Sign Language & Dragons

Video Find of the Day

This is cool, although I wouldn't know it except for the detailed description. The "speaker" is Alice, who is ranting in Chinese sign language about the use of denigrating signs for the deaf in that language, and calling for more respectful signs. Dragons arise!

From the description:

Alice's main points are: * The Deaf Chinese are used to using signs for "deaf-mute" (聋哑人) and "mute" (哑巴) but these signs are not respectful to Deaf people. * Overseas, Deaf communities stopped using the expression "deaf-mute" 20 years ago, and only China persists. * It was foreigners that appreciated that within the character for deaf, "聋," is the character 龙, meaning "dragon," a traditional mythological protector being. That's pretty cool! * [There's more.]

Deaf, not Dumb: Chinese Sign Language 聋哑"与"聋人"的区别？

Seamlessness

Video Find of the Day

Yesterday we saw the end of Madrigal History Tour. Today it's the beginning. If you stay for the last 30 seconds you will learn how Renaissance polyphony is to angels as a Chinese dragon team is to a dragon, if you didn't already know.

King's Singers - Madrigal History Tour - Introduction Part 1

Dragon Team

There's nothing like a Chinese Dragon. I've wanted to film a Chinese dragon team for ages. I love the pass-off, when the half of the team animating the dragon is replaced by the half that has been resting. The dragon itself never tires. I managed to get two pass-offs on this video, filmed last evening during the Chinatown Seafair Parade.