Blog [with]tv

2008

 

"The History of Bowling" in Los Angeles

Dear Friends:

I am writing to invite you to be a part of history. You and/or your company can take advantage of the opportunity to be a part of positive change by choosing to be one of the sponsors of the Los Angeles premiere of "THE HISTORY OF BOWLING" which will also launch the development of LA’s first theater featuring the work of performers with disabilities (PWD).

The enclosed sponsor request and press release provide complete details about the project and its significance. In a nutshell, my goal is to help performers with disabilities to get on the map starting here in LA by presenting a world class theater piece and by building a theater company to showcase our talent. I need the industry’s support to assist in accomplishing my goals in this very important endeavor.

The successful launch of “Bowling” will stimulate a great deal of press coverage. People with disabilities represent the largest minority group in the county (20%) and to say we’re under represented in film and television is a pretty good under statement. This is a great opportunity for your firm to embrace this project to show your support and I’d love to have you.

Our ultimate goal is to raise $30,000.00 for this play and to lay the foundation for the PWD Theater.  By selecting one of the sponsor levels you become a part of The History of Bowling as well as part of something good. And you’d be helping us a great deal.

Thank you very much for your time and kind consideration. I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel to forward this to any parties you feel may be of help and contact me direct at 818.762.8969 with any questions. Additional information can be found at www.performerswithdisabilities.com.

Thanks again and have a great day!!

bowling_sponsor.doc
bowling_pressrelease.doc

best regards,

Danny Murphy
818.762.8969
www.dannymurphy.com

Blessed is This Season

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love."

~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

On this Christmas morning we are reminded that regardless of where we're from, what religion we practice, the color of our skin, or our current "abilities", we all share something in common.  May we all take a moment and reflect on this.  And let us celebrate.

Accessing Downunder

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

At some point during my groggy gaze out the cabin window I recalled that I was in New Zealand this morning. Maybe it was the fact that Spring-green hillsides rose up on three sides of me in one of the North Island’s typical steep valleys. Or maybe it was the ocean cove defining the fourth side. But I think it was the clowning Kea birds that clinched it for me.

Coming from the falling autumn leaves of Northern California at first I thought I was seeing a particularly odd bundle of green-brown sycamore and toyon tree leaves rolling down the hillside outside the kitchen window. With a few squawks and a flutter the mirage resolved into two quite contented Keas waddling their separate ways -- only to do an about face and have at it again.

I recalled watching sea otters back home in California, platypus’ last week in Tasmania, and now these two rambunctious earth-colored parrots reminding me that there was a time for work and a time for play. Today was for play.

Flying into Auckland International Airport the traveler with a disability is met with more than the usual number of pleasant surprises – not the least of which can be friendly New Zealanders (“Kiwis”).

Pssssst. Santa, listen up!

Valerie Brew-Parrish, columnist for The Herald News, and disability "advocate, mother, grandie and wife" has written a serious letter to Santa.

Dear Santa Claus,

As you leave the North Pole, and fly through the night, there are some issues that just aren't quite right.

I'd like to ask you to lend me your ear, to tell you what people with disabilities want this year. 

So grab a pencil in your fist, as I have a rather long list.

Read Valerie's letter to Santa in Santa may deliver what gives folks quivers

Who Should Be Representing Us?

Blog [with]tv will be hosting the next Disability Blog Carnival on January 10, 2008.  The theme that will be presented is "Disability in the Media: Tell us of your experiences and/or your impressions."  What better way to announce this theme than with Valerie Brew-Parrish's post below.

The question for all people with disabilities to ponder is this: Who should be representing us? Actors and actresses, politicians, or how about community leaders? Is it morally and ethically right for others to simulate a disability even when the issue is about access?

It sends the WRONG message. Look closely at this advertisement supposedly touting access. None of the older white men pictured have a disability. Furthermore, the photo op never indicates that non-disabled people can some day become a person with a disability. This is the message that many people with disabilities erroneously assumed. That  misperception is simply not the thrust of the ad. A white cane, wheelchair, walker, and a TTY are aids. Can any of you honestly recall at least 10 actors & actresses with real disabilities? Hollywood and the public prefer to see non-disabled people. Perhaps, if they observed us living "normal" lives the fear of us would vanish.

Michael Landon seemingly broke new ground when he featured James Troesch as Scotty. I personally would like to turn on my TV or open my newspaper and see people with disabilities living their lives and promoting access. [with]tv has thankfully recognized this problem and is working diligently to have people with disabilities directing their own shows, and writing scripts that accurately represent our lives.

I am offended when someone pretends to have a disability and I have written extensively on the great harm that disability simulations do to people with disabilities. Although the politicians and community leaders in this ad probably thought they were promoting the Accessible Cities Alliance, their insensitivity speaks volumes. These same men would never agree to appear in black face like the white actors who once upon a time portrayed Amos and Andy. Schools often choose puppets with disabilities to sensitize children about disabilities. I don't agree with the use of puppets and I abhor disability simulations.

One last point about the ad: No where does the ad address the fact that access is the law. State laws in Illinois pertaining to access have been on the books since 1978. The ADA is 17 years old. The time has come for people with disabilities to shout from the roof tops if necessary that simulations are destructive and should be abolished. We need to dissolve the mantle of shame about our disabilities.

Disabled and proud! We are real people and we must unite and make the public accept us for who we are!

Valerie Brew-Parrish, M.S.
Disability Columnist

Links:

The Wrong Message - Still.  An article by Valerie Brew-Parrish for A Ragged Edge Online
The International Day of Disabled Persons needs to be recognized and celebrated.

Achieving Excellence

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

To be excellent at attracting customers with disabilities you must be aware of their travel needs and behaviors - and meet or exceed them.

Simon Darcy, of NSW, has done a great service by publishing his study "Anxiety to Access" and a host of follow-up reports laying the groundwork for excellence in marketing. Bruce Cameron, also an Australian, has aggregated and developed the market of Australian travelers-with-disabilities using Simon's studies to write guidebooks and articles

In the United States, Eric Lipp of the Open Doors Organization has done the first study of the purchasing power of the travelers with disabilities market. Limited as it was to US travelers, many of us are busy encouraging the replication of this type of study in other parts of the world to give us better business planning data.

Bottom line? The market is out there. It is traveling. It is spending. And it has much, much more disposable income in reserve as it waits for the right products.

First published in “Waking Up to a Changed Travel Market” at Suite101.com

This Week in Sports

Dear Readers, Pardon the delay in the publishing of this post.  Due to my move from one state to another and a lack of online time, I'm a little behind in my blogging duties.  My apologies to Jamie as well...  Blogmaster, [with]tv

This Week in Sports

Written by: Jamie Lazaroff
Edited by: Bob Lazzari

Happy Holidays everyone!  I would like to update some stories that are back in the news.

*Michael Vick has surrendered and gone to jail before his sentencing on December 10th.  He surrendered in order to look sincere in accepting responsibility for his actions.  I think this is strictly a PR move in order to get his sentence reduced by the judge.  Remember, he also faces state dog fighting charges with a trial by jury set for April 2nd.  Even if Vick currently gets 12 to 18 months in prison, he still faces more time if he is convicted in the state case; he could miss the next two or three football seasons.  His football career is all but over.  I hope he is sincere in accepting responsibility for his actions, but I really don’t think he is.

*Barry Bonds has been indicted by a federal grand jury on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.  Thank God-- there is STILL some justice in the world.  I’m not sure how Major League Baseball should handle the home run record now.  I don’t think you can just erase it from the record books, but I do think something needs to be done--perhaps a note in the record books that says Barry Bonds cheated to break the record.  The message should also be this:  don’t lie to a federal grand jury.  History surely may have treated Bonds better if he didn’t lie.

*I would like to correct something I said in a previous column.  Women’s pro soccer in the U.S. will start back up in 2009.  Sorry for any confusion; they have all their financial backers and could have possibly started in 2008, but they now want to get everything right for a 2009 start.

*College football needs a playoff because right now they have nothing but a mythical championship created by history. When you have no idea who’s going to play for the national championship, it is time for a playoff.  In comparison, college basketball has a playoff. The final 65th team to get into the field is always debated, but the committee always seems to get it right.  My idea in college football is to do this:
1. Have all 11 division 1-A conferences have a championship game.
2. Those winners plus any other independent team (i.e. Notre Dame) that has more than 10 wins gets an automatic bid into the playoffs.
3. Then the committee chooses 4 or 5 at-large teams.
4. The conference title games would be played in December.
5. The first round games could be played as bowl games (Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl etc.) on January 1.
6. Then, play down from there until you have a national title game the day before the Super Bowl--and make it a Super Championship weekend.  Personally, I don’t think a playoff in college football will happen in my lifetime because the bowl games already have so much rich history and are worth so much  money for the schools.   

*My sincere condolences go out to the family of Sean Taylor.  What a horrible act; his home was burglarized a few months ago but he was not home at the time.  I assume the burglar came back for more and Taylor was unfortunately home this time.  This shows that any one in the spotlight is open to being a target and/or victim.

*This week spotlight is on the winners of the 2007 Paralympic Awards-- held on November 24th at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.  The Paralympic Sport Awards 2007 were awarded in five categories, based on performance at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games:

Disability Blog Carnival: A Few of Our Favorite Things

Andrea is buzzing as only she can as "an insect psychologist" and this time she's posted on behalf of the Disability Blog Carnival.  Her carnival theme is "A Few of Our Favorite Things" and she informs us "these tend to fall into three categories: technology that enables us to do things, creature comforts, and human interaction."

Carnival hosts and participants love feedback as it's what makes us all feel connected.  So grab some cookies and milk, stop by Andrea's place, and say hello to the bloggers you meet!

Cross-posted on Planet of the Blind

"One-Handed Catch"

One-Handed Catch, a book written for readers ages 10 and older, is the story of an 11-year old boy who loses his left hand in a tragic accident.  "Through determination, hard work and creativity, he learns to do everything most kids do."  The author, MJ Auch, borrowed the theme for this story from details of her husband's life.

Herm Auch was 12 years old and working in his parents'  meat and food market in Putnam County, NY when one day, while grinding meat for customers, he caught his hand in the grinder.  Surgery resulted in the amputation of his hand.  "Once he realized his hand was gone, he says, he pouted, then adjusted."

"My mother never coddled me," Herm Auch says. "She wouldn't let me feel sorry for myself, so I grew up believing I could do anything."

An article, written by Barbara Livingston Nackman and appearing in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, details for us the inspiration behind the writing of this book.  You can read it here before it's archived.

One-Handed Catch was nominated for the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award, which honors a work that deals with childhood disabilities. (The award went to The Deaf Musicians, by folk singer Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacobs.)

* Thank you to Georgia for bringing this to our attention!*

Graphic: front cover of book shows young boy leaping into air to catch baseball.

Cross-posted on Planet of the Blind