OK Party Time

Jingle Bell Rock

2011-12-23T06:22:00.000-03:00

Book Review: Telling Lies. Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage by Paul Ekman

2011-07-29T11:14:00.000-03:00

The author of this work, which devotes several pages to lying from an evolutionary perspective, is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, and the book is the updated 3rd edition of an eight-chapter work first published in 1985. Chapters 9 and 10 were added for the 2nd edition, published in 1992, and chapter 11 for this one. In his new Preface he remarks of the earlier editions; “I was relieved to find nothing that I considered incorrect.”

In essence this is a handbook based on his extensive researches into our apparently near universal inability to detect lying by means of observation. In test-situations (and, it seems, in many life-situations) most of us, most of the time, score little better than chance. The only groups he has found which score consistently high at lie-detecting are small minorities among those whose speciality it is, and he makes the alarming claim that in the existing training materials he has examined; ‘About half the information ... is wrong’. (p. 22)

Although large quantities of material on body-language are presented throughout the book, the author eschews this expression, preferring the term ‘demeanour’. Topics dealt with explicitly include ‘Lying, Leakage, & and Clues to Deceit’ (ch. 2), and ‘Why Lies Fail’, (ch. 3), the effectiveness of polygraph tests (ch. 7); ‘Lie Catching in the 1990s’ (ch. 9); and - an extremely important chapter, (no. 10), ‘Lies in Public Life’. The latter deals more with high affairs of state than with public life in general and is probably the most interesting and important part of the book. Of the final chapter, no. 11, he writes: “This ... contains new theoretical distinctions, a brief summary of new findings, and a set of explanations for why it is that most people, even professionals *are such poor lie catchers”. (p. 7) *[He means, of course, people such as police-officers and judges who are especially concerned with uncovering the truth]

There are, also, a six-page Epilogue; a 10-page Appendix (consisting of tables and check-lists setting out in great detail the various behavioural signs by which lying may be detected); 12 pages of reference notes; and 16 pages of combined Index.

The Index tells readers that the key concept, lying, is defined on pp. 26 - 7, but the material there turns out to be quite a diffuse essay; it is not until near the end of the book that we are given a concise definition, as follows. Telling a lie is an activity through which:

One person deliberately, by choice, misleads another person without any notification that deception will occur. It does not matter whether the lie is accomplished by saying something false or by omitting crucial information. Those are just differences in technique, for the effect is the same. (pp. 313-4)

The text overflows with specialist terms which I was at first tempted to describe as ‘jargon’, but they virtually all describe bits or patterns of behaviour for which most of us would either not have names at all, or would tend to think of in different ways from those intended by the author, and which all specialist lie-detectors need to know and understand as well as possible and constantly be on the lookout for.

One of these is the ‘Pinocchio’ problem, centring on the extending nose indicator: “People would lie less if they thought there was any such sign of lying, but there isn’t.” (p. 80)

Another is ‘duping delight’, analysed at some length on pp. 76-9;

Lying can also produce positive feelings ... [it] may be viewed as an accomplishment, which feels good. The liar may feel excitement, either when anticipating the challenge or during the very moment of lying, when success is not yet certain. Afterwards there may be the pleasure that comes with relief, pride in the achievement, or feelings of smug contempt towards the target. ... An innocent example ... occurs [when] ... kidding ... a gullible friend.

A third is the ‘Othello error’, signifying the danger of relying on a higher pitch in the voice of someone denying dishonesty as evidence of guilt. Ekman agrees that while this symptom can indicate guilt, it can also stem from fear. (p. 94)

A fourth is the ‘Brokaw hazard’, named after the well-known US chat show host. The problem here stems from Tom Brokaw’s stated reliance on verbal clues to detect evasion and lying in his interviewees; "convoluted answers or sophisticated evasions". Ekman agrees that some studies back up this approach while "others, have shown [that] ... most people are too smart to be evasive and indirect in their replies." (pp. 90-91)

There are references to important high level lying in many parts of the book, for instance, Chapter 2, Hitler (‘a superb performer’) lying to the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and the Israeli Government lying to the Egyptian Prime Minister, Anwar Sadat, about more settlements, but Chapter 10 is devoted to this topic. This analyses in some detail the scandalous antics of Oliver North, Admiral Poindexter and others, lying to Congress about arming the Contras; Lyndon Johnson’s blatant falsifications vis-à-vis the Vietnam war; Jimmy Carter on the Iranian Hostage Rescue Plan; Richard Nixon on Watergate; and - in somewhat different mode, the huge and fatal campaign of deception leading to the space-shuttle Challenger disaster, followed by the cause-celebre, Judge Clarence Darrow v. Professor Anita Hill and Gorbachev’s monumental lies about Chernobyl.

Towards the end of the book Professor Ekman takes up my ‘natural-born liars theme’ [on his own account, of course, not as a critique of my speculations of which he could not have heard], and - after emphasising once again how bad most of us are at detecting lying from behavioural clues -- he states:

The question I pose is, why not, why can’t we all do better at this? It is not that we don’t care. Public opinion polls time and again show that honesty is among the top five characteristics people want in a leader, friend, or lover, And the world of entertainment is full of stories, films, and songs that describe the tragic consequences of betrayal.

My first explanation is that we are not prepared by our evolutionary history to be either very good lie catchers or lie perpetrators. I suspect that our ancestral environment was not one in which there were many opportunities to lie and get away with it, and the costs of being caught might have been severe. ...

There would not have been any selection for those ... who were unusually adept at catching or perpetrating lies. (pp. 338-9)

Here the author brings to bear his personal experience in a ‘Stone Age preliterate culture’, Papua New Guinea more than 30 years ago. He points out that the group was small, members all knew each other, privacy was hard to come by, and survival depended on cooperation, so that;

being caught in a high-stake lie might be deadly ... one could not change spouses, jobs, or villages with any ease. ... To summarize ... our ancestral environment did not prepare us to be astute lie catchers ... In a cooperative, closed, small society ... the reputational costs to the individual [of lying] would be high and inescapable.’ (pp. 340-41)

This, the first of his three possible explanations, is followed by the argument that in ‘modern industrial societies’;

The situation is nearly the reverse. The opportunities for lying are plentiful; privacy is easy to achieve, there are many closed doors. When caught, the social consequences need not be disastrous ... one can change jobs ... spouses ... villages. A damaged reputation need not follow ...

We live now in circumstances that encourage rather than discourage lying; evidence and activity are more easily concealed, and [though] the need to rely upon demeanour to make our judgements [about potential lying] is greater ... we have not been prepared by our evolutionary history to be very sensitive to the [relevant] behavioural clues. (p. 342)

This sounds like a strong case against the evolutionary hypothesis and yet Professor Ekman seems convinced that his findings show that somehow or other, our lie-telling skills have developed to a pitch at which they outweigh our lie-detecting skills. Unless most of us are actually taught to lie effectively - overtly or covertly - and/or to be incompetent and/or weakly motivated in the art of lie-detecting, this near universal and much practised facility has to have a source somewhere in our biology.

The author does briefly examine this ‘teaching’ hypothesis in the words:

One possibility ... my second explanation, is that our parents teach us not to identify their lies. Their privacy may often require that they mislead their children ... sexual activity [being] ... one obvious focus of such lies. (p. 342)

His third possible explanation of our alleged near-universal lie-detecting incompetence is that;

We generally prefer not to catch liars, because a trusting rather than a suspicious stance enriches life, despite the possible costs. To always doubt, to make false accusations, is not only unpleasant for the doubter but undermines much chance of establishing intimacy, in mating, friendships, or ... work relationships. (p. 342)

While granting that there is probably some truth in these contentions, I have to say that I find them somewhat overstated and confusing. Why, for instance, would a higher lie-detecting capacity require us to doubt ‘always’, or to ‘make false accusations’. Surely, the more effective we are as lie-detectors, the more confidently we can behave and the fewer false allegations there may tend to be. Could it be that the 50/50 rule of thumb (half of our lies swallowed, the other half detected) means, as one might perhaps have expected on commonsense grounds, that -- except in the case of highly trained and experienced specialists at lie-detection who can sometimes attain a score of 85% -- the ‘arms race’ between deception and detection skills is still neck and neck.

Professor Ekman opens his Epilogue with an acknowledgement that his work - designed to further truth and honesty - can also help the dishonest, though;

What I have written should help lie-catchers more than liars ... it is easier to improve one’s ability to detect deceit than to perpetrate it. (p. 347)

Although in my opinion this book - in both theoretical and practical terms -- is a sound work on a vital subject, I suspect that Sissela Bok will remain my own principal mentor in this sphere as she deals mainly with the facts and consequences of widespread lying rather than the psychological/physiological details of the lying and lie-detecting processes themselves.

It seems to me that most of us, most of the time, have to try to navigate our way through such a fog of half-truths, quarter-truths and downright lies about matters of the greatest importance, financial institutions, environmental protection, war and peace, and a host of others, that it behoves us to demand -- and then endeavour to live up to -- much higher standards of integrity in most spheres of human activity.

Citation

Parsons, J. Review of Telling Lies. Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage by Paul Ekman. Human Nature Review. 2: 264-268.

Transformers 3 vs The Island

2011-07-04T14:14:00.000-03:00

Scenes from the movie Transformers 3... and the movie The Island (2005). Look!

Honey, how do I look?

2011-07-01T10:21:00.004-03:00

What´s on TV?

2011-06-13T20:10:00.001-03:00

Grondona blasts Batista: 'We can't raffle off our prestige like this'

2011-06-02T16:30:00.001-03:00

The head of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Julio Humberto Grondona, came up to stage and threw some stinger darts to coach Sergio Batista claiming that Wednesday's 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Nigeria had threatened the country's reputation.

Playing a team composed of mainly Under-25 players, the Argentine side were taken to pieces in Abuja on the way to a comprehensive defeat.
"These games are not just to make money, Batista asks for them. You cannot raffle off the prestige of our national team".

Likewise AFA’s strongman remarked that “It is not possible to play Nigeria’s best team by putting out an inexperienced side that was not up to their level.”

The Argentina 'B' team next face Poland, this Sunday.

Gain's "Gooder" Galls Grammar Grouches - Comparatives

2011-05-16T22:03:00.003-03:00

Exploring the pathways of our lexicon

A television commercial for the laundry detergent Gain is getting under the skin of the grammatically minded. The commercial shows a man getting dressed and smelling his newly laundered shirt, as the announcer says, "Bill's mornings have never been gooder thanks to something amazing we've added to Gain." That one little word, gooder, has set off a storm of protests — which may be exactly what Procter & Gamble, the makers of Gain, are looking for.

The English language in 24 accents

2011-02-27T12:09:00.000-03:00

A homeless voice has the sound of a fairy tale

2011-01-08T16:08:00.001-03:00

By Kevin Joy - The Columbus Dispatch

That voice.

The smooth baritone of Ted Williams became an Internet sensation yesterday when a Dispatch.com video compelled millions of viewers to take a closer look (and listen) at a homeless panhandler who sometimes works the Hudson Street ramp off northbound I-71.

Carrying a hand-scrawled cardboard sign touting his "God-given gift of voice," an otherwise ragged Williams was recorded last month offering up his radiant pipes to an idle commuter for spare change.

When you're listening to nothing but the best of oldies, you're listening to Magic 98.9!

That voice delivered.

Eclipsing the initial awe over Williams' "gift" were the scores of phone calls that followed - media inquiries and potential job offers that could ultimately provide the one-time radio announcer with a second chance.

"My boss said to me: 'If you don't get him hired, you're fired,'" said Kevin McLoughlin, director of post-production films for the National Football League. He contacted The Dispatch last night in search of Williams.

"I can't make any guarantees, but I'd love to get him some work."

The 97-second clip - posted Monday on Dispatch.com and copied yesterday morning to YouTube by an anonymous user - was filmed on a whim by Dispatch videographer Doral Chenoweth III.

As blog entries, Facebook posts and Twitter exclamations turned viral, so did the calls from news producers at ABC, CBS and CNN, as well as national talk shows.

"We run into these guys at the exit ramps and we pretty much ignore them," said Chenoweth, who was en route with his wife to the grocery store when he first saw Williams. "This guy was using his talent."

We'll be back with more, right after these words!

That voice, however, remained elusive yesterday.

A sporadic resident of a camp behind an abandoned Hudson Street gas station, Williams had declined offers to relocate to a shelter, said Ken Andrews, a volunteer for Mount Carmel Outreach and a 15-year veteran of local homeless-assistance work.

"He's a good guy," Andrews said. "But we never knew he had 'the voice.'"

Several visits to the site and the highway ramp yielded no sign of Williams. Yet he supposedly was found by the promotions staff at radio station WNCI (97.9 FM), which will host the virtual star as a guest at 7:15a.m. today on the Morning Zoo.

WNCI program director Tony Florentino said the station wasn't housing Williams or providing a ride to the Downtown studio, which has since fielded queries from ESPN and MTV. "A friend" providing temporary housing didn't give a phone number, he said.

"We're on pins and needles," Florentino said. "I think he really has no idea how big this is going to be."

Finding an agent to navigate the undoubtedly complex - and predatory - landscape ahead is vital, said Shane Cormier, a Los Angeles agency owner whose clients have done voice-over work for Ford, Sprint and Western Union. He sent an e-mail to The Dispatch yesterday.

"We could make him a millionaire," Cormier said.

WBNS-TV (Channel 10) wants Williams to provide narration for promotional spots during its first-ever "One Day to End Homelessness" telethon on Jan. 31, said Frank Willson, director of operations. (WBNS is owned by The Dispatch Printing Company, which also owns The Dispatch.)

And a $10,000 offer for voice-over work for the Ohio Credit Union League will be presented this morning on WNCI, where camera crews from NBC's Today show and other national networks are expected to be on hand.

Although such work is contingent on a background check, league spokesman Patrick Harris said, "his voice would be a perfect fit for us."

Don't forget: Tomorrow morning is your chance to win!

That voice has little known history.

The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., became infatuated with radio at age 14 during a field trip that included a talk with a station announcer who looked nothing like his voice would suggest.

"He said to me: 'Radio is defined (as) theater of mind,'" Williams says on the Dispatch video. "I can't be an actor; I can't be an on-air (television) personality.

"The voice became something of a development."

Williams says he attended broadcasting school but doesn't elaborate. He once worked filling in on overnight shifts in Columbus at WVKO (1580 AM), a former soul-music station now offering Catholic programming.

Problems with drugs, alcohol and "a few other things" derailed his ambitions long ago, he says, but he recently marked two years of sobriety.

"I'm trying hard to get it back," Williams says.

Watch Family Guy , weeknights at 7:30 on Fox 28!

Listen closely.

That voice could be his.

kjoy@dispatch.com

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

2010-12-22T16:22:00.000-03:00

New leaks in "public's interest"

2010-11-29T14:34:00.000-03:00

'Hacktivist for good' claims WikiLeaks takedown

2010-11-29T14:21:00.002-03:00

By Richard Allen Greene and Nicola Hughes, CNN

A computer hacker who calls himself "The Jester" claimed responsibility for the cyber attack which took down the WikiLeaks site Sunday, shortly before it started posting hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables.

The Jester, who describes himself as a "hacktivist for good," said he took the controversial site down "for attempting to endanger the lives of our troops, 'other assets' & foreign relations."

He normally attacks Islamist websites, announcing "TANGO DOWN" on his Twitter account when claiming to have attacked a site. "Tango Down" is Special Forces jargon for having eliminated a terrorist.

Over the past few days, the Jester has targeted a handful of websites for reasons including "online incitement to cause young Muslims to carry out acts of violent jihad," "distributing jihadist instructional materials," and "for the online radicalization of young Muslims in US and Europe."
The Jester describes himself as "an ex-soldier with a rather famous unit, country purposely not specified."

"I was involved with supporting Special Forces, I have served in (and around) Afghanistan amongst other places," he told the website threatchaos.com early this year.

WikiLeaks said in September that it had prepared an unspecified "insurance policy" against its site being taken down.

"This annoyed me... so I got busy," the Jester wrote on his blog in September.

Cyber security expert Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure believes the Jester was really behind the hack, he told CNN.

WikiLeaks was down for several hours Sunday, spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said Monday.

He said he did not know who was behind it, and he seemed surprised when CNN told him an anti-Islamist hacker was taking credit.
WikiLeaks excites "a lot of strong emotions," Hrafnsson said.
The hacker did not immediately respond to CNN requests for comment. WikiLeaks posted that it was under attack at about 11 a.m. ET Sunday, not long before its latest and largest leak.

The site seemed to be running normally as of early Monday morning.

Wi-Fi Direct

2010-11-07T15:42:00.002-03:00

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:08:00.002-03:00

Roger Federer & chocolate

2010-09-01T18:38:00.002-03:00

Bill Gates: seduction

2010-08-09T11:16:00.002-03:00

Stairs

2010-08-05T17:48:00.002-03:00

Foreign tourism increases 30% in June

2010-07-21T10:09:00.006-03:00

The number of tourists that arrived in Argentina during June reached 199,993 and increased 30 percent compared to the volume reported during the same month last year, according to an official report.

The Tourism Minister Enrique Meyer announced that the "figures are a result of the strategy applied after the European economic crisis began and due to the intense promotion, between the public and private sector, focused in the regional markets."

"The tendency shows that the arrival of foreign tourists during 2010 will increase to 5 million, 15.5 percent higher than the volume reported in 2009. This will imply a new record of tourism in our country," the minister continued.

The government statistics state that most of the foreign tourists which entered the country in June via Ezeiza airport where from the regional countries.

Brazil with 78,786 and an increase of 48.4 percent; Chile with 19,310 and an increase of 48.4 percent; and Uruguay with 10,375 and an increase of 55.2 percent were the countries that sent the most tourists into Argentina.

These countries were followed by Italy, with 6,797 and an increase of 3 percent; France with 4,110 and a 28.6 percent increase; Mexico with 4,107 and a 30.2 percent increase and Venezuela with 3,217 and an increase of 29.8 percent.

During the first semester of the year, the sector showed a 15.2 percent increase compared to last year's first semester.

From Buenos Aires Herald

Happy Friendship Day

2010-07-20T18:11:00.002-03:00

Día del Amigo (Spanish, Friend's Day) is a celebration of friendship, held annually on July 20, mainly in Argentina and Uruguay, but also in some other countries.

The idea for Friend's Day goes back to Argentine teacher, musician, and dentist Enrique Febbraro, who lobbied to turn the anniversary of the first moon landing into an international day of friendship, along his Rotary Club de Once, in Buenos Aires. He argued that on this particular day, the whole world had been friends of the three astronauts. The first official recognition of the day came with decree No. 235/79 by the government of the province of Buenos Aires, which authorized the celebration and gave it official nature.

In Argentina, Friend's Day is often a good excuse for a common friendly gathering, though people also employ the day to get in contact with old and seldom-met friends and greet them. Since it is not a public holiday in Argentina, the gatherings tend to happen during the evening.

Though Friend's Day has always been respected, in recent years it has turned into a very popular mass phenomenon. In 2005, too many well-wishing friends led to a temporary breakdown of the mobile phone network in the cities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Córdoba and Rosario, comparable to the one experienced in 2004 on Christmas and New Year's Day. In the case of Rosario, La Capital newspaper reported that seats in most restaurants, bars and other establishments were already booked out completely a week before the celebration.

Love & Eggs

2010-06-30T12:37:00.000-03:00

We won´t silence vuvuzelas

2010-06-22T09:53:00.002-03:00

Vuvuzelas will not be banned from the World Cup despite the fearsome din the plastic trumpets make, organisers said.

"Vuvuzelas are here to stay and will never be banned," said Rich Mkhondo, a spokesman for the local World Cup organising committee.

"People love the vuvuzelas around the world. Only a minority are against vuvuzelas. There has never been a consideration to ban vuvuzelas."

Mkhondo was reacting to a BBC report that the chief organiser Danny Jordaan had not ruled out banning the most talked about instrument in this World Cup.

The Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has banned them from his team's training sessions.

The plastic vuvuzela trumpet has been controversial since the Confederations Cup last year, a World Cup dress rehearsal, when several players complained they could not communicate through the din, which sounds like a herd of charging elephants.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter rejected calls for them to be banned, saying they are as typical of South African football as bongo drums or chants in other countries.

"Look at them (vuvuzelas) as part of our culture in South Africa to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As our guests please embrace our culture, please embrace the way we celebrate," said Mkhondo.

He added that vuvuzelas were also being used by fans from other countries.
The vuvuzela industry is worth US$6.45 million in South Africa and Europe, according to Cape Town-based Neil van Schalkwyk, who developed the vuvuzela seven years ago.

From Buenos Aires Herald

Waka Waka with English subtitles

2010-06-16T13:25:00.002-03:00

Switzerland whips up giant tiramisu

2010-06-16T13:18:00.003-03:00

Swiss volunteers have whipped up the world's biggest tiramisu weighing 2.31 tonnes, regaining the record they lost to a group of French bakers last year.

Around 155 volunteers from the Italian community of Porrentruy in western Switzerland spent 14 hours making the enormous dessert at the town's ice-skating rink, restaurateur Nicola Maurizio said.

Measuring eight centimetres high and 50 square metres in area, the giant dessert was made with 799 kilograms of mascarpone cheese, 6,400 eggs, 350 litres of cream, 189 kilos of sugar, 300 litres of coffee, 35 kilos of cocoa, 66 kilos of liqueur and 64,000 biscuits.

"The tiramisu weighs exactly 2.31 tonnes and 80 grams," Mr Maurizio said.

The record was registered on Saturday by the Guinness Book of Records after hygiene checks, according to Switzerland's ATS news wire.

The previous record was set by bakers from the French city of Lyon last October with a tiramisu weighing 1,075.9 kilos, beating Porrentruy's own record of 782 kilos set in 2007.

Iron Baby

2010-06-02T14:19:00.002-03:00

Marc Gasol: The post

2010-05-13T11:53:00.002-03:00

Where's my Chips?

2010-05-03T09:31:00.001-03:00

OK Go

2010-04-26T09:54:00.004-03:00

The Evolution of Dance

2010-04-21T19:45:00.001-03:00

For the birds

2010-04-13T10:27:00.002-03:00

Adora Svitak: girl genius

2010-04-03T20:58:00.000-03:00

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-04-01T12:17:00.000-03:00

Family guy - Speaking italian

2010-03-29T13:49:00.002-03:00

The secret... Miami Herald review

2010-03-26T19:49:00.000-03:00

BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
rrodriguez@MiamiHerald.com

The money shot in The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) arrives exactly at the middle of the film: From the sky above Buenos Aires, the camera vertiginously swoops down on a bustling soccer stadium during a match, settling on two investigators in the cheering throng as they chase down a murder suspect through the stands, across the field -- even into the bathroom -- without a single cut.

You can imagine Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese studying the five-minute sequence frame-by-frame, trying to figure out exactly how Argentine writer-director Juan Jose Campanella (Son of the Bride) pulled it off. The movie is never quite that showy again, but it doesn't need to be. The pyrotechnics in The Secret in Their Eyes, the surprise winner of Sunday's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race, are of a more quiet, haunting nature.

Based on the novel by Eduardo Sacheri, The Secret in Their Eyes flits back and forth between the present and 1974. The recently retired criminal-court investigator Benjamin (Ricardo Darin), still haunted by the unsolved rape and murder of a young woman 25 years earlier, decides to invest his energy into writing a novel about the case.

When he visits his former supervisor Irene (Soledad Villamil), now a judge, to tell her about his plans, the unspoken mutual attraction is instantly obvious. Through the use of extended flashbacks, The Secret in Their Eyes alternates between the past, in which Benjamin and his alcoholic partner Sandoval (comedian Guillermo Francella) investigate the crime and battle a corrupt bureaucracy, and the present, in which the retiree decides he won't be able to rest until he solves the case.

Linking the stories is the romantic tango between Benjamin and Irene, played out mostly across their faces and eyes instead of through dialogue. They are kept apart by class and social status, but the heart does not understand such things, and the attraction lingers. Although it is structured like a thriller, and its plot dominated by Benjamin's detective work, The Secret in Their Eyes is really a cautionary tale about the consequences of a life of too much apprehension and propriety.

``How do you live an empty life?'' Benjamin asks near the movie's end. ``How do you live a life that is filled with nothing?'' The hopeful answer is ``You can't -- but it's never too late to fix things.''

Cast: Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil, Guillermo Francella, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino, Jose Luis Gioia.

Writer-director: Juan Jose Campanella.

Producer: Gerardo Herrero, Mariela Besuievsky, Juan Jose Campanella.

A Sony Pictures Classics release. Running time: 124 minutes.

Read more

The secret in their eyes

2010-03-26T18:43:00.004-03:00

James Cameron´s next movie

2010-01-29T09:37:00.003-03:00

Starbucks vs. Mexico

2010-01-11T10:04:00.000-03:00

Starbucks Corp. released a line of coffee mugs that displayed pre-Hispanic images and Mexico is pissed!

The images of the Aztec calendar stone and the Pyramid of the Moon from the pre-Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan are believed to be owned by Mexico, as they have intellectual property rights.

On Wednesday, Mexico's government archaeological agency stated that they would decide within a week whether Starbucks should pay any fees. Although Starbucks claims that they made several efforts to offer payment and get the necessary permits.

The mugs have been taken off the shelves until this matter is resolved.

Source: PerezHilton.com

Signs around the world

2010-01-08T19:34:00.000-03:00

Happy holidays

2009-12-24T10:02:00.000-03:00

Inogolo: english pronunciation

2009-12-12T09:36:00.000-03:00

inogolo: the practical, easy-to-use website devoted to the English pronunciation of the names of people, places, and miscellaneous stuff. The site contains a searchable database of names with both phonetic and audio pronunciations in English. Browse names alphabetically or by tags. Check out the growing number of helpful pronunciation guides.

Visit inogolo

Howjsay.com: Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation

2009-11-23T09:35:00.000-03:00

A free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation!

When your entry appears in pink, mouse over to hear it pronounced.
You can list up to 6 entries like this: cat; cart; cut; cot; caught; coat.

There are currently 127160 entries in the dictionary.

Outside and play

2009-11-20T16:45:00.000-03:00

Tennis

2009-11-18T19:04:00.000-03:00

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T08:56:00.000-03:00

OK: Halloween celebration

2009-10-30T15:16:00.001-03:00

Dilbert´s Marketing wisdom

2009-10-28T08:57:00.000-03:00

Rafael Nadal & the English Language

2009-10-24T11:03:00.007-03:00

Listen to the interview and then analyze his English. What do you think about his grammar- vocabulary & pronunciation?

Rafael ha mejorado muchisimo su inglés en los últimos años. Sin embargo, uno de los problemas a resolver es el uso del gerundio. Una regla importante a recordar es que los verbos que siguen a las preposiciones (con la excepción de to) siempre están en el gerundio.
Por ejemplo, en lugar de decir

I thought about be focused all the time. X

deberíamos decir

I thought about being focused all the time.

O en lugar de decir

I am very happy for start the season well. X

lo correcto sería decir

I am very happy about starting the season well.

Otro problema que detectamos es la traducción de PARA.
Es posible usar in order to, o simplemente to. Por ejemplo, no estaría bien...

I had to play good tennis for win. X

sino

I had to play good tennis in order to win./I had to play good tennis to win.

La frase siguiente es más complicada ya que se trataba de hacer algo para no hacer otra cosa:

I thought about be focused all the time, for don’t repeat, to don’t repeat the same like last year. X

En una situación como esta tenemos que usar la forma negativa del infinitivo (y no el auxiliar don’t/doesn’t). Para acordarte de su forma, piensa en Hamlet: “to be, or not to be?”.

to be –> not to be (negativo)

to repeat –> not to repeat (negativo)

Entonces, deberíamos decir:

I thought about being focused all the time in order not to repeat the same thing as last year.

That´s all folks!

Improve your listening skills using Podcasts

2009-10-23T12:17:00.005-03:00

The podcasts on this site will help you to improve your English vocabulary and pronunciation and your listening skills. There are two short (3 to 5 minutes) podcasts every week, in clearly spoken English. Many of them are linked to grammar and vocabulary notes, or to exercises or quizes.

You can download the podcasts to your computer, or subscribe using a programme such as iTunes or Yahoo, or simply listen to them by clicking the Flash player on the web page beneath each episode. You can put the podcasts onto your iPod or MP3 player, and listen to them on your way to school or work.

The full text of each podcast is on this site (and will also appear on your iPod screen), so you can look up the meanings of words that you do not understand in a dictionary. Then close your eyes and listen! Have fun!

Listening: The podcast for people learning English

Al Gore warns about our planet's health

2009-10-15T15:40:00.005-03:00

By María Delfina Biondo from Buenosairesherald.com staff.

The topic of environmental awareness is something that has been finding its way into political agendas for quite some time now. No US politician stands out more as a pioneer for this issue, however, than ex US Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore.

Gore, most recently lauded for his book An Inconvenient Truth as well as for his general involvement in raising awareness of what seems to be a largely downplayed topic, gave a conference at the Art Museum in El Tigre in Buenos Aires Province, organized by the Fundación Metropolitana of Buenos Aires City.

The politician's goals seem clear: make environmental awareness a more widespread issue. This does not seem to be something that is too far out of reach; however, there is a difference between being aware of a problem and taking actions to prevent it or to put a brake on its development. The reasons for this dichotomy seem clear, especially in present times. The economic situation is weighing on people worldwide and not quite allowing everyday citizens to focus on issues like deforestation and the melting of the ice caps.

But this is where Al Gore is supposed to intercept the downward spiral of the environmental issue and fill people worldwide with ideas about how ordinary people can help to fix large-scale problems. Or at least this is what the name of his most recent conference in Buenos Aires, under the slogan of "Thinking Green: Economic Strategies for the 21st Century," would lead one to think.

Gore began the conference by saying that "the first barrier must give way in our own minds." This is a statement with which any person can easily agree, because becoming aware of the fact that something needs to be done from preventing this already large problem from spiraling out of control is undoubtedly important.

The ex Vice President also made reference to the old saying "out of sight, out of mind," and said that this is the exact opposite of what needs to happen when it comes to fighting things like global warming. However, for people living in a large and overpopulated city, it is almost virtually impossible to be reminded daily of melting ice caps or increasing carbon dioxide presence in the atmosphere worldwide.

One thing did become increasingly clear as Gore went on with his speech, which is that the planet will not be able to stand the harsh conditions that humankind is imposing upon it for much longer. As Gore said, planet Earth will soon go from "hospitable to hostile."

Finally, he mentioned that there are three crises that are intertwined and that must be fought together: the environmental crisis, the economic crisis, and the security crisis. Solving the environmental crisis can help to alleviate the economic burdens worldwide because, Gore says, it would generate millions of jobs. However, he did not continue to develop this particular idea and did not directly speak about how the economy could possibly improve due to a higher level of environmental responsibility in Argentina.

At the same time, the problem of the security crisis remains. Security is quite a large issue in Argentina, and this brings up the question of whether or not people will give as much of their time to something like global warming when threats of assault, robbery, rape and the like unfortunately occupy their minds. The idea of politicizing this particular problem and involving influencial national leaders is particularly important, as mentioned by Gore.

GreeNYC

2009-10-05T10:40:00.000-03:00

Nobody´s perfect... not even Lost characters!

2009-09-30T10:36:00.000-03:00

Twouble with Twitters

2009-09-28T10:49:00.000-03:00

Listen to English: Podcasts

2009-09-25T17:42:00.002-03:00

Listen to English: The podcast website for people learning English.

On this page - podcasts to help you improve your listening skills.

Visit Listen to English!

Happy Spring 2009

2009-09-21T00:05:00.000-03:00

Your Dad asks computer questions

2009-09-07T08:35:00.000-03:00

Tevez: basic vocabulary (very difficult)

2009-08-31T08:40:00.002-03:00

Pronunciation: minimal pairs (For adults only!)

2009-08-21T11:33:00.002-03:00

In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phonological element, such as a phone, phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. They are used to demonstrate that two phones constitute two separate phonemes in the language.

Source: Wikipedia

Jerry Seinfeld vs Blackberry & IPhone

2009-08-10T14:04:00.001-03:00

Practice your listening online with elllo

2009-08-06T08:52:00.000-03:00

English Listening Lesson Library Online : Learn English naturally by listening to speakers from all over the world!

Visit elllo.org

Cyberspace & marriages

2009-08-03T08:24:00.003-03:00

Cyberspace straining Irish marriages:
counsellors

A marriage counselling service says too much time spent on the internet is causing increasing friction between couples in Ireland.

Some 7 per cent of couples seen by ACCORD, the Catholic Church's marriage care service, say too much time spent in cyberspace by one partner is their main problem, according to figures for the first half of this year.

John Farrelly, ACCORD's director of counselling, says the problem has come virtually out of nowhere in the last three years.

The key areas causing conflict "are internet gambling, infidelity and one partner spending too much time online rather than with their spouse and family," Mr Farrelly said.

The statistics also highlight the increasing pressure of financial difficulties on couples in recession-hit Ireland.

In 2007, 20 per cent of clients identified finances as a problem for their marriage and this rose to 31 per cent in the first six months of this year.

"The recession continues to affect marriage and family, as people feel they are beginning to lose control of their lives," Mr Farrelly said.

ACCORD, with 57 centres throughout the country, provides over 30,000 counselling sessions a year to couples.

Source: ABC

Have you ever been in a situation like this?

Harry Potter: The Daily Prophet

2009-07-22T12:15:00.002-03:00

If you want to be part of the prophet you can insert your photo in the Daily Prophet website. You can do it up to tomorrow (July 23rd)!!!!

Click here The Daily Prophet

What is an Acronym?

2009-07-21T10:10:00.000-03:00

An Acronym is a word formed from the initials of words in a phrase, such as NATO ['neyto] from North Atlantic Treaty Organization or "scuba" from "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus." It is often used to include abbreviations but abbreviations are not all pronounceable words. "YDC" is an abbreviation, not an acronym.

__________________________________________________________

A.S.A.P.

For example:

The trip is tomorrow. I need your confirmation A.S.A.P!

It means... As soon as possible. ( Spanish translation: cuanto antes)

__________________________________________________________

A.T.M.

For example: First National Bank (FNB) is investing 55 million to get 500 new ATMs across the country.

Does it ring a bell?

It means... Automatic Teller Machine
(the Spanish Translation is Cajero Automático).
__________________________________________________________

V.I.P.

For example: This is your chance to win 2 exclusive VIP tickets and Backstage
Hospitality passes to see U2 at any concert in the US.

Any idea?

It means... Very Important Person
__________________________________________________________

KMP

In an e-mail you could find the following example:
KMP on anything that happens while I´m away.

Is it familiar to you?

It means... Keep Me Posted
(The Spanish translation is Mantenerme al tanto- mantenerme informado de algo)

1969 - First Moon landing

2009-07-20T12:05:00.001-03:00

Steve 107.6 FM

2009-07-15T15:44:00.005-03:00

A fantastic opportunity to mix English language education with radio broadcasting!

Visit 107.6 FM

For better or for worse

2009-07-08T08:10:00.000-03:00

Pocketless pants

2009-07-03T18:16:00.005-03:00

Pocketless pants
to combat airport bribery

Nepal's anti-corruption authority has come up with a novel solution to rampant bribe-taking at the country's only international airport - the pocketless trouser.

The authority said it was issuing the new, bribe-proof garment to all airport officials after uncovering widespread corruption at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.

"We sent a team to observe the growing complaints about the behaviour of airport authorities and workers towards travellers and we discovered that the reports were true," a spokesman for the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Ishwori Prasad Paudyal, said.

"So we decided that airport officials should be given trousers with no pockets. We have directed the ministry of civil aviation to implement our order as soon as possible," he said.

"We believe this will help curb the irregularities."

Paudyal said CIAA investigators had observed theft as well as bribe-taking by airport officials, who would lose their jobs if the situation did not improve.

His comments came a day after Nepal's new Prime Minister Madhav Mumar Nepal expressed fears that corruption was tarnishing the airport's reputation.

Source: ABC

What do you think? Could this idea work in Argentina?

Live365

2009-06-26T17:23:00.000-03:00

Internet radio stations run by real people. Practise your listening skills with your favourite shows.

Visit Live365

Word origin: Bluetooth

2009-06-25T12:58:00.003-03:00

The word Bluetooth is an anglicized version of Old Norse Blátönn or Danish Blåtand, the name of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark, who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, uniting them into one universal standard.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Germanic runes (Hagall) and (Berkanan).

El nombre procede del rey danés y noruego Harald Blåtand cuya traducción al inglés sería Harold Bluetooth (Diente Azul, aunque en lengua danesa significa 'de tez oscura') conocido por buen comunicador y por unificar las tribus noruegas, suecas y danesas.

De la misma manera, Bluetooth intenta unir diferentes tecnologías como las de las computadoras, los teléfonos móviles y el resto de periféricos.

El símbolo de Bluetooth es la unión de las runas nórdicas análogas a las letras H y B: (Hagall) y (Berkanan).

Fuente: Wikipedia (español) / Wikipedia (english)

If you won a million dollars, what would you do?

2009-06-17T17:49:00.003-03:00

Would you travel... would you buy anything special?
Please share your ideas with us :)

Movies!

2009-06-10T20:17:00.001-03:00

CNN Student News

2009-06-05T18:09:00.001-03:00

Song: Ken Lee

2009-05-29T15:37:00.002-03:00

Can anyone sing? what do you think?

Song: Somewhere only we know

2009-05-29T14:57:00.007-03:00

Look at the pictures and guess what the missing words are:

Now watch and listen to check your guesses:

Old vs New

2009-05-22T23:10:00.004-03:00

Global Warming

2009-05-22T18:22:00.004-03:00

Match the numbers (1-7) with the letters (a-g):

1. Arctic sea ice has declined 10%...
2. Gases have hit their highest levels…
3. Simple changes may keep the earth cooler…
4. Temperatures will increase a lot…
5. The climate has fluctuated…
6. The temperature has risen fast…
7. The warmest year was…

a. 1998. ___
b. by the end of the century. ___
c. for 2.5 million years. ___
d. in the future. ___
e. in the last 30 years. ___
f. in the last century. ___
g. in the past 420,000 years. ___

Enjoy!

Phonetics & Pronunciation

2009-05-08T17:00:00.001-03:00

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - For ESL/EFL

2009-05-04T20:23:00.001-03:00

This ESL listening Web site created by Randall Davis helps ESL/EFL students improve their listening comprehension skills through practice with self-grading quiz pages.

http://www.esl-lab.com/

Quiz and reading swine flu

2009-04-30T12:22:00.002-03:00

Quiz: 2009 swine flu outbreak

1. What is Swine Flu?
2. Where were cases of Swine Flu first detected?
3. What are some of the possible symptoms of Swine Flu?
4. How is Swine Flu spread between humans?
5. When is Swine Flu most contagious?
6. If you have flu-like symptoms, what should you do?
7. How dangerous is it?

2009 Swine Flu Outbreak

Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A which infects pigs. There are many types, and the infection is constantly changing.

In March and April 2009, more than 1,000 cases of swine flu in humans were detected in Mexico, and more than 80 deaths are suspected to have a connection with the virus.

The World Health Organization reports that the symptoms and transmission of the swine flu from human to human is much like seasonal flu, commonly fever, lethargy, disorientation, stiff joints, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Until now it has not normally infected humans, but the latest form clearly does, and can be spread from person to person. It is believed to be spread between humans through coughing or sneezing of infected people and touching something with the virus on it and then touching their own nose or mouth. The swine flu in humans is most contagious during the first five days of the illness although some people, most commonly children, can remain contagious for up to ten days.

Most cases so far reported around the world appear to be mild, but in Mexico lives have been lost.

The government has suggested that people with flu-like symptoms see their physician immediately.

Susan Boyle´s biography

2009-04-30T12:16:00.002-03:00

To see and hear her you can click here :

Simple Past practice:

Susan Boyle is a Scottish church volunteer and amateur singer who ________ ( get ) instant fame with her brilliant performance on the British musical reality show, Britain's Got Talent. Boyle's rendition of the song, "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables ______________ ( surprise ) the three acerbic judges, as well as a world-wide audience. Susan Boyle, at age 47, and not possessing the typical youth or telegenic appearance of most successful performers on Britain's Got Talent, or its American version, American Idol, _____________ ( suffer ) the jeers and skepticism of the judges and studio audience when she _____________ ( appear ) on stage. Her singing performance ____________(amaze) the audience so much, that Boyle was quickly called, "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell". She ____________(receive) a standing ovation from the live audience, and __________ ( get ) "Yes" votes from the three judged, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan.
Susan Boyle is the daughter of Patrick and Bridget Boyle. Her parents _______ ( be ) immigrants from Ireland, and her mother _________ ( die ) two years before Susan ___________( gain ) global fame with her powerfully beautiful voice. Susan Boyle lives in a four-bedroom council house in the former mining village of Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, which is the town in which she _________ (be ) born and where she ___________ ( grow ) up. Susan Boyle describes herself as a church singer and volunteer, who attends Our Lady of Lourdes church in nearby Whitburn. Susan Boyle is the youngest of ten children, and her mother, who _______( Be ) 47 at the time, ___________ ( have ) a difficult delivery when Susan ______ ( be ) born. Due to the difficult delivery, Susan Boyle _____________ ( suffer ) from a lack of oxygen, which ____________ ( cause ) her to have learning disabilities, which _______ ( lead ) to Susan being teased and bullied in school as a child. Susan sings in her church, and also sings karaoke at the nearby Happy Valley Hotel.
The strong reaction to Boyle's voice, along with the unfavourable reaction to her visual appearance, __________ ( help ) publicize her performance, as well as the television series itself. Articles about Susan Boyle ______________ ( appear ) in newspapers all over the world, while online videos of her performance ___________ ( get ) over 40 million views within a week. Simon Cowell is setting up a contract with Boyle through his music company label, Syco Music, a subsidiary of Sony Music. Her performance ______ ( be ) broadcast on April 11, the day before Easter. A video of her performance posted on YouTube on the same day ______________ ( receive ) more than 13 million views within six days. Boyle sings in her church choir and the occassional Karaoke performance. She _________ ( take ) care of her aging and ill mother, who _________ ( die ) two years ago.

Where is Susan from ?

How old is she ?

What is her favourite pastime ?

Why did she surprise the audience and the judges when she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent ?

Did she have a happy childhood ? Why ?

In your opinion, what will happen to her in the future months ?

Visual Dictionary: Visuwords

2009-04-21T12:14:00.001-03:00

Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.

Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections.

It's a dictionary! It's a thesaurus!
Great for writers, journalists, students, teachers, and artists.
The online dictionary is available wherever there’s an internet connection.
No membership required.

Visuwords™ uses Princeton University’s WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. Combined with a visualization tool and user interface built from a combination of modern web technologies, Visuwords™ is available as a free resource to all patrons of the web.

Visit Visuwords

Superlatives joke

2009-04-21T11:32:00.000-03:00

Hi guys!

This week we´d like to share the following joke and revise superlatives at the same time. Enjoy!

Numbers

2009-04-08T15:27:00.001-03:00

Meat is not green

2009-03-31T12:17:00.002-03:00

Listening:
Watch the video MEAT IS NOT GREEN and fill in the gaps using the following words:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0gKF0Vs3Gs

global, concerned, methane, food, population, consumers,
inhabitants, light, producing, cause, warning, waste, billions, meat, polluting, cars, factory, fuels

You're__________ about the planet and its __________, and you want to help stop ________warming. But you know that changing your bulbs isn't really going to save the planet.What is the number one cause of global warming? The answer is a four letter word: M-E-A-T.Why? Carbon dioxide,____________ and nitrous oxide emissions are the leading__________________ of global warming. The reason is simple: Every second, animals raised for________ in the U.S. produce 89,000 pounds of ___________—that's 130 times more than the country's entire human_____________. As if that weren't bad enough, the_________ of chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows who are crammed together and abused on__________ farms give off enormous amounts of____________ gases.Also, ________________ one calorie of plant foods—like beans, veggies, and grains—uses just 10 percent of the amount of fossil_______ that it takes to produce one calorie of_______ ! Eating meat is like driving a whole fleet of __________ around the block every time that you sit down to eat.You can help warn _____________ about what they're actually buying! Visit www.peta2.com/meatsnotgreen/ and sign our petition to get all meat properly labelled with a _____________ that clearly states that meat is the number one cause of global warming.

Joke-Geeks

2009-03-23T18:13:00.001-03:00

The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, etc." Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs.

A more recent school of thought sees Nerd as being a derogatory phrase, whilst Geek is simply a description. It is taken to be someone who is an enthusiast, often in things outside of the mainstream spectrum, of note is that in this definition, there is no reference to being socially inept in the slightest.

Earth Hour

2009-03-21T21:29:00.002-03:00

On the 28thy of March, the world will observe "Earth Hour". Millions of people in hundreds of cities will turn off their lights for an hour. Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message; they want action on climate change. It promises to be the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted. People will be telling their representatives to seal a deal in Copenhagen. A deal at the climate change talks, that will protect people and the planet. We need an ambitious agreement. An agreement that is firm and effective. An agreement based on sound science.
We're on a dangerous path. Our planet is warming. We must change our ways. We need green growth that benefits all communities. We need sustainable energy for a more climate friendly prosperous world. This is the path of the future. We must walk it together.

Around the world, many famous landmarks will go dark during Earth Hour. In New York, we will switch out the lights at UN headquarters. Other UN facilities around the world will also take part. I urge citizens everywhere to join us. Please send a strong message on climate change. Together we can find a solution to this most serious of global challenges.

St. Patrick’s Day

2009-03-18T17:00:00.001-03:00

Quiz: How much do you know about St. Patrick’s Day?

1. When is St Patrick’s Day?

2. Where is it celebrated?

3. When was St Patrick born?

4. What is a shamrock?

5. How did St Patrick use the shamrock?

6. Who is a leprechaun?

7. What happens if you meet a leprechaun?

8. What should you wear on St Patrick’s Day?

9. What do children do on St Patrick’s Day?

10. What do people traditionally eat on St Patrick’s Day?

11. What are the ingredients of the Irish coffee?

Now read the article and check your answers.

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and he was a bishop who introduced Christianity into Ireland. Legends say that St. Patrick could raise people from death. He is famous for driving the snakes out of Ireland, although many people dispute how true this is! Another great story was how he used the shamrock, with its three leaves, to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) to his followers. St. Patrick’s Day is a famous Irish holiday and people celebrate it all over the world. It is on the17th of March.

Shamrocks, leprechauns and the Blarney stone are the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day. Shamrocks are three-leaved clovers that grow on the grass. You are lucky when you find a four-leaved clover!

Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they make shoes for other fairies. They wear a green suit with a big hat. They have big pots full of gold. If you find a leprechaun, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold.

On this day, people hang pictures of shamrocks and leprechauns everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns with their big green hats!

The village of Blarney is in the southwest of Ireland. It has got a very famous castle. In the castle, there is a stone, the Blarney Stone. If you kisses this stone, you will receive the gift of eloquence – to have beautiful speaking abilities.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, watching St. Patrick’s Day parades, drinking ‘green’ beer, wearing green clothes and having a good time. Children in Ireland have a tradition of pinching their friends who don’t wear green on this day!

The traditional food on St. Patrick’s Day is beef and cabbage. Another popular dish is Irish soda bread and potato pancakes. Irish pub owners put green food colouring into their beers and the traditional Irish Guinness Stout is sold in all Irish pubs! People also drink lots of Irish coffee, which is made with warm whiskey, sugar and whipped cream.

History of Caesar Salad

2009-03-10T15:25:00.000-02:00

If we talk about the word Ceasar I am sure that most people would think about Julius Ceasar, the great King of Egypt.

Also, if we talk about Caesar Salad, one of the most popular salad, many people might think about Julius Ceasar as well and wonder how they are related to each other.

Moreover, many restaurants even use the picture of Julius Caesar to promote their recipe.

However, the real origin of Caesar Salad really have nothing to do with Julius Caesar.

The name came after the cook who invented this recipe. His name is Caesar Cardini. He was a restaurant owner in Mexico who invented the salad back in 1924.

From now on, we should not think about the great King when having Caesar Salad anymore. Instead, maybe we should think about the big cook with a long black moustache. Enjoy your meal.

Vocabulary:

Recipe = List of ingredient to prepare food

Moustache = Long facial hair on the upper lip

Something Stupid (Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman)

2009-03-05T12:27:00.000-02:00

Robert Peter Maximilian Williams
(born 13 February 1974) is a Grammy Award-nominated, 15-time BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter. His career started as a member of the pop band Take That in 1990. He left Take That in 1995 to begin his solo career, after selling 25 million records with the group.
His album sales stand at over 55 million, with singles sales over 17 million.
Williams entered the The Guinness Book of World Records when in just one day he sold more than 1.6 million tickets for his 2006 world tour. He has been the recipient of many awards, including fifteen BRIT and six ECHO awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, after being voted as the Greatest artist of the 1990s.
Robbie Williams is the artist who is currently featured the most times in the UK Now That's What I Call Music! series. In the first 68 Now!'s he has appeared 29 times (including 4 times with Take That).

Nicole Kidman
After making various appearances in film and television, Kidman received her breakthrough role in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Her performances in several films, such as To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001), and The Hours (2002), have won her much critical acclaim. In 2003, Kidman received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. Kidman is also a UNIFEM and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and a singer. She is also well-known for her former marriage to the actor Tom Cruise and as her current marriage to the noted country musician Keith Urban. Because she was born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship of Australia and the United States of America.
In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honor.

Texting vs Talking

2009-03-05T12:22:00.000-02:00

What is the trend?

Talking on the phone is actually about ten times faster, in terms of words per unit time, than texting is. This demonstrates that efficiency is not the explanation for this trend. What do you think?

Word origin: OK

2009-02-23T10:15:00.000-02:00

Origen de palabras: OK

Esta expresión sirve como ejemplo de lo interesante que puede resultar una palabra, a partir de su historia, de su prehistoria y de sus leyendas. Existen varias versiones respecto al origen del OK, algunas más divertidas que otras, que repasaremos en este posteo. Obviamente, la mayoría son falsas.

Origen Alemán:

El ingeniero alemán John Augustus Roebling fue quien propuso y diseñó en 1867 el Puente Colgante de East River, entre Manhattan y Brooklyn, en New York. Producto de un accidente de trabajo, se infecta una herida y permanece postrado. Roebling conocía poco el idioma inglés y después de estudiar los datos de sus ingenieros en terreno firmaba el escrito aprobado poniendo dos iniciales "A.K". que quería decir Alles Korrect, (en alemán significa “todo correcto”). Como Roebling escuchaba que los ingenieros americanos para decir “todo” pronunciaban “oll”, aunque se escribe “all”, se dejó llevar por ello y escribió primero una O y luego una K, mezclando así los dos idiomas.

Aunque J.A. Roebling fallece en 1869 a causa de su herida infectada de tétanos, su hijo Washington Augustus Roebling prosigue la construcción durante los restantes 11 años del proceso de construcción. Su mujer Emily Warren Roebling, se convirtió en su ayudante, aprendiendo ingeniería y comunicando las instrucciones de su marido a los ayudantes sobre el terreno, hasta su inauguración el 24 de mayo de 1883, cuando ella es la primera persona en cruzarlo. Puede ser que en este período se haya popularizado la expresión de su padre para aprobar algo.

Otra explicación señala que su origen probablemente se remonta a la expresión Oll klor del bajo alemán.

Origen Griego:

Igualmente, algunos opinan que OK son las iniciales de la expresión griega Όλα Καλά (Ola Kala), que significa "todo está bien".

Origen indígena norteamericano:

También se sostiene que proviene de okeh que en la lengua nativa americana Choctaw significaba "sí".

Origen durante la Guerra de Secesión Norteamericana:

Puede proceder de la Guerra de Secesión, ya que, cuando no había ninguna baja en los campos de batalla, se anotaba 0 killed (ningún muerto) en una pizarra, que en su forma abreviada corresponde a 0K. Este mismo sistema supuestamente fue utilizado también durante la Guerra de Vietnam. Sin embargo, este origen es bastante dudoso, ya que la Guerra de Secesión ocurrió de 1861 a 1865, es decir, 22 años después de la primera aparición de este término, en 1839.

Origen en el 8º presidente de los Estados Unidos:

En 1836 Martin Van Buren, el octavo presidente de EEUU, firmaba con el sobrenombre de Old Kinderhook, en referencia a su lugar de nacimiento que abreviado resultaría ser O.K.
Cuando el 8º presidente de los Estados Unidos Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) se candidatizó para su reelección, sus correligionarios fundaron "THE DEMOCRATIC O.K. CLUB". O.K. eran las iniciales de Old Kinderhook, una villa en el estado de Nueva York, que era la tierra natal de dicho político. Durante su campaña, THE DEMOCRATIC O.K. CLUB se encargó de asociar las iniciales O.K. a la imagen de un candidato correcto, confiable, veraz.

Origen durante la época de la esclavitud en EEUU:

Otra teoría afirma que en la época de la esclavitud en EEUU, cuando en los campos de algodón del sur, los esclavos se presentaban con su cargamento ante el capataz, este les daba en francés (muchas regiones del sur de EEUU hablaban francés en la época) el visto bueno con la palabra "Au quai" que significa "al muelle (de carga)".

Otros posibles orígenes:

Otras teorías indican que okay puede tener un origen africano y que fue traída a Estados Unidos por los esclavos provenientes de aquel continente,
que se deriva de la forma de afirmación latina hoc ille o del occitano oc que significa "sí".
Otra teoría dice de la negación del término Knock Out (K.O.), indicando que estaba todo bien.

La versión en apariencia más veraz, sería la siguiente: la primera vez que aparecen las siglas o.k. es el 23 de marzo de 1839 en el periódico "Boston Morning Post" cuya autoría es atribuida a su editor Charles Gordon Greene en el siguiente texto:

The above is from the Providence Journal, the editor of which is a little too quick on the trigger, on this occasion. We said not a word about our deputation passing "through the city" of Providence.—We said our brethren were going to New York in the Richmond, and they did go, as per Post of Thursday. The "Chairman of the Committee on Charity Lecture Bells", is one of the deputation, and perhaps if he should return to Boston, via Providence, he of the Journal, and his train-band, would have his "contribution box," et ceteras, o.k.—all correct—and cause the corks to fly, like sparks, upward.

¿Cuál versión te gusta más, sin tener en cuenta su veracidad? Esperamos tu comentario.

Fuentes:

- Diccionario Enciclopédico Ilustrado Sopena, Tomo IV. Editorial R. Sopena, 1982.
- Página de recortes de intercambio epistolar a través del diario La Nación, Chile
- http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK