Well, due to some technical difficulties with one of my group members, I offered to use the "big guns" to convert and upload our other interview on YouTube.

Now, as we've decided to do a 10-minute documentary, I'm going through this other interview and finding some (from a purely technical standpoint) issues. The worst of the worst, though I somewhat expected it, is the horrible video quality. This is the interview we recorded via Skype, so the audio/video sync is way off on top of the poor video quality...which means, if I want to keep my sanity, the audio is the only bit worth using in the documentary. Even that has its own challenges; this interview has a much more back-and-forth conversational feel to it than our other one, which means there are fewer uninterrupted, clean sections of audio. The sound track is peppered with the interviewer's laughs, add-ins, and (if I'm not mistaken) clinks of silverware. I also noticed the interviewer adding many specifics to her questions, sometimes leaving less room for the narrator to expound on her answers...again, not ideal for an edited video.

I'll work around this stuff to the best of my ability, but if you even think you might use something for a video later and you don't want your voice in it, you have to keep the interjections and background noises to a minimum.

Side note: process-wise, not that I'm trying to throw anyone under the bus or anything, but I'm wondering if we should have at least had another person with the group member interviewing her mother. Because mother and daughter share a lot of the same values and ideals, it makes sense that there wasn't as much digging and explanation behind some of the narrator's points as I'd have liked for this project.

Dear God,

Tomorrow, I go once again into the war zone of video files, editing, and uploading. Please protect my sanity, help me remember that you are in control and that you are good (no matter what happens). Help me to rely only on you and not worry when programs crash, computers randomly shut off, and exporting takes an eternity.

Thank you. Gracias por todo en mi vida, lo bueno, lo malo, y lo frustrante. 

Kelly

PS- Tonight, I am going to make muffins. Please protect me...and the kitchen.

Well, I was right. Editing did bring its own horrors. The most frustrating was when I accidentally exported the whole 30 minute original instead of the edited version and had to go back the next day to export the right one. (It's always something stupidly simple like that.)

So I finally called in the expert on the evil file and it is safely converted and ready for uploading and editing (which I'm sure will bring its own horrors). But yes, the world is safe from me going Hulk...for now.

In other news, Mangini suggested - nay, encouraged - that we question the teacher's approach to this project and attack questions of authorship, work labor, credit, and organization.

>.>

Yes, he went there.

So, as long as it's on the table, I suppose I do have a few things to say about group projects in general and this teacher's approach to it in particular. (Please be advised, I have general, overarching bad feelings toward group projects stemming from some undesirable events in elementary, junior high, and high school. Should I slip into rant-mode, it is likely in response to some past, scarring event that has nothing to do with either of my 2 current research projects. That is all. ^^)

I suppose my biggest issue is with how credit is distributed in group projects. Not that I prefer those instances when group members are expected to, for all intents and purposes, tattle on each other, but the typical "everyone gets 1 grade approach" doesn't work any better for me. In fact, I often feel that using it expresses a certain sense of naivety in the professor behind the assignment.

Groups, assigned or chosen by the students themselves (which sometimes isn't as open and full of choices as it sounds), will have different people. Wow. Shocker, I know. But seriously, when you get stuck with or pick a group, you don't necessarily know how the members differ in work ethic, effort, competence, or any of a number of other factors. For instance, I've had groups before where team members have said, right off the bat, that they don't care about the project/class/life, which tells me the amount of dedication and effort they'll bring to the project is lacking. This, unfortunately, puts those who either want/need the grade or know they can and will do better work in the position of needing to compensate for other team members.

And at the end of the day, they all get the same grade, regardless of the fact that 1-3 people did the work of 6. Groups work it out between themselves and everyone pulls his or her own weight? Sometimes, and I really enjoy group projects when that's true, but that's the exception. More often than not, someone winds up overworking and someone else

Well, the prof made a big telling the other day of how this (ulcer-inducing) Oral History project is all about the process. Here's what I say to the process: "I haven't felt like cursing this badly since Spain."

The process can go jump off a cliff for all I care. In fact, I'll help it along with a nice, healthy shove.

At this point, few and disinterested readers, you are probably wondering, what finally sent the half-crazy girl over the edge? I'll tell you.

Digital camera file conversions.

Seriously, it would have been less trouble for me to transcribe the interview onsite instead. Okay, yes, that's an exaggeration, and truth be told, this isn't really that bad, especially compared to that incident in my high school media class where I was scrambling, trying to get the stupid files and computers to cooperate for an entire hour, to get our stuff ready for the school's live morning announcements show. Yeah, that was rough.

So, in comparison, this is not that horrible, but still, come on! I know it would take up more memory, but why can't digital cameras all work off one commonly used file format? Why does there have to be a special extension and a special software to convert it into usable video for every single stinkin' one?

20 minutes, and it's barely halfway done. Yeah.

Et tu, iMovie?

Update: I take it back. This is the devil's file, and I will personally ensure it suffers a slow, painful death as soon as this class is over.

And we're back, veggie fans, with more of that green gunk you can't get enough of: my Oral History project! ... Awkward. Anywho...

I conducted an interview yesterday afternoon,  Saturday, April 9, with Dorothy Boody, one of the co-owners of Health Now, a health food store in Vineland. She spoke about her experience as a vegetarian and her family's experiences with eating healthier food. Blood type diets feature heavily in her food philosophy, and as a result, she believes blood type A's are more likely to successfully live a vegetarian lifestyle. Many of her comments on ethics, today's food industry, and keeping fruits and vegetables in the diet speak to meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. Some segments may require an explanatory text slide before, but in general, most sound bites should stand alone as independent comments and/or stories.

And I just now realized I can add this interview to my annotated bib. Cue snicker. *SNICKER*

Well, since we ditched the vegan bit, I'm going to backtrack a little and go for some vegetarian background info instead.
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm
Well, it's kind of as I expected. No meat, fish, or poultry...and apparently, as long as the diet's varied (and possibly souped-up with some extra vitamins), immediate health isn't an issue."Among the many reasons for being a vegetarian are health, ecological, and religious concerns, dislike of meat, compassion for animals, belief in non-violence, and economics." This may be the longest list of potential reasons for turning vegetarian I've seen yet. Which is strange...you'd think the list would be a mile long like people's lists of reasons for other major lifestyle choices.
Either way, there's some good info here as to how vegetarians can maintain health, though I wonder how easy it is in practice without paying some attention to what you're eating. And what happens if you want to be vegetarian but you find you hate the tastes of some of the most nutritious and necessary components of the diet? It's a thought.

Well, first, the group has changed the research to question to exclude vegans, so my last post, Oral History 003, is no longer relevant.

Meanwhile, we've been creating potential interview questions, and here are mine:
Dietitian Questions:
1. What is a vegetarian?
2. What are the typical reasons behind people's becoming vegetarians?
3. Are there different degrees of vegetarians? If so, what differentiates them from one another?
4. What are the health benefits of being a vegetarian?
5. What are the health shortcomings, or issues that require attention, for vegetarians?
6.  Why should, or should not, people become vegetarians?

Avg Vegetarian Questions:
1. Why did you become a vegetarian? (Ex: health, moral obligation, etc.)
2. What difficulties do you face, if any, in finding suitable food options? At the grocery store? In cafeterias?
3. What is your opinion on stores' prices for vegetarian food?
4. Have you ever been in a situation where vegetarian options were not readily available? Describe.5. Why should, or should not, others become vegetarians?

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm


Well, in an effort to gain a little background knowledge on vegetarian/vegan eating habits, I did a Google search and figured I couldn't go wrong with "Veganism in a Nutshell" (from the Vegetarian Resource Group). I kind of already knew vegetarians don't eat meat, fish, or poultry, but I was less clear on the specifics of vegans (though I suppose it can differ from one individual to the next).

According to this site, "Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products." That's a long list, especially considering the vegetarian bit cuts out meat, fish, and poultry too. (No sushi! T.T)

I think what really grabbed me though, was the site's slight emphasis on vegans eating the way they do as a sort of protest against the meat industry. It acknowledged that some people just do it for the (not here fully explained or defended) health benefits, but there was more commentary on the "ethical" side of it. I don't hear much about vegans on a regular basis, but I think there is a bit of a bleeding heart stereotype afforded them. I guess this might be part of why that is.

All I can say is, eating vegan sounds like work.

My group (Dibella, Franz, and Pickell) has chosen to focus on the advantages and drawbacks of a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle for our project. Honestly, it's not a topic I'm interested in, but it's what the rest of the group wanted, so cool.