Giving Back

My community is the college band. I have visited this a couple times this year aside from the many times I have spent at games in the passed without thinking about my site. When it comes down to the basics, it is interesting to think what can be given back from my standpoint in the band community. My original thought was involving the typical stereotype about band members being "band geeks" and how I could spread the word about how band members are very talented musicians. However, I realized through my research that band members do not care about this stereotype. They are happy being "band geeks" and could care less what others may say in that sense. So I had to move on to looking at giving back something else. I realized exactly what I can do to help out this community. A lot of people go to basketball games, but what I can do is gather more and bring them to games. Even more, I can point out to the people at the games exactly how hard the band is working. No one acknowledges this and what I can do is put together as many people and gather them to specifically pay attention to the band at games. That way they will receive what they deserve.

Survey

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=dz4tih66zmad619550096

Another look at my subculture

One of my first impressions on my subculture, the band, was the typical reaction, band geeks, band nerds, and losers. I reacted in a way that pretty much anyone who was not in band reacted. I did not want to be involved with this. I did not want to be friends with these kids. I was too cool for the band world. I first started to change my mind when I really began to get in to music. I began playing guitar and took a guitar class throughout high school. This is where I met a whole new group of friends. Before this time, all my friends were the jocks and the athletes. I had never been friends with this completely different crowd of people before then. It was here that I met a lot of people who were in the band in high school. It was where I first began shaping a new opinion of the people I had judged and ridiculed before I even knew them. I became friends with some of these people and that is where my whole opinion changed. I know I am an outsider because I have never myself been in band or played any of the instruments generally associated with band. I would definitly not be allowed to sit in the middle of the band section during a basketball game or to march on the field with them during football games. Although I can watch from the side, that is all I can do. This is how I know I am an outsider.

Annotation

OSU Marching and Athletic Bands Online. 18 Feb. 2009 .

The website listed above is the home website for the college marching band at Ohio State University. Ohio State University is a much larger university than ours here at Ball State, therefor it will be a good thing to help me compare different college bands. The website provides a lot of information on the marching band at Ohio State. It gives me a schedule of events, things they have been recognized for, and much more. This site also provides me with a history of the band. It tells me who is currently in the band and also allows for me to apply if I were interested. One big help from the website is the information on instruments in the band. I found that to be quite interesting.

This site will help me in several ways. One of which is simply that it allows me to compare different sizes and types of college bands. By viewing this site I am capable of making a good comparison. Also it provides with a lot of good general information such as things like the instruments used in the band. One thing the website helped me to look at was it made me aware of a magazine called Halftime. This magazine appears to have a lot of information that can lead me to more bands and more information on the music they play.

Marching-Band.net. 18 Feb. 2009 .

The source listed above is a complete database of many schools with marching bands. It holds links to an unbelievable amount of not only college bands but also high school and elementary. It allows one to search for bands they might be looking for or even just browse through a large list of bands in order to pick one they might find interesting or that could be helpful to them.

This site could be very useful to me. As I mentioned that the Ohio State band website could do a lot for me, this could do almost twice as much. It allows me to look at the homepages of many large and small bands across the country. These are marching and college bands that fit the exact criteria of what I want to be looking at. After using this site I will not only have a great idea of what other schools' bands are like, but be able to almost directly compare them to our own band here at Ball State.

Focal Points

In my field site their are many focal points in which one could look at a college band. The particular field site I was looking at was their performance during a college Ball State basketball game. Some focal points would include my own, a typical fan, or even a player on the court during the game. The one I will talk about is the fan. From a fan's view the band appears to only be their in order to support the team. They are there because they add on to the amount of people cheering for a game and play music that can lead everyone towards more excitement. During timeouts, they can keep the crowd into the game by playing intense music. When it comes down to a close game, the band is always ready to play something real intense to make the moment that much bigger. To a typical fan, the band is simply an add on to the game. The fan's need the band in order to stay energized and stay on their feet. From this focal point, the band is an addition to the basketball game.

Finishing Touches

I am really coming along with my fieldwork now. I have spent a decent amount of time researching and looking up different types of musicians and it has forced me to make decisions and push aside different aspects of the paper. As of now, I feel like my focus will be mainly on college band musicians. I feel like this will be the most beneficial and the best for me to do fieldwork. I do need to spend more time in the field so I will probably be attending several sporting events in the next week in order to view and talk to some of these band members. As far as questions I believe I don't have any at this point. I know what is assigned and feel that I am getting close to having a good idea of what to write for our next paper. Once I have spent time in the field and probably a little more time in the library I will be ready to write again. I have already learned a lot and have just a little ways to go.

#15 Redone

My family room.

A small room in a place full of love and joy. The place where I grew up that has provided me with a lot of happy times. When sitting on a couch in this place, you can feel the warm hugs of family members and hear the laughter from each person. Christmas lights are bright and the scent of candles surrounds the atmosphere. When listening very closely, one can hear the tearing of wrapping paper as the first present is opened on Christmas day. If that isn't enough, maybe the smell of a homecooked meal while gathered around on the couches can bring you into the moment. The thought of someone getting up to get more to eat and asking if anyone else needs anything can bring one to imagine how lucky they are to be surrounded with caring people. It is just a room I grew up in, but it is a room I will never forget.

Box #15

One place that carries me to a world of thoughts and is full of sensory details is the family room in my house back at home. It is the house i grew up in. My family moved there when I was three years old and since then it has been full of unbelievable moments. One particular event I remember is opening Christmas presents in this room every single year for the last sixteen years of my life. It is something I will absolutely never forget. Not only did I receive countless gifts in those years but the time I was able to spend with my family during these moments was great. Watching the whole family open presents here is something that can never be forgotten. Also, this is the room where every one in my family would open birthday presents on their birthday. Even in some extended family we would bring them to our house for a party and make them open presents in the family room. It is just the way our family works and acts. Aside from the holidays, this is a place we would eat dinner in as a family on a very regular basis. The couches were comfortable and my dog Sammy never failed to beg for a bite from every single person. Of course their are other memories too. When I was little my friends and I would hang out in this room when they came over and as I got older I spent time here with girlfriends as well. This is easily one of the most important places in my life. It is something that means even more to me now, because my family has our house for sale. I will never forget the memories from that room no matter how long and how far gone I am from it.

Dogtown

The documentary about the Z-boys is one that is very interesting. I believe however it is one meant to educate and inform. Personally, I found the documentary very interesting and entertaining, but only because I have an interest in the topic. I believe with an interest it is entertaining but if not it is simply to inform. The interview subjects are the people who lived the moment. They are the skaters who were a part of the revolution. They move the story along by simply telling what happened to them. They describe each and every day just as it happened. They definitly lend a hand on the subculture as well. They provide backround on skaters and how skaters think, act, and live. The skater subculture is one that lives with no regrets. They are people who just want to skate and will do so despite the consequences. They go where they want and do what they want, when they want to. Life is all about where your going to skate next. The structure of the piece is also very helpful. It begins by showing the skaters, then moves on to the history of skateboarding in general, and follows up by getting into the Zepher skate team and more detailed information. Stereotypes of skaters usually includes things such as they don't care what is going on they just want to skate and do nothing else. This documentary did not change my opinion at all but I believe its probably because I knew a decent amount about the subject already. It is one that interests me and that I've learned about in the past so not a lot was new in the documentary. As far as ethos goes, I would say I trust the creator of the film. Although it could be biased as in it was made to show they were a good influence, you could probably create a film showing the bad they did by messing up people's pools and things like that. I however believe most of the information is factual. Emotional responses are just thinking this is pretty cool. It would have been fun to be there when all this was happening. It is amazing the impact they had on the sport and the ways the practiced and got better. The piece was constructed very well. It had history of not just Z-boys but also skating in general. There was many personal interviews to allow a deeper look on the subject and had many good facts and points.

General Conclusions

As far as general conclusions I can make there are quite a few. When looking in to the local rock bands performance, I believe that they will have a lot of energy. When performing, you will be able to tell if they are enjoying it or not. Also, the people there will be very in to the music. A lot of people generally enjoy seeing and supporting local artists. I feel as though for this subculture it will be close to the same everywhere. Unless you look at all musicians that is. Music styles differ all over the world. The way they are performed also differ very much. For example, in America there may be a broad range of types of music and concerts, but in some countries it is still custom to go sit in a theater and simply watch the show. Sure, we have these styles in America as well, but it is much more common in other parts of the world than ours. The preferred music is also very different. Music in Mexico is very different than the music in Alaska. A musician or a fan of a musician can be greatly changed by the climate and geography the live in. It is something that changes all across the world and everyone can easily be aware of. Although I can not travel to these countries to see in person what their music is like, I am capable of hearing and seeing video. I look forward to doing this and learning a lot more.

Privileges

I have many privileges in my life right now. Some of which I have earned and some I was simply lucky to receive. One of the ones I was lucky to receive was the fact that I was born in America. I feel like there are many countries that struggle and live a lot lesser lives and are worse off than myself. I am fortunate to have grown up in a nation so well off. Also, I feel fortunate to have been born in to the family that I was. My parents were not the richest of people but they did provide me with love and the things I need to grown into the person I am today. One privilege I feel as though I earned is the privilege of coming to college. I was not able to get any scholarships or things like that, but I am glad I was able to make it here. A lot of people do not have the grades to come to college. Because I worked hard to get here, I am able to continue my education and better myself.

The privileges I have will affect my research for my project slightly. I am lucky enough to have the capability to travel and go places where I can meet with the people who take place in my subculture. Another privilege I have helping me is that I am healthy. I am very fortunate to not be spending my time in a hospital which allows me to do this project at all. I was also lucky to be allowed to try a lot of different things while growing up. My parents not only let me play the sports I wanted but let me get an interest in music. This grew on me very quickly which is what allows me to study the musicians subculture.