The Road

It's a post-apocalyptic story that shows a man and his young son striving to survive in a world where crops no longer exist, all animals disappeared, rainy and overcast weather remains permanently and the bleakest reality emerges. As a post-chaos end of times drama, it depicts the smallest acts of generosity as the very best of what we can do as human beings, the ordinary and unnoticed kind actions have a stupendous effect here. No pyrotechnic but raw negotiations for survival in a world where you can't see much hope ahead...

I guess the greatest thing this movie brings is that we as human beings can be extremely mean and cruel but also notoriously good and generous -looks like this aeon dichotomy still prevails at the very end. Also, we should be thankful to God for the life we know, all that surrounds us is absolutely beautiful and majestic if we turn from our selfishness and meanness and see the created things as an undeserving gift.
This movie is heartbreaking and whoever watches it will surely be greatly impacted by its powerful message.

Where's Global Warming When They Need It?

Frigid temperatures break new records and consistently confirm the last ten winters are among the coldest ever in the north hemisphere.

MERCY COMES WITH THE MORNING...
Isn't it awesome?

"C.S. Lewis Song"

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

[CHORUS]
Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
Cos my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
An avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

[Thanks to Alannah for these lyrics]
[ BROOKE FRASER LYRICS at www.AZLyrics.com ]

OCCASIONAL STUFF

Over these last months there have been students going over some “health” vocabulary and somebody asked me about the word “crise de alguma doença”. Well, you can use the word 'episode' such as in “hypomanic episode” or “manic episode”, but episode is more related to psychological disorders. If you have one “acesso de tosse”for example, you have to say “a bout of cough” yes, “bout” (acesso).

George asked me some days ago if I can say “invite someone over”, once you can “have people over” or people can “come over” (to visit you). Actually, if you request someone to come to your place (house) for something such as a meal, party, chat, chimarrão, etc. You might want to use it: “I'll invite Glória and Flávio over for dinner tonight”.

Saionara asked me something like “pai bobão” and I can tell you I couldn't find anything that would exactly match in English, but a close expression would be “to play the fool”: "Garth is always playing the fool when his little kid is around.” In case anyone knows something closer to “pai bobão”, please drop some lines in the comments.

Difference between “few” and “a few”. Use a few when the situation is more satisfactory: “A few guests came over but the party was really cool, though.” When you say “few” have in mind that it may not be so satisfactory: “Few people make a stand against criminality in the Congress.”

Finally, let's translate the sentence: “O motorista parou no acostamento e tirou uma soneca rápida.” “The driver pulled over to the breakdown lane and took a quick nap.”

That's all for now. Don't forget to keep in touch with the grammar, the listening activities and other cool stuffs on the sites right on the left menu.

ROBOTS THAT SHOW EMOTIONS

Compared to softwares and computer hardwares, robotics have had a timid progress over the last decades. But here is something really big, a breakthrough stuff that allows me to foresee a future where humans will interact and socialize with robots at a serious level.

Let me just step out of the for the good or the bad dichotomy. Imagine that people can get closer to robots to an extent that their emotions and feelings get connected aiming to dissipate eventual depressions or bad moods. I mean, instead of blurting out or giving a piece of your mind to a real human, you might want to do it with “somebody” who'll get the thing stricken out of record in no time at all.



Remember that very few folks in the recent past would imagine that nowadays you could be in North Canada sitting in a beautiful park chatting online by VOIP with a friend in Porto Alegre.
So, it's no wonder if humans become “robotized” in the years to come.

OUT OF THERAPY

Richard Lewis.This must be one the funniest things I've ever seen. Positively funny.

Check out 0:35 when tells about his 17 year-shrink (psychologist) that called all her patients back to kind of make a "recall" of a past theoretical mistake.

Jokes.com
Richard Lewis - Out of Therapy
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

Imagine myself calling everyone of the students who have had classes with me over this last decade to correct some grammar I had mistakenly taught.

I actually had a hard time to stop laughing.

MORE KAFKA

Be sure to check on The Free Dictionary the words you don’t know.

Franz Kafka was a young man with the hardest feelings towards his father; his health was normally in poor conditions – he ended up dying of tuberculosis, and by all means he was aloof, introvert and severely penalized by his miserable social skills. I mean, if your father doesn’t care about you, you’re usually in bad health, you’re down and left on your own, how on earth can you develop the literary skills that Kafka did? That’s a riddle, a mystery, I guess.

A professor called Moisés Sbardelloto, drew an interesting framework of Kafka gloomy relationship with his father. In his book “Letters to my Father” he unfolds his dilemmas and struggles against the one who never came closer to love and build up a paternal bound.

In one of his letters called “Resolutions”, Kafka shows off the kind of sarcastic and wry lack of enthusiasm to overcome his difficulties, a sort of sadness that held him in the mental and emotional fortress where the author was captive:

“Defy all my natural feelings, give A. an enthusiastic welcome if he comes, tolerate B. friendly in my room, swallow down everything that is said at C.’s place in long draughts (goles), despite the labor and pain it costs me.” Now that sounds a resolution of a victorious rider who sees no impossibility along his way to the top.

Then he goes on just to reveal next his cynical perspective:
“Yet even if I can manage all that, each false step will make the whole enterprise, easy or difficult, falter (+- vacilar); and I shall have to turn back to the point where I began.”

It seems that Kafka couldn’t find any real reason for truly standing up and fighting for better days. His literary prowess (proeza) proved to be undeniable masterpiece, but his inner strength was tiny. No judgment here, yet that very weakness might be the consequence of the misfortunes that I mentioned in the first paragraph.

20th CENTURY INVENTIONS

Which of these is the most important invention in your opinion. Why?

1.
INVENTION: COMPUTER
INVENTOR: Konrad Suse (circa 30’s); John von Neumann, 1903-1957
USES: All possible mathematical equations, charts, information exchange, data base, etc.
YEAR OF INVENTION: All along the century.
2.
INVENTION: TENNIS SHOES
INVENTOR: Well, shoes have started out from grass sandals, to more things. But an exact answer would be hard.
USES: to protect and to provide comfort to our feet
YEAR OF INVENTION: From Keds, which were the first tennis shoes in 1917
3.
INVENTION: TRANSISTOR
INVENTOR: By a team of scientists working for Bell Telephone Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.
USES: Transistors have many uses including switching, voltage/current regulation, and amplification
YEAR OF INVENTION: In the mid 1940’s
4.
INVENTION: THE LASER
INVENTOR: Theodore Mainman
USES: Emplyoed in all kinds of applications, CD players and metal cutter, for example.
YEAR OF INVENTION: 1960
5.
INVENTION: THE ANTIBIOTICS
INVENTOR: Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain
USES: Heal Infections and diseases
YEAR OF INVENTION: 1945