[Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDXBlindCafe 2!!!

Tue Nov 16 02:04:56 UTC 2010

YEE GADS!

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sivill" <mike.sivill at viewplus.com>
To: "'NFB of Oregon mailing list'" <nfb-or at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDXBlindCafe 
2!!!

> Syrupy indeed, in the video on their website, when the blind waiters start
> talking they even start playing sad violin music. And a lot of the 
> comments
> talk about how the sighted peoples' senses are magically heightened
> immediately when they enter the darkness. Oh brother. It sounds like they
> think they're having some sort of spiritual connection with their food.
> I also noticed that they said dining "without social etiquette." It's 
> really
> not a good thing.
> Mike Sivill
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2010 11:18 AM
> To: NFB of Oregon mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDX
> BlindCafe 2!!!
>
> Joseph:
>
> WE do, in fact, occasionally do cane walks to try to convey to
> overprotective parents and people of that ilk that we can, in fact, 
> travel.
> But there was one great caveat in your post below:  the parent had a 
> travel
> instructor and you to assist.  Will every sighted gawker at the "dining in
> the dark" event have one experienced blind person and one experienced 
> rehab
> tech to coach him/her?  Verily, I doubt it.  It's the usual syrupy drivel
> put out by do-gooders who want to help us but who don't seem to think that
> the best way to help us is to prepare us for jobs in the real world and --
> gasp -- then to hire us!  When they do the syrupy things, they can tell
> themselves that they really are helping while, in fact, they do very 
> little
> but say either "ain't it awful to be blind" or "ain't them blind folks 
> just
> amazin'?'.  Ah well.
>
> Mike
> ?
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
> To: "NFB of Oregon mailing list" <nfb-or at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 11:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDX Blind
> Cafe 2!!!
>
>
>> So I was at a state convention-Colorado 2006.  There was a woman there
>> whose son had no usable vision.  He was ten.  And he was allowed to do
>> nothing on his own, because mommy was always there to keep him from
>> actually experiencing life.
>>
>> I was there because Julie Deden asked me to speak in a panel discussion
>> for a parents' group about the effects of growing up as a "partially
>> sighted" child, living with the deficit thinking we all understand all 
>> too
>
>> well.  I was there a bit early for the panel discussion.
>>
>> I arrived just as the NFB was about to talk with these parents about
>> travel skills.  Now, we know how the NFB talks to sighted people about
>> cane travel, right?  The discussion begins something like, "Here, take
>> this cane and blindfold.  We're going for a walk."  Since I had nothing
>> better to do, I tagged along.  Turns out I was with this woman who had
>> been so overprotective.
>>
>> She was extremely unsure of herself.  Her travel instructor had managed 
>> to
>
>> convince her to walk down the corridor, a straight line, and that was it.
>> She fumbled her way past the chairs and out into the corridor, and we
>> began walking.
>>
>> Despite her uneasiness, I've got to say that she was a natural cane user.
>> She seemed to have her cane pretty well centered, and was walking in-step
>> just fine.  The only problem was that she would frequently stop and then
>> start moving again.  Then she asked, "How do you...is it actually 
>> possible
>
>> to walk in a straight line?"
>>
>> Of course, she had a travel instructor with her, but far be it from me to
>> keep my big mouth shut, right?  So I answered her: "Yes, and in fact
>> you're doing a pretty good job of it.  Don't trust the tiles in the 
>> floor,
>
>> though, they're at an angle."  She answered that she hadn't realized 
>> that,
>
>> and began walking again, no longer stopping.  She was doing a better job
>> of it than I did the first couple of DAYS under sleepshade.
>>
>> As we reached the end of the corridor, where it zigs and then zags, the
>> mother stopped again and said, "This is where the hallway turns."
>>
>> "Yes it is," I answered.
>>
>> "It sounds more open on the left now."
>>
>> "Yes it does."
>>
>> "I never knew a blind person could tell this much about what was going on
>> around them!"
>>
>> In that moment, how this woman would raise her son changed.  I know that
>> to be true.  From there, she decided that instead of turning around, she
>> wanted to follow the hallway as it zigged.  When we got to the zag, she
>> opted to walk instead out the doors we found into the parking lot.
>>
>> We explored the parking lot and found the sidewalk next to the street. 
>> We
>
>> found the (non-trivial due to construction) intersection, and we stood
>> there as she tried to determine traffic patterns.  And just about when
>> we'd figured it out, we realized that we needed to make our way back
>> inside.
>>
>> As we entered the building, I told her, "Another ten minutes, and you
>> would've been crossing that street."
>>
>> She answered, "Another ten minutes, I think I could've done it."
>>
>> How blind people do the things they do shouldn't much matter to the
>> sighted world, but if the sighted do not believe a blind person CAN do
>> them, those who manage to do the seemingly impossible are magical super
>> blind people.  We know that's not true, but they don't know any better.
>>
>> When sighted people do begin to understand how it is that we do what we
>> do, and how common and ordinary it truly is, we all profit from the
>> demystification.
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 09:08:47PM -0800, Mike Freeman wrote:
>>>I remain unconvinced.  Moreover, I am not at all convinced that the
>>>sighted need "greater understanding" of how the blind function.  I don't
>>>give a fig how a sighted person functions; it's enough for me to know 
>>>that
>
>>>s/he does. Same oughtta go for the sighted wrt the blind.
>>>
>>>Mike
>>>
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Chrys Buckley"
>>><lotusmoonflowering at hotmail.com>
>>>To: "NFB Oregon" <nfb-or at nfbnet.org>
>>>Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 7:36 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDX Blind
>>>Cafe 2!!!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>I have never been to a dinner in the dark, but I have heard the same 
>>>thing
>
>>>as what you just described, Joseph. In fact, someone was saying that at
>>>the last Rose City meeting (I don't think you were there), that they
>>>thought that the sighted people who went came away with a greater
>>>understanding of blindness, and also that the sighted people seemed to
>>>have a better grasp on what blindness skills are all about. I guess it 
>>>was
>
>>>a bit of a role reversal, where the sighted people realized they, not
>>>having the same types of skills, were at a bit of a disadvantage and that
>>>the blind people were getting along just fine, not just in eating, but
>>>also in navigating, etc.
>>>
>>>But, as I said, I've never been and haven't experienced it firsthand, so 
>>>I
>
>>>am only relaying what I heard from someone else.
>>>
>>>Chrys
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:44:19 -0800
>>>>From: carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
>>>>To: nfb-or at nfbnet.org
>>>>Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] Fw: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDX 
>>>>Blind
>
>>>>Cafe 2!!!
>>>>
>>>>I dunno, the last time I took someone to a Dinner in the Dark sort of
>>>>event they came out of it with a greater understanding of blindness.
>>>>
>>>>Granted, it probably helped that I was there to explain a couple of
>>>>things to the poor sighties, but they'd have managed okay on their
>>>>own.  We even managed to eat our food rather than wearing it (which
>>>>was a surprise for me, as I'm a bit clumsy, having little to do with
>>>>blindness.)
>>>>
>>>>Joseph
>>>>
>>>>On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 07:07:19AM -0800, Mike Freeman wrote:
>>>>>A blind cafe?  We ought to protest!  I can't think of a worse way
>>>>to >portray blindness!
>>>>>
>>>>>Mike
>>>>>
>>>>>On Nov 12, 2010, at 20:39, "Jerry Hathaway"
>>>>><jerry.hathaway2 at frontier.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: Catherine Miller
>>>>>> To: undisclosed-recipients:
>>>>>> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 6:46 PM
>>>>>> Subject: A Somewhat Secret Call + An Invite to PDX Blind Cafe 2!!!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear friends,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Below you will find an up dated press release for a call to
>>>>Oregon >> artists and writers + fun info about a special event.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We ask that you forward this Email to everyone you think could
>>>>use this >> information.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A Somewhat Secret Place: Disability and Art is an inclusive show
>>>>and >> book project that will examine where in the arts disability
>>>>appears in >> both artistic practice and in representation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Learn more at www.asomewhatsecretplace.wordpress.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A Somewhat Secret Call For Artists And Writers
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Portland, Oregon November 12, 2010
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "A SOMEWHAT SECRET PLACE: DISABILITY AND ART" is an inclusive >>
>>>>universally-designed show and book project that will examine where in >>
>>>>the arts disability appears in both artistic practice and in
>>>>>> representation. It will investigate the intersection of
>>>>contemporary >> art and disability in Oregon and demonstrate that the
>>>>relationship of >> contemporary fine art to disability is valid and
>>>>accessible to people >> with and without disabilities. The exhibition
>>>>will open in Portland >> July 2, 2011 and run through July 30 2011.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Applications from the following categories will be considered
>>>>for >> inclusion in the art exhibition and fine art book: dance, 
>>>>drawing,
>
>>>> >> essay, fictional narrative, small-scale installation art. 
>>>> >> .painting,
>
>>>> >> performance art, photography, poetry, printmaking, sculpture, 
>>>> >> theater
>
>>>> >> and video/film.  The Application deadline is January 14, 2011.
>>>>Stipends >> of $100 will be awarded to 12 fine artists, 4 performing
>>>>artists, and >> 12 writers selected for inclusion in the exhibition and
>>>>book. At the >> exhibition work will be represented by Mark Woolley. All
>>>>art work
>>>>>> submitted must be for sale if the work can be sold.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served
>>>>basis. >> Applications received after the January 14, 2011 deadline will
>>>>not be >> reviewed. Application materials will not be returned. Please
>>>>make sure >> you have duplicate copies.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Application Assistance is available for all artists who are
>>>>unable to >> organize application materials independently. The deadline
>>>>for >> Application Assistance requests is December 10, 2010. The early 
>>>> >>
>
>>>>Application Assistance deadline ensures that all artists using the >>
>>>>service will have their application submitted by the January 14, 2011 >>
>>>>deadline.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Applicants must be 18 years or older and live in Oregon or
>>>>Vancouver, >> WA. No formal art or literary education is necessary. Both
>>>>disabled and >> nondisabled artists, performers and writers may apply.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Applications may be organized by a second party. Collaborative
>>>>>> applications will be accepted. Only complete applications
>>>>received by >> the January 14, 2011 due date will be considered.
>>>>Applicants must agree >> to the Terms of Application.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please visit us on YouTube for a 5 part video of A Somewhat
>>>>Secret >> Place: Disability and Art Call for Submissions Orientation and
>>>>Lecture >> that took place at OHSU on the 11th of October. CC coming
>>>>soon!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> CONTACT AND APPLICATION INFORMATION
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Download all forms for application(s) at our blog >>
>>>>www.asomewhatsecretplace.wordpress.com. All applications must be mailed
>>>> >> or otherwise delivered in duplicate to:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ATT: Catherine J. H. Miller
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1040 NW 10th Avenue #304
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Portland, OR 97209
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you have questions or comments, please contact Catherine J.H.
>>>>Miller >> at asomewhatsecretinfo at gmail.com or call 971-219-8302.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Also, we want to let you know about an amazing event coming Dec.
>>>>2nd - >> 4th. This project is a big supporter of this event and feel 
>>>>that
>
>>>>it >> exemplify much of what we hope to highlight in our book and
>>>>exhibition >> project.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The event is called The Portland Blind Cafe it is like the cafe
>>>>n. It's >> essentially a concert, a community discussion and a dinner
>>>>that's held >> in the complete pitch dark! All the servers are blind and
>>>>it's >> fundraiser. Our Artistic and Project Director Catherine J. H.
>>>>Miller >> will be a local hostess, so please join her there!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Check it out:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.portlandblindcafe.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And here is something fun if you are interested to see how far
>>>>spread >> this is and how it is different through out the world!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.danslenoir.com/london/history.php
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>>  A Somewhat Secret Place: Disability and Art Team
>>>>>> www.asomewhatsecretplace.wordpress.com
>>>>>> Like us on facebook!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>>>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>>>>>> Version: 9.0.869 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3253 - Release Date:
>>>>>> 11/12/10 02:40:00
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Nfb-or mailing list
>>>>>> Nfb-or at nfbnet.org
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>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>>>Nfb-or at nfbnet.org
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>>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
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