Purdue 2011 Mr. Asia Pageant and Cultural Show

Podcast 4 Class Review

Group #1: Spring Cleaning: Jacqui, Chelsea, Bill, Prateik

1. What is interesting?

i. Communication: Very conversational

ii. The source didn’t want to reveal his real name in the podcast

iii. A brief conversation and different opinion at the end about Boiler blast

2. What is newsworthy?

i. New information: a brief introduction of what people do in Boilerblast and the keynote speaker: President Cordova.

ii. At the end of the podcast: statistics of the volunteer numbers

3. How is technical quality?

i. Sometimes the voice got louder than others.

ii. But overall, good quality of sound.

4. What was missing?

i. I wish there was more introduction of what Boilerblast was.

Group #2: Slate Gabfest: Valerie, Cathleen, Ty, and Rachael.

1. What is interesting?

a. Facts that Slate speakers didn’t reveal too much about their personal information and their personal opinions about certain topics.

b. They met a few days later to record a more thorough reflection.

c. Conversation flows very well

d. They covered the story while giving their personal reflection

e. Interesting ending

2. What is newsworthy?

a.

3. How is technical quality?

a. The quality was very good.

b. Almost professional sound

4. What was missing?

a. I wish they had more description of the political gabfest because not everyone went to the event

b. I wish they recorded some audio from Slate podcast to add variety

Group #3: Kara, Kaitlin, Sara: Rituals

1. What is interesting?

a. Super girly conversation

b. The conversation flows very well.

c. Good talk about alcohol and their preparation before going to Cactus on Thursday.

d. Very descriptive of what girls’ do before going to Cactus.

2. What is newsworthy?

a. They did a good job introducing this special ritual belongs to Purdue culture and its students.

3. How is technical quality?

a. Quality was pretty good.

4. What was missing?

a. They didn’t introduce themselves at the beginning. Who are you?

b. Too many people speaking at the same time: Hard to hear sometimes.

c. I wish they interviewed someone at Cactus or someone else outside of the group to add more variety. Don’t be just like a casual conversation among 3 girls. They should also be reporting something.

Group #4: Camille, Patrick, and Antoinette (Spring Training.)

1. What is interesting?

a. Very descriptive of what’s going on at the field.

2. What is newsworthy?

a. New information about the history of the team.

b. New information about what the team does during spring training.

3. How is technical quality?

a. Some pauses in between, should have cut it off.

b. Should have cut off their parts when asking questions.

c. Sound very clear.

4. What was missing?

a. The whole piece doesn’t sound edited. It sounds like raw footage.

b. I wish I heard some more quotes from the student players.

c. They didn’t sound very clear at the end. They were murmuring.

Group #5: Amy, Chrystal, and Ken (Spring Training.)

1. What is interesting?

a. It sounds very real because of the background sound of team practicing.

b. Interesting insights from student athletes and the coach.

c.

2. What is newsworthy?

a. New information of what the team does during spring training.

b. New information of how students manage their time.

3. How is the sound quality?

a. Good background sound of team practicing and cheering for teammates.

b. Everyone sounds clear in the voiceover.

4. What was missing?

a. I wish they were more conversational when doing the voiceover.

b. Ken should speak up more.

Reflection on Podcast 4: Spring Training

For our last podcast assignment of this semester, Chrystal, Ken, and I decided to interview the Purdue Volleyball team to see what they usually do during their spring training. Ken went to their practice and interviewed the coach, Dave Shondell, and two other student athletes.

Since I'm not a huge sports fan, and the only regular exercise I do is yoga, I did not even know that there's such thing called spring training or fall training until talking to the Purdue Volleyball team.

After listening to what student athletes do in spring training and how they handle the pressure and how they manage to keep a balance of school and the sports team, I really admire them in the aspect of using their times wisely. It's actually not my first time realizing I'm one of the luckiest who do not have to squeeze their time out for a dinner. I don't have to work to pay my tuition, and I"m not in any sports team. All I have to do is to make sure I do well in school and attend the meetings of Asian American Association and the Asian Student Union Board every week. However, it's far from the normal life for many of my white friends. In addition to going to classes, they have to work during weekends when I can have the whole weekend to study. Using their time wisely is not something they do to win compliments from friends, but something that they have to do in order to cope with their busy lives.

While listening to our podcast, I couldn't help but keep thinking what those student athletes gain asides from their volleyball skills, a sense of belonging, and the friendships they develop with their teammates. The skills they learn might be forgotten if they stop practicing, and the friendships may fade away when they graduate and no longer see their teammates, but the skills they have to deal with the pressure and the time-managing skills will always be with them no matter where they go after Purdue and what they do in the future. Perhaps that's one of the most valuable things that Purdue sports team teach them.

Podcast 4: Purdue Volleyball Spring Training

Ethnography Video: Humans vs. Zombies

Photo Gallery: Indonesian Festival brings diversity to Purdue

The annual Indonesian festival took place in St. Thomas Aquinas at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. Presented by Indonesian Student Association at Purdue University and sponsored by the Embassy of Indonesia at Washington D.C., Indonesian festival presented both modern and traditional Indonesian cultures to Purdue students and local residents at West Lafayette.

The basement of St. Thomas Aquinas was divided into different sections for the major islands of Indonesian, as there are more than 13,000 islands in Indonesia and slightly different cultures were developed within each island. With the population of more than 136 millions, Java is the most populated island not only in Indonesia but also in the world. The capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, is also located in west Java.

In the room of Java island, traditional handcrafts and handmade fabrics that Indonesia is famous for were displayed on the table with explanation and stories of each item on the side.

Music is an important everyday essential for Indonesians. For many Indonesians, playing the traditional Java instrument is their way to entertain one another and their way to show greetings to guests. Different from the western instrument like violin and piano, each instrument only has one tone. In order to play a complete song, a group of musicians playing at least 5 instruments is required.

Another traditional entertainment of Java Island is playing puppets. Before the invention of projector and television, puppet performers played these puppets on a mini stage with only their hands shown. Most stories are based on their fairy tales and the origin of Indonesia.

In addition to Java, Indonesia has another world-known island, Bali. Well known by its beautiful white sand beaches and a complete different culture from the Java Island, Bali Island is one of the top-rated vacation places in the world. The narrow door shown in the picture is one of the very special cultural aspects of Bali. Bali people believe that people with good hearts will pass through these doors safely, while bad people will be crashed to death while attempting to enter the room.

In another room for Toraja, a distinct ethnic group of Indonesian, the traditional handcrafts made by Toraja people were displayed. With the main population found in the mountain area of South Sulawesi, Toraja people developed a very different culture from the rest of Indonesia, and they practice different religions than most Indonesians.

Different from the Java handcrafts, most Toraja traditional handcrafts are portrays of people and Gods or Goddess' faces.

In addition to static presentation of the cultures from each island in Indonesia, live performances were available as well. Pendet dance is a traditional Indonesian dance in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. In Indonesia, Pendet dance is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance.

Pendet dance is usually perceived as a dance of showing greetings or to welcome the audience and invite spirits to enjoy a performance.

At the side of the room, a sample of Indonesian coffee is presented and available for guests to try. The coffee is said to have a very distinctive smell because of the soil and the way the plant grows.

Outside of the performing room, traditional Indonesian foods were prepared for the festival guests.

Tickets are available at the entrance. Festival guests spend $10 for 10 food coupons, which are good for exchange of $10 worth of food inside.

According to the students serving at the food table, Es Teler is one of the most popular drinks even in Indonesia nowadays. With the combination of sliced jackfruit, palm fruit, nata de coco, mango jelly, and sago in flavored ice (syrup, sweet condensed milk, and ice), Es Teler is the "bubble tea" for young Indonesians.

As for hot plates, Telur Balado is beyond what people outside of Indonesia can ever think of. Indonesians marinate fried hard bold eggs with ebi, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, and chili to make this dish. Each portion of Telur Balado costs 2 coupons at the festivals.

Asides from seeing Indonesians students from Purdue participating in the festival, many Purdue faculty members and local residents at West Lafayette attended the event as well. For people who have never been to Indonesia or who are curious of knowing more about the culture, there are tour guides available at the festival.

At the end of the festival, guests were welcomed to sign on the T-shirts of each islands. The festival came to its end at about 9:30 p.m. All guests went home with their stomachs full of Indonesian cuisines and a good memory of the night.

Spring Natural Montage-Purdue Main Campus

After watching others' natural montage videos about winter at Purdue, I gradually understood what makes a good (if not good, at least presentable) natural montage.

This time, our assignment is about the coming spring. I noticed that there's a lot of birds chirping on my way to classes especially when it got really warm in some particular days, so I decided to pay more attention to my audio, even more than I did before.

I took a walk with my boyfriend on Sunday. It was a very windy day, as many of you can hear that from my video, but luckily, I recorded some birds chirping especially when I placed my camera near trees.

I really think I'm lucky to record what I recorded in my spring natural montage, because it turned cold again on Monday. If I did not take that walk with my boyfriend on the beautiful Sunday afternoon, there would be no birds chirping in my video.

I know everyone is looking forward to spring's coming just like I do, but it seems that we still have to bare some sudden cold before spring really comes to Purdue. I hope this video makes up a little bit for those of you who can't wait to wear tank tops and shirts. At least on the day I shot this video, it was really very warm. Enjoy~