TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: An electric guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison at the peak of Beatles' fame is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000 U.S. dollars at auction. The VOX custom-built guitar is the centerpiece of Julien's Auctions' annual "Music Icons" sale. Martin Nolan is overseeing the auction. MARTIN NOLAN: "Vox is very well known for its amplifiers. And Beatles players always used Vox sound equipment but then Vox tried into get in making guitars. So it's sort of rare that there is a Vox guitar. And it's a beautiful guitar custom made for John Lennon - very futuristic in how it was designed and the technology that was attached to it." REPORTER: Harrison used the guitar to practice the 1967 song "I Am the Walrus", while Lennon played the guitar the same year to record a video session for "Hello, Goodbye". The sale will take place on May 18th.
A classically-trained New York musician pushes his baby grand piano almost a mile through the streets of Manhattan to reach the nearest performance location. Sharon Reich reports.
TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: There are hundreds of talented buskers performing on the streets in New York City. But Colin Huggins isn't like your average street performer. The classically trained pianist hauls his 700 pound baby grand piano to parks, giving listeners a slice of tranquility in this fast moving city. But Colin says making a living as an artist isn't easy. He has spent the last six years doing it and experience has taught him that you need something special in order to stand out from the crowd. COLIN HUGGINS: "To a certain degree, part of it was creating a spectacle. You couldn't just do it. It was hard to do it if you're doing something very ordinary but if you were doing something extraordinary that people didn't see all the time then you were more likely to gather a crowd." REPORTER: And to do that, the Georgia native requires a little help. He keeps his piano in storage and relies on Vinny Longo to help move it to and from the locker. And to buffer the toll of the bumps and potholes, he also hires someone to tune the delicate instrument each week. While he prefers playing classical music, his repertoire changes depending on his audience. COLIN HUGGINS: "I've had to kind of figure out how to play things that, I don't know, that, that can still grab people and kind of go beyond just the fact that there's a piano there and that there is someone playing it." REPORTER: Weather permitting, Huggins and his baby grand can be found most weekends in New York's Washington Square Park.
South Korean singer Psy releases his new single ''Gentleman''. Alicia Powell reports.
TRANSCRIPT If you haven't mastered "Gangnam Style" yet, forget about it - because it's now time to become a "Gentleman". South Korean rapper Psy released his much-anticipated new single hoping to repeat the success of "Gangnam Style" that made him one of the biggest stars on Youtube. The details of his latest single, "Gentleman", were kept under wraps until the song was released in New Zealand. The tune with a techno beat, is full of puns in Korean. The 35-year-old will perform "Gentleman" in public for the first time on April 13th at Seoul's World Cup stadium. Psy has been coy about what dance to expect this time, except to hint that it is based on traditional Korean moves.
COMMENT It was always going to be very difficult for Psy to come up with anything remotely as successful as Gangnam Style (1.5bn plus YouTube views), but Gentleman is still pretty disappointing. Welcome to the world of one-hit wonders.
VOCABULARY In fairy stories, a witch is a woman, usually an old woman, who has evil magic powers. Witches often wear a pointed black hat, and have a pet black cat. • Mila Kunis plays a witch in Oz the Great and Powerful so it's easy to see how she bewitched the world with her looks during the premieres.
The cartoon shows the stage being prepared for the Stones' appearance. One of the workers explains, "We're installing a stairlift for The Rolling Stones gig".
EXPLANATION A stairlift is a device that is fitted to a staircase in a house in order to allow an elderly or sick person to go upstairs (see pictures). The cartoonist is making fun of the age of The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are both 69, while drummer Charlie Watts is 71!
VOCABULARY A gig is a live performance by someone such as a musician or a comedian.
The Rolling Stones kick off their 50th anniversary mini-tour, ''50 & Counting'' at the O2 Arena in London. John Russell reports.
TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: The Rolling Stones returned to the stage on Sunday (November 25), proving that advancing years and sometimes bad blood between band mates are no barriers to living up to the expectations of their legions of fans. The sell-out gig at the O2 Arena in London was the first of five shows, which saw the band play hits like "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Get Off My Cloud" to a 20,000 strong audience. And even with ticket prices that has drawn some criticism for being too high, the opportunity to check out the world's greatest living rock and roll band, was for many fans, priceless. FAN 1: "Amazing I came all the way from Australia and 'Midnight Rambler' - the best ever. Mick Taylor, what a genius." FAN 2: "It was pretty special. You know it's not very often that you get to see something like that." FAN 3: "Really fantastic. I was in the front row right in front of the stage. It was really exciting." REPORTER: In a burst of activity to celebrate 50 years in show business, the veteran rockers with an average age of 68, have already come out with a new photo book, written two songs, collaborated on a documentary and released a greatest hits album. Following Sunday's performance The Stones will play one more gig at the O2 Arena on November 29, before crossing the Atlantic for a handful of shows in the U.S.
The Guardian says David Cameron suffered a humiliating blow on Friday when his plans to democratise the police were met by overwhelming voter indifference, with the lowest ever turnout in a national poll threatening to undermine the new elected commissioners' legitimacy. Full story >>
VOCABULARY If you spurn someone or something, you reject them. • Successive governments have spurned the opportunity to reform the law.
This is the song I used in my lesson about the Movember moustache growing charity event (see previous post). I transcribed the lyrics myself, and you can download them here as a Word file.
The song is by South African comedy-pop duo Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues and is, of course, a parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's mega-hit, "Call Me Maybe" (watch original here).
COMMENT Some parodies are better than other, but I thought this one was really hilarious—both the film and lyrics (see below) are spot on.
LYRICS Last year I tried but I failed Halfway through the month I bailed Watched the hair wash down the drain And I felt so ashamed My upper lip felt so bare
People would stop and they’d stare
An upper lip without hair
What would our parents say?
But it wasn’t growing
Bum fluff skin was showing
Taking shape very slowly
But this year it’s ours for the taking
Hey, we can do this
It should be easy
This Movember, we won’t be shaving
It’s hard to look back in the mirror lately
With your moustaches, so thin and patchy
Hey, it’s only Day Two, so don’t be lazy
This is Movember, the days are plenty
But all the other boys with mos a’blazing
Don’t let them throw you, you must be patient
What style do you think we’ll grow?
Handlebar, pencil or ‘fro We could look like a Mario Bros There’s just no way to tell Day Twelve and things don’t look
good Starting to think that we should Seek out professional help Doctor, is there no hope? Wait, don’t get disheartened Have you tried Bob Martin’s? My dog eats them daily And his moustache covers his body OK! Time for phase two, Bob Martin’s
daily It’s doctor’s orders, they’re not
that tasty But think of all the chicks, they’ll
want us daily Let’s up our dosage, soon we’ll be
hairy OK! It’s been a week now and not much
progress I’m no Tom Selleck, I’m feeling
depressed There’s two more days left, we’re cutting
things fine Let’s call this number, Movember
helpline From the first day of the month,
things have gone so bad Our growth is so bad Our mos are so, so bad Everyone’s making fun of us, we need
this so bad, we want this so bad We need this so, so bad Hey, what’s that feeling? My lip is tingling Did someone pinch me? I must be dreaming Can you believe it? This is amazing Woke up this morning Moustaches blazing Filled with testosterone I feel so manly Let’s chop some firewood And drink some gravy Before the hair grew on our lips our
lives were so sad Our lives were so sad Now they are so, so rad With the moustache here on my face,
I am a real man, feel like a real man Now we are real, real men
POSTSCRIPT Hey everyone, thanks for watching our video. At the end of the day, Movember’s
not just about growing a kickass mo, but it’s about raising funds and awareness
for cancer.
Visit
Movember.com, or read the descriptions below this video to find out how you can
get involved and donate money to help us punch cancer in the face.
Celebrated music producer Brian Eno explains why his newest release 'Scape', which comes in the form of an iPad app, will change the way people make and listen to music. Matt Cowan reports.
TRANSCRIPT REPORTER: Brian Eno is one of the world's most sought after music producers. He's helped to craft some of the most successful and influential albums of modern times with acts such as U2, Coldplay, Talking Heads and David Bowie. But his newest release Scape - which comes in the form of an app for the iPad goes beyond anything he's done before. BRIAN ENO: "In the Scape app, there are two things inside it, one is an album that we made using the app itself, so someone could just listen to this as an album but it wouldn't be the same as a normal album because it doesn't play the same time each time you listen to it. On the other hand, there is the capacity to use the same technology we use to make your own version of an album. That could be quite different than what we made. It might be quite similar too." REPORTER: The Scape app is the latest result of a collaboration that started with the videogame Spore. That title by the creator of The Sims, Will Wright put game players in charge of creating their own worlds, beginning with the origins of life. The game needed a soundtrack that could evolve along with the world in the game. It was then that Eno was first introduced to Peter Chilvers, a musician and software engineer. In the app, listeners are presented with a visual palette. Each shape, or background represents a sound, some with additional and unpredictable characteristics. PETER CHILVERS: "And there's quite a large range of sounds here. In fact there's such a large range of sounds we had to make them unlock very slowly. We borrowed an idea that games had been using for a very long-time in fact. Computer games typically if they've got a lot of features they will drip feed these to you, so you'll get one level at a time, one new weapon if it's that kind of game. We found that was very useful in Scape because initially it was just overwhelming." BRIAN ENO: "Instead of it being a piece of architecture, it's like a packet of seeds. So you're a gardener rather than an architect. Your planting something and seeing how it grows rather than trying to completely constrain it and know every detail of it." REPORTER: Exactly what Scape will sound like in the hands of listeners is impossible to predict, but of course that's precisely the point. Matt Cowan, Reuters.
The Beatles' first single, Love Me Do, was released on October 5th 1962, exactly fifty years ago today. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four. In the United States the single was a number one hit in 1964.
You can watch a subtitled version of 'Love Me Do' (and many other songs) at MusicEnglish.
GRAMMAR The actual phrase 'love me do' has an unusual structure. The more standard way of using 'do' for emphasis would be 'Do love me'. In poetic or literary English the 'do' can follow the main verb, but is usually separated by a comma: "Tell me, do!". Here 'do' is really an imperative, hence the exclamation mark. So perhaps The Beatles should have called the song 'Love Me, Do!'
COMMENT
Those were the days (as Mary Hopkin, produced by Paul McCartney, once sang). As someone who grew up with The Beatles' music, and remains a fan, this anniversary makes me feel quite nostalgic. The first record I ever bought was The Beatles double LP (aka The White Album) way back in 1968. I still have the original vinyl record (as well as the remastered 2009 CD version, of course). It's amazing to think that their whole recording career spanned just 8 years—some groups take that long between releases these days!
The Daily Star reports that George Michael has cancelled his Australian tour after suffering a mental “breakdown”. Full story >>
VOCABULARY If you have a breakdown, you become very depressed, so that you are unable to cope with your life. • Pop star Britney Spears, who is enjoying the spotlight four years after a very public breakdown, is reportedly suffering from psoriasis.
The Eurovision Song Contest took place this weekend, and was won by Sweden. This cartoon by Patrick Chappatte shows the Greek entry (not the real one!). Three men in traditional Greek dress are singing a tearful song while holding out begging bowls. A member of the audience comments, "Reminds me very much of the Spanish song".
IDIOM A begging bowl is a container which a beggar holds out to people for money. Begging bowl is also used to talk about a request for money made by an organization or country. • Arts and theatre groups are constantly thrusting the begging bowl at the government.
The children's entertainment brand Moshi Monsters is moving in a musical direction with the launch of a new album called Moshi Monster Music Rox. Hayley Platt reports.
TRANSCRIPT REPORTER: Moshi Mania hits London as fans of the kid's social gaming community Moshi Monsters attend a launch party at London's Hard Rock Cafe to hear songs sung by oversize plush toys. Sony Music has joined forces with Mind Candy, the company behind Moshi Monsters to release a 12 track album called Moshi Monsters Music Rox. Michael Acton Smith is the British entrepreneur behind the brand. MICHAEL ACTON-SMITH, CEO OF MIND CANDY: "I may never become a rock star playing at Wembley but the next best thing is creating a Moshi music album and enjoying the fun we're having here tonight." REPORTER: Started as an online game in 2008, Moshi Monsters is increasingly looking to extend its reach into physical goods such as books, magazines and soft toys. In a recent story in the UK edition of Wired Magazine, investor Saul Klein likened Acton-Smith to Walt Disney, saying "I call him Walt 2.0 He has the passion to build a Disney for the 21st century." MICHAEL ACTON-SMITH: "The way entertainment was created in the past, so for many decades was a film or a TV show at the heart and everything flows from that and we think the big bet we're making at Mind Candy is that a future massive franchises entertainment brands will start with a digital heart, as a mobile game like Angry Birds and an online world like Moshi Monsters and then once you've got tens of millions of fans, then you expand into other areas." REPORTER: With songs like Moptop TweenyBop and Sweet tooth stomp, Moshi Monsters' foray into music is clearly aimed at a certain demographic. But with nearly 60 million users already signed up to the Moshi Monster online community, Acton Smith is betting there'll still be enough interest to turn the album into a monster hit. Hayley Platt, Reuters.
COMMENT Good example of brand extension, a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category.
Apparently this ad cost £5 million! Money well spent? Judge for yourself ...
COMMENT A big chunk of that £5 million must have gone to The Smiths, who allowed a cover of their song 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want' to be used in the ad. Predictably, this has not gone down well with Smiths fans ...
I featured dairy company Yeo Valley's hilarious 'Milk Rap' ad almost a year ago to the day. Now they've come up with a cheesy (geddit?) new ad starring (fake) boy band 'The Churned'. And very funny it is too! I love that line about the A368. And rhyming 'seasons' with 'Fresians' is pure genius.
