#interpretor

[dendropolis]

[rosemelodyshah]

Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms.

~Sherlock Holmes| The Greek Interpretor

By far one of my favourite Sherlock Holmes lines. Ever.

This is up there. Love it.

[zlenvs3000w25]

01: My relationship with nature...

I have always been interested in nature, especially animals and wildlife. Growing up, my parents would take my brother and I on hikes, camping, and to museums and zoos. I was excited about any opportunity to learn about animals, whether this was from my parents, in an information centre, or from a presentation.

"Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World" (Beck, Cable and Knudson) describes the "raison d'être of interpretation is to help people to gain a sense of place and to respond to the beauty of their environment, the significance of their history, and their cultural surroundings." I found my "sense of place" at the Toronto Zoo at a very young age. My family lived about 20 minutes away, and it was a great place for my mother to bring us to get our energy out.

I especially loved watching the Keeper Talks, which typically occur when they are feeding the animals. It was a great opportunity to learn about the animals and their diets, as well as conservation efforts and research conducted by the zoo. The staff really made me care about the animals I was seeing within and outside of the zoo. By building connections with the animals there, it made me feel connected to so many other animals. It also gave me the confidence to navigate this area and really feel like it was a place where I belonged and where I was important. By feeling that I was a part of this community, it further opened up space for my learning. I'm sure I asked the zookeepers thousands of silly questions, but they always listened and answered each one.

Although the Toronto Zoo has many exotic animals, they ensure to highlight local animals as well. As you navigate the zoo, you see the amazing greenspace that surrounds the enclosures. It was just as exciting to see a wild turtle in the ravine under a bridge as it was to see a giraffe stretching its long neck to eat leaves from a high branch. I have found over the years that the Toronto Zoo has further encouraged this learning and continues to highlight local species and conservation efforts!

As I've gotten older, I've sought to build a deeper connection with local wildlife. I love to take my dog on walks in local parks to look for birds and other critters in these spaces. Upon moving to Guelph, I joined the Wildlife Club, and once again found my "sense of place". Most notably, I remember the first interpretive walk in the Arboretum, led by Chris Earley. He was so excellent at making the walk exciting, but most importantly, accessible! Within an hour, this humongous forested area became a safe place that I knew I could navigate (even if it was just one section). Since this moment, I go to the Arboretum on a regular basis to explore and connect with nature.

I felt very inspired by Chris after this walk. It made me realize that I want to be the person that makes the area and the information accessible to the public. The most beautiful part about nature is the connection you form with all of the living beings in that space.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture.

[thedeafprophet]

Real reason Summer can't be June is because the original mysteries answer said June was the architect, and Summer is an engineer-

(joke)

[dramas-vs-novels]

Have you ever been accidentally in frame?

No, the jerks I work with INTENTIONALLY put me in frame when I don't know they're filming me and then INCLUDE it in the finished product and TEASE me for it.

Once after a 17 hour shoot, the third that week over 12 hours. I looked like a wreck.

I found out they'd filmed me at the IMAX premiere of the documentary. They thought giving me a full page producer credit would ease my wrath.

It didn't.

[retiredtothebriars]

my friend said she had a patient who can only speak cantonese so i offered to take him so i can practice ha HA this is gonna be funny

[mwolf0epsilon]

To say he wasn't quite expecting the spectacle that awaited them in the medbay was an understatement. Although, that said, he doubted anyone could conjure up the absolute abomination Olly had laid eyes upon.

Truthfully, when he'd decided to accompany Rhythm when the new medic called for him, Olly really didn't think he'd be faced with...

Well, this...

"What in the fresh hell...?" For once he let his voice go a little higher than usual as he stared at the bizarre setup. The harness itself was fairly standard. The B1 droid torso strapped to it not so much. The thick cables connecting the back of its head to the medic even less so.

"This, gentlemen, is revolutionary homebrewed medical engineering." The tinny voice of a standard B1 proclaimed, while the medic grinned wildly with unabashed delight.

"Stars... That is... Wow." Rhythm was caught between sounding impressed, stupefied and honestly a little afraid. "Is it safe?"

"Seeing as the test is going well without signs of major discomfort and/or painful death on my end?" The medic shifted his weight from one leg to the other. The B1 torso remained motionless, basically little more than a prop. "I'd say so!"

"Death was on the table?!"

"Wait... Are you back to doing trial runs on yourself...?"

"I would never do onto a patient anything I couldn't be sure is safe. I might technically be signed up as the dental expert, but you'll find I have a lot of other proficiencies and a fine work ethic!" The medic proclaimed, the tinny voice sounding mildly offended. "That said, this process has been quite difficult to iron out, unlike the other projects I've dabbled in... It's not as straight forward as an extraction, or a root canal, or even making a crutch that both aids you in getting around and with reaching high shelving when your range of shoulder joint movement is severely impaired... So uh, yeah, I needed someone to be here in case something went wrong."

"That's... Teeh that's a little... Dangerous." Rhythm winced. Olly agreed.

"It is... But sometimes a leap of faith is what gets things going. And while I trust you all to respect me when I sign... I can't say the same for everyone else on this planet..." He insisted with a slight frown.

This Olly understood as well. There had been instances where the mute medic had been deliberately ignored when he'd expressed concerns. Sure this contraption was a little insane from conceptualization to execution, but it would certainly make it harder for people to ignore him. Especially with such an outstandingly grating voice.

At the end of the day it was no different from the various custom-fitted crutches, canes, hoverchairs, prosthetics and other assorted items Tongue Twister had made for the vode who needed that little extra bit of help getting by. Everyone deserved some independence.

"Plus when has anyone ever heard a Clanker say 'I'm gonna fuck your mum' in several different languages?"

Olly sighed in exasperation while Rhythm let out a startled laugh. Of course.

[inevitablemeatloaf]

Maybe this is just the autism talking but I wish we could have more honest and direct conversations with each other when our relationships have run their course- like say when a connection is no longer serving someone, I wish we could just be more upfront about it instead of like slowly ghosting each other or using subtext for people to infer what's going on. Because I think it would save a lot of time and energy and pain.

[mishkakagehishka]

Forever stuck between wanting to develop my s/is and going "bro it's just me" and calling it a day

[postcard-from-the-past]

Indigenous interpretors and workers from Hanoi, Vietnam

French vintage postcard

[dendropolis]

Here's heavily edited piece of art from the Russian Mother zine

[discworldwitches]

the way quebec nationalists are denying people healthcare based on peoples language and gatekeeping services is honestly so atrocious and yet people justify it with “in other provinces every provider speaks english which is soo discriminatory to french canadiens :((“ like i hope u choke and die for normalising this

[hyenaswine]

oh thank god. thank god. thank GOD!!!!!! that's really important news & a really important notification, for me, specifically. that's really big & thrilling news to me. that was worth making a little notification sound, the same it makes when a loved one has sent me a message. but it wasn't a loved one. it was the minecraft movie in ASL, something i - a hearing person who cannot speak ASL & has no interest in the minecraft movie - needed to know about immediately. also i do not have google tv.

[zlenvs3000w25]

08: Nature is Amazing

“A nature guide in every locality who, around his home or in the nearest park could show with fitting stories the wild places, birds, flowers, and animals, would add to the enjoyment of everyone who lives in the region or who visits it.” –Enos Mills (1920)

This quote really inspired me. I think it’s very easy to overlook the nature that surrounds us every day, as it fades into the routine as we make our way to work or school. Learning about nature and its history can create a familiarity that leads to deeper connections and experiences within nature (Smith, 2016). It also helps us understand deeper systematic issues that are affecting our wildlife and the ecosystems they live in (Beck, Cable and Knudson, 2018). When we actually take a moment to learn about the animals surrounding us, it can re-spark that joy and wonder. At what point does it stop being exciting to see a Chickadee? I hope I never reach that point.

I am very lucky to have some friends that like to go on adventures with me. We will choose a location (or two or three) and spend the day looking for wildlife. We often set a goal species to spot, but other than that we go in to try and find as many species as we can. One of my friends is very knowledgeable about birds and herps, and we get our own interpretive tour through him. It’s always such a fun time, and I always learn so much when we go out on these adventures! What I especially love about these trips is the opportunity to appreciate the local animals around me. By adventuring in local places, we get to spend so much time with animals I usually overlook. I’d like to bring you on our January 9th, 2025 adventure and show you what I think is amazing about nature.

Our day started before the sun rose. We were traveling to Burlington, to a specific spot on the beach that was said to have many, many birds. These rumours were right! I swear I had never seen so many birds in one place. I immediately saw Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards and Black Ducks! Upon further inspection, we realized we were seeing some Cackling Geese as well! Cackling Geese look very similar to Canada Geese, but they are smaller and have shorter beaks. We spent hours lying in the sand, taking pictures, and watching these beautiful birds, all while being serenaded by the trumpet-sounds of the swans. After a while, we spotted another bird -the domestic duck- which was not acting domesticated at all! This little guy fit right in with the group (excluding the colouration). It was so cool to see all these different types of birds getting along with each other!

After a while, we moved on to the loading docks. Here, we saw even more birds! American Coots, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, Canvasbacks, Mergansers, Loons and more! Again, all of these birds were sitting in the water together, along with the birds mentioned previously. I realized that I had probably seen most of these birds before, without even realizing it! Usually when I see waterfowl, I assume they are ducks and I move on. It really made me appreciate how much diversity we have here in Ontario.

After a bit of time staring at the water, we noticed two new birds! The first was just on the shore -a Double Crested Cormorant! This guy was hard to spot because he camouflaged quite well with the rocks in the lighting on the water, apart from his bright green eyes! The second of the new birds was a juvenile Bald Eagle! It landed on a tree close to us, and we were all taken aback by its size! Juvenile Bald Eagles have yet to develop the characteristic white head you would typically think of, and at first glance this bird looked like a very, very big hawk.

We ended up following the juvenile Bald Eagle down a path, and eventually laid eyes on (presumably) its parents! It was so cool to see the juvenile flying alongside two adults. We could definitely tell who were the more experienced flyers.

As we made our way back to the car, we passed by a bird feeder. Here, we got to see Chickadees, Juncos, a White-Breasted Nuthatch and a Downy Woodpecker. Now, these birds are some of my all-time favourites! Similar to the waterfowl, I think Juncos and Nuthatches can be often overlooked, as the star of the show is often a Chickadee. These birds are quite interesting, and it was cool to see how they all moved and interacted with humans differently. Nuthatches are particularly interesting, as they typically move down trees (face-down), and peck at them like Woodpeckers, but are similar in size to a Chickadee.

This concluded only the first half of our journey! While it may not be common to spot this volume of birds on a given day, it’s incredibly likely that you too will spot quite a large number of birds if you spend the time to look for them! These types of experiences are so wholesome, grounding and re-invigorating. They remind me to look for these wonders every day, no matter how rushed I’m feeling. The most amazing thing about nature to me, is the nature we are lucky enough to have in our own backyard.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture. Smith, W. (2016). Observational ecology: Renewing the study of nature. Legacy, 27(2), 30–33.

[shannoneichorn]

Has... has this woman never watched one presentation that was signed?

On a related note, I went to a concert at a scifi convention a couple months ago where comedy singer Bonnie Gordon had an interpretor on stage with her who almost stole the show. She sang a parody of Aerosmith's "Dream On" about being Klingon. For a brief time, everyone in the room learned the sign for Klingon.

what's the most confidently and wrongly a grown adult has ever argued with you - I'll start.

at a work dinner - for scientists - a woman there was convinced that all of sign language was just spelling out words letter-by-letter. she was saying that what we consider sign language is just people spelling out full English words, and she said "it's amazing because it's the only universally-understood language." cue silence from the table.

she fully believed that deaf people in China were spelling out English words letter by letter in ASL to communicate, and that distinct words did not exist. we kept trying to correct her. she replied that it's one of her special interests and she's done extensive research on the subject.

[valtsv]

i love the use of the word "medium" to describe someone who talks with the dead. not "interpretor", or "translator", or even "voice of", but medium, as in media, as in a channel through which information is delivered and communicated. a ghostly radio, tuning the dial to a frequency through which the dead can speak.