Monday 30 July 2012

English for the Games


How often do you play sport?

Check out these fantastic, free, fact-filled Olympic readers (= books for children who are learning to read) from LearnEnglish! There are four great readers, from Elementary to Upper-Intermediate levels. They look at the facts and history of the Games, the heroes of the modern games, and the experience of working as an Olympic volunteer! You can read online, download and print, or even download them as audio books! Enjoy!

British Council, LearnEnglish Kids
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-for-the-games/readers


Wednesday 25 July 2012

Sunday 15 July 2012

Twitter - Hastags


#FavouriteAlbums

#IfItWereUpToMe

#TheDateWasOverWhen

#YourTextGotIgnoredBecause

#15ThingsGirlsHate

#FirstDayOfSchoolThoughts

#CheatingIsOkayIf

Advice to young scientists

E.O. Wilson, Advice to young scientists (April 2012 at Washington DC)
https://www.ted.com/talks/e_o_wilson_advice_to_young_scientists.html


Thursday 12 July 2012

The Rolling Stones - Time Is On My Side

Time Is On My Side (Lyrics)


Time is on my side, yes it is...

Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me...

Oh, time is on my side, yes it is...

You're searching for good times
But just wait and see
You'll come running back (I won't have to worry no more)
You'll come running back (spend the rest of my life with you, baby)

You'll come running back to me...


Go ahead, go ahead and light up the town
And baby, do everything your heart desires
Remember, I'll always be around
And I know, I know
Like I told you so many times before
You're gonna come back, baby
'Cause I know
You're gonna come back knocking
Yeah, knocking right on my door
Yes, yes


Well, time is on my side, yes it is...

'Cause I got the real love
The kind that you need
You'll come running back (said you would, baby)
You'll come running back (I always said you would)
You'll come running back, (won't have to worry no more) to me...

Yes, time is on my side, yes it is...

---

Official (and live) video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6istBsZxABo

Studio version with lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHVeyo4W18U

Lyrics
http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Rolling_Stones%3ATime_Is_On_My_Side

The Rolling Stones celebrate... 50 years!


When the nascent Rolling Stones began playing gigs (= performances) around London in 1962, the notion that a rock & roll band would last five years, let alone fifty, was an absurdity. After all, what could possibly be more ephemeral than rock & roll, the latest teenage fad (= fashion) ? Besides, other factors made it unlikely that such a momentous occasion would ever come to pass. “I didn’t expect to last until fifty myself, let alone with the Stones,” Keith Richards says with a laugh. “It’s incredible, really. In that sense we’re still living on borrowed time.”



“You have to put yourself back into that time,” Mick Jagger says about those early days when he and Keith and guitarist Brian Jones roomed together and were hustling gigs wherever they could find one. “Popular music wasn’t talked about on any kind of intellectual level. There was no such term as ‘popular culture.’ None of those things existed.”


“But suddenly popular music became bigger than it had ever been before. It became an important, perhaps the most important, art form of the period, after not at all being regarded as an art form before.”

Mick Jagger

---

The Rolling Stones celebrate 50 years (BBC Interview, 11 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18800198

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger Interview - Rolling Stones 50 Years Golden Anniversary (Sky News, Jul 11, 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at5SKVUJ5No

Monday 9 July 2012

Slumdog Millionaire Film


In Mumbai in 2006, eighteen-year-old Jamal Malik, a former street child from the Juhu slum, is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and is one question away from the grand prize. However, before the Rs. 20 million question, he is detained and interrogated by the police, who suspect him of cheating because of the impossibility of a simple "slumdog" knowing all the answers. Jamal recounts, through flashbacks, the incidents in his life which provided him with each answer. These flashbacks tell the story of Jamal, his brother Salim, and Latika...

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film of 2008, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven BAFTA Awards (including Best Film), and four Golden Globes.

---

Official Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q

Film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrf-RHrSUdw

Monday 2 July 2012

Ello excercises

Love At First Site / Long Distance Relationships
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1153-Maria-FirstSite.html
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1154-Maria-Distance.html

Gyms and Fitness
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1157-Nathan-Gyms.html

Testing Students / Projects in Educations
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1159-Jana-Tests.html
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1160-Jana-Projects.html

Parent Watch / Families and Facebook
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1163-Maria-Media.html
http://www.elllo.org/english/1151/T1164-Alex-Media.html

BBC Learning Excercises

Not give someone the time of day (Tuesday, 03 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/07/120703_tews_78_not_give_someone_time.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/07/120703_tews_78_not_give_someone_time.shtml

UK's first healthy pizza (Thursday, 05 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2012/07/120705_healthy_pizza.shtml
http://wsdownload.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/pdf/2012/07/120705113010_120704_6min_english_healthy_pizza_pdf.pdf

To go bananas (Tuesday, 10 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/07/120710_tews_79_go_bananas.shtml
http://wsdownload.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/pdf/2012/07/120710110027_bbc_tews_79_to_go_bananas.pdf

Missiles over London (Thursday, 12 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2012/07/120712_6min_missiles_over_london.shtml
http://wsdownload.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/pdf/2012/07/120712171300_120712_6min_english_missiles_over_london_pdf.pdf

Keep me posted (Tuesday, 17 July 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/07/120716_tews_80_keep_me_posted.shtml
http://wsdownload.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/pdf/2012/07/120716151656_bbc_tews_80_keep_me_posted.pdf

Monday 18 June 2012

Gustavo Dudamel's Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra

After live tickets sold out eight months in advance, the UK concert by the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar is to be live-streamed online on 23 and 26 June.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/classicalmusicandopera

CBS News 60 Minutes Feature

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3841774n
http://www.cbsnews.com/2102-18560_162-3841251.html

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Februrary... Cartoons!

Steve Melcher, That is Priceless
http://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2012/02/08
http://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2012/02/04

Lela Lee, Angry Little Girls
http://www.gocomics.com/angry-little-girls/2012/02/09
http://www.gocomics.com/angry-little-girls/2012/02/13

Dave Whamond, Reality Check
http://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2012/02/14
http://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2012/02/08
http://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2012/02/07
http://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2012/02/04
http://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2012/02/02

Scott Hilburn, The Argyle Sweater
http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater/2012/02/26
http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater/2012/02/25
http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater/2012/02/04
http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater/2012/02/02

Jeff Stahler, Moderately Confused
http://www.gocomics.com/moderately-confused/2012/02/02

Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/02/04

Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich, Real Life Adventures
http://www.gocomics.com/reallifeadventures/2012/02/14
http://www.gocomics.com/reallifeadventures/2012/02/13
http://www.gocomics.com/reallifeadventures/2012/02/06

Aaron Johnson, W.T. Duck
http://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2012/02/10

Tony Carrillo, F Minus
http://www.gocomics.com/fminus/2012/02/12
http://www.gocomics.com/fminus/2012/02/10
http://www.gocomics.com/fminus/2012/02/03

Steve Breen and Mike Thompson, Grand Avenue
http://www.gocomics.com/grand-avenue/2012/02/14
http://www.gocomics.com/grand-avenue/2012/02/07

Mike Baldwin, Cornered
http://www.gocomics.com/cornered/2012/02/26
http://www.gocomics.com/cornered/2012/02/12
http://www.gocomics.com/cornered/2012/02/09

Nate Fakes, Break of Day
http://www.gocomics.com/break-of-day/2012/02/17

Children's Stories

Little Red Riding Hood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W86K1jBJFI

The Three Billy Goats Gruff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiy3a1v9Q2E

Where's spot?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JQnQpmvzDY

A to Z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Box8D1CyDU

Sunday 12 February 2012

Whitney Houston - I'm Every Woman


Whatever you want
Whatever you need
Anything you want done baby
I do it naturally
'Cause I'm every woman (Every woman)
It's all in me
It's all in me
Yeah

I'm every woman...

I'm every woman
It's all in me
I can read your thoughts right now
Every woman, whoever made ya say...

I can cast a spell
See, but you can't tell
Mix a special groove
Put fire inside of you
Anytime you feel danger or fear
Then instantly
I will appear

I'm every woman...

I can set your knees
like playing unto the seas
I can make a rhyme of confusion in your mind
And when it comes down to some little flash of love
I got it, I got it
I got it, got it, baby baby

I'm every woman...

I ain't braggin'
'Cause I'm the one
Just ask me
Oh, it shall be done
And don't bother
to compare
I've got it

I'm every woman...

I'm every woman (Chaka)
I'm every woman (Chaka)
I'm every woman (Ha ha ha)
I'm every woman (Come on girl)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7_sqdkaAfo

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Charles Dickens 200th Birthday - A Christmas Carol



Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, generally considered one of the greatest of the XIXth century. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic novels and characters. Charles Dickens published over a dozen major novels, a large number of short stories (including a number of Christmas-themed stories), a handful of plays, and several non-fiction books. Dickens's novels were initially serialised (= published in parts) in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.



A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is a novella (= short novel) by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843.

It is likely that A Christmas Carol stands as his best-known story, with new adaptations almost every year. This simple morality tale sums up for many the true meaning of Christmas. It also added archetypal figures (Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Christmas ghosts) to the Western cultural consciousness. A prominent phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', was popularised following the appearance of the story. The term 'Scrooge' became a synonym for miser, and 'Bah! Humbug!' (= patrañas) as dismissive of the festive spirit. According to some historians, the current state of the observance of Christmas is largely the result of a XIXth century revival of the holiday spearheaded (= encabezado) by A Christmas Carol. Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today among Western nations, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit.

The story has been adapted to other media including film, opera, ballet, a Broadway musical, a BBC mime production starring Marcel Marceau, and Benjamin Britten's 1947 chamber orchestra composition Men of Goodwill: Variations on 'A Christmas Carol'.



The tale begins on a Christmas Eve in 1843 exactly seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge is established within the first chapter as a man who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity or benevolence. He hates Christmas, calling it 'humbug', refuses his nephew Fred's dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the Poor. His only "Christmas gift" is allowing his overworked (= has worked too much), underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay - which he does only to keep with social custom, Scrooge considering it a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!

Returning home that evening, Scrooge is visited by Marley's ghost. Marley warns Scrooge to change his ways lest (= in order to prevent that) he undergo the same miserable afterlife as himself. Scrooge is then visited by three additional ghosts - each in its turn, and each visit detailed in a separate chapter – who accompany him to various scenes with the hope of achieving his transformation.

The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of his boyhood and youth, which stir (= makes feel) the old miser's (= tacaño) gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. They also show what made Scrooge the miser that he is, and why he dislikes Christmas.

The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to several differing scenes - a joy-filled market of people buying the makings of Christmas dinner, the celebration of Christmas in a miner's cottage (= small house in the countryside), and a lighthouse. A major part of this chapter is taken up with the family feast of Scrooge's impoverished clerk Bob Cratchit, introducing his youngest son, Tiny Tim, who is seriously ill but cannot receive treatment due to Scrooge's unwillingness to pay Cratchit a decent wage.

The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, harrows (= rastrilla) Scrooge with dire (= bad and serious) visions of the future if he does not learn and act upon what he has witnessed - including Tiny Tim's death. Scrooge's own neglected and untended (= descuidada / abandonada) grave is revealed, prompting (= causing) the miser to aver (= asegurar) that he will change his ways in hopes of changing these shadows of what may be.

In the final chapter, Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart, then spends the day with his nephew's family after anonymously sending a prize (= good to win a competition) turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner. Scrooge has become a different man overnight and now treats his fellow men with kindness, generosity and compassion, gaining a reputation as a man who embodies (= represents) the spirit of Christmas.

---

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theteacher/2012/02/120207_teacher_dickens.shtml

"LONDON. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of
the earth. Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire (an area with wet earth). Horses,
scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers (= what is put at the side of a horse's eyes so that it can only see forward). Fog everywhere."

Charles Dickens, Bleak House

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Oscars 2012

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony will honor the best films of 2011 and will take place on February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. It will be televised in the United States on ABC. The nominations were announced on January 24, 2012.

Billy Crystal will be the host. This will be Crystal's ninth time hosting the awards ceremony.



Best Documentary Feature:

- Hell and Back Again
Hell and Back Again is a 2011 documentary film directed by Danfung Dennis about a sergeant in the United States Marines Corps who returns from the Afghanistan conflict with post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hzz4iTwSsI

- If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front is a documentary film by filmmaker Marshall Curry, exploring the origins, motives, and organization of the Earth Liberation Front and Eco-terrorism in general. Additionally, it explains how the Department of Justice was able to find and arrest Daniel McGowan and his co-conspirators in a nationwide sweep in December, 2005 and raises questions as to whether or not they deserved to be sentenced as "terrorists."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGxy85R380

- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is a 2011 documentary film and sequel to the films Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. The three films chronicle the arrest, 18 year imprisonment, and eventual release of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, otherwise known as the West Memphis 3. The films, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, are considered to play a substantial role in generating publicity, awareness, and support for the innocence of the West Memphis 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B43Cj-JEJdo

- Pina
Pina is a 2011 German 3D dance film directed by Wim Wenders. During the preparation of the documentary about Pina Bausch, she died unexpectedly. Wim Wenders cancelled the film production, but the other dancers of Tanztheater Wuppertal convinced him to make the film anyway. It now shows these other dancers, talking about her and dancing in her honor, not just in the theater, but most of the time at various outdoor locations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNuQVS7q7-A

- Undefeated
Undefeated is a 2011 documentary directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin. The film documents the struggles of the Memphis's Manassas Tigers as they attempt a winning season after years of losses. The team is turned around (=changed to be succesful) by a devoted coach, named Bill Courtney, who help form a group of young men into academic and athletic team.


Best Animated Feature:

- 2. +650 A Cat in Paris
A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat) is a 2010 animated film by the French animation studio Folimage, telling the story of a young Parisian girl whose cat leads her to unravel (= aclarar) a thrilling mystery over the course of a single evening. The film was directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli.
Chico and Rita is an animated feature-length film directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana, New York City, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWxB9hRjwI

Kung Fu Panda 2
Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 2011 3D American computer-animated action comedy film, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, produced by DreamWorks Animation, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda, in which Po and his friends battle to stop a would-be conqueror with a powerful new weapon and a disquieting (= causing worry) link to the giant panda's past. The film was released on May 26, 2011 in Real D 3D and Digital 3D. It was a commercial success surpassing the original film and, like the original film, is the highest grossing animated feature film of the year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdaMGcOyfjM

Puss In Boots
Puss in Boots is a 2011 computer-animated action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, directed by Chris Miller (who directed Shrek the Third in 2007). The film was released in theaters on October 28, 2011 in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D. The film is a spinoff (= additional result) prequel (= that develops the story of an earlier film) to the Shrek franchise, and it follows the character Puss in Boots on his adventures before his first appearance in Shrek 2 in 2004. Accompanied by his sidekicks (= less important friends), Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws, Puss is pitted (= competing) against Jack and Jill, two murderous outlaws in ownership of magical beans which are legended to lead to great fortune. The film opened to very positive reviews and has become a success at the box office with a gross of over $492 million as of January 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMYpXl0mnL8



1. -350 Rango
Rango is a 2011 American computer-animated Western comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Graham King. In the film, a chameleon named Rango accidentally ends up in the town of Dirt, an outpost that is in desperate need of a new sheriff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-OOfW6wWyQ


Best Actress:

- Albert Nobbs - Glenn Close
Albert Nobbs is a drama film starring Glenn Close and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay is based on a short story by Irish novelist George Moore. Glenn Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in Ireland in the 1910s. Some thirty years after donning (= putting on) men's clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5b4c5x0SIk

2. +300 The Help - Viola Davis
The Help is a 2011 drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is an ensemble piece about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s. Skeeter is a journalist who decides to write a controversial book from the point of view of the maids (known as the Help), exposing the racism they are faced with as they work for white families. The Help became a massive box office success with gross of about $205.3 million against its budget of $25 million. In January 2012, the film received four Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuKgzgeUIU

- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Rooney Mara
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 English-language thriller film directed by David Fincher, with screenplay adapted by Steven Zaillian from the Swedish-language novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. The film tells the story of a man's mission to find out what has happened to a girl who has been missing for 40 years, and who may have been murdered. The film is nominated for five Academy Awards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL8LI-h2WFc



1. -250 The Iron Lady - Meryl Streep
The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is a biographical British film about Margaret Thatcher, longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep, but also, in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach. Since its release, Meryl Streep's performance was widely acclaimed. Streep has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, her eighth win and twenty-sixth nomination, and has been nominated for both the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, her fourteenth nomination, and the Academy Award for Best Actress, her seventeenth nomination overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlBr-3aDTHg

3. +450 My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams
My Week with Marilyn is a British biographical film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl, which starred Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. The film focuses on the week in which Monroe spent time being escorted around Britain by Clark, after her husband, Arthur Miller, left the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_tbnTM7zVE


Best Actor:

- A Better Life - Demián Bichir
A Better Life is a 2011 American drama film directed by Chris Weitz. The screenplay, originally known as The Gardener, was written by Eric Eason based on a story by Roger L. Simon. This film is unique among Hollywood productions in that it is set in a Hispanic community and features an almost entirely Hispanic cast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaLSBdL-zCY1



1. -300 The Descendants - George Clooney
The Descendants is a 2011 American drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay is based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. In January 2012, The Descendants won two Golden Globe Awards and earned five nominations at the 84th Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHNXJ1K4yA

2. +225 The Artist - Jean Dujardin
The Artist is a 2011 French comedy-drama film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the talkies. Most of the film itself is silent; it is shown in black-and-white, and has received wide praise from critics and many accolades. Dujardin won the Best Actor Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. The film was nominated for six Golden Globes, the most of any film from 2011, and won three, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Dujardin. In January 2012 the film was nominated for twelve BAFTAs, and ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Bejo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixqr8D7J_Kc

- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Gary Oldman
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 British espionage film directed by Tomas Alfredson, based on the 1974 novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré. Set in London in the early 1970s, the story follows the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British secret service. The film was produced through the British company Working Title Films and financed by France's StudioCanal. The film received generally favourable reviews and was the highest grossing film at the British box office for three consecutive weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5p31OI_AMs

3. +1400 Moneyball - Brad Pitt
Moneyball is a 2011 biographical sports drama film directed by Bennett Miller and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film is based on Michael Lewis's 2003 book of the same name, an account of the Oakland Athletics baseball team's 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane's attempts to assemble a competitive team. In the film, Beane and his assistant GM Peter Brand, faced with the franchise's unfavorable financial situation, take a sophisticated sabermetric (= analysis of baseball through statistics) approach towards scouting and analyzing players, acquiring "submarine" pitcher Chad Bradford and former catcher Scott Hatteberg, and winning 20 consecutive games, an American League record. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture on January 24, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QPVo0UIzc


Best Picture:


1. -450 The Artist (also 1st -175 for Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixqr8D7J_Kc

2. +400 The Descendents (also 3rd +650 for Best Director - Alexander Payne)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHNXJ1K4yA

- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2011 American drama film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Eric Roth. In the 2005 novel, the book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. Oskar discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father that inspires him to search all around New York for information about the key. Production took place in New York City. The film has been nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_quK9SEGYE

- The Help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuKgzgeUIU

3. +1200 Hugo (also 2nd +175 for Best Director - Martin Scorsese)
Hugo is a 2011 3D family mystery film based on Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station and the enigmatic owner of a toy shop there. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan. Hugo is Scorsese's first film shot in 3D, of which the filmmaker remarked: "I found 3D to be really interesting, because the actors were more upfront emotionally. Their slightest move, their slightest intention is picked up much more precisely." The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in the U.S. on 23 November 2011. The film has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, making it the most nominated film of 2011, which include a Best Picture nomination and a Best Director nomination for Martin Scorsese. The film also won two BAFTAs and was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, earning Scorsese his third Golden Globe Award for Best Director.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM

- Midnight in Paris (also nominated for Best Director - Woody Allen)
Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure. The protagonist, a screenwriter, is forced to confront the shortcomings (= deficiencias) of his relationship with his fiancée and their divergent goals due to his magical experiences in the city beginning each night at midnight. The movie explores themes of nostalgia and modernism. It premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was released in North America in May 2011. In January 2012, the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay and received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLg2wQQxvU

- Moneyball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QPVo0UIzc

- The Tree of Life (also nominated for Best Director - Terrance Malik, and Mexican Emmanuel Lubezki for Best Cinematography)
The Tree of Life is a 2011 American drama film with experimental elements written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, and Jessica Chastain. Malick's film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed (= intercalado) with imagery of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth. The film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. In January 2012, the film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRYA1dxP_0

- War Horse
War Horse is a 2011 English war epic motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. It is based on both War Horse, a children's novel set before and during World War I, by British author Michael Morpurgo (first published in the United Kingdom in 1982) and the 2007 stage adaptation of the same name. The film is currently in contention for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. It was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and five BAFTAs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhueHIXbTF4

Monday 23 January 2012

HWR World Report 2012 - United States

Death Penalty and Extreme Criminal Punishments

"In 2011 the state of Illinois joined 15 other states in abolishing the death penalty. Thirty-four states continue to allow its imposition.

[...]

The state of Georgia executed Troy Davis on September 21, 2011, despite significant doubts about his guilt. Davis, who was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail, maintained his innocence until the last moment. The prosecution’s case rested almost entirely on testimony from eyewitnesses, but seven of the nine who testified against Davis at his trial recanted (= announced that what they have said was wrong) and said they were no longer sure who shot MacPhail, and another three people said that another man confessed to the crime.

[...]

While the US Supreme Court held in 2010 that youth offenders under age 18 convicted of non-homicide crimes could not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, about 2,600 youth offenders continue to serve such a sentence for homicide-related crimes."

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2012.pdf

Saturday 21 January 2012

Come What May - Etta James



Lyrics:

I am yours and you are mine, come what may
Love like ours remains divine, come what may
Even though we're miles apart
You're living in my lonely heart
At night the teardrops start and pour the long long day

I keep your picture near me since you went away
I plant a kiss upon your lips each night and day
Bear in mind and you will find a heart that is true
And I'll be here with you come what may

All right!

I keep your picture near me since you went away...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw2qY7db6o0

Sunday 15 January 2012

January 2012

Sunday 8 - John Madin, an English architect, died (aged 87). He built in 1974 the Birmingham Central Library.




Monday 9 - Alabama defeats LSU 21-0 to win the 2012 BCS National Championship, their second championship in three years, in the first shutout in BCS bowl history.



Friday 13 - The cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground and capsizes off the coast of Tuscany, with at least eleven fatalities.


Monday 16 - The King Center publishes online 200,000 personal papers belonging to Martin Luther King, Jr. to mark his birthday.

- Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Lecture, The Quest for Peace and Justice (December 11, 1964)
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-lecture.html



"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. [...] I believe in this method [nonviolence] because I think it is the only way to reestablish a broken community. It is the method which seeks to implement the just law by appealing to the conscience of the great decent majority who through blindness, fear, pride, and irrationality have allowed their consciences to sleep."

Wednesday 18 - The English Wikipedia, along with many other websites, takes part in a 24-hour shutdown in protest against SOPA and PIPA. The same day, a number of American lawmakers, including SOPA co-sponsor Marco Rubio, withdraw their support for the SOPA proposal.



Thursday, 19 - The FBI shuts down Megaupload.

Saturday 14 January 2012

2012 Australian Open Tournament

The 2012 Australian Open will take place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia from January 16 to January 29, 2012. It will be the 100th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The 2012 Australian Open will be the richest Grand Slam tournament in history, with the singles champions pocketing 2.3 million dollars.


2012 Australian Open Tournament Winners:

1. +225 Petra Kvitova
2. +333 Serena Williams
3. +600 Victoria Azarenka
4. +750 Kim Clijsters

1. +110 Novak Djokovic
2. +350 Roger Federer
3. +500 Andy Murray
4. +550 Rafael Nadal



Petra Kvitová, born 8 March 1990, is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed shots and variety, she has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles. By winning Wimbledon, she became the first Grand Slam event winner born in the 1990s.



Novak Djokovic's 2011 season was a great one. Djokovic won ten tournaments this year, including Grand Slam tournament victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Djokovic also captured a record-breaking five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour (12 million dollars). His level dropped at season's end beginning with a back injury and ended with a poor showing at the ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic finished the season with a 70–6 record and No. 1 in the world. Pete Sampras declared Djokovic's season as the best he has ever seen in his lifetime, calling it "one of the best achievements in all of sports." Boris Becker called Djokovic's season "one of the very best years in tennis of all time," adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but he’s beaten Federer, he’s beaten Nadal, he’s beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world." Rafael Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in six finals on three different surfaces, described Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw."

Sunday 8 January 2012

January 8 – 2011 Tucson shooting

The 2011 Tucson shooting was an incident in which U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen other people were shot during a public meeting; six of those shot died, including Arizona Chief Judge John Roll and one of Rep. Giffords' staffers. The mass shooting occurred in a Safeway supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes near Tucson, Arizona USA, on 8 January 2011. Giffords was holding a constituent (= person who elects someone to represent it in the governement) meeting called "Congress on Your Corner" in the parking lot when Jared Lee Loughner drew (= took out) a pistol and shot Giffords in the head, before firing on other people.



According to court records, Loughner had two previous offenses (= crimes), one of which was for drug possession. U.S. Army officials said that Loughner had attempted to enlist, but his application had been rejected as "unqualified" for service in 2008. They declined further disclosure due to confidentiality rules, although an administration official indicated to the media that this was due to a failed drug test.



Police reports reveal he had purchased a Glock pistol at a Sportsman's Warehouse store less than six weeks before and attempted to buy additional ammunition for the pistol at a Walmart on the morning of the shooting.

> Giffford’s political position about gun rights and gun control measures

Friday 6 January 2012

Super Bowl XLVI Winner

Super Bowl XLVI Winner

1. +175 Green Bay Packers
2. +400 New England Patriots
3. +500 New Orleans Saints
4. +700 Baltimore Ravens

The 2011–12 NFL playoffs following the 2011 regular season will begin on January 7, 2012, and end with Super Bowl XLVI on February 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This will be the second postseason that the modified playoff overtime rules will be in effect. Under these rules, instead of a straight sudden death, the game will not immediately end if the team that wins the coin toss only scores a field goal on its first possession (the game will end if they score a touchdown). Instead, the other team gets a possession. If the coin toss loser then scores a touchdown, it is declared the winner. If the score is tied after both teams had a possession, then it goes back to sudden death. It will be the first playoff appearance in the Houston Texans' history.

The Green Bay Packers currently hold the title as Super Bowl Champions after their 31–25 victory in Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers.



Thursday 5 January 2012

BBC Learning Excercises - January

Coffee or tea?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/expressenglish/2012/01/120130_ee_coffee_tea.shtml

Internet privacy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/01/120127_witn_internet.shtml

Negatives
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1522_negatives

Driving
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/expressenglish/2012/01/120116_ee_driving_story.shtml

Captain's etiquette
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2012/01/120126_6min_english_captain_story.shtml

US National Film Registry
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2012/01/120119_6min_english_films.shtml

Different uses of 'get'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1110_get

Dragons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/01/120124_tews_55_dragon_page.shtml

Fitness
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/expressenglish/2012/01/120116_ee_fitness_page.shtml

Stuffed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/01/120110_tews_53_stuffed_page.shtml

Work E-mails
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2012/01/120111_6min_english_work_email.shtml

Phobias
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/expressenglish/2012/01/120109_ee_phobias_page.shtml

Hopes for 2012

Tuesday 3 January 2012

New York, New York!

"Theme from New York, New York" (or "New York, New York") is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film New York, New York (1977), composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and performed in the film by Liza Minnelli:



From New York, New York film (1977):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLeC9RvrKrU


In 1979, it was recorded by Frank Sinatra, for his album Trilogy: Past Present Future (1980), and has since become closely associated with him. He occasionally performed it live with Minnelli as a duet. Sinatra made two more studio recordings of the song in 1981 (for his NBC TV special The Man and His Music) and 1993 (for Capitol Records).



With lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ZUXQuFcnw

NBC TV special The Man and His Music (1981):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV02nP9PLnQ

Monday 2 January 2012

A Year of Global Uprisings

Year of Global Uprisings, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back at 2011
- Democracy Now!, January 02, 2012









- http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/2/year_of_global_uprisings_from_the

Sunday 1 January 2012

Theme of New York, New York Lyrics

Start spreadin' (= communicating) the news, I'm leavin' today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York
These vagabond (= that travel from place to place) shoes, are longing (= want very much) to stray (= move away from the place you should be)
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap (= a pile of things)

These little town blues, are melting away (= disappearing)
I'll make a brand (= completely) new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York!

New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm A number one, top of the list
King of the hill, A number one

These little town blues…