Thumpaflash

Has The ADA Really Helped Change Attitudes Towards Deaf...
Thumpaflash Folks:As I continue to meander along the employment search highway, I've noticed a disturbing trend...One that I thought had begun to turn a corner, but now am not so sure of. I'm not unrealistic, I know what the job market is like; it is a rough and tumble world right now just waiting to chew up and spit out job-seekers of ALL types right now.However, as a prof...
Thu, Jul 29 2010

2012 NAD Conference in Louisville, Ky!
Thumpaflash Folks:A hearty congratulations to the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which announced at this year's NAD conference in Philidelphia, Pa., that Kentucky will be hosting the 2012 NAD conference! I'm sure more details will follow soon, although it was noted that the conference will be held in conjunction with the very successful DeaFestival hel...
Sun, Jul 11 2010

Finally, A Step Forward for Deaf Access
Thumpaflash Wednesday night, July 7th, 2010, marked a turning point in access to theaters for the deaf and hard of hearing in Eastern Kentucky. The Riverfill 10 Theater in Pikeville, Ky. had it's first showing of a captioned movie specifically catered towards increasing access for the deaf and hard of hearing, EVER. The movie was the 2010 version of Karate Kid. ...
Fri, Jul 09 2010

Captioned Movies Coming To Pikeville!!
Thumpaflash Folks:As many of you readers of my blog know, I've been actively campaigning for greater access to captioned movies throughout Kentucky for the past 2 years. Today, I have some good news... My local theater has relented and now has a DTS system capable of showing Open Captioned movies! Over the course of the next week or two, they will be installing it and...
Fri, Jun 11 2010

Deaf Man Shot and Killed in Kentucky
Thumpaflash Breaking news into a murder investigation in rural Breathitt County, Kentucky, where police are investigating a murder. They released information last night that indicates that the victim was deaf. No further details are available at this time, but my heart goes out to the family of this gentleman. All details that are publicly available at this time...
Sat, Jun 05 2010

Kentucky State Senate Deaf Discrimination Hypocrisy
Thumpaflash Never let it be said that our state legislators ever pass up an opportunity to grandstand and show off their hypocisy on any given day.....During the recent Kentucky Extraordinary Session (normally just called Special Session), a resolution (NOT A BILL) was introduced and adopted via voice vote reaffirming their support of the 14th Amendment to the US C...
Mon, May 31 2010

Deaf and Unemployed
Thumpaflash Well, for the first time in my 24 plus years in the job force, I'm unemployed. As I've begun my job search, I've noted a marked difference from the last time I was actively seeking a job. Employers seem more aware and more accepting of a candidate who is deaf or has a hearing loss. More and more employers have TDD numbers, and so forth. Make no...
Wed, May 19 2010

Clueless In Kentucky
Thumpaflash Hi all:I realize it's been a while, and I haven't been posting as regularly as even I would like to, but there are reasons, and I hope to be able to reveal them soon. I don't want to jeapordize a couple of things that are in the works...But I just had to point out the cluelessness of my local theater. As I've mentioned in the past, I tried to negotiate with...
Thu, May 06 2010

Captioned Movie Access Bill In Limbo In Kentucky
Thumpaflash No Man's Land....That's the most adequate way to explain where HB 439 (with amendment) resides currently...With only 2 legislative days left in session. The State legislature will reconvene on April 14 and 15 after the 10 day veto session for the Governor. But those two days are slotted for "concurrence only", which means they will consider ONLY ...
Sun, Apr 04 2010

Hearing Held on Movie Captioning Bill!
Thumpaflash All: Sorry for the delay in posting this, but to update you, a hearing was held last week on 3/10/10 for House Bill #439 in Frankfort, Ky. The bill came close to dying in the committee again, before a compromise was reached, and the bill was amended to require an official study and report to be done by the state Legislative Research Commission first, with the re...
Mon, Mar 15 2010

Second Captioned Movie Access Bill Introduced in Kentucky!
Thumpaflash Hello All:A companion bill to Senate Bill 102 in Kentucky has been introduced in the House by State Representative Leslie Combs. It is House Bill #439. Kentucky residents and other supporters can email legislators to ask that these bills be supported by going to this link: [link] there, you can simply scroll down to the county where you live, and find you...
Thu, Feb 18 2010

Supporters Of Captioned Movies In Theaters
Thumpaflash Hello everyone,Just taking a few minutes to update everyone here. I have emailed EVERY single member of the Senate Judiciary committee in the Kentucky Senate, asking them to please support bringing Senate Bill 102 to the agenda so that we can have hearings on this bill and attempt to get it out of committee. Additionally, I have emailed the Senate leadership and ask...
Sun, Feb 14 2010

Wake Up, Kentucky! Rally'Round the Cause!
Thumpaflash Friends:The time is now. Senate Bill #102 (sponsored by State Senator Ray Jones) has been introduced in the state legislature for more access to captioned movies in Kentucky, with a state House version (sponsored by State Representative Leslie Combs) to follow hopefully this week.....And already, we are struggling. The rumor is that the bill, which is assigned to th...
Tue, Feb 09 2010

More Proof That HR 3101 is NEEDED!
Thumpaflash Folks,Like millions of Americans tonight, I settled in to watch the Super Bowl, along with my daughter (who loves football). I didn't have a "dog in this fight" so to speak, being a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, but I decided to take part in the NVRC Super Bowl ads survey, for fun. Several things came to mind while watching this game and commercials:1) Advertising...
Mon, Feb 08 2010

Insults and Misinformation Slung At The Deaf and Hard Of...
Thumpaflash Folks, for those of you who may not be aware, SB 102 has been introduced for the 2010 state legislative session in Kentucky. This bill would require all theaters with 5 or more screens in one location to make at least one screen accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing by offering equipment that would provide caption displays for movies that are captioned. At lea...
Wed, Feb 03 2010

A Plan For HR 3101's Success
Thumpaflash Other people have blogged far more eloquently than I about HR 3101's chances for success (or lack thereof), as well as the attempts to get Rep. Boucher to allow the bill to move in his subcommittee and other subcommittee member's lack of backbone in standing up to him and demanding that this bill receive a fair hearing and movement on it (you listening, Rep. Bono-Mack...
Thu, Jan 28 2010

Has Money Decided The Fate of HR 3101 For The Hearing Loss...
Thumpaflash Folks:Those fine people over at Caption Action 2 caught my eye with this interesting blog post: [link] reading through it, I wondered WHY would a Congressman be so willing to sign on as a co-sponsor to two other bills that would have a positive impact on the deaf and hard of hearing communities, but be so reluctant to allow HR 3101 to move through the committee he ch...
Sat, Jan 23 2010

Kentucky Addressing Lack of Interpreters
Thumpaflash Kentucky is attempting to jump to the forefront of filling the growing need for certified interpreters not only in-state, but nationally as well, as demonstrated in this article from the Louisville Courier-Journal that discusses the University of Louisville and their interpreter program they are trying to establish. Eastern Kentucky University (Go Colonels!), of whic...
Wed, Jan 20 2010

The Movie Industry's Jericho Moment?
Thumpaflash This past week had a moment that, in deaf and hard of hearing circles, should result in rejoicing. On January 13th, the first hearing in the Arizona vs. Harkins Theaters case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was heard.And it was a doozy.... With a judge telling the theater attorneys their clients were "acting like jerks" for not providing more captioned access...
Sat, Jan 16 2010

Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Northern Kentucky...
Thumpaflash Folks:I've written before about my positive experience with the Cincinnati Children's Hospital before, and I just had another visit up there with my son yesterday. Once again, the hospital and NKSD interpreters teamed up to make what is usually a stressful experience for any parent a pleasurable experience instead.The interpreter (Kristen) was professional, courteous...
Fri, Jan 01 2010

Up! Captioning Issue Update
Thumpaflash Folks:Just an FYI, Here is the email I received from WDHE, who is apparently handling the matter pertaining to Disney's failure to include captions on rental versions of their Pixar movie, Up! No changes made to the email other than redacting my personal email address from it.Up Captions/Subtitles
Wed, Dec 09 2009

Oh My..The Deaf and Other Consumers Get Bent Over Again by...
Thumpaflash Well folks, you knew it was bound to happen somehow, someway...The Hollywood studios, in an effort to maximize their profits yearly, have always advocated a quicker release to DVD for sale of their movies. Theaters, in an effort to protect THEIR businesses (at least in the past before flat fees became more standard), advocated keeping movies in theaters a little long...
Wed, Nov 25 2009

Supporting HR 3101
Thumpaflash Folks:As many of you may guess, I'm a supporter of HR 3101, the bill that would open access to the video content on the internet via captions (user-generated video is NOT impacted by this, such as Google, etc.). About 3 weeks ago, I fired off an email to my congressman, Harold "Hal" Rogers and explained the numbers of deaf and hard of hearing constituents in his dist...
Sat, Nov 21 2009

Disney's "Marketing Decision" Already Being Regretted
Thumpaflash Hello Everyone:I decided to do a little follow-up work on the "Up" clusterflop since hearing about the lack of captions being available on rental versions versus retail versions.I first called the studio number that I was able to obtain thru WhitePages for the Burbank offices (818-553-5000), and the woman who answered, when I explained why I was calling, said "All the...
Mon, Nov 16 2009

DVD Captioning and the MPAA's Lying, Cheating, Big-Brother...
Thumpaflash Hey Folks:Hope all is well with everyone...While catching up on some reading on DeafRead, I came across Jamie Berke's blog about a person who tweeted that the rental version (bare-bones) of the Pixar/Disney movie "Up" is not captioned. I found this very interesting, because I remember reading about a settlement regarding movie captioning, and ALWAYS, one of...
Sun, Nov 15 2009

Kentucky Deaf Activism
Thumpaflash Hello Folks:I know I've been quiet for a while, but I had my personal reasons. Hopefully everyone is gearing up to have a happy and safe Halloween!I'm writing this post tonight to talk about an issue that is near and dear to me, namely, the deaf and hard of hearing community advocating more vocally for themselves. Folks, it is time for you all to star...
Fri, Oct 30 2009

Movie Millions, but no love for the Deaf
Thumpaflash For those of you who have followed my journey into trying to gain more access for the deaf and hard of hearing to the movie theaters, you will recall from earlier comments and postings, that one of the biggest concerns by the exhibition industry is the "enormous" costs of providing RWC or OC equipment. The implication has been that providing this type ...
Sun, Aug 23 2009

A Good Experience with Hospitals and Interpreters
Thumpaflash Folks:Too often, we take pause to write and bemoan the sad state of affairs as it pertains to hospitals and other medical providers being reluctant to provide interpreters for us deaf and HOH folks...Well, I'd like to share with you a POSITIVE experience that happened today.My son had an appointment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. About 2 weeks prior to the a...
Fri, Jul 10 2009

Captions For The Deaf, or More Money For The Rich?
Thumpaflash Folks:As you all know, I've been fighting for more captioned movie access in Kentucky now for over a year. Along the way, I've pointed out the varying ways in which Hollywood has attempted to dip their hands further into the American public's till by lobbying for greater tax incentives. Well, a recently released statement by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear...
Fri, Jun 12 2009

When is Mobile CapTel coming to the Blackberry?
Thumpaflash Folks:I am sure many of you are much more up to date than I on the advent of many captioning technologies. One I am particularly interested in, is the mobile CapTel by Hamilton Relay. Alas, this is currently only available on a couple of phones, none of which is the Blackberry...I currently have a Blackberry Curve, and am actually very happy with it and do...
Sun, Jun 07 2009

Helping the Deaf/HOH and other disabled in times of...
Thumpaflash Folks:I'm sure many of my readers can empathize with the lack of good communication during times of natural disaster, whether they are deaf or hearing. One of the biggest concerns for the deaf and hard of hearing is the lack of good, captioned weather information, accessible information on where to seek shelter, and so forth. Kentucky recently had a bill, ...
Mon, May 11 2009

Captioned Movie Success in Richmond, Kentucky!!!
Thumpaflash Folks:It is altogether too little that I get to post news of success, or read about news of success, in regards to our struggle to obtain captioned movies in Kentucky or elsewhere. Well, I have some good news! Thanks to the hard work of a bunch of advocates in Richmond, Ky. (home to Eastern Kentucky University, my good ol' alma mater!), the local Cinemark ...
Thu, Apr 23 2009

Town Halls discuss Deaf Education and many more issues!
Thumpaflash Whew! Folks, it is an exciting time to be in Kentucky, with the recent series of Town HAll meetings aimed at focusing on deaf issues here, with the KCDHH traveling around to 4 sites in Kentucky in an effort to learn about the deaf and hard of hearing communitiy's concerns, suggestions, and so forth.We just had our town hall for the Eastern portion of Kentucky th...
Thu, Mar 26 2009

Captioned Movie Bill In Kentucky is DOA
Thumpaflash That's right folks...We've lost this round in Kentucky. There are simply not enough days left in the legislative session to get this bill passed. In a perfect environment, with a lot of support and a companion bill in the opposite house, a bill can get passed in 4 days here, but it was just not to be this time. That's okay, I will be back in 2010 goi...
Wed, Mar 11 2009

Last Week to get Captioned movies bill passed....
Thumpaflash Hey all, the legislative session for 2009 is winding down in Kentucky this week....That means this is the last chance to get the bills requiring movie theaters with 5 or more screens in one location to offer accessibility to captioned movies. If you are a Kentucky resident, that means this is your last chance to write or call your state senator or state represen...
Mon, Mar 09 2009

At Least Someone Is Listening....
Thumpaflash Folks:Just taking a minute here to give credit where it is due...Over the weekend, I emailed EVERY member of the 2 committees that the Captioned Movies bill is assigned to, asking each of them to please at least consider bringing the bill up for discussion in committee so that it doesn't die on the table. To date, ONE person has responded, Rep. Kelly Flood (D) o...
Tue, Mar 03 2009

Do Tax Incentives to the Film Industry Rob the Schools for...
Thumpaflash Folks, I gotta give credit to those fine writers over at the Bluegrass Policy Blog for calling my attention to this article below that shows what a bad idea it is to offer film studios tax incentives. At least now I don't feel like a lonely voice railing against the darkness. Plain and simple, until the film industry can caption more of it's offerings, the...
Sun, Mar 01 2009

Quick Summary of Bills Affecting the Deaf and Hard of...
Thumpaflash Folks:As the days begin to wind down on this odd-year, 30 day session of the Kentucky State Legislature, I've decided to post on here, a couple of quick summaries of some bills affecting the deaf and hard of hearing residents of this state. Any notes from me about these bills will be italicized and in RED. Contact your representative, let them know "I...
Sun, Mar 01 2009

Rhode Island Jumping on the Captioned Movie Bandwagon
Thumpaflash Folks:Just a quick update....The State of Rhode Island has jumped onto the bandwagon to try and require captioned movies in their theaters. In a bill introduced before the legislature on February 25, 2009, they are seeking to require all movie theaters with 5 or more screens to provide captioned movies for the deaf and hard of hearing and Descriptive Audio narra...
Fri, Feb 27 2009

Is Deaf Movie Access Less Important to Kentucky than...
Thumpaflash Hello all:There is an "economic development bill" that has been posted in committee in the Kentucky State House of Representatives that has language buried in it that would, in effect, create a Kentucky giveaway to movie production companies in the form of refundable state income tax credits. In effect, since these are refundable, they would basically ...
Wed, Feb 11 2009

Do the Hearing Really Mind Captions?
Thumpaflash Not if you believe the results of this independent survey conducted on behalf of CaptionsON. I found this information on their website and am pasting it here for all to see:In February 2008, a non-compensated online survey was conducted by Decision Analyst, Inc., on behalf CaptionsON. The purpose of the research was to ascertain current attitudes toward, a...
Wed, Jan 28 2009

Digital Cinema and Captions For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Thumpaflash Hello all:My attention was called to an article written for the Digital Cinema Report, by Michael Karagosian. After reviewing the article, I have to say first of all, that I DO appreciate the efforts being made by a portion of the industry to try and increase the capability to show captioned movies anytime, anywhere, basically. Having said that, however, I...
Wed, Jan 28 2009

Will Brain Cells Help the Deaf Hear Again?
Thumpaflash Interesting article about medical research currently being done to perhaps help those who want it, to have the damaged tiny hair cells in their ears regrown again using similar hair cells found in the brain of mice. Not for me at all, I'm happy as I am, content in my ways, but still, this is out there and being worked on by people in the scientific community. [l...
Tue, Jan 27 2009

Open Captions or RWC?
Thumpaflash Hello all:Jamie Berke has a wonderful posting out on About.com ( [link] whether or not RWC (Rear Window Captioning) is a failure. As I've stated before, the one time I used it was somewhat inconvenient (trying to find the right angle, etc.), but overall, I was fine with it, PERSONALLY. I've also stated that I prefer Open Captions, but have seen people who...
Tue, Jan 20 2009

Supporters of Captions in Movie Theaters
Thumpaflash Hey all:In case you missed it on an earlier blog posting of mine, I now have a FaceBook page, and a group page I created just to try and help spread the word about trying to get captions in movie theaters in Kentucky. You can visit the page at this link: [link] you have a FaceBook account, feel free to join and leave comments about what having access to caption...
Sun, Jan 11 2009

The Costs of an RWC....
Thumpaflash While doing research, I found an interesting bulletin from a federal agaency back in June of 2003 that discusses the requirements of the ADA as it pertains to captions. One interesting piece of information caught my eye about the RWC. Keep in mind, I'm not advocating the RWC feature over Open Captions, I'm simply posting this interesting information s...
Thu, Jan 08 2009

BUSTED!
Thumpaflash Hello all....Just a quick update, the representatives of the motion picture industry are meeting with the pre-filer of the House companion bill tomorrow to voice their concerns/issues regarding the captioned movie legislation here in Kentucky....This week is an organizational week for both houses, as they will swear in new members and elect leaders, make committee ass...
Tue, Jan 06 2009

Kentucky Deaf Less Important than Hairdressers and History?
Thumpaflash All:The Commonwealth of Kentucky has finally begun to pull back the "Iron Curtain" on state spending of our tax dollars, making it far easier to see who is spending how much, and on what. And I've got to tell you, with just a few minutes worth of research, I can now begin to see why they wanted to keep it "un" transparent for lo these many ye...
Mon, Jan 05 2009

Deaf Apathy....
Thumpaflash Apathy is defined as "a lack of emotion or an indifference to things in general", and it is certainly rearing it's ugly head somewhat in the deaf community. One thing I have noticed that is a sad commentary about the qualities that define and perpetuate the stereotypes about the deaf community, is that posts on DeafRead that garner more visits or comme...
Thu, Jan 01 2009

Kentucky moving forward on Deaf issues.....
Thumpaflash Folks, I'm proud to say that, through the efforts of a great number of people (including those fantastic workers at the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing), Kentucky is beginning to make good strides forward on issues pertaining to the deaf and hard of hearing.You all, if you read my blog, are aware of the bill that has been pre-filed to req...
Sat, Dec 20 2008