22 décembre 2009
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21:07
Gingerbread recipes, gingerbread houses and men
are also part of the Xmas holiday traditions Some historians claim Gingerbread Houses date from the early 19th century : "Hansel and Gretel" -a fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers - showed such a house. But others suggest that the Grimms merely developed a pre-existent idea.. As for the White House, each year both members of its staff, and its Pastry Team contribute to maintain the holiday tradition : more than 150 pounds of gingerbread dough and 250 libers of white chocolate are used to build the White House Gingerbread House. You can watch how it is achieved in the video below :
Real carpenters, plumbers, or electricians help this project become a full success. This year, not only does the Gingerbread White House include a view of the State Dining Room and a marzipan vegetable garden... but it also shows the US President's family pet : the dog Bo :o)
________________________________________________________________ gingerbread = a type of cake, usually very dark brown and soft, which contains ginger / ginger (gingembre) | mere = simple pastry = sweet baked goods such as cakes, biscuits etc | dough = flour mixed with water, fat, sometimes yeast (levure), to be baked.
14 décembre 2009
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13:09
Copenhagen +7
'River Runs Red' 
"When Midnight Oil released this song (1990), the "world's largest-ever pollution incident, involving the supertanker Exxon Valdez <<< off Alaska's pristine coasts, had [just] sent shockwaves around the world [1989].
Midnight Oil's response, by playing a guerrilla gig on a flatbed truck outside Exxon's headquarters in New York, brought areas of the city to a standstill and was hailed by environmentalists trying to put as much pressure on big business as possible." (from >>> hBBC h2g2 -see "Blue Sky Mining"). The spine-chilling video mixes reports from the disaster with the band legendary gig.
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pristine = new or almost new, and in very good condition | a gig = (colloquial) rock concert, performance | a flatbed truck = camion à plateaux (ici, pour le concert) | (to) hail = acclaim, greet enthusiastically | spine-chilling = so frightening... that it makes your back (spine) shiver and chill (get cold)
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
English is MUSIC...
13 décembre 2009
7
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11:55
Here are a few links to help you explore the branding and [anti-]consumerism systems... enjoy your surfing :o)
The website of the Adbusters Media Foundation : ads and commercials that parody brand culture, and amagazine.
www.vam.ac.uk The Victoria & Albert Museum site : loads of resources worth visiting !
An informative site by the Institute of Packaging : all about the packaging industry, including education, design and technology.
www.hatads.org.uk/ The "website for the history of advertisign trust" : archives of the UK's advertising and marketing industries.
The official site of the Coca-Cola Company -contains information on the history of the brand.
The official site of Levi Strauss & Co., including the company history and information about the development of jeans.
Originally a support site for two activists sued for libel by McDonald's, the site has now become a focus for anti-consumerist criticism.
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loads of... = a great deal of..., lots of...
sued for libel = poursuivis pour diffamation
Published by M. Mirza
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Terminales... B1 - B2
12 décembre 2009
6
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00:01
This pie-chart helps you visualize the US states population
Mikael Häggström (1) drew it according to the 2008 U.S. Census
(1) : He put the illustration in the Public Domain
Not only is it useful... but it also looks nice :o)
If you want to read the caption better, you can view a larger picture
>>> HERE
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census = an official count [here] to define the number of people living in a country
caption = a short piece of text under/ in an illustration (map, graph, etc), describing
or detailing it
Published by M. Mirza
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GEOGRAPHY
11 décembre 2009
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21:23
++ Terminales
You have just started analysing a peculiar US flag today... But what are the states corresponding to the 50 stars on the American flag ?
Click on the notes
and listen to Wakko's little song in "A cartoon to memorize the 50 states"... not that easy, heh ? However, you should recognize many of them ! Write down the ones you remember ; then, listen to the cartoon again until you manage to complete your list.
Click on the map flag : this alphabetical list will help you memorize them more easily.
A few mnemonic devices :
- no state begins with B, E, J, Q, S -nor with X/Y/Z !
- the letters C, M, N and W correspond to the longest states lists
- C and D include "double" states : North and South... but there is also West Virginia !
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mnemonic devices = procédés mnémotechniques
Published by M. Mirza
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GEOGRAPHY
7 décembre 2009
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19:26
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
CLIMATE - the ENVIRONMENT
6 décembre 2009
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14:57
Last month, you studied a passage from Nelson Mandela's autobiography ('Long walk to freedom') : it showed you that Mandela considered the oppressors needed to be liberated as well as the oppressed. The former A.N.C. leader might also have said this :
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor
is the mind of the oppressed."
However, he didn't : this quote is excerpted from the speech made in 1971 by Steve Biko, in Cape Town.
Steve Biko <<<
The protest song "Biko" was released as a single in 1980 by Peter Gabriel.
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former = ancient / previous
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
Terminales... B1 - B2
26 novembre 2009
4
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17:58
How would you feel on Thanksgiving Day...
... if you were a turkey ?!
Listen to Gloria Turkey Gaynor, former disco star.
... she sang it for you :-)
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
English is FUN :o)
25 novembre 2009
3
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15:24
... for Thanksgiving :o) Thanksgiving is coming -this year it is on November 26... tomorrow !
For starters, here is a wonderful animated picture by Jackie Lawson : the animal you are going to discover has become one of Thanksgiving symbols...
Click on the hat and watch the animation, to find out !
_________________________________________________________ "for starters" = to begin with, at first... a starter = a small dish served as the first part of a meal -mainly British English (hors d'oeuvre)
picture from www.public-domain-photos.com
Published by M. Mirza
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CinemA-RT
22 novembre 2009
7
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19:53
As you have been studying an extract from Nelson Mandela's memoirs, I have just added "Mandela Day" in the blog music playlist (go right and scroll down). This song was written by the Scottish group 'Simple Minds' : it was released in their 1988 single (with the song "Belfast Child"). "Mandela Day" was first performed during the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute.
I do hope you will like the music, but if you don't... well, never mind because the lyrics will remind you of Mandela's fight against apartheid. Here they are :o)
Mandela Day
It was 25 years they take that man away
Now the freedom moves in closer every day
Wipe the tears down from your saddened eyes
They say Mandela's free so step outside
Oh oh oh oh Mandela day
Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free
It was 25 years ago this very day
Held behind four walls all through night and day
Still the children know the story of that man
And I know what's going on right through your land
25 years ago
Na na na na Mandela day
Oh oh oh Mandela's free
If the tears are flowing wipe them from your face
I can feel his heartbeat moving deep inside
It was 25 years they took that man away
And now the world come down say Nelson Mandela's free
Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free
The rising suns sets Mandela on his way
It's been 25 years around this very day
From the one outside to the ones inside we say
Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free
Oh oh oh set Mandela free
Na na na na Mandela day
Na na na na Mandela's free
25 years ago
What's going on
And we know what's going on
Cos' we know what's going on...
The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged in June, 1988 at Wembley Stadium, in London. The concert was broadcast to 67 countries -and an audience of 600 million people ! It was also referred to as "Freedomfest", "Free Nelson Mandela Concert" and "Mandela Day". However, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert, in the U.S.A.
Published by M. Mirza
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Terminales... B1 - B2
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