Trip to the Past

February 21, 2009

This week’s video took us back to a very exciting time for Dublin that took place forty-six years ago. This amazing experience, that many people claim to be the highlight of their teenage years, is the trip that the Beatles took to sing in Dublin. In 1963, the wonderful Beatles came to town and performed two concerts, one in Dublin and the other in Adelphi. Very many people remember this day very well. They could tell you who was standing next to them, what song the Beatles opened with, and the excitement in the air that night. Considering that the Beatles were so popular here in the United States as well, it doesn’t surprise me that this is the highlight for many women of their teenage years.

Some people described the Beatles as media savvy. This stood out to me very clearly. Since I have come to John Paul the Great Catholic University for media, it is very important that I can graduate from the school and have people look at me and say that I am a media savvy person. I think this is very important because technology in the media world right now is continuously changing. People have to think outside the box that they created when television first started to be broadcast. Hopefully, like the Beatles, in the world students from John Paul the Great Catholic University will be known as media savvy and hard workers.

Another thing that I noticed from watching the first part of the clip was the fun that the Beatles portrayed. They seem to have a great sense of humor and are enjoyable to watch. The Beatles gave people the inspiration to be a little different. Clearly, they succeeded in that because they now have a book about them called The Beatles Irish Concerts.

Ireland definitely cares about those around them. The Principal of Scoil Fhursa in Kilmore West is a boys school that educates around 270 young boys. This school had been very run down because the last time anyone painted the school was about ten years prior. However, after this school becoming to run down, parents, faculty, staff, and local communities came together to give the school a complete paint makeover. In the chapter that we read this week, Tom Inglis, in the book Global Ireland, describes how “villages are a bit like families.” This painting makeover definitely hits that point directly. Although everyone thought it was the craziest idea, they got the job done through the donations of places around them. Everything from the paint to the catering was donated in order to help these boys be able to focus better during their studies at this school. Not only did businesses and parents help out, but parish groups also donated their time. The boys at The Principal of Scoil Fhursa in Kilmore West are very lucky to have had this experience.

Finally, the last part of the video that we watched was about a taxi driver who was able to experience seeing people from all age groups come together and learn how to become chefs. Whether the reason behind was to go professional or just to entertain house guests, everyone who attended worked well with each other and helped the experience be an awesome learning experience. Similar to the way John Paul the Great Catholic University works, Lynda Booth, the founder, brings in professional chefs that the students are able to learn from and work with. 

How will I apply my knowledge from my producer class in the future?

In class Professor Christopher Riley asked us what we want to do with the information we learned during our production class this quarter. He gave us 15 minutes in class to write something, this is what I wrote:

What I want to do with this knowledge is probably the most obvious, I am now intrigued by producing and might do producing in some projects in the future. This class really helped my knowledge of what producer does and made me realize that I have a lot of the skills that a producer needs to be successful. And with more practice here at JP Catholic, I might go on to be a producer outside of the school. Because of the other class that I am taking, I am understanding what exactly a producer is doing and I am witnessing examples of producers and learning what works and what doesn't work. Also, as being an assistant to the two producers on my team and taking this class at the same time, I am able to try and help them successfully do their job and I am able to explain different things to other team members. By these different experiences, I can be a better producer in the future when I actually become one. Producers need to dream pretty big and follow that dream in order to be successful, and through different conversations with people, I have found that I have a lot more confidence in people than they have and that I would be able to help them with their projects by encouraging them in getting their story told. The other reason why I think I would enjoy being a producer is because I am really good at knowing a little about a lot of things and I know how and what to do, even if I am not the best at any job in particular. As a producer you need to know when a job is done correctly and well, and the basics of how to do it, but you do not need to be the best at any particular case. Because I like being involved in all aspects of production I think that this job is very suitable for me.

I Can Do Anything

February 13, 2009

            I really enjoyed watching this video on Theo Dorgan. He made a lot of great points that seems to be obvious, but is still extremely needed. I really liked that he started out the interview by saying that he would describe what he is currently doing as “de-confusing” himself. I find myself often trying to figure out where in the media world I would be able to fit myself into. Therefore, when he said this,  I was able to immediately connect with him for the rest of the interview. He mentioned that he also gets caught up in other things around him and isn’t able to write a lot continuously. I think that this shows great compassion for others and those around him. The fact that he is willing to come out of retirement and continue helping people in different art programs is very amiable.

            One thing that stood out to me was that he is not necessarily trying to make things better for the arts, but he is trying to make things better for the community where he lives. This also shows a lot about his character. Although he was a successful administrator and organizer, did well with writing poetry in Ireland, and was deemed to be a success in Ireland, he said that he would be able to work in business. One reason he thought he would be able to work in business is because he does not thing that he could make a living off of poetry, although possibly through writings. He wrote his first poem for a girl when he was on his way to picking her up from a dance when he was 18 or 19.   He said that the only reason he still writes poems is because they keep coming back to him.

I thought it was also interesting that he quoted Samuel Beckett who said “Fail, fail again, fail better.” He really took a lot from this quote. As a screenwriter, one needs to be prepared to fail and then be able to come back and try again and then fail another time, but for different reasons, and still keep going. I think that this quote is good for anyone in the entertainment industry because people get rejected a lot more than they get brought in.

He also was very concerned with politics and he wanted to make a difference using these skills in politics. When he was at University, he wrote a poem involving politics, and he was thrown out of the classroom and everyone was shocked that he would mix poetry and politics. Apparently, at this time, that was unheard of. The fact that he was able to stand out against the crowd and publicly state how he feels is something that all Catholics should be constantly trying to do. Standing up in the world and being the light and the example for all those around us might be the only way some people are able to feel Christ’s love for them..

One thing that Dorgan said that I can relate directly to is when someone asks “What needs to be done?” and then he responds “Let’s do it.” I definitely enjoy being told a problem and then either solving it myself or helping someone else solve the problem. I really liked that he mentions how he isn’t on art boards for just handing out money, but he is there in order to give confidence to those who he thinks will be successful in one of the industries that art encompasses.

I really liked that he ended by explaining that art is intrinsic to human beings and how language is, in and of itself, an art form. As simple as this statement is, I think that it definitely can be over looked sometimes. We use the language we speak to write beautiful stories. These stories remind us of how beautiful language is and how much we take it for granted sometimes. It is nice to be reminded of how wonderfully God made us that art is intrinsically in all of us. 

Trip to Europe

So, I am going on a trip to Europe with my school and so right now I am taking a Global Cultures class to learn more about Ireland and Rome - - the two places I will be visiting and every week we are reading a chapter and watching a TV news broadcast to learn more about the culture! So below are things I have already written and be ready for more to come!

God Bless 

Picking Turkeys?

January 16, 2009

            I found this week’s episode to be very informative because it talked about many different issues. Although it was much more convenient to listen to the parts that were in English, I found myself reading the captions even when they were speaking in English to see if I could find any connections between the words in these two languages.

            I found it very interesting that the schools in Ireland had vandalism problems, as well as them having underage drinking evidence on the property. However, the most interesting part of this story was that they were very strong in both athletics and academics. I would not have expected to see a school with those problems also have such a great program for their students. The parents’ involvement in wanting to see a better school made for their children was also very encouraging. On the other hand, I was very disappointed in the government of Ireland for not helping them and instead cutting back in their help. One point that one person in this portion of the video made was very interesting. He said “that the ‘Celtic tiger’ came and went and never found primary school children.” I think that he made a very sad, but good point about the “Celtic tiger.” Another awesome thing that a school in Ireland was able to accomplish was the heart safe award. This award shows that all of the faculty and at least fifty-percent of the students are trained in CPR and AED in order to save lives. I think this is an important skill for students to learn.

            Another story I found to be very interesting was about the priest shortage. Although we talked about it this past class, I think it shows that it is a very critical issue because it appears more than just once in the news. I also think that the way they are handling this issue was a good idea. Bringing different people together and encouraging them to be an active member of community is crucial. This way, children see their parents and others around them not only working together, but they also see them taking on their faith as their own and truly making their faith their own and not only about the culture. As a consequence, the children will learn how to make the Catholic Church their own as well.

            Ireland has also experience a new trend of people migrating for one reason or another. In many ways the west has been benefited by these immigrants. One interesting thing that happened due to migration was the first cranberry farm was made. By learning new things, like that cranberry farms in Ireland are possible, means that a whole new industry can be born and maintained in Ireland instead of having to survive off of importing them. Also, entrepreneurs have increased in Ireland. Although one lady said that her business was better in London, many people found that starting an entrepreneurial business in Ireland benefited them, as well as where they started their new business.

            Hopefully the leaders that are being trained in the schools and gaining experience by watching their parents’ entrepreneurial businesses, hopefully, they will be able to learn from the experiences and understand the importance for them to keep the faith and help their children to get an education. 

Everything is Changing

January 23, 2009

            I found this week’s episode to be very informative because it talked about many different issues. Although it was much more convenient to listen to the parts that were in English, I found myself reading the captions even when they were speaking in English to see if I could find any connections between the words in these two languages.

            I found it very interesting that the schools in Ireland had vandalism problems, as well as them having underage drinking evidence on the property. However, the most interesting part of this story was that they were very strong in both athletics and academics. I would not have expected to see a school with those problems also have such a great program for their students. The parents’ involvement in wanting to see a better school made for their children was also very encouraging. On the other hand, I was very disappointed in the government of Ireland for not helping them and instead cutting back in their help. One point that one person in this portion of the video made was very interesting. He said “that the ‘Celtic tiger’ came and went and never found primary school children.” I think that he made a very sad, but good point about the “Celtic tiger.” Another awesome thing that a school in Ireland was able to accomplish was the heart safe award. This award shows that all of the faculty and at least fifty-percent of the students are trained in CPR and AED in order to save lives. I think this is an important skill for students to learn.

            Another story I found to be very interesting was about the priest shortage. Although we talked about it this past class, I think it shows that it is a very critical issue because it appears more than just once in the news. I also think that the way they are handling this issue was a good idea. Bringing different people together and encouraging them to be an active member of community is crucial. This way, children see their parents and others around them not only working together, but they also see them taking on their faith as their own and truly making their faith their own and not only about the culture. As a consequence, the children will learn how to make the Catholic Church their own as well.

            Ireland has also experience a new trend of people migrating for one reason or another. In many ways the west has been benefited by these immigrants. One interesting thing that happened due to migration was the first cranberry farm was made. By learning new things, like that cranberry farms in Ireland are possible, means that a whole new industry can be born and maintained in Ireland instead of having to survive off of importing them. Also, entrepreneurs have increased in Ireland. Although one lady said that her business was better in London, many people found that starting an entrepreneurial business in Ireland benefited them, as well as where they started their new business.

            Hopefully the leaders that are being trained in the schools and gaining experience by watching their parents’ entrepreneurial businesses, hopefully, they will be able to learn from the experiences and understand the importance for them to keep the faith and help their children to get an education. 

Adoption of Children by Homosexual Couples in Ireland

January 30, 2009

            The United States recently had to state their opinion on many issues that affect our Catholic faith on many levels. Although I was well aware that in London this had been an issue and other areas of the world, it would never have occurred to me that Ireland was also fighting this changing view of marriage. It is completely surprising to me that with all the evidence pointing to children coming out the best with a mother and a father to take care of them, people can still think that it is okay for children to be adopted into a homosexual relationship where they will never have that chance of being raised by a mother and father.

            One thing I found interesting was that when one of the ladies on the panel started talking she directly told us that study after study shows that a married man and wife is the best way for children to be raised, and then seemed to still agree with this idea of homosexual adoptions because of the way that society has decided to change. Being a Catholic, especially after understanding more clearly through theology classes, it deeply saddens me to see that people are willing to sacrifice the young and those who cannot come up with decisions on their own just to become more similar to the way that Ireland is turning out to be, regardless of their own feelings on the issue.

            One of the men pointed out very clearly that the government and parliament are trying to look out for the children and that marriage was based around the ability for a child to be raised by a mother and a father. He also said that it is worse for them to just allow anyone to adopt children and not at least try to help people decide to stay committed to their marriages.

One thing that was pointed out very clearly was that the government cannot just sit back and watch the numbers of kids who are not raise by their biological parents go up. I think this is a very important point to understand. Although parts of society are not on the right track, that does not mean we should meld our moral compasses into that same agenda. If people understood that the reason we have a lot of these problems with people saying that homosexual adoptions are fine is because we, as a society, have become so used to marriage not being as concrete as it was in past years and their our an increasingly more children being conceived outside of the bond of marriage. But because we have never been so close to having homosexual adoption, the pro-homosexual adoption groups have realized that the non-homosexual adoption people are saying that we only think people can have kids if they are continually supplying the child with a mother and father and therefore confusing the issue altogether and making it easier for the pro-homosexual adoption groups to sway people to agree with their point of view.

            I thought it was interesting that Ireland does not really like President Obama because they are nervous that he will take away a lot of their ability for globalization. They mentioned other presidents trying to put more jobs in their own country by making it more expensive for Americans to buy outside products. However, a few people pointed out that President Obama will not be able to do that in this day and age anymore because of how international a lot of companies have already become. They also mentioned that they should just wait and see what he will actually do because they realized that presidents say a lot that they are not able to fulfill when they actually do become president. They thought of giving President Obama the benefit of the doubt, understanding that he must put the people in the United States first. 

Cool to be Catholic?

February 6, 2009

            Only fifty years ago there was a strong unity between all Irish people. Between speaking Irish and playing Gaelic sports, people were able to find a close bond even if they did not always speak the exact same. And although there were many different Irish jigs, the music all held a certain Irish sound that unified all Irish people. Being a good Catholic also came from this unity that Ireland had with each other. Because it can be “cool” to be Catholic, it can also become “not cool” to be a practicing Catholic. This is now happening in Ireland because of the globalization that has come over the country.

            Plays have been one of the changes in culture that Inglis talks about in this chapter. One of the playwrights that is mentioned in both the book and the interview is Samuel Beckett. After Michael Colgan met Samuel Beckett in 1986, he received a letter that changed Colgan’s life. In the letter Beckett told Colgan that he might be able to use one of his shows.

            Inglis makes a good point in this chapter about how trying to be different and making it so people want to have a unique way to be viewed and how that affects pop culture. It is sort of ironic that society tells everyone they need to be different, but then they are put into groups of people that are all the same. In today’s global culture it seems that people are so worried about being accepting of everyone that they lose who they are and what they believe in.

            Christianity definitely has a strong presence in Ireland because of St. Patrick. However, Inglis does not show the good that Christianity did for the people, but misinterprets what the Catholic Church teaches. Although he is accurate in what they do, he does not understand the fullness of the truth and why the Church does some of these things.

            He is definitely right, that as a Catholic, we are definitely supposed to show physical penance, such as fasting, in order to make up for the sinful things we have done. However, when he claims that the Catholic Church teaches that the body was a source of great temptation and evil, he is actually speaking heresy that was already combated by the Catholic Church in St. Augustine’s day. The same heresy that Inglis believes that Catholic Church taught can be dated all the way to the Manichaeans who taught the same thing in St. Augustine’s day. The Church, then and now, clearly comes out not saying that sex is bad, but that sex is holy and should be treated that way. The only way sex can be holy is through the sacrament of matrimony. So therefore, what Inglis is telling people is definitely a misunderstanding of what the Church really does teach.

            Thankfully, even though there is a definite change between the old Catholic ways and the newer ideas of self-realization, because of the impact that St. Patrick had on Ireland, the teachings of the church definitely still have roots in the hearts of the Irish. This way, there is still some strong Catholic tendencies alive in the heart of the Irish people. Although people are currently running to the idea of uniqueness, which really just means being the same as everyone else, and the idea of self-realization, which really just gives people and excuse to not have to worry about the consequences of their actions or how they affect others, my hope is that the roots of the Church which are held in their deepest parts of their heart will be able to grow past there and become apparent in the future.