Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Let's Prom Like It is 2010!

The awesome rental car, the fresh silky tuxedo, the beautiful women in dresses, and a night full of dancing and memories that will last a life time. This is almost a right of passage into the fields of adulthood because it is a part of the American tradition now very much like Thanksgiving Day. Everyone dreams of this one night and puts upon the highest pedestal to where there whole future may be ruined if this night goes wrong. There are the hopeless romantic types who think they will spend this night with their truest love and the people who think a life long fantasy will be fulfilled. It is a great atmosphere to be apart except for the fact that on prom night I was at Colton's Steak House catching the gist of prom from their instead of actually experiencing it on my own in real life.

This is okay though because prom has never been anything that was really on agenda at all for the simple fact it is just not my scene. I would much rather make a little money then spend a whole five hours of my life being uncomfortable, taking pictures, and basically standing around. People think I am really weird and my family warns me of the big mistake I am making by not experiencing this crucial event in the life of a young man, but what they do not know is that I really could care less. In the overall bigger picture of things I am not a tuxedo kind of guy I love my t-shirt and jeans and dancing is just not my cup of punch(get it). So I should by now be feeling regret about my decisions, but I kind of feel empowered something like a rebel that may spark a change in society that will alter the course of history. Then I will have finally found my way to leave my mark on the world, but in all reality I am not bothered about how I spent my prom and for all of those that think they would die after a mistake like mine I am living just fine and I am even a few bucks richer.

So to all of you debating on prom yes or no all I can say is be yourself, know yourself, and follow your heart and you will have no regrets at all.

The 1920's

When it comes to the issue of the 1920's I find myself on the fence because of the exciting happy times that were experienced and then later the sad depression filled days after the inevitable crash. To have lived in the times of the roaring twenties must have caused many that lived during this period of time to have a head full of memories of both the good and bad times to pass down to future generations. Just hearing my grandparents tell stories that their parents told them about this time in history is like going on an exciting adventure through time with all of the ups and downs to go with it.

In a way I would have loved to live in the twenties for the fact that it was a time of non stop excitement and invention. Stores, restaurant, and automobiles things that are exposed to us everyday were created in this time. The very thought of businessmen, competition for customers, and economic ideas were born during this era and have obviously left their mark on us. I would not have been old enough to keep company with people such as the flappers and speakeasies, but viewing all the activity of city life would have been more than enough to make the times the best years in my life.

Then on the other hand we have the time period after the stock market crashed and all of the heartbreaks that go along with that. Widespread hunger, poverty, and ill health were the terms that replaced prosperity, growth, and exciting times full of fun in the latter days of the twenties. For the simple fact that I am not a very strong willed human being I probably would have been begging for mercy at the first sign of rough times, but this is a part of the 1920's like life that we now again live in the U.S.A.

So if I had to choose it would definitely be the early part of the roaring twenties and then somehow I could skip the ending part of the deal and shoot right back into the success and prosperity that we as Americans experience everyday. You can find more information about the 1920's here.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Notes about musicals

Fiddler on the roof: About traditions following past into future guy(tevye) has five daughters in no sons in a farming community very religious(jewish) Hebrew school arranged marriages did not like the tsar community likes peace and harmony they think without tradition they think life would have no order shaky like a fiddler on the roof people get married very early and having a husband is very important tevye wishes he was rich instead of a poor man a man says in the newspaper that the tsar evicted some jews from a village for no reason a young man(perchik) says that you can't close your eyes to the outside world and he says he can tudor his daughters in trade for food tevye oldest daughter(tzeitel) wants to marry motel but lazar the butcher would like her hand in marriage also. would like her hand in marriage but he is poor and is trying to save up money to buy a sewing machine(motel) so he can support a family and the wants to talk with tevye and tevye at first doesnt like lazar but then he thinks about the better life his daughter would have and how she would want for nothing after celebration of lazar's good fortune tevye bumps into russian constable who warns him of a coming minor pogrom(form of riot) he has sympathy for the jews but can do nothing about the coming violence. the next morning after perchik's lesson with the second oldest daughter (hodel) mocks his marxist interpretation of a bible story then he criticizes her for hanging on to old traditions of judaism noting that the world is changing then the two dance together defying the prohibition against opposite sexes dancing together the two are falling in love. tevye announces that they lazar will marry his oldest and golde is overjoyed but tzeitel begs for this not to happen and motel shows some backbone and stands up for himselfabout the relationship that he and his daughter share after this tevye allows them to marry and must break the news to golde he does this by pretending to wake up froma nightmare where his daughter is supposed to marry motel not lazar. while returning from town tevye's third daughter the bookish chava is teased and intimidated by some russian youths but one of them fyedka protects her he offers the loan of a book and a secret relationship begins. on motel and tzeitel wedding day lazar gives a fine gift but an arguement arises with tevye over broken agreement perchik ends this by breaking another tradition and dances with hodel celebration ends when group of russians ride into the village for a demonstration perchik is injured trying to fight back and tevye advises everyone just to clean up.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Non-Verbal

Most of our communication is done without ever saying one word. As we watch Mr. Bean he obviously does a great job of this. .Like in one part of the show he was taking a test and he kept telling the guy he could not out do Mr. Bean and he said very few words. He also was communicating that he was unprepared for the calculus test and he need to cheat to the other fellow too.Also the scene when he was at the beach he communicated that he did not want to be seen without ever opening his mouth. The blind gentlemen Mr. Bean thought was watching him gave off body language that he really did not want to be bothered so Mr. Bean said nothing to him. Also when Mr. Bean was in church he communicated to the whole world that he was tired by his yawning and other mysteriously weird antics.

In the first scene of this second movie about Mr. Bean he shows just how cheap he is by not asking the musician for change for the money he was about to give him, but digging around in the guys case for it. Then he puts a piece of newspaper on the ground starts dancing around and collects some of his own profit. In the restaurant he communicated to the server he did not want anymore to drink through hand motions indicating if intoxicated he may wreck while on his drive home. Also in this scene he put the table cloth on as a bib to show that he may make a mess and he kept tipping the waiter with random things proving he can be just as fancy as the other people. In this scene he was trying to communicate to the audience that the food was nasty because he kept hiding it in random places and through awkward facial expressions. In the scene when they are waiting for the royal party he indicates he is nervous and excited by moving around excessively. He indicated he had bad breath by almost making himself pass out then fanning away from him because it was so bad.

In the third film Mr. Bean shows that he is still very much a child in mind by going to the slide. In this scene he also indicates that he is afraid of heights by the way he reacts once he reaches the edge of the diving board, but he does not want the children to know he is afraid. The life guard communicates that something weird is going on by his facial expression, and when the camera just shows Mr. Bean's shorts floating in the water that is a non verbal gesture about what just happened. When the swimming pool scene is over with Mr. Bean yet again shows how cheap he is by trying to get out of paying his charge anyway possible. Mr. Bean's aggressive driving also indicated he was annoyed and was about to do something reckless. In the next scene Mr. Bean indicated he was hungry by licking his lips. In the movie seen he shows that he is not really to fond of scary movies because he is frightened from beginning to end.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

No Computers in the Classroom!

Ever since my first day of school we were trained and instructed on the art of reading and writing, and sadly to say those days shall never be lived again. Instead of writing in a few years young children will be typing and the time and practice that it takes to master writing will not be necessary anymore because it will be a dead art. Why is old fashioned pencil and paper not good enough anymore? If we have computers what do we need teachers for anyway? These questions are often asked by my peers and I because we can not see the value of computers in the classroom. Yes, in these ever changing technological days a new invention is like a common everyday occurrence, but sometimes technology creates more problems than it solves. As we place more faith into our computers and accessories that go along with them ( hard drives, zip drives, etc.) , we rarely realize how dangerous this is because what about when computers malfunction, the Internet goes down, or a viruses are enacted chaos is sure to ensue. Students will not be engaged with each other to communicate because with computers in classes like oral communication the only words ever said are through computer now. This means that a future President could have been born in a class, but for the lack of true oral communication he fails. Things like feedback in communication will become less common and things like the use of symbols and encoding will become the new way. Eventually turning us all into cyborgs in sense.

The first problem that computers pose in the classroom is that cheating will become more prevalent. Students will be able to navigate away from the test pages and go search for answers on the web, thus degrading the integrity of grades. Also the possibility of emailing answers or screen shots of test answers will continue the cheating and G.P.A.'s will be worth nothing anymore. According to nku.edu computers in the classroom will lead to more cheating because most teachers are veterans or of an older generation and student who know more about the technology will find ways to cheat.

Another issue that arises is the cost and efficiency of the software that goes along with the computers. On elsteachersboard.com the teachers give their argument on how computer software sometimes occupies the students more than educates them. They have come to the understanding that computers are tools in the classroom like books but they can not take the place of a good teacher, and in the classroom computers should not be for entertainment only education. Also with some of the expensive price tags on computers these days some schools may simply not be able to afford this technology and there students will not be able to keep up with the rest of the fold. This will lead to problems like mass transferring of students and problems of that nature to get better education, and the students that remain at the school with less technology will be at a disadvantage when college time rolls around.

Finally, it is a known fact that computers are not the most dependable entities on planet Earth. Sometimes when you are the last page of a term paper that has to be turned in, your computer blacks out and you have to start all over from scratch and your not the happiest camper in the vicinity. I will also infer that this is not the first time this has happened to a person and that it will not be the last. On a larger scale teachers sometimes plan a lesson out online for their students to part take in, but the Internet suddenly goes down and their lesson plans for the day are shot. So there is always an ere air around computers because you never really know what they are going to do.

To conclude, computers are not a big great evil of the world yet, but some of our growing trust and confidence should be checked by some of the information about the technology floating around out there. Computers have done many positive things for the world, but they also pose threats to education as we know it today. So I say be vigilant in the changes that go on to yourself and possibly children as we plunge further into the computer age.