This past Saturday, the singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment. Although the authorities (police and other government agencies) are still determining how she died, the singer had a long history with drug abuse (being addicted to or reliant on illegal drugs).  Amy Winehouse was 27 years old.

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

Summer is in full swing (in the middle of something, usually with a lot of activity) and the summer blockbusters, or those movies likely to make a lot of money, are out. I recently read an interesting story about Hollywood films becoming popular in countries that have, in the past, not been very interested in them. These new opportunities for new customers (or audiences, in this case) are often called new markets or emerging markets.

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

A neologism is a newly created word that has not yet been widely accepted or used, a word not found in a dictionary. Neologisms are often the result of some new event or activity, and sometimes are formed by changing or combining existing words. For example, the word Armageddon refers to the end of the world, as some people think is depicted (shown; described) in the last book of the Christian Bible.  The term is more generally used now to mean a terrible disaster, bigger than anything previously seen.

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

It’s June and the beginning of the summer travel season. Many of us will be traveling on airplanes and the airlines are hoping we’ll spend more than ever.

The airlines tell us that with the higher price of gasoline, they’re having to find creative ways to make more money.  One of the main ways is to unbundle services that were once included in the price of an airline ticket.  To bundle is to take several or many things and to fasten (tie; fix) them together.  Behind my desk are a bunch of (many) computer and other cords (long piece of material that connects a machine to a power source) that need to be bundled together.

It’s not surprising that the airlines have decided to go this route (follow this plan).  The profit margin (difference between how much something costs a company and how much they charge a customer for it) for add-ons (things added to the original item or service) is about 80%.  In just the past two years, revenues or profits on add-ons have gone up 96% and some airlines get 10 to 30% of their revenues from add-ons alone (by itself).

Here are a list of just a few things that airlines are unbundling from the price of an airline ticket:

• Overhead bin space: Overhead bins are the boxes above airline seats where people put their luggage.  With some airlines, you can now pay extra to be among the first people to board (go onto) the airplane, so you won’t have trouble finding a place for your carry-on luggage.  Cost: $10-$35
• Pets: Do you want to bring your pet with you when you travel?  Be ready to pay $125 each way.
• Wi-fi:  If you want to stay connected to the Internet while on board, you’ll have to pay for it.  Cost: $5-$15.
• Exit rows: In the past, if you were a savvy (knowledgeable) traveler, you know to arrive early at the airport to get a seat in the exit row, where the emergency doors are located.  Those seats tend to (typically; usually) have more leg room for, well, your legs. Now, you have to pay for an exit row seat and the price is different depending on how desirable the location.  Cost: $5-$35
• Clean pillow and blanket: Have you ever wondered who used that pillow on the last flight? If you’re worried about germs (the very small things that can cause illness), you can pay for a sanitized (specially cleaned) pillow and blanket.  Cost: $7
• Meals: If you’re on a longer flight, meals used to be included, but not anymore.  Airlines are now offering more options and sometimes better food, but you’ll have to pay.  Cost: $5-$10
• Baggage: It used to be that each passenger was allowed one checked bag (carried under the airplane, in storage) and one carry-on (carried onto the airplane).  Now most airlines charge for each checked bag.  Cost: $25-$45.

Do you think the airlines are trying to nickel and dime us (get the most money from us for every little thing) or do you think this is a legitimate (real; justifiable) way for the airlines to make money and stay in business?

What would you be willing and not willing to pay for on a flight?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Jet Airways 777 Premiere Cabin from Wikipedia

Bait is the food you use to catch or capture an animal. If you are trying to catch a fish, for example, you might use worms or pieces of corn or some other food fish might like to eat. Once the fish try to eat the food, you can catch (take from the water) them for your dinner.

More generally, the word bait can mean anything you use to lure someone (to get someone to go somewhere where something else will happen to them) to a certain place. Stores will often try to lure in customers (buyers) by offering a low price on something, hoping people will come in and buy other things as well.  It is illegal, however, for a store to advertise (put an announcement in a newspaper, on television, or on the Internet) something for a low price that they don’t actually have and then, when the customers come in, try to “switch” or change them to another, more expensive product. This is called a bait-and-switch.

The New York Times reported recently on what is not exactly a typical bait-and-switch, but another kind of fraud (attempt to cheat or steal from someone by tricking or fooling them) involving fish.  According to DNA (genetic) studies, about 25% of all the fish sold in U.S. supermarkets (grocery stores) is not what it is advertised to be.  It’s often a different (usually cheaper) kind of fish or not the quality that the store says it is.  For certain kinds of fish that are popular, such as Atlantic cod or wild salmon, the percentage of falsely (incorrectly) advertised products is as high as 70%.

So when you go to the store and think you’re buying mahi-mahi, you may actually be getting yellowtail.  That Atlantic cod you bought yesterday could really just be the much cheaper tilapia.  What you think is gulf shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico may actually be from Thailand, and that red snapper may just be Vietnamese catfish.

In some cases, you might think that the customer would know the difference between these types of fish, and sometimes they do.  But in general we don’t question (doubt) the food we are given. Who knows? Maybe that hamburger you ate yesterday was really something else.

Bon appetit!*

~Jeff

*We use this French expression in English also to mean “Enjoy your meal!”

Graphics credit: Atlantic cod, Wikipedia CC

I came across (saw something I wasn’t looking for at the time) a couple of statistics recently, although I’m not sure exactly what they mean. The first comes from an article in the Wall Street Journal about the California Prison Academy, which is the place where people who want to become prison guards go to get training (education).  Prison guards are like the police at a jail or prison – they make sure the prisoners (criminals) don’t escape (leave without permission). California has one of the largest prison systems in the world, and the prison guard union (group of workers who join together to protect their jobs and salaries) is very powerful in California politics.  Because of that power, prison guards get paid a lot of money – between $45,000 and $65,000 for their first year – relative to (compared to; considering) their level of education (you only need to be a high school graduate to be a prison guard).

Over (more than) 120,000 people apply (asked to be admitted) to the California Prison Academy each year, but the Academy enrolls (takes as students) only 900 people.  That means that only about 1% of the people who apply get in (get accepted; are able to study there).  Compare this to America’s best university, Harvard.  Harvard accepts 6.2% of the people who apply to be students there.  In other words, it is tougher (more difficult) to get into the program for prison guard training in California than the country’s best university!

Here’s one more for you: McDonald’s, the restaurant chain (group of stores or restaurants that all belong to the same company), recently hired 62,000 new workers in the U.S. after about one million people applied.  So doing the math (calculating), we find that the job acceptance rate (percentage of people who are accepted) at McDonald’s this year was 6.2% – precisely (exactly) the same as Harvard University.  (And remember: when you go to Harvard, you don’t get free hamburgers and French fries.) It’s even worse in other countries: Bloomberg News reported that getting into the McDonald’s training program in China was actually harder (more difficult) than getting into Harvard.

What does it all mean?  I’m not sure.  I didn’t go to Harvard, have never been a prison guard, and haven’t worked at McDonald’s, but I’m pretty sure there is something wrong with this picture (some problem with this situation).

~Jeff

Image Credit: McDonald’s logo, Wikipedia

In the U.S., when an important person in government dies, flags are flown (displayed) at half-mast* or half-staff* (both terms are commonly used). Both of these terms mean for a flag to be flown lower on the flagpole (tall outdoor metal pole on which a flag is attached and shown).

The President of the United States can issue an executive order (command of the President) for a flag to be flown at half-staff to show respect for the person who has died.  When the President issues an executive order, all government buildings, including public schools, government offices, and military bases (where soldiers live and train) fly their flags at half-mast.  A governor (highest level leader of a state) can also order that flags be flown at half-mast, but the order only affects his or her state.

The number of days a flag is flown at half-staff depends on the position the person held.  For example, for a current or former president, that period is 30 days.  For a vice president or a chief justice (leader of the highest court in the country), the period is 10 days.  For a member of Congress (officials representing the states), the flag is flown at half-staff on the day of the death and the following (next) day.

Last month, a hotel in Ohio got into some hot water (got in trouble) when it had mechanical (related to the working parts of a machine) problems.  On May 1, Osama Bin Laden was killed.  Two days before, the American flag flown outside of the hotel got stuck (could not be moved)–the workers could only get the flag down half-way (to the middle).  Because of continuing rains for two weeks, the workers could not repair the flagpole and get the flag down.  People driving by and seeing the flag misinterpreted (had the mistaken idea) that the hotel was honoring (recognizing with respect) Bin Laden.  The hotel received a deluge (in very large numbers) of phone calls, including threats (statement that someone plans to do injury or harm), and people even called the police. The hotel manager finally got the flag down, but he and his employees had a very unpleasant few days.

When an important person in government dies, is the flag flown at half-staff where you live?

~ Lucy

* A “staff” is a very long stick that people sometimes use while walking.  It is not the same as a “cane,” which is much shorter, about the length of a person’s leg, and often with a curve at the end.

** A “mast” is a tall post (long stick) on a boat or ship that holds up the sails, the pieces of fabric used to catch the wind and to move the boat or ship.

Photo Credit: U.S. Half-Staff Sunset from Wikipedia

Today is the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the first Battle of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which marked (indicated) the beginning of the American Civil War.  From 1861 to 1865, approximately 612,000 men, women, and children died as a result of the bloody war between the North and the South (the northern U.S. states and the southern ones).

The Civil War helped end slavery (the use of human beings as property) in the U.S. and preserved (saved; kept) the country intact (as one unit; together).  The cost of the war was high, and its consequences (results) run deep (affect in a serious, profound way) in the history of the United States, even to the present day (today).

It is a sad fact that civil war often produces the worst kind of violence and bloodshed (killing), as many of you in other countries can attest (can give truthful evidence of) in your own histories.  Today, we honor (remember with respect) those who died so that, as President Abraham Lincoln famously said,  “government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish (disappear) from the earth.”

~Jeff

Photo Credit: 1861 photograph of Fort Sumter, Wikipedia Public Domain

We all know that the ability to control yourself and your appetites (desires) is an important part of growing up, of becoming an adult. But a new study by the University of Texas suggests that sometimes “self-control” can make people become resentful (angry because of something you cannot do or has been done to you) and more prone to (more likely to commit) aggression (angry behavior toward others).

The researchers found that people who chose a healthy snack (an apple) instead of something that was less good for them (chocolate) were later more likely to prefer movies that had violent themes than those who chose chocolate.  Another study found that people who controlled their spending or showed “financial restraint” preferred seeing angry faces instead of fearful ones.

It appears, then, that we have a finite (limited) supply of energy that can be used for self-control.  When people are asked to control themselves, they may also seek (look for the opportunity) to release whatever anger or frustration they have in other forms, such as watching violent movies.

I’m not sure what to make of (what to think of) this research.  I think many people today could do a better job at controlling their desires and wants (including me!).  Perhaps there is some middle ground (compromise position; neither complete self-control nor doing whatever you feel like) that is best.

~Jeff

*The title of the post is a play on (a funny change of words related to) a famous phrase by one of the American revolutionaries from the late 18th century, Patrick Henry, who said, “Give me liberty (freedom), or give me death!”  I also changed “death” to Death Wish, the name of a violent movie from the 1970s with Charles Bronson as the star.

Photo Credit: Promotional poster for movie, Death Wish, Fair Use Wikipedia

Today I’m going to try another “Headline English” post. First I’ll give the background (the overall story or context of the headline), then we’ll talk about the specific words in the headline.

Headline: Anti-Hunger Advocates Fast to Protest U.S. Budget Cuts (from Voice of America).

Background:  The United States Congress (our elected national representatives; the House of Representatives and Senate) in Washington, D.C. has been trying to lower (make less) the amount the government spends each year, since the U.S. currently (now) has a very large budget deficit.  A budget is a description of how much you make (income) and how much you spend (expenses). A deficit is when you spend more than you make – usually not a good idea! But in order to reduce the deficit, Congress has to cut (eliminate) some popular programs.  Among the programs being considered for reduction or elimination are those that provide emergency food aid (help; assistance) for victims (people who are hurt by something or someone) of disasters (a bad event which affects many people, such as an earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes).  Some organizations want to stop Congress from making these cuts for people who are hungry.

Behind the Headline: The prefix “anti-” before a word means against or the opposite.  Anti-Hunger means you are against (don’t like, don’t want) hunger (the condition of being hungry, without enough food to eat).  An advocate is a person who is trying to defend some idea or organization, or who wants to change the political approach to an issue.  To fast means not to eat food on purpose (by choice; voluntarily).  This is sometimes done for religious reasons (Christians, Muslims, and Jews all fast for various occasions), sometimes for health reasons.  But it has also become a way of publicizing (making people know about) some political problem.  To protest means to fight against something in order to change it.  Budget cuts are reductions in the amount of money an organization (like the government) spends.

So anti-hunger groups are trying to stop Congress from reducing the amount the U.S. government spends on helping those who are in need of food during an emergency.

If you live outside the United States, is your government facing (having to deal with; take care of) similar problems of budget deficits?

~Jeff

Photo Credit: Voice of America (Public Domain)