Not only Manchester United can make the life better, but also a 2-hours-long chat with a foreigner in a local pub. This 40-years-old man is originally Norwegian. Follow his advice and visit: www.top10inthecity.com
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четверг
True feelings
24th-30rd December
Put aside the book about drugs, but not the whole theme isn't really put off. Here is a example of how much harm can drugs do. From the firm friendship and high hopes to deeply disstressed lives.
For me and Pete, it wasn’t too different from falling in love. It’s grotesque now. I said to him, ‘heroin and crack are bigger than you, mate. You’ll die or live the rest of your life like Gollum.’ But Pete never wanted to listen. And then the tragedy began.
Right now, if Pete walked in, I’d like just to sit down and have a normal conversation with him, and not have to talk about the Libertines and all the other messy stuff. But I suppose that’s impossible now.
It’s a long time since anything has been normal in Pete’s life. It’s a complete horror show.
‘It stopped being about rock ’n’ roll ages ago. It’s about newspaper headlines, and he’s good at that game. Pete is very good at knowing just how much to give away and how to push the boundaries. Or at least he thinks he’s good at it. Maybe he doesn’t realise that the most dangerous part of that game is that if you’re not careful the people you think you’re playing are going to own you. Maybe he’s at that stage already.’
It’s been more than three years since Carl Barat and Pete Doherty disbanded the Libertines and went their separate ways. At the time of the split, the smart money was on Doherty to emerge as the greater star. While Doherty has become more renowned for his hell raising antics and his arrests, it’s Barat who has distinguished himself musically, with Dirty Pretty Things now accepted as one of the most vital bands of this era. With Barat on lead vocals and guitar, their emotive buzz saw rock ’n’ roll is both critically acclaimed and commercially thriving. Indeed, the new album Romance At Short Notice has been among 2008’s most eagerly anticipated releases.
Barat pauses, takes a sip of his beer, then continues.
‘You can’t give Pete advice. I’ve been through all that many times before. We were in Paris writing the second Libertines album, and I said to him, “Heroin and crack are bigger than you, mate – much bigger. If you carry on with those drugs, they’ll write their own story. Because that’s what those drugs do. If you keep doing them, there are only two scenarios. Either you’ll die or you’ll live the rest of your life like Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings.” Quite often I’d try to shock him by saying things like that. But Pete never wanted to listen.
‘You have to understand that this is someone I care a lot about. There’s still a lot of love between me and Pete. At least there is from my side. So when I pick up a newspaper and read the latest instalment in his life, it makes me sad and angry. I’m relieved that I’m not part of that grotesque merry-go-round. But I wish Pete wasn’t a part of it either.
‘Pete always knew he was going to be famous. It was the only thing that was going to happen to him. When it came, he revelled in it. Now he’s maybe settled for being famous for being famous. It’s stopped being about the music. It’s about the mayhem. There’s something really tragic about that.’
Barat has the demeanour of a young man who has lost the most important thing in his world.
By the conclusion of our conversations, during which love and loss are mentioned as often as Doherty’s name, it’s quite clear he has done precisely that. Each time we meet he sports the same uniform, which doubles as his stage apparel: scruffy jeans, distressed T-shirt and leather jacket. He retains the look of a glamorous poetic waster, which has been his trademark since the early days with Doherty – together they were the Byronic Romantics of grunge pop.
He talks in a low, almost apologetic mumble and his eyes are tired. He tells me that in the next 24 hours he will turn 30.
Though Barat and Doherty communicate regularly by text, it’s now more than 12 months since they last met, reuniting to record a cover of the Beatles’ A Day In The Life for Radio 2’s 40th-anniversary celebration of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Two months prior to that, Barat had joined Doherty on stage at London’s Hackney Empire for a 13-song set that included a clutch of Libertines songs.
‘I don’t cry too easily, and hardly ever in public. But there were a lot of tears at that gig. Emotionally it was colossal. It was the first time I’d played with Pete for ages without Kate Moss and the whole entourage around. It reminded me how great we were together and how much unfinished business there is.
‘As to whether the Libertines could reform, that’s a big maybe. It’s a question that follows me around constantly. I’ll be out getting a loaf of bread and some aggressive schoolkid will come up and ask, “When are you getting the Libertines back together?” I deal with it politely, but I’m thinking, “Do you really think this is something I haven’t given a lot of thought to?”’
Barat emerged with Dirty Pretty Things in September 2005, with bassist Didz Hammond, guitarist Anthony Rossomando and former Libertines drummer Gary Powell. Their debut album, Waterloo To Anywhere, sold 120,000 copies.
Its punky guitar rock bore only a passing resemblance to the output of Barat’s former band, but at least some of the spite and anger in the lyrics (‘You’re a legend in your mind/but a rumour in your room’) seemed to be aimed squarely at Doherty.
‘I didn’t kid myself that I could start with a clean slate. To some extent we were working in the shadow of the Libertines, the shadow of Pete Doherty. It was a really hard time for me; I was feeling dark and miserable. I suppose I blamed myself for everything that had gone wrong before. But I didn’t want to change either. It was almost as if I felt I had to feel miserable and guilty to carry on writing songs.’
Barat tells me that depression has dogged him for as long as he can remember. ‘I’ve never known true happiness or peace of mind,’ he says bleakly. ‘I’ve always been something of a troubled soul. Growing up, I had a constant feeling of “this is not my world”.’
Barat was born in Basingstoke, and spent his early years alternately with his father, who worked in an armaments factory, and his mother, a hippy who finally settled in a commune in Somerset.
‘I was never much into music as a kid,’ he says. ‘But I drifted into it. In my early teens I’d hang around with my mates getting stoned, strumming the same guitar chord over and over. It took me years just to master the basics, but I always had a strange belief that music would be my life.’As a teenager he worked his way through a series of very odd jobs. ‘I did a stint on the front desk of a place where schizophrenics went if they’d missed their injections. I did the night shift in a salad factory. I was one of the tossers. My job involved tossing salad all night, removing dead or dying animals from the lettuce. The highlight for me was discovering half a frog. We never found the other half.’ He was studying drama at Brunel University when he befriended Pete Doherty’s older sister. By now Barat had been doing pub gigs for a couple of years, and Doherty got in touch, hoping to be taught how to play guitar. The most important relationship in Barat’s life was born.
‘Even from the start we fought. There was always a spark. Pete had all the front and I was very shy. Pete craved chaos and I longed for security.
Eventually that combination is going to become volatile. Something like that is always going to implode. It’s just a matter of time. Only we didn’t realise it at the time.’
Barat and Doherty moved into a squalid basement flat in Camden and plotted their course. The Libertines, they decided, would be no ordinary rock group, but a force that would overthrow the musical establishment and break down the barriers between artist and audience. Their line-up completed with drummer Powell and bassist John Hassall, they began playing live wherever they could – a condemned pub, a disused factory, even a north London brothel – and quickly built up a devoted following.
‘It was either the top of the world or the bottom of the canal. It wasn’t too different from falling madly in love; when you don’t even entertain the thought that it could ever end. At the start it was fun. I’d always wanted to be part of a gang. I was part of a gang of cheeky urchins who felt they could take on the world. Then heroin entered the picture…’
It was during the making of the Libertines’ debut album in the summer of 2002 that trouble first reared its (ugly) head. Doherty suddenly went AWOL, forcing the band to play a gig without him. By September, with their second single Up The Bracket giving them a chart hit, it was clear that Doherty’s increasing unreliability was linked to his flirtations with heroin and crack cocaine.
‘The Libertines had become my whole world, and I suppose Pete was the mate I’d always wanted.
‘Being in a band and getting messed up in order to have a good time, that’s one thing. Then there’s the kind of trouble that drugs like heroin and crack bring to the party. I didn’t want that life. It didn’t appeal to me on any level. The bottom line is that it’s boring being a junkie ****-up. It probably makes for a great read if you’re not involved. Up to a point the chaos of the Libertines was enjoyable for me. Then very sinister agendas took over and it became the opposite of fun.’
Following the release of the debut album, Barat opted to take a ‘tough love’ approach with Doherty, refusing to let him record or perform with the band until he’d completely cleaned up. Doherty, his addictions now out of control, refused to take the bait. In the summer of 2003, while the band were playing dates in Japan, he burgled Barat’s London flat, making off with, among other things, a prized antique guitar. He duly served two months in prison. Upon his release, Barat was there to welcome him with open arms, and they started work on a second album. However, by the time the band reached the recording studio, their management had assigned each member a security guard in order to stop them from fighting. During this period, with active encouragement from Barat, Doherty made three attempts at rehab, including a short-lived stint at a Thai monastery. He left after three days, heading to a Bangkok hotel where heroin was conveniently available via room service.
‘By this point Pete had become an unstoppable train,’ says Barat. ‘Looking back, there’s nothing I could have done. I’d tried everything. I’d worked pretty damn valiantly to hold him together, to the point of complete exhaustion. The dream of the Libertines was my destiny, and I fought tooth and nail to keep it together.
Even when it was a hopeless cause, it took every ounce of strength I had to pull away from it. Pete’s life had been consumed by drugs and, if that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, I also had to sacrifice the band. On a personal level, it was nothing less than devastating. It should never have come to such a tawdry end.’
On the face of it, Barat has mastered the seemingly impossible art of living in the long shadow of the Libertines. He’s in a successful, long-term relationship with DJ girlfriend Annalisa Astarita, with whom he shares a home in Muswell Hill, north London.
Against the odds, he’s survived the wreckage of the Libertines and created his own successful band. We came very close to breaking up during the making of this album. A reshuffle of members was definitely on the cards at some point – it came perilously close to sackings. There have been a few fist-fights. In that way, Dirty Pretty Things is as intense as life in the Libertines. It’s still do or die for me.’
Barat rolls up his sleeve to show me the ‘Libertine’ tattoo on his right bicep. ‘You’d be amazed how many people come up to me and show me their own copy of this,’ he says. ‘It’s touching that people remember the band for something more than the drugs and the fighting. That they still believe in the music. It reminds me that I believe in everything that I believed in when I was in the Libertines.
‘I miss the purity of what me and Pete had together when we started out. It would be great to have that back. Pete always used to say, “Imagine the songs we still have to write.” That thought is always with me.’
More vocabulary: distressed-formal-having very little money: in distressed circumstances
Put aside the book about drugs, but not the whole theme isn't really put off. Here is a example of how much harm can drugs do. From the firm friendship and high hopes to deeply disstressed lives.
For me and Pete, it wasn’t too different from falling in love. It’s grotesque now. I said to him, ‘heroin and crack are bigger than you, mate. You’ll die or live the rest of your life like Gollum.’ But Pete never wanted to listen. And then the tragedy began.
Notoriously hedonistic rock star Pete Doherty and old Libertines band-mate Carl Barat.
It’s a long time since anything has been normal in Pete’s life. It’s a complete horror show.
‘It stopped being about rock ’n’ roll ages ago. It’s about newspaper headlines, and he’s good at that game. Pete is very good at knowing just how much to give away and how to push the boundaries. Or at least he thinks he’s good at it. Maybe he doesn’t realise that the most dangerous part of that game is that if you’re not careful the people you think you’re playing are going to own you. Maybe he’s at that stage already.’
It’s been more than three years since Carl Barat and Pete Doherty disbanded the Libertines and went their separate ways. At the time of the split, the smart money was on Doherty to emerge as the greater star. While Doherty has become more renowned for his hell raising antics and his arrests, it’s Barat who has distinguished himself musically, with Dirty Pretty Things now accepted as one of the most vital bands of this era. With Barat on lead vocals and guitar, their emotive buzz saw rock ’n’ roll is both critically acclaimed and commercially thriving. Indeed, the new album Romance At Short Notice has been among 2008’s most eagerly anticipated releases.
Barat pauses, takes a sip of his beer, then continues.
‘You can’t give Pete advice. I’ve been through all that many times before. We were in Paris writing the second Libertines album, and I said to him, “Heroin and crack are bigger than you, mate – much bigger. If you carry on with those drugs, they’ll write their own story. Because that’s what those drugs do. If you keep doing them, there are only two scenarios. Either you’ll die or you’ll live the rest of your life like Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings.” Quite often I’d try to shock him by saying things like that. But Pete never wanted to listen.
‘You have to understand that this is someone I care a lot about. There’s still a lot of love between me and Pete. At least there is from my side. So when I pick up a newspaper and read the latest instalment in his life, it makes me sad and angry. I’m relieved that I’m not part of that grotesque merry-go-round. But I wish Pete wasn’t a part of it either.
Barat has the demeanour of a young man who has lost the most important thing in his world.
By the conclusion of our conversations, during which love and loss are mentioned as often as Doherty’s name, it’s quite clear he has done precisely that. Each time we meet he sports the same uniform, which doubles as his stage apparel: scruffy jeans, distressed T-shirt and leather jacket. He retains the look of a glamorous poetic waster, which has been his trademark since the early days with Doherty – together they were the Byronic Romantics of grunge pop.
He talks in a low, almost apologetic mumble and his eyes are tired. He tells me that in the next 24 hours he will turn 30.
He looks a whole lot better than Doherty, which obviously isn’t saying much. He’s been without sleep or food for more than 72 hours, fuelled by ‘Jameson whiskey and, y’know, other stuff’. Catching his reflection in a mirror, he winces rather theatrically and says, ‘My body is in ruins.’
Despite this assertion, and the occasional joke about needing to curb his party excesses, it still comes as a shock when, a week later, Barat is rushed to hospital suffering from vomiting, nausea and severe stomach pains. Diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, he’s kept under observation for six days, undergoes further tests and is put on a morphine drip. Early indications are he’ll be unable to drink ever again.
Though Barat and Doherty communicate regularly by text, it’s now more than 12 months since they last met, reuniting to record a cover of the Beatles’ A Day In The Life for Radio 2’s 40th-anniversary celebration of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Two months prior to that, Barat had joined Doherty on stage at London’s Hackney Empire for a 13-song set that included a clutch of Libertines songs.
‘I don’t cry too easily, and hardly ever in public. But there were a lot of tears at that gig. Emotionally it was colossal. It was the first time I’d played with Pete for ages without Kate Moss and the whole entourage around. It reminded me how great we were together and how much unfinished business there is.
‘As to whether the Libertines could reform, that’s a big maybe. It’s a question that follows me around constantly. I’ll be out getting a loaf of bread and some aggressive schoolkid will come up and ask, “When are you getting the Libertines back together?” I deal with it politely, but I’m thinking, “Do you really think this is something I haven’t given a lot of thought to?”’
Barat emerged with Dirty Pretty Things in September 2005, with bassist Didz Hammond, guitarist Anthony Rossomando and former Libertines drummer Gary Powell. Their debut album, Waterloo To Anywhere, sold 120,000 copies.
Its punky guitar rock bore only a passing resemblance to the output of Barat’s former band, but at least some of the spite and anger in the lyrics (‘You’re a legend in your mind/but a rumour in your room’) seemed to be aimed squarely at Doherty.
‘I didn’t kid myself that I could start with a clean slate. To some extent we were working in the shadow of the Libertines, the shadow of Pete Doherty. It was a really hard time for me; I was feeling dark and miserable. I suppose I blamed myself for everything that had gone wrong before. But I didn’t want to change either. It was almost as if I felt I had to feel miserable and guilty to carry on writing songs.’
Barat tells me that depression has dogged him for as long as he can remember. ‘I’ve never known true happiness or peace of mind,’ he says bleakly. ‘I’ve always been something of a troubled soul. Growing up, I had a constant feeling of “this is not my world”.’
Barat was born in Basingstoke, and spent his early years alternately with his father, who worked in an armaments factory, and his mother, a hippy who finally settled in a commune in Somerset.
‘I was never much into music as a kid,’ he says. ‘But I drifted into it. In my early teens I’d hang around with my mates getting stoned, strumming the same guitar chord over and over. It took me years just to master the basics, but I always had a strange belief that music would be my life.’As a teenager he worked his way through a series of very odd jobs. ‘I did a stint on the front desk of a place where schizophrenics went if they’d missed their injections. I did the night shift in a salad factory. I was one of the tossers. My job involved tossing salad all night, removing dead or dying animals from the lettuce. The highlight for me was discovering half a frog. We never found the other half.’ He was studying drama at Brunel University when he befriended Pete Doherty’s older sister. By now Barat had been doing pub gigs for a couple of years, and Doherty got in touch, hoping to be taught how to play guitar. The most important relationship in Barat’s life was born.
‘Even from the start we fought. There was always a spark. Pete had all the front and I was very shy. Pete craved chaos and I longed for security.
Eventually that combination is going to become volatile. Something like that is always going to implode. It’s just a matter of time. Only we didn’t realise it at the time.’
Barat and Doherty moved into a squalid basement flat in Camden and plotted their course. The Libertines, they decided, would be no ordinary rock group, but a force that would overthrow the musical establishment and break down the barriers between artist and audience. Their line-up completed with drummer Powell and bassist John Hassall, they began playing live wherever they could – a condemned pub, a disused factory, even a north London brothel – and quickly built up a devoted following.
‘It was either the top of the world or the bottom of the canal. It wasn’t too different from falling madly in love; when you don’t even entertain the thought that it could ever end. At the start it was fun. I’d always wanted to be part of a gang. I was part of a gang of cheeky urchins who felt they could take on the world. Then heroin entered the picture…’
It was during the making of the Libertines’ debut album in the summer of 2002 that trouble first reared its (ugly) head. Doherty suddenly went AWOL, forcing the band to play a gig without him. By September, with their second single Up The Bracket giving them a chart hit, it was clear that Doherty’s increasing unreliability was linked to his flirtations with heroin and crack cocaine.
‘The Libertines had become my whole world, and I suppose Pete was the mate I’d always wanted.
‘Being in a band and getting messed up in order to have a good time, that’s one thing. Then there’s the kind of trouble that drugs like heroin and crack bring to the party. I didn’t want that life. It didn’t appeal to me on any level. The bottom line is that it’s boring being a junkie ****-up. It probably makes for a great read if you’re not involved. Up to a point the chaos of the Libertines was enjoyable for me. Then very sinister agendas took over and it became the opposite of fun.’
Following the release of the debut album, Barat opted to take a ‘tough love’ approach with Doherty, refusing to let him record or perform with the band until he’d completely cleaned up. Doherty, his addictions now out of control, refused to take the bait. In the summer of 2003, while the band were playing dates in Japan, he burgled Barat’s London flat, making off with, among other things, a prized antique guitar. He duly served two months in prison. Upon his release, Barat was there to welcome him with open arms, and they started work on a second album. However, by the time the band reached the recording studio, their management had assigned each member a security guard in order to stop them from fighting. During this period, with active encouragement from Barat, Doherty made three attempts at rehab, including a short-lived stint at a Thai monastery. He left after three days, heading to a Bangkok hotel where heroin was conveniently available via room service.
‘By this point Pete had become an unstoppable train,’ says Barat. ‘Looking back, there’s nothing I could have done. I’d tried everything. I’d worked pretty damn valiantly to hold him together, to the point of complete exhaustion. The dream of the Libertines was my destiny, and I fought tooth and nail to keep it together.
On the face of it, Barat has mastered the seemingly impossible art of living in the long shadow of the Libertines. He’s in a successful, long-term relationship with DJ girlfriend Annalisa Astarita, with whom he shares a home in Muswell Hill, north London.
Against the odds, he’s survived the wreckage of the Libertines and created his own successful band. We came very close to breaking up during the making of this album. A reshuffle of members was definitely on the cards at some point – it came perilously close to sackings. There have been a few fist-fights. In that way, Dirty Pretty Things is as intense as life in the Libertines. It’s still do or die for me.’
Barat rolls up his sleeve to show me the ‘Libertine’ tattoo on his right bicep. ‘You’d be amazed how many people come up to me and show me their own copy of this,’ he says. ‘It’s touching that people remember the band for something more than the drugs and the fighting. That they still believe in the music. It reminds me that I believe in everything that I believed in when I was in the Libertines.
More vocabulary: distressed-formal-having very little money: in distressed circumstances
вторник
Addiction
24th-29th December
Here comes my list of vocabulary I have started to poses from The Undefeated by Irvine Welsh.
• Leer – look at smb and show they are sexually attractive
• Stop off - make a short visit to a place during a journey, especially to rest or to see someone.
• Pluck up (the) courage (to do something) - force yourself to be brave and do something you are afraid of doing.
• Cathartic -helping you to remove strong or violent emotions: a cathartic experience.
• Lined face – with wrinkles
• A sound argument – strong
• Break off – stop talking
• Bother
• Fuse – combine different ideas etc
• Cast an eye on/over something - examine or read something quickly in order to judge whether it is correct, good etc.
• Make somebody's acquaintance - meet someone for the first time: I should be delighted to make Mrs McGough's acquaintance. At the hotel, I made the acquaintance of a young American actor.
• Apologetic - showing or saying that you are sorry that something has happened, especially because you feel guilty or embarrassed about it. The manager was very apologetic about everything. She gave me an apologetic smile. Look/sound apologetic. I know,' she said apologetically.
• Necessitate - make it necessary for you to do something: Lack of money necessitated a change of plan. necessitate doing something
• Proximity - nearness in distance or time + to/of
• Relinquish – give up smth to smth
• Get out of something - avoid doing something you have promised to do or are supposed to do: See if you can get out of that meeting tomorrow. get out of doing something. -2- Stop doing something or being involved in something: I wanted to get out of teaching.
• Thrive - become very successful or very strong and healthy
• Reconcile - if you reconcile two ideas, situations, or facts, you find a way in which they can both be true or acceptable: The possibility remains that the two theories may be reconciled.
• Perceive
• Uneventful
• Combative – ready to argue
• Tense
• Resentment - a feeling of anger because you feel that you are being treated badly or unfairly, and cannot do anything about it: Patricia stared at the other girls with resentment.
• Load - the amount of work that a person or machine has to do: The computer couldn't handle the load and crashed. My work load has doubled since Henry left. They hired more staff in order to spread the load.
• Slumber=sleep
• Contempt – презрение. The contempt he felt for his students was obvious. The report shows utter contempt for women's judgement.
• His ideas have won widespread public approval (=many people agree with them and think they are good).
• Does the design meet with your approval (=do you like it?)? She looked to Greg for approval.
• Take responsibility for
• The government's proposals were held up to ridicule by opposition ministers. He had become an object of ridicule among the other teachers.
• Whatsoever - used to emphasize a negative statement: He's had no luck whatsoever.
Here comes my list of vocabulary I have started to poses from The Undefeated by Irvine Welsh.
• Leer – look at smb and show they are sexually attractive
• Stop off - make a short visit to a place during a journey, especially to rest or to see someone.
• Pluck up (the) courage (to do something) - force yourself to be brave and do something you are afraid of doing.
• Cathartic -helping you to remove strong or violent emotions: a cathartic experience.
• Lined face – with wrinkles
• A sound argument – strong
• Break off – stop talking
• Bother
• Fuse – combine different ideas etc
• Cast an eye on/over something - examine or read something quickly in order to judge whether it is correct, good etc.
• Make somebody's acquaintance - meet someone for the first time: I should be delighted to make Mrs McGough's acquaintance. At the hotel, I made the acquaintance of a young American actor.
• Apologetic - showing or saying that you are sorry that something has happened, especially because you feel guilty or embarrassed about it. The manager was very apologetic about everything. She gave me an apologetic smile. Look/sound apologetic. I know,' she said apologetically.
• Necessitate - make it necessary for you to do something: Lack of money necessitated a change of plan. necessitate doing something
• Proximity - nearness in distance or time + to/of
• Relinquish – give up smth to smth
• Get out of something - avoid doing something you have promised to do or are supposed to do: See if you can get out of that meeting tomorrow. get out of doing something. -2- Stop doing something or being involved in something: I wanted to get out of teaching.
• Thrive - become very successful or very strong and healthy
• Reconcile - if you reconcile two ideas, situations, or facts, you find a way in which they can both be true or acceptable: The possibility remains that the two theories may be reconciled.
• Perceive
• Uneventful
• Combative – ready to argue
• Tense
• Resentment - a feeling of anger because you feel that you are being treated badly or unfairly, and cannot do anything about it: Patricia stared at the other girls with resentment.
• Load - the amount of work that a person or machine has to do: The computer couldn't handle the load and crashed. My work load has doubled since Henry left. They hired more staff in order to spread the load.
• Slumber=sleep
• Contempt – презрение. The contempt he felt for his students was obvious. The report shows utter contempt for women's judgement.
• His ideas have won widespread public approval (=many people agree with them and think they are good).
• Does the design meet with your approval (=do you like it?)? She looked to Greg for approval.
• Take responsibility for
• The government's proposals were held up to ridicule by opposition ministers. He had become an object of ridicule among the other teachers.
• Whatsoever - used to emphasize a negative statement: He's had no luck whatsoever.
среда
From the new angle
23rd December
According to Design & Life and other publications Taichung Conversation Center-an amazing architectual essemble-was designed to personify the strenght and aspirations of modern China.
According to Design & Life and other publications Taichung Conversation Center-an amazing architectual essemble-was designed to personify the strenght and aspirations of modern China.
Look for more desing here
Wizard
23rd December
From what I heard:
be a matter of principle - be something that you feel you must or must not do, because of your moral principles.
See how differently is the word MATTER used. http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/matter_1
On the basis
Go along - if you do something as you go along, you do it without planning or preparing it.
He was making the story up as he went along. Or: I never had formal training, I just learned the job as I went along.
Be valid for smth.
Somebody, who is good at something, can be called a wizard. A financial wizard; a wizard at chess.
Turned to reading:
You may not know this lanky lass from Littleborough, England, her by her birth name—Laura Hollins—but you're sure to know the blonde-haired, blue-eyed stunner's supermodel moniker: Agyness Deyn. While she won her first modeling contest at age thirteen, the bona fide It Brit put off modeling until she was discovered on the streets of London and urged by friends, including roommate and childhood pal, Henry Holland, to walk the catwalk full-time. Soon after signing to an agency 2006, Deyn was shipped off to New York to walk such in-demand runways as Marc by Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, and Zac Posen.
Yet it's Deyn's unparalleled style sense—her peroxide-blonde pixie cut and wild wardrobe—that could gain the face of Burberry's The Beat perfume a spot among other iconic mannequins like Twiggy and Kate Moss in the fashion industry's Hall of Fame. After all, Deyn was named "Model of the Year" in 2007 by the British Fashion Awards as well as tapped as one of the world's next supermodels by Vogue on the cover of their May 2007 issue, making this model a surefire fashion legend in the making.
Clues:
new, no much attention
new, to remember
mention the structure, expression
From what I heard:
be a matter of principle - be something that you feel you must or must not do, because of your moral principles.
See how differently is the word MATTER used. http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/matter_1
On the basis
Go along - if you do something as you go along, you do it without planning or preparing it.
He was making the story up as he went along. Or: I never had formal training, I just learned the job as I went along.
Be valid for smth.
Somebody, who is good at something, can be called a wizard. A financial wizard; a wizard at chess.
Turned to reading:
Yet it's Deyn's unparalleled style sense—her peroxide-blonde pixie cut and wild wardrobe—that could gain the face of Burberry's The Beat perfume a spot among other iconic mannequins like Twiggy and Kate Moss in the fashion industry's Hall of Fame. After all, Deyn was named "Model of the Year" in 2007 by the British Fashion Awards as well as tapped as one of the world's next supermodels by Vogue on the cover of their May 2007 issue, making this model a surefire fashion legend in the making.
Clues:
new, no much attention
new, to remember
mention the structure, expression
вторник
Style
22nd December
Words:
air - verb
spill over
Here is a source for my learning.
http://dictionary.reference.com/sitemap/
Words:
air - verb
spill over
Here is a source for my learning.
http://dictionary.reference.com/sitemap/
воскресенье
Return
My writing is back! For this I have several reasons: *train my language,*structure my learning process,*recall everything I have forgotten.
Today in the morning I tried some IELTS-exam. A task required my monologue about the video clip I have seen recently. Lady GAGA Bad Romance was my choice. I found it difficult to explain what particulary do I like about it. What a shame!
Look here to see how an English referee is praised by the Liverpool manager:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/20/liverpool-rafael-benitez-portsmouth
"I have seen the replay and for me it is not a sending-off, but anyway the referee was perfect. He didn't make any mistakes".(Rafael Benitez)
Today in the morning I tried some IELTS-exam. A task required my monologue about the video clip I have seen recently. Lady GAGA Bad Romance was my choice. I found it difficult to explain what particulary do I like about it. What a shame!
Look here to see how an English referee is praised by the Liverpool manager:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/20/liverpool-rafael-benitez-portsmouth
"I have seen the replay and for me it is not a sending-off, but anyway the referee was perfect. He didn't make any mistakes".(Rafael Benitez)
суббота
Torn out
October 30th
I've found a piece of writing:
New words, just for looking
Set expressions
Phrases I am fascinated by
I've found a piece of writing:
Idioms
New words, important to rememberNew words, just for looking
Set expressions
Phrases I am fascinated by
Business art. Art business. The Business Art Business.
October 29th
Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things happen to you in life that’s unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it’s like watching television – you don’ feel anything.
Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it’s all television. When you’re really really involved with something, you’re usually thinking about something else. When something’s happening, you fantasize about other things. When I woke up somewhere – I didn’t it was at the hospital and that Bobby Kennedy had been shot the day after I was – I heard fantasy words about thousands of people being in St. Patrick’s Cathedral praying and carrying on., and then I heard the word “Kennedy” and that brought me back to the television world again, because then I realized, well, here I was, in pain.
So I was shot at my place of business: Andy Warhol Enterprises. At that point, in 1968, Andy Warhol Enterprises consisted of a few people who worked for me on a fairly regular basis, a lot of what you might call free-lancers who worked on specific projects, and a lot of “superstars” or “hyperstars” or whatever you can call all the people who are very talented, but whose talents are hard to define and almost impossible to market. <…> An interviewer asked me a lot of questions about how I ran my office and I tried to explain to him that I don’t really run it, it runs me. I used a lot of phrases like “bring home the bacon” so he didn’t really understand what I was talking about.
<…>
Business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist. After I did the thing called “art” or whatever it’s called, I went into business art. I wanted to be an Art Businessmen or a Business Artist. Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. During the hippie era people put down the idea of business – they’d say, “Money is bad”, and “Working is bad,” but making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things happen to you in life that’s unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it’s like watching television – you don’ feel anything.
Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it’s all television. When you’re really really involved with something, you’re usually thinking about something else. When something’s happening, you fantasize about other things. When I woke up somewhere – I didn’t it was at the hospital and that Bobby Kennedy had been shot the day after I was – I heard fantasy words about thousands of people being in St. Patrick’s Cathedral praying and carrying on., and then I heard the word “Kennedy” and that brought me back to the television world again, because then I realized, well, here I was, in pain.
So I was shot at my place of business: Andy Warhol Enterprises. At that point, in 1968, Andy Warhol Enterprises consisted of a few people who worked for me on a fairly regular basis, a lot of what you might call free-lancers who worked on specific projects, and a lot of “superstars” or “hyperstars” or whatever you can call all the people who are very talented, but whose talents are hard to define and almost impossible to market. <…> An interviewer asked me a lot of questions about how I ran my office and I tried to explain to him that I don’t really run it, it runs me. I used a lot of phrases like “bring home the bacon” so he didn’t really understand what I was talking about.
<…>
Business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist. After I did the thing called “art” or whatever it’s called, I went into business art. I wanted to be an Art Businessmen or a Business Artist. Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. During the hippie era people put down the idea of business – they’d say, “Money is bad”, and “Working is bad,” but making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
Andy Warhol
среда
Journal
October 28th
From “The books of Albion” by Peter Doherty.
In relation to her gains, to her sexual harvest.
Did a content person achieve anything except his own smug expression?
From “The continuing adventure of Spaniel O’Spaniel”. (Part II, at the Careers Officer’s.) (Peter Doherty)
In his passion, only a passion for life, he would, with deliberation, never hurrying, deliberately, get the words wrong.
Mr … breathed a sigh of despair.
I am quiet and lonesome, and full of heavy mercury, industrial melancholy. I have patience without insight and insight without care for coherence. I love without the use of any organs. I make music in my head and wish that I was dead.
When I’ve become immune to my own instincts.
When I know for a fact that the days in the sun were allusions. When I see the tears & tears in my proud father’s coat, When my Saviour, my Lord, the one who promised me life is drinking in Stepney with his soon to be wife, then, sure as McFuckety, It’s time for death on the stairs.
Somewhere I like the words, somewhere the ideas.
From “The books of Albion” by Peter Doherty.
In relation to her gains, to her sexual harvest.
Did a content person achieve anything except his own smug expression?
From “The continuing adventure of Spaniel O’Spaniel”. (Part II, at the Careers Officer’s.) (Peter Doherty)
In his passion, only a passion for life, he would, with deliberation, never hurrying, deliberately, get the words wrong.
Mr … breathed a sigh of despair.
I am quiet and lonesome, and full of heavy mercury, industrial melancholy. I have patience without insight and insight without care for coherence. I love without the use of any organs. I make music in my head and wish that I was dead.
When I’ve become immune to my own instincts.
When I know for a fact that the days in the sun were allusions. When I see the tears & tears in my proud father’s coat, When my Saviour, my Lord, the one who promised me life is drinking in Stepney with his soon to be wife, then, sure as McFuckety, It’s time for death on the stairs.
Somewhere I like the words, somewhere the ideas.
LARS! LARS! LARS!
October 15th – October 27th
For several weeks I was short of time to write on my blog. I summarise everything in one post now.
It is Reading I start with.
I quit reading The Forsyte Saga on the page 250. Despite the fact that the book isn’t boring, I got fed up with it. Not only one cause is to mention. I find almost everyday the new stuff to read: merely up-to-date information or which I consider essential for my mental development. This book isn't modern, so there was only one reason to read left. I started to read it, because I wanted to undertand another nation. I have some vision of it now. Eagerness for something more modern has come.
The famous Saga exhausts with its formal old-fashioned language. Try to perceive useful vocabulary from dozens of unknown words isn’t a good perspective to a person who wants to learn fast.
I had come across a film on television, which had been based on this book, recently. I have been aware of plot since that, so reading became not as adventurous as it had been before.
I don’t regret reading this book, nevertheless.
Fellini – never expect him to be loud and clear.
Make a difference! – was my motto. I watched Fellini’s “8 ½” in Italian for not to spoil the right atmosphere, submitting the film with English subtitles. The Italians are used to speaking fast, and I didn’t manage to read and understand everything. The text was metaphorical too. While it has been a memorable experience, I will watch in English in future.
W-A-R-H-O-L
Andy’s book “Philosophy of Andy Warhol” has different chapters named Work, Time, Love, Fame, Atmosphere, Success and etc. These are the extracts from Beauty.
When you’re interested in somebody, and you think they might be interested in you, you should point out all your beauty problems and defects right away, rather than take a chance they won’t notice them. Maybe, say, you have a permanent beauty problem you can’t change, such as short legs. Just say it. “My legs, as you have probably noticed, are much too short in proportion to the rest of my body.” Why give the other person the satisfaction of discovering it for themselves? Once it’s out in the open, at least you know it will never become an issue later on in the relationship, and if it does, you can always say, “Well I told you that in the beginning.”
On the other hand, say you have a purely temporary beauty problem. < …> If you don’t point out these things they might think that your temporary beauty problem is a permanent beauty problem. Why should they think otherwise if you’ve just met them? <…> So it’s up to you to set them straight and get them to use their imagination about what your hair must look like when it’s shiny, and what your body must look like when it’s not overweight, and your dress would look like without the grease spot on it. Even explain that you have much better clothes hanging in your closet than the ones you’re wearing. If they really do like you for yourself, they’ll be willing to use their imagination to think of what you must look like without your temporary beauty problem.
If you’re naturally pale, you should put on a lot of blush to compensate. But if you’ve got a big nose, just play it up, and if you have a pimple, put on the pimple cream in a way that will make it really stand out- “There! I use pimple cream!” There’s a difference.
I am on the page 189 now. A great book! Perfect for reading in a lounge. Emotional and represents Andy from the several sights.
Listening
It happened that I watched the HARD TALK on the BBC with a lawyer, Michael Mansfield.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8280547.stm
It isn’t bad to watch with a dictionary in hands.
• Legislation
• Oblige
• Oppose
• And my favourite one: “I talk facts, you talk emotions.” – Stephen Sackur.
The Antichrist
I had gone to the cinema due to the director and had found the film very original…until the moment when a wife attempted to kill his husband.
I completed 2 tasks on re-writing a formal text into an informal one, did the tasks on reading with filling the gaps with the missing pieces.
I learnt the Quoting rules.
In addition to this, I went into vocabulary of rise and fall, go up and drop and reduction, decline, lows and highs, pie charts, bar charts, flowcharts and segments, etc. to prepare for IELTS. Also I went thought the IELTS task “Business and Industry” filling in the gaps with a suitable words – antonyms. I’ve got 11 out of 19 correct.
Vocabulary I got out of it:
• Revenue - money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services.
• Shortage - situation in which there is not enough of something that people need. (A shortage of skilled labour. Water/food/housing shortage. Acute/chronic/severe shortage.)
• White- and blue-collar jobs. 1.) In banks, offices…2.) Factories, building sites…
• Lay off – stop employing people, because there is no work to do.
On the other hand, the passage, called “Visit London's Science Museum” from IELTS was completed perfectly.
A bit more vocabulary:
• Newspapers are frequently accused of invasion of privacy by celebrities and other media stars.
• The government was trying to suppress freedom of speech.
• Upbeat – (adj.) making you feel that good things will happen. Opposed to - downbeat.
• Media/property/business/newspaper tycoon.
I am sure, I have forgot something, which I don't remember now. Let it be.
For several weeks I was short of time to write on my blog. I summarise everything in one post now.
It is Reading I start with.
I quit reading The Forsyte Saga on the page 250. Despite the fact that the book isn’t boring, I got fed up with it. Not only one cause is to mention. I find almost everyday the new stuff to read: merely up-to-date information or which I consider essential for my mental development. This book isn't modern, so there was only one reason to read left. I started to read it, because I wanted to undertand another nation. I have some vision of it now. Eagerness for something more modern has come.
The famous Saga exhausts with its formal old-fashioned language. Try to perceive useful vocabulary from dozens of unknown words isn’t a good perspective to a person who wants to learn fast.
I had come across a film on television, which had been based on this book, recently. I have been aware of plot since that, so reading became not as adventurous as it had been before.
I don’t regret reading this book, nevertheless.
Fellini – never expect him to be loud and clear.
Make a difference! – was my motto. I watched Fellini’s “8 ½” in Italian for not to spoil the right atmosphere, submitting the film with English subtitles. The Italians are used to speaking fast, and I didn’t manage to read and understand everything. The text was metaphorical too. While it has been a memorable experience, I will watch in English in future.
W-A-R-H-O-L
Andy’s book “Philosophy of Andy Warhol” has different chapters named Work, Time, Love, Fame, Atmosphere, Success and etc. These are the extracts from Beauty.
When you’re interested in somebody, and you think they might be interested in you, you should point out all your beauty problems and defects right away, rather than take a chance they won’t notice them. Maybe, say, you have a permanent beauty problem you can’t change, such as short legs. Just say it. “My legs, as you have probably noticed, are much too short in proportion to the rest of my body.” Why give the other person the satisfaction of discovering it for themselves? Once it’s out in the open, at least you know it will never become an issue later on in the relationship, and if it does, you can always say, “Well I told you that in the beginning.”
On the other hand, say you have a purely temporary beauty problem. < …> If you don’t point out these things they might think that your temporary beauty problem is a permanent beauty problem. Why should they think otherwise if you’ve just met them? <…> So it’s up to you to set them straight and get them to use their imagination about what your hair must look like when it’s shiny, and what your body must look like when it’s not overweight, and your dress would look like without the grease spot on it. Even explain that you have much better clothes hanging in your closet than the ones you’re wearing. If they really do like you for yourself, they’ll be willing to use their imagination to think of what you must look like without your temporary beauty problem.
If you’re naturally pale, you should put on a lot of blush to compensate. But if you’ve got a big nose, just play it up, and if you have a pimple, put on the pimple cream in a way that will make it really stand out- “There! I use pimple cream!” There’s a difference.
I am on the page 189 now. A great book! Perfect for reading in a lounge. Emotional and represents Andy from the several sights.
Listening
It happened that I watched the HARD TALK on the BBC with a lawyer, Michael Mansfield.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8280547.stm
It isn’t bad to watch with a dictionary in hands.
• Legislation
• Oblige
• Oppose
• And my favourite one: “I talk facts, you talk emotions.” – Stephen Sackur.
The Antichrist
I had gone to the cinema due to the director and had found the film very original…until the moment when a wife attempted to kill his husband.
You still can watch till that moment and thank yourself for not being a fool and staying at home.
Grammar
I completed 2 tasks on re-writing a formal text into an informal one, did the tasks on reading with filling the gaps with the missing pieces.
I learnt the Quoting rules.
In addition to this, I went into vocabulary of rise and fall, go up and drop and reduction, decline, lows and highs, pie charts, bar charts, flowcharts and segments, etc. to prepare for IELTS. Also I went thought the IELTS task “Business and Industry” filling in the gaps with a suitable words – antonyms. I’ve got 11 out of 19 correct.
Vocabulary I got out of it:
• Revenue - money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services.
• Shortage - situation in which there is not enough of something that people need. (A shortage of skilled labour. Water/food/housing shortage. Acute/chronic/severe shortage.)
• White- and blue-collar jobs. 1.) In banks, offices…2.) Factories, building sites…
• Lay off – stop employing people, because there is no work to do.
On the other hand, the passage, called “Visit London's Science Museum” from IELTS was completed perfectly.
A bit more vocabulary:
• Newspapers are frequently accused of invasion of privacy by celebrities and other media stars.
• The government was trying to suppress freedom of speech.
• Upbeat – (adj.) making you feel that good things will happen. Opposed to - downbeat.
• Media/property/business/newspaper tycoon.
I am sure, I have forgot something, which I don't remember now. Let it be.
четверг
Picks
View the modern art here:
http://dazeddigital.com/Photography/gallery/27/5435/5/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances_Horses
Mystery is expected.
http://dazeddigital.com/Photography/gallery/27/5435/5/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances_Horses
Mystery is expected.
среда
A dirty job
October 14th
Prepositions today.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Be an expert at playing chess.
Be tired of studying.
Arthur likes riding in fast cars.
I made mistakes here. 3 of 24 were wrong.
Next task:
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/exercise/jquiz/busprvb.htm more serious
approve of - think its good etc. No mistake by me.
consent to - give permission. New.
agreed to - new use.
apply for - easy one but forgotten.
Next:
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/exercise/jquiz/busphvb.htm - phrasals
bring about = cause
look over - examine quickly
throw away - to remember
Prepositions today.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Be an expert at playing chess.
Be tired of studying.
Arthur likes riding in fast cars.
I made mistakes here. 3 of 24 were wrong.
Next task:
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/exercise/jquiz/busprvb.htm more serious
approve of - think its good etc. No mistake by me.
consent to - give permission. New.
agreed to - new use.
apply for - easy one but forgotten.
Next:
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/exercise/jquiz/busphvb.htm - phrasals
bring about = cause
look over - examine quickly
throw away - to remember
Life is never dull
October 13th
I hope there is no accusation in your eyes, my dear reader, but I'm back to report on my ACADEMIC STUDIES again.
The verbs were on agenda. Here: http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Read through and completed the tasks I like on PASSIVE the most. Gained 87% there. Partly not perfect for my not-really-good concentration and partly confused by were/was and had been. Taks of this kind require concentration, which I also expect to train doing them.
I read Annie Leibovitz book till the page 140.
I hope there is no accusation in your eyes, my dear reader, but I'm back to report on my ACADEMIC STUDIES again.
The verbs were on agenda. Here: http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Read through and completed the tasks I like on PASSIVE the most. Gained 87% there. Partly not perfect for my not-really-good concentration and partly confused by were/was and had been. Taks of this kind require concentration, which I also expect to train doing them.
I read Annie Leibovitz book till the page 140.
понедельник
The decent people
October 6th - 12th
For these days no much self-study work was done. Andy Warhol’s book first of all was being read till the page 170. I will probably quote some extracts from there, but a bit later.
Second, I properly started to study on the EUfAP.com. This is a source for the training of Accuracy, Listening, Writing, Speaking etc.
I started my journey from a part on Accuracy.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm - read here how this skill is important.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm - I did this task but without writing. I was waiting for more exciting tasks to come. But still this one is useful for it covers many fields of knowledge.
Proof-read
This page is important in every single way.http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Read Pascal's funny words, learn how to read properly, view an article about Janis Joplin and what's more, a thilling task for finding the mistakes in a text. Pull the arrows to the wrong words and see the right variant.
Hightly recommended.
For these days no much self-study work was done. Andy Warhol’s book first of all was being read till the page 170. I will probably quote some extracts from there, but a bit later.
Second, I properly started to study on the EUfAP.com. This is a source for the training of Accuracy, Listening, Writing, Speaking etc.
I started my journey from a part on Accuracy.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm - read here how this skill is important.
http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm - I did this task but without writing. I was waiting for more exciting tasks to come. But still this one is useful for it covers many fields of knowledge.
Proof-read
This page is important in every single way.http://www.uefap.com/accuracy/accfram.htm
Read Pascal's funny words, learn how to read properly, view an article about Janis Joplin and what's more, a thilling task for finding the mistakes in a text. Pull the arrows to the wrong words and see the right variant.
Hightly recommended.
вторник
A manual:How to work on vocabulary?
October 5th
As I promised I would reflect my work on vocabulary here, so let me take Andy Warhol’s pieces.
There are several types of vocabulary: one, which I translate to 1.) understand the meaning of the text better 2.) memorise the words, which will be remembered in some time after being seen several times, but I don’t write them out, for I consider I won’t be using them in the near future, or they just sound dull. The second type of vocabulary gets written down. This is vocabulary I work on.
I must also mention that I first read a text till the moment I wish to read underling the unknown words. When I stop my reading I take a dictionary.
One more thing: If don’t want to open the monolingual dictionary, don’t open any other. Wait till you want to do it!
Shuffle – mix playing card. Think of a situation, when you use this word. I always make up such an example, where someone speaks. You sit in a local pub. Your friend wants to play cards. You take the cards from your pocket and give them out. Your friend shouts at you: “Shuffle the cards first!” So this way I memorise the word. I don’t write this down. This is done to remember the emotion, which I have in connection with this word. What is left after this in my Vocabulary Notebook? A word itself and some popular phrases with it. It’s my turn to shuffle and shuffle the cards.
You must clearly understand what is important to write down and what is not. For instance, I would hardly ever note the American English, slang, food or words related to medicine. The selection part is the most valuable, because you choose how you would like to speak or write. I mean, if you are so good at language that a wart is a word you are keen to remember, that’s your choice but not mine.
Drip – let liquid fall in drops. The tap is dripping. Her hair was dripping. Drip blood/water/sweat etc. His arm is dripping blood. Drop down/from etc. Water was dripping through the ceiling. In a dictionary are many more ways to use this word, but let it be. Not only write, but do not read too much.
Try to write down phrases more then words.
Have a one-track mind - continuously think about one particular thing, especially sex.
Don’t write the word or phrase you already know.
A drag – (informal) - something or someone that is boring. Don't be such a drag! Come to the party.
Or - Something that is annoying and continues for a long time. It's a real drag having to travel so far to work every day.
I didn’t write in drag, I knew it.
From scratch - if you start something from scratch, you begin it without using anything that existed or was prepared before. We had to start again from scratch.
Other for today:
Dunk
Doze off - to go to sleep, especially when you did not intend to. = drop off, nod off.
Rub
That is all for this hour, because I feel tired after looking up many words. Many of them I don’t have here, for they are too specific. (I have looked thought 21 pages.)
Actually, it is a good idea to learn POPULAR words and phrases, which are used all around and about. This is the another story, though.
What do I do next when I have the words in my Notebook? I look at them for some time for many days, till I feel I know them well. But still I think that the more you read the broader vocabulary you have, even without doing much work with it.
As I promised I would reflect my work on vocabulary here, so let me take Andy Warhol’s pieces.
There are several types of vocabulary: one, which I translate to 1.) understand the meaning of the text better 2.) memorise the words, which will be remembered in some time after being seen several times, but I don’t write them out, for I consider I won’t be using them in the near future, or they just sound dull. The second type of vocabulary gets written down. This is vocabulary I work on.
I must also mention that I first read a text till the moment I wish to read underling the unknown words. When I stop my reading I take a dictionary.
One more thing: If don’t want to open the monolingual dictionary, don’t open any other. Wait till you want to do it!
Shuffle – mix playing card. Think of a situation, when you use this word. I always make up such an example, where someone speaks. You sit in a local pub. Your friend wants to play cards. You take the cards from your pocket and give them out. Your friend shouts at you: “Shuffle the cards first!” So this way I memorise the word. I don’t write this down. This is done to remember the emotion, which I have in connection with this word. What is left after this in my Vocabulary Notebook? A word itself and some popular phrases with it. It’s my turn to shuffle and shuffle the cards.
You must clearly understand what is important to write down and what is not. For instance, I would hardly ever note the American English, slang, food or words related to medicine. The selection part is the most valuable, because you choose how you would like to speak or write. I mean, if you are so good at language that a wart is a word you are keen to remember, that’s your choice but not mine.
Drip – let liquid fall in drops. The tap is dripping. Her hair was dripping. Drip blood/water/sweat etc. His arm is dripping blood. Drop down/from etc. Water was dripping through the ceiling. In a dictionary are many more ways to use this word, but let it be. Not only write, but do not read too much.
Try to write down phrases more then words.
Have a one-track mind - continuously think about one particular thing, especially sex.
Don’t write the word or phrase you already know.
A drag – (informal) - something or someone that is boring. Don't be such a drag! Come to the party.
Or - Something that is annoying and continues for a long time. It's a real drag having to travel so far to work every day.
I didn’t write in drag, I knew it.
From scratch - if you start something from scratch, you begin it without using anything that existed or was prepared before. We had to start again from scratch.
Other for today:
Dunk
Doze off - to go to sleep, especially when you did not intend to. = drop off, nod off.
Rub
That is all for this hour, because I feel tired after looking up many words. Many of them I don’t have here, for they are too specific. (I have looked thought 21 pages.)
Actually, it is a good idea to learn POPULAR words and phrases, which are used all around and about. This is the another story, though.
What do I do next when I have the words in my Notebook? I look at them for some time for many days, till I feel I know them well. But still I think that the more you read the broader vocabulary you have, even without doing much work with it.
понедельник
How Andy puts his Warhol on?
October 2nd-3rd-4th
It seems, that weekends turn into the days of massive reading.
Annie Leibovitz continues to recount what her life was like. She was so much into other people and their life stories that she forgot to make her own. “The life through the lens”, I guess that is a name of the documentary about Annie, tells perfectly about her unstoppable professional career, full with different projects and aspects of photography, but which also rejected any chances on her personal life. (65-100 pages read.)
What’s more, I have got Andy’s book now. “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol”.
So here he writes: "In the late 50s I started an affair with my television set which has continued to the present, when I play around in my bedroom with as many as four at a time. But I didn't get married until 1964 when I got my first tape recorder. My wife. My tape recorder and I have been married for ten years now. When I say "we", I mean my tape recorder and me. A lot of people don't understand that."
Or
"In "Tub Girls" the girls had to take baths with people in tubs. They met in a tub. And a girl would have to carry her tub to the next person she'd have to take a bath with, so she'd put her tub under her arm and carry her tub...We used a clear plastic tub."
I also worked on vocabulary. When I read I mark the unknown words, which I look up later, when a chapter or some part of reading is finished.
It will be introduced in the next post.
It seems, that weekends turn into the days of massive reading.
Annie Leibovitz continues to recount what her life was like. She was so much into other people and their life stories that she forgot to make her own. “The life through the lens”, I guess that is a name of the documentary about Annie, tells perfectly about her unstoppable professional career, full with different projects and aspects of photography, but which also rejected any chances on her personal life. (65-100 pages read.)
What’s more, I have got Andy’s book now. “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol”.
So here he writes: "In the late 50s I started an affair with my television set which has continued to the present, when I play around in my bedroom with as many as four at a time. But I didn't get married until 1964 when I got my first tape recorder. My wife. My tape recorder and I have been married for ten years now. When I say "we", I mean my tape recorder and me. A lot of people don't understand that."
Or
"In "Tub Girls" the girls had to take baths with people in tubs. They met in a tub. And a girl would have to carry her tub to the next person she'd have to take a bath with, so she'd put her tub under her arm and carry her tub...We used a clear plastic tub."
I also worked on vocabulary. When I read I mark the unknown words, which I look up later, when a chapter or some part of reading is finished.
It will be introduced in the next post.
четверг
British Classics
October 1st
After a little break I’m coming back.
I thought about a new structure a bit, so from now you can find the divisions into Sport, Photography, Reading, Dictionary Work, Academic Work, Listening, Watching and Supplement.
Watching and Sport come together. The Hancock’s Half Hour is an influential British comedy of the 50s.
After a little break I’m coming back.
I thought about a new structure a bit, so from now you can find the divisions into Sport, Photography, Reading, Dictionary Work, Academic Work, Listening, Watching and Supplement.
Watching and Sport come together. The Hancock’s Half Hour is an influential British comedy of the 50s.
When a national newspaper asked for its definition of 'Britishness', the most quoted reply was this: "Being British is about driving in a German car, wearing Italian clothes, heading to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer and some Greek olives, then going for an Indian curry washed down with some Australian beer before going home to collapse on your Swedish furniture to watch American shows on a Japanese TV. And the most British thing of all? Being suspicious of anything foreign."
вторник
1939 Returning
Captured clandestine
Crawled into the lights
He knew he was in for a shoeing
Just wasn't to be his night
Dragged out of the frozen Rhine
For the Motherland and the Third Reich
A toeing's as good as a shoeing
When it's not to be your night
Tread carefully, so carefully
Upon the drifting ice
Caught behind enemy lines
In 1939
For Germany he sacrificed his life
Caught behind enemy lines
There in 1939
Kids knee-deep in rubble
London urchins grey with dust
Packed off west in evacuations
To farmers' wives
Green and pleasant lives
Far from the doodlebugs
Nanna Doll she still remembers
Leaving town in worn-out shoes
Now she's back out west in sheltered accommodations
Homes for the old where pills aren't the only blues
Tread carefully, so carefully
Upon the drifting ice
Staring blank into the TV guide
In 2009
How it's hurting me, I've only seen her twice
Since she went west for the second time
Since 1939
Peter Doherty
Listen for the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEZUm4_hR9U
Captured clandestine
Crawled into the lights
He knew he was in for a shoeing
Just wasn't to be his night
Dragged out of the frozen Rhine
For the Motherland and the Third Reich
A toeing's as good as a shoeing
When it's not to be your night
Tread carefully, so carefully
Upon the drifting ice
Caught behind enemy lines
In 1939
For Germany he sacrificed his life
Caught behind enemy lines
There in 1939
Kids knee-deep in rubble
London urchins grey with dust
Packed off west in evacuations
To farmers' wives
Green and pleasant lives
Far from the doodlebugs
Nanna Doll she still remembers
Leaving town in worn-out shoes
Now she's back out west in sheltered accommodations
Homes for the old where pills aren't the only blues
Tread carefully, so carefully
Upon the drifting ice
Staring blank into the TV guide
In 2009
How it's hurting me, I've only seen her twice
Since she went west for the second time
Since 1939
Peter Doherty
Listen for the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEZUm4_hR9U
понедельник
Call me a bookworm!
September 23rd - September 27th
These 5 weekdays I’ve spent on the long-term reading. Every day I was getting closer to the end of The Forsyte Saga, the Leibovitz’s biography and The Calligrapher.
These 5 weekdays I’ve spent on the long-term reading. Every day I was getting closer to the end of The Forsyte Saga, the Leibovitz’s biography and The Calligrapher.
четверг
You write, I read
September 22nd
As you might have understood, I couldn’t not to abandon myself to reading of The Calligrapher. (Some 16 pages read where you meet a man, who begs his friend to draw his girlfriend attention from him in order to flirt with a lady in an art gallery, who just has given him a wink.)
• The best/worst part
• The film is violent in parts.
• Casualisation – a tendency make things less formal.
• Paddle/ Go for a paddle
• Be gasping for something – spoken- feel that you urgently need smth.
I'm gasping for a pint!
• You wish! – spoken
'I'm going to be famous one day.' 'You wish!' – meaning “Most probably not.”
As you might have understood, I couldn’t not to abandon myself to reading of The Calligrapher. (Some 16 pages read where you meet a man, who begs his friend to draw his girlfriend attention from him in order to flirt with a lady in an art gallery, who just has given him a wink.)
Vocabulary,
but not from this book, just out of somewhere.
• The best/worst part
• The film is violent in parts.
• Casualisation – a tendency make things less formal.
• Paddle/ Go for a paddle
• Be gasping for something – spoken- feel that you urgently need smth.
I'm gasping for a pint!
• You wish! – spoken
'I'm going to be famous one day.' 'You wish!' – meaning “Most probably not.”
вторник
Robert Donne is still alive
September 21st
I go on with the Forsyte Saga. A chapter, where James goes to see for himself, was read. (6 pages) As I’d already mentioned, I don’t pick a dictionary, while I’m reading, for I like to get into the plot development and the characters, not be a slowcoach puzzled with every tenth word. The Nobel Prize for this masterpiece isn’t hot air.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0rYhgBiNMwYC&dq=edward+docx+calligrapher&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=lv&ei=lnW4Sp_cOYT8_Aay5I3jBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
What about modern English literature? Edward Docx finds it absolutely important for a writer to be up to date. Therefore besides a calligrapher and his lovers, John Donne (whose poems the calligrapher re-writes for an American rich man and who changes the protagonist’s life), London, with its atmosphere, is something to pay your attention to.
Here’s about the English poet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0618343970.asp - Click here for a book review!
I go on with the Forsyte Saga. A chapter, where James goes to see for himself, was read. (6 pages) As I’d already mentioned, I don’t pick a dictionary, while I’m reading, for I like to get into the plot development and the characters, not be a slowcoach puzzled with every tenth word. The Nobel Prize for this masterpiece isn’t hot air.
More on reading:
http://books.google.com/books?id=0rYhgBiNMwYC&dq=edward+docx+calligrapher&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=lv&ei=lnW4Sp_cOYT8_Aay5I3jBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
What about modern English literature? Edward Docx finds it absolutely important for a writer to be up to date. Therefore besides a calligrapher and his lovers, John Donne (whose poems the calligrapher re-writes for an American rich man and who changes the protagonist’s life), London, with its atmosphere, is something to pay your attention to.
Here’s about the English poet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0618343970.asp - Click here for a book review!
понедельник
Well brought up
September 20th
Think you now simple things? I don't.
1) Thank you – wide use.
Thank you for…
Thank you very much
4) That's very kind of you – formal use, when someone has generously offered to do smth. for you.
7) You've saved my life – when someone got you out of a difficult situation/ solved a problem for you.
1) Don't mention it
"Thanks for the lift!" "Oh, don't mention it!"
4) My pleasure – formal use.
7) No problem – informal use, to emphasise that smth was very easy for you.
Think you now simple things? I don't.
What you say when you thank someone
1) Thank you – wide use.
Thank you for…
Thank you very much
2) Thanks - use immediately.
Thanks for…
Thanks to somebody – use in speeches.
Thanks a lot
3) Cheers – informal use, immediately.
4) That's very kind of you – formal use, when someone has generously offered to do smth. for you.
5) I appreciate it – when someone has done a lot to help you.
I really appreciate it
6) You shouldn't have – when someone has given you smth, esp. expensive.
What a beautiful ring! You shouldn't have!
8) I'd like to thank – use in a formal speech.
I'd like to thank somebody for (doing) something
9) Many thanks – in a letter.
Many thanks for
What you say to someone when they thank you
1) Don't mention it
"Thanks for the lift!" "Oh, don't mention it!"
2) That's all right/that's OK – informal use.
3) You're welcome – especially American.
4) My pleasure – formal use.
5) Not at all – formal use.
6) Think nothing of it / it was nothing – use when somebody thanks you a lot for smth you have done and they think it was very difficult for you.
7) No problem – informal use, to emphasise that smth was very easy for you.
I’ll drop a variant with sure, for it is common among Americans, and I’m not interested in American English very much.
At the university
September 19th
It's Saturday. Normally it means The Barclay’s Premier League. This date doesn’t stand out above the other ones. This day's allowed me to find a stock with a range of recordings, texts, schemes, which might not only improve my language, but help to meet the standards of the higher education.
http://www.uefap.com/
It's Saturday. Normally it means The Barclay’s Premier League. This date doesn’t stand out above the other ones. This day's allowed me to find a stock with a range of recordings, texts, schemes, which might not only improve my language, but help to meet the standards of the higher education.
http://www.uefap.com/
Marching on
September 18th
Browsing in Internet for the Common mistakes people do, I've found this. Here're listed some popular writing mistakes.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5157813_common-english-errors.html
Still it isn't the most intersting on this website. Come here to view all type of advice, relating to the electronics, hobbies, finance, society, health and so on. All in 1, 2, 3…steps.
http://www.ehow.com/how-to.html
And as usual, some vocabulary examples I learnt.
Watch your language! – (spoken) - stop swearing!
Browsing in Internet for the Common mistakes people do, I've found this. Here're listed some popular writing mistakes.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5157813_common-english-errors.html
Still it isn't the most intersting on this website. Come here to view all type of advice, relating to the electronics, hobbies, finance, society, health and so on. All in 1, 2, 3…steps.
http://www.ehow.com/how-to.html
How to Do Just About Everything?
That’s the motto of this site.
And as usual, some vocabulary examples I learnt.
Watch your language! – (spoken) - stop swearing!
Be on the same wavelength = speak the same language = be in tune with
GOLF!
September 17th
One of my aims is to learn phrases. Here is website for it:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html
These, for the beginning, I chose with no intention behind it. Especially the third one is simply memorable.
Fair and square - Honest and straightforward, especially of business dealings.
Faith will move mountains – Out of the Bible - Faith is immensely powerful.
GOLF - Gentlemen only, ladies forbidden!
One of my aims is to learn phrases. Here is website for it:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html
These, for the beginning, I chose with no intention behind it. Especially the third one is simply memorable.
Fair and square - Honest and straightforward, especially of business dealings.
Faith will move mountains – Out of the Bible - Faith is immensely powerful.
GOLF - Gentlemen only, ladies forbidden!
четверг
Another bite at the cherry
September 16th
Phraseology I find highly important to know. Today it’s:
Jazz isn’t my cup of tea (informal) – I prefer rock music.
Another/Second bite at the cherry – you have you have another chance to try something.
Sit an exam (formal) = take an exam
Vocabulary with word loose:
Loose (adj.) from being controlled or held in a cage, prison, or institution
Break/get loose (=escape)
Turn/let/set something loose (=let something go free)
Loose - [usually before noun] not exact or thoroughly done: a loose translation, a loose interpretation of smth.
I came across the phrase: get loose in one of Kasabian songs. So it's how the whole family appeared.
Phraseology I find highly important to know. Today it’s:
Jazz isn’t my cup of tea (informal) – I prefer rock music.
Another/Second bite at the cherry – you have you have another chance to try something.
Sit an exam (formal) = take an exam
Vocabulary with word loose:
Loose (adj.) from being controlled or held in a cage, prison, or institution
Break/get loose (=escape)
Turn/let/set something loose (=let something go free)
Loose - [usually before noun] not exact or thoroughly done: a loose translation, a loose interpretation of smth.
I came across the phrase: get loose in one of Kasabian songs. So it's how the whole family appeared.
среда
A human who spins his web all around
September 15th
The British Journal of photography writes: http://www.bjp-online.com/
On 28 July, Chris Elliott, managing editor at Guardian News & Media (GNM), wrote to freelance and contract photographers to inform them that the company would cease paying reuse fees on their images.
Contract and freelance photographers working for The Guardian have protested the move by staging a demonstration in front of the newspaper’s headquarters in London earlier this month and by refusing to sign the new contracts.
The protest has also taken the form of a petition, which has already gathered close to 1000 signatures. The latest photojournalist to show his support is Don McCullin, who worked for The Observer more than 40 years ago and had his first picture published by the Sunday newspaper. ‘It’s the usual nonsense coming from newspapers that are bullying photographers to hand over their rights,’
McCullin tells BJP. ‘It’s wrong. These photographers don’t seem to be respected by these organisations. They are squeezing photographers for more money when these people are doing their best to come back from photo shoots with something worthy. I personally didn’t have to work in these circumstances, but I don’t see why photographers today should.’
McCullin’s support comes after Magnum Photos told BJP it was drafting a letter protesting the changes. ‘We’re in discussion with The Guardian regarding these new rules,’ says a Magnum Photos spokeswoman. ‘As you know, Magnum doesn’t support these kind of terms and contracts.’
Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins added: ‘It’s not the first time a newspaper has tried to do this kind of thing. It has happened many times, but in the past they always backed off. They want to pay the equivalent of a three-hour plumbing job to do everything they want with a photographer’s image.’
Reached by BJP, a GNM spokeswoman says: ‘We have not received any official written correspondence from Magnum on this matter. However, we are pleased to report that the changes in place since 01 September are working well with both new and existing freelance photographers. The fact remains that these changes were introduced to sustain the business in the long term and continue Guardian News & Media’s commitment to high quality photography. Our terms are still amongst the best in the industry and we offer more opportunities for freelancers than other national press.’
There is more this on photography. I listened to a virtual tour about the photographic software in American English. New photography-related terms are learnt. This software is simple and has the connection to the Google Maps, for you to see, where each of your photograph was shot. Watch!
http://www.hasselblad.co.uk/products/Virtual-demo-overview/phocus-video.aspx
I find it reasonable to translate the lyrics from the songs you like. Personally I translated The Queen, Placebo, The Pink Floyd, The Doors and many more texts some days ago.
Now it’s the turn of the new Kasabian album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
http://www.kasabian.co.uk/gb/home/
Watch the video about VLAD The IMPALER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM5YDI7ttME
Where the justice lies
The British Journal of photography writes: http://www.bjp-online.com/
Don McCullin brings support to protest as The Guardian defends its new policies
The Guardian has defended its new contract terms after legendary photojournalist Don McCullin joined a protest against what photographers argue is a rights-grabbing move.
On 28 July, Chris Elliott, managing editor at Guardian News & Media (GNM), wrote to freelance and contract photographers to inform them that the company would cease paying reuse fees on their images.
Contract and freelance photographers working for The Guardian have protested the move by staging a demonstration in front of the newspaper’s headquarters in London earlier this month and by refusing to sign the new contracts.
The protest has also taken the form of a petition, which has already gathered close to 1000 signatures. The latest photojournalist to show his support is Don McCullin, who worked for The Observer more than 40 years ago and had his first picture published by the Sunday newspaper. ‘It’s the usual nonsense coming from newspapers that are bullying photographers to hand over their rights,’
McCullin tells BJP. ‘It’s wrong. These photographers don’t seem to be respected by these organisations. They are squeezing photographers for more money when these people are doing their best to come back from photo shoots with something worthy. I personally didn’t have to work in these circumstances, but I don’t see why photographers today should.’
McCullin’s support comes after Magnum Photos told BJP it was drafting a letter protesting the changes. ‘We’re in discussion with The Guardian regarding these new rules,’ says a Magnum Photos spokeswoman. ‘As you know, Magnum doesn’t support these kind of terms and contracts.’
Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins added: ‘It’s not the first time a newspaper has tried to do this kind of thing. It has happened many times, but in the past they always backed off. They want to pay the equivalent of a three-hour plumbing job to do everything they want with a photographer’s image.’
Reached by BJP, a GNM spokeswoman says: ‘We have not received any official written correspondence from Magnum on this matter. However, we are pleased to report that the changes in place since 01 September are working well with both new and existing freelance photographers. The fact remains that these changes were introduced to sustain the business in the long term and continue Guardian News & Media’s commitment to high quality photography. Our terms are still amongst the best in the industry and we offer more opportunities for freelancers than other national press.’
There is more this on photography. I listened to a virtual tour about the photographic software in American English. New photography-related terms are learnt. This software is simple and has the connection to the Google Maps, for you to see, where each of your photograph was shot. Watch!
http://www.hasselblad.co.uk/products/Virtual-demo-overview/phocus-video.aspx
Songs – you have always brought a breath of fresh air to me
I find it reasonable to translate the lyrics from the songs you like. Personally I translated The Queen, Placebo, The Pink Floyd, The Doors and many more texts some days ago.
Now it’s the turn of the new Kasabian album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
http://www.kasabian.co.uk/gb/home/
Watch the video about VLAD The IMPALER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM5YDI7ttME
The Journal
September 14th
It’ actually gorgeous to read about, what you are interested in. My choice is http://www.bjp-online.com/
Here you can find all around the world photography.
Today’s news is:
With a field of view of 99 degs, the Distagon T 3.5/18 ZE is a rectilinear lens, which provides dramatic perspectives for architectural, landscape and close-range photography for users of full-frame digital SLRs or film-based cameras.
The optic is designed with a floating element in the rear lens assembly, resulting in better image quality at all ranges. It uses Zeiss' T anti-reflective coating to prevent stray light artifacts and internal reflections.
Despite its short focal length, the lens has an extremely compact design compared to other zoom lenses in its category. The lens’ internal focusing mechanism also helps to reduce its size while delivering precise and smooth focus control, claims Carl Zeiss.
The Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE will be available in autumn at a retail price of €1049 +VAT.( value added tax added to the price of goods and services in Britain and the EU)
I am sure, I did something more this day, but for no clear reason, I simply don’t remember. Probably, because of its smallness.
It’ actually gorgeous to read about, what you are interested in. My choice is http://www.bjp-online.com/
Here you can find all around the world photography.
Today’s news is:
Carl Zeiss unveils super-wide-angle optic for Canon cameras
Carl Zeiss has announced the upcoming release of 18mm Distagon T ultra-wide f/3.5 objective for Canon mounts - a year after the release of the Nikon and Pentax mounts
With a field of view of 99 degs, the Distagon T 3.5/18 ZE is a rectilinear lens, which provides dramatic perspectives for architectural, landscape and close-range photography for users of full-frame digital SLRs or film-based cameras.
The optic is designed with a floating element in the rear lens assembly, resulting in better image quality at all ranges. It uses Zeiss' T anti-reflective coating to prevent stray light artifacts and internal reflections.
Despite its short focal length, the lens has an extremely compact design compared to other zoom lenses in its category. The lens’ internal focusing mechanism also helps to reduce its size while delivering precise and smooth focus control, claims Carl Zeiss.
The Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE will be available in autumn at a retail price of €1049 +VAT.( value added tax added to the price of goods and services in Britain and the EU)
I am sure, I did something more this day, but for no clear reason, I simply don’t remember. Probably, because of its smallness.
понедельник
Know your skills!
September 13th
The Q – a British music magazine, full of the real-life-phrases and the perfect writing, besides the news, of course.
I pay my attention to a short (half an A4 page) article about Jason Pierce, a leader of Spiritualized. You find a critical overview of his career, always going hand in hand with drugs.
• On the intimate terms
• Intimate details
• Intimate connection
• It’s apparent that
• It’s apparent from smth. that
• It’s apparent to smb. that
• For no apparent reason
Moreover I did some tasks from my Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English CD, which meant taking trail-IELTS. The tasks were following:
• Read and fill in the missing words.(1 text -2 tasks “An Unusual Partnership”)
• “Read the sentences, which all describe a change, and they all use the word increase. In each case, an adjective comes before increase to describe how something has gone up. The letters of these adjectives have been mixed up. Unscramble the letters make the adjectives. Type the whole word in the gap.”(10 sentences.)
• Read the information from a booklet about a college. You have to choose one sentence from two with the same meaning as in a booklet. (12 pairs of answers.)
• “Decide which word is the best one to fill the gaps in these 18 sentences.” Theme: Education in England.
It isn't very nice of me saying, that except for the 2nd task, I had 90 or 100% of the right answers.
I also took some Listening comprehension tasks for the advanced learners. You hear people in different situations and decide what it was all about.
The Q – a British music magazine, full of the real-life-phrases and the perfect writing, besides the news, of course.
I pay my attention to a short (half an A4 page) article about Jason Pierce, a leader of Spiritualized. You find a critical overview of his career, always going hand in hand with drugs.
I picked some vocabulary up.
• On the intimate terms
• Intimate details
• Intimate connection
• It’s apparent that
• It’s apparent from smth. that
• It’s apparent to smb. that
• For no apparent reason
Moreover I did some tasks from my Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English CD, which meant taking trail-IELTS. The tasks were following:
• Read and fill in the missing words.(1 text -2 tasks “An Unusual Partnership”)
• “Read the sentences, which all describe a change, and they all use the word increase. In each case, an adjective comes before increase to describe how something has gone up. The letters of these adjectives have been mixed up. Unscramble the letters make the adjectives. Type the whole word in the gap.”(10 sentences.)
• Read the information from a booklet about a college. You have to choose one sentence from two with the same meaning as in a booklet. (12 pairs of answers.)
• “Decide which word is the best one to fill the gaps in these 18 sentences.” Theme: Education in England.
It isn't very nice of me saying, that except for the 2nd task, I had 90 or 100% of the right answers.
I also took some Listening comprehension tasks for the advanced learners. You hear people in different situations and decide what it was all about.
Being social
September 12th
Why should I lie? I haven’t done anything related to English this day. Oh, of course, if you count 2 hours watching Man United away against Tottenham with two British commentators.
A photo shoot of my friends giving FREE HUGS to everyone in the street for three hours and Baltá nakts take the time.
Why should I lie? I haven’t done anything related to English this day. Oh, of course, if you count 2 hours watching Man United away against Tottenham with two British commentators.
A photo shoot of my friends giving FREE HUGS to everyone in the street for three hours and Baltá nakts take the time.
Junkies
September 11th
At Saturday I listen to the same radio programme I did a day earlier to get what I didn’t get yesterday, because it was being broadcasted LIVE, but now I am able to rewind. (Time: 1h)
You still can’t buy the tickets to the FIFA World cup in South Africa, since the draw results are to wait. Makes sense! You should know the town, where your team plays, to go to.
Danny Boyle is nearly ready to start his Trainspotting part 2 shooting, showing the same characters in their middle-age. The script will be based on the book Porno.
As I like to spend time on a dictionary, looking for nothing, finding great stuff; I should somehow organise my papers, I’ve got my written-out words on. It becomes slightly uncomfortable to search thought it all, in order to find something.
At Saturday I listen to the same radio programme I did a day earlier to get what I didn’t get yesterday, because it was being broadcasted LIVE, but now I am able to rewind. (Time: 1h)
You still can’t buy the tickets to the FIFA World cup in South Africa, since the draw results are to wait. Makes sense! You should know the town, where your team plays, to go to.
Danny Boyle is nearly ready to start his Trainspotting part 2 shooting, showing the same characters in their middle-age. The script will be based on the book Porno.
As I like to spend time on a dictionary, looking for nothing, finding great stuff; I should somehow organise my papers, I’ve got my written-out words on. It becomes slightly uncomfortable to search thought it all, in order to find something.
пятница
RSA
September 10th
• Perplex =puzzle – if smth. perplexes you, it makes you feel confused & worried, because it’s difficult to understand.
(a perplexing problem, perplexed)
• Presume – The temple is presumed to date from the first century BC. “Are his parents alive?” “I presume so.”
• Despair – a feeling that you’ve no hope at all. (She killed herself in despair. The noise from the neighbours used to drive me to despair. To the despair of the workers, the company closed the factory. Despite the illness, Roger never despaired.)
• They found him lying prostrate on the floor. – On his back.
Scotland’s lost against the Netherlands – the manager George Burley speaks and Fabio Capello gives an interview. The BBC radio 5 gives the detail.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00mkglh
The phrase I like today:
“In the days when England was little, and knew her own mind, and had a mind to know instead of a circulation of newspapers.”
• Perplex =puzzle – if smth. perplexes you, it makes you feel confused & worried, because it’s difficult to understand.
(a perplexing problem, perplexed)
• Presume – The temple is presumed to date from the first century BC. “Are his parents alive?” “I presume so.”
• Despair – a feeling that you’ve no hope at all. (She killed herself in despair. The noise from the neighbours used to drive me to despair. To the despair of the workers, the company closed the factory. Despite the illness, Roger never despaired.)
• They found him lying prostrate on the floor. – On his back.
Scotland’s lost against the Netherlands – the manager George Burley speaks and Fabio Capello gives an interview. The BBC radio 5 gives the detail.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00mkglh
The phrase I like today:
“In the days when England was little, and knew her own mind, and had a mind to know instead of a circulation of newspapers.”
B.Shaw
четверг
God is speaking
September 9th
B.Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. A monologue of the god Ra makes it worth to start.
http://drama.eserver.org/plays/modern/caesar_and_cleopatra.html
B.Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. A monologue of the god Ra makes it worth to start.
http://drama.eserver.org/plays/modern/caesar_and_cleopatra.html
среда
Contrast-Kate Moss,Man United,The Forsyte Saga.
September 8th
The BBC is an enormous stock of interesting audios.
This time I got close to the people in London queuing to see the super model Kate Moss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1728_people_places/page51.shtml
Her silence is definitely the secret to her career and the reason why she has lasted almost 20 years now and most other models haven’t had careers lasting half that amount of time. The reason she’s so successful is people can put onto her any image they want and they can do that because she’s completely silent. So she can represent older sister, the cool rock and roll girlfriend, anything that they like.
(Hadley Freeman - the Guardian)
This programme was specially made for the learning purposes, so not only reading while listening was available, but a change in person, who’s speaking – real people in the streets and the journalist talking to them; the tutor, who explained the meaning of words and repeated the sentences several times.
Reading:
The trouble with the orgasm as metaphor here is that the orgasm, though obviously pleasurable, is familiar, repeatable (within a couple of hours if you've been eating your greens), and predictable, particularly for a man - if you're having sex then you know what's coming, as it were. Maybe if I hadn't made love for eighteen years, and had given up hope of doing so for another eighteen, and then suddenly, out of the blue, an opportunity presented itself ... maybe in these circumstances it would be possible to recreate an approximation of that Anfield (Liverpool's stadium) moment. Even though there is no question that sex is a nicer activity than watching football (no nil-nil draws, no offside trap, no cup upsets, and you're warm), in the normal run of things, the feelings it engenders are simply not as intense as those brought about by a once-in-a-lifetime last-minute Championship winner.
None of the moments that people describe as the best in their lives seem analogous to me. Childbirth must be extraordinarily moving, but it doesn't really have the crucial surprise element, and in any case lasts too long; the fulfilment of personal ambition - promotions, awards, what have you - doesn't have the last-minute time factor, nor the element of powerlessness that I felt that night. And what else is there that can possibly provide the suddenness? A huge pools win, maybe, but the gaining of large sums of money affects a different part of the psyche altogether, and has none of the communal ecstasy of football.
There is then, literally, nothing to describe it. I have exhausted all the available options. I can recall nothing else that I have coveted for two decades (what else is there that can reasonably be coveted for that long?), nor can I recall anything else that I have desired as both man and boy. So please, be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium.
What could I go on with after that? Maybe Manchester United website? Nope, I took The Forsyte Saga – a famous novel about the three generations of the upper-middle class of English society.
As I’m on the 157th page now (I started reading in August), I won’t be giving out my thoughts about this book, I’ll only say, that I enjoy it due to its beautiful language (not very difficult by the way), exposure of the British life in the late 19th century and themes, roughly minimised to Duty versus Desire and Generations and Change.
The BBC is an enormous stock of interesting audios.
This time I got close to the people in London queuing to see the super model Kate Moss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1728_people_places/page51.shtml
Her silence is definitely the secret to her career and the reason why she has lasted almost 20 years now and most other models haven’t had careers lasting half that amount of time. The reason she’s so successful is people can put onto her any image they want and they can do that because she’s completely silent. So she can represent older sister, the cool rock and roll girlfriend, anything that they like.
(Hadley Freeman - the Guardian)
This programme was specially made for the learning purposes, so not only reading while listening was available, but a change in person, who’s speaking – real people in the streets and the journalist talking to them; the tutor, who explained the meaning of words and repeated the sentences several times.
Reading:
Football is like...
The trouble with the orgasm as metaphor here is that the orgasm, though obviously pleasurable, is familiar, repeatable (within a couple of hours if you've been eating your greens), and predictable, particularly for a man - if you're having sex then you know what's coming, as it were. Maybe if I hadn't made love for eighteen years, and had given up hope of doing so for another eighteen, and then suddenly, out of the blue, an opportunity presented itself ... maybe in these circumstances it would be possible to recreate an approximation of that Anfield (Liverpool's stadium) moment. Even though there is no question that sex is a nicer activity than watching football (no nil-nil draws, no offside trap, no cup upsets, and you're warm), in the normal run of things, the feelings it engenders are simply not as intense as those brought about by a once-in-a-lifetime last-minute Championship winner.
None of the moments that people describe as the best in their lives seem analogous to me. Childbirth must be extraordinarily moving, but it doesn't really have the crucial surprise element, and in any case lasts too long; the fulfilment of personal ambition - promotions, awards, what have you - doesn't have the last-minute time factor, nor the element of powerlessness that I felt that night. And what else is there that can possibly provide the suddenness? A huge pools win, maybe, but the gaining of large sums of money affects a different part of the psyche altogether, and has none of the communal ecstasy of football.
There is then, literally, nothing to describe it. I have exhausted all the available options. I can recall nothing else that I have coveted for two decades (what else is there that can reasonably be coveted for that long?), nor can I recall anything else that I have desired as both man and boy. So please, be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium.
(Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch)
Taken from the TA website.
What could I go on with after that? Maybe Manchester United website? Nope, I took The Forsyte Saga – a famous novel about the three generations of the upper-middle class of English society.
As I’m on the 157th page now (I started reading in August), I won’t be giving out my thoughts about this book, I’ll only say, that I enjoy it due to its beautiful language (not very difficult by the way), exposure of the British life in the late 19th century and themes, roughly minimised to Duty versus Desire and Generations and Change.
(5 pages today.)
As I read this book I don’t use the dictionary, despite I don’t understand many words. The idea is to get used to the structures, which are nearly the same in this book and the modern life.
вторник
Informal, but British
September 7th
Seeking for a rough English speech I remembered The Football Factory, a film about the hooligans and their wild riots. I watched several videos on YouTube.
I was frustrated, because the film has so much violence in it, that it was difficult to sit in front of the computer. So I decided to print some quotes out, which meant I couldn’t stand some pieces. They were downright rude.
Here’re some fragments I read and translated. Marked words I learnt that evening.
Tommy Johnson: Are you gonna sit in some poxy office with a cunt for a boss telling you what to do as you count your pennies trying to make ends meet in a country that's sinking into strikes and wars and at the end of the day you go home to your cosy little flat in 'nowheresville' and pull your IKEA curtains shut to hide from the big bad world and pretend it's not happening? Or are you gonna stand up and be counted, make a difference and feel the rush? Just for once say "fuck it". I'm coiled up like a spring and I'm ready to burst and wanking ain't doing it anymore. I need violence to make me feel I'm still alive. I know what I'd rather do, mate. Tottenham away. Love it!
Tommy Johnson: After all that you really do have to ask yourself if it was all worth it... course it fucking was!
Billy Bright: Are you tryin' to mug me off in front of my pals(=close friend + any man – unfriendly) ?
Tommy Johnson: There's nothing different about me. I'm just another bored male, approaching 30, in a dead-end job, who lives for the weekend. Casual sex, watered-down lager, heavily cut drugs. And occasionally kicking fuck out of someone.
Tommy Johnson: What else are you gonna do on a Saturday? Sit in your fuckin' armchair wankin' off to Pop Idols? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on kebabs, fruit machines and brasses? Fuck that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Tottenham away, love it!
Tommy Johnson: Getting beaten up by football hooligans is like having V.D. The fucking pain goes on forever. But that's what makes it so exciting.
Tommy Johnson: My granddad, old Bill Farrell, drove us to drink with his stories about the war and how he fought to put the "Great" into Britain. He said fighting at football was nothing compared to fighting with the Germans...
Rod: Let’s get out of here Bill, there’s six Stoke fans staring right at us.
Billy Bright: Right, which one's staring at me?
Rod: The one with the hat on. Please don't start Bill.
Billy Bright: [pointing at fan] Right, see you you c**t, I'll cut you first.
While looking up the words in the LONGMAN dictionary, I found a few more things to remember.
Carry coals to Newcastle – take something to a place where there’s already plenty of it available.
This cheese is a pale imitation of real Parmesan.
Take/ have a day off - free.
Seeking for a rough English speech I remembered The Football Factory, a film about the hooligans and their wild riots. I watched several videos on YouTube.
I was frustrated, because the film has so much violence in it, that it was difficult to sit in front of the computer. So I decided to print some quotes out, which meant I couldn’t stand some pieces. They were downright rude.
Here’re some fragments I read and translated. Marked words I learnt that evening.
Tommy Johnson: Are you gonna sit in some poxy office with a cunt for a boss telling you what to do as you count your pennies trying to make ends meet in a country that's sinking into strikes and wars and at the end of the day you go home to your cosy little flat in 'nowheresville' and pull your IKEA curtains shut to hide from the big bad world and pretend it's not happening? Or are you gonna stand up and be counted, make a difference and feel the rush? Just for once say "fuck it". I'm coiled up like a spring and I'm ready to burst and wanking ain't doing it anymore. I need violence to make me feel I'm still alive. I know what I'd rather do, mate. Tottenham away. Love it!
Tommy Johnson: After all that you really do have to ask yourself if it was all worth it... course it fucking was!
Billy Bright: Are you tryin' to mug me off in front of my pals(=close friend + any man – unfriendly) ?
Tommy Johnson: There's nothing different about me. I'm just another bored male, approaching 30, in a dead-end job, who lives for the weekend. Casual sex, watered-down lager, heavily cut drugs. And occasionally kicking fuck out of someone.
Tommy Johnson: What else are you gonna do on a Saturday? Sit in your fuckin' armchair wankin' off to Pop Idols? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on kebabs, fruit machines and brasses? Fuck that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Tottenham away, love it!
Tommy Johnson: Getting beaten up by football hooligans is like having V.D. The fucking pain goes on forever. But that's what makes it so exciting.
Tommy Johnson: My granddad, old Bill Farrell, drove us to drink with his stories about the war and how he fought to put the "Great" into Britain. He said fighting at football was nothing compared to fighting with the Germans...
Rod: Let’s get out of here Bill, there’s six Stoke fans staring right at us.
Billy Bright: Right, which one's staring at me?
Rod: The one with the hat on. Please don't start Bill.
Billy Bright: [pointing at fan] Right, see you you c**t, I'll cut you first.
While looking up the words in the LONGMAN dictionary, I found a few more things to remember.
Carry coals to Newcastle – take something to a place where there’s already plenty of it available.
This cheese is a pale imitation of real Parmesan.
Take/ have a day off - free.
понедельник
Grief
September 6th
New words I came across today are:
Loud and clear – means: in a way that something is very easy to understand.
Have a lot on your plate – have a large number of problems to deal with or work to do.
Just listen carefully for the consuming grief in a song The Good Old Days by the Libertines!
“The Arcadian dream has fallen though, but the Albion sails on course”.
Today’s revision:
Get into a car/ out of a car.
But!
Get on a bus, train or plane/ off a bus, train or plane.
New words I came across today are:
Loud and clear – means: in a way that something is very easy to understand.
Have a lot on your plate – have a large number of problems to deal with or work to do.
Just listen carefully for the consuming grief in a song The Good Old Days by the Libertines!
“The Arcadian dream has fallen though, but the Albion sails on course”.
Today’s revision:
Get into a car/ out of a car.
But!
Get on a bus, train or plane/ off a bus, train or plane.
Famous people
September 5th
No access to the Internet plays its role, and I decide to go on with the book on photography by Annie Leibovitz.
You may never know how Mick Jagger in his early days acts behind the stage. Or what a tender and loving man John Lennon was. That’s what a world famous American photographer could tell you.
Her bio I read aloud to train my pronunciation.
(Finished page 53.)
No access to the Internet plays its role, and I decide to go on with the book on photography by Annie Leibovitz.
You may never know how Mick Jagger in his early days acts behind the stage. Or what a tender and loving man John Lennon was. That’s what a world famous American photographer could tell you.
Her bio I read aloud to train my pronunciation.
(Finished page 53.)
Interest plays the first fiddle.
September 4th
“The most important thing a young photographer can do is learn how to see. It wasn’t about the equipment we were using. I don’t remember being taught any technique. The camera was only a box that recorded an image. We learned to compose, to frame to fill the negative, to fit everything we saw into the camera’s rectangle”.
Annie Leibovitz
Her book called Annie Leibovitz at work is a fabulous example of a life long story, told in a very personal way, with nuances in her feelings and knowledge she had. With ease she narrates about people she was surrounded by. You meet an extraordinary looking journalist Hunter S. Thomson with his innovative ways of pulling the writing material out of everywhere or a DJ who mixes the Martin Luther King’s speech with that time popular melodies.
(My reading ended at the page number 21.)
Eclectic tastes – a new phrase I fancy, because I possess such a taste. I didn’t know how to call it.
I have just explored the current fashion trends on Harper’s Bazaar. For a video visit:
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-video/#v14725754001
It’s 6.30 p.m. now. The Film Programme on the BBC Radio 4 is on. Have you ever heard of a film The Blob? You’re lucky if don’t. A look at the film poster would make my idea clear.
Till 7 p.m. I’m listening to this nice programme full with reviews, interviews and personal views of a presenter.
“The most important thing a young photographer can do is learn how to see. It wasn’t about the equipment we were using. I don’t remember being taught any technique. The camera was only a box that recorded an image. We learned to compose, to frame to fill the negative, to fit everything we saw into the camera’s rectangle”.
Annie Leibovitz
Her book called Annie Leibovitz at work is a fabulous example of a life long story, told in a very personal way, with nuances in her feelings and knowledge she had. With ease she narrates about people she was surrounded by. You meet an extraordinary looking journalist Hunter S. Thomson with his innovative ways of pulling the writing material out of everywhere or a DJ who mixes the Martin Luther King’s speech with that time popular melodies.
(My reading ended at the page number 21.)
Eclectic tastes – a new phrase I fancy, because I possess such a taste. I didn’t know how to call it.
I have just explored the current fashion trends on Harper’s Bazaar. For a video visit:
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-video/#v14725754001
It’s 6.30 p.m. now. The Film Programme on the BBC Radio 4 is on. Have you ever heard of a film The Blob? You’re lucky if don’t. A look at the film poster would make my idea clear.
Till 7 p.m. I’m listening to this nice programme full with reviews, interviews and personal views of a presenter.
пятница
Blogging my learning process
September 3rd
Surfing in Internet I’m listening to the BBC Radio 5. Simon Mayo speaks to his Scottish guest about Caribbean cuisine and restaurants in the UK.
After that British news follows. Crime in London, West Midlands and Chelsea discussed. (Time: 30min.)
The ideas are in not in learning vocabulary or get detailed information about the subject. The idea is in hearing how the native speak and getting the larger picture of what’s talked about. Switch to the Radio 4. Open Country is on air. The talk goes about the caves –their beauty and mysterious atmosphere (listening to birds, hearing people voices). The BBC journalist travels though the region with different people: historian, photographer… (Time: 25 min.)
Today the aims of my leaning in English classes have been listed. Not only language skills are included. Look below:
1. Have a British Academic pronunciation.
2. Speak with no pause longer then a second.
3. Be able to use the informal and formal registers.
4. Be able to read fictional books of the English and American authors from the 19th century till now.
5. Face only several unknown words in the newspapers and magazines on all topics apart from technique and economics.
6. Have no spelling mistakes.
7. Do not translate grammar and lexical structures from Russian.
8. Be able to structure a 300-500-word essay.
9. Know the most popular set phrases.
10. Understand for 99% the speech of the English.
11. Be good at summarising, self-promotion, persuading and portfolio-building.
12. Use a dictionary on its limits.
Overlooking Bernard Shaw’s play The Devil’s Disciple I read in August I write several words out I like, giving them explanation in English or accompanying them with examples from the Longman dictionary. The procedure helps me remembering them.
Here you find the book:
http://www.archive.org/details/threeplaysforpur00shawrich
These are:
- wretched
- drop off
- You’ve plenty of excuses.
- good-for-nothing
- disgrace
- Leave everything on my shoulders.
- downright
- I mean no harm.
- The scum of the earth.
- wretch
- merciful
- in mourning
- idle
- chatter
- In the presence of smb.
- humble
Surfing in Internet I’m listening to the BBC Radio 5. Simon Mayo speaks to his Scottish guest about Caribbean cuisine and restaurants in the UK.
After that British news follows. Crime in London, West Midlands and Chelsea discussed. (Time: 30min.)
The ideas are in not in learning vocabulary or get detailed information about the subject. The idea is in hearing how the native speak and getting the larger picture of what’s talked about. Switch to the Radio 4. Open Country is on air. The talk goes about the caves –their beauty and mysterious atmosphere (listening to birds, hearing people voices). The BBC journalist travels though the region with different people: historian, photographer… (Time: 25 min.)
Today the aims of my leaning in English classes have been listed. Not only language skills are included. Look below:
AIMS FOR MY LEARNING
1. Have a British Academic pronunciation.
2. Speak with no pause longer then a second.
3. Be able to use the informal and formal registers.
4. Be able to read fictional books of the English and American authors from the 19th century till now.
5. Face only several unknown words in the newspapers and magazines on all topics apart from technique and economics.
6. Have no spelling mistakes.
7. Do not translate grammar and lexical structures from Russian.
8. Be able to structure a 300-500-word essay.
9. Know the most popular set phrases.
10. Understand for 99% the speech of the English.
11. Be good at summarising, self-promotion, persuading and portfolio-building.
12. Use a dictionary on its limits.
Overlooking Bernard Shaw’s play The Devil’s Disciple I read in August I write several words out I like, giving them explanation in English or accompanying them with examples from the Longman dictionary. The procedure helps me remembering them.
Here you find the book:
http://www.archive.org/details/threeplaysforpur00shawrich
These are:
- wretched
- drop off
- You’ve plenty of excuses.
- good-for-nothing
- disgrace
- Leave everything on my shoulders.
- downright
- I mean no harm.
- The scum of the earth.
- wretch
- merciful
- in mourning
- idle
- chatter
- In the presence of smb.
- humble
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