Jolene Krause

12/8

2009-12-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

By Jolene Krause
ORLANDO, Fla. – Directors, producers, hair stylists, and technicians are all important people while on a movie set but most importantly for Possibilities Pictures are the prayer warriors.
Orlando based director David Nixon has been working on movies with a purpose for the last six years. On Dec. 3 he took time to speak to Valencia Community College journalism classes about his projects.
Nixon received a phone call from Sherwood Baptist church located in Georgia about a Christian faith based movie they were wanting to make.
“We can’t pay you but we can feed you and house you” said Nixon recalling the phone call prior to the making of the film “Facing the Giants”.
After Nixon had worked with Sherwood Baptist Church and their volunteers on the movie set for "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof" he was able to start seeing his real dreams come true.
Nixon wanted to make movies with a purpose and a real message, not just feel good movies.
“Letters to God” is Nixon’s first faith based movie being produced through his company Possibilities Pictures.
“We started everyday in prayer, the entire cast and crew would be in a big circle and we would pray about what we were going to shoot that day,” said Nixon.
“Letters to God” is a faith based film that is based on a true story of an eight year old boy with cancer and his desire for the people that surround him to be okay.
“There are a lot of great actors in Hollywood that are waiting for these kinds of films,” said Nixon.
Possibility Productions was conceivable after “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof” were taken in by Sony.
After the first two Christian based films did so well in theaters and unexpectedly made money, Hollywood then started to realize that there is a need and want for those kinds of films. And of course, that they would could make more money by producing such films.
Although Hollywood wants to simply make money, Nixon starts by actually giving the movie away. Before the release of “Letters to God” on April 9, 150 pre-screening events will happen in churches across the country.
Unlike all other movie sets, Possibility Productions has members of their crew that are strictly on set to pray. Prayer warriors are the most important people on the set. They start to pray when they hear ‘action’ and they don’t stop until the hear 'cut’.
“This is more than just making movies,” said Nixon.

11/19

2009-11-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla- With worksheets that allow students to fill in their own opinion to real life questions, Dr. Adrian Manley gets Valencia Community College students to gain more confidence.

“Why marriage, why now?” and “good reasons and not so good reasons” are two of the main questions Manley asks on his worksheet titled “ Some things to know before saying I do.”

Valencia Community College is now hosting skill shops to help improve students not only with school work or computer technique but also with relationships and personal issues.

“I enjoy all the knowledge about dating relationships that we received in this skill shop.” said Freshman Elise Levesque in regards to the “Before saying I do” workshop held Oct 23.

“Skill shops have helped me know what to look for in a marriage partner and things to watch out for in abusive relationships.” said Levesque “ Everything I’ve learned is a topic that everyone will have to face sooner or later.”

Manley allows students to open up and prefers that the skill shop not be like a classroom setting. He encourages students to work together to come up with some ideas and answers to the questions in the handouts.

Manley covers some important issues such as, family, religion, sex, economics, values and friends. The skill shop turned into a heated debate between a few students as these issues were talked about. He reminds the students that not everyone has the same upbringing and everyone has different values.

“I’m really glad they offer these skill shops to students and I hope the students find them beneficial.” said Manley “ Hopefully they take away tips or even skills that they can work on.”

Manley has been a marriage counselor for 3 years and has been doing skill shops at Valencia for a year so far.

Freshman Will Wattington has done 3 skill shops with Manley and plans on attending more.

“Skill shops have helped me learn how to become a better man and better boyfriend” said Wattington “It helped me pick and choose who I should be spending my time with.”

"Although I am already a confident person these shops help reinforce that.” said Wattington

Manley plans on organizing more skill shops for the next semester with similar topics.

10/29

2009-10-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

By: Jolene Krause

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla -- Songs from popular musicals like, 'Wicked', 'RENT' and 'Avenue Q' are mixed among more mainstream artists such as Britney Spears, The Beatles, Darius Rucker and John Mayer to give aspiring singer Marko Torres his perfect song set.

"I enjoy getting to perform in my cafe," said Torres. "A lot of my customers don't expect their barista to have hidden talents."

Torres works in the Borders cafe on state road 434. With only two months into his mic night, he has been given more accolades than he can count.

"It's nice to know that people still appreciate pure singing and talent." Stated Torres. He fills up the cafe with caffeinated customers, curious shoppers and supportive friends.

"Marko is fabulous! I came into Borders to do a little early Christmas shopping," said Elizabeth Olson a Borders customer. "I didn't know I was going to see a live performer. It was a break from the ordinary."

Torres personal mic nights last about two hours. He admits to having enough songs to go on for longer, but also likes to take requests from the audience.

"When he sang my favorite Aladdin song I was stunned," said 13 year old Sara Duncan. "He should try out for American Idol."

After his performance, Torres greets customers and they find themselves in conversation about his future plans and dreams.

"American Idol is whoring yourself out for their music", said Torres, " I've found the music I want to sing, and it doesn't include going through rounds and rounds singing anything else."

When Torres was asked about his plans here in the area, he admitted that he is going to audition for a show in Orlando.

"It rhymes with 'RENT'!" said Torres while laughing.

Although Torres' mic nights are only two times a month, he still enjoys singing everyday while making beverages in the BORDERS cafe.

"I have yet to be told to stop singing while on the clock, so I take that as a good thing," Torres said jokingly with fellow employees.

10/8/2009

2009-10-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

By: Jolene Krause

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA- Cauliflowers, pineapples, sunflowers, nautilus shells and the Fibonnacci
sequence all have something in common. Each of these elements have impacted the works of Salvador Dali.

Every first Wednesday of the month The Salvador Dali Museum hosts coffee with a curator. The curator discusses a topic which intertwines with Dali's works while guests enjoy complimentary Starbucks coffee.

"When I first saw Dali paintings 35 years ago, I thought they were a little crazy" said St. Petersburg residence Marlys Meckler. " I didn't see meaning or appreciate them until I took a class."

Vickie Brunner, the Family Programs Coordinator for The Dali Museum presented "Dali & Math", a power point presentation that also included a walk through tour and explanation of specific paintings.

Brunner explained that as early as 1927 Dali began to incorporate mathematical logistics into his art. Begining in the 1950's, his obsession with math became more prevalent. He used mathematical grids to paint, Nature Morte Vivante in 1956 and included logarithmic spirals to represent his appreciation of the spirals of nature which refer back to Fibonnaci's sequence.

"Dali had become very interested in the natural spirals that occur in nature" Brunner explained while pointing out specific instances within Nature Morte Vivante.

"I think it was because of his [Dali] readings of Matila Ghyka books." Explained Brunner, when asked her opinion on Dali's use of graphs. "He really just grasped on to the theories and mathematical layouts and embraced them and used them in his work."

Valencia Community College student Anthony Krause studied Dali's works after Brunner's
presentation. Krause began at Dali's early works from 1914 and made his way through the exhibit to the more mathematically inclined paintings such as, The Ghost of Veermeer of Delft, 1934 and The Battle of Tetuan, 1960.

"Looking at his earlier paintings I would have never guessed them to be Dali's." Krause stated, " You can see how much he progressed as an artist after getting involved with mathematics."

The Salvador Dali Museum will present its next coffee with a curator event on Nov. 4th with the topic "Dali & Science". For more information and calender of events visit http://www.salvadordalimusuem.org/.

Last Essay

2009-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

I think I've learned more by reading the Wall Street Journal instead of a traditional textbook. I also think I was able to learn more about Mass Comm by reading articles that are up to date and discussing topics in areas that are more valuable to me. I'd rather read articles in the paper than a textbook. It made me reevaluate what I actually want to do with my education and career goals. I do think I learned more by reading the paper than using a regular textbook. As for it affecting my schedule, it was that big of a deal. I would take the paper to work and read articles before my shift started or read a few on my breaks so in that sense it was a lot easier. The only downfall was that when I had the time to read I sometimes forgot the major information before the quizzes. It did though help me a lot in my speech honors class which I have prior to Mass Comm. While I was visiting my sister in north Florida- out in the country with NO PHONE SERVICE nor internet.... I took my WSJ's and read stories that I assumed would be sent to us on Sunday night, I came across and article on Tobacco Taxes and decided I would use that for my final speech in my speech class, Which was today && I got an A on it. Anyways, I also used another article i read a few months ago to do another informative speech on google latitudes. So it actually ended up helping me a lot in other classes.

At first I didn't think I would renew my subscription but after a little thought I am going to. I did enjoy reading it and I did end up reading a lot of articles that we didn't have to but I read them b/c I wanted to. I'll have more free time after this semester ends to actually read for the enjoyment not because it's assigned. I also caught myself a lot of times saying things like "Yesterday I read in the WSJ..." =) Like the stat that 78% of alcohol that is bought in Ireland is consumed within 3 hours, I'll never forget that!!

I don't have any suggestions right now for the class at all. I enjoyed everything from WSJ quizzes, TEWWG, almost everyone's presentations, and of course the overwhelming amount of extra credit offered. I learned a lot from this class and loved how it is set up!

Pursuing a career in Mass Comm... hmmm... I am not sure. I love to write and read. Writing is def. a passion of mine, but I didn't want to necessarily be into "journalism" I didn't want to write for a paper, or anything to do with news. I'm glad I took this class cause Ken explained how your talent doesn't equal a degree and vice versa. After coming to help clean out the old journalism space and talking to Ken I've decided to just to General Studies at VCC and then figure out what exactly I want to do later. I'm not going to major in journalism but I do want to do something within the communications industry... I just don't know what yet =)

Social Networking!

2009-04-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

As of right now I use myspace, facebook and twitter for my social networking needs. I've had my myspace for close to 5 years now and facebook and twitter I've just recently become a member of. Although I do have all three of these services I most likely would not pay to use them.

I primarily use my facebook to keep in contact with my relatives and old friends in P.A. I don't use any of the applications that facebook allows users too send too each other. It is way to time consuming and I'd rather be doing something more productive. I do like myspace more than facebook because I've had it for a longer time and it allows you to change your backgrounds, colors, and post bulletins that only your friends on your buddy list can see. As for twitter I've just made my account last week because we were talking about it Mass Comm. If people add me that's fine but I probably won't go looking out for friends to add to my followers, unless I was honestly that bored.

I don't know exactly how much time I spend on these social networking services a week but probably more than I should. Or maybe not necessarily too much time but probably at the wrong time when I should be doing homework or studying, it's a great distraction tool! If I wake up earlier enough before I leave for school I check my facebook and myspace and most likely change the status of where I am, what I'm doing or what I'm thinking. The throughout my day I probably check myspace 3 or 4 times from my phone or when I go on break at work. When I come home from work or school I might check it once before doing homework, spending time with my boyfriend and going to sleep. Although it may seem like I get on these websites a lot I don't take the time to look through friends pictures or post crazy bulletins, which are the most time consuming parts of myspace.

Pelicula 2/25

2009-02-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

I've never actually had a favorite movie. There are a lot of movies I absolutely love but nothing good enough to be my one and only favorite. With that said If I was stranded on a desert island and was only able to watch one movie it would have to be "Across the Universe". The reasons I would want this movie with me are it's a musical and I love musicals. All the songs throughout the movie are songs from The Beatles. Choosing Across the Universe would allow me to have more music on my desert island. Music is more important to be than movies.

Going to see a movie in the theaters allows you to get out your house, see the movie as it first comes out and of course the big screen is always a plus. As always there are also reasons not to go see movies in the theaters such as the cost of a ticket and the people in the audience who just can't seem to stay off their cell phones. Depending on the movie is whether or not where I'd prefer to see it. I love going to the movies at Midnight on Friday Morning, or Thursday night which ever you prefer. Movie previews are ten times the amount of fun as just going to see the movie the opening weekend. Although the lines always seem to be long even if you buy your ticket early, it's great to meet people who are just as excited about seeing the movie as you are. Out of all the midnight opening movies I've seen the most fun have been the Harry Potter movies ( you can only imagine the people and costumes you see ) and 300! So if the movie is good enough to see in theaters I would prefer seeing it at midnight, but if not I could wait to watch it on DVD.

The academy awards were Sunday Night and I was not able to catch them in time. I didn't get to see them because I was at the Magic Game && we beat Miami Heat =) Although the game ended around 8:30 pm I didn't make it home until after 10pm. I did not bother watching the end because we recorded it and I would rather watch it from the beginning not the middle. I was able to read a few articles about it before class began on Monday though.

WSJ Questions 2/2

2009-01-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Prior to this class I never even thought about picking up the newspaper. I usually use the internet for my source of current events and important information and every so often I would watch the news. I grew up in a fast pace world, no time to sit take a breather let alone read the newspaper. So in a away I would be a product of my own environment, no one around me read the paper as I was growing up thus leading to slim possibilities of me actually caring to. The only experiences I had with any newspaper was while I was growing up in P.A I liked to cut out the PEANUTS comic strip.

I never had an opinion on newspapers to be honest. It never crossed my mind to keep them or get rid of them or if they were useless or helpful. I completely understand the reasoning behind reading the newspaper and not only getting your information from an online source and or the television. I can't say that I love the newspaper and I surely don't hate it. I have an unbiased opinion as of the moment.

Using the Wall Street Journal was an amazing idea! Not only did it help us save money which of course all college students need to do, it also allows us to have a learning tool that is current and up to date! Unlike a textbook that is going to state specific things, ideas, concepts etc through the paper not only will we learn about the different mediums of communication but also in a way that allows us to care more. A textbook can get boring especially depending on how it is written. The Wall Street Journal as yet to bore me at all! It's different stories everyday and usually about the things I want to learn about or things that are important right now. They are examples of everything we will learn about, almost like learning from a main source instead of a hypothetical textbook. We are getting the chance to expand learning into a new dimension and I definitely like it. As for expectations of the class, I didn't quite make any. I assumed we would use a traditional text and make due with the material provided, but now I think the class is going to be much more helpful and worth wild by using the WSJ!