Saturday, July 25, 2009

#1100 TDES Moving Announcement + Thank You, Final Show Before Summer Break


Show 1100 Friday 24 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today is our one thousand one hundredth show and it’s our last show before we take a break and relocate our studio to another country.

And today I’m finally going to tell you where we’re going.

We are going to a small island - well a group of islands - in the South Pacific called Aotearoa, otherwise known as New Zealand.

We’re planning to set up studio tdes in Auckland which is in the North Island and it’s the biggest city in New Zealand. I’m looking forward to living in a city again. And the reason why I want to live in Auckland is partly because my grandmother lives there and I really want to hang out with her again … and also I have other family and friends who live there that I love. Well, I don’t know how many friends I still have because I haven’t been very good at keeping in touch … but some of them might still remember me.

And another reason why I want to live in Auckland is that there’s more of a mixture of people there than in other parts of New Zealand and that’s something that I missed living in Japan.

So we’re taking a few months off because of course we need to pack up and move and then find a place to live in New Zealand and I need to find a job … well, of course this is my full-time job and I’ll still be doing that in New Zealand … but I still need to so something else part time to survive.

So the next show will be on Monday the 2nd of November. But, before you start sobbing uncontrollably … because it’s such a long break and because there are a few videos that I really want to make before I leave Japan, we’re going to upload a few summer special shows over the break.

One of them is a video I’ve been planning with my new bike. I didn’t tell you, but The Daily English Show won a bike a few weeks ago from Watch Me TV, that’s one of the Japanese sites that we upload to, so that was very exciting. And I’ve been planning a video to show off the new bike, but it’s been raining forever and I’m still waiting for a sunny day.

So that’ll be one of the summer specials. And also we’ve been invited to Kyoto to film a swimming race down there. So we’ll be going down there at the end of August and then we’ll be making a video of that event and also of that trip and we’ll be doing a few other videos of summer in Japan.

And we’ll probably film a bit of our trip moving to New Zealand and I’ll show you that once I arrive. And maybe tell you about my culture shock that I’ll no doubt have when I arrive back in New Zealand.

So that’s about all I have to say about our plans. And now I’d just like to say thank you.

Thank you to everyone for all your wonderful support. Since we started in 2006, people have shown their support for The Daily English Show in many different ways … by emailing, leaving comments, by becoming a member, by subscribing to The Daily English Show channel on YouTube or by becoming a friend on one of the social networking sites that we belong to.

By the way, if you’ve added me as a friend somewhere and I haven’t accepted, it’s not because I don’t want to be friends, it’s just because I haven’t got around to it. I know some people have been adding me on Facebook but I just haven’t got around to logging in and accepting people. But I’m planning to start using Facebook over the break, so feel free to add me and I actually set up a group (for The Daily English Show) the other day, well a couple of weeks ago, out of curiosity, and I was surprised to find that some people have already joined it.

So thank you again for all your support.

And thank you also to the Japanese websites we upload to: Watch Me TV, PeeVee.TV and eyeVio – they’ve all been really supportive of The Daily English Show and we really appreciate that. And of course we’re not going to stop uploading to those sites just because we’re leaving Japan. In fact, not a lot will change with The Daily English Show from the viewers’ perspective. Of course, the content might change a little bit … we won’t be interviewing so many ski instructors and we won’t so much footage of snow – or any for that matter, living in Auckland.

And this is not goodbye forever to Japan, we’re planning to come back to produce the show here again at some point. I loved living in Tokyo and I’d really love to live there again. And if we get the chance I’d like to come back and visit Niseko again too.

Thank you so much to the people who have supported us here in Niseko. Being a ski resort, many people in this area are interested in skiing and snowboarding of course and property development, so it was kind of hard finding people that were interested in an educational show. But despite that many people were really supportive and helped us a lot so we really appreciate that.

Thank you very much to the businesses here in Niseko who have supported us:

Saison Club
Loaf Lounge
Scott Adventure Sports
MSK
Powder Company
Niseko Annupuri

And a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to be a guest on the show – you guys rock. I love having guests on the show ... I think it really ads a lot to the show and it’s great to be able to listen to English spoken by a variety of people in a variety of accents.

And special thanks to Haya-san, who is probably our number 1 fan here in Niseko.

Special thanks also to Miho who was our first guest. She was really the one that got the ball rolling. When we met her and she found out about what we were doing, she was like: “Use me, I’ll come on the show and be a guest.” And I was like, “OK, wow, that’s a great idea.” And it went really well and so we decided to continue having guests.

And finally one more thank you … these just came in the mail … I’m not sure if you can see them properly, but Reiko made us some hand made stamps …thank you so much, they’re very cool, I love them. So the next people that become members this month will be getting a note from me stamped with some very stylish tdes stamps.

And speaking of sending stuff … because we’re moving, we’re going to have to get rid of most of our stuff like furniture, which I’m not really that sad about because I’m not particularly attached to anything. The only thing I am really sad about saying goodbye to, is this yellow couch. I really love this couch. So I had an idea, if anyone who lives in Japan wants this couch I would love to give it to you, you just have to pay for the delivery cost or come and pick it up if you live in the area. I think it would be cool if a fan of The Daily English Show wanted to become the new owner of this stylish yellow couch. You’ll be able to have the couch, probably at the end of September. Before then we still have a couple of interviews to do, which we’ll be using once we get to New Zealand.

So thanks again for watching. Please keep in touch and I’ll see you in New Zealand. Bye.



photo by: Peter Harrison



photo by: Kiwi Flickr



photo by: Allan Lee



photo by: Andrew Currie


photo by: Germán Póo-Caamaño


photo by: Epic Beer


photo by: Lynda


photo by: Lynda



photo by: Phillip Capper



photo by: Robyn Gallagher



photo by: Sandy Austin



photo by: Sandy Austin



photos by: eric.brechemier



photo by: 23am.com



photo by: Stas Kulesh


notes

The Daily English Show on Facebook

* After filming this ... I realized I was confused about Facebook (because I haven't used it much). It turns out I made a page a few weeks ago, and I think I made a group a while back. I didn't realize there was a difference between a page and a group.

The Daily English Show Facebook page

The Daily English Show Facebook group



music

artist: Kevin MacLeod
tracks: Future Cha Cha, Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

* Thank you Ethlinn for pointing out the mistake in today's script :)

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

#1099 Rhys Darby 2degrees Ad, Small And Pert, TDES Move, Typical


Show 1099 Thursday 23 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

People have been guessing where our next location might be. Thank you for your comments.

So far people have guessed:

Tubenjunge: America, France, Germany, the apartment next door
82quatro: Russia
adyho07: Australia
Hikosaemon: Korea
stefkova1234: NZ

And I can confirm that … one of those is correct.

I’ll be telling you which one on the next show.

The video we’re studying today is an ad for a new mobile phone company in New Zealand called 2degrees.

I love this ad, I think it’s hilarious. Mostly because it has Rhys Darby in it. You might know Rhys Darby from Flight of the Conchords. He plays Murray.

Have you heard of the idea of six degrees of separation?
It’s the idea that any two people are connected by at the most five people. But people say that in New Zealand, because it has such a small population, there are only two degrees of separation. When two people meet each other in New Zealand it’s not uncommon for the conversation to go something like:
Where are you from?
Oh, I’m from such-and-such a town.
Oh do you know so and so.
Yeah, I do.

… whereas I don’t think that happens as much in countries with bigger populations. So that’s where the name of the company 2degrees comes from.

Rhys calls New Zealand Godzone, which comes from the phrase God’s Own Country. And you can read about the origin of that in Wikipedia. Personally I think it sounds kind of arrogant and just a bit weird, so I don’t use it … but it is quite common for New Zealanders to call New Zealand Godzone.

Rhys’ use of the word pert to describe New Zealand is quite funny. You normally hear body parts being described as small and pert rather than countries.

Another funny thing is how he pronounces logo. He says logo.
I assumed that he was pronouncing it incorrectly on purpose in keeping with his character of being kind of stupid. But I just looked it up and I found that logo is also correct. So now I’m just confused.



STICK NEWS



Kia ora, in Stick News today The Daily English show is relocating.

The Daily English Show is an internet show with an average international audience of 4.2 million viewers a day.
Since its launch in April 2006 in Tokyo, Japan The Daily English Show has taken the online world by storm and six months after the show started the studio moved North to a town called Kutchan.
Almost three years later, The Daily English Show announced they will be relocating again.
According to reports, the shows producers have confirmed they will be going ahead with the move, despite being offered millions of yen to stay in Kutchan.

And that was Stick News for Thursday 23rd of July.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is typical.

This word has a few different meanings, but the one we’re interested in today is this:

adj. (often disapproving)
behaving in the way that you expect

For example: She’s late again – typical!

At the end of the ad Rhys says: So, who’s keen?
He’s asking if anyone’s interested in buying a mobile phone from this company … and then he looks around and can’t see anyone. So he says: No one. Typical.

Even though he has just explained how great this mobile phone company, no one is interested. Ugh, typical.



conversations with sarah
#698 Are you going to miss Japan?

Step 1: Repeat Rebecca’s lines.
Step 2: Read Rebecca’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Rebecca Are you going to miss Japan?

Sarah Yeah, definitely.

Rebecca A-ha! So you are leaving Japan.

Sarah I mean … if I was to leave Japan then I would definitely miss it.

Rebecca What would you miss?

Sarah Oh, so many things. Like, the internet.

Rebecca What do you mean? The internet’s everywhere.

Sarah Yeah, but lots of countries don’t have fast connections. And it’s a lot more expensive in many countries.

Rebecca Would you miss the food?

Sarah Yeah, stuff that you can’t get in other places. But then again in other places there’s stuff that you can’t get here or it’s more expensive here so … basically everywhere has it’s good and bad points, so I’m pretty much happy anywhere.





Us Kiwis really are special.
The whole world can be connected with six degrees of separation.
But in little old Godzone, it’s only two!
Everybody knows someone who knows someone.
You’d think it would be easy to keep in touch in this small but pert country.
But is it?
I mean just get locked into a contract for two years.
Hope we get porridge.
Get a call plan that’s harder to solve than the Da Vinci Code.
And then ruthlessly select only a small handful of mates to save on calls.
It shouldn’t be that hard!
And now it isn’t … that hard.
2degrees have build a huge new mobile network dedicated to keeping you, your friends and your money closer together.
That’s not actually it by the way, that’s just a giant logo.
No contracts. Simple pricing plans that treat everyone equally. Even you.
And the more people that sign up, the more savings everyone makes.
So, who’s keen?
No one. Typical.



links

today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

#1098 Ragamuffin, Drunken People, The Customer Is Not Always Right, Anpanman, Intoxicated


Show 1098 Wednesday 22 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with sites that have examples of funny English. There are a few of them out there and I came across one the other day that I hadn’t seen before called engrishfunny.com - and I thought it was pretty funny.

One of the signs that I found the most hilarious was a sign outside a tower somewhere that said:

The ragamuffin, drunken people, and psychotics are forbidden to enter the Tower.

So, what is strange about that sentence?

I think the funniest thing is the choice of words such as ragamuffin. Ragamuffin an old-fashioned word for a person dressed in ragged, dirty clothes. And it’s not the kind of word that you would use on a sign like this.

When you write rules on a sign, presumably your aim is to get people to take the rules seriously so that don’t have to do things like kick people out because they’re causing trouble.

So, in order to get people to take the sign seriously, you need to choose words with the right tone. And this can be hard if you’re just picking the words out of the dictionary. For example ragamuffin might have the right meaning … but it doesn’t quite have the right tone. So if you use the word ragamuffin like that then I think people would be more likely to laugh at your sign rather than take it seriously.

If I was to rewrite that sentence on that sign, I would probably write something like this:

People who are intoxicated, wearing offensive clothing, or behaving in an antisocial manner, will be refused entry to the tower.



click here

The site I recommend today is called Not Always Right.
Have you heard the phrase: The customer is always right?
There’s probably a version of the same thing in your native language.

Of course that doesn’t literally mean that the customer is always right it just means you’re supposed to act as if they are so they buy more stuff. And, as you know, if you’ve ever worked in a job involving customer service, customers can be very stupid.

And this site has stories of funny things that customers have said.

Here are a few examples.

#1

Customer: Do you have a picture book of dinosaurs?

Me: Sure.

(We walk to the dinosaur books and I show him many books with various sketches and paintings of dinosaurs.)

Customer: No, not pictures…PHOTOGRAPHS. Photos of dinosaurs, please. Where are those?

#2

Tech Support: So you’re having issues picking up your wireless signal … how many connections are there?

Customer: There’s two other networks but only one bar on each … those are my bad neighbors.

Tech Support: So the good signal isn’t there? Hmm, your modem might be off; can we check that?
Customer: Modem?

(Tech support troubleshot that for a while before realizing the guy had never paid for internet before and didn’t own a modem.)

Tech Support: Sir, when you said the other connections were your ‘bad neighbors…’ Did you mean that the good neighbor with the good signal isn’t there?

Customer: Oh, he moved?



STICK NEWS



Kia ora, in Stick News today Anpanman has set a new Guinness World Record for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise.

Soreike! Anpanman それいけ!アンパンマン is an animated TV series which has been on the air in Japan since 1988. The series is now the verified Guinness World Record Holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise with 1,768 characters. Apparently producers actually submitted a world record application for over 2,000 characters but some "characters" were not approved by Guinness.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 22nd of July.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is intoxicated.

Intoxicated means drunk. It’s a formal word so you might see it in a news report or on a sign but you wouldn’t usually use it in conversation.



conversations with sarah
#697 Guess what

Step 1: Repeat Will’s lines.
Step 2: Read Will’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Sarah Guess what.

Will What?

Sarah I went to the post office today …

Will Wow, that was a fascinating story. Tell it again.

Sarah I haven’t finished yet. Stop interrupting!

Will I didn’t interrupt. You stopped!

Sarah I didn’t stop, I paused. It was like a comma not a full stop.

Will OK, whatever … carry on.

Sarah No.

Will What do you mean, “No”?

Sarah I don’t want to tell you anymore.

Will Why not?

Sarah Because now it will sound boring after all that build up.



notes

The customer is always right. - Origin


links

today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

#1097 Gigantic, Black Market Baby Shopping, Shady, Crash, First Moon Walk


Show 1097 Tuesday 21 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re studying a scene from a movie called Gigantic because I came across a clip of it online and it looked interesting. It’s a comedy made in the United States and it was released in April this year.

The movie is about a guy called Brian who works in a mattress shop and wants to adopt a Chinese baby.

And in this scene another guy … I think it might be his brother, offers to get Brian a baby on the black market.

Do you know what the black market is?

black market n. an illegal form of trade in which foreign money, or goods that are difficult to obtain, are bought and sold

But Brian doesn’t think it’s a good idea.
He says: It sounds kind of shady.

Shady is an informal word which means that something seems dishonest or illegal.

I think I agree with Brian … buying a baby on the black market sounds incredibly shady.





STICK NEWS



Kia ora, this is Stick News. Forty years ago today Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.

On the 16th of July 1969, three American men flew to the moon in a spaceship called Columbia.
They arrived at the moon on the 20th of July and the next day, they decided to go for a walk.
Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. After his first step he said:
That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.

And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 21st of July.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is crash.

You probably know the word crash as in: The car crashed into the armadillo.

Brrrm … crash!

But crash is also an informal word for sleep.

In today’s scene, the guy asks if it’s OK if he has a bit of a sleep on the one of the beds in the mattress shop.
He says: Hey, you mind if I crash here for a little bit?

And Brian says: Knock yourself out.

Which means: sure, go ahead.





conversations with sarah
#696 It sounds kind of shady

Step 1: Repeat Brian’s lines.
Step 2: Read Brian’s lines and talk to John.

John Anyway, he thinks he can get you a healthy, Chinese baby on the black market for like 45,000 US.

Brian What?

John Nah, it’s Chinese, like you want. He’s got those kind of connections, he’s an oil man.

Brian Really?

John So, what do you think?

Brian The black market?

John Yeah.

Brian It sounds kind of shady.

John Does it? Or does it sound awesome?

Brian Right. It sounds like a bad idea.

John OK, you know, just my little, ah, contribution, but, um, parallel paths, you pursue that way that’s not working right now and I’ll keep on going after my thing. We’ll see who wins.

Brian OK.

John OK. Hey, you mind if I crash here for a little bit?

Brian Knock yourself out.



links

today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

#1096 Studio TDES On The Move Again! Total Eclipse Of The Sun


Show 1096 Monday 20 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today I have an announcement … about an announcement.
It’s about our next break. It seems like we only just had a break … and we did, in May, but we’re taking another break. I’m quite reluctant to take holidays, because I really enjoy making The Daily English Show every day. But I also think it’s healthy to take holidays … and it means that I can do things which I don’t usually have time to when I’m making the show every day. Things like replying to emails or setting up future videos or working on the site.

But, actually, one of the reasons why we’re taking another holiday, and the reason why we’re taking a longer break this time … is because … drum roll please …


photo by: bigdrumthump.com

... we are moving to our next location.

As you may know, The Daily English Show was born in Tokyo in 2006 and has since moved to Hokkaido – where we are now - and then moved to Canada in 2007, then back to Hokkaido. And now the time has come, the walrus said, to move to our next location.

So that’s pretty exciting, don’t you think? And I’ll be telling you where that is on Friday. Feel free to guess in the comments if you like.

And while we’re on the subject of locations, I just thought I’d mention that one of my dreams is to travel to lots of different countries with The Daily English Show. In 2007, Acadia University invited us to go and produce the show at their campus in Nova Scotia, Canada and we had a fantastic time doing that. And that’s the kind of thing that we’d really love to do again. We’d like to go and stay somewhere for a couple of months and explore the area, the local culture and language and interview people who are studying or learning (I meant to say teaching) English. We’re happy to go anywhere in the world basically. All we really need to make the show is a room with a couple of desks and chairs and a couch and an internet connection.

So if you have any suggestions of where we should go, or you have any offers or invitations … then please email me, I’d love to hear from you. Especially once the holiday starts and I actually have time to reply.

thedailyenglishshow@gmail.com

So Friday will be our last show before the summer break … and Friday’s show will be an announcement - announcing the next location of studio tdes.



STICK NEWS




Kia ora, this is Stick News. On Wednesday there will be a total eclipse of the sun. It’s the first total solar eclipse in 46 years that can be seen from Japan.

According to Wikipedia, a solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially covered.
Apparently, total solar eclipses can be frightening for people who are unaware of their astronomical explanation, as the Sun seems to disappear in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.
Kyodo News has reported that hundreds of scientists in Japan are heading to some islands in Kagoshima which are the best places in Japan to view the eclipse.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 20th of July.
Kia ora.



conversations with sarah
#695 Where is the next location?

Step 1: Repeat Aiden’s lines.
Step 2: Read Aiden’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Aiden So where is the next location?

Sarah I’ll tell you on Friday.

Aiden Go on, tell me now!

Sarah No. Be patient.

Aiden Give me a clue! Is it in Asia? Africa? America?

Sarah No.

Aiden No, it’s not any of those places or no, you’re not going to give me a clue?

Sarah No, I’m not going to give you a clue.

Aiden Come on! Just one little hint.

Sarah No.




notes

"The time has come, the walrus said" is a line from a poem called The Walrus and the Carpenter.



music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

#1095 Hinomaru Bento


Show 1095 Sunday 19 July 2009
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Sunday Kitchen #145 Hinomaru Bento

Today I made a traditional Japanese meal called Hiromaru Bento.

The Japanese flag is called Hinomaru and a bento is a packed lunch.

To make Hinomaru Bento, first you need a plastic container. Preferably one with cute cartoon characters on it. But you can substitute a plain plastic container like this in a pinch.

Fill the container with rice using an instrument called a shamoji.

In the middle of the rice, place one umeboshi.
Put the lid on the container.
And then wait until lunch time and eat it with chopsticks.

Delicious.





music

artist: Kevin MacLeod
tracks: Future Cha Cha, Desert City
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site


Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

#1094 Niseko Utari Festival 2009


Show 1094 Saturday 18 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


On the first of February I went to an event in Niseko called the Niseko Utari Festival.
The first part of the event was held at a venue in Hirafu called The Northern Fox.

The Northern Fox has two floors.
Upstairs they were selling stuff like T-shirts.
And there was a van outside selling green curry.

The band that played first was called 3.

Next up was a band called Charaves.

The next band was Feeler.

And then it was Cro-Magnon.

We talked to one of the guys from Cro-Magnon outside after he played.

And how was tonight’s gig?

It was good, it was great, yeah. I felt that people in there … all got together. We played at Zepp Sapporo last night. And that was a great party and the place was huge. And the tension of the people was more able to feel … here, close to each other, so that was good.

The second part of the event was held at a place called Be in Kutchan.
It was a great night.











thanks to

konnichiwa-japan
Utari Festival

The Northern Fox
Be

3
Charaves
Feeler
Cro-Magnon


start music

artist: Kevin MacLeod
tracks: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site


Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Friday, July 17, 2009

#1093 Brooke Fraser, 23 Quadrillion Dollars, Replicate, Knock Knock Joke, NZ Music


Show 1093 Friday 17 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re studying a song by Brooke Fraser.

She’s originally from Wellington, New Zealand and she now lives in Australia.

The song is called Without You and I think it’s a beautiful song.
It’s a love song and the chorus goes:
I wouldn’t be the same without you.

The song starts like this:
The sky opens up over me and you
And you don't seem to mind that we're soaked through

The sky opens up means that it starts raining heavily.
And soaked means very wet.

Then the song goes:
You kiss me in the rain, I forget what I'm moaning about
And I know I wouldn't be the same without you

Moan has a few different meanings.

One meaning is: to make a long deep sound, usually expressing unhappiness, suffering or sexual pleasure.

But that’s not what she means.
She means moan as in: to complain about sth in a way that other people find annoying.

So the situation is … she is with her lover and she’s moaning or complaining about something and then it starts raining heavily and then he kisses her and then she forgets what she was talking about and she thinks about how much she loves her partner.



STICK NEWS




Kia ora, in Stick News today a man in the United States was got a 23 quadrillion dollar charge on his credit card after he made a purchase at a gas station.

A 22-year-old man stopped at a petrol station to buy some cigarettes.
Later he was checking his account online and found that he had been charged 23 quadrillion dollars.
According to CNN the man then panicked and wondered if he had accidentally bought Europe at the petrol station.
It turned out it was a mistake caused by a “temporary programming error”.

And that was Stick News for Friday the 17th of July.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day


Today’s word is replicate.

You might have heard the word replica before. A replica is a copy.
And the verb is replicate.

replicate v. make an exact copy of; reproduce

In today’s song, Brooke sings:
I couldn't replicate your touch or love anyone again this much

Which means something like, the way you touch me is amazing and no one would be as good as you.



friday joke

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
You know!
You know who?
AVADA KEDAVRA.



conversations with sarah
#694 Who’s your favourite New Zealand artist?

Step 1: Repeat Timmy’s lines.
Step 2: Read Timmy’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Timmy What’s your favourite New Zealand artist?

Sarah Mmm … favourite New Zealand artist …

Timmy Or band.

Sarah Mmm. I’m not sure if I have a favourite. There are a lot that I like. Maybe Che Fu is my favourite.

Timmy Is that a band?

Sarah No it’s a guy.

Timmy What kind of music does he sing?

Sarah Um, hip hop and reggae and … I guess you’d describe it as R&B as well. And I’ve been listening to a lot of Dam Native recently as well actually.

Timmy Is that a group?

Sarah Yeah, it’s a hip hop group. I l really love the lyrics of their songs. Well the album I have anyway … I don’t really know what they’ve done recently.





Without You


The sky opens up over me and you
And you don't seem to mind that we're soaked through
You kiss me in the rain, I forget what I'm moaning about
And I know I wouldn't be the same without you

[Chorus]
I wouldn't be the same without you
I wouldn't be the same without you

I laugh at my own jokes and what I deem to be clever wit
And you don't seem to mind that I'm so stupid
You kiss me once again, I forget what I'm babbling about
And I know I wouldn't be the same without you

[Chorus]

I couldn't replicate your touch or love anyone again this much
But I wouldn't be the same without you

I wouldn't be the same
I wouldn't be the same
I wouldn't be the same without you
Without you
Without you
Without you



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Brooke Fraser - Wikipedia
Brooke Fraser - official site
Brooke Fraser - YouTube

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

friday joke start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: Sumbala
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Malt Shop Bop
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

#1092 At Google Talks - Michael Lewis, Wallets With Baby Pics, Intervene


Show 1092 Thursday 16 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

One of the channels that I really enjoy on YouTube is called At Google Talks.

Google invites people to come and speak to their staff and then they share the videos of those talks online which is very nice.

And the video I recommend today is a talk by an American author called Michael Lewis.
And he’s talking about his new book which is called: Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood.

I really enjoyed his talk. I thought he was a good speaker. And he’s funny.

Feel free to go and watch the whole video of course, but the part that I recommend in particular, is when he’s reading an excerpt of the book which is very funny. And it’s about language and children learning and using “bad words”.

The excerpt that he reads is about six and a half minutes long and there are quite a few words that you might not know like: whim, intervene, extent, illicit, defiance.

But I think you can understand the general idea.

Basically the story takes place in a hotel pool and the author’s three-year-old daughter swears at some older boys who are being mean to her and her sister. And then he tells the story of how his daughter learnt those bad words.



STICK NEWS



Kia ora, in Stick News today a study has shown that if someone finds a wallet in the street, they’re more likely to return it if it has a baby picture inside.

Richard Wiseman is a psychology professor famous for his quirky research.
One of his recent experiments involved wallets.
Richard and his team planted 240 wallets in the streets of Edinburgh.
Inside some of the wallets was a photo of either: a smiling baby, a cute puppy, a happy family or a contented elderly couple.
The wallets with the baby photo had the highest return rate - 88% were sent back.
The wallets with no photo had the lowest return rate – just 15%.
Dr Wiseman said the result reflected a compassionate instinct towards vulnerable infants that people have evolved to ensure the survival of future generations.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 16th of July.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is intervene.

v. to become involved in a situation in order to improve or help it

I was looking for an example of how this word is used and I came across an article called: How to Break up a Hockey Fight.

And step number two said: The best time to intervene is when both players are on the ground or players are "hugging" and no longer throwing punches.

In the story we’re studying today, the author is talking about the situation where some older boys are being mean to his daughters and he’s watching them and wondering if he should do something to help them.

This is what he writes:
I’m hovering in the canal between the baby pool and the grown-up pool, wondering if I should intervene. Dixie beats me to it. She jumps out in front of her older sister and thrusts out her 3-year-old chest.



conversations with sarah
#693 Did you watch it all?

Step 1: Repeat Shane’s lines.
Step 2: Read Shane’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Shane Wow, that video is 47 minutes long!

Sarah Yeah.

Shane Did you watch it all?

Sarah Yeah.

Shane How do you have time to watch such long videos?

Sarah Well, I don’t actually watch them, I just listen to them while I’m doing something else.

Shane Like what?

Sarah Like … stuff that doesn’t require much thinking … like drawing Stick News pictures.

Shane I thought that would have required thinking.

Sarah Well, planning them does. Definitely. But once I’ve done the rough sketches and I’m just doing the final copy and colouring them in then I don’t really need to think much, so I can listen to videos.





8:45 - 15:12

We were at a fancy hotel in Bermuda. Like fancy hotels everywhere, the place is paying new attention to the whims of small children. The baby pool is vast — nearly as big as the pool for the grown ups, to which it is connected by a slender canal. In the middle of the baby pool is a hot tub, just for little kids. My two daughters, now ages 6 and 3, leap from the hot tub into the baby pool and back again. The pleasure they take in this could not be more innocent or pure.

Then, out of nowhere, come four older boys. Ten, maybe 11 years old. As anyone who has only girls knows, boys add nothing to any social situation but trouble. These four are set on proving the point. Seeing my little girls, they grab the pool noodles — intended to keep 3-year-olds afloat — and wield them as weapons. They descend upon Quinn, my 6-year-old, whacking the water on either side of her, until she is almost in tears. I’m hovering in the canal between the baby pool and the grown-up pool, wondering if I should intervene. Dixie beats me to it. She jumps out in front of her older sister and thrusts out her 3-year-old chest.

"Teasing boys!" she hollers, so loudly that grown-ups around the pool peer over their Danielle Steel novels. Even the boys are taken aback. Dixie, now on stage, raises her voice up a notch.

"YOU JUST SHUT UP YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLES!"

To the extent that all hell can break loose around a baby pool in a Bermuda resort, it does. A John Grisham novel is lowered; several of Danielle Steel’s vanish into beach bags. I remain hovering in the shallows of the grown-up pool where it enters the baby pool, with my entire head above water. My first thought: Oh…my…God! My second thought: No one knows I’m her father. I sink lower, like a crocodile, so that just my eyes and forehead are above the waterline; but in my heart a new feeling rises: pride.

Behind me a lady on a beach chair shouts, “Kevin! Kevin! Get over here!”
Kevin appears to be one of the noodle-wielding 11-year old boys. “But Moooooom! he says.
“Kevin! Now!”
The little monster sulks over to his mother’s side while his fellow Orcs await the higher judgement. I’m close enough to hear her ream him out. It’s delicious.
“Kevin, did you teach that little girl those words?” She asks.
“Mom! No!”
“Then where did she learn them?”

As it happens, I know the answer to that one: carpool. Months ago, I was driving them home from school , my two girls, plus two other kids - a 7-year old boy and a 10-year old girl. They were crammed in the back seat of the Volkswagen Passat, jabbering away; I was alone in the front seat, not especially listening. But then the 10-year old said, “Deena said a bad word today.”
“Which one?” asked Quinn.
“The S word,” said the 10-year-old.
“Oooh,” they all said.
“What’s the S word?” I asked.
“We can’t say without getting in trouble,” said the 10-year-old, knowingly.
“You’re safe here,” I said.
She thought it over for a second and then said, “Stupid.”
“Ah,” I said, smiling.
“Wally said the D word!” said Quinn.
“What’s the D word?” I asked.
“Dumb!” she shouted, and they all giggled at the sheer illicit pleasure of it.
Then the 7-year-old boy chimed in. “I know a bad word, too! I know a bad word, too!” he said.
“What’s the bad word?” I asked brightly. I didn’t see why he should be left out.
“Shut up you stupid mother fucking asshole!”

I swerved off the road, stopped the car, and hit the emergency lights. I began to deliver a lecture on the difference between bad words and seriously bad words, but the audience was fully consumed with laughter. Dixie, especially, wanted to know the secret of making Daddy stop the car.
“Shut up mother stupid fuck,” she said.
“Dixie!” I said.
“Daddy,” said Quinn thoughtfully, “How come you say a bad word when we spill something and when you spill something you just say, ‘Oops’?”
“Stupid fuck!” screamed Dixie and they all laughed.
“DIXIE!”I said.
She stopped. They all did. For the rest of the drive they just whispered.

So here we are, months later, in this Bermuda pool. Dixie with her chest thrust out in defiance, me floating like a crocodile and feeling very much different than I should. I should be embarrassed and concerned. I should be sweeping her out of the pool and washing her mouth out with soap. But I don’t feel that way. Actually, I’m impressed. More than impressed, awed. It’s just incredibly heroic, taking out after this rat pack of boys. Plus she’s sticking up for her big sister, which isn’t something you see every day. I don’t want to get in her way. I just want to see what happens next.

Behind me Kevin has just finished being torn what appears to be a new asshole by his mother and is relaunching himself into the baby pool with a real malice. He’s as indignant as a serial killer who got put away on a speeding ticket: He’s guilty of many things but not of teaching a 3-year old girl the art of cursing. Now he intends to get even. Gathering his fellow Orcs in the hot tub, he and his companions once again threaten Quinn. Dixie, once again, leaps into the fray.

"Teasing boys!" she shouts. Now she has the attention of an entire Bermuda resort.

"You watch out teasing boys! Because I peed in this pool two times! Once in the hot pool and once in the cold pool!"

The teasing boys flee, grossed out and defeated. Various grown ups say various things to each other, but no one seeks to remove Dixie from the baby pool. Dixie returns to playing with her sister - who appears far less grateful than she should be. And the crocodile drops below the waterline, swivels, and vanishes into the depths of the grown up pool. But he makes a mental note to buy that little girl an ice cream cone. Even if her mother disapproves.



notes

How do you pronounce Edinburg?
Forvo

How do you pronounce excerpt?
Forvo
"Excerpt is usually a noun (pronounced EK-sert.)"
From here.


links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Richard Wiseman - official site

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Malt Shop Boys
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.