This week ELLLO features two debates that you can watch here and here. Here are some expert debaters in action. We vote next week for the next president of the US.
Sen. McCain: I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict. Our initial military success, we went in to Baghdad and everybody celebrated. And then the war was very badly mishandled. I went to Iraq in 2003 and came back and said, we've got to change this strategy. This strategy requires additional troops, it requires a fundamental change in strategy and I fought for it. And finally, we came up with a great general and a strategy that has succeeded.
This strategy has succeeded. And we are winning in Iraq. And we will come home with victory and with honor. And that withdrawal is the result of every counterinsurgency that succeeds.
Sen. McCain: And I want to tell you that now that we will succeed and our troops will come home, and not in defeat, that we will see a stable ally in the region and a fledgling democracy.
The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence. It would have been increase in sectarian violence. It would have been a wider war, which the United States of America might have had to come back.
So there was a lot at stake there. And thanks to this great general, David Petraeus, and the troops who serve under him, they have succeeded. And we are winning in Iraq, and we will come home. And we will come home as we have when we have won other wars and not in defeat.
Lehrer: Two minutes, how you see the lessons of Iraq, Senator Obama.
Sen. Obama: Well, this is an area where Senator McCain and I have a fundamental difference because I think the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place.
Now six years ago, I stood up and opposed this war at a time when it was politically risky to do so because I said that not only did we not know how much it was going to cost, what our exit strategy might be, how it would affect our relationships around the world, and whether our intelligence was sound, but also because we hadn't finished the job in Afghanistan.
We hadn't caught bin Laden. We hadn't put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction. Now Senator McCain and President Bush had a very different judgment.
And I wish I had been wrong for the sake of the country and they had been right, but that's not the case. We've spent over $600 billion so far, soon to be $1 trillion. We have lost over 4,000 lives. We have seen 30,000 wounded, and most importantly, from a strategic national security perspective, al Qaeda is resurgent, stronger now than at any time since 2001.
We took our eye off the ball. And not to mention that we are still spending $10 billion a month, when they have a $79 billion surplus, at a time when we are in great distress here at home, and we just talked about the fact that our budget is way overstretched and we are borrowing money from overseas to try to finance just some of the basic functions of our government.
So I think the lesson to be drawn is that we should never hesitate to use military force, and I will not, as president, in order to keep the American people safe. But we have to use our military wisely. And we did not use our military wisely in Iraq.
Lehrer: Do you agree with that, the lesson of Iraq?
Sen. McCain: The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. That's the decision of the next president of the United States.
Senator Obama said the surge could not work, said it would increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure. Recently on a television program, he said it exceed our wildest expectations.
But yet, after conceding that, he still says that he would oppose the surge if he had to decide that again today. Incredibly, incredibly Senator Obama didn't go to Iraq for 900 days and never asked for a meeting with General Petraeus.
Lehrer: Well, let's go at some of these things...
Sen. McCain: Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day, he has never had a hearing.
Lehrer: What about that point?
Sen. McCain: I mean, it's remarkable.
Lehrer: All right. What about that point?
Sen. Obama: Which point? He raised a whole bunch of them.
Lehrer: I know, OK, let's go to the latter point and we'll back up. The point about your not having been...
Sen. Obama: Look, I'm very proud of my vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as he explains, and as John well knows, the issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like that, don't go through my subcommittee because they're done as a committee as a whole.
But that's Senate inside baseball. But let's get back to the core issue here. Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced as a consequence of the extraordinary sacrifice of our troops and our military families.
They have done a brilliant job, and General Petraeus has done a brilliant job. But understand, that was a tactic designed to contain the damage of the previous four years of mismanagement of this war.
And so John likes -- John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. You talk about the surge. The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong.
You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong. And so my question is...
(Crosstalk)
Lehrer: Senator Obama...
Sen. Obama: ... of judgment, of whether or not -- of whether or not -- if the question is who is best-equipped as the next president to make good decisions about how we use our military, how we make sure that we are prepared and ready for the next conflict, then I think we can take a look at our judgment.
Lehrer: I have got a lot on the plate here...
Sen. McCain: I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy. But the important -- I'd like to tell you, two Fourths of July ago I was in Baghdad. General Petraeus invited Senator Lindsey Graham and me to attend a ceremony where 688 brave young Americans, whose enlistment had expired, were reenlisting to stay and fight for Iraqi freedom and American freedom.
I was honored to be there. I was honored to speak to those troops. And you know, afterwards, we spent a lot of time with them. And you know what they said to us? They said, let us win. They said, let us win. We don't want our kids coming back here.
And this strategy, and this general, they are winning. Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq.
Sen. Obama: That's not true.
Sen. McCain: They just passed an electoral...
Sen. Obama: That's not true.
Sen. McCain: An election law just in the last few days. There is social, economic progress, and a strategy, a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity.
That's what's happening in Iraq, and it wasn't a tactic.
Lehrer: Let me see...
Sen. Obama: Jim, Jim, this is a big...
Sen. McCain: It was a stratagem. And that same strategy will be employed in Afghanistan by this great general. And Senator Obama, who after promising not to vote to cut off funds for the troops, did the incredible thing of voting to cut off the funds for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sen. Obama: Jim, there are a whole bunch of things we have got to answer. First of all, let's talk about this troop funding issue because John always brings this up. Senator McCain cut -- Senator McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn't believe in a timetable.
I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open- ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. We had a difference on the timetable. We didn't have a difference on whether or not we were going to be funding troops.
We had a legitimate difference, and I absolutely understand the difference between tactics and strategy. And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there.
The question is, was this wise? We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. We need more troops there. We need more resources there. Senator McCain, in the rush to go into Iraq, said, you know what? We've been successful in Afghanistan. There is nobody who can pose a threat to us there.
This is a time when bin Laden was still out, and now they've reconstituted themselves. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there.
But we can't do it if we are not willing to give Iraq back its country. Now, what I've said is we should end this war responsibly. We should do it in phases. But in 16 months we should be able to reduce our combat troops, put -- provide some relief to military families and our troops and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill bin Laden and crush al Qaeda.
And right now, the commanders in Afghanistan, as well as Admiral Mullen, have acknowledged that we don't have enough troops to deal with Afghanistan because we still have more troops in Iraq than we did before the surge.
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Presidential Debate: Lesson of Iraq
Brando's Biography (Part 5: Final Years)
Brando's notoriety, his troubled family life, and his obesity attracted more attention than his late acting career. He gained a great deal of weight in the 1980s and by the mid 1990s he weighed over 300 lbs. and suffered from diabetes. He also earned a reputation for being difficult on the set, often unwilling or unable to memorize his lines and less interested in taking direction than in confronting the film director with odd and childish demands. On the other hand, most other actors found him generous, funny and supportive.
He also dabbled with some innovation in his last years. Brando had several patents issued in his name from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, all of which are directed to a drum-head tensing device and method, between June 2002 and November 2004. For example see U.S. Patent 6,812,392 and its equivalents.
The actor was a long-time close friend of the entertainer Michael Jackson and paid regular visits to his Neverland Ranch, resting there for weeks. Brando also participated in the singer's solo career thirtieth anniversary celebration concerts in 2001, as well as starring in his 15-minute-long music video "You Rock My World" the same year. The actor's son, Miko, was Jackson's bodyguard and assistant for several years, and is also a friend of the singer. He stated "The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time... was with Michael Jackson. He loved it... He had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service."
On July 1, 2004, Brando died at the age of 80. The cause of his death was intentionally withheld, with his lawyer citing privacy concerns. It was later revealed that he died at UCLA Medical Center of respiratory failure brought on by pulmonary fibrosis. He also suffered from congestive heart failure,[18] failing eyesight due to diabetes, and had recently been diagnosed with liver cancer.[19]
Karl Malden, Brando's fellow actor in A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, and One Eyed Jacks – the only film directed by Brando – talks on a documentary accompanying the DVD A Streetcar Named Desire about a phone call he received from Brando shortly before Brando's death. A distressed Brando told Malden he kept falling over. Malden wanted to come over, but Brando put him off telling him there was no point. Three weeks later Brando was dead. Shortly before his death, Brando had apparently refused permission for tubes carrying oxygen to be inserted into his lungs, which he was told was the only way to prolong his life.
Brando was cremated, his ashes scattered partly in Tahiti and partly in Death Valley.
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Brando's Biography (Part 4: Personal Life)
PERSONAL LIFE
Brando became known as much for his crusades for civil rights, Native American rights and other political causes as he was for his acting. He also earned a "bad boy" reputation for his public outbursts and antics. In June 1973, Brando broke paparazzo Ron Galella's jaw. His hand became infected as a result. In the following year, Galella wore a football helmet when snapping photos of Brando.
In Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando claimed he met Marilyn Monroe at a party as she played piano, unnoticed by anybody else there, and they started an affair that lasted many years until her death, receiving a telephone call from her several days before she died. He also claimed numerous other romances, although he did not discuss his marriages, his wives, or his children in his autobiography.
He married actress Anna Kashfi in 1957. Kashfi was born in Calcutta and moved to Wales at the end of British rule in India in 1947. She is said to have been the daughter of a Welsh steel worker of Irish descent, William O'Callaghan, who had been superintendent on the Indian State railways. However, in her book, Brando for Breakfast, she claimed that she really is half Indian and that the press incorrectly thought that her stepfather, O'Callaghan, was her real father. She said her real father was Indian and that she was the result of an "unregistered alliance" between her parents. Others present during the Brando-Kashfi relationship, however, claimed that Kashfi merely convinced Brando she was part Indian, having learned of his attraction to exotic women. In 1959, Brando and Kashfi divorced following the birth of their son, Christian Brando, on May 11, 1958.
In 1960, Brando married Movita Castaneda, a Mexican actress seven years his senior; they were divorced in 1962. Castaneda had appeared in the first Mutiny on the Bounty film in 1935, some twenty-seven years before the 1962 remake with Brando as Fletcher Christian. Brando's behavior during the filming of Bounty seemed to bolster his reputation as a difficult star. He was blamed for a change in director and a runaway budget, though he disclaimed responsibility for either.
The Bounty experience affected Brando's life in a profound way. He fell in love with Tahiti and its people. He bought a twelve island atoll, Tetiaroa, which he intended to make part environmental laboratory and part resort. Tahitian beauty Tarita Teriipia, who played Fletcher Christian's love interest, became Brando's third wife on August 10, 1962. At just 20 years old, Tarita was 18 years younger than Brando. A 1961 article on Teriipia in the fan magazine Motion Picture described Brando's delight at how naïve and unsophisticated she was. Teriipia became the mother of two of his children. They divorced in July 1972. Brando eventually had a hotel built on Tetiaroa. It went through many redesigns due to changes demanded by Brando over the years, but is now closed. A new hotel consisting of thirty deluxe villas is due to open in 2008.
Due to his third wife Tarita Teriipia being a French speaker, Brando became fluent in French and gave numerous interviews in French.
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Brando's Biography (Part 3: Career)
RISING TO THE TOP
He made a strong impression in 1951 when he brought his performance as Stanley Kowalski to the screen in Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for that role, and again in each of the next three years for his roles in Viva Zapata! in 1952, Julius Caesar in 1953 as Mark Antony, and On the Waterfront in 1954. These first five films of his career established Brando as perhaps the premier acting talent in the world, as evidenced in his winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role three consecutive years, 1951 to 1953.
In 1953, he also starred in Lee Falk's play Arms and the Man. Falk was proud to tell people that Marlon Brando turned down an offer of $10,000 per week on Broadway, in favor of working on Falk's play in Boston. His Boston contract was less than $500 per week. It would be the last time he ever acted in a stage play.
Brando's explosive screen presence exuded a raw sexuality that
drew repeat ticket purchases among female theatre-goers of all ages. Theater managers related accounts of sold out week-day matinees where small children ran up and down the aisle making motorcycle noises while their mothers sat transfixed.
Director Nicholas Ray took the gang image from the movie The Wild One and brought it to his movie, Rebel Without A Cause, and thus emphasized Brando's effect on youth.
Aspects of the rebel culture that included motorcycles, leather jackets, jeans and the rebel image, which inspired generations of rebels, came thanks to that film and Brando's own unique image and character. The sales of motorcycle related paraphernalia, leather jackets, jeans, boots and t-shirts sky-rocketed throughout the country. The film had a similar effect on overseas audiences. Local authorities and religious figures lamented the effect it was having on the youth of their respective countries.
Under Kazan's direction, and with a talented ensemble around him, Brando won the Oscar for his role of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront. For the famous I coulda' been a contender scene, Brando convinced Kazan that the scripted scene was unrealistic, and with Rod Steiger, improvised the final product.
Brando followed that triumph by a variety of roles in the 1950s that defied expectations: as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, where he managed to carry off a singing role; as Sakini, a Japanese interpreter for the U.S. Army in postwar Japan in The Teahouse of the August Moon; as an Air Force officer in Sayonara, and a Nazi officer in The Young Lions. Although he won an Oscar nomination for his acting in Sayonara, his acting had lost much of its energy and direction by the end of the 1950s.
In the 1960s Brando starred in films such as Mutiny on the Bounty (1962); One-Eyed Jacks (1961), a western that would be the only film Brando would ever direct; a star-studded but unsuccessful potboiler The Chase (1966), in which he played an uncorrupted Texas sheriff; Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), portraying a repressed gay army officer, and Burn! (1969), which Brando would later claim as his personal favorite, although it was a commercial failure. Nonetheless, his career had gone into almost complete eclipse by the end of the decade, some say, thanks to his reputation as a difficult star and his record in overbudget or marginal movies.
However, in truth, his reputation as a "difficult star", no matter how justifiably earned, was not the real reason for the downslide in his career. The fact is, as noted progressive writer Dave Zirin points out, Hollywood created what became known as the "Brando Blacklist" that shut him out of many big time roles. The reason for that blacklist was his growing activism, and his financial and moral support of the Black Panthers, Native American Rights groups and other progressive causes.
THE GODFATHER
His performance as Vito Corleone in 1972's The Godfather was a mid-career turning point. Director Francis Ford Coppola convinced Brando to submit to a "make-up" test, in which Brando did his own makeup (he used cotton balls to simulate the puffed-cheek look). Coppola was electrified by Brando's characterization as the head of a crime family, but had to fight the studio in order to cast the temperamental Brando, whose reputation for difficult behavior and demands was the stuff of backlot legend. Mario Puzo always imagined Brando as Corleone. However, Paramount studio heads wanted to give the role to Danny Thomas in the hope that Thomas would have his own production company throw in its lot with Paramount. Thomas declined the role and actually urged the studio to cast Brando at the behest of Coppola and others who had witnessed the screen test.
Eventually, Charles Bluhdorn, the president of Paramount parent Gulf + Western, was won over to letting Brando have the role; when he saw the screen test, he asked in amazement, "What are we watching? Who is this old guinea?" Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but turned down the Oscar, becoming the second actor to refuse a Best Actor award (the first being George C. Scott for Patton). Brando boycotted the award ceremony, sending instead American Indian Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who appeared in full apache dress, to state his reasons, which were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television.
The actor followed with one of his greatest performances in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1973 film, Last Tango in Paris, but the performance was over-shadowed by an up-roar over the erotic nature of the film. Despite the controversy which attended both the film and the man, the Academy once again nominated Brando for the Best Actor.
His career afterward was uneven. He was paid one million dollars a week to play the iconic Colonel Kurtz in 1979's Apocalypse Now. He was supposed to show up slim, fit, and to have read the book Heart of Darkness. He showed up weighing around 220 pounds and hadn't read Heart of Darkness. This is why his character was shot mostly in the shadows and most of his dialogue was improvised. After his week was over, director Francis Ford Coppola asked him to stay an extra hour so that he could shoot a close up of Brando saying, "The horror, the horror." Brando agreed for an extra $75,000. After this film his weight began to limit the roles he could play.
LATER CAREER
Brando then portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the 1978 Superman: The Movie, donning an English accent for the part. He agreed to the role only on assurance that he was paid a large sum for what amounted to a small part, that he did not have to read the script beforehand and his lines would be displayed somewhere off-camera. It was revealed in a documentary contained in the 2001 DVD release of Superman, that he was paid $3.7 million for just two weeks of work.
Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel, Superman II, but after producers refused to pay him the same percentage he received for the first movie, he denied them permission to use the footage. However, after Brando's death the footage was re-incorporated into the 2006 re-cut of the film, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.
Two years after his death, he "reprised" the role of Jor-El in the 2006 "loose sequel" Superman Returns, in which both used and unused archive footage of Brando as Jor-El from the first two Superman films was remastered for a scene in the Fortress of Solitude, as well as Brando's voice-overs being used throughout the film.
Some later performances, such as The Island of Dr Moreau, earned him some of the most uncomplimentary reviews of his career. Despite announcing his retirement from acting in 1980, he subsequently gave interesting supporting performances in movies such as A Dry White Season (for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in 1989), The Freshman in 1990 and Don Juan DeMarco in 1995. In his last film, The Score (2001), he starred with fellow method actor Robert De Niro.
Brando conceived the idea of a novel called Fan-Tan with director Donald Cammell in 1979, which was not released until 2005. Cammell dated and eventually married actor China Kong, the daughter of Anita Loo, with whom Brando had an affair.
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Apocalypse Now
WILLARD:
... and then he broke from himself. I'd never seen a man so broken up and ripped apart..."
KURTZ:
"I've seen horrors...horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that...But you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means.
Horror. Horror has a face...And you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces...Seems a thousand centuries ago...We went into a camp to innoculate the children. We left the camp after we had innoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying.
He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every innoculated arm. There
they were in a pile...A pile of little arms. And I remember...I...I...I cried...I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want
to forget. And then I realized...like I was shot...Like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead...And I thought: My God...the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters...These were men...trained cadres...these men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with
love...but they had the strength...the strength...to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral...and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordal instincts to kill without feeling...without passion...without judgement...without judgement. Because it's judgement that
defeats us. "
KURTZ (to Willard)
"I worry that my son might not understand what I've tried to be. And if I were to be killed, Willard, I would want someone to go
to my home and tell my son everything. Everything I did, everything you saw... Because there is nothing I detest more than the stench of lies. And if you understand me, Willard, you'll do this for me."
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Business English from The Godfather
Widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time. Marlon Brando looks a bit different here than when he was young, don't you think?
I need, Don Corleone, those politicians that you carry in your pocket like so many nickels and dimes.
What is the interest for my family?
30%. In the first year, your end should be 3 or 4 million dollars, and then it would go up.
And what is the interest for the Tattaglia family?
My compliments. I'll take care of the Tattaglias--part of my share.
So I'll receive 30% for finance,
political influence, and legal protection? That's what you're telling me?
That's right.
Why do you come to me? Why do I deserve this generosity?
If you consider a million dollars in cash just finance, te saludo, Don Corleone.
I said that I would see you because I heard that you were a serious man to be treated with respect, but I must say no to you and I'll give you my reason. It's true, I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn't be friendly very long if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they regard as a harmless vice but drugs are dirty business. It doesn't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, but your business is a little dangerous.
If you're worried about security, the Tattaglias will guarantee it.
Oh are you telling me that the Tattaglia guarantee our investment?
Wait a minute.
I have a sentimental weakness for my children and I spoil them as you can see. They talk when they should listen. But anyway Senor Sollozzo, my no is final and I wish to congratulate you on your new business. I know you do very well and good luck to you especially as your interests don't conflict with mine. Thank you.
Santino. Come here. What's the matter with you? I think your brain is going soft from all that comedy you're playing with that young girl. Never tell anybody outside the family what you are thinking again. Go on.
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On The Waterfront
An Oscar Award winning performance:
Stay away from me!!!
Come on please. Open the door please!
Stop it!
I want you to stay away from me!
I know what you want me to do, but I ain't gonna do it so forget it!
I don't want you to do anything. You let your conscience tell you what to do.
You shut up about that conscience. That's all I've been hearing.
I never mentioned the word before--you just stay away from me!
Edie, you love me. I want you to say---
I didn't say I didn't love you, I said stay away from me!
I want you to say it to me.
Stay away from me.
Terry.
Hey Terry! Hey Terry your brother is down here, he want to see you!
Charlie.
Hey Terry.
Hey Terry. Your brother is down here.
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Brando's Biography (Part 2: Early Life)
Early life
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska on April 3, 1924 , the son of Dorothy Julia Pennebaker Brando (1897–1954), an actress, and Marlon Brando, Sr. (1895–1965), a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois and in 1935, when he was eleven years old, his parents separated. His mother briefly took her three children Marlon, Jocelyn (1919–2005) and Frances Brando (1922–1994) to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California until 1937, when the parents reconciled and moved to Libertyville, Illinois, a village north of Chicago. The family was of mixed Dutch, Irish, German, Huguenot, and English descent. Contrary to what is stated in some biographies, Brando's grandfather Eugene E. Brando was not French but was born in New York state. Brando's grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned Eugene and their son Marlon Brando Sr. when he was five years old and used the money to suport her gambling and constant boozing.
Brando's mother, Dodie, was an unconventional but intelligent and talented woman. She smoked, wore trousers and drove automobiles at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. However, she suffered from alcoholism and often had to be retrieved from Chicago bars by Brando's father. She later became a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie was an actress and administrator in local theater and was written about for her theatrical work by the Omaha newspapers. She helped a young Henry Fonda to begin his own acting career, and fueled Brando's interest in stage acting. His father, Marlon Sr., was a gifted amateur photographer. Brando's maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, to whom Brando was perhaps closer than his own mother, was also unconventional. Widowed at a young age, she worked to support herself as a secretary and later as a Christian Science healer, and was well known in Omaha. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland and her mother, Julia Watts, was from England. Brando was a gifted mimic from early childhood and developed a rare ability to absorb the tics and mannerisms of people he played and to display those traits dramatically while staying in character. His sister, Jocelyn Brando, however, was the first to pursue a career in acting, going to New York to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She later appeared on Broadway, in movies and on television. Next, Marlon's sister Frannie left college in California to study art in New York. Marlon followed.
Brando had a tumultuous youth. He was held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the school. At the age of sixteen years, he was sent to Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father had gone before him. At Shattuck, he excelled at theatre and got along well within the structure of the school. In his final year (1943), he was put on probation for talking back to an officer during maneuvers. A part of his probation was that he be confined to the school campus, but he eventually tried sneaking off campus into town and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him. He received support from his fellow students who thought the punishment too harsh. He was later invited back for the next year, but decided not to finish school.
He worked as a ditch-digger in his hometown as a summer job arranged by his father, but had decided to follow his sisters to New York. One sister was trying to be a painter and the other had already appeared on Broadway. He visited his sister Frances in New York at Christmas 1942 and liked the experience. Brando was given six months of support from his father, after which his father offered to help him get a job as a salesman. Brando left Illinois for New York City, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, New School Dramatic Workshop, and the Actors' Studio. It was at the New School's Dramatic Workshop that he studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a possibly apocryphal story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. When Adler asked Brando to explain his action, he replied, "I'm a chicken - What do I know from a bomb?"
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Brando's Biography (Part 2: Early Life)
Early life
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska on April 3, 1924 , the son of Dorothy Julia Pennebaker Brando (1897–1954), an actress, and Marlon Brando, Sr. (1895–1965), a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois and in 1935, when he was eleven years old, his parents separated. His mother briefly took her three children Marlon, Jocelyn (1919–2005) and Frances Brando (1922–1994) to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California until 1937, when the parents reconciled and moved to Libertyville, Illinois, a village north of Chicago. The family was of mixed Dutch, Irish, German, Huguenot, and English descent. Contrary to what is stated in some biographies, Brando's grandfather Eugene E. Brando was not French but was born in New York state. Brando's grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned Eugene and their son Marlon Brando Sr. when he was five years old and used the money to suport her gambling and constant boozing.
Brando's mother, Dodie, was an unconventional but intelligent and talented woman. She smoked, wore trousers and drove automobiles at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. However, she suffered from alcoholism and often had to be retrieved from Chicago bars by Brando's father. She later became a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie was an actress and administrator in local theater and was written about for her theatrical work by the Omaha newspapers. She helped a young Henry Fonda to begin his own acting career, and fueled Brando's interest in stage acting. His father, Marlon Sr., was a gifted amateur photographer. Brando's maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, to whom Brando was perhaps closer than his own mother, was also unconventional. Widowed at a young age, she worked to support herself as a secretary and later as a Christian Science healer, and was well known in Omaha. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland and her mother, Julia Watts, was from England. Brando was a gifted mimic from early childhood and developed a rare ability to absorb the tics and mannerisms of people he played and to display those traits dramatically while staying in character. His sister, Jocelyn Brando, however, was the first to pursue a career in acting, going to New York to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She later appeared on Broadway, in movies and on television. Next, Marlon's sister Frannie left college in California to study art in New York. Marlon followed.
Brando had a tumultuous youth. He was held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the school. At the age of sixteen years, he was sent to Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father had gone before him. At Shattuck, he excelled at theatre and got along well within the structure of the school. In his final year (1943), he was put on probation for talking back to an officer during maneuvers. A part of his probation was that he be confined to the school campus, but he eventually tried sneaking off campus into town and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him. He received support from his fellow students who thought the punishment too harsh. He was later invited back for the next year, but decided not to finish school.
He worked as a ditch-digger in his hometown as a summer job arranged by his father, but had decided to follow his sisters to New York. One sister was trying to be a painter and the other had already appeared on Broadway. He visited his sister Frances in New York at Christmas 1942 and liked the experience. Brando was given six months of support from his father, after which his father offered to help him get a job as a salesman. Brando left Illinois for New York City, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, New School Dramatic Workshop, and the Actors' Studio. It was at the New School's Dramatic Workshop that he studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a possibly apocryphal story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. When Adler asked Brando to explain his action, he replied, "I'm a chicken - What do I know from a bomb?"
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Mental Health Break
Sorry you haven't seen any new posts this week. I took a week off and went to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico for a few days to play frisbee on the beach, listen to music on the balcony, and speak Spanish with the locals. It was exactly what I needed.
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Brando's Biography (Part 1)
Bit by bit, I'll post sections of Marlon Brando's entry in wikipedia. The reason you should read it here is because of the AnswerTips that you see below. Every time you see this icon, you can click on any word you don't know and it will give a definition, examples, pronunciation, and even translations into your own language. Try it!
Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actor, whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is widely considered one of the greatest American film actors of all time, indeed, ranking seventh in AFI's (American Film Industry) Top 10 Greatest Actors. As a young sex symbol,he is best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, both directed by Elia Kazan in the early 1950s. In middle age, his well-known roles include his Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, both directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris.
Brando was also an activist, lending his presence to many issues, including the American Civil Rights and American Indian Movements. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
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Stella!!!
In this week's interview, Mari says that she likes romantic comedies. Personally I think romantic dramas are much more interesting because they mirror real life. Here's Brando delivering one of the most famous movie lines ever, "Stella!!"
Kowalski: Hey, Stella!
Eunice: You quit that howling down there and go to bed.
Kowalski: Eunice, I want my girl down here.
Eunice: You shut-up. You're going to get the law on you.
Kowalski: Hey, Stella!!
Eunice: You can’t beat on a woman an then call her back 'cause she ain't gonna come. And her going to have a baby!
Kowalski: Listen, Eunice.
Eunice: I hope they haul you in and turn a fire hose on you --
Kowalski: Eunice, I want my girl down here.
Eunice: -- like they done the last time. You stinker!
Kowalski: Hey, Stellllaaaa!!! Hey, Stellaaaa!!
Eunice: I wouldn't mix in this.
Stanley: Don't ever leave me baby.
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Skill from Brazil!
Ok. This video is not going to help your English, but this week we are talking about abilities with Ron and Mari and I was incredibly impressed with the soccer abilities that these guys from Brazil have.
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How to Talk About Yourself
In this week's interview, Ron and Mari talk about what they are good at. It's not always easy to talk about what you are good at because you might feel like you are bragging (acting too proud of yourself).
One way to soften your style so that you sound more humble is to use these phrases:
People tell me I’m good at...
I’d like to think I’m good at...
I’m pretty good at...
On the other hand, when you are talking about what you are bad at, it's fine to be direct and even better if you exaggerate:
I'm terrible at...
I'm the worst at...
I am probably the worst...in the world.
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This week's on ELLLO and sign up for the PODCAST
This weeks interviews and activities can be found here and here.
If you haven't signed up for the free podcast yet, then click here and do it now so you can automatically download the audio to your mp3 player every week. When you open the podcast page look for the little icon that looks like this (except it will be much smaller). 
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Thai Festival: Loy Khratong
Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.
"Loi" means "to float". "Krathong" is a small raft traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk, decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc. During the night of the full moon, many people will release a small raft like this on a river. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations also build much bigger and more elaborate rafts, and these are often judged in contests. In addition, fireworks and beauty contests take place during the festival.
The festival probably originated in India as a Hindu festival similar to Deepavali as thanksgiving to the deity of the Ganges with floating lanterns for giving life throughout the year.
According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a krathong will create good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha.
The beauty contests that accompany the festival are known as "Noppamas Queen Contests". According to legend, Noppamas was a consort of the Sukothai king Loethai (14th century) and she was the first to float decorated krathongs.
The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known.
In Chiang Mai Loi Kratong is also known as "Yi Peng". Every year thousands of people assemble to float the banana-leaf krathong onto the waterways of the city, honouring the Goddess of Water. A multitude of Lanna-style hot-air lanterns (khom fai) are also launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the skies. These are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also taken to decorate houses and streets.
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Protests in Thailand
Soldiers deployed onto the streets of Bangkok, the armed forces called on to help keep the peace after a day of rioting in which police failed to disperse anti-government protesters. Skirmishes continued into the night. The demonstrators refusing to back down, continuing to confront riot police.
We're late in the night and police are continuing to release tear gas into the crowd. They're trying to push the protesters back to the government house where they have been since late August. All day there have been these ongoing skirmishes between police and the protesters and it doesn't seem to be over yet.
Earlier in the evening police trapped protesters and our cameraman in the ?????? of streets surrounding parliament. A car bomb exploded nearby killing one person and injuring bystanders. It is unclear who detonated the device. The crackdown began just after 6 am, an early morning raid that caught the protesters by surprise. They'd stormed Thailand's parliament compound overnight--their second target in as many months, hours before the new prime minister was to set out his governments policies, the protesters tried to blockage the entrances to the parliament building. At around 6:20 local time, riot police moved in. Witnesses say dozens of tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd. For some, the results were devastating. This man lost part of his leg in the attack. Another man with his back torn apart was seen limping from the scene. Others injured in the chaos were carried away. Many of the protesters were seen trying to wash the stinging residue from their eyes.
"We will fight until we win, for sure. Not only me, everybody. You can ask everybody."
Senators who boycotted the parliamentary session came out to greet the protesters. They say the government has blood on its hands.
"All these people, they are here for one thing: because they love this country. They love his majesty the king. So they have their own reason, you know."
Police took about 20 minutes to break open the blockade. And Hees began arriving for the parliamentary session about an hour after the attack. The policy speech went ahead as planned. Tuesday's clash surprised many. The Thai authorities had taken a "softly, softly" approach in dealing with the protesters who stormed the government house in late August. They accused the government of being a puppet of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawat who was ousted in a military coup. The new prime minister is Thaksin's brother in law who appears to be taking a harder line. Any hopes of a reconciliation between these two sides now seems unlikely. The protest leaders are condemning the attacks. Riot police and the army remain on standby. It seems nothing is resolved here in Thailand.
Salin Downs, Al Jazeera, Bangkok
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This week's interview: Tsunami 2004
Todd talks with Tarta about the devastation she witnessed in Phuket, Thailand after the tsunami in 2004 here and here.
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Bilingual Kids
This week features an interview with Tom and I about the languages we use at home. You can listen to it here.
The following video is a very interesting study on bilingual kids and is full of vocabulary that is useful for talking about learning language.
Bon jour. Hola. Bon jour.
What could be more charming than having child who speaks a foreign language?
Whether it's French, Spanish, German, or whatever it is. Being bilingual is a skill that will reap many benefits as you child becomes an adult. From traveling abroad, to learning new cultures, the possibilities are endless. Hi I'm Sharon Elcock from parent's TV and I'm going to show you what some of the benefits are to having a child who speaks a second language.
The children can learn in a natural way without accent because I am speaking with strong accent because I learned English as an adult. But the children, they learn without any accent, without any barrier and without any problems of expression. They just talk, they don't think about, "I have to learn a new language. They just learn."
(Speaking in Italian)
When you know a second language, you know a second culture. It means that you can also see your own culture in different eyes.
(Italian)
So they don't think, "It's an Italian class, I have to learn this class. No, they just play with us in a natural way. The teacher, what they do that is important is to repeat very slowly in Italian each word showing a flashcard so the child can connect the image with the word.
My name is Neil Baker. I'm the father of Robert Baker, a 3 year old who comes here on occasion. It's not only important to me, but it's important to both my wife and I that Robbie be bilingual. First of all, because that that seems to be the way the world is evolving. It's going to be a bilingual multi-faceted world.
My wife is native Italian. She came here from Parma. Her family, all of her family is still here in the Northern Italy area. My parents, my family is from New York. And so we're trying to mesh the both worlds.
I always speak with him in Italian and I did since he was born. He started to take Italian classes last fall because I started to realize that he had to know that not only mommy speaks Italian and not only people in Italy speak Italian.
There are some families who have caretakers who speak a second language. Perhaps grandma or a foreign speaking nanny can get your child started early.
I have two daughters, Sofie who's five and Cici who's almost three. (Speaking French)
Hiring a nanny who speaks a foreign language became a priority after we started taking the classes here. And the kids like them so much and they really had a lot of fun and I thought, you know, we should really enforce it more at home. Because I don't speak another foreign language fluently and because my husband doesn't, we both really wanted our kids to have that skill. We thought it was really important and one of the few practical things that kids can learn and it's so important for them to start early.
(French)
We present everything as a playgroup with games and songs and toys and visual aids. So children think that they are just coming to play and actually that is the best way for them to learn because they are emotionally engaged. The idea is very simple, you have to compare the brain of the child to some kind of soft wax which can be imprinted with the sounds of any language. But little by little the wax becomes kind of cold and hard and it becomes more difficult to learn other languages.
If classes aren't an option in your area, there are also language learning tools that you can purchase for your home.
Professor Toto is a multimedia language educational series with DVDs and CDs and books to teach languages at home. With professor Toto they are going to learn the basics, not just words but full sentences. Like, "hello my name is..." "I'm four years old" "I go to school" and we learn the colors, the parts of the body, counting, the alphabet, all the basics. You have to engage children emotionally. That's very important. Speak to their heart. Make them laugh. I always say that children remember the words that make them happy.
As you can see, if you want your children to be bilingual, there are many options available. From language classes, to foreign relatives and caretakers, to language DVDs. Remember it's never too early to start teaching your child a second language.
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Which is the best of these 10 guys?
Ok girls. Here is a pretend speed date for you. Which of these guys, cartoon guys, is your type?
Ignore the points -- there are no correct answers, but feel free to make comments below about which guys are the best...or which guys are the worst!
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Speed Dating with Style at Fast Life International
Jeff and Jonathan talk about speed dating here. Watch the video below to see speed dating in action.
I'm Angie. I'm 26 years old, single, I have a ton of friends, a closet full of clothes, "ta da!", and shoes that's a whole different story, but the one thing I don't have? A man! So I've decided to try speed dating. Wish me luck.
So I'm here at Luck's to try Fast Life's Speed Dating with Style.
Can I have everybody's attention? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, this is Fast Life's Speed Dating with Style at Luck's Bar in Toronto.
Speed dating is essentially like a cocktail party. There are 20 people that show up -- equal numbers of men and women.
Every five minutes I'm going to ring that gong and that's your cue, gentlemen, to get up and move to the next table. This is your personal match folder. The blue area is for you to write down the names of the people you meet this evening and put a "yes" "no" beside them.
The following day we'll send an e-mail to all the people who received a match and they can take it from there.
There are some definite cuties back there. It's nice to see some tall ones, some dark haired guys. Some tips that I've been given from the people who have been here before are to come up with some creative opening lines, something friendly, talk about traveling, so there are all kind of things that are going on in my brain.
So what do you do for fun? Do you go out and exercise? Bike ride? I work out at the gym a lot with my friends, roller blade, beach volleyball, anything. How about you?
I lied to the police once. You what? Lied to the police...at home. I think it might even be insurance fraud.
Where have you travelled? I've been to England, Norway quite a few times because my parents are from there. You have to ask a question, I've got nothing.
I know, I know, you're killing me now.
Time's up. Nice to meet you.
You're sitting here and you'll have a good question and you just want to ask it and I'm trying to find the Fast Life people so I can see out of the corner of my eye whether or not they're going to gong it.
Ask me a question. Do you have any weird collections?
My icebreaker question is whether or not a guy has a collection. If he can flat out come up with something quirky and great, I figure he's got something to him.
Weird collections? No.
I used to have one. What? I used to collect matches. Matches. Like matches from all around the world.
You know what I do have a collection of? It's not so much strange, but rocks from around the world.
Why? Do you have any weird collections? I collect Trident gum wrappers.
Trident? I used to work for Trident, but I don't have any wrappers.
Oh my god, you worked there. It's a sign!
Do you collect rocks from around Toronto, you know, like ????????
Is that like a childish...childhood thing?
Childish? Was that a Freudian slip?
It was.
Ok, "bong", did you just hear that? It's over, it's over. Oh, next...
It was nice to meet you.
Now I work for a nuclear power plant.
Aren't you worried about what it's doing to you.
Maybe.
Like, what are you doing to me right now just sitting there.
She was nice, very energetic. She seemed intelligent, outgoing. I kind of didn't feel like she maybe asked enough about me.
So you're like, I don't know, kind of sarcastic, does that like get in the way of like...scares guys away.
You're one of those people who just has to be right all the time. You're like my brother. And you could have a book of things that Michael says, and it's never right. It's like it's called bulls**t. It's a bestseller.
Michael and I were kind of like fighting and there was some tension over, you know, viewpoints, but that's passion.
I thought she was completely wrong in everything she said. She made absolutely zero sense and it was completely illogical and it didn't flow. But other than that, it was enjoyable.
You know you've got really nice eyes. So do you. Thank you. I was just thinking that. We're like brother, sister. You're killing me here. And the worst part is, is that it really hurts. It hurts me inside...muffin, pookie.
It's one of the things that I look for in a person. It's the ability to find a pet name, you know, quickly, right up front, right away.
We're at pet names and it's only been three and a half minutes.
I think that this is anything but exhausting, it's almost exhilarating because you meet so many fabulous people. You have a short period of time to do it in and you just fly through it all and that bonging thing is stressful but man is it ever fun.
Ah, ok, there we go. As if you just said there we go like...
I didn't say that. Take that hand away...
Oh!
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Tips on making yourself interesting to the opposite sex
In interview #909 Jeff talks about how he wants to meet a girl. Here is the world's top pick up artist explaining how to make yourself interesting to girls.
You know in order to get a woman interested in you, you have to be interesting. So a comedian, you know, the way he'll be funny is he'll tell one joke and you'll say, "Wow. That's funny."
But if he strings ten in a row, you'll say he's funny. It's no longer the material that gets the acclaim, but it's the man himself who gets the acclaim. So similarly--again if you want to get a woman interested in you have to be interesting--so if you say one interesting fact: it has nothing to do with sexuality, nothing to do with attraction, nothing to do with seduction, nothing to do with "the pick up". It's just a non sequitur interesting fact. If you say one interesting fact, for instance you could say, you know, "How many 9s exist between 1 and 100? How many? What do you think? How many 9s exist between 1 and 100? I'll give you a hint: more than 1, more than 3.
10? Is that your answer? Nope.
Do you know it? 9?
This isn't multiple choice, you know. Oh my god! I know it's mathematics, you know, it's quite difficult, it's called counting.
13? 14? Multiple choice again.
It's actually 20. Where is it? 9, 19. 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, and 99 is two of them. That's like 20% right there. 1 in 5 is the number 9. Ok, it's a little bullshit babbles brains at the end. It screws with people and if you fell for that, well, you'll fall for a lot. It's nice little test for me.
Nonetheless, when I say this, how many 9s between 1 and 100 in a set, it makes me interesting...non threatening, I'm not after her, I'm not trying to hit on the girl, I'm not making any reference to her beauty. I'm not trying to, you know, brag. It's just interesting. You say one interesting thing and they'll say, "Wow, that's interesting." But you say 10 in a row and she'll say, "You're interesting." It's no longer the material that gets the acclaim, but the man himself. It's a nice way of getting a girl interested in you enough to want to get to know you so that she'll start asking you questions like, "What's your name?" Now we're on our way.
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Good carbs and Bad carbs
Once of the classes I teach right now is based on food. Here is a quiz from our most recent lecture on carbs.
This is the end of the post. Don't click.
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Better Food Pyramid, Brought to you by Harvard University
A great summary of the most current research in nutrition.
TRUE or FALSE
1. Fatty oils should be avoided in a healthy diet.
2. It is better to eat vegetable oils than white pasta and bread.
3. Four servings of vegetable is the maximum you should eat.
4. One or two glasses of alcohol everyday is just as healthy as 8-10 drinks on Friday night.
5. Nuts are lower in calories than animal meat.
6. Children and adults often don't get enough calcium and vitamin D.
7. Red meat is easy to digest but it is high calorie.
TRUE or FALSE
1. Fatty oils should be avoided in a healthy diet. FALSE
2. It is better to eat vegetable oils than white pasta and bread. TRUE
3. Four servings of vegetable is the maximum you should eat. FALSE
4. One or two glasses of alcohol everyday is just as healthy as 8-10 drinks on Friday night. FALSE
5. Nuts are lower in calories than animal meat. TRUE
6. Children and adults often don't get enough calcium and vitamin D. TRUE
7. Red meat is easy to digest but it is high calorie. FALSE
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How to Cook for Someone You Love
Here's my 3-year old son Jaden showing off his cooking skills.
Here is a link the original video.
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Does this Dress Make Me Look Fat?
This week Michael talks about Basic Training for the army. Here's Basic Gender Training for saying the right thing on a date.
Do I look fat in this dress?
Huh? Uh, I guess you could lose a couple of pounds.
What?
I mean, it's supposed to fit tight, isn't it?
You men are here to learn!
Isn't this a beautiful flower?
It's very nice?
Wrong answer maggot! Now hit the deck and give me ten!
You are lovely, you are sweet
Those are cute shoes on your feet.
How do you like my perfume?
It's you darling. It's you!
Isnt' this a beautiful flower?
Not as beautiful as you, darling!
Much better.
You haven't mentioned how you like my new hairstyle.
It's beauty stole my breath away, sweetheart.
What a sweet thing to say.
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Lending Money to Women
Rated R (Restricted for select audiences):
For strong language and sexual themes
This audio by Chris Rock fits perfectly with the theme this week: "Giving Money". It uses the "F" word which may offend some people but I believe that it is a good example of an a popular American cultural phenomenon (Stand-up Comedy), a sample of African-American slang and dialect, and an interesting visual Mash-up with a Japanese Anime. As a student of English, you need to be able to understand jokes like this, plus all of the "bad words" or else you might be the only one not laughing. If you look at it with those things in mind, it's a very educational video. Most of all, it's just funny.
Never lend money to women! And women never lend money to men! You can not lend money to people you are f#*@ing! 'Cause they think the sex is the payback. I dare any man in here to try and get back some money from some women he slept with. Just attempt it. Just step to it like, "Hey baby, what's up with that $200, you owe me." She'll look at you like, "Excuse me?!! I think I paid you last night. As a matter of fact, you owe me $150. "
This is the end of the post.
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It's a woman's woman's man's world
I'll resist commenting on this version and invite you to comment:
What do you think of Christina's Aguilera's version compared to James Brown's version?
This is the end of the post. For more on a woman's world click here.
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25 years later, it's still a man's man's man's world
Can you believe that he can do it with the same intensity and showmanship 25 years later?
This is the end of the post. Check out interview #897 for more discussion about a man's world here.
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I want to be one
"Loretta" seems like he would sympathize with Katia more than Paul.
I do feel Reg that any anti-imperialist group like ours must reflect such a divergence of interests within its power base.
Agreed. Francis?
Yeah, I think Judith's point of view is very valued Reg, provided the movement never forgets that it is the unalienable right of every man (or woman) to rid himself (or herself), agreed, thank you brother (or sister)
Where was I?
I think you finished.
Oh. Right.
Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man (or woman).
Why don't you shut up about women Stan, you're putting us off.
Women have a perfect right to play a part in our movement Reg.
Why are you always on about women Stan?
I want to be one.
What?
I want to be a woman.
From now on, I want you all to call me Loretta.
What?
It's my right as a man.
But why do you want to be "Loretta", Stan?
I want to have babies.
You want to have babies?
It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
But...you can't have babies.
Don't you oppress me.
I'm not oppressing you Stan, you haven't got a womb.
Where is the fetus going to gestate? Are you going to keep it in a box?
Wait, I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies without having a womb, which is nobody's fault (not even the Romans) but that he can have the right to have babies.
Good idea Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies brother...sister, sorry.
What's the point!!??
What?
What the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?
It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
Symbolic of his struggle against reality.
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It's a man's man's man's world
I can't imagine how thrilling this song must have been in 1966.
This is a man's world,
This is a man's world,
but it wouldn't be nothing,
Nothing! Without...
a woman or a girl.
You see, man made the cars
to take us over the road.
Man made the train
to carry the heavy load.
Man made the electric light
to take us out of the dark.
Man made the boat for the water
like Noah made the Arc.
This is a man's man's man's world
but it wouldn't mean nothing
without a woman or a girl.
Man thinks about a little bit of baby girls
and of baby boys.
Man makes them happy,
'Cause man makes them toys.
And after man makes everything,
everthing he can,
do you know that man makes money
to buy from other men?
This is a man's world,
but it wouldn't be nothing,
not one little thing
without a woman or a girl.
Oh how! How a man needs a woman.
I sympathize with the man that don't have a woman.
He's lost!
In the wilderness.
He's lost!
In bitterness.
He's lost! Lord! Lord! And lonely...
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Packing Light
In this week's interviews, Jonathan talks about traveling all over the world with just one suitcase here. Several airlines have announced that they will be charging extra money for not only a second bag but your first bag too. Here's an amazing way to put all your clothes in just one carry on bag so you can save some money. This video also has tons of useful vocabulary about clothes that doesn't usually appear in textbooks.
Hi, I'm Jon Holloway. I'm with packing light dot com. Thanks for coming to our website. We're here to give you an abbreviated packing demonstration of our method so you can take this and use it at home and pack in our famous packing light method.
We start with two pairs of shoes in the carry-on size suitcase, for those who are bold enough to go in a carry-on. We're going to wear one more on board the airplane for a total of three shoes. For cover our shoes so it keep the clean clothes clean. And we put the flats of the shoes up against the side of the suitcase. Now we have a cavern to fill. What we are going to put in that is our hanging organizer by Bagellini. It carries the underwear, the socks, the scarfs for different looks with those black outfits, maybe perhaps some of your toiletries. All of that going into the front of the organizer and the dirty, soiled clothes will go in the back to keep them rotated and organized, and separate and segregated from the clean clothes. What is great about this organizer (is that) it lays flat in the middle of your bag. When you get to your destination, you pull it out and use it as sort of your roaming dresser, without having to unpack everything. The flats of the shoes, the organizer in the bag.
We start with the pants first. The general order of things and the requirements of this method is to pack in the order, for guys, of pants and then shirts. For our women travelers, we're going to start with pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, and tops. Alternate the direction every time you put a garment in. Zipper and button everything to its fullest so it holds its shape. The first pair of pants goes with the waistband up against the side of the suitcase and the pant-legs hanging out. All the shapes of baggage these days if it's an upright suitcase, if it's a backpack, or if it's a duffel bag are rectangular in shape. It makes sense with the long and narrow that you use the long and narrow pants hanging out on one end. Alternate the direction with the waistband of the next pair of pants up against the side like this. They are the infamous black and khaki pants so they go with everything. The first pair of pants was a zip-off convertible pant, so already we're starting to create more outfits by having versatile garments such as this reversible skirt. This skirt will give you two outfits in one by having two sides. With the skirts and dresses we have to abandon the alternating packing method. They are a little wider and there's a little more fabric so we have to use the width of the bag from here on out with the dresses, the skirts, and the tops. With the skirt, you put the middle of the skirt in the middle of the bag. Same with the dress that I'm about to lay across. It's a very simple method that doesn't really require a lot of forethought in advance of where are you going to put things. We simply stack and at the end we're going to fold over and bundle these garments into a bundle.
Alright, now we start with out tops. The first top we're going to lay out towards the front with the collar up against the length of the suitcase, the sleeves where the pant-legs are going. Go back to that alternating method so the collar of the next shirt goes up against the other length of the bag, the sleeves still going in the pant-leg direction. Finally, the sweater, that you want to have access to, laying in the other direction.
Now we start to alternate as we go back in the bag. We take the second from the top and fold it up over the top one. The top sweater will come back up over that shirt and as you do the tail of the garments, with the blouses and shirts, bring in the sleeves. Alright, now we're working our way back in and we are creating a rolled effect. We're not rolling every garment. That doesn't work for woven items, so this method will give you a rolled effect and a cushion effect by helping each garment helping cushion each on before it. Then go in with the dresses and bring in the top of the dress, then the tail of the dress and you can start to see that we are using the configuration of this 22 inch bag. Certainly, this method works in a larger suitcase, but it works terrifically in a 22 inch as well. We bring up the skirt, now we just have the pant-legs to go and you just bundled 12 outfits with 7 garments. If it mixes and matches, if you have some reversible things, if you have some convertible pants and so on, we have created a lot of outfits in a very small space. We could keep going and pack multiple bundles if you wish. It really comes down to your particular trip and the destination in which you are traveling to. If it's different cultures or different weather conditions, you can pack in multiple bundles and pack efficiently with little to no waste of space.
We really appreciate you coming to Packing Light dot com. Hopefully we can help you in years to come and happy travels.
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The Center of the World for Backpackers
Jonathan talks about backpackers and the famous Khao San Road in Bangkok here. Here's a chance for you to get used to listening to a Thai accent if you ever decide to journey to Thailand.
Khao San Road is a short road in Central Bangkok. "Khao San" means wild rice in Thai.
Khao San is one of Bangkok's most vibrant cities, host to people from around the world. One Thai writer described the road as, "a short road that has the longest dream (?) in the world." It is located in the Banglampoo neighborhood about 1 kilometer north from the Grand Palace with Wat Prakaaw.
Khao San Road is getting busy right after the sun falls. The road is closed and the whole street is set for people, food stalls, cafes, bars, street performers, and those who enjoy sitting on the sidewalk drinking with a bottle of beer in hand.
The most famous activities on Khao San Road are shopping, braiding hair, drinking, and sightseeing for joker (??) performance.
The most famous food on Khao San Road is Pad Thai. A trip to Khao San Road wouldn't be complete without sampling the street vendors' take on this popular, tasty, and nutritious cheap Thai dish. There are Thai style spring rolls too. If you are brave or drunk enough, you can try to eat fried insects.
There are many styles of shops, for example, clocks, paintings, clothes, DVDs, fruit, second hand books, as well as many items useful to backpackers are among the common goods traded along the road.
Most accomodations on Khao San Road are box style (??) hotels to full western style and luxury hotels. The price is cheaper than other hotels that are appropriate for backpackers.
There are many optional ways to Khao San Road. The visitors can go by Tuk-Tuk, taxis, motorcyles, and by foot. Khao San Road is not located close to the Sky Train or underground station but that certainly hasn't put a damper on the areas popularity.
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Musical Warm-up: Images of Myanmar
Click below to read the text of the video.The whole total external environment.
We treat it as an enemy. We try to beat it into submission.
And if we do that, comes Disaster.
-Alan Watts (influenced by Asian Buddhist Philosophy)Help me somebody.
There's no escape from it.
He so low, you can't get under him; he's so wide you can't get around him; he's everywhere!
Help me somebody.
-Anonymous black preacher
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Natural Disasters
MB talks with Matthew about working with Habitat for Humanity, an organization committed to stopping poverty housing all over the world. The cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China destroyed millions of homes. Habitat for Humanity is taking action to organize teams to rebuild homes and lives. Lack of housing, lack of food, and lack of clean drinking water is in Myanmar is turning out to be more devastating than the cyclone. Take the quiz below to learn why...
This is the end of the post. Don't click below.
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