Quote of da day

All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual.
Honore de Balzac
(1799-1850)

Quote of the Day

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave.
Mark Twain
(1835-1910)

Quote of the Day

Advertising is legalized lying.
H.G. Wells
(1866-1946)

Quote of the Day

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
James Madison
(1751-1836)

>> Minahara: good quote.

Quote of the Day

Nobody minds having what is too good for them.
Jane Austen
(1775-1817)

Quote of the day

All life is an experiment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)


< Minahara : >>>i totally agree with him.

Quote of the Day

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
W. Somerset Maugham
(1874-1965)

<Minahara>> i m totally agree with him. cos i have had experiences about dinner party. most of the time, i were interpreter , so even at dinner party i have to interpret .that's why i always ate less at the party.

Quote of the day

It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)


<<minahara:>>> at present time i am thinking of fascinating job than job with permanent income . m i wrong??????????

Quote of the Day

Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)

Quote of the Day

Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
Bertrand Russell
(1872-1970)

Quote of the Day

I detest that man who hides one thing in the depths of his heart, and speaks for another.
Homer
(900 BC-800 BC)

<minahara:>>>>>>>>>>>> i don't like that kind of person too. cos i can't read their mind :D if i can read their mind , i won't care they speak the real or just kidding. cos i know what are in their mind :D

Quote of the Day

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)

Quote of the Day

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

Quote of the Day

When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable.
Rene Descartes
(1596-1650)

Word of the Day

All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.
Victor Hugo
(1802-1885)

Quote of the Day

The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.
Lewis Carroll
(1832-1898)

Jam tomorrow or jam to-morrow is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise. The origin is Lewis Carroll's 1871 book Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The White Queen offers Alice "jam every other day" as an inducement to work for her:

-----------------------------------------

"I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!" the Queen said. "Two pence a week, and jam every other day."
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, "I don't want you to hire ME - and I don't care for jam."
"It's very good jam," said the Queen.
"Well, I don't want any TO-DAY, at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you DID want it," the Queen said. "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam to-day."
"It MUST come sometimes to "jam to-day,"" Alice objected.
"No, it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know."
"I don't understand you," said Alice. "It's dreadfully confusing!"

Quote of the Day

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963)

Good Sports, Bad Sports

From VOA
Sports professionals are being praised, condemned and investigated. Transcript of radio broadcast: 03 August 2007

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

For the last several weeks, professional athletes have been on the first page of newspapers as much as in the sports pages. Some news stories are about extraordinary careers. Others are about athletes behaving badly.

Professional baseball players Cal Ripken and Tony Gywnn are among the heroes.

Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. after they entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

They were admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday at a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York. About seventy-five thousand fans gathered there to celebrate. Both men spoke about the importance of the public image of athletes. Gwynn said professional baseball was about more than just playing. He said players need to do the right thing for all the fans who love the sport. Ripken said players are behavior models whether they like it or not. He said the only question is whether they will be good ones or bad ones.

Barry Bonds, right, and Doug Mirabelli watch Bonds's 748th career home run.

The speeches followed weeks of legal charges, accusations and investigations involving sports professionals. In baseball, Barry Bonds is two homeruns away from breaking the record set by Hank Aaron in nineteen seventy-six. Bonds' success has renewed accusations that he used banned performance-improving drugs. However, Bonds has never failed a drug test nor has he been charged with any crime.

Similar accusations of banned drug use also took place at the Tour de France bicycle race last month. Several riders tested positive for a performance-improving drug. And, in the final week of the race, the leading cyclist Michael Rasmussen of Denmark was expelled on suspicion of taking banned drugs.

The International Cycling Union said there were more cases of doping in the Tour de France this year because there was more testing.

An American professional football player is also in the news. Last week, Michael Vick told a court in Richmond, Virginia, he was not guilty of charges connected to an illegal dog-fighting business. The charges include extreme cruelty to animals.

Federal investigators say they found fight dogs and other evidence on Michael Vick's property in Virginia earlier this year. A defendant who pled guilty in the case has agreed to speak against Vick in court in return for a lesser sentence. Several sporting goods companies that had paid Vick for the use of his name have ended their business relationship with him. And an animal rights group, the Humane Society, is urging the National Football League to suspend Vick from play.

Finally, some bad news in professional basketball. United States federal officials are investigating former National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy. The referee enforces the rules and keeps order in the game. He can stop play if he calls a violation by a player and turn the ball over to the opposing team. Donaghy is being investigated for betting money on basketball games, including some in which he was a referee.He resigned last month.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Caty Weaver. I’m Steve Ember.

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock: Film Star, Producer, Wife
Also: Hershey's celebrates the one hundredth anniversary of the chocolate kiss. And listen to the orchestral music of Pink Martini. Transcript of radio broadcast: VOA 26 July 2007

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We listen to music from Pink Martini …

Answer a question about actress Sandra Bullock …

And report about a sweet anniversary.

Hershey's Anniversary

HOST:

People around the world know and enjoy the chocolate candy from the Hershey Company. Company officials say they export Hershey's products to more than ninety countries. The Hershey Company celebrated an anniversary earlier this month in its hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Faith Lapidus tells us about it.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The street lights in Hershey, Pennsylvania are shaped like the candies the company is most famous for -- Hershey’s Kisses.

July seventh was the one hundredth anniversary of the Hershey's Kiss. The company

A Hershey's kiss

held a birthday party in its honor. Part of the celebration was the world’s largest Hershey's Kiss. The huge piece of chocolate weighed almost fourteen thousand kilograms. It was more than three and one-half meters tall. A representative from the Guinness Book of World Records officially named it the world’s largest piece of chocolate.

Hershey officials say the huge chocolate Kiss took one hundred fifty-two people nine days to produce. And they say the chocolate in it is equal to that of more than three million normal Hershey's Kisses.

The company began producing the chocolate with the unusual shape in nineteen-oh-seven. Officials today do not really know why the new candy was named a Kiss. One possible story is that the name came from the sound or motion of the chocolate during the manufacturing process.

Workers used to wrap each candy in a small piece of silver foil paper by hand until nineteen twenty-one. Then a machine was developed to do that. Today, the company produces more than eighty million Hershey’s Kisses every day. And modern wrapping machines finish the job. They can wrap more than one thousand Kisses every minute.

Some Hershey’s Kisses have remained the same over the years. But there are also many new versions. There are Kisses with an almond nut inside. Dark chocolate Kisses. And Kisses filled with caramel or peanut butter. There are also similarly shaped brown and white candies called Hugs.

Hershey’s Kisses are produced in Pennsylvania, California and Virginia. Recent news reports say the company will soon close one of its factories in California. The reports say the Kisses will be produced at a new Hershey factory in Mexico. They also say the candy company has closed at least three other factories this year.

Sandra Bullock

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Brazil. Anderlon Rocha de Oliveira wants to know more about actress Sandra Bullock.

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock is one of the most popular movie stars in America. She is especially famous for her work in funny love stories. But she has also proven herself a fine dramatic actress in movies like "Crash," and "Infamous."

Sandra Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia in nineteen sixty-four. Her mother was a German-born opera singer. She died of cancer in two thousand. Bullock's father was a voice teacher and Defense Department employee. He now leads her production company, Fortis Films.

Sandra Bullock began performing as a young girl, often in music shows with her mother. She was involved in theater in high school. Then she studied acting at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Bullock lived in New York City for a short time after college. She moved to Los Angeles, California after winning her first big job, a part in a movie made for television.

Sandra Bullock has performed in more than forty films. She has played a police officer, an alcoholic, a witch, a single mother, a rich lonely wife and many other characters. Her most recent movie, "Premonition," was released earlier this year.

Next up is a romantic comedy called "All About Steve." Bullock will play a woman who decides a reporter she sees on television is her true love. She starts to follow him all around the country hoping to persuade him that he loves her too.

Sandra Bullock does not have to do this kind of thing in real life. Two years ago she married Jesse James, the star of a television show called "Monster Garage."

Sandra Bullock is also known for helping others in need. She witnessed the terrorist attack on New York City in two thousand one. She was staying at a hotel several blocks away when the twin towers were destroyed. She gave one million dollars to the Red Cross to help those affected.

Bullock gave the organization another one million dollars to help victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in two thousand four. And she continues to give time and money to help the city of New Orleans. That city is still recovering from the severe damage that Hurricane Katrina caused in two thousand five.

Pink Martini

HOST:

Pink Martini may sound like a kind of drink. But it is really a small orchestra of twelve musicians. A classically trained pianist, Thomas Lauderdale, created the group. He says the members of Pink Martini are like musical archeologists. They like to bring together sounds from different periods and parts of the world. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC: "Tempo Perdido")

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was Pink Martini’s main singer China Forbes performing “Tempo Perdido” in

Pink Martini

Portuguese. It is from the group’s latest album, “Hey Eugene!” The song was first performed in nineteen thirty-four by the famous Brazilian actress and singer Carmen Miranda. The beat of the song captures the sounds of another time period.

China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale met in college. Several years later, Lauderdale asked her to join his new band.

Pink Martini skillfully recreates older songs from around the world in a modern and fresh way. Sometimes they find long forgotten favorites. Other times, China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale write their own music and give it a special sound from the past. They have sung in many languages including French, Spanish, Japanese and Italian. At times they even sing in English. Here is China Forbes singing a song she wrote called “Everywhere."

(MUSIC)

Thomas Lauderdale says Pink Martini is very much an American band. But the band members spend a lot of time in other countries. He says his band tries to show that Americans are serious about being involved with the rest of the world.

We leave you with “Bukra Wba’do.” This is Pink Martini’s first song in Arabic. The song title means “tomorrow and the day after.” A professor of Arabic helped China Forbes and the group of twenty-five singers learn the correct pronunciation. The resulting song shows off Pink Martini’s musical as well as language skills.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. It was written by Dana Demange, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who also was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

Mouth

Mouth Expressions: The Experience Left a Bad Taste in My Mouth
English expressions using the word mouth. Transcript of radio broadcast: 22 July 2007

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Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

(MUSIC)

People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word mouth. But some of them are not so nice.

For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.”

Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because hurts that person’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.

The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time.” If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.

Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: “I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth.”

Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. “How did you hear about that new movie?” someone might ask. “Oh, by word of mouth.” A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government-run media could also be called a mouthpiece.

Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: “You took the words right out of my mouth!” Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience “left a bad taste in my mouth.” Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say: “I had my heart in my mouth.”

Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.

Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.

But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.

(MUSIC)

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus.