Did you know that manners are all about a reduction of violence between people? If you don't believe it , have a listen to this.
In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about modern manners. It’s an argument that, on the face of it, has been going on between the generations, for hundreds of generations. Older people can often be heard saying the youth of today lack the basics in good behaviour and with newspapers and the media focusing on the anti-social activities of a minority of young people, it’s easy for them to be branded with a negative stereotype. So are British manners really getting worse? Our reporter Mark went to find out. Listen to the report by clicking here (you can download it)
Well, I’ve come to a typical UK high street on a weekday to talk to the young mums and dads, business people, elderly people and students that are out doing their shopping. So we should get an interesting mix of views. Let’s go see what people think.
-Excuse me, sir, would you say that manners are getting better or worse in the UK?
"I actually think they’re getting worse. I think that the standards are declining generally. "
"I think they are getting worse but not terribly so."
"Generally in buses and trains I think that people’s manners have improved in many ways."
"There are cultural differences, so you might meet someone from a different culture and your set of manners will quite be different to theirs."
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Well, is it all a question of individual taste or is there some common ground? With me here is Simon Fanshawe, author of a book called ‘The Done Thing’, all about modern British manners.
-Simon, what are the basic dos and don’ts?
-I think one of the things that’s confusing for people is when they come here is there appear to be hundreds and hundreds of rules, hundreds of things you should and shouldn’t do. And the truth of it is that most of them are about class. And lots of them are trip-wires actually for people who don’t know them.
So what I tried to do in my book was take it back to some sort of first principle and say look – there are anthropological reasons why we have certain kinds of manners. So I’ll give you a very good example, in Britain there are sort of two ways of holding a knife, very broadly. And broadly speaking the middle-classes hold it with the index finger on the top, gripped in the hand. And working-class people hold it like a pen. Entirely a class distinction and people mercilessly exploit it if they want to. The truth of it is, the one way not to hold a knife at the table, is clasped in your fist, raised as if to kill your guest. And what does that tell us about eating? Well, what it tells us about eating is two things: it's never confuse your guests with either the food or the enemy. Don’t eat them and don’t kill them!That’s about how you should hold your knife, because actually manners are really about the reduction of violence. There’s a lot in there about reducing violence. So that’s just an illustration of what one tries to do so actually when you look at real table manners they’re about people feeling comfortable with each other, sharing food around a table. Very important human thing.
-And are things actually getting worse?
-Very broadly speaking, we all rub along together pretty well, actually, we don’t do so badly. The trouble with bad manners is that when you experience it, it completely occupies your field of vision. So you feel completely knocked back and rather hurt by somebody.
-Should foreigners, say, comply with British manners when in Britain or should they just be themselves?
-Well I think, one, they should be very gentle with us because we’re not terribly good at understanding that there are lots of different customs from round the world, so you know, be gentle. But I think the thing what I would say to anybody going to any other culture, any other country in the world: Number one – be curious, ask yourself. The other thing is don’t think there’s a right and a wrong way to do things in terms of little funny details. Always remember that fundamentals matter more than anything else. ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ is a gift and a grace in any language so treat people in the fundamental purpose of manners which is to make life easier. If I can give you a definition of manners, it is it the reduction of actual or potential violence between strangers. So always seek to defuse conflict, always seek to reach out and offer yourself to other people, always seek to open the door and let them through. Do those kind of things because actually you’ll find people love it and they’ll respond to you.
-Simon Fanshawe, it would be very bad manners of me not to say, ‘thank you’ for coming to talk to us.
20 de junio de 2011
Falkland man chooses Argentine citizenship
A British man, born on the Falkland Islands has become the first person from there to chose Argentine citizenship.
James Peck was handed his national identity card by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, during a ceremony to mark the 29th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War.
Peck's father fought for the British during the conflict.
26 de mayo de 2011
Identifying Sentence Problems
Identifying Sentence Problems
Click the answer button to see the answer.
Find the Missing Word
Find the Missing Word
One word is missing in each sentence. Find this word, then click on the answer button to see the correct answer.
19 de mayo de 2011
Sister Act
We all may well remember the now-classic movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, "Sister Act". The movie has become a musical show starring the very Whoopi Goldberg.
This is the review presented on television a couple of days ago. Enjoy! And if you are planning a trip to New York or the UK, just do not miss it!
This is the review presented on television a couple of days ago. Enjoy! And if you are planning a trip to New York or the UK, just do not miss it!
Here we go again. Another film to stage adaptation, but this one's switched it up a bit. "Sister Act," the 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg featured a jukebox songbook of disco era tunes. On Broadway, the music is all original and Whoopi is now the producer. How does it rate? Let's just say it's hard to resist when the sisters and a few brothers make such a joyful noise.
NY1 Theater Review: "Sister Act"
The story is innocuous. Set in the 70's, Deloris Van Cartier is an aspiring singer who happens to witness her thug boyfriend commit a murder. With her life in danger, she's sent by a cop to a convent where she's disguised as a nun. The devout Mother Superior is willing to go along with the plan until Deloris injects some soul into the pious choir. Of course Deloris' musical makeover is a big hit and, well, you know the rest.
Tongue-in-cheek nun stories are certainly nothing new, but this show's salvation is some very savvy producing. The songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater are clever variations on recognizable disco tunes from the era. They also help to quicken the show's pace by advancing the familiar plot.
The book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner with additional material credited to Douglas Carter Beane features what sounded like a lot of Beane's trademark humor and brilliant zingers.
Veteran director Jerry Zaks is the perfect choice to helm this silly confection, balancing the fluff with sentiment. And he's got a great space in that giant stain-glassed church setting.
Casting is spot on as well. Everyone delivers. But best of all Patina Miller and Victoria Clark -- a delicious blend of sweet and sour. In Miller a star is born. She's Whoopi with a golden voice. And Clark's virtuosity keeps this lighter-than-air show happily down to earth.
As frothy entertainment, "Sister Act" gets our blessing. Just don't expect a religious experience.
NY1 Theater Review: "Sister Act"
The story is innocuous. Set in the 70's, Deloris Van Cartier is an aspiring singer who happens to witness her thug boyfriend commit a murder. With her life in danger, she's sent by a cop to a convent where she's disguised as a nun. The devout Mother Superior is willing to go along with the plan until Deloris injects some soul into the pious choir. Of course Deloris' musical makeover is a big hit and, well, you know the rest.
Tongue-in-cheek nun stories are certainly nothing new, but this show's salvation is some very savvy producing. The songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater are clever variations on recognizable disco tunes from the era. They also help to quicken the show's pace by advancing the familiar plot.
The book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner with additional material credited to Douglas Carter Beane features what sounded like a lot of Beane's trademark humor and brilliant zingers.
Veteran director Jerry Zaks is the perfect choice to helm this silly confection, balancing the fluff with sentiment. And he's got a great space in that giant stain-glassed church setting.
Casting is spot on as well. Everyone delivers. But best of all Patina Miller and Victoria Clark -- a delicious blend of sweet and sour. In Miller a star is born. She's Whoopi with a golden voice. And Clark's virtuosity keeps this lighter-than-air show happily down to earth.
As frothy entertainment, "Sister Act" gets our blessing. Just don't expect a religious experience.
15 de abril de 2011
Oliver Stone's Latin American Documentary
"South Of The Border," a road trip movie directed by and starring director Oliver Stone, recently premiered at Cinema 2 on the Upper East Side.
In this documentary, Stone interviews seven leaders of seven countries south of the border, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro of Cuba.
Stone has strong and favorable views about the leaders.
"They want to keep the resources of the country inside the country, and then take the profits from their own natural resources and they're putting them back into the people's causes, making better education, health, welfare. And that's quite a difference from before," said Stone.
Journalist Ashleigh Banfield doesn't think the mainstream U.S. media does a very good job of covering South America.
"When it comes to South American politics and South American issues, we just don't cover it as much as other places," she said. "I think we don't feel the threat that we do in other places of the world."
Foreign correspondent Bob Simon is shocked at the lack of coverage of South America.
"I don't think there is any news organization I know of that has a bureau south of Miami," Simon said.
"In their own countries, the press is after them. The press is owned by very small rich families that control the countries. In Brazil, they are after [President Luiz "Lula" da Silva] and Ecuador they are after [President Rafael] Correa, they are after [President Evo] Morales in Bolivia. These are rich, big countries. In Argentina they certainly want [President Cristina Fernandez de] Kirchner out and the U.S. does too. We're working behind the scene to get them out," said Stone. "But they are all democratically-elected, so we have to get them out the old-fashioned way, which is we have to by votes."
There was a small protest outside of the theater about the film.
"Why doesn't [Stone] make a movie about the people that have been killed or incarcerated by the Chavez regime," said one protester.
Stone, however, did not pay much attention to naysayers.
George Whipple: How about the protesting out here tonight? Did that affect you?
Stone: I would say if this were Miami, they'd probably get me.
The last time I spoke to Stone, he was premiering another documentary, "Comandante," at the Sundance Film Festival. That movie was a series of interviews with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a movie called "Comandante." Now, Stone has spoken with Fidel's brother, Raul.
"South Of The Border" will be at the Angelika Film Center this weekend.
9 de abril de 2011
Japan has been hit again
Japan hit again, power knocked out in 3 million homes
Hayden Cooper reported this story on Friday April 8, 2011
This report is brought to you courtesy of ABC Radio Australia.
As you listen, you may read the transcription. Ideally, it would be great not to do so. We post it here for you to check some words that may be difficult to understand because of their pronunciation.
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MARK COLVIN: As if the main Japanese island of Honshu didn't have enough to deal with, another 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit today.
A few people died and more were injured in the aftershock, but it was also another huge psychological setback for the hundreds of thousands already displaced by the original massive quake.
The aftershock also took a number of nuclear reactor plants off line.
I asked Hayden Cooper in Tokyo about today's quake.
HAYDEN COOPER: Yes, it was a large one. Just before midnight last night when it struck, the shaking here in Tokyo at least went for something like a minute but the worst of it was up near Sendai, off the coast of Sendai, about 60 kilometres. It gave the buildings up there quite a decent shake and actually killed a few people as well.
Three people died in this earthquake, something like 100, or up to 130 people were injured. So this in fact was the biggest aftershock if you can call it that since the earthquake and tsunami struck four weeks ago today.
MARK COLVIN: It's just extraordinary to think about those people who've lived through the big earthquake and then a series of aftershocks and then this should come when already many of their homes have been just blown away.
HAYDEN COOPER: Yes they have. There's still something like 160,000 people living in evacuation centres right across the north of the country. The big problem now, after this latest earthquake, is that it has absolutely devastated some of the power supply systems right across the north of Honshu.
So there are now something like three million households which lost power after last night's earthquake. So it's quite a staggering figure and the race is on now to try and restore some of the power but the last figure I saw was to suggest that still something like 2.6 million are without electricity.
MARK COLVIN: And it can't have done a lot of good for the people who are still battling the nuclear crisis at Fukushima.
HAYDEN COOPER: No, it can't have at all and not only there but several other nuclear power plants across the north of Japan were affected by the earthquake last night. For example, there's a reprocessing plant in our Aomori Prefecture. It lost power after the earthquake but managed to keep its cooling systems running on basically an emergency diesel backup.
The same thing happened at another plant; Higashidori, but it too kept going on an emergency power system. And Onagawa as well in Miyagi Prefecture, it lost some of its grid power as well. So look in all of those cases the authorities say that there's not a major threat, that there hasn't been any significant change in radiation readings but there are some reports of some water leakages, particularly at Onagawa as a result of the earthquake. But again, they seem fairly confident that it's not going to cause any major problems.
MARK COLVIN: And speaking of water leakages, that's been the one good bit of news in the last couple of days, that they have managed to stop the major leak at Fukushima. Any other good news?
HAYDEN COOPER: They plugged that but there's still since then been trying to get nitrogen into reactor one. Now they say that that is going as well as it can be expected but it's still part of an ongoing effort.
They might have to do the same to reactors two and three at Fukushima Daiichi and all the while they're still pumping water into all three of them and they're still, this is in the area of bad news, they're still discharging radioactive water into the ocean, although they maintain that it is relatively low levels of radiation.
MARK COLVIN: And the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation now classify Fukushima as the second worst nuclear accident in history, only topped by Chernobyl. But I don't think this is really dented the enthusiasm of Tepco, the company that runs Fukushima.
HAYDEN COOPER: It seems to be quite an extraordinary report that's come out suggesting that even in the past couple of weeks, Tepco has been lobbying to build another two reactors at Fukushima which seems pretty hard to believe given the way a report like that might go down in Fukushima itself.
But this report suggests that even last Thursday, Tepco had submitted plans to the Government in Tokyo for another two reactors to be built at Fukushima. One can only imagine that it's not an idea that the locals around there would be too pleased with and I daresay the Government might not agree to it either.
MARK COLVIN: Well it certainly does macabre but I suppose the one thing that it does underline is that with all these nuclear plants offline, Japan still has a big power problem, doesn't it?
HAYDEN COOPER: It does. There's a whole lot of them offline. The several that I mentioned earlier which were under threat from last night's earthquake were already in shutdown mode. So when you consider that that's two or three nuclear reactors, then there's Fukushima and several others which weren't really under threat last night.
They're all offline, all of this is leading to a summer coming up which could be extraordinarily difficult for people in Japan and people in Tokyo and in fact the Government today has been saying that it wants some targets set for electricity cutbacks, that it's telling big business that it wants it to cut its electricity use by a quarter, smaller businesses by 20 per cent and even householders by 15 to 20 per cent.
So these power shortages are going to be around for a long time.
MARK COLVIN: Hayden Cooper in Tokyo. And in diplomatic news China's foreign ministry tonight expressed concern over Japan's move to discharge waste water from the crippled Fukushima plant.
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