We're talking about practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

I chose a clip of Allen Iverson, former player of the Philadelphia 76er's for my blog post of the week.  Allen Iverson was an athletic icon to me during my grade school years and is still one of my favorite athletes of all time.  This video clip shows Iverson during an interview to the media after he received punishment for not showing up to a mandatory day practice.  The media was somewhat criticizing him for missing the practice and wanted to know an explanation for his absence.  And as everyone knows, you must work with and make the medias job easier.  You could tell by Iversons vocalics that he could not exactly come up for an explanation for why he didn't attend practice.  In the beginning of the interview you could tell he was upset because of the gaze of his eyes and also because he kept looking down.  As the questions continued you could tell the tone of Iversons voice increased and he got even more defensive.  He kept repeating the famous quote, "You talking about practice?"  Iversons style of voice was something I always remembered since a young sixers fan.  Allen Iversons style was very southern, coming from the ghetto of Hampton, Virginia.  He had an accent along with a vocabulary no one will forget.  Even though his vocab wasn't the best, he was still very motivational which made Philadelphia love him.  In this video clip, you can understand how Iverson is feeling without even hearing his voice.  I muted the video clip and watched it one more time to recognize how his facial expressions showed his mood.  Allen Iverson was always known for being a cocky and competitive player and he also used that to his advantage.  His posture, tone, and use of words like "franchise" shows the media and public that he thinks he's too good for practice and too good for the team.  I believe that was the biggest down fall for Allen Iverson a.k.a "The Answer".  To end on a positive note, Iverson's presents and attitude on the court was unlike any other.  The excitement he brought to the game through emotions and gestures really pumped up the Philly crowd and encouraged them to have faith in the team once again.

Facial Expression Observation

The person I picked to interview about their spring break was no other than my roommate and good friend Micah Bollinger.  He had a very exciting and rare spring break and I thought it would be interesting to see his facial expressions throughout this conversation.  Micah is an athlete here at Kutztown University, he is a member of the Golden Bear wrestling team.  Wrestling this season at the weight of 165 pounds, he plans to come back next year for his final year of collegiate illegible.  Not only is Micah a part of the team but also excels at the sport.  Over spring break, Micah took a trip to Pablo, Colorado for the Division II National Wrestling Tournament.  This tournament includes only the best division two wrestlers and is quite an honor.  As soon as I arrived back to my apartment after break, I asked him how the trip was.  He had a simple, unenthusiastic reply which made me think the tournament didn't go so well, "Colorado was cool".  Micah only won one match at the national tournament and failed to make it out of the preliminary round.  He didn't even make eye contact with me in the beginning of the conversation, just stared down at his desk showing that it was a sore subject.  He showed neutralization according the Ekman & Friesen's Facial Managment techniques because he gave a very neutral answer and didn't let his emotions get the best of him.  He switched the topic off of wrestling and starting talking about the plane ride to Colorado.  He mentioned that the Panda Garden chinese restaurant in the airport terminal was amazing.  As he said that Micah's eyes lit up and he finally put a smile on his face (we love our chinese food).  You could tell it was a geniune smile because his teeth were showing and his eyes were wrinkled.  He then continued talking about the plane ride.  It was his second time ever on the plane and he had to be nervous.  He seemed to use a masking technique when talking to me about the plane.  His smile got even bigger when describing the scary, turbulant ride, I think he was happy to make it home in one piece.  The last thing Micah mentioned about his spring break was his short time at home in Mifflinburg, PA.  His face seemed to relax when talking about his time at home with his family.  He finally got a few days to himself without sports or school work and that pleased him.  All in all, the distinct facial expressions Micah showed while conversing with me expressed that his spring break was dissappointing yet fun and relaxing. 

Couple Spying

I know this blog post is a little late but I needed to find a specific couple that I could determine their non verbals and describe them well.  I witnessed a man and woman who were obviously a couple in the academic forum yesterday.  As I walked in and waited in the coffee shop line I realized this couple eating breakfast/lunch together on the comfy chairs by the glass windows.  It was ridiculous how much non verbal communication they were using between every bite of their sandwiches.  Their proxemic was extremely close to each other even though they were casually eating lunch.  According to T. Hall's spatial zones I would consider this couple using personal space(one and a half feet away from each other).  They also had an almost weird body lean going on between them.  Even though the chairs are approximately 3 feet away from each other, both people were leaning in so much into each other it literally looked like they were about to kiss even though they were not...odd.  By the smiles on their faces I could tell that they were both content and happy with one another.  The woman had a certain stare in her eyes which also caught my attention.  She always keep eye contact with her significant other no matter what she was doing, which was a relief for me because I then knew I could watch them without being detected.  This was an intimate gaze she had in her eye, which hinted to me that she really liked this person she was with.  Last but not least, the only other thing to determine this was a couple I was observing was finally "The Kiss".  Now, I have no problem with kissing in public and what not but what I saw was just weird to me.  After both taking bites of their sandwiches and giggling, the couple leaned in even closer to each other and kissed pretty romantically with a bunch of food in their mouths EW!  For this assignment, I actually enjoyed watching this couple munch and make out, it was weird to me but showed good examples of non verbals.

Apartment Blog

At first I was indecisive about what to pick for my blog post this week.  But then, it came clear to me on what I should write about, no other than my own apartment .  I live off campus in a two person apartment with my good friend Micah.  My apartment is located at the bottom of the main street next to the CVS.  In the picture below you can see a pediatric office on the first floor and apartments on the second, this is my beautiful apartment building.  The complex is neat because there are eight apartments adjacent to each other and most of the apartments are occupied by my good friends since my freshman year here at Kutztown University.  It's a good example on how living in such close proximity to yours friends makes you realize their tendencies and gestures.  I can recognize my friends moods so easily just by facial expressions and body gestures.  Back to my apartment, it's small yet comfy.  As you walk into the door, you might get a smell of something cooking in the oven or on the stove. I usually like to cook on my spare time.  I have two green suede couches facing the television and a small, black coffee table in the center of the room.  The sofa and the love seat are set diagonally against the wall with the arms touching.  I positioned the couches this way so it is easy to communicate while watching the tube with my friends.  Since the couches are close and the apartment so small, it is a great place for conversation.  I love my apartment and wouldn't change it for anything.  

Nonverbal communications turned out to be exactly what I expected plus some.  The class is based on the nonverbal signals and gestures used in everyday life.  The objective of the class is to recognize and learn nonverbal communication, to help us students be able to read someones attitude and feelings without that person actually speaking.  So far in the class we have learned a lot about the basics of nonverbal communications.  The most interesting thing so far was being able to train the way to handshake properly.  The handshake is a very important part of nonverbal communication especially when introducing yourself, and I really think that was a positive thing to learn in this course.  Learning about nonverbal communication will help me in the workplace after graduation, using the tools I have learned to my advantage in any communications department.  Another interesting thing I have learned in nonverbal communications so far are how color schemes can influence peoples feelings.  I never knew that the color blue technically means calm and how red expresses excitement and love.  Every time I see an advertisement or commercial I instantly try to convey the color scheme message intented.  Learning color schemes and proper handshakes are fun to me, rather than sitting silent in a desk, working on a math problem for multiple hours.  I would much rather be in conversation learning things that will help me succeed later in life.  All in all, nonverbal communications is an awesome way of learning facial gestures, hand signals, and other non verbals.  If it was not for Dr. Bock's class I would have no idea of how important nonverbal communications is.