Two full days of a great conference!! The power of world wide media!! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the name we were admonished to use) reaches out to everyone through out the world, through media. Even though the media is used for bad, it is also a tremendous tool for good. To me, Dallin H. Oaks talk on the Priesthood was absolutely outstanding.  It was inspired and delivered with authority, especially for the time we are living in right now! 

BOY MEETS WORLD is one of the best television shows for young people to grow up with.  The characters grow up too, and have their individual problems just like the people who are watching them. Year after year it was amazing when you tuned into that show, they almost always had a situation in their life that you were dealing with yourself.  I watched it again after all these years and the characters were on their way to college making important decisions.  There was always a life lesson in each  episode. I'm glad that this show is still on and remains very good media.

THE BEST OF WRONG - (what?)  This was the caption under a picture of a couple jumping into the air holding hands.  In small print at the bottom of the page it was an advertisement for a hotel and casino in Las Vegas.  So obviously they wanted you to come to their hotel to experience "The Best of Wrong" (whatever that means). Does their hotel have more wrong things to do than other hotels or are their wrong activities not as bad as other hotels wrong activities? You decide

Have you seen the You Tube video: "The Tale of Two Brains"?  It's so funny but such an eye opener of the difference between men and women's brains.  The psychologist has husbands and wives (at a conference) laughing  as they relate to what he is saying. It's worth watching! I'd say it's good media; funny, but teaches a lot!

I was tending my 3 nephews and was surprised at the video game they were playing and spending time shooting people. Interestingly, the youngest boy said to me that his brothers were not supposed to play that game very long and that he wasn't supposed to play it at all.  I asked the older boys to choose another game to play and they quickly said that they wanted to go over to  a friends house, which they were allowed to do while I was there.  After they left, the younger brother said:" They will just play worse games there because their parents don't care." My brother was obviously in a catch 22 position.  The neighbors were nice people and his good friends as well. Parents need to take video violence more seriously! Even if one family is trying, the kids can easily play violent video games at there friends houses. You don't just watch video violence, you are a (virtual)participant as well.

The Broadway play, "The Book of Mormon" was a topic of conversation the other day and the most important consensus was that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints responded perfectly. Using a large media option,  the church but up on the billboard: "YOU'VE SEEN THE PLAY, NOW, READ THE BOOK!
No negative, harsh comments were made to the producers, directors, or actors.
I feel that a negative response to others not of our faith or even in our faith is the wrong approach and will not be an influence for good.  

Have you ever had Disney Gummies?  Are they better than other Gummies?
Well, a fun mother on TV gave her cute little girl gummie vitamins. Her little girl was so happy because they were DISNEY!!  So get your Disney vitamins - they're the BEST!

I was watching TV with my family and AT&T had an advertisement selling cellular business phone contracts.  There were four business women asking the sales woman question after question to see if they were getting a good deal and finally one woman said:"good terms, low cost, Let's Close!!" all the women crossed their arms at the same time, and made a pose! There was one man in this business group who only listened and then when the women crossed their arms, he tried to copy them and look like them. My Dad  immediately said: "That ad was sexist! The advertisers purposely made the man in the group look stupid. Four very powerful women and one stupid man."  It was interesting to see his reaction, because he usually doesn't make comments like that.  I think the "on purpose" part frustrated him. Why can't equality be enough, without putting down the opposite sex.

I like the billboard advertising Rodezio Grill!  It has one inviting line:  SHARE THE EXPERIENCE!
Immediately, you start thinking of who you would like to go to Rodezio Grill with. You think of your friends, a family occasion, a date. Then, of course you want to go because it sounds fun to share the experience of good food with people you care about.  Its the power of one thought!

We have been hearing a lot about the tragic missing Mylasia airplane in the news lately. Years ago, we didn't know much about what was going on all over the world; but today the media is world wide and we know immediately what's happening!  Technology in television and radio is amazing, creating a new global
experience. Being able to watch the Olympics, having every country proudly wave their flag, was a great opportunity for the world to come together and the media was able to bring it all to us.

Too skinny, too heavy, too small, too big. Image Image Image. Today's media floods everyone with advertisements that  make people feel "unacceptable" if you do not look like the Victoria Secret Models.  Well to counter that, Lane Bryant clothing decides to put out a TV advertisement  which uses a fuller body type model  wearing  black lace underwear. She was constantly walking around in a sexy manner.  I thought ,well they are trying to say that all body types can be sexy. But do young girls need this role model? Regardless of their body type, they don't need sensual underwear parades.

 I was driving south on I-15 going to Provo, and saw a billboard that spoke louder than the words.
"YOU JUST BLEW $10,000
BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING
There is lots of talk about some substances not being any worse than alcohol. Well, being drunk on alcohol and driving at the same time kills people, innocent people. I thought this use of media would get peoples attention, and possibly they will think about the word "buzzed" in a different way.  

LES SCHWAB TIRES  DID AN ADVERTISEMENT THAT USED FAMILY TIES AS ITS LURE.  IT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY EFFECTIVE, ESPECIALLY THIS TIME OF YEAR. A GIRL IS TRAVELING DOWN A ROAD ON HER WAY TO HER GRADUATION FAMILY DINNER, A VERY SPECIAL OCCASION!  BUT UNFORTUNATELY SHE RUNS OVER A ROCKY PLACE IN THE ROAD AND DAMAGES HER TIRES. LES SCHWAB CAME TO HER RESCUE IMMEDIATELY!! THEY CHANGED HER TIRES RIGHT THERE ON THE SPOT! SHE MAKES HER GRADUATION DINNER AND ALL IS WELL. IT MAKES YOU WANT TO SAY: "GO LES SCHWAB" RIGHT?

OK I'M DONE WITH CARL'S JUNIOR HAMBURGER ADVERTISEMENT.  I'M SURE THEY WANT EVERY MAN WHO EVER ORDERS A HAMBURGER TO THINK OF THIS GIRL AND NEVER GO ANYWHERE ELSE FOR A BURGER EXCEPT CARL'S JUNIOR. THAT'S THE GOAL.
IT'S WAY TOO SENSUAL, BUT THE ADVERTISER GETS PAID TO GET PEOPLE'S ATTENTION AND THAT'S WHAT THE MEDIA WILL DO REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY USE TO GET IT.

When I was a little kid, one of my favorite TV shows, of course, was SESAME STREET.  With all the changes made in TV shows, I wondered if they wrecked or altered Sesame Street. So, I clicked on it and saw that they were still counting and learning colors. Then they did something I hadn't seen before which was teaching children how to play soccer by interviewing child players while they were practicing on the field.  It was quite amazing with the right questions asked, the kids new the game well enough to explain what they do in their individual  positions. You pretty well knew the game when they were finished asking all the questions!  Very cool.They ended the episode with a warm and fuzzy feel by showing how dogs can be good friends.  I was impressed that kids still had a chance if the media continues to show SESAME STREET

Well, I walked into my family home today and when I  saw the family room wall it made me smile.  We have a full wall of 8x10 Senior pictures of all the children in the family. Also, 5x7 framed yearly pictures of the grandchildren. For those who have already married we have wedding portraits.  In the center is a 18x20 family picture with everyone. I'm the youngest and living in Provo, so my parents say that the pictures make them feel like everyone is still home and they get to see us all everyday.  I think all of us get a warm feeling when we come home and see everyone's smiling faces hangin' on the wall! 
Pictures have a great way of communicating, hence pictures are used to advertise, allure, frighten, comfort, and "feel" ( good or bad).  I was glad for the "feel good"  moment in my home.

I was listening to the radio yesterday, you know, nothing out of the ordinary. But then it hit me. Every single song that I had listened to on my drive home, about 20 minutes, had been about how hopeless the singer was without their lover right by them. I don't know, it didn't really bother me, but it did make me think about how most popular music now days doesn't really portray good, strong, healthy relationships. Most music has to do with unhealthy, overly dependent, abusive relationships that people can't seem to get over, even if the relationship is over. I don't know if I have a point... just food for thought. :)

I usually don't watch a lot of TV. But occasionally, when my roommates are watching something, I will sit down and watch for a while. The other day I came home to "How I Met your Mother." I was fascinated by how quickly I became aware that the entire premise of the show was premarital sex and how good it was. The other thing that surprised me was that the more I watched the show, the more tolerant I was of the idea of premarital sex. In fact, I found that, because the characters were funny, I almost got to the point of cheering them on when they hooked up with another sex partner. I don't know of any studies done about this topic, but I was a little astounded at how quickly I became "OK" with the idea of hooking up with a different complete stranger every night. It makes me wonder if shows like this are changing the perspective of their viewers.

So, in one of my dance classes we have been playing around with different music options. We will do the same little snippet of choreography to 3 completely random and completely different pieces of music. What is fascinating to me is that, even though the choreography and movement is exactly the same, the dance is completely transformed into 3 distinct pieces. When I was performing in a particular piece, the first run through gave a feeling of longing and sorrow, the second run through (with different music) had a feeling of anger and contention in the movement, and the third run through (with different music) had a feeling of romance and flirting. It was incredible to me that just by changing the music we danced to, the entire mood and purpose of the movement was altered. This was a great reminder of how influential music is in our lives, and we have to be careful with what we expose to our souls. If music can change the mood in the room so suddenly as it did in my dance class, how much of an impact would lengthy exposure have? Just a thought... :) 

So, the last two weeks have been a bit rough. One of my very favorite professors/mentors/friends passed away after a week-long struggle with the H1N1 flu virus. As devastating as this was for many people, there was an incredible light in the situation. This light was visible thanks to Facebook. Everyone who knew Delynne Peay knew that she had influenced thousands of people the world over. However, I, personally, had no idea what that meant... until the day after her passing. Facebook was flooded with an innumerable amount of posts about this incredible woman. The emotions expressed about Delynne were palpable. I felt as if the entire world was a little darker that day, and at the same time, there was an immense feeling of celebration for her life. Anyway, I could go on and on about what an amazing woman Delynne was, but I want to take this somewhere else. There were so many people using Facebook, blogs, and other internet media to express their feelings about Delynne that that the local news stations became curious. They asked the Dance department faculty if they could come see what was such a big deal, and it just so happened that we had already planned a giant gathering of current students and alumni to celebrate and honor Delynne that night. The news stations were so intrigued that they decided to pop in and cover the event. Delynne's story, as well as a small display of the effect she had on the world, was televised because of the incredible use of social media. This was a great example to me of how media can be used to inspire, educate, uplift, comfort, and connect others. 

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=delynne-butcher-peay&pid=169118643&

http://www.gofundme.com/61wafw