Show 699 Friday 11 April

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today I recommend a song by Ben Kemp. You’ve probably never heard of him. I’d never heard of him until the other day when I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts ... which isn’t really a podcast, it’s a radio show that is available as a podcast. It’s called Saturday Morning With Kim Hill.

Anyway, Kim Hill interviewed Ben Kemp – and it was interesting because, like me, he’s a Kiwi who has lived in Tokyo for several years. Well, he’s still there. And he told his story about how he got into music and why he decided to move to Japan.

And I like his music - he has a really nice voice. You can listen to some of his songs on his site and also on MySpace and YouTube.

I recommend a song called Frangipani. Frangipani is a kind of tree that is native to native to Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela, and was named after an Italian guy. It’s also called Plumeria, after a French guy and it has many other names.

I don’t really know what Frangipani has to do with this song. Maybe I missed that part in the interview. Or maybe he didn’t say it, but he did talk about the inspiration for writing this song.

He talked about that here at :35

He said that one day when he was in Taupo in New Zealand he was standing outside a shop and he saw a young girl who was upset and a young boy was comforting her. And he said that there was real wisdom in their conversation which was beautiful to observe and then he wrote the song.

The song starts like this:

When I feel down
The sky looks on me
With a dirty frown
But when I smile the
Sun she shines so bright
The cherry eyes swell
Filling up my heart
So little girl don't you cry
For in your eyes there's a
Paper god in a redhead sky

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, the Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand has announced it will stop investing in companies involved in making nuclear weapons.

The Accident Compensation Corporation is a New Zealand Crown Entity responsible for administering the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Act 2001.
ACC has announced that it will stop investing in companies involved with the design, testing, assembly and refurbishment of nuclear explosive devices.
A spokesperson says that ACC has never knowingly invested in companies that manufacture nuclear weapons, but recently it has become clear that some of the firms they invested in were in fact involved, albeit to a minute extent, with work related to the broader nuclear industry.
One example is a firm that is a part-owner of another company that managed nuclear-related facilities.
"Although it is only a tiny proportion of what they do, we are uncomfortable with even this slight level of exposure and are divesting ourselves of any shareholding."

And that was Stick News for Friday the 11th of April.
Kia Ora

Word Of The Day

Today’s word is sanctity. This is a word from today’s song.

Sanctity (of sth) the state of being very important and worth protecting and preserving

The example here is: the sanctity of marriage

Usually when I hear that phrase “the sanctity of marriage”, it’s in an argument against gay marriage, so I don’t really like that example.
I wanted to find a good example for sanctity so I did a search and I found there is a thrash metal band called Sanctity. And sanctity.com is a company called Sanctity Capital Management ... something about money. And in America in 2003, President Bush declared January 19 (I got the date wrong, it was actually the 21st) "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" - which is something to do with abortion ... which is quite a big issue in North America, I think.

So, basically, I couldn’t find any great examples, but I like how Ben Kemp uses it in the song, I think he’s saying that friendship is really important and something that is worth protecting and preserving.

When I feel alone,
Oh my friends come
Around me and let me know...
The sanctity of we

friday joke

I found this joke here.

An 8-year-old girl went to her dad, who was working in the garden. She asked him, "Daddy, what is sex?" The father was surprised that she would ask such a question, but decided that if she was old enough to ask the question, then she was old enough to get a straight answer. He proceeded to tell her all about the birds and the bees. When he had finished explaining, the little girl was looking at him with her mouth hanging open. The father asked her, "Why did you ask this question?" The little girl replied, "Mum told me to tell you that dinner would be ready in a couple of secs."

conversations with sarah
#428 Is it about music?

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

Jessie Do you listen to that show every week?

Sarah Yeah, pretty much.

Jessie Is it about music?

Sarah No, it’s interviews. But the people she interviews are often musicians or authors, artists, actors, directors, playwrights.

Jessie What’s a playwright?

Sarah Someone who writes plays.

Jessie Oh yeah, play write.

Sarah Yeah, except it’s spelt wright.

Jessie Oh, why is that?

Sarah Because wright is an old English word for craftsperson, I think, so it basically means someone who crafts plays.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: BrunoXe
album: aprendiendo desde 2004
track: Mandrake
from: Jerez, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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

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

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: JCL
album: Journeys Thru Samsara
track: A Slow Walk
from: Watford, United Kingdom
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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

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