SignMark, Smells Like Victory

I was looking through online ASL dictionaries for an example of "soon" the way I've been doing it most of my life. And I failed. So now I have to do the newfangled way. FINE!  That's easy enough. Two ways. The alternative way is "short."

That search led to a result "Sia's SNL Mime and Sign Language in Pop Music."

Ew, I hate those mices to pieces. That was a terrible performance.

I hate, hate, hate, x infinity that mime doing minimal sign and the rest expressive gesturing in a ridiculous costume that doesn't communicate anything. Very poor. Unworthy.

But I must go to Huffington Post to commiserate.

It's not so bad.

I learned that Paul McCartney's video for "My Valentine" has Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman each facing the camera signing lyrics. And that deaf individuals pointed out a number of errors including "tampon" for "appear." (They do very well.)

The sign for "tampon" looks like a paper being smacked on a spindle. Except the paper is stationary and the spindle comes up from underneath and stabs it through the fingers.

The "appear" is the sign that means "show up" not the sign that means "seem."

Ha ha ha, show up = tampon. Stop it, yer killing me.

And that "show up" sign is one in system of signs that includes its opposite, "disappear," and its lateral corollary "escape." And these signs work for all three of the English words clouds,

* disappear, drop out, die out, abandon, ebb, exit, be swallowed up, cease to exist, end gradually, vanish, fade away, leave no trace,
* escape, dessert, take flight, decamp, elope, evade
* appear, pop up, show up, attend, join the party, suddenly exist

And now tampon.

That kills me.

The article pontificates how musicians can incorporate deaf into their acts if they want to and do better at it than Sia and McCartney did. The writer mentioned a Finnish performer, a deaf rapper who works with a hearing man to vocalize what he is signing. SignMark.

I like it a lot. The article is a good source for new stuff.

Come on, watch and follow along. It's very repeat-y you'll see "victory" is the same sign as "win." And you know what? This whole thing look a lot like ASL and not at all foreign. Finnish didn't have any of the signs I looked up on Spread the Sign. Their flag is white with a blue cross.