Thursday, April 09, 2009

#1022 Tim Minchin, Acadia's New President, Dumping Kiwifruit, Matrimonial, Condescending


Show 1022 Thursday 9 April
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


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

The video I recommend today is a poem by a guy called Tim who is an Australian musician, actor, comedian and writer.



It’s pretty clever I think. It has a lot of difficult words so it might be hard to understand. But you could just watch it and try and understand the general point, or you could study some of the words in it and add some interesting new words to your vocabulary like:
irrefutable matrimonial empirical condescending vacuous

The poet is telling a story. He has gone to dinner at a friend’s house and there’s him and his wife and a couple who are friends of theirs and a girl he has never met before, called Storm.

And they’re all talking and drinking and eating. And after a while Storm starts to annoy him because … basically their way of thinking is different. He values science and she is not so interested in science. She’s more interested in things like horoscopes and natural remedies.

She says:

But the human body is a mystery! Science just falls in a hole When it tries to explain the nature of the soul

I think this is funny because it’s a fairly common situation – a group of people having drinks together … and someone who is prone to ranting gets all worked up about someone else because they have different opinions from them. And everyone else in the room is just wishing they’d shut up.

These two personalities in the poem clash really badly because they have different ways of thinking about the world and science.



The Acadia Report
Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

In the Acadia Report today, Acadia University has a new president.
When The Daily English Show visited Acadia University, we interviewed the president – that was show number 530. Now there is a new president. He started on the first of April.

His name is Ray Ivany and he’s originally from Sydney, Nova Scotia and he is Acadia’s 15th President.

This is what he’s been quoted as saying: “I am deeply honoured to have been chosen as Acadia’s 15th President,” said Ivany. “My visits to campus during the selection process confirmed my long-held belief that Acadia is more than simply the sum of its parts. Its combination of rich history and tradition, outstanding faculty and staff, spirited and inspired students, and dedicated and loyal alumni make it a truly unique institution that offers students an exceptional university experience.



STICK NEWS



Kia ora in Stick News today kiwifruit growers in New Zealand will destroy a million trays of kiwifruit.

Apparently the global demand for kiwifruit has slumped.
So New Zealand kiwifruit growers have been told to destroy a million trays of the fruit.
The kiwifruit will be destroyed during May and June.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 9th of April.
Kia ora.



TDES Niseko Snow Report
at studio tdes


with Robert Hargrove

What’s your home mountain?

My home mountain’s Whistler back home.

How does Whistler compare to Niseko?

Whistler … the snow’s not as good on a regular basis. But we do get a couple of really nice snow days in Whistler every season. And the mountain is, there’s two mountains, they’re a lot bigger and there’s a lot more, more terrain options than there is here. But, as far as snow goes, Niseko’s got it beat.

Are you planning to come back?

Yeah, I was asked to come back next season, so I’ll be back.



Word of the Day


Today’s word is matrimonial.

adj. (formal or technical) connected with marriage or with being married

This is how the word is used in the poem. I like this part.

And across the room, my wife Widens her eyes Silently begs me, “Be nice” A matrimonial warning Not worth ignoring



conversations with sarah

#645 What does condescending mean?

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

Kanao What does condescending mean?

Sarah Ah, condescension is a nasty thing. If someone is being condescending, then they are acting like they think they’re better or more important or intelligent than other people.

Kanao Like arrogance?

Sarah Yeah, like arrogance. And you can use those words together too, like, “Ugh, he’s such an arrogant, condescending prick”.



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Tim Minchin
- official site
Tim Minchin - Wikipedia
Tim Minchin - YouTube channel

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

The Acadia Report start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Concerto
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

nsr start
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Is It Real?
from: Switzerland
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

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Hugo 'Droopy' Contini
album: Strikes Back !
track: Jackie's Idea
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
MySpace

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.