CAPSTONE: Cultural Event- Shepherd Homecoming Game

R....A....M....S.....Go Rams!!

     Just change the letter and mascot and this chant can be heard at school football games all around the country. It’s part of high school and goes into college. As a Shepherd University student senior I attended my last Shepherd Homecoming Game. 

     It’s a display of school script. It’s a display of school pride. It’s a display of town support. A football game is more then just about football to many. Granted we are not talking about an NFL team or division I team but a homecoming game in general is more than just a game. 

     There are the players. Boys...men(?) that have probably played football most their life. Football is a massive part of their life if not their whole life. It is their culture. Watching film, watching a NFL game, and then playing Madden could be an example of the free time of a football player. 

     Furthermore football is American culture as well. Even though baseball is the national sport, no where else in the world is Football a major sport. We tried in Europe just like Beckham tried for soccer for us. 

The tailgating, the beer, the body paint, and yelling at referees are all parts of football and insights into culture. In America we like loud and we like big. The big stadium gives freedom to yell as loud as one wants. 

     It also gives insight into the value of loyalty. Bring on the trash talking and sometimes physical fights. 

People like to belong to something and be apart of something. Supporting a team lets people do this. In college people may want to be apart of their school as well as belong to the new group of friends they have made. 

     At a homecoming game the game is important yes but also what is going on in the stands or the parking lot. It is people getting together, supporting another group of people, and supporting themselves fulfilling wants of belonging. 

CAPSTONE: Cultural Event- The Constitutional Convention and the Miracle of Democracy, Constitution Day lecture by Richard Dreyfuss

 America....America...

What does it mean to you? 

Do you know what it means? 

Richard Dreyfuss wants people to know those answers and care about civics. 

     Dreyfuss believes that civics is losing importance. People do not know the answers to the questions above or care about answering them. 

     What is more important children of today are losing the opportunity to learn about civics and this country. Civics education has already been taking out of some schools and thus taking away the values and virtues of this country in education. 

     Students are the future of this country so how can they govern when they don’t know how this country came about, its foundations, and its values. Foundations and values that can be seen in important civic documents such as the constitution. 

     Dreyfuss spoke of the constitution and what it means during his lecture. He also spoke of what America means to him. He cares about this country and believes we will lose this country if we do not do something. He called for citizens to become engaged in civics and civility. 

     This lecture is a culture event for it is based around the culture of this country. Values are a part of a country’s culture. Students need to learn more of our civic culture rather than popular culture. 

In the eyes of Richard Dreyfuss lose civics, lose values....lose America.  

CAPSTONE: Cultural Event- Happy Feet 2

     Dancing Penguins.....cultural event of course. Well if there were penguins in real life that could dance that would definitely be a event...a phenomenon. Yet in animation it can still be cultural for the fact that Happy Feet 2 is animation. Young children today aren’t just watching hand drawn 2-D characters on screen. Today children are watching computer animated characters in 3-D. Along with learning of the environment, family, and group dynamics. 

     In Happy Feet 2 we return to dancing and singing penguins until their habitat is further effected by global warming. Cracking and falling ice causes the penguins “land” to lower creating a bowl effect with no way out or up. Mumble goes to find help to create a passageway up the bowl. Mumble helps a elephant seal out of the ice earlier in the movie and he helps Mumble in return. Penguins and elephant seals dance and sing together to help the penguins below. 

     This shows children people working together to help one another. Just as firefighters or doctors do everyday. Groups of people helping out one another is part of culture. Many different cultures why this film could be enjoyed worldwide. 

     Back to the elephant seal Mumble saved his life in front of his children and in front of his son. Family is another big theme in this movie. Mumble’s son Erik is young and does not understand yet why he can’t do certain things. Erik got mad at his father for telling him this but in the end he looks at his dad as a hero. When Mumble when to the elephant seal at first the seal said no but Erik admired his father for trying. 

     Children look to their parents for example. Children do stray and get mad at their parents from time to time. (Erik is just a little one wait till he’s a teenager Mumble). However that how families are, not everything is always perfect. 

     Then there’s the side story of the Krill, Bill and Will. I do believe the names were intentional. These Krill set out to see beyond the swarm together as male and male. 

There’s a definite bromance going on between them, at least from Bill’s eyes. When Bill sees baby jellyfish he thinks of children and asks Bill “why don’t we have children”. 

Bill’s reply “we’re males”. 

Will’s reply “we can adopt.” 

A funny moment in the movie for today’s generation. I don’t believe this would of happened in earlier family movies. Today our culture is much more accepting of gay culture. Having this moment in the movie reflects this. 

Happy Feet 2 is another 3-D family computer animated film. Another of the many that are now the “children” movie standard. Yet the stories still tell of cultural morals like family and helping another while changing to reflect changing views in culture. 

Still even the classics are updating. Disney’s The Lion King 3-D was in theaters now The Beauty and the Beast is next to be modernized. 

CAPSTONE: Cultural Event- In the Next Room(or the Vibrator Play)...yea

The Vibrator Play...

Did that get your attention?

The play is actually a well written funny play. It centers around the doctor’s prescription of “pleasure” for hysteria. 

     According to the play’s program “hysteria” was a female medical condition categorized by symptoms like unhappinessness, faintness, and “occasionally, the unwillingness to obey’s one husband.” Prescription: orgasm. 

     How is this cultural...well sexual topics in general have been in society, in culture for years. Yet during certain time periods speaking about these subjects openly was taboo. Now there’s Playboy and various reality shows showing people suggestive situations. 

     This play however is set after the Civil War in the 1880s when I assume people did not understand “pleasures” as today. For when the vibrator was used on the patients the reactions were like the did not know what the feeling was or never experienced these feelings before. Seems like there was a lack of understanding of sexually in those times by some. Certainly there was a lack of sexually in popular culture in those times as well. The reactions were a funny part of the play but the reactions between the characters were as well.

     Yet there is a painter character in the play that does know of pleasures with woman. He has a carefree personality. He gives another dimension of the type of people in those times. Even though some may have been uptight back then with covered up dresses and suits there were still those who were easygoing with open sweaters and loose scarfs. 

     Another character Catherine Givings wife of Dr. Givings, the doctor giving the “prescriptions” has a very upbeat personality. She loves to talk but feels lonely from her husband since he seems so busy with work or going out after work. These times in marriages were seen then as they are now.

     Times change. History lets us now how things can about. The invention of the vibrator made people more “carefree”. Birthing the emergence of a more sexuality accepting culture. 

CAPSTONE: Cultural Event- Macbeth

Romeo, Romeo where are thou Romeo?

This isn’t that play

     This is about Macbeth....another play of by the great Shakespeare of betrayal, temptation, and greed for power. 

     Macbeth is an insight into today as well as how people spoke and dressed in Medieval times. Through actor's movements and expressions one can follow the play. Actors speak more than just words. 

     Returning to the themes of Shakespeare; greed, power, temptation, betrayal these are apart of culture today as there were in Shakespeare’s time. Why his plays are still being performed today. 

     Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill the King and servants to fame them for the murder. Macbeth is overcome with guilt throughout the play. As well as tempted by the witches throughout the play. More people are killed during the play and at the end there is still a fight for power. 

     Power is a part of culture. Wars are still fought today. The wars are still over who will control what. In Macbeth several people are wanting to be king in order for the ability to control. Then the murders committed are done by people who are under control by someone else. 

Power is temptation. Thus it creates greed and causes people to betray one another. 

Follow Macbeth and watch the play and one will see this. 

Can’t understand what they are saying? 

Listen close. Watch expressions and movements. Expand your cultural horizons.

CAPSTONE: Plugged Everywhere

source

    What to plug in a website? Plug in plugins for a WordPress site. When researching for WordPress plugins several appear list after list. Whether its the 8 essential WordPress plugins, 16 essential plugins, 32 essential plugins or 15 incredible plugins these plugins keep popping up for every blog/website needs certain necessary parts to be successful.

Top Essential Plugins:

       1. Sitemap - A sitemap is needed to find the pages of your site easily by a search engine. 

Plugin: Google XML Sitemaps

        2. Analytics - Analytics is imperative to have a successful site. It allows one to track visitors to a site and what they do. In return one can see what works and what is popular on their site.

Plugin: Google Analytics

        3. SEO - A SEO plugin is needed to be seen above everyone else. It helps ranks one site for it is a search engine optimization site. 

Plugins: All in One SEO / WordPress SEO by Yoast/ HeadSpace2 SEO

        4. Contact Form - A contact form is needed on a site for visitors to be able to contact the makers of the site instead of leaving an email address. 

Plugin: Contact Form 7

        5. Cache - A cache plugin is needed to keep one’s site performance up and keep loading times fast. 

Plugins: W3 Total Cache/ WP Super Cache/ Quick Cache

        6. Spam - No one, the makers or readers of a site, wants spam on a site. There are plugins for spam checking. 

Plugin: Akismet

        7. Comments - Conversation is key to keep a blog or website alive. There are plugins to keep the conversation going or to just say thank you. 

Plugins: Subscribe to Comments Reloaded / Reply Me - send email for reply to one’s comment

                Thank Me Later - sends email to everyone who leaves a comment

    There are thousands of WordPress Plugins to choose from for a site. These are essential the rest are up to the admin to choose. Think of plugins that will electrify one’s site. 

CAPSTONE: "Common Senseless"

     What if a leader had no common sense? What if those who elected leaders had no sense? Well that makes no sense!! In the words of Richard Dreyfuss it is “common senseless”. For the leaders of today, politicians, children, and the public to not know the values of this country or how this country is run is senseless. The Dreyfuss Initiative wants to start a vehicle of bringing common senseless to light. For my capstone I will create a WordPress blog to do just that. On the blog I will write examples, include videos, have news feeds, links to TDI social media, and create a forum. This blog is part of a social media strategy for TDI.

     This blog idea comes after the two TDI events I helped with this weekend. During the first event I helped set up, signed in media, sold CDs, got to people join the email list, and answered what is TDI to those who asked (more than a few). Which means this message needs to reach more people which is my job. The second event was at Shepherd and the topic of my next blog. 

  My research for this week is to look at professional WordPress blog websites. Blog websites that are more then just....well blogs like this one. Through looking at popular ones so far I have noticed navigation menus, social media links, and layout. Sidebars hold popular posts, there are sidebar menus, there are site maps at the bottom, comment boxes at end of every post, voting on posts, and clean simple backgrounds. I plan to model the blog in similar fashion. My research throughout this whole semester will be to find examples of “common senseless”. This is unfortunately not to hard to find today. I will continue to watch and read the news daily. Which we all should be doing already right? 

CAPSTONE: Taking the Initiative

     The end is near.......of my college career. For my capstone project I will be working with The Dreyfuss Initiative. My role in the Shepherd team is marketing and press. For the upcoming events, September 17 I will be a press liaison. TDI is also looking to us as college students for ways to engage people in this internet savvy age. Additionally, aspects of branding like helping to prepare displays are also a part of the marketing. The events this month introduce an important area of the organization. 

      I have expressed to the executive director of TDI that I am interested in PR aspects as well as the theatre area of TDI. TDI is composed of three different areas. One of the areas focuses on theatre. TDI is holding an American history play competition. Working with the theatre and helping to handle logistics was an idea suggested to me. 

     I also have expressed my enthusiasm to write press releases. At this time the executive director writes the press releases but I hope to at least help get the information to the media if I am not given the opportunity to write any press releases. TDI has a message and I am here to spread it.