N.H. Vote Seen as Gauge as Rivals Try to Slow Romney

N.H. is an abbreviation for “New Hampshire,” a state located in the northeastern part of the U.S. New Hampshire is in the news today because there is an election there to help decide who the Republican candidate for president will be this year, the person who will try to defeat Barack Obama in our presidential election in November. (For an explanation of our presidential election system, see here.)

You probably know there are two main political groups or parties in the U.S.: the Democrats (generally more liberal) and the Republicans (typically more conservative). The Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2012 will be President Obama. The Republicans are choosing their candidate from among several people.  The person with the most popularity right now is the former businessman and governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney.

The New Hampshire vote (election) is seen as or is being interpreted as a gauge.  A gauge is a tool or instrument you use to measure something.  Here it means an indicator, a sign of something. The election is a sign of whether Romney’s rivals will be able to slow him down.  A rival is a person who is competing with you for some prize or in some competition, a person who wants to defeat you. To slow someone or to slow someone down means to make him go less fast. In this headline, “to slow Romney” means to prevent him from winning the Republican nomination (the right to represent the Republican party in the presidential election) too quickly, before any of his rivals have a chance to win it themselves.

If Romney wins the first several state elections for the Republican nomination (he won the first one last week in the state of Iowa), it is likely that he will be able to beat (defeat) all of his rivals and become the Republican candidate. Of course, getting the nomination is just the first step. To become president, Romney will have to defeat President Obama in the November election. Right now it is too early to tell (to know) if he will be able to do that.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Mitt Romeny, Wikipedia PD

5. The Sunday Paper – Americans love reading an extra-large newspaper on Sundays.  This isn’t really something special for 2011, but it is something I look forward to (wait for happily) each week. I am fortunate (lucky) enough to subscribe to two papers – the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.  I always put aside (reserve; save) an hour on Sunday morning’s for reading the newspaper at our large dinner table.

4. Visiting Minnesota – I go back to my home state of Minnesota about twice a year to visit my family, especially my mother in St. Paul.  (My father passed away (died) three years ago.)  Coming from such a large family, there are always parties and celebrations to go to.  This fall I went to my niece’s wedding. I always go in the spring, summer, or fall, never in the wintertime, when it’s just too cold!

3. My House – I am very thankful to live in a house I enjoy being in. That hasn’t always been the case (been true) in the past, but this past year I got to move to a house with a nice room for my home office and a comfortable living area.  Most importantly, I got to use my new lawn mower to cut the grass.

2. Good Books – I have always liked reading, but this year I have had the pleasure of reading books both in the traditional paper format and on my iPad.  Some of the books I have enjoyed include Moonwalking with Einstein, The Upside of Irrationality, and, of course, The Dummies Guide to Lawn Care. I’ve also done a lot more reading on the web (blogs, articles), including lots of things I find via (through) Twitter.

1. My Job – I love my work and the people I get to work with – you! I can’t think of a better place to work than (virtually, via the Internet) in the 220+ countries where you all live, and with the thousands of listeners who download our episodes each week.

What are 5 things that you are thankful for this year, or you think have made 2011 a good year?

~Jeff

 Photo credit: Ocean View at Santa Monica, 1927, Los Angeles Public Library
(NB: This photo used to be our “logo” on our MP3 files a few years ago.)

There has been a debate in the scientific community recently about whether the amount of willpower you have is determined by your genes, and whether for some people willpower is limited – that is, if you use it, you will eventually run out (be without it) and therefore unable to resist certain temptations. If this is true, it means that some people aren’t always responsible for giving in to (not resisting) temptation, since biologically they are unable to stop themselves.

Other scientists say that willpower is not biologically limited.  Instead, they say that what you believe about willpower makes the difference in how you use (or don’t use) your willpower. They say that if you believe that willpower is limited,  then you will not be able to resist temptations for very long. Your belief will become reality.

But if you believe that you have all the willpower that you need, that it is not limited, then you will not give in, but will resist the temptations you encounter (meet).  These scientists have run (conducted; done) psychological experiments with people and have shown that if you tell people that willpower is not limited, and people believe that, then they will be better able to resist doing bad things (like eating too many sweets).

Now, you can decide what you want to do with this information. If you want to eat as many cookies this holiday season (time of year) as you want, then you should probably believe that willpower is limited.  Then you can say to yourself that there is nothing you can do about it – you must have that fifth cookie!

~Jeff

Photo credit: Christmas cookies, Wikipedia CC

Many different groups of people are airing their grievances (telling others why they are unhappy).  Some of the protestors taking part in the protests, at least in the U.S., are young people who are either in college or who have recently graduated.  With unemployment rates (the percentage of people without jobs) high, recent graduates are finding it difficult to start their careers and to start paying back student loans (money borrowed from banks and other institutions to pay for school).  According to Time Magazine, in 1990, the unemployment rate for college graduates was around 5%.  Now it is approaching (getting close to) 10%.

In the U.S., the price of higher education (study at a college or university) has soared (gone up very much).  In 1992-1993, the average student loan amount was about $15,000 (adjusted or changed to 2010 dollars).  In 2010-2011, it is over $34,000.  Most student loan programs give students a six-month grace period (time when someone does not need to pay back money yet).  After that, they must begin repayment (paying money back), whether they have a job or not.  Of those students who began repayment in 2005, 41% became delinquent (behind in their payment) or defaulted (could not repay a loan at all) within five years.  If you consider that as a country, the U.S. has more student loan debt (money owed) than credit card debt, this may very well (very likely) be the next big credit crisis (a time of big problems because of money people have borrowed and can’t pay back).

Students are certainly not the only ones protesting in the Occupy movement and suffering in this economy, but are recent graduates facing these types of problems where you live?  Who are the people participating in the Occupy protests in other countries?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit:  Day 14 Occupy Wall Street September 30 2001 from Wikipedia

In 1981, I was a freshman (first-year college student) at the University of Minnesota.  My declared (official or stated) major (main area of study) was economics.  I had read several books on economics in high school, and had hoped to study at the University of Chicago, famous for its economics department. But I didn’t have enough money to attend (study) there, so I went to what everyone in Minnesota simply calls “the U” (the University of Minnesota).  The U also had a very good economics department, headed by (led by) one of the chief economists for President John F. Kennedy (who is the topic of this week’s English Cafe), Walter Heller. But there were also a pair of young professors in the department who had some new ideas about economics, and especially the role (function; use) of statistics (mathematical approach to studying information or data) in studying economic behavior (the way people act).  Their names were Sargent and Sims.

Sims in particular wrote a famous paper (scientific article) the year before I arrived at the U on something called “vector autoregression,” an advanced statistical tool he thought would help economists better understand the way people reacted to economic policy in the “real world.” (Don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t!) One of the teaching assistants (graduate students who help the professor grade papers and lead discussions) for my class explained to me that these complex statistical approaches were the future of economics. Well, I didn’t know much about statistics, didn’t really like math very much, and believed that the human behavior that economics is supposed to explain could not be reduced to (simplified to) a few numbers.  So I quickly decided I would change my major (major in something else).  There ended my brief career as an economist.

It wasn’t until years later that I discovered I liked statistical analysis, and began using it in my own research.  By then, however, I was already in the area of second language acquisition, and Professors Sargent and Sims had left the U for other places (Sargent is currently at New York University and Sims at Harvard).  Now they have both won a Nobel Prize for their work.  I congratulate them on their achievement, and thank them for changing my mind about studying economics.  If they had not done so, I wouldn’t be working here at ESL Podcast, which I love more than any job I’ve ever had.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Nobel Prize Medal, Wikipedia PD

A large computer security company — McAfee — recently released (made available to the public) the results of their annual study (research done each year) of the famous names used by cyber (electronic; digital; Internet-related) criminals.  These cyber criminals lure (attract) people to websites where they encounter malware, software designed to damage visitors’ computers.  Malware includes:

a) spyware – a program that is installed or saved onto your computer that collects information about you without your knowledge,
b) adware – a program that plays advertisements on your computer, including pop-ups (new windows that open with ads),
c) phishing – a way to deceive or trick you into believing you are on a trusted business website asking you to type in sensitive information, such as your credit card number, passwords, and more, to gather information to use dishonestly, and
d) viruses – programs that replicate (make copies of itself) and spread to other computers, doing damage to them.

The McAfee study found that some movie stars and models are more dangerous to your computer than others.  Here’s their list of the top 10 most dangerous:

1. Heidi Klum — model and reality show host and producer

2. Cameron Diaz – actress

3. Piers Morgan — host of a news and interview show

4. Jessica Biel — actress

5. Katherine Heigl — actress

6. Mila Kunis — actress

7. Anna Paquin — actress

8. Adriana Lima — model

9. Scarlett Johansson — actress

10. Emma Stone, Brad Pitt and Rachel McAdams — actress, actor, and actress in a three-way tie  (two or more people with the same position or standing)

I think that the lesson for all of us is that if we feel compelled (having a strong urge or feeling of wanting to do something) to find compromising (embarrassing or shameful) pictures of models and stars, be sure to search for a man, not a woman. (Note that there are only two men in the top 10.)  However, I admit that might be more interesting to some of us than to others.

~ Lucy

Photo Credit:  Heidi Klum2 from Wikipedia

That was before yarn bombing came along (began). Yarn bombing is a new form of graffiti or street art, where people knit (using two long sticks) or crochet (using one stick with a hook at the end) cozies or covers for things in public.  This new phenomenon (type of thing) started in Texas, where a dress-shop owner knitted a cover for her store’s door handle on a slow business day.  Today, this same dress-shop owner gets invitations to yarn bomb city sites and corporate headquarters.

Why do people yarn bomb? Yarn bombing began much like graffiti art. The yarn bombers made cozies for street signs, sculptures, and other outdoor things.  They would put on these cozies in the middle of the night and take pictures of them, posting them on the Internet.  As with a lot of street art, it was done to be creative, unique (different), and rebellious (do something against authority or people in power).  Most yarn bombers today, however, do it to personalize (make unique according to one’s taste) places that people see as institutional (unappealing; unimaginative) and sterile (without warmth, interest, excitement, or personality).

Yarn bombing is, of course, illegal.  It is a form of vandalism (destroying or damaging of public or private property).  However, thus far (until now), the police in most cities have welcomed yarn bombing and have not arrested anyone.  To see some examples of yarn bombing, take a look at this and this.

I’ve confessed to you (told you something shameful or bad) that I’m terrible at knitting and crocheting, but I’m thinking of doing some yarn bombing myself.  What do you think of yarn bombing the top of Jeff’s head?  It’s beautiful enough as it is, but maybe a green, blue, red, pink, and yellow cozy with flowers on it would make it even more beautiful?  I’m open to suggestions.

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: “ThankYouTree” from Wikipedia

It’s tragic (very sad) that such a talented singer has died at this young age.  However, she’s not alone.  Also dying at 27 were  Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.  This has been called “The 27 Club.”

Is there something about the magic number of 27?  Probably not, but one writer in the Washington Post suggested one reason we remember these singers:

“Their swirling mythologies congeal around a relatively small body of work. Many of these artists were young visionaries who left bold marks but didn’t live long enough to slide into mediocrity.”

Mythology is a set of stories about a person, place, or event that might explain why things are the way they are. For example, we all know about the Greek and Roman myths or mythology and in every culture there is a mythology about how the world was created.

To congeal means for a liquid to become more solid, often because the temperature has cooled.  This is what happens when I leave my dirty dishes in the sink overnight.  The next morning, the dishes have a congealed mess on them that I have to clean off.

A body of work is a collection of what an artist, musician, writer, or any person who does something creative produces over a period of time, often over one’s lifetime.  ESL Podcast’s body of work now includes over 1000 podcasts.

Many of those who died young and whom we still remember were considered visionaries, or people who have big and important ideas about what to do or what to create.  To leave a mark on something means to have a major influence on something or to affect something a lot.

Finally, to slide is to move smoothly over a surface, so to slide into mediocrity means to move without any difficulty or interruption over time into being average, or nothing special.

Amy Winehouse had produced only two albums (CD’s) before she died.  Her biggest hit was “Back in Black,” followed by a song called “Rehab,” which talked about her own troubles with drug use. When artists die young, we create our own mythology about who they were, what they represented, and why it happened.  Only time will tell (we’ll only know in the future) what type of mythology will develop about her.

Do you like or admire any other musicians, artists, actors, etc. for whom a mythology has developed?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit:  Newport Cemetery from Wikipedia

I thought I’d take just one paragraph from this article and explain some of the terms:

“Box-office growth in countries such as Russia, Brazil and China (Europe and Japan have long been fertile ground for American movies) comes as theater attendance in the U.S. and Canada has flattened and once-lucrative DVD sales have plummeted.”

A box-office is the place where we buy movie, play, and other performance tickets, so this term is used to refer to how many tickets are sold.  If a movie has a big box-office, it has sold a lot of tickets and is a money-making success.  When a movie sells very few tickets, we say that the movie has bombed.

If something is fertile, it is easy to grow things there.  A woman can be described as fertile if, for example, she gives birth to 11 children.  The ground or soil is often described as fertile, meaning that plants and crops (plants used for food) grow easily and well there.

For something to flatten means to for it to not change, not increase or decrease.  We usually use this to talk about something that has been growing or increasing, but now, that growth or increase has stopped.  This use of “flattened” probably comes from line charts or graphs, showing trends or movement over time.

If something is lucrative, it is likely to make you a lot of money.  We use it to talk about business deals or opportunities: “My brother told me about a lucrative new stock, but I’m too unsure about it to buy it.”

To plummet means to fall or decrease very quickly and very much.  You can use this word literally to mean that someone or something falls very quickly from a high place:  “Jeff dropped the water balloon out of the window, but it plummeted to the ground without hitting me.”  More often, we use “plummet” figuratively to talk about things that decrease quickly:
- “Sales of bananas grown in this area plummeted when people got sick from eating them.”
- “The price of our company’s stocks plummeted with news of the scandal.”

These are all common terms we use, not only to talk about the market for movies, but to talk about business in general (with the exception of “box office,” of course).  You can read the full article here.

Have you seen any Hollywood blockbusters recently you’d recommend? Are you looking forward to any that you’ve heard about?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: “Movie Premier Setup” from Wikipedia

That brings us to the neologism Carmageddon, a combination of course of the words car and Armageddon.  So what is the Carmageddon?  The term is being used to describe something happening in Los Angeles this weekend (July 16th and 17th), when a ten-mile stretch (section of a road or highway) of one of our major (most important; busiest) freeways, Interstate 405, will be completely closed for more than two days. Some experts are predicting that this will be a huge disaster, with people unable to move or travel due to (because of) all of the traffic (cars) that will be diverted (moved) to other streets and freeways. We’re expecting large traffic jams (where cars are stopped or moving very slowly) on all of our streets and roads, including the ones close to where I live (which is not too far from the 405). The 405 freeway in Los Angeles carries (has on it) more than 280,000 cars per day.  Imagine what will happen when those cars must now use other streets and roads.

It is important to understand that closing a freeway in Los Angeles is unlike a similar event in most other cities.  Los Angeles is a ‘”car culture,” where owning and driving a car is considered essential (necessary) for most people.  We don’t have a good public system of transportation like other big cities in the U.S. (New York or Chicago), so almost everyone drives everywhere.

Government officials have been telling people about Carmageddon for weeks now, and they even asked some famous celebrities like Lady Gaga and Ashton Kutcher to tweet about it to their followers on Twitter.  People are being told to stay home this weekend, not to try to drive anywhere unless it is an emergency.

Personally, I plan on shopping for food on Friday morning and then staying in my house all weekend, leaving only when absolutely necessary.  (If necessary, I may even walk somewhere, but that seems unlikely (not probable).) One newspaper had good advice for people who have to drive in Los Angeles this weekend: download some podcasts to listen to in the car while you’re waiting in traffic.  Sounds like an excellent idea to me!

~Jeff

Photo credit: Movie poster for Armageddon (1998), Wikipedia