I admire Marlee Matlin and the show‘s writers for its episode where Matlin played Joyce’s lawyer, Ruby Whitlow. Actually, she was in several episodes, but I’m referring to the one from November 30, “Born a Gamblin’ Man.”
I admire the writers because they scripted a funny story that addressed the sort of thing we don’t encounter in real life, but could think about it. For example, Doug — Ruby’ interpreter — covers his mouth with a notebook and tells Joy that sometimes he gets annoyed with interpreting for Ruby like when she flirts with a guy. Hilarious.
Joy, being the troublemaker (this is a family friendly site, y’all) she is, beat up the interpreter. Another time, Ruby speaks to Joy with her own voice. Joy responds with a big laugh and says, “That deaf accent of yours gets me every time.’’ Making fun of deaf people’s voices isn’t new as I’ve dealt with it from kids — but adults talking about it on a TV show is something else. Earl’s writers did a great job making it genuinely funny not “feel sorry” or “laughing at you” funny. Shows like Saturday Night Live do this all the time.
A TV Guide reader wrote to Matt Roush about one of the earlier shows in which Matlin appeared about Joy’s laughing at Matlin’s voice. I liked what Roush said: “Earl is a show that blends crude and sweet humor rather fearlessly, with little regard for political correctness or even tastefulness. If Joy’s reaction to the lawyer’s deafness was offensive, it was meant to be. But it was so extreme (as is Joy’s way) that it was also hugely funny.”
Hey, I rather kids laugh at my accent than point and stare.
Matlin on My Name Is Earl
Superbowl Ad Vote
The NFL is taking advantage of the infamous Superbowl ads with a contest in which thousands submitted an idea for an independent ad to air during the Superbowl. The NFL narrowed the list down to 12 so we can vote for our favorites.
The pitches, unsurprisingly, aren’t captioned. Thanks to Dan Johnson who notified me about the contest and described Pitch #12 from Vanessa. It sounds like a winner and I hope you consider checking it out. Here’s Dan’s description:
Video of a family in their living room, getting ready to head out to the Super Bowl, grabbing their tickets and packing things up. A boy sits near the TV, juggling his football, watching NFL coverage via the captions. He’s not all that aware of what’s going on and obviously doesn’t share the excitement the rest of the family shares. His mother taps him on the shoulder, telling him it’s time to go. Then it cuts to the stadium, where the football teams have just entered the field. The crowd goes wild, but the boy seems unenthused because his world is silent, which we get to see from his perspective for the first time, as the camera pans across the stadium without any sound. Then he closes his eyes and sits down in the bleachers. He puts his hands on the armrests and feels the vibration from the rest of the crowd.
Then a cut to former deaf NFL player Kenny Walker and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, using sign language to say, “Feel the Game.”
It’s an opportunity to raise deaf awareness. Go vote!
The Family's First Computer
I’ve been reading Steve Wozniak’s autiobiography, iWoz, learning about the birth of Apple Computer and its evolution to Apple I and Apple II. Made me think about how eager I was to get home from camp in 1980 because I knew we had gotten a new computer, an Apple ][+. Reading iWoz, I realized my dad got into the personal computer thing early. All these years later, he still isn’t a whiz with computers and relies on his children and our spouses to fix his computer, hardware and network.
So I asked Mom why he bought a computer as early as he did. First, she thought I asked why an Apple not the TRS-80. She wrote, “At that time, it was mostly Apple or Radio Shack’s TRS-80 for at-home personal computers. Apple was the most popular and supposed to be user-friendly (which we certainly needed, since we knew nothing and you were young.) We looked, drove around to get the best deal (they were so expensive) and finally bought that one in Arlington, hoping it would work for wht we needed (wanted.).”
“Why did Dad get a computer so early in the game?”
Mom said, “He wanted you to be computer savvy – he knew it was the big thing coming and figured we’d use it, but mostly you’d get into the computer age and it would be a great communication tool for you. He was right!”
Boy, was he right. Actually, I didn’t use it for communication until about five or six years later when we got a 300 baud modem. Even when we installed the modem, I didn’t use it much right away. My generation didn’t grow up with computers — a handful did. We might’ve had computer labs in school that we could use once a week or so, but not something generally found in the home.
Too bad we didn’t invest in Apple stock!
Theater without Studying
Call me strange, but I’ve loved musicals since I was a kid. I would pretend I was a character from a show and sing without fear of how bad I sounded — of course, I had no real audience. My parents took me to many shows at Casa Manana, a theater in my hometown of Fort Worth. Casa has a colorful history with Billy Rose who brought famed stripper Sally Rand to perform.
Casa has a round stage — which made it difficult to have a bad seat in the house. Sure, the audience faced the stars’ backs at times, but the direction was well done so it was hardly noticed. I learned many of the songs by heart and became familiar with the storylines, so I could fully enjoy each show.
I even spent two summers working at Casa changing the scenery. I still have my shiny black jacket with Casa’s famous domed building on the back of it and my name on front. I had the honor of working with Ruta Lee, Peter Palmer, and Jason Byce in Hello, Dolly! and Paint Your Wagon.
I had the pleasure of seeing many wonderful shows at The Kennedy Center in Washington. We had season tickets there a couple of times. We’ve also seen shows at Arena Stage (has a round stage, but not the one we saw), National Theater, and the famed Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was shot.
What does all this have to do with studying? I got carried away with memories. Anyway, we’ve had tickets to see Wicked at Dallas Music Hall for over year for April 2007. I bought the book and the CD so I could familiarize myself with the show and completely enjoy it.
When I went to the theater’s web site to try to buy a third ticket for my daughter, the OC (open captions) caught my attention. Can you imagine how excited I was when I read that the theater gives laptops that have the script? I can’t wait to try it out. It’ll be interesting to see how well I can read the screen and watch the action on the stage. One suggestion: Why not use tablets instead? They’re lighter and less bulky.
Dallas Summer Musicals has a great line up this year. We were tempted to get season tickets, but it’s too difficult for us to try to make a show every two weeks especially with our kids’ schedules.
Designing Babies with Differences
Couples with differences or disabilities wanting children like them isn’t anything new. However, USA Today reports couples who are trying to create babies using in vitro fertilization and embryo screening. Not a cheap procedure with a cost of over $15,000 — something insurance companies aren’t most likely to pay for. Insurance companies may pay for the in vitro fertilization, but not for any additional procedures. But first, the couple most likely has to show they can’t have children the old-fashioned way.
FCC Approves Internet Captioned Telephone
HearingLoss Association of America reports the FCC has approved the use of the telecommunications relay fund (TRS) to reimburse the Internet-enabled captioned telephone. Here is the FCC’s news released on the topic [pdf file].
Not sure how it works yet. I’m investigating.
Telecoms in UK Provide More Calling Options
Deaf Americans should be grateful for the relay options we have as most of it is free especially the Internet-based services. According to UK Telecoms opening up for deaf callers, users must pay one pound (equivalent of USD $1.89) PER MINUTE!
Air Travel for the Deaf
Austin news channel KXAN reports on new technology in a San Antonio that will make it easier for the deaf when they’re at the airport. Deaf Link is an airport station that lets a deaf passenger connect with a Deaf Link interpreter through the Internet and communicate ith airport or security personnel.
But this is limiting because it’s only for those who know ASL. I doubt it would be easy to lipread the video just like it’s difficult to lipread people on TV. I know, I should be grateful that the airport is taking steps to help and I am.
Cheryl Heppner of NVRC also wrote about an action alert on accessible air travel last March. Here are the details from her email:
Deaf Jews in Math
Deaf Jews in Mathematics — not that we need to break it down by religion and disability, it’s fascinating.
Very cool. I’m impressed with all mathematicians as it was a struggle for me in advanced math classes such as trig, elementary analysis, and calculus. I never understood why I didn’t do better at math as I’m a logical-minded person. [ Link: Acephalous ]
Video Game Accessibility Campaign
Michelle Hinn campaigns for more accessibility for disabled gamers addresses something few of us think about. Well, I think about it when I play games with a lot of audio, but when do I ever have time to play games?
I remember a few instances where one of my kids played a game and asked for help. I couldn’t because it meant hearing the audio. Then we got a Harry Potter game and it came with an option to turn on sub-titles. But captioning video games and videos isn’t the only accessibility problem as the article shows.