“The Cultural Impact of the Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman Movie "No Strings Attached" - PRLog (free press release)” plus 1 more

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The Cultural Impact of the Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman Movie "No Strings Attached" - PRLog (free press release) Posted: 07 Jan 2011 08:21 AM PST PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 07, 2011 – How much of an impact does popular culture have on our views about sex and relationships? Plenty. With the release of the upcoming film "No Strings Attached" -- which is already stirring up talk on the blogs and late-night shows -- genConnect is hosting an online video discussion examining the movie and its real-life implications. Starring Dr. Marianne Brandon, author of the groundbreaking book Monogamy: The Untold Story, and Dr. Alan Altman, the President of the Society of Women's Sexual Health, these relationship experts are depicting scenes from the film and what it's like in today's culture to engage in a "Friends With Benefits" relationship. "Our culture provides much of the context for the way we understand the world – such as how we perceive and interpret our experiences, and the expectations we hold for ourselves and others," said Dr. Brandon, a clinical psychologist, certified sex diplomat through The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and Director of Wellminds Wellbodies LLC in Annapolis, Maryland. "Our culture influences whether we think insects are good eatin', if we think going topless in public is appropriate, and whether or not sexual monogamy is reasonable." At a time when monogamy is the it subject in Hollywood movies, several questions emerge in people's minds, including: Will these popular films influence how we view monogamy? Were we born to be in a committed relationship? Is "Friends With Benefits" the best kind of partnership? Find all this out and more during the genConnect "No Strings Attached" Video Event, which kicks off January 10th.  For more details, contact events@genConnect.com. Sign up here and be sent an email reminder and link to catch the video, follow-up live chat and free prizes. Genconnect.com connects top-in-class experts to people through interactive events, videos, articles, surveys and social media. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

Cultural Council awards grants - Abington Mariner Posted: 07 Jan 2011 09:04 AM PST A library needs to provide the community with new opportunities within the town, said Donna Martel, adult services director for the Westborough Public Library. And, she said, the library hope to offer the programs without cost to participants. However, working with a small budget provided by the Friends of the Westborough Public Library, it is difficult to provide free programs throughout the year. So, to supplement the budget, Martel said the library applies each year for grants from the Westborough Cultural Council to assure the availability of quality educational programs for the public. "This (the grant) pays for supplies and for performers to come out to Westborough and do programs," Martel said. Other groups, she said, will apply for grants and will host their programs at the library. Each year, the Cultural Council gives out grants to local groups like the Westborough Public Library to support programs that involve the arts, sciences and humanities. Last week, the Council announced the recipients for 2010. The library received a grant to support their "Love Letters" program in April, where actors come dressed as John and Abigail Adams and read personal letters written by the historical figures and then answer questions from the audience.  According to Cultural Council Chairperson Lynn Watts, the Westborough Cultural Council received 23 applications this year, and 14 were selected to receive grants. Those recipients include the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Westborough Public Library, Gregory Maichak, Westborough Youth and Family Services, Westborough Community Land Trust, the Westborough Community Chorus, the Hundredth Town Chorus, the Westborough Community Band, Symphony Pro Musica, Vivaldi Cello Festival Orchestra, Westborough Historical Society, the Fruitlands Museum, Roger Bruno and the New Century Art Group. Most of the funding for the grants comes from state and town funding through the Local Cultural Council Program (LCC) and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which supplies more than $1.6 million a year to 339 state councils. Watts said the grants are used typically to help support the projects of the recipients, and in many cases to allow the recipients to provide the town with free programs. In other cases, such as the Westborough Community Chorus, the grants allow the group to keep their ticket prices low. "Some get the full (requested) amount, others do not," said Watts. "Usually the newer ones get more, but that doesn't necessarily mean the whole amount." This year had the Council had $7,000 to award with $2,000 coming from the town and $4,000 from the state. The remaining funds came from fundraisers. To celebrate the recipients of the 2010 Cultural Council grants, a reception will be held on Jan. 12 at the Central One Credit Union on 40 South St., Westborough, starting at 7 p.m. "It's kind of fun and other grantees seem to think it's marvelous to see what other people are doing in the community," said Watts. Along with the list of programs the library will receive funding for, Watts also outlined a few new and interesting programs that will be available for the public in 2011. For example, the Fruitlands Museum program will present a Native American pow wow for families and children on April 20th. "They'll give out information on how to make a musical instrument to bring to the pow wow," said Watts. Another, featured as part of the Cultural Council's annual art festival, Arts in Common, the New Century Art Group will perform a Chinese dance. In order for an organization or person to receive a grant, they must first fill out an application form and detail the program they are looking to have funded, along with the planning process, budget, advertising and the benefit for the local community. The state also requires certain rules in order for an applicant to be eligible for a grant, such as the applicant must be associated with a non-profit organization or be asking for funding for a non-profit event, the event must be open to the public, it must be handicap accessible and must be held in the local town. "The state gives us quite a broad mandate (for who can receive a grant)," Watt said. Watt said they are not limited on how many they can grant and for what types of programs they can grant to, as long as they distribute the full amount of grant money to recipients who fit the requirements. The Cultural Council also hosts the annual Arts in Common arts festival during the first weekend in October, and to raise money for the grants, they host restaurant nights where part of the profit a restaurant makes in one day goes to the Cultural Council. Dates and locations for upcoming restaurant nights are yet to be announced. Watts also encourages anyone who wishes to donate to the Cultural Council to help fund future grant programs to visit the Council's website at www.westboroughculturalcouncil.org.   This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

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