The James Logan Courier

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)

The honeymoon between gaming and zombie apocalypses is borderline ridiculous right now, with zombies making cameos in everything from "World of Warcraft" to "Grand Theft Auto" to "Call of Duty."

But while those franchises simply toss out a zombified mode and fight for position on the bed of the bandwagon, Valve heads straight for the driver's seat and emerges with the best zombie apocalypse simulator in all of gaming.

By Jenelle Gallardo, Courier Staff Writer

Food. Fire. Fun. Carino's Italian restaurant's appeal. They're real appeal is their service. Instantly as you walk in you are greeted and seated. The wait for a table is not that long and if you need reservations, a party of eight or more is required.

The cuisine prepared is as authentic as most Italian restaurants but the selection of food is quite a load. Family platters range from $20-$30 and can feed a table of four or more. Their Panini sandwiches come with freshly made potato chips, and everyone is served unlimited breadsticks with a side of olive oil. Itallian and cream sodas are a part of the regular drink menu along with other beverages. The menu has selections that are kid-friendly, vegetarian-friendly, diet-friendly and gluten-free meals. The house specialties include chicken and seafood favorites.

By Mia Tungol, Courier Staff Writer

A few weeks ago, my family took me to Milpitas to eat at Macaroni Grill. As soon as I walked in, the restaurant was crowded. The decor was simple, yet modern at the same time. Since there were so many people waiting for a table, some of them were forced to wait outside. After about twenty minutes or so, our table was finally ready.

By Jamey Padojino, Courier Staff Writer

Last weekend was my cousin’s 22nd birthday, and my aunt arranged for all of our relatives to have lunch at Tracy Thai on Sunday afternoon. Not a bad way to spend my Sunday afternoon – eating lunch with my family on a relatively sunny day. Now my aunt has been known to introduce my relatives to new restaurants. We’ve tried out many places from sushi houses to Mexican restaurants. As my parents and I were on our way to my cousin’s birthday lunch, I wondered what was in store for today’s meal.

By Sandhaya Mansfield, Courier Staff Writer

"Lost" director J.J. Abrams is back at it again venturing boldly where no man has gone before. His newest project, "Star Trek" is due May 8, 2009.

Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and director J.J. Abrams have created a new version of the greatest space adventure of all time. Featuring a young new cast, "Star Trek" explores the early Starfleet careers of the future Enterprise officers. The film is supposed to journey back to the days of James T. Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the USS Enterprise, from the original "Star Trek" series, and show how these characters came together.

By Mia Tungol, Courier Staff Writer

Last weekend, James Logan High School performed the play, Tartuffe or, the Impostor written by Moliere and directed by Debbie Hughes. Mainly discussing the major themes of manipulation, religion, and loyalty, the cast was able to elaborate and present these themes clearly throughout the entire production.

The main characters include Tartuffe, played by Gabriel Hinojoza, Orgon, played by Ray Holston, and Dorine, played by Jenna Valdespino.

Read Tartuffe, by Moliére, free from Project Gutenberg.

By Hamed Noorzay, Courier Staff Writer

Mishon "Excuse Me Mama" is yet another song about a boy who meets a girl and is automatically
attracted her. Though it may seem cliché at first, the song has a very infectious tune that gets stuck in one's head. Not to mention the fact that the singing in it self is not all that bad. Mishon has a certian charm in his singing. It's almost as if you can feel his innocence through his voice.

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Editor-in-Chief

“They had labeled the one that had come before him a madman and refused to acknowledge his genius. But this time matters would unfold in a very different fashion.

When he had finished constructing the deadly device and demonstrated its enormous destructive energy, all of England, indeed all of Europe would be forced to hail the second Newton in its midst.”

So believes the villain of this novel. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t take the combined powers of Elenora Lodge and Arthur, the Earl of St. Merryn, into account. This was the first novel I read by Amanda Quick (a.k.a. Jayne Anne Krentz) and I was hooked right away. I was so hooked, as a matter of fact, that I went on to read every single title under the Quick pseudonym. It is excellently written and I enjoyed it from front to back—over and over and over again.

By Claude Peck
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)

MINNEAPOLIS — Wally Lamb's new novel, 450,000 copies of which have just arrived in bookstores, is big enough to threaten Thanksgiving and maybe even Christmas, as readers ignore turkey basting and tinsel tossing to turn the 723 wide-ranging, heavily plotted pages of "The Hour I First Believed."

Lamb writes big books. And popular ones. Oprah Winfrey famously pulled an all-nighter reading Lamb's first novel, "She's Come Undone," the painful, funny coming-of-age saga of Dolores Price. She later included its paperback version and Lamb's 900-page second novel, "I Know This Much Is True," in her Book Club, a bestowal that invariably sends the anointed novel on a rocket ride.

Courier Staff Report

After nearly two months of preparations and rehearsals, Logan Drama's production of Moliere's play, Tartuffe, premieres in the Little Theatre tonight, the start of a three-say run.

Teachers and a few others got a preview of the comedy Thursday afternoon, when Drama instructor Debbie Hughes opened the final dress rehearsal for their viewing.

Rehearsals "were tough," said Gabriel Hinojoza, who plays the title role of a schemer and raconteur posing as a religious zealot, "It's been a very long week of working to 8 p.m. each night."

By Tawab Fakhri, Courier Associate Editor

Union City is home to an abundance of great Chinese restaurants, so there's no good reason to travel outside the city for Chinese food unless it's exceptional.

To be blunt, instead of burning gas to go to Darda Seafood restaurant in Milpitas, go to a local eatery. The reason for this is not due to one specific flaw, but an array of faults and problems.

By Jenelle Gallardo, Courier Staff Writer

With all the shops and restaurants and the treasure cove of culinary finds, Emeryville's, Miyozen Sushi Restaurant is tucked away as a hidden gem of the city. Miyozen has a dark atmosphere and two rooms. The lobby has two couches and a kid's corner for waiting, because the business lunch time and dinner rush prove to be crowded. Garage parking is located at the back of the building.

By Jamie Maxfield, Courier Editor-in-Chief

What better to do on a Friday night than go to a concert. My brother picked me up from school at about five thirty, and we started off to San Jose where we would soon be listening to the sounds of four well-liked bands: Gas Light Anthem, Thrice, Alkaline Trio, and Rise Against.

By Brandie Moore, Courier Book Editor

Something was after me, I could feel it. Deep darkness was surrounding me, trying to find me, to envelop me. I tried to make the rune signs for protection, but I couldn't lift my hands: my fingers weren't working. I'd been bound, just as Cal had bound me to entrap me. Smoke and flames burned in the back of my throat, and I heard a voice screaming, 'Not again!' somehow I knew the voice belonged to my birth mother, Maeve. Then faces rose up out of the smothering darkness: Selene and Cal. I begged them to leave me alone. I pushed my lips together tightly, knowing, somehow, that they wanted me to breathe in the darkness, wanted it to become a part of me. Just as I felt myself about to suffocate, I saw a tiny sliver of light. The faces of Cal and Selene dissolved as the light approached. And then I began to see a new face in its midst. Hunter.

For all of you who have been following my reviews of Cate Tiernan's series Sweep, we are now on book 5 of 14. As we learned in my last book review, book four left us with more questions and concerns and few answers.

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Editor-in-Chief

“She’d seen pictures of princes in her books. Lots of them. Princes wore capes lined with robin’s egg blue silk that they threw carelessly over one shoulder. They wore velvet capes trimmed with soft feathers. They trod so lightly that the ground was grateful to hold their weight. They were slender, graceful—and charming.”

Unfortunately for Evangeline Scoffield, Prince Danior is none of these things, but that is not the worst part. He also rudely calls her a liar merely because he refuses to believe that she is not his long-lost princess. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel—especially since Danior is my kind of “prince charming”—and keep going back to it. The characters are enjoyable, the plot is exciting and the chemistry is real. Add in a bit of interesting history since this book is set in 1816 and you get a great romance. It beats one of those unoriginal fairy tales any day.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

In "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows," you star as Spider-Man and enjoy unlimited liberty to swing around New York City to whatever degree you please ... just as you could in last year's "Spider-Man 3." Oh, and "Spider-Man 2" before that. Doesn't Spidey ever do any traveling beyond the city limits?

But while a change of venue would've been nice, doing away with the sloppy hand-to-hand combat and dull mission objectives that bogged down those other two games is paramount.

On both fronts, "Shadows" scores direct hits. Spider-Man's combat repertoire always has been expansive, but "Shadows" is the first game that not only gives the moves the oomph they deserve, but removes any static between what you're trying to do and what Spidey does. "Shadows" mixes land, air, web and even wall-mounted combat in some pretty liberating ways, and practically every move in the arsenal controls and feels as it should.

By Jamey Padojino, Courier Staff Writer

Whether it’s rain or shine, the SF Museum of Modern Art is a trip worth taking.

The museum has art that is truly unique. Pieces ranging from paintings and sculptures to design and photography provide a whole new perspective on self-expression. Seeing as it is modern art, some creations are as simple as triangles or out of norm such as air conditioners stacked on top of each other. Nonetheless the art expresses techniques and opinions of the modern era.

By Mia Tungol, Courier Staff Writer

Santa Clara's Great America tried something new this October. The usual family environment amusement park was turned into Halloween Haunt.

As part this new Halloween extravaganza, Great America had its employees dress up in frightening costumes to scare the public. In addition, there were certain areas designated as the “scare zones” specifically made for the employees to scare all. However, if a person became afraid, there were areas where the public would be in the “safe zone.” This included the first aid station and the restrooms. Also, in case an individual wanted to prepare themselves, the fog would indicate that that is where the monsters are more likely to be.

By Glenn Gamboa
Newsday (MCT)



It's hard to believe it's been nine years since Q-Tip's first — and, technically, only — solo album, "Amplified," considering how much he has to say and how well he says it. And one spin through "The Renaissance" (Universal Motown) will have everyone wondering how he could have stayed away so long.

By Sandhaya Mansfield, Courier Staff Writer


Jon McLaughlin is back, with a a new hit single "Beating My Heart" of his second record "OK Now".

The last time we saw Jon McLaughlin, the singer/songwriter was performing his Oscar nominated song "So Close" from the Disney Movie "Enchanted". Since then, the twenty-five-year-old McLaughlin has gone back to the recording studio to undergo both a musical and stylistic transformation. With the help of his new producer John Fields (Rooney, Jonas Brothers), co-writing with Jason Reeves (Colbie Callait's "Bubbly"), writer/producers Tricky and The Dream (Rihanna's "Umbrella"), Troy Verges (Kenny Chesney's "You Save Me"), and Brett James (Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel"), McLaughlin achieves his new sound.

By Brandie Moore, Courier Book Editor

"Cal had used spells on me tonight, spells of binding so I couldn't move. Why? So I wouldn't interfere in his battle with Hunter? So I wouldn't be hurt? Or because he didn't trust me? Well, if he hadn't trusted me before, he knew better now. I clamped my teeth together on a semihysterical giggle. It wasn't every girl who would throw a Wiccan ceremonial dagger into the neck of her boyfriend's enemy.

Dark Magick is book four of 14 (plus a bonus novel) of the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. So far in the series, Morgan, our main character, found out she is a blood witch, she is adopted, and that her real parents were burned to death when they were locked in a barn.

By Chad Brady, Courier Daily Editor

Elephants in Kenya are sending text messages to rangers to warn them if they get too close to villages.

Its a new sort of security system put in place by the Save the Elephants group, which works by setting up a virtual fence around villages using a global positioning system.

Whenever an elephant crosses this "fence", coming too close to the village, sensors in the elephant's collar detect it and send a text message to the phone of a local ranger, who then drives to where the elephant is and scares it away with the car's headlights.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)

Like an increasing number of games sophisticated enough to do so, "Fallout 3" trades in conscience, delivering one moral quandary after another and letting players tell the story on their own terms.

On paper alone, it's impressive. Bethesda claims "Fallout 3" has more than 200 possible end scenarios, and it's easy to see why. Your playing field — post-nuclear Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas — is gargantuan, and while a few linchpin characters are off-limits for storyline purposes, the overwhelming majority of them are fair game for whatever degree of good or evil (including death) you wish to impose. Between the lengthy main story and the ridiculous bounty of optional side missions, it's a given your character has so many possible fates.

(c) 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.