Discussion # 6 Story TIme! You may start this one but this is Nov. 16th blog. See below #5

Ahhhh... Story time. Doesn't this bring back memories of your childhood? Stories are such important parts of our lives. Think of those stories your family shares again and again. Aren't they great! Or perhaps you prefer your parents would stop telling that story about when you stood up at a dinner party and pulled down your pants and announced to the startled guests that you needed to go potty! Hey, I was only 2!

Stories are a very important part of Deaf Culture and ASL. Stories are rich in facial expression, body language, structured mime, vocabulary, classifiers, eye gaze, body shifting and ASL grammar and structure. Parties, gatherings and social events are filled with incredible stories and folklore. Talented storytellers are well known in the community and it is a real treat to be in their presence.

I have selected two stories to share with you. They are amazing and filled with theatre effects! And I do not mean special effects or anything like that. I mean all through the language!

I want you to comment on the stories. What did you notice? What did you understand? What did you think was amazing? Which was your favorite? Compare and contrast the two stories. You will need to watch these a few times. Do not get discouraged. Focus on what you understand and go from there.

The first story I selected is called, "Deaf Ninja". This story teller is hearing but grew up with a Deaf brother. His story is about a vision he has. The Deaf Ninja in this vision is Deaf and uses his hearing aids as a tool to fight! These hearing aids are the old kind that were worn on the chest. He would tease his brother about them and his brother would swing them at him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91KVUXRBq8

The second story is called , "The Special Reindeer". This story is being told by a Deaf man. It is a cute Christmas story about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Watch closely, Rudolph is not hearing.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Ie2Tug0QE&feature=related

Discussion #5 Beethoven's Nightmare!

Him? Nope! Althought Beethoven became deaf at age 35, this is not who I am referring to.

An all Deaf band! HUH? YES! Read more!

4 Hearing Loss Reviews: Beethoven's Nightmare

November 13, 2006
Hawaii-based deaf band called Beethoven’s Nightmare

After more than 30 years, Beethoven’s Nightmare comes out with a debut CD.
In the 1970s, three deaf college students gathered habitually in a Gallaudet University dorm room to make rock music and nurse dreams of becoming stars. More than 30 years -- and many broken barriers -- later, the trio that's billed as the only all-deaf rock band in the world has come out with a debut album. The CD, which is the first known in the world to feature an all-deaf rock band, is another milestone for Hawaii-based Beethoven's Nightmare, which has played venues around the United States and wowed audiences and record executives alike. "After 30 years, it's finally paid off," said Ed Chevy, the band's bassist and an American Sign Language teacher, at a CD release party yesterday in Hawaii Public Radio's Atherton Studio. "We want to say music is a universal language. ... This kind of music helps us express ourselves." Ron Tish, owner of Koke-Kula Records & Publishing, agreed to produce the band's CD after hearing about them through Susan Miller, the director of the University of Hawaii's Center of Disabilities Studies and a longtime fan of the band. Tish said he worked with the band extensively to tune their music for "hearing" ears. The deaf musicians had excellent rhythm, Tish said, but were off-key -- usually playing too high or too low. He also brought in hearing-abled backup singers -- Hawaii residents and siblings Troy and Cheesa Laureta, both of whom have life-threatening asthma -- and guitar, percussion and keyboard players. Tish said that in his promotion of the band's CD, he wants to downplay "the sympathy aspect" of the band and "up-play the phenomenon." "These guys had the courage to stick it out for 30 years," he said, while sitting at a piano at the Atherton Studio before yesterday's event. Chevy, whose real last name is Corey, said the band wanted their CD to be a "crossover album -- the hearing culture working with the deaf culture." And the title track on the band's CD, called "Turn It Up Louder," speaks to the band's aim of bridging deaf and hearing people through music. "Turning up the volume so 'hearing' people can hear what 'deaf' say and feel," the song starts out, with a 1950s' style sound, which the band calls "retro rock-and-roll." The chorus of the song, which comes in a stanza later, continues with the theme: "If you're wondering what we're all about, we're the only deaf band in the world. And if you can't understand all the words all we need to do is turn it up louder!" Chevy wrote most of the songs on "Turn It Up Louder" and almost all of them reference his and his band members' deafness.
One is called, "It's Just a Deaf Thing." In "Crash It Out," the CD's seventh song, Chevy sings, "Attempting to break the deaf sound barrier with a heavy steady beat. Talking about crash it out." Chevy says a second CD is already in the works, and fellow band members -- Steve Longo, of Oakland, Calif., and Bob Hiltermann, of Hollywood, Calif., -- are already mulling over new songs.

I cannot wait for you to see these guys! Here is a clip. Please reflect on what you see and post a meaningful discussion question or comment for your class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV0x95n3BvA