Sean gets credit for finding this one.  Watch in HD fullscreen for the full effect!  Note the particular attention to detail; the cinematography is great!

Stephen Torrence has done a great service by recording and sharing a number of his translations of songs that catch his attention into American Sign Language (ASL).

HowStuffWorks.com interviewed Stephen to get some insight into the process he goes through in writing his translations and the details may surprise you.  The effort he puts into each of his translations shows, and it’s no wonder!  Each one of his recordings are the result of take after take, he’s not simply taking the words of the songs and dryly regurgitating them—he’s  carefully performing each phrase and verse, employing full use of his face and manner to great effect.

So, if you have even a passing interest in ASL and seeing some impressive performances, I recommend you take a look at Stephen’s collection on his YouTube page.

And with that, I leave you with the song that got me here: Stephen’s excellent performance of Jonathan Coulton’s “Still Alive,” Enjoy.

Apparently those in affiliation with the Mafia carry chain-fed Belgian FN Minimi PARAs in broad daylight, and would waste their ammunition at the drop of a hat in order to kill a homeless person.

Update  This pic summarizes my festival experience:

I have actually DONE this… Well, maybe I didn’t imagine the lady.

Who can honestly tell me that picture isn’t from a drug bust.

(I’d like to acknowledge here that I consider J.M. Barrie’s novels of the early 20th century to be of separate, yet superior canonical origins.)

I notice in this series, that there seems to be no reference to Peter Pan at all, and conversely, the Disney adaptation of Peter Pan makes no mention of Tinker Bell’s fellow fairies. This leads me to believe that Fairies is a prequel. It almost has to take place before Peter’s time. Then why, in Peter Pan, is there no mention of these other Fairies? I’ll tell you why, because those other fairies are dead. What happened?

Genocide?
Plague?
Years of political instability resulting in a collapse of their primitive autocratic society (There’s a queen fairy in the series), leading to civil war?

I’m theorizing genocide.

Think about it, let’s say that near the end of the Fairies series, Captain Hook and his crew arrive in Neverland, and set up the cosmic island as a post for rum running, smuggling, and slave trade not legally sanctioned by British parliament. While the pirates are in conflict with the Natives, the Fairies also go to war against the outlaws. With the ability to grant anything the gift of flight, the Neverlanders take an advantage in the battle, yet this is not enough. Tinker Bell is sent to the human realm to get help. She manages to enlist the aid of a young delinquent from England named Peter Pan at the promise of eternal youth. Little to Tink’s knowledge, the Pirates see the Fairies more or less as insects that provide the Natives with too much of an edge, and prepare to deploy crude insecticide to wipe them out.

Peter and Tinker Bell arrive back in Neverland to find Fairy Hollow under siege. Tink attempts to save some of her friends, but only arrives in time to see them dying from the noxious pesticide. Peter saves her from inhaling too much of the gas, and helps Neverland fight Captain Hook back into the bay.

Peter decides that Neverland will need a standing militia in order to hold off the nefarious pirates, and with the help of Tink, gathers together the rag-tag band of the Lost Boys.

Tinker Bell, however, is traumatized to the point of never speaking again, except in twinkles and pings. She becomes very distrusting of outsiders that aren’t recruited by agreement of both her and Peter. She also owes a life debt to Peter after he saved her from the poison gas, and is very over protective of him. Then Peter recruits Wendy without Tink’s approval, and the movie begins.

Of course, this is only theoretical.
But doesn’t it seem eerily fitting to the gap between the franchises?

…I thought so at least.