All The Young Dudes

Big Words and Lotsa Text Part Three: !!!

This is an issue that seems be taking on a life of its own. It all started when Mike McConnell of Kokonu Pundit wrote a  post [seeBig Words And Lotsa Text and Big Words And Lotsa Text Part Two: Please Help!]about the use of BIG WORDS, USING A DICTIONARY, and NOT CHANGING HIS STYLE to suit a few complainants.

Somewhere along the line, the whole post got reinterpreted as equating BIG WORDS with INTELLIGENCE, and that IMPLIED That Deaf were not as intelligent because they didn’t use BIG WORDS. Which then led to this, 100% Certified Prelingually Deaf.

Yeah, right, now we need a fucking badge, on our blogs, as a statement of pride in the face of a simple post, that was a response to a few complainants [whingers???] about the use of BIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG WOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDS [oh the horror].

Excuse my sarcasm. No fuck it. Don’t excuse it. I don’t care. I had a hell of a time trying to learn Auslan [Australian Sign Language], which I did by trial and error, and courses at my own expense, and enduring a whole lot of shit that I didn’t understand Deaf ways because I thought Deaf should improve their English, and they should TRY.

Amidst this madness, there are some sane voices who do get it. ASL, English and Attitude is one.

This is my personal blog, I will use the language I choose. If this were a business blog, or a blog with a specific agenda to reach out to Deafies, then yes, there is a case for adapting the language used. But to stir up a hornets nest, because someone wouldn’t change their use of English on THEIR blog, well it does beg the point re: intelligence doesn’t it?

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Deaf Gamers

I’m not a fan of games, online or otherwise, but the issue of subtitles in games, and by extension in Virtual Reality worlds such as Second Life, are an important one.

I am currently studying a Bachelor of Communications in Media, and issues of Deaf Access and Deaf Perspectives in Technology are always at the fore in my work. The problem I have is that the research is thin on the ground [at least readily accessible via the web. An online library of Griffith University, with whom I'm studying, reveals not much at all. At this stage.]. Especially research relating to Deaf use of technology and the effects it has on Deaf Culture.

It’s the odd post/ article like this, Deaf Gamer: Subtitle Please,that rams that point home. The dearth of available research. Still, one response [so far, I've seen, and not counting Deaf Blogs raising the issue] to this article are heartening.

See also:
A Gamer Asks For Subtitles
BBC & accessible online content
IBM addresses multimedia access for blind. Deaf access where?
Vlogging grows, where’s the subtitles?

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Big Words And Lotsa Text Part Two: Please Help!

Mike McConnell of Kokonu Pundit has received a rebuke for his post, A Fancy, Schmancy Blogpost,from Ben Vess, How Insulting.

I have left a comment on Ben’s blog agreeing with Mike’s post. My words were:

It’s not as insulting as you think it is. I have written about this issue on my blog, agreeing with the basic thrust of Kokonut Pundit’s post.

As an Aussie Deafie, with migrant background, and where English as a second language is rife amongst the migrants, my experience has been very much one of, “You know the language, please help us.” And being subject to the same kind of thing in the Deaf community.

It is a salient point, when you are asked for help, by people who have no intention of improving their own English [for example]. That certainly colours one’s outlook.

Ben, readers who left their comments, raise some valid points. Though it must be balanced against the very real inertia of people who deem learning or improving their literarcy skills too hard.

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Big Words And Lotsa Text

I have to agree with Kokonut Pundit’s post: A Fancy, Schmancy Blogpost, addressing the very real complaint that some of us Deafies are using big words that are hard to understand.

Yeh. And?

Like Kokonut, I too write how I feel and I write as I am [ I try to]. And yeh, I like to have fun with language too. I do it in Auslan, so why not English? I remember the same argument over at Deaf UK email list [not necessary to give you the link, as since I'm not a member anymore, I'm not gonna promote it] where some of us, including this merry Deafie, used to write LONG posts, that used BIG words.

Now it’s all very well to accommodate those whose literacy is not the same as yours. But really, when you receive an email, don’t you read it at your leisure, taking the time to ingest and digest all that information? And if you don’t understand something, like a big word, [or what the writer is trying to say], wouldn’t YOU, or rather, SHOULDN’T YOU, make the effort to find the meaning [definition] of those big words?

They have more of case when aiming a criticism like this at the big organisations and groups, where it is imperative that information is accessible. But at PERSONAL BLOGS and VIDBLOGS?

The problem on Deaf UK I suspect, is that the members see the email group as an extension of the Deaf Community, and as such, projected the same expectations of a “flesh and blood” social group, onto what was [is, still] an electronic [email group] medium. It had one side effect of discouraging some from participating due to what they felt was poor English. There was some success though, in that some Deafies started contributing using Deaf English, and that too was fine. Many of us are used to English as a Second Language. Though, it can be fun reading an exchange of posts pitched at different literacy [for want of a better word] levels.

Not long after Deaf Blogs came online, there was much criticism from some quarters [and sustained attacks], such as the netizens from the Tower of Babble, over the INACCESSIBILITY of some of the blogs - because one, they used sign language, two posts were untitled, three, there was no moderation to sift out porn, dirty words, and abusive comments. FOR FUCKS SAKE STUPID PEOPLE……UNDERSTAND WHAT BLOGS ARE BEFORE YOU MAKE SUCH STUPID OBSERVATIONS. UNDERSTAND THAT DEAF-BLOGS IS A BLOG AND VIDBLOG AGGREGATOR, NOT A FUCKING FORUM!

Funny enough though, one of Deaf Blogs arch enemies is crowing because his posts are showing up on DeafRead. You can read for yourself his unqualified support. Kissy, Kiss, arse, arse!

Still, the point is, I’m not gonna change my mode of expression, since one, it’s my voice, and two, it’s my blog. And unlike Kokonut Pundit, I won’t close with some fancy word like chutzpanik.

I’ll simply say, suck on it.

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Pretty Little Signs: Show Me That Emotion, Oh Yeah!

I remember many years ago, being at a pub in Balmain, [Sydney, Australia - for all you foreign readers]. I’m sure you’re all familiar with what happens after a few drinks. Especially when there’s a jukebox in the room.

No. I’m not talking about slow dancing, bodice ripping, wet and heavy tongue lashes. I’m talking about the sudden urge to get up and sign sing. When you are naive and full of enthusiasm, you give in to the most god awful baser instincts known to humanity. The urge to sign sign, “Some say love…… it is a river…..” Exactly.

Ah those were the days. Accolades after accolades. Effuvise after effusive, gushing,dripping, simpering declarations of a sight for sore eyes. “Oh dear, what have we let loose here?” Deafies were heard [seen?] to exclaim.

But my dear readers, there’s no need to panic. I have left those days behind. You can’t blame this man for succumbing to moments of guilt free pleasure, and giving in to his baser instincts. So no apologies there. And none will be forthcoming.

What set me off though, are the following three posts, The Sign and the Music, What Do You Think? Is This Putting ASL On a Pedestal?, and Silent Hands Sculpt Epitome of Beauty… Not. The subject of contention was this clip, A Prayer For People Who Hate.

It’s not the intention to denigrate the clip or the people who produced it, but there are a few questions  begging to be answered. Namely:

1. What’s the purpose of the signing in the clip?
2. If it was to make it a appealling to Deafies, why do we not see signing the whole way through?
3. Why is signing presented on a pedestal that equates sign as epitome of beauty and emotion, and not as a language?
4. How does it enhance the credibility of the artists, and indeed, the message, when sign is only sued in glimpses?

I admit I get sick of the twee factor in clips like this. It reinforces the stereotype of language purely as an arty, emotional thing. Not at all, a language on par with English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish, etc. Not only that, Deafies are portrayed as vessels of emotion and not much else.

Give us a fucking break.

The writers in the aforementioned articles are right. We are people. We have a language. And while we feel emotion and express beauty through our hands and body, we are still human, and some of the things we express are not always beautiful. Why should it be? Are hearing people always expressing themselves and speaking beautifully?

And now for the coda to this piece, sign language will have finally arrived when we see songs like Devil gate Drive, Yakuza Girls, I’m Gonna Roll Ya, Highway to Hell, Back In Black, Tear Me Apart and The Wild One, being sign sung. Mebbe a Deaf Bette Midler?

Everything’s Coming Up Grosses [sung in the special "Diva Las Vegas"]

“Seen any good movies lately?”

I’m in a hit,
a big fuckin’ hit, and baby,

Things look swell, things look great.
I got twenty percent of the gate.
Whod’ve dreamt? I’m verklempt.
Because everything’s coming up grosses!

At the top, in my prime,
on the cover of People and Time.
Scrape and bow when I pass.
Blow some smoke up my ass.

One hundred million
ain’t so hard to do!
Honey, everything’s coming up
grosses for me, so fuck you!!!!

[Tom Waits who
sings in a voice that has seen too many late nights [I'm sure I can
come up with the requisite adjectives, but right now I can't be arsed. Tom
does it so well], and you really need the lyrics to follow know what he
is singing. Where most pop songs, indeed songs, are mere words strung
together, Tom’s
songs are like movies or movie scenes. I have tried to write like him,
but the words don’t ring true, because they don’t come from the heart.

Pasties and a G-String

Smelling like a brewery, looking like a tramp,
I ain’t got a quarter, got a postage stamp
Been five o’clock shadow boxing all around the town,
Talking with the old man, sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin al zootin al hoot and Al Cohn
Sharing this apartment with a telephone pole
And a fish-net stocking, spike-heel shoes,
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
And the porno floor show, live nude girls,
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
She’s so good, make a dead man come
Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
Wrinkles and Cherry and Twinkie and Pinkie and Fifi live from Gay Paree
Fanfares, rim shots, back stage, who cares, all this hot burlesque for me…………..

Or more to the point:

The Piano has Been Drinking:

The piano has been drinking, my necktie is asleep
And the combo went back to New York, the jukebox has to take a leak
And the carpet needs a haircut, and the spotlight looks like a prison break
And the telephone’s out of cigarettes, and the balcony is on the make
And the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking…

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