HOLD THAT NOTE

I was watching a medley of Gershwin songs and music arrangements the other night, along with the Little Woman (TLW). Being how I am slightly deaf, (What did I just say?) I have cc for the hearing impaired. It is a pleasure to have when all of your life you never knew that there was no Richard Stands in the Pledge of Allegiance, but wondered who was he in the Republic.

It is also a boon to me to “hear” music on the TV and see the lyrics to other songs, or the conversation on the other end of a phone call in a TV show or movie, thanks again to closed caption.

There is a line to be drawn however. That line is when there is strictly music coming out of the TV. The orchestra was playing, the camera was panning, and the cc was ccing. The conductor would wave his baton and the musicians would play, physically moving their arms and mouths as the case might be, but the cc said: “Playful music”, or “sweeping movement”, or maybe even “joyful crescendo”! I thought to myself, how does a deaf person hear that? They must think: “Gee, that’s a long note!” Of course, the cc is for the hard of hearing, and not really the deaf, but it did amuse me thinking about it.

I remember there was a scandal of some sort with the head of a school for the deaf back in the 90’s, and a group of students were protesting in front of the school. All of this was being reported on the TV, and the students were “signing” in front of the camera with their hands. The reporter had a hard time speaking and being heard by the TV audience (she had already lost the students) and I wondered if the reporter would ask them to “Keep it down”. Would they sign by lowering their hands?

Tired of bad taste, and don’t want to hear it? Write to: joedelbroggolo@yahoo.com, tell him: “Sign off, you oaf.”