Perspectives on information, technology and people
30 August 2022 1230-1345
③ discuss
One of the groups may be taking the lead, guiding us in a discussion of what we have just watched together.
- what, if anything, did this have to do with "information"?
- did we learn anything about the context of the story in the movie, or about, perhaps, ourselves?
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④ ponder
Think about the information being conveyed in sound, via the spoken language.
The individuals in the movie are native speakers of two languages, Hebrew and Arabic, but they try to converse with each other in a third language, English. Why?
The two native, but not used, languages (one native to each, the other not usually used by each) are closer to each other than they are to most other languages. This short video might give a bit of understanding of the information being transmitted via sound.
This may be an opportunity to branch beyond Hebrew, Arabic, and English to consider other languages and how they convey meaning through sound and/or sign.
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⑤ listen
Omar Sharif
From the Broadway play created from the movie we have just watched.
Up until the song begins the audience watches as the members of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra — the band — wander around a town in Israel where they've mistakenly landed — the visit — and are hosted by Dina, a local café owner played by Katrina Lenk. Dina has been trying, fruitlessly, to connect with the band's leader, Tewfiq, all evening. It's not until they find a common connection, the music of Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum and movies starring, yes, Omar Sharif, that the two are able to really communicate as Dina sings, across a cafeteria table, about her memories of listening to the radio and watching the television as a girl in Israel.
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⑥ an unanswered question
Finally, at least one time per session, you all are offered the opportunity to put me on the spot.
What is the "one big question" that the readings posed, but did not answer?
If I can't come up with an answer immediately, I will research it and have it for you at the subsequent session.