Parente's features good Italian food and music
By Raya P.

Parente's Restaurant is located at 6711 W. 26th street in Berwyn, Illinois. It has a very cozy family atmosphere.

Restaurant owner, Anthony Parente, welcomes all ages for a home cooked meal and promises there is something on the menu for everyone. Parente's features Tony's special salad and homemade soups.

Tony's special salad, which is delicious, is made to feed however many people there are in the party for a cost of $3.00 if you order with a dinner. The soup is complimentary.

The soups are the following: minestrone (served everyday) chicken pastina (Sunday), cream of potato with bacon (Monday) chicken dumpling (Tuesday), cream of mushroom (Wednesday), beef barley (Friday) and Hamburger (Saturday). Ahh, delicious!

The dinner menu has numerous pasta and meat entrées. Fish lovers can enjoy salmon, cod, shrimp, lobster, and white fish.

For dessert a terrific recommendation would be their homemade tera mizu or Italian ice.

Parente's accommodates small parties. My family and I went to a party there in August. The menu: soup and salad, dinner rolls, coffee or pop, vesuvio chicken and potatoes, sausage and green peppers, mosticelli beef.

The average cost per person was $12.00 plus tax and gratuity. Adults enjoy relaxing at dinner while listening to Italian music with a good bottle of wine.

The kids can escape for a while and play a trivia quiz game that can be played with two at a time while sipping on a kiddie cocktail.

On a scale of one to five, five being the best, I give Parente's:
Food: five
Atmosphere: five
Service: five
Cleanliness: five
Value of money: four
Kid Friendliness: four
Overall Experience: five
Give Parente's a try or visit the menu in detail at http://www.ristorante.net/parente Tell the owner that Raya sent you.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

The Cheesecake Factory
It's much better then just ladyfingers
By Jamie L.

Last Saturday afternoon September 15, 2001, my assignment to review a restaurant took me to the Woodfield Mall.

That's where I found a very upscale restaurant called the Cheesecake Factory. It is located next to Marshall Fields and JC Penney's.

My nana and I arrived at 1:30 p.m., and were given a pager to notify us when are table would be ready. We were finally seated at ten after two.

Our server, Cassandra, came to our table immediately and asked if we would like to order drinks. We each ordered a coke. When our drinks arrived our server answered all of our questions about the menu.

I decided to have Pad Tai Noodles, which is rice noodles, tossed in a delicious sauce with tarimind, green onions, garlic, chilies, tofu, egg, and crushed peanuts topped with shrimp or chicken. It was one of the most delicious meals I have ever had.

The Cheesecake Factory's atmosphere was very nice. We felt as if we were sitting in a tropical forest.

Of course, after our lunch we ordered desserts, and I had a slice of their famous cheesecake. It had a really good crumb shell at the bottom of the cheesecake. It reminded me of ladyfingers, which are cookies covered with coffee, but this was much better.

Everyone raves about the Cheesecake Factory and take it from me it was great! If you like great atmosphere, great food, and great service, try it for yourself.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Mars 2112 is a virtual reality ride
By Cassandra D.

On Saturday, September 22, my mom, my friend, her mom and I went to Mars 2112 at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. It was really cool!

First, you take a virtual reality ride to the restaurant. Then they seat you at a table. The ceiling looked like outer space, and there were green lasers shooting across the sky. There was also a laser show to watch. The lights were cool, too.

I ordered Big Joe's Burger, my friend ordered Polar Pizza, my mom ordered a Rueben Sandwich, and my friend's mom ordered the Quasar Quesadilla and the Caesar Salad. The food was delicious, and they gave very large portions.

I can't wait to go there again! Here is my rating on a scale of 1-5.

Food-5
Atmosphere-5
Service-5
Cleanliness-5
Value for money-5
Kid friendliness-4
Overall experience-5

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Rinôçérôse has mellow power
By Paul P., Op-Ed Editor

Rinôçérôse's debut CD, Installation Sonore blends a delicious combination of electronic euro-jazz.

Rinôçérôse has seven members, four guitars, one flute, one percussion set and one programmer. They can dish up a smooth-yet-bouncy rhythm coupled with a thumping bass and the out of place sounding flute and bongos.

One thing that is eerily missing from Rinôçérôse is vocals. There is no singing on this album at all. That isn't a bad thing though, since it is rather like elevator music. It gets you calm and in a trance. But halfway through the album, the shiny trance turns into semi-repetitive electro-mush.

While metal heads and squeaky dance-freaks may not appreciate Rinôçérôse's mellow trance power, others might.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

New artists try to make it big
By Emma H.

Willa Ford and Ashley Ballard are two new artists trying to make their big break in the music business.

Willa Ford has already had one of her songs, "I Wanna Be Bad," played on the radio.

Another one of her singles is "Ooh Ooh." You can find both these songs and more on her CD, Willa Was There.

Ford is an ambitious twenty year old from Florida who is ready to make her mark in the world.

Ashley Ballard also has had one of her songs on the radio, "Hottie."

Her new CD is Get In The Booth. On it you can find "Hottie," "Hypnotized," "Forever My Heart," "Second Thoughts," and many more songs.

Ballard is sixteen, and has sung professionally for three years.

Both Ford and Ballard are talented singers and songwriters. They have a pop-rock sound, and they are great to dance to.

Both girls say that they want to be famous. They are probably going to be. So check out Willa Ford and Ashley Ballard on their CDs in stores now.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

The Others is chilling
By Susie S.

The Others is a great suspense movie! There could be more scares in this movie, but the ones that are there really give you the chills.

Grace, Nicole Kidman, lives on an isolated island off the coast of England during the last days of World War II. Her home is a beautiful Victorian mansion where she lives with her two children, Anne and Nicolas.

The story really comes to life when three people come to their home answering Grace's request for new servants. After these people arrive many mysterious thing starts to occur, and it is as though Grace's cozy, safe home has become a haunted house.

When Grace notices her daughter Anne talking to an imaginary friend she claims to be real, and when her son Nicolas becomes scared to the bone by other people's voices, and when she hears sounds that no animal can make, she starts to believe in the supernatural and a world of the dead.

Grace frantically starts looking for clues about who these mysterious people are, why they have come, and what they could possibly want.

The surprising ending makes the movie even more chilling.

Overall Rating (on a scale from 1-4): 3
Genre (type of movie):
Thriller Rating: PG-13

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Surf on over to Bigchalk.com
By Heather N.

You've probably heard of bigchalk.com. I'm reporting about it because it is a good web site for kids or students.

It is also good for homework, class reports, or almost any school activities. It is great for all categories including the news, the tragedy in New York tragedy and homework.

Please try Bigchalk.com!

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

The Princess Diaries
A multimedia review

The book
By Nikki H.

Mia Thermopolis was a normal girl, until she found out that she was a princess.Now a movie, The Princess Diaries is a book about a teenage girl's life.

Mia starts out as a pretty normal girl, aside from that fact that she seems to be invisible to people.When her father gets cancer, however, her whole life is turned upside-down.

Mia's grandma begins giving her princess lessons everyday and her life is far from normal. Now she has to question everything and everyone who tries to get close to her, for fear that it is all for fame.

If you want to find out all the twists and turns in Mia Thermopolis's life, then you should read The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

The Princess Diaries
A multimedia review

The movie
By Rena W.

The movie started and the crowd was thrilled with excitement. The theater was filled with people. Only the first couple of rows weren't full.

The Princess Diaries was a funny movie for all ages. It's good, but a little boring.

In the beginning, the princess was unpopular and she had frizzy hair. When she became a princess, however, everyone liked her. Then, every boy tried to be her boyfriend.

Well, she wanted to become princess and she did. She and her grandmother the queen went to Shanopia (sha-no-pi-a) with her cat Fat Louie to live in a huge mansion.

The princess's best friend and her friend's brother, whom the princess liked before she was a princess, visited her every summer and they lived happily ever after.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Did Joe Dirt bite the dust?
By Andy K.

Joe Dirt (David Spade), a janitor at a radio station, is brought on to a talk show to talk about his life. His story began when he was eight years old; while visiting the Grand Canyon, his cruel parents left him behind to fend for himself in the wilderness.

While searching for his parents, he met new people and went through many different jobs, working as everything from an oil plumper to an alligator trainer.

One person he met was Brandi, a girl who lived in the small town of Silver Town. Joe fell in love with her, but he felt that he had to resume his search for his long lost parents.

Joe didn't find his parents and settled into a job as a janitor. After his radio interview the nation was willing to help Joe find his parents.

Will Joe find his parents or will Joe give up and go back to Silver Town and live with Brandi?

I thought Joe Dirt was an o.k. movie, but this is a movie I would recommend renting before ever buying it.

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Overall Rating: 3

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

MTV Video Awards rocked
A review
By Lara P.

The lights dimmed and the crowd became silent as the 2001 Video Music Awards began on September 7. The show was hosted by former television star, Jamie Fox, who did a spectacular job.

One of the first performances was Alicia Keys' "Fallin." This song also won an award for Best Video New Artist.

Other awards were Best Hip-Hop Video, "Ms. Jackson," by Outkast; Best Rap Video, "Ride With Me," by Nelly; and Best R&B Video, "Survivor," by Destiny's Child.

At approximately the halfway point of the show, *N'SYNC joined the true King of Pop, Michael Jackson, in performing the Best Dance Video of the year, "Pop." Michael Jackson proved that he has what it takes to retain his title.

To complete this great show, Britney Spears performed "I'm a Slave 4 U," her debut single from her soon to be released new album. This act included a jungle theme choreographed with live animals. It was one of the highlights of the show.

This truly was a memorable MTV Video Music Awards Show that millions of viewers enjoyed.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Charmed season finale leaves fans hanging
By Sunny B.

If you watched the Charmed season finale, you are probably as confused as I am.

A few new surprises have hit Charmed since I wrote my first article on Charmed in November 2000. Piper received a new power, the ability to blow stuff up. When freezing time, Piper slows down molecules and apparently she now can speed them up which causes things to explode.

Piper is now also married to their white-lighter, Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause from Sleepwalkers).

Finally, Phoebe's has a new love interest, a half human demon, Belthazor/Cole Turner.

When the season ended last May, the three sister witches were caught on live t.v., vanquishing a demonic hit man.

Phoebe Halliwell had turned herself into the Demonic world in order to save her sister, Piper, from being shot by a person who thought the witches were evil.

The leader of the demonic world said that if one of his demons, Belthazor, turned in his love, Phoebe, he would reset time and make all of the Halliwells' troubles go away. Phoebe had just turned herself in when the season ended.

Meanwhile Prue and Piper were back where they were a few hours before they were exposed because Tempest reset time. They were telling an innocent the whole story of what they really were. Prue felt a chill and the innocent, Prue, and Piper and were attaced by a demonic hit man. We don't know if they are dead or alive.

The two-hour season premiere that was supposed to air on September 27, 2001 was postponed until October 4 at 7:00 PM. Rumor has it that Prue dies and the season premier adds a new character, a half-sister, Paige Matthews.

The Charmed Ones mother, Patti Halliwell, died when Phoebe was eight months old, but before she died and after Phoebe was born, she divorced their mortal father and she married her white-lighter. While she was alive and married to him, she had a baby, who turns out to be their half-sister.

Well, if you watched last night's premiere, then all of your questions should have been answered.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Battle for Dune is awesome
By Pat L.

Emperor Battle for Dune is an awesome game for PC gamers who like a challenge. This game came out several months ago. The game is based on the movie, Dune The game picks up where the movie plot ended.

There are three armies you can choose from: the noble Atreides, the evil Harkonnen, or the secretive Ordos.

The Atreides reap the benefits of an extremely loyal and well-trained infantry.

The Harkonnen units are extremely tough, well armored, and are used to harsh punishment.

The Ordos have invested in advance regeneration technology for their units.

You can align with any of the five powerful subgroups, including the stealth-minded Fremen, the merciless Sarduakar, or the powerful Tleilazu.

As you play, you can explore the four landscapes, which are the lush prairies, industrial wasteland, frozen tuna, and the harsh desert of Dune.

There are only two special infantry units available in the Atreides, Harkonnen, and the Ordos army. In the Atreides amry, the sniper has the longest range of all the units in the game. The kindjal infantry carries two weapons, a small handgun, and a long tripod-mounted mortar cannon used to take out any heavy armored unit.

In the Harkonnen army, the trooper unit carries a missile launcher that can take out tanks and air units. Also in the Harkonnen, the flame-thrower infantry unit has a short-range flamethrower.

The Ordos chemical trooper unit has a short-range poison gas that works like a flamethrower. Also in the Ordos, the mortar infantry unit has a long-range anti-infantry mortar.

The graphics are really good with the shadows of units and cliffs on the ground. You can change the view wherever you want.

The sound is o.k., but it definitely could be better. The cheat codes are not out yet but they will be soon.

Overall Rating-8
Graphics-10
Sound-6
Play Control- 7
Game Play-8
Fun Facture-9
S.R.P.$50
Players- 8
The challenge is adjustable

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Great things come in VCR sized packages
By Ryan B.

Last year, PlayStation 2 was the next big thing. The Xbox, to be released on November 15, 2001, proves that the PlayStation 2 is no longer number one!

Now, keep in mind that even though the Xbox may have only a 733MHz PIII chip, the graphics will still be better than a computer that is faster. This is because games made for computers have to work with a range of system configurations. Most games that work with a 2GHz chip will still work with a 300MHz chip, just not as well.

In contrast, games designed for a console only have to work with one configuration, and will therefore run more efficiently. With that out of the way, let's go over the other specs.

Remember, not all the specs discussed in this article will definitely be in the Xbox.
Chip: 733MHz PIII

Memory Cards: There will be memory cards, but with an 8Gig hard drive, they will be unnecessary

Graphics Card: NVIDIA (most likely GeForce 3)

Internet: 56k modem and Ethernet port for Broadband access (standard)

Game Medium: CDs and DVDs

DVD player: Yes (internal standard, requires DVD Movie Playback Kit)

Game Controller Ports: Controller ports can be used for steering wheels, headsets, and anything else you could ever want!

Game Controllers: 8 way directional pad, left and right analog sticks, 6 pressure sensitive buttons, duel slot for memory cards and other devices, built in rumble feature and a 9.5 foot cord.

Look for the Xbox's debut next month. There should be over eighty games ready at release.

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Horoscopes
By Laura B.

Aries (March 21-April 19)-Don't get to used to your normal life because something weird is going to happen, just be ready for anything!!!!

Taurus (April 20-May 20)-Great!!! This ones mine. Everything is wonderful and perfect and your days will be filled with great stuff!!! The end.

Gemini (May 21-June 21)-You are about to be hit by something, don't worry though because it's not a plane, it could be good luck, then again maybe it's the truth!!!!!

Cancer (June 22-July 22)-Opportunity knocked, unfortunately you weren't home. Pay more attention next time!

Leo (July 23-August 22)-Make a wish. Are you making a wish???? Now think really hard!!! Ok do you have it??? Well think again, unfortunately you have to face reality!

Virgo (August 23-September 22)-If it is Friday night and you want to go out but you have homework just forget about it and have fun for a change. On Sunday night though you'll have to crack down though.

Libra (September 23-October 23)-I'm running out of things to write down (OK predict) here!!! OK I predict that you will eat an apple (maybe a pretzel) within the next two years or so.

Scorpio (October 24-November 21)-This year has started out good for you. Keep it that way. Figure out the rest.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)-Ahhhhhhh.. Pinkish/orange bananas are coming our way. Run!!!!! Wait. Stop. Before you run. I guess what this wonderful and inspirational message means is that you should get to know the bananas before you squash em.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)-My Grandma says you are only young once. Then again you are only old once too! Just concentrate on having fun, but this time forget about dumb homework.

Aquarius (January 20-February 18)-Your fortune is BLANK and UNPREDICTABLE!

Pisces (February 19-March 20)-My cow says moo, my camel spits, my dog says roof, and my ant says Merry Christmas! Put em all together and what do you get?!?!?! Nothing. Which is exactly what your gonna get out of this fortune. That's All Folks!!!! (so sad!)

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Simpsons game aimed at TV show fans
By Nikki A.

The Simpsons Wrestling is a hit, especially for those who love The Simpsons show.

The graphics are good. After all, it is supposed to be a cartoon. The characters really resemble the cartoons they are based on.

The effects are good. Before the match, the characters taunt. There are several power-ups and moves. The sound levels and effect noise are adjustable.

The Simpsons theme song plays at the beginning. The controls are pretty good, but not perfect. It can be hard or easy depending on which character you play.

This game is better when played with other people. One or two players can play. It is fun, especially when you like The Simpsons and wrestling.

The choices aren't huge, but there are some good alternatives. Just for hint, if you want to beat The Bumblebee Man, use the Marge character.

The challenge is unfortunately not adjustable. The price ranges from thirty to forty dollars. This is a good game to buy.

Overall Rating: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Play control: 8
Game Play: 9
Fun Factor: 9
S.R.P.: $30-$40
Number of players: 1-2
Challenge: not adjustable

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.

Mario Party 3 is best of series
By Evin S.

MP3, Mario Party 3, far excels Mario Party 1 and 2. In MP3 there are more mini games than in the first two. MP3 also has more challenges.

You need to have thinking skills and hand-eye coordination for this game. You need thinking skills to defeat other players and you need hand-eye coordination to win the mini games.

If you are wondering what mini games are, they are games you play after each turn.

There are two modes to play in MP3. One is party mode. In party mode you can play every duel and game board except Waluigi's Island and Back tracks.

In Story mode you have to get eight stamps to become the universe's greatest super star.

Here are some hints: 1-miracle star- earnings rank eight times more in duel and game boards. 2-easy coins- Roll doubles after using a mushroom for ten coins, and roll triples after using a golden mushroom for twenty coins.

For additional hints go to www.cheatcc.com.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Age: 6-14

Email The Charger about this story.
Translate this story.