Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are
meat.
Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? bwah ha haa!!! In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people and not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Holly Cole
Amazon:
I just ran across this today, and I'm blown away by it. This is an absolutely terrific album, and anyone who likes Norah Jones or similar music should order this immediately. It uses mostly simple jazz-combo arrangements that give center stage to Cole's sultry voice -- and her voice manages to do Waits' brilliant songwriting justice. This isn't simply an album of covers, it is a collection of interpretations in the finest vocal jazz tradition.
I'm a long-time Tom Waits fan, but I was previously unfamiliar with Holly Cole. Waits' songs are well-suited to new interpretations, as is apparent on Frank's Wild Years when he performs 2 different arrangements of a couple of songs, or on Big Time, where he presents strikingly different arrangements of several songs, most notably "Telephone Call From Istanbul." Given that plus the haunting poetry of his best lyrics, a jazz songbook of original interpretations makes at least as much sense for Waits' work as for that of any living songwriter.
Cole's expressive intrepretations deliver the goods, too. "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" receives a slow, haunting arrangement that provides a gorgeous contrast to the uptempo original. She cleans up "Frank's Theme," providing a simpler but more dramatic rendition that bring out the emotions in the song much more effectively than the accordion-drenched original. Cole's voice brings a smoky swing to "Tango Til They're Sore." And her sultry version of "Temptation" alone would justify buying this album.
Temptation - A Tribute to Tom Waits
(Blue Note Records 1995)
Smoky Jazz Interpretations, September 23, 2003
Reviewer: Andrew Norris (Laramie, WY United States)
Closer
postmetamorphasis from Chicago, IL, USA
Don't be fooled by the star-power... this not a film for everyone. It's difficult to watch, ends unsettlingly with a misanthropic view of relationships (it wouldn't be my first choice for a "date flick") and some may even argue that the characters have no redeeming value whatsoever besides their fabulous bone structure (a sentiment I couldn't disagree with more.) However, as Edward Albee said, the purpose of art is hold a mirror up to the audience's noses and say: This is who you are... now change. And that's precisely what this film does.
I'll leave other people to summarize the plot, because while it's executed rather simply, it's too convoluted to explain... or rather, explaining it will not do it any justice. The quartet of performers here are working at their utmost capacity. Although there really is no "protagonist" to speak of, I believe that Alice (Natalie Portman) carries the entire story, while Dan (Jude Law) is sort of the moral pawn who makes the biggest transformation. Larry (Clive Owens) is definitely the most histrionic and will probably give Owens his an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Although Julia Roberts gives the most impressive performance of her career, her character Anna is an abysmal, confused, passive-aggressive personality which we are NEVER used to seeing from the actress who usually goes for razor-tongued, ball-busting roles. The biggest revelation here is Natalie Portman, whom captivates us from beginning to end and is given THE most difficult character in the piece, pulling it off with astonishing, understated prowess. Director Mike Nichols has hit another motherload after the success of the film adaptation of "Angels in America." Nichols is often accused of not being conscious enough of film as a visual medium, but I couldn't disagree more. True, he doesn't use very many "cinemacrobatics," but he succeeds in making a stylistically absorbing and meticulous piece which avoids being ostentatious so we can concentrate on the characters. Although many are already comparing this to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", I find it much more similar to his later (and often overlooked) classic "Carnal Knowledge".
(US 2004)
Director: Mike Nichols
~ Julia Roberts | Natalie Portman | Jude Law | Clive Owen
So let me start off by stating the obvious:
Pete Rock
Dusty Groove America:
Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions, 2004
Tight, soulful, sampler genius from the mind and fingers of Pete Rock. A whole new LP made from the source material behind the Soul Survivor II set. In terms of overall feel, this set comes pretty close to the masterful Petestrumentals set from a few years back. Although the record is billed as a collection of beats from the SS II album, it's much more than a batch of leftover material. This set grooves and burns like an all new piece of work. Another testament to the power of Pete Rock and a tight batch of hip hop instrumentals to bounce and groove on! Tracks include "You Remind Me", "Hop, Skip, & Jump", "(Pimp) Strut", "Glowing", "Smoking Room Only", "Flying", "Placebo","Standard", "Stormy Weather", "Fairground", "Hip 2 Hip", "U Are What You Are", "Intrigue".
Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan)
Rotten Tomatoes:
His big kick though, is suicide, which is how you first meet him, hanging by his neck from a noose. It's only a possible reality, as is most of what happens in this darkly surreal romantic comedy.
Kenji (Asano Tadanobu) comes close to offing himself in several various ways, but is always interrupted by a noisy buzzer, bell or other alarm. He has an even darker side that is slowly revealed in a humorously warm, low-key manner.
And as more is revealed, a small cast of progressively sleazier characters are paraded by for the audience's enjoyment. There's a Thai gangster ex-boyfriend who's overwhelming, but a trio of yakuza (think Three Stooges) steals the show.
Kenji's obsessive compulsive traits are put to productive use as a librarian at the Japan Cultural Centre. It's there where a uniformed schoolgirl (Leela Boonyasak) captures his attention. But she vanishes, almost before his very eyes.
She is seen later, at the culmination of a chain of events that brings Kenji together with the girl's older sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak). Other synopsis will reveal how, but I feel it's best you don't know much about this film before you watch it.
Anyway, the action is brief and tragic -- as is all the action in this film. There's a little bit of gunplay -- sudden and violent, yet so subtle, you wonder if you're dreaming.
Driving a beat-up old white Volkswagen Beetle convertible (a car that is just as much a character as the actors), the pair drive out to Noi's rundown seaside home. There, Kenji sees that Noi is everything that he isn't. There are mounds of dirty dishes everywhere. Books and magazines are strewn all over. The goldfish is floating dead, upside down in the aquarium. She's a slob, too, in contrast to Kenji's button-down appearance. She's also a pothead.
The mess is captured with moody realism by Hero cinematographer Christopher Doyle, in much the same manner he brought a smouldering feel to Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love. Even the flotsam and jetsam washing up at the beach evokes some emotions.
Just as Kenji is out of the ordinary, so is the film. For a Thai film, there's hardly any Thai spoken. Most of the dialogue is in Japanese, and Kenji and Koi converse in English (as well as some Japanese as, by a mind-boggling twist of coincidence, she is moving to Japan).
Highlights include an appearance by Riki Takeuchi, as well as director Takeshi Miike, as the leader of a Three Stooges-like trio of gunmen. Takeshi's and Asano's collaboration, Ichii the Killer, is referenced in a poster hanging up at the Japan Culture Center.
Sharp-eyed Thailand watchers will see a spiky-haired actor portraying a doctor in a hospital scene, a reference to Thailand's eminent forensic pathologist, Dr. Porthip Rojanasunan.
(Thailand 2004)
Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
~ Laila Boonyasak | Sinitta Boonyasak | Tadanobu Asano| Matsushige Yutaka | Takeuchi Riki
Kenji, a young Japanese living in Bangkok, is no ordinary man. He's a neat freak, whose obsessive compulsive traits are revealed in his book-filled apartment, from the colour-coordinated stacks of socks in his closet to the neat row of clean plates drying by the spotless kitchen sink.
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
dubmusiq