Category: Watch

Watched The Irish Language and Beauty by Dónall Ó Héalaí from TEDxBerkeley | YouTube
Language represents an essential component of humanity, revealing so much about culture, heritage, literature, and nearly every human endeavor. In his TEDxBerkeley 2018 talk titled “The Irish Language and Beauty,” Dónall Ó Héalaí shares his personal relationship with the endangered Gaelic language. Recounting ancient legends, singing a traditional Gaelic song and discussing the colonial induced displacement of indigenous culture and practices, Dónall ultimately encourages the audience to consider our own inner selves--aspects of ourselves that we fail to celebrate and hide from the rest of the world. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Dónall Ó Héalaí is an Irish actor and the founder of Celtic Consciousness, an initiative that aims to share the insights and beauty of the Gaelic language with a wider audience and use ancient Irish stories and songs as a medium for self-reflection.
Another mention of language connecting it’s speakers to the land here.
Watched Mind yer Scots - Dr Michael Dempster full interview from YouTube
Dr Michael Dempster - Full Interview. Speaking to 'The Big Night In' Dr Dempster discusses the origins of the Scots language, Scots in popular culture, place names, common attitudes and various initiatives to encourage people to use and understand their own Scots tongue.
Interesting note about the TV show Shetland and the language used and how it was affected by the BBC as a production entity.

Mention around 23 minutes about the Anglicization of Scots words that not only don’t make sense, but remove the relationship between the people and their land.

Watched We'r Needin tae Talk Aboot Wir Language by Michael Dempster from TEDxInverness | YouTube

Auditory neuroscientist Michael Dempster delivers a gripping presentation on how the mind reacts when we talk freely with the language we grew up with. This talk is delivered using the language which Miachael grew up with, Scots. He tells of some of the difficulties the Scots language has faced in the past and gives some insight into its future. Michael is an Auditory Neuroscientist who gained his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Glasgow for his work exploring neural processing fundamental to language and music perception. He is also a first-language Scots speaker. He has taught modern Scots to people from outwith Scotland and to people from Scotland who want to learn more about their own ways of speaking. Over the past year he has been working on his forthcoming book “Mind yer language? - How we talk English an how we talk Scots.”

Watched Knock Down the House (2019) from Netflix
Directed by Rachel Lears. With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Joe Crowley, Paula Jean Swearengin. A look at the people involved with various political campaigns during the 2018 U.S. congressional election.

Rating: ★★★½

Sonia’s choice tonight. Interesting to see documentary footage of some of these races and how people perceived them at the time.

Watched WALL·E (2008) from Disney+
Directed by Andrew Stanton. With Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard. In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

Rating: ★★★★

Still as poignant–if not moreso–twelve years later. The ships’ computer in relation to the character of H.A.L. in 2001: A Space Odyssey is fascinating with respect to our truth-blind government/administration. 

Watched "Everwood" Family Dynamics from IMDB TV
Directed by Michael Schultz. When Andy's relationship with Delia is threatened after he breaks his promise not to date Linda, he decides to take his daughter on a special bonding trip to regain her trust. Andy is also surprised by Ephram's emotional reaction to the relationship with Linda. The Abbott family is still in turmoil when Amy decides to live with Edna and Irv, rather than playing by her parents' rules.
Watched "Everwood" Unhappy Holidays from IMDb TV
Directed by Jason Moore. Horrified to discover that Ephram and Madison are involved, Andy stops short of firing her, but Madison decides to quit, leaving the Browns to a very unhappy holiday, especially when Delia discovers another troubling relationship - between her father and Linda. Stressed by Thanksgiving with his cantankerous mother-in-law, Dr. Abbott reacts badly when Amy brings Tommy to Thanksgiving dinner.