How Would I have Responded?

I think that he started out pretty well. He had a good message and he did show though his actions what followers of Christ should do. However, when she came at him with the question, “Why did my friend die”, well, he could've dealt with the situation better. Instead of saying things like God doesn't always answer prayer, he could have said something about how God doesn't always answer prayers the way we had hoped he would, instead He answers them in a way that is best for us. I would have also told her a story. The story I would have told her would be this.

In August of 2004 one of my younger brothers, Daniel, went into the hospital again. He already had spent a lot of time in hospitals and already had gone though many different operations. Some of the different surgeries were for a g-tube, g.i.-tube, a tracheotomy, a fundoplycation and some other surgeries where at the time I didn't know what was happening. And in August of 2004, he went into the hospital ICU again. This time, for a ventilator. Basically, what it does is it breathes for him. He was there for a couple days while my mom and dad were being trained on how to work this new machine that was going to be in our house. I went up to visit him one morning in ICU after he had been on the ventilator, and I realized what was happening, my brother now needed a machine to breathe. I talked to my dad, and he basically confirmed what I had thought. My dad told me that if we lived in any other part of the world, if he didn't have the type of job he had, or if things were any different then way that they were now, my little brother might not have been here anymore. And that hit me really hard. I always knew that he could die at any second; I mean it was only 3 years ago when he stopped breathing three different times in a matter of a month, all ending with a trip to the ER and the last time going into the hospital for about three weeks. But this time was probably one of my strongest wakeup calls. That’s when I realized how important prayer is and how important it was that my parents and the rest of my family trusted in the answers that God gives us in order for our family to continue to grow. My little brother who has gone though more than most people have to go though in a lifetime by the age of 10 and he is almost always happy and smiling, especially while he is playing games on the computer or baseball or interacting with all his friends at school.

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A link to the radio clip that this post was written based off of is:

This American Life

"This I Used to Believe"

Act 2 -- Starts at 19 minutes

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1292

What is going on?

“Twitter is for Old People”

“Lost in the new media Universe”

What Is Going On?

Although Jenna McWilliams is very sceptic about what Matthew Robson said and why it has become such a big deal, it seems very clear to me. Instead of all of these CEOs, who are most likely all in there 50s, worldwide asking each other “Why can't we get through and capture the younger generation?” and then thinking that the answer is that they need more technology, they looked at it from a view point of their target market. I have seen many adults try to grab a hold of any technology that they can and try to use it. They assume that once they are a part of all of these technological advances, then they must be able to get a hold of the younger generation. However, in this mind set they miss one crucial problem. They do not know how to use all of this technology.

There is definitely an art form that can come about from figuring out technology. There is a huge difference between what is there to use and what should actually be used. Like the example that Matthew Robson uses with Twitter. I have had a twitter account since March 2009. However, I have used it to write things to my “followers” ten times since then. On top of that, I never go to check to see what everyone is doing. Twitter is not something that I ever need to go and check or figure out. It just sits there and I have no motivation to use it. This is mainly because of Facebook. All that Twitter is is a status update. I already have somewhere to update my status, it is called Facebook. However, on Facebook, there are so many other things that keep bringing me back to it, such as the social interaction and games, that I go on for those things and update my status, pretty much just because.

Jenna McWilliams poses a very good question though at the end of her news article, she states “How long until we realize that the guide may be walking quickly as if he's following a path but is in fact just as lost as everyone else?”. Clearly, she is an adult wondering what is going on just like everyone else. She starts out her article with a list of ways that we can look at to know that we are in a social revolution. And that is where her problem starts. What she does not understand is that random people speaking out and getting heard is the social revolution. Everyone wants to be heard and everyone wants to make an impact. Matthew Robson is just another one of the people that becomes famous because of a following. The reason that people update their Facebook is because they want people to know what they are doing. They want to be noticed. Matthew Robson was probably not even thinking that his work would be read, much less published and heard about worldwide.

This new generation is the reason that the world becomes smaller everyday. People like Matthew Robson is the reason why are society is so interlinked with every other choice that we make. This is exactly why the older generation cannot, even when they try really hard to be “cool”, make sense of what the younger generation is doing.

Links to the News Articles that this Post is in Response to:

Twitter is for Old People http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6703399.ece

Lost in the New Media Universe: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/14/twitter-teenage-media-habits

Third Way Faith: "The Efficient Gospel" - Response

“The Efficient Gospel”

The way technology works now means that the younger generations cannot work outside of this efficient and immediate needs. These values are completely contrary to what the Gospel teaches. These social “virtues” makes it harder to relate to God because God requires patience. With the technology progressing to rapidly into faster and faster ways of communicating.

Ironically, this rapidly progressing communications actually breaks down what we really need from these electronic means of communication. Most of the communications made face to face actually lasts. However, when communication came from e-mail, it broke down much quicker than the relationships that were made face to face.

This is very clear in the way that people talk and communicate today. Instead of calling someone, I can text or facebook them easier and when I do that I do not even need to spend the time waiting for an answer. I can go about my day, and if they message me back, that's great. But if they do not, it is not a big deal.

Technology can be completely ruining everything that we have worked so hard on. The main problem with technology is that it is a great resource. However, we cannot rely on technology to get us everywhere we need to go. When it comes down to it, it is the face to face communication that bring us closer to the ones around us and also helps us to follow the Gospel.

The Gospel of Society is that if it is easy and quick and makes you feel good, then it is good for you and you should continue living that way. However, nothing in the Gospel of Christ points to life being quick, easy, or even efficient. The Gospels teaches us that we must be patient in order to reach a more perfect goal than the ones we set for ourselves. The Gospels teaches us that love is more than just feeling, it's an expression of self-giving life that cares more about the person you love than of yourself.

In order to live out Christ's Gospel then is to understand that technology is great when used properly. Technology can be an amazing resource to have, when used properly. However, it is when technology is all we use that we lose what it means to be human and to have people around us actually be with us emotionally and not just physically sitting next to you and yet not having any interactions with each other. Texting and e-mails have given us a whole new way to communicate because it requires significantly less emotional involvement. I could easily text someone something and not expect for an opener or a closer or any depth other than the question they are asking. However, if you call or actually take the time to meet with someone face to face, then there are many social customs that you have to follow in order to not be rude.

Links to Podcast that I listened to that this post was written in response to:

http://thirdway.strangeidealabs.com/audio/Efficient%20Gospel.mp3

feed://thirdway.strangeidealabs.com/audio/podcast.xml Episode #17

Romantic Comedy Director: Ken Kwapis

Ken Kwapis is a director that started off directing in Television in 1983. However, recently he has started directing mainstream films. Ken Kwapis tends to direct romantic comedy movies such as License to Wed and He's Just Not That Into You. However, in his television career, he directed everything from “CBS Afternoon Playhouse” to “ER” to “The Office”. Through directing these television shows, he was able to establish both credibility and control and therefore made it easier for him to transition into making films as well. Ken Kwapis did direct a movie in 1991 called He Said, She Said. Similar to his more recent movies, this also was a romantic comedy. But for most of the beginning of his career, he directed television episodes.

Throughout these romantic comedies that he directs, there tends to be the same types of themes. One theme that seems to occur in his films is a flawed relationship needing perfection. In his movies, there always is a couple that needs to overcome something in order to find itself. For example, in License to Wed, the main couple needs to get through with the marriage prep course and understand each other better. Another movie that he directed was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In this movie, Lena and Kostas must overcome the differences in their families to be together. Because of these two movies, it is not a shock that after these two movies he made He's Just Not That Into You. In this movie there is anything and everything that is wrong with the couples and people and all of the characters have a comedic romantic problem to get over by the end of the movie.

Although Ken Kwapis started his career in Television, his transition into a film director seems to have gone very smoothly. He still directs episodes from current seasons of shows such as “The Office”. This ability to be able to transfer from television to film shows how he has become a well respected director in Hollywood. It also shows that as a director, you do not have to choose between television and film. Ken Kwapis is a great example of being able to work well in many environments.

Pants Bring Us Together

One of my favorite movies is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Having read the book before the movie came out in June of 2005, Ken Kwapis definitely held true enough to the book's version of the story where I enjoyed the movie and felt like the differences were not crucial enough to bother me. This story is about four girls who have been inseparable, even since before they were born. It is a story about their struggle of leaving each other sides for a summer. Through their individual adventures and experiences, they must find how to be individuals and still an intimate part of this unique group at the same time.

This seemingly unsurpassable journey begins with immediately meeting the four girls and finding a pair of jeans. Now, even though each girl is definitely differently shaped, each of the girls looks stunning in this pair of jeans. Who would have though that it was going to take a pair of jeans to keep them together even though they are far away from each other.

Ken Kwapis takes us through this journey with excitement and tears. He even tells people that "Since [Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants] was released, I can't tell you how many conversations I've had about public displays of emotion in general, and crying at the movies in particular. I've received messages from male friends berating me for creating something that brought them to tears. I've received emails from girls who claim they'd never cried at the movies before Pants. And there are many rave reviews that are quite apologetic in tone. Many journalists have a hard time distinguishing between honest emotion and sentiment. I feel certain the audience knows the difference." Even though I enjoyed the film, to hear that many others felt the same way truly speaks to the way that Ken directed the movie.

This movie especially hits all the aspects that Ken Kwapis tends to lean towards in his movies, romantic comedies. He understands his story and the most effective way of telling it. He knows exactly what he is filming and why each scene is there. He has a romance in Greece which he portrays beautifully and a father and daughter being reunited and the struggles a daughter must go through when she finds how her dad has a new family. And just in case that did not hit the spot, he is able to portray a girl who has lost her mom and is yearning for love, and starts to look for it in all the wrong places. Still, there is one more story. The one girl who will be staying at home while everyone else goes on an adventure, goes on an adventure right in her own town. As she befriends a young girl that is dying from leukemia we are able to show a deep friendship that touched everyone's lives.

While keeping all four stories unique, he was able to fit them perfectly together into a wonderful work of art so that all the story transitions are blended together so well, the audience is easily able to follow the story. Because Ken Kwapis knew exactly what he was saying, instead of an audience feeling confused and lost throughout the movie, he had the exact opposite effect. People were so swept up into the movie, that they felt the emotions that each individual in the movie was feeling as well.

Luckily, Ken Kwapis was able to bring an amazing book to life through his creative decisions and over all well though out productino of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Less than Four Months!

We have less than Four Months before Joey and I are able to start Married Life!

This past weekend we went on an engagement encounter! It was really nice to be able to spend the weekend just focusing on our relationship without the craziness of day to day life!

As the day approaches, it gets even more exciting. The engagement encounter weekend felt so far away when we first registered for it! I guess that's how the rest of the time is going too! With each task checked off, and less tasks to do it becomes even more real!

117 days!

Praise God!

Television Episode - Arrested Development – “The Cabin Show”

Impacting Culture for Christ

Arrest Development

This show has a lot of interesting developments. In this show there are a lot of different characters. To me, the show seems to have to many characters intertwined. It was very difficult to figure out each of the characters. The character twists our very unusual in every type of way. 

Every part of this show feels like it is awkward. Each line, however, points forward to what is going to happen next. The show seems to thrive off of awkward developments in the story. For example, the two cousins who aren’t sure what to do about the “kiss” that they shared are trying to get over the awkwardness and they do not know what to do about it. 

The other social problem that I found in this show is the mother. It seems that the mother has a substance abuse problem as well. However, it seems that with this she is “better” or the same as when she is not on it. This worries me because it could be telling society that it’s better to be on medications that you don’t really need if it makes you emotionally feel better instead of telling society to get help when you need it. 

Another interesting character development is that the Dad that they thought was in prison really is the Uncle. This provides a character change that seems to be crucial to the story. The dilemma to choose business success over family was important for this episode. I thought it was really good that he choose to spend time with his son and to try and help get his uncle out of jail. However, it’s not until the next episode that they truly finish this particular development. The main character is trying to do his best to do the right thing in this episode. 

I think this series would do better as an hour long television show. This is because I felt like I was just figuring out who the characters were and getting into the story line and then the episode was over.