A Deaf Mom Shares Her World » 2008

Parody of "We Didn’t Start the Fire"

The middle kid came home from school two days ago and mentioned that one of her teachers played Billy Joel’s, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in her history class. She was given the lyrics and mentioned that she didn’t even understand what half of those historical mentions meant.

So I slapped “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in the CD player and we talked about some of the history that was covered in there. Did I mention that Billy Joel is one of my favorites?

Yesterday morning, she got up out of bed and said, “Mom, I can’t get those lyrics out of my head!”

Billy Joel did a great thing for kids all over when he wrote that little ditty of a song.

So today, when I spied this over at Meryl’s Blog, I just had to take a look:

We Didn’t Start the Fire (amusing video with lyrics and original song)

and

Here Comes Another Bubble (amusing parody).

And like I told my daughter, Marlee Matlin can be seen in the original:

Billy Joel–We Didn’t Start the Fire.

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Midwest Deaf Academic Bowl

David took off for the Indiana School for the Deaf last Thursday to compete in the Midwest Academic Bowl hosted by ISD and Gallaudet. Hinsdale South is shown on the left and Minnesota North Star is on the right in the photo above. Indiana won first place and Hersey took second. Hersey won the National competition last year. For those who are not familiar with the competition, the Academic Bowl consists of four team members and team subs who answer questions covering math, history, geography and literature. The teams compete on an individual as well as team basis.

Not a peep is heard the entire weekend as everyone communicates using American Sign Language. If anyone ever has doubts that ASL is a full language, one just has to watch this competition to erase all doubts. The kids can argue over complicated math questions, rearrange Shakespeare quotes and describe Roman architecture all without vibrating a single vocal cord.

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Marlee Matlin on Oprah and Dancing With the Stars

Ah yes, the rumors are so true, Marlee Matlin is in the line up for the new Dancing with the Stars season. She will be on Oprah today along with the other cast members.

USA Today published an interview with Marlee: Deaf Matlin Follows in Mills’ Footsteps. Marlee isn’t worried about following the music. “The stairs at the top of the stage–I’m thinking heels, stairs, and I start to sweat,” she says in the USA Today article.

A deaf gal dancing to music? But how?

Like me, Marlee has some hearing with her hearing aids. She can follow music and lyrics with practice. We both share a common love of Billy Joel’s music and by memorizing the lyrics, we can follow along.

Billy Joel’s song, “Just the Way You Are” was my wedding song and I knew that song backwards and forwards. Yet, because we had a band playing the music and singing the song, I had difficulty following it and had to glance at the interpreter to keep up with the words. If I could do my wedding dance over again, I’d definitely play a CD recording instead. The music and lyrics are so ingrained that any deviation from it makes me lose the ability to follow it.

I haven’t watched “Dancing with the Stars” before, but I’m looking forward to Marlee kicking up her heels!

Update:
I’m in the middle of the Oprah show and watching the stars from previous shows dance. Riding a Cowboy–need I say more? ::::Fannning myself::::: I’m hooked already!

Update #2:

According to Jamie Berke, Marlee now has a blog on My Space: MySpace.com/marleematlinrealdeal

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