Being A Refugee

With the flooding and chaos and the sewer system collapsing in our "beloved" Valley City, North Dakota, my boyfriend and I decided to obstain from being a futher burden on the city and it's crews and retreat to our families homes. We spent a week in Washburn with Stephen's family and when he left for Anaheim, California for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) for the Delta Epsilon Chi competition on this past Tuesday, I headed to my hometown of good ole Portland, North Dakota. He joined me here today after I retrieved him from the Fargo airport and drove through the pouring rain back home. (Like rain is all we need to add to the already existing wonderful conditions right?! Nah, but the snow we got this evening and throughout the night is definitely not asked for.) We're going to hang out here for this week then it's one more trip to Washburn for Stephen's brothers' confirmation and then hopefully home to the wonderful apartment which we have not spent any time in for about a month now. Ok, maybe just 2 1/2 weeks but that's still a long time to be away from your home and the comfort of your own bed.

I love seeing our families and being able to spend time with the people I love, especially since we do not see them so oftern, but I also miss the comforts of my own house. I miss being able to just lounge around without being asked to do something or be in someones way, I miss sleeping in my own bed, and most of all, I miss my own bathroom (sharing a bathroom with my two teenage brothers (who are kind of slobs) is NOT my idea of a "vacation"). At least I do not have to use the porta potties that now occupy the streets of Valley City. I love camping and I love being outdoors but I draw the line at porta potties; they just give me the willies. I have enjoyed spending time with family and friends, but I cannot wait to return to my own home.

My Issue With Today's Society

Stephen and I went and saw "I Love You, Man" in theaters for a date yesterday and I have to say one thing...really?! I mean, is the movie industry seriously that hard up for ideas that they have to resort to such poor content quality? Don't get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious and I enjoy slap-stick comedy every now and then just as much as the next person but I don't think movies need to be that crude or distasteful. When you get embarrassed WATCHING the movie play out, you know it's bad. My dad discouraged us from going to see it, but there wasn't another film showing at that particular theater that Stephen wanted to see. I personally think Hollywood has to reevaluate their morals and the messages they are portraying to the youth and the general population of today's society. When every other word in a film is a cuss word or referring to sex of some sort, I think it's sending the wrong message.

People wonder why violence, sex, drugs and cussing are such major issues in today's society. They should take a gander at the films that the youth and general population are watching today. No matter what movie you choose to see you'll see smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, swearing, and violence. It's ridiculous the amount of exposure we get on a daily basis. Whether from the news or films or video games. We're exposed every second of everyday except in our sleep and it's really quite scary if you think about it. I believe our society and everything in it really needs to be reevaluated and we need to start over fresh.

Why Oh Why?

As I'm writing this blog my beau and I are watching Sweet Home Alabama. I'm sitting here on the couch and a question popped into my head. "Why are all chick-flick lead chick cliques the exact same?" There is always the female lead, who is the most gorgeous female in the film, then there are who two best friends, either a foreign or "abnormal" girl and a gay man. It never fails. There's always the weird, wacky, sometimes foreign, friend who keeps the female lead on her toes and inspires them to live their life to the fullest and the gay guy friend who dresses them, gives them relationship and fashion advice, and keeps their spirits up when the plot line threatens to crush their very existence. I cannot believe that I never realized that before. It's the most often commonality other than the plot lines! I mean the consistancies between in these movies with the character types, the plot lines, and the characters themselves...it is absurd.

I can think of quite a few examples right off the top of my head of films and even TV series that fit that 3 friend commonality.

Sweet Home Alabama
Because I Said So
Bride Wars
Under a Tuscan Sun
Clueless
Devil Wears Prada
Will and Grace
Sex and The City
Greek


Now some of these may deviate a little from the commonality buy adding a friend or two or switching the girl friend to a guy but the character types all remain true to line. I can't help but wonder why? Do you know?

I wish just once that someone would come up with something a little more origional. Something that deviates from the norm and that breaks the ice and opens up the door for films that don't have identical plot lines. I wouldn't care if it started a new trend and that films began following that plot line (for a while anyway) as long as we got to have some variety. Don't you?

Fireproof....life changing...literally

I know I have written about specific movies for the past few weeks but I am going to ask you to bear with me because I am going to write about one specific movie again this week. For one, I really truly enjoyed this movie and two because I am completely out of ideas otherwise and I need one more week to brainstorm. Sorry! I apologize in advance to you guys reading this week's blog because this is truly more of a "chic flick" than any of my other picks so far.

So yesterday, I watched Fireproof with Stephen and we both decided that it is a great movie, as long as you can survive the slightly cheesy acting sprinkled throughout it.

Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) is a heroic fire captain cherishes service to others and dedication above and beyond everything. As a firefighter, he knows that you never leave your partner behind, but the most significant partner in his life, his wife Cathryn, played by Erin Bethea, is beginning to spark with what promises to turn into destructive, hate-filled flames. Caleb's father however, is determined to help his son find his way back to Jesus and back to loving and cherishing his wife like he did when they were first married. He sends his son "The Love Dare" which is a 40 day "activity/book" that gives the reader a task and verse for each day. The reader must attempt each task and do so with their whole heart in order for the dare to be successfull. It's a challenging, trying task that really tests the readers heart and motives, especially in the first twenty days. Caleb finds Jesus, his love and his forgiveness on day 21 and from there he truly wants to prove to his wife that he still loves her and wants to be with her and he goes at the remaining 18 days with all his heart. He succeeds but not without thinking he was too late to win back his wifes trust and love. His father, and mother, brought him and his wife back to the faith and to each other.

You cannot give love away to someone that you do not have yourself.

SPRING BREAK BABY!!

Seeing as how this coming week is Spring Break for the universities, it is only appropriate to write about a couple of romantic comedies that occur during Spring Break vacations. While I have never done ANYTHING, let alone anything exciting or adventurous, for Spring Break, I've heard some wild tales and thought up some pretty fantastic and even some outrageous plans. Most movies about Spring Break are horror, based on true stories, or comedies, I have found a few that are considered to be romantic, even if they are documentaries or somewhat of a horror film.


The Real Cancun, made in 2003, was designed to be the first true reality feature film. It stars Brittany Brown-Hart, Benjamin Fletcher, Nicole Frilot, and 13 other American college students all portraying themselves during an adventure of a life time. After being cast from auditions all across the country, these 16 students ventured south to experience first-hand what Spring Break is "all about." They were followed to Cancun, Mexico by 6 camera crews who filmed their exploits as they immersed and indulged themselves in the Spring Break activities.The students were filmed 24-hours a day for a week it shows planned group activities, intimate interviews, and spontaneous individual exploits.
While I've never seen this film, I wouldn't be so quick to judge until viewed. You never know what you might discover...

The next film I found is Girl Happy. Produced in 1965, this is one of the Elvis heart-throb films that, while not known for being wonderful works of cinematic masterpieces, it was a huge box-office hit. Girls lined up around city blocks for hours to get in to see Elvis and his thrusting, gyrating hips, and hear his sweet, serenading voice. Elvis and his band and friends are singing on the beach with throngs of girls all around in their beach attire jumping up and down and swaying off his every word and move. There's also a scene where Elvis and his buddies are in two convertables and they're weaving in and out. Now, the songs may not be memorable, but hey, who doesn't love an Elvis film I mean come on?! He is the King afterall!

Murph's Picks

So far, I've written mostly about the industry or the processes of the industry. This week however, I just want to talk about a few of my favorite films and the reasons why they are my favorites.

I am a fan of movies in general and I like the action and comedies just as much as the love stories. The top three of my favorite romantic comedies go as follows (from 1-3):

*Nights in Rodanthe
*Sweet Home Alabama
*Bringing Down the House

Nights In Rodanthe is the movie version of Nicholas Sparks' book Nights In Rodanthe. The two main roles of Adrienne Willis and Dr. Paul Flanner are played by Diane Lane and Richard Gere. The chemistry those two actors have on screen bring the movie to life. Adrienne, a separated mother of two, escapes for a weekend to a friend's inn in the town of Rodanthe on the outer coastal region of North Carolina to watch the inn and to figure out if she wants to take her cheating husband back or get out of the choatic relationship once and forall. The day she arrives, a major coastal storm is forcast for the weekend and she goes to town to buy supplies and catch up with a few old friends. Shortly after she returns to the inn, the weekends only guest for the weekend, Dr. Paul Flanning arrives. He is there to confront his own inner issues and to find a way to reconnect with his estranged son. Since they are the only two at the inn, their meals and free time is spent with each other and the romance of a lifetime errupts with beauty and passion that turns their worlds inside-out as they ride out the costal storm and the storm of life together. I suggest having your hubby, boyfriend, junkfood, favorite blankets, and PLENTY of tissue on-hand for this tear-jerking movie.

Sweet Home Alabama is DEFINITELY one of my favorite romantic comedies. Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, and Peter Dempsey couldn't have portrayed they're characters any better. They were perfectly cast in this film as their characters Melanie Smooter (Witherspoon), Jake Perry (Lucas), and Andrew Hennings (Dempsey). Melanie leaves her husband, family, friends, and life in Alabama and sneaks off the New York City to fullfil her dream of being a high-end fashion designer. In her five years there, she meets, courts and becomes engaged to the mayor's son, Andrew Hennings, and has to sneak back to Alabama to force Jake to sign the papers for their divorce. Once she's back in the south however, she realizes that the life she thought she was too good for so many years ago, was actually the life she wanted all along. I love this movie because it is the perfect example of how you can run all your life from true love and your past but eventually, your destiney takes control and you are taken over by what is meant for you.

Bringing Down the House with Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, and Eugene Levy is hilarious! Queen Latifah, Charlene Morton, is wrongfully convicted of a bank robbery and seeks the help of Steve Martin, Peter Sanderson-a hoity toity lawyer, and his assistant Eugene Levy, Howie Rottman to reopen her case and prove her innocent. Peter "highers" Charlene to "nanny" his two children so that she is safe and so they can work on the case. With Charlene, an African American tossed into the high-life white society class, Peters personal and professional life goes through a series of changes and events that are both comical and life-changing. They end up teaching each other more than is expected and become life-long friends. It's a great story about society and life's funny way of teaching us its lessons.

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP* The Following is An Important Announcement

Broadcasting reports are written in a much different form than any other written work. They are written in a very simple, to-the-point manner. The broadcasting scripts contain: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. There might be a few quotes or added details thrown into the report but nothing too much until the exact, full story is known. The viewers do not see what is written down so the report does not need to be complete sentences complete correct spelling. The two most important factors of the broadcast are clarity and brevity. Clarity is self-explanatory, it means that the information is clear and concise. Brevity means that the length is brief.

One way to make the information clear and a quick read is by following the Pronunciation Guide for Announcers. This is a way of making the pronunciations of words easier to observe and say by making the sounds of the consonants and vowels more obvious. A few examples include:

~using AY for a long A as in "gate"
~using EYE for I as in "chime"
~using Z for hard S as in "disease"
~using J for soft G as in "general"

The only reason that punctuation is used is to help the announcer annotate the report. The use of other symbols ( %, &, #, etc) are prohibited. They only marks allowed in the printed copies are commas, periods, question marks, dots, dashes and quotation marks. The only reason to use hyphens is when letters are to be spelled out and not read as a word.

Broadcasting reports are used for talk shows, news on call, news conferences, news releases, video news releases, and multimedia news releases. The structure is universal for every one of these different media releases. Even though they are the same for each media type, the messages can contain differing details depending on the sources of information.