The English Blog

Film of the Week: Up In The Air

This afternoon I went to see Up In The Air at the Sirius. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveller whose airborne bachelor lifestyle is upset when his boss decides to ground him and he falls for a fellow traveller (Vera Farmiga).

WHAT I THOUGHT
If you saw Thank You For Smoking by the same director (Jason Reitman), you'll know what to expect: a fairly gentle satire of corporate America with a sentimental subplot. I liked the film (what's not to like?)— George Clooney (in full Nespresso mode) was excellent, and there was plenty of humour, as well as some moving scenes with the 'terminated' employees. However, I did feel that the film lost its way somewhat in the final third, when Ryan returns home to attend his sister's wedding. Not as good as last week's A Serious Man, then, but well worth seeing.

FOR TEACHERS
Whenever I watch a movie, I'm always on the lookout for scenes which could be used in class. Up In The Air contains several scenes featuring presentations and interviews, which would be perfect for business English classes. The DVD will be a 'must buy'.

REVIEWS
• Rotten Tomatoes (90%)
• Metacritic (83)
• Peter Bradshaw (Guardian)
• Roger Ebert
• Dana Stevens (Slate—with Spoiler Special podcast)

TRAILER

The Economist: The Book of Jobs

The front cover of this week's Economist features a picture of Apple CEO Steve Jobs dressed as an Old Testament prophet. However, whereas Moses carried stone tablets, Jobs is carrying an iPad. 'The Book of Jobs' is a play on the Book of Job, one of the books of the Hebrew bible.

You can read the iPad article here. The current issue also features a special report on social networking (also available as a PDF download). And see here, here and here for similar cartoons.

Video: The Lingo Kid

From CNNGo.com:

Ravi, a young Gujarati boy, now known as the Lingo Kid all over the internet, sells the peacock feathers his grandmother makes to tourists at Mumbai's Hanging Gardens.

He was eight when he started selling feathers and could not speak English. In a few years Ravi could rattle off a sale in more languages than the Pope -- and with a faster tongue and sharper accent. He's full of fun facts too, such as the seasons in which various nationalities prefer to travel. Spaniards and Italians he says, love to visit Mumbai in the monsoon.

This year, at age 15, he was interviewed again by the same Englishman named Sammy, going on record to say that he didn't want to go to school, because there he could learn just English, whereas out on the street he's picked up 10 different tongues.

If the ingenuity of Mumbai's street hawkers and pavement peddlers needed a poster boy, Ravi the Lingo Kid would be it.

COMMENT
Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'survival skills'.

Cartoon: I Solemnly Swear ...

This cartoon by Chris Riddell from The Observer relates to Tony Blair's appearance before the Iraq Inquiry. 

We see Tony Blair taking an oath. His right hand is raised, but it is covered in blood. And instead of the usual oath taken in law courts ("I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God"), Blair says: "I solemnly swear to tell the selfserving truth, the partial truth and everything but the truth, so help me George."

COMMENTARY
The message is clear: Blair lied about the war in Iraq ("everything but the truth") and has the blood of those who died in the conflict on his hands. "George" is, of course, George W. Bush, regarded by many as Blair's partner in crime.

MORE CARTOONS
Schrank (Independent on Sunday)
Gerald Scarfe (Sunday Times)
Christian Adams (Sunday Telegraph)

Words in the News: Armchair

Just one out of every eight police recruits has a frontline role protecting the public, a Sunday Express investigation has uncovered. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
An armchair critic, fan, or traveller, etc. knows more about a particular subject from reading or hearing about it rather than from practical experience. • You wouldn't want an armchair general commanding flesh-and-blood troops in the field.

Video: Chelsea Footballer Affair Allegations

Chelsea has said it will give all the support their captain John Terry needs following allegations that he had an affair with the girlfriend of a former team-mate. Sky's Paul Brennan reports.

COMMENT
While not exactly on a par with the Tiger Woods affair, it will be interesting to see how this scandal plays out in terms of sponsorship deals and the England captaincy. Expect lots of jokes about playing away, scoring own goals and being caught offside.

READ MORE
• Surely the serial brawler, drinker and womaniser John Terry can't remain captain of his country? (MailOnline)
• Terry can no longer exploit in public the image he has betrayed in private (Independent)
• Chelsea backs John Terry as he loses privacy battle over 'affair' (TimesOnline)
• Shamed John Terry stands to lose millions over details of affair (Guardian)
• Fabio Capello has no reason to replace John Terry as captain (Guardian)

Newsy Video: Reactions to Obama’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Pledge

Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) is the common term for the policy banning openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals from serving in the United States military. During his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama sparked some controversy by pledging to end Don't Ask Don't Tell. Read the transcript.

Cartoon: Blair's War

Most of the national dailies have cartoons about Tony Blair's appearance before the Iraq Inquiry. This one, by Peter Brookes of The Times, shows Blair standing beside a coffin draped in the Union flag. He says: "We had to act ... I was not prepared to take a risk". A voice from the coffin replies: "That was my job."

COMMENTARY
Blair's justification for invading Iraq was the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and the belief that the Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction (later proved to be wrong). In his evidence to the Iraq Inquiry, Blair stood by his decision to take military action and refused to apologize or express regret. The cartoonist makes the point that the real risk was taken by the soldiers who died in the conflict.

MORE CARTOONS
Christian Adams (Telegraph)
Dave Brown (Independent)
Andy Davey (The Sun)
Steve Bell (Guardian)
Martin Rowson (Guardian)
Patrick Blower (Guardian)
Mac  (Daily Mail)

Video: Tony Blair at the Iraq Inquiry

Tony Blair has mounted a passionate defence of the Iraq invasion - saying it was his judgment ... his decision. He told the Iraq Inquiry that Saddam was a monster who had to be stopped. Sky's Senior Correspondent Michelle Clifford reports.

ALSO SEE
• Sky News Iraq Inquiry interactive

Words in the News: Apology

The Independent's front page features a picture of Tony Blair giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry, saying the former Prime Minister has "no regrets" about removing Saddam Hussein. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
An apology is something you say or write in order to tell someone that you are sorry that you have hurt them or caused trouble for them. • A British man jailed in Bulgaria for a crime he didn't commit is demanding apologies from both governments.

Apple's iTampon

The name 'iPad' has certain connotations for women, as The Guardian's Kira Cochrane explains:

It's interesting to imagine what the conversation was like at Apple HQ when they were naming their new product. Did they play any word-association games? Did eager employees sit around a giant table, shouting out words synonymous with "pad", while a colleague scrawled "note", "knee", "launch", and "to tread very lightly" on a white board? And were there no women there? Did no one raise their hand with a weary grimace and say, "You know what, guys, this is kinda obvious, but this word has other associations for me . . . Read more >>

COMMENT
Believe it or not, the above clip from US sketch show MadTV dates back to 2006. Those guys must be clairvoyant. This other iPad spoof is not nearly as funny but might raise a smile.

ALSO READ
• Naming experts split on whether 'iPad' is a terrible name or not (Brand Freak)

The Apple iPad and You: An Odd Todd Cartoon

After Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPad tablet, Odd Todd's animated cartoon schools "You" in the product's bells and whistles.

COMMENTS
Well, Stephen Fry likes it.

SEE ALSO
• The Unveiling of Apple's iPad Tablet (Time photo essay)

Video: Embrace Life Seatbelt Ad

Here's a powerful and moving ad designed to encourage people to wear seatbelts which I'm planning to use with my students.

You can find out more about the ad and the campaign here and here.

LESSON IDEAS
There are several ways you could use this ad. For example, stop it half way through and get students to speculate what the ad is for. You could then discuss how effective the ad is. As a follow up, get students to design a poster for the campaign or record a voiceover for the ad.

Cartoon: Obama's iPad Giveaway

This cartoon by Patrick Corrigan from The Toronto Star combines two of the big news stories of the past few days: President Obama's State of the Union address and the launch of the Apple iPad.

In a bid to improve his falling popularity, Obama, flanked by VP Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, announces that everyone will get an iPad.

You can see more iPad and State of the Union cartoons on Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonists Index.

MORE iPAD CARTOONS
• Mike Luckovich  (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Newsy Video: Toyota Recalls Millions of Cars

Toyota issued a recall of eight models this week after consumers complained that their cars were accelerating at random. Was that the right move? Read the transcript.

READ ALSO
• Toyota readies marketing to combat recall crisis (Marketing Magazine)