Show 706 Friday 18 April

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today I’m going to talk about a song which I found on Jamendo.
I really like that site – that’s where I get most of my music from for The Daily English Show. I know there are a lot of other places you can also find music. But I don’t really have much time to look for it and it’s really easy to find stuff on Jamendo.

I usually use instrumental music, but I was looking for something else the other day for some reason and I came across some music by a guy called Steven Dunston from Seattle in the United States. And I like his music and I think it would be great to listen to for studying English.

I chose a song called California to introduce today. It’s a nice song and the lyrics are quite simple. If you’re teaching a class of relative beginners, I think this would be a good one to use.

And of course the great thing is, it’s freely available on the internet – and of course if you like the music and you want to support the artist you can make a donation too.

So this is the start of the song.

Oh no, I’m late for work again
The sky is the colour of concrete
Wouldn’t you know
It would have to be raining
Oh no, the streets are full of strangers
Clutching their soggy umbrellas
And none of them offer to share their protection
It’s gotta be this town dragging me down
Wish that I could be in California

The trees are always green in California
And the streets are always clean in California
And the people look so happy
Cause they wake up every day in California

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, a new company in Germany is selling clothes designed and produced by prison inmates.

A company in Germany has just opened its first store in Berlin. The company name means inmate in English and many of the products in the store were either designed or manufactured in prisons.
One of the founders of the company said part of the proceeds from sales go to organizations that support prisoners' rights like Amnesty International.

And that was Stick News for Friday the 18th of April.
Kia Ora

Word Of The Day

Today's word is soggy.
Wet and soft, usually in a way that is unpleasant.
But not always, remember some people like soggy Weet-Bix. How about you? Do you like soggy Weet-Bix? I don’t really mind them either way, but I’m probably more of a non-soggy than a soggy person.

THE SNOW REPORT
in Kutchan

The last time it snowed was on Saturday the 12th of April, but it was only a tiny bit of snow and it was gone by the next day.
There is still snow in Kutchan though. It’s sitting around town in piles, melting.

friday joke

I found today's joke here. (I rewrote it a bit).

A newspaper photographer was assigned to take pictures of a huge forest fire. He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire.
The photographer arrived at the airstrip about an hour before sunset. Sure enough, a small plane was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!"
The tense man sitting in the pilot's seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying erratically.
"Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "And make several low passes." "Why?" asked the nervous pilot.
"Ah ... because I'm going to take pictures!" said the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!"
"You mean you're not the flight instructor?!"

conversations with sarah
#433 Have you been to California?

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

Dave Have you been to California?

Sarah No, I’ve never been to the United States.

Dave Oh really?

Sarah Yeah, how about you?

Dave Yeah, I spent 6 months in California.

Sarah Really, when?

Dave About 10 years ago.

Sarah How was it?

Dave It was great.

California
By Steven Dunston

Oh no, I’m late for work again
The sky is the colour of concrete
Wouldn’t you know
It would have to be raining
Oh no, the streets are full of strangers
Clutching their soggy umbrellas
And none of them offer to share their protection
It’s gotta be this town dragging me down
Wish that I could be in California

The trees are always green in California
And the streets are always clean in California
And the people look so happy
Cause they wake up every day in California

Oh no, you’ve got that face again
The one that says I failed you
And as usual I’m clueless about it
Oh no, I do not have the strength
To field your foolish questions
Sometimes I wonder why we’re still together
But it’s gotta be this town dragging me down
Wish that I could be in California

The trees are always green in California
And the streets are always clean in California
And the people look so happy
Cause they wake up every day in California

The sky is always blue in California
We could start brand new in California
Where everyone is happy
Maybe we’d be happy too
In California

Baby I’m not imagining things
With my own eyes, I’ve seen it on the screen
And if the camera lies
I want it to lie about me
In California

The trees are always green in California
And the streets are always clean in California
And the people look so happy
Cause they wake up every day in California

The sky is always blue in California
Baby we could start brand new
In California
Where everyone is happy
Maybe we’d be happy too
In California

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS photos

Haeftling (Prison clothes company)

opposites

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

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
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
track: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: zoop
album: music on hold
track: spiral
from: Moscow, Russia
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.