ESL Podcast listener Fabio Okipney has started a page for ESL Podcast listeners onMySpace. MySpace is a social networking site where you can becomes “friends” with other people you know or who have similar interests. If you have a page on MySpace, you can become friends with other ESL Podcast listeners.
MySpace is very popular among many younger people in the United States. Like a blog, it allows people to express their ideas and share information on the web. Many thanks to Fabio for setting up this page!
One of the hottesttickets or most popular performances in Los Angeles this month is to Shakespeare–yes, you read that correctly–Shakespeare.
Ian McKellen, the highly respected British actor, is coming to town to perform in a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear at the end of October. He is also well known for his roles or acting parts in many films, including X-Menand Lord of the Rings. The tickets for his performance sold out on the first day.
It’s very sad. I tried to get tickets, but the performance was already sold out. Some people with tickets are now selling them to make a profit, with tickets selling for over $1000!
If anyone has an extra ticket or want to contribute to (to give to) the “Send-Lucy-to-see-King-Lear Fund,” please let me know. I’m pretty good at washing cars and making spaghetti.
Today’s podcast, 312 – Different Work Styles, got me thinking about working with our beloved Dr. Jeff McQuillan. I won’t say if he’s a type A or type B person, a workaholic, or an alpha male at work (see “Culture Note” in the Learning Guide), but here are three things I do know about Jeff from working with him over the years.
1. Jeff drinks tea or soda all day, and he will usually have a large cup of tea or a large glass of soda when he records podcasts. But, be careful! He doesn’t allow any drinks on his desk—his own drinks or his visitors’—after what happened to his laptop computer earlier this year (see English Cafe 71)–a very good idea.
2. Jeff has a great memory for songs and you can hear him whistling (singing through a small hole made by his lips) or singing all day long. Maybe that’s the reason why he sings so well.
3. He really likes puns (jokes with words that have two or more meanings) like this one:
“I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.”
[If something hits you, it means that something strikes your body, or it may mean you suddenly think of an answer or idea.]
Some of the best television programs in the U.S. are not from Hollywood, but from the United Kingdom (aka (also known as) Great Britain). The British Broadcasting Service (BBC) – known also in England as “the Beebe” – has some of excellent comedies, dramas, and documentaries. Many of these programs are on public television stations in the U.S.
My favorite comedies are from the BBC. When I was growing up, there was a comedy about a man who was going through a “mid-life crisis” like the one we talk about in ESL Podcast 311 for today. It’s called The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
I’ll talk about some of my other favorite comedies in future posts. If you have a chance to see this show on DVD, I think you will find it funny.
In today’s English Cafe, I talk about the legend of Bigfoot, a mysterious man-animal that is supposed to live in the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. Be sure to read today’s Learning Guide, where in our What Insiders Know section you can learn about another mystery, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Do you know of any stories from other countries about some mystery animal that no one has every seen?
I also talk about a famous comedy routine by the great American comedians Abbot and Costello. Here’s a clip (a small section of a movie) with “Who’s on first?” The words for the most of the routine can be found here. They speak very fast, so you may want to look at the words while you watch it. The script starts about 45 seconds after the beginning of the clip. The man on the left (Costello) is selling peanuts at a baseball game, and the man on the right (Abbott) is the coach of the team. Costello asks Abbot to tell him the name of the players on the team. I suggest reading the script first, and then trying to watch the clip. It lasts about six minutes.
A big news story in the Los Angeles Times last week was an exposé (a news report of something surprising or shocking) about the leader of the California assembly, the committee that makes the state’s laws. The reporter wrote that this assembly person, Fabian Nuñez, used money from donors for very high cost things, including very expensive trips to Spain and France, and very high-priced items for himself and gifts for other people.
A politician using public money for luxuries (expensive things) is clearly wrong, but what also angered many readers was this quote from Nuñez:
“There’s not too big a difference,” he said, “between how I live and how most middle-class people live.”
The middle class in the U.S. include those who are professionals, very skilled laborers, and people in low- or middle-level management who supervise workers. Most people would say that Nuñez’s lifestyle seems more upper class than middle class. People seem to be as annoyed or irritated by his claim to be middle class as his misuse of public money!
Today’s podcast talks about buying furniture for a new house. I discuss all the different kinds of furniture that you might want to buy. Read the Learning Guide to find out more about the different popular styles of furniture in the US, including “shabby chic” and “craftsman.”
Of course, furniture, like clothing, tells us something about who we are. For example, I don’t have a desk in my office at home. I have a big table – a dining table, really – where I like to spread out all of my papers. I also have two bookshelves that are simple but overloaded with books. I think my big table indicates that I feel the need to have lots of different pieces of information to work effectively, but that I am not very well organized!
Do you have styles like “shabby chic” and “craftsman” in your house or apartment? What’s one piece of furniture that you love the most, and why? Are there pieces of furniture that I didn’t mention that are common in your country?
Feel free to post your comments and answers! Remember that to control spam, we have to approve comments first, so please be patient.
If you own an Apple computer (a Mac), you probably know that you can use your Dashboard to view widgets (small software programs). One of our listeners, Orlando Chicconi, from the iPhoneStory.com website, has very generously created a widget that allows Mac computer users to listen to ESL Podcast right on your Dashboard! On the back of the widget (press the small “i”), you can see the topic for the podcast, and click on links that bring you to the website and the ESL Podcast Store.
Proverbs (traditional sayings) can tell you a lot about the culture and ideas of those who speak a certain language. I’d thought it would be fun to take a look every now and then (occasionally) at some popular proverbs. Today’s is “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
This expression means that it is better to keep what you have than to risk (take a chance) it for something greater. Having one bird in your hand is worth more than trying to catch two birds that are in the bush (a large plant). You have to let go of (release) the bird that is already in your hand in order to catch the other two birds, but of course you may fail and end up with (have at the end) no birds at all. Because of the risk of loosing the little you have, it is sometimes better not to try to get something more and end up with nothing.
When I was a child, there was a television program called “My Mother, the Car,” which had the followingpremise (idea or concept for a story): A man’s mother dies, and her soul or mind takes possession of (owns) her son’s car! The show was a bizarre (very odd or strange) comedy, where the son would talk to his “mother” who was now part of the car by using the car radio. We often imagine that our machines are like people, so this show made that idea the basis for (the principal idea for) the show.
Nowadays (currently, now), we have computers in our cars which can talk to us and tell us where to go, almost like a real human being. The Learning Guide for ESL Podcast 309 has a Cultural Note about these types of computers, GPS navigation systems, which help drivers know exactly where they are, usually on a screen map in their car. But will we in the future have even more “intelligent” cars? I just saw this article about a new center (place of research) at the University of Michigan called the Center for Intelligent Vehicles. They are studying the possibility of connecting cars to a larger network or system which could help control traffic and even prevent traffic accidents.
Soon, you may not need your mother in your car, just a computer.
MySpace. MySpace is a social networking site where you can becomes “friends” with other people you know or who have similar interests. If you have a page on MySpace, you can become friends with other ESL Podcast listeners.
Some of the best television programs in the U.S. are not from Hollywood, but from the United Kingdom (aka (also known as) Great Britain). The 
Today’s 
Proverbs (traditional sayings) can tell you a lot about the culture and ideas of those who speak a certain language. I’d thought it would be fun to take a look every now and then (occasionally) at some popular proverbs. Today’s is “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
premise (idea or concept for a story): A man’s mother dies, and her soul or mind takes possession of (owns) her son’s car! The show was a bizarre (very odd or strange) comedy, where the son would talk to his “mother” who was now part of the car by using the car radio. We often imagine that our machines are like people, so this show made that idea the basis for (the principal idea for) the show.
