the eyes! With origins in Taichung, Taiwan, the Alley has multiple locations in Calgary, from shopping malls like Chinook Mall to the location in Chinatown. It’s a great shop to check out when you’re looking for amazing bubble tea in a location that’s pleasing to look at as well.  Chatime by Heather Park Chatime can be found in many different Calgary locations and is a franchise that many people like to visit. Chatime has many varieties of drinks as well as varying sugar, ice, and temperatures. Although only a few drinks are available as hot, yet that doesn’t mean there aren’t any so if hot bubble tea pleases you then go right ahead!! We won’t judge! Moving on to the beverages they’re are several choices to choose from. Sometimes many people stand in front of the menu unsure on what to choose to drink. I am also guilty of this as well because I’ve often stood in front of the menu just trying to decide what I really wanted to drink. The drinks range from milk teas, slushies/smoothies. Each of these different headlines have different drinks all in different fruit or flavours. My personal favourite drink from Chatime is either Strawberry Milk Tea or Strawberry Yoghurt Slush. Finally, the cup that the drinks are placed in are incredibly cute and I enjoy taking pictures of the drink itself and marvelling in all its glory. So if you enjoy bubble tea I strongly recommend Chatime if you want a variety of different beverages to choose from.  The Crepe Café by Lucas Diano Located within the Pacific Place Mall on 36th St. NE, the Crepe Café is an intriguing anomaly in the world of Alberta-based bubble tea. Along with numerous types of crepes and Chinese food, the Crepe Café boasts an impressive amount of bubble tea, ranging from beloved classics to oddities like a “cheesecake” bubble tea. While seating is limited in the café itself, there is plenty of space to walk and shop, as it is located within a mall. The café has a very colourful, bright vibe. All of the items available to order are displayed in lighted cabinets and shelves, allowing customers to actually see the food in person before ordering, which not many other establishments do. Though I haven’t been the biggest fan of bubble tea in the past, even I’ll admit that the Crepe Café is a must for any fans of bubble tea, or even Asian cuisine in general.  A 13-year-old takes a Christmas vacation trip to Sin City. Photo by Matthew Paulson/Flickr By Silvana S.
Near the end of October, my parents told me that we were going to Las Vegas to spend our holidays. They then told me that my cousins Ava and Abtin would be coming too with their family. My parents didn’t want to go gambling though. The only reason they wanted to go is because my cousins were going there to see some fancy Iranian concert. We however went to a different hotel, because we didn’t really want to see the concert. Wait… ISN’T AREA 51 LOCATED IN NEVADA! I’ve got some aliens to kidnap and some top-secret government societies to break into! On December 24 on Christmas Eve, we arrived at our hotel: Treasure Island. Most of the lobby was basically a gambling place. We then waited 80 minutes in line to check-in. Like, either work faster or hire more staff. IT’S THAT EASY! Then we went for a walk around the area. THERE ARE SO MANY HOTELS! Anyways, after I ate a pizza piece twice the size of my face. (From this Italian pizza place called pizza cake) we continued our walk. Then we watched this lovely water fountain show thingy. Then Christmas music played and it was interesting. Then we saw Gordan Ramsey's “Hell’s Kitchen” restaurant and went back to our hotel. On December 25th, my parents took me to the hotel Circus Circus so I could go to the amusement park inside. The adventuredome amusement park. Why does it take 50 minutes of waiting in line to get a simple order from Starbucks? Anyways, I went on El Loco and Canyon Blaster. Two different and very fun roller coasters. I also went on a bunch of other rides and got two souvenir pennies. Then me and my parents went to the Venetian hotel to go on a gondola. Also, the roof of the mall’s top floor, (where the gondolas are located) looks like such a realistic sky. On December 26th, I saw Abtin and Ava for the first time in three years. Ava is now 15 and Abtin is 10. Unfortunately for our parents, me and Abtin are the two most mischievous children on this planet. We went to this Mexican restaurant called Senor Frogs. I had a burger and fries. And of course, I finished with Churros. Then I went to the hotel to hang out with Abtin and we took a selfie together with the famous musicians right before they left. On December 27, Abtin andour family went to the STRAT skyscraper. It has 130 floors. And I thought treasure island was crazy for having 36. We went to the 112th floor to visit the “On top of the world”' restaurant. Then I was so tall that I could touch the ceiling when I jumped. Abtin was so jealous. So technically, you could say, I’m so tall, I can jump to the ceiling of 112 stories. Mwahaha. Since this is a “luxury” restaurant it costs $70 just for a pork roll. Then it took two hours for the food to come. Abtin started whining like the child he is and took my phone and started playing video games on it. Like, come on! Why do I always have to babysit Abtin!? He literally has an older sister. I NEED BABYSITTING! I CAN’T EVEN GO !) MINUTES WITHOUT MY PHONE. Speaking of which, “ABTIN! Give me back my phone! I have needs!” Anyways finally the food came andAbtin stopped being an annoying child. Then this man sitting a couple of tables away from us proposed to his girlfriend. Everyone started cheering and my dad, (not knowing what was going on,) yelled, “happy birthday!” Wow. Just wow. On December 28th, I went and explored the other areas of Las Vegas. We checked out the Egyptian and New York City replicas in Las Vegas. Then I saw the most beautiful thing in my entire life: a huge red roller coaster. The screams of adults filled the air. I had to ride it! So I begged my parents to let me go on the roller coaster. They bought me a ticket for the Big Apple Coaster and were like, “okay, bye, have a nice life, we’re not coming.” Adults can be such scaredy cats sometimes. I made two new friends while waiting in line. Serene, 13, and Skylet, 11. They’re sisters. We basically talked for the entire time while waiting in line. And luckily, we got to ride together. Then the announcer said it was a 200-foot drop. But then I remembered that this strange place with this thing called, “the imperial system,” is different from the metric system. So it’s only 50 meters. Math. So much for being on winter break. Then it was inane! I had so much fun. It was worth the $19! On December 29, it was our last day and we had to rush to the airport. Unfortunately, my parents told me we can’t drive to Area 51 and break-in and beat up the security. I’M COMING TO SAVE YOU, ALIENS! SO YOU CAN ABDUCT RUDE 8TH GRADERS! And when I searched it up on google maps, it said there was no way to go. YOU’RE HIDING SOMETHING GOOGLE! And that concludes my trip to Las Vegas.  Equality starts in families (Image by the Noun Project) By Silvana
The gender pay gap is that on average in work industries, women only make 77 cents of a dollar that a man makes. However the reason for this gap isn’t very clear, but there are a few possible reason, namely the maternity leave. Any parent can take shared parental leave (SPL), such as the mother, father or the mother’s spouse or partner, including civil partners or same gender partners. If both parents meet the qualifying conditions, they can both choose to take one or they may decide that only one parent will. Some men take maternity leave if the woman has a higher paying job. Then it’s called the paternity leave. Usually only women take the leave because in some provinces or states, companies pay women for their leave, but not men. According to an article by Princeton University "women are most likely to leave their job force after their first child, not later births." Another study found that “mothers were much more likely to move to part-time employment once they had a child and the ones who did return to work experienced career stagnation with a lower chance of getting a promotion.” And a survey done by the Pew Research Center found 42 % of mothers with some work experience said they had reduced their work hours in order to care for a family member, but only 28 % of fathers said the same. And 39 % of mothers said they had taken a significant amount of time off from work in order to care for a family member compared with 24 % of men. Solutions Now that we know the problem, I’ve worked up some solutions. To encourage more girls to get jobs, once a year, one weekend there could be a national festival where girls ages 5-17 could meet professionals and learn about their careers to inspire them to get good careers. A lot of offices and work companies have one or two sick days every now and then, but they also pay women on how many hours they spend at work. But since women are so occupied for their families, they don’t get paid as much since they need to take off so many hours for family duties. So my idea is we can give women with children extra sick days so they can take care of their families and to take care of their mental health. Now we’ve come to the second problem. When a woman marries a man they usually take the man's last name or occasionally keep their last name, but also hyphenate the man's last name. Of course this isn’t always the case: Muslim and Middle Eastern women usually keep their last names, but their children still take the man’s and for Latino people, they are born with two last names until they choose one when they come of age. Then if they get married and then have children, the child will take both of their last names, or in Quebec, where instead of the main option after marriage is taking your husband's last name, it’s to get a highfination between the two of them. If a couple ever has kids, it either occasionally gets hyphenated between the two, or the child takes the man's last name even though the woman gave birth to it. There is absolutely no reason why this rule still exists. It's not like it’s the 19th century and women aren’t considered people. In Alberta it actually isn’t mandatory for a woman to change her last name, in fact the man can even take her last name or they can hyphenate their names. One day I asked my mother, “How come I took dad’s last name instead of yours?” And she replied, “Because it wasn’t really important to me whose last name you took.” So it is 100 % possible for a woman’s husband and children to take her last name, but the problem is a lot of girls don’t know/on’t think it matters. In 7th grade I was partnered with my friend Alexa and we were discussing gender equality. Alexa then told me that she personally was okay with taking her husband's last name. But if her husband's last name was ridiculous like Shermy, she would of course keep her last name. So this info somewhat helps with the solution. When a couple gets married they could be reminded that there is an equal chance of a boy taking a girl's last name as a girl taking a boy’s last name. In conclusion, there is still a lot of work to be done to stop gender inequality, but still we are making good progress. A lot of people think gender equality is solved because girls and boys go to the same schools together, they can vote, and they don’t have to be accompanied by a man wherever they go. Women aren’t shot, they aren’t assaulted and they aren’t forced to marry. Although Canada has some of the best gender equality, it doesn’t yet have the best. But we’re making good progress. Keep on treating everyone with respect then soon, we will have gender equality. Read more: Book Reviews Our favourite Ice Cream Places in Calgary |
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