history of britain in front of the tv

Is TV a waste of time?
Jay Doubleyou: turn off your tv
Does TV make us stupid?
Jay Doubleyou: dumbing us down
On the other hand, it's all 'listening practice'...
What sort of things have you been watching on TV?

There's a new book out about the history of Britain 'in front of the TV'
Looks cosy, doesn't it?



Armchair Nation: An Intimate History of Britain in Front of the TV by Joe Moran – review | Books | The Observer

But here's a much more critical few lines from the same book:



... his passage on The X Factor, which he describes as "a grotesque caricature of democracy". "It claimed to be empowering but was actually infantilising. The utopian promise of democratic interactivity held out at the start of the digital era was now reduced to a single phone call, a triumph of direct-line consumerism." 

Armchair Nation: An intimate history of Britain in front of the TV by Joe Moran – review | Books | The Guardian
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john taylor gatto: on video

Following on from
Jay Doubleyou: dumbing us down

Why do we have the education system we have today?
Where does it come from?


▶ John Taylor Gatto: On Life and Education - YouTube



▶ Human Resources: Gatto explains the seedy origin of public education-indoctrination - YouTube


John Taylor Gatto - The Purpose Of Schooling - YouTube


▶ John Gatto Prussian Education - YouTube

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secrets

Is it OK to reveal secrets?

Learning English - Words in the News - Wikileaks soldier reveals why he shared secrets
Learning English - Words in the News - Manning given 35 years for leaks
Learning English - Words in the News - Edward Snowden still in transit

There is an interesting difference:
Like Manning, Edward Snowden gave away a public secret, revealing that the National Security Agency does not just spy on foreigners, but in violation of the legal framework established after the Vietnam War, also harvests vast quantities of information on the communications of American citizens, including email messages, browsing histories, postal records, and telephone metadata. When public rather than military secrets are given away, the state always insists that military security has been damaged, so it should not surprise us that the Obama administration claims Snowden gave away military secrets that will help those bent on attacking the United States. But there is a reason the top leadership of Al Qaeda has communicated for years bypersonal courier, and it would be a terrorist or insurgent with a very short life expectancy who would communicate by cell phone or unencrypted email. Snowden’s real crime was to reveal incontrovertibly what some already guessed and others might prefer not to know: The US government has secretly created a massive apparatus of domestic surveillance on the edge of the law. Not all secrets are alike | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Do you agree?
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It's all about functional language:

Pragmatics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pragmatics is the study of meaning in language in a particular context, meaning the place where the thing is said, who says it, or the things that
you have already said. Also, pragmatics studies how people speak when they both know something.

Pragmatics also studies how people speak not literally, but in an indirect way, and why even though this is the case, people can still understand
each other. It also studies how people can understand each other even if the words are ambiguous.

The ability to understand what someone intends to tell you is called pragmatic competence.

Pragmatics - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's a nice list - for teaching/learning Spanish:

Resources in Pragmatics and Spanish Linguistics
Conversando en Español Lengua y Cultura

With useful information and pedagogical materials for teaching and learning pragmatics and general linguistics, for

• language instructors
• students
• researchers


• Pragmatic variation Includes theoretical and empirical information on the acquisition of pragmatics by monolingual and bilingual children at different stages of pragmatic development. Pragmatic variation is illustrated on this site by an atlas which describes regional variation in the Spanish-speaking world and includes samples of how speech acts and conversational routines (e.g., greetings, agreeing/disagreeing) vary in Spain and in Latin America. (In progress.)
• Politeness Politeness phenomena and samples of perceptions of politeness among different speakers of Spanish.
• Speech acts Classifications and samples of various speech acts in English and Spanish: apologies, refusals, requests, etc. Access transcripts of interactions, listen, view video clips featuring interactions which highlight particular speech acts. (In progress.)
• Voces Hispanas Explores the rich diversity of the Spanish voices and culture around the Spanish-speaking world through audio clips of native speakers from multiple countries. Provides Spanish teachers with a variety of activities for teaching various aspects of the Spanish culture. (In progress.)
• Teaching Pragmatics Teachers' Resource Manual, student handouts, and PowerPoint presentations to accompany the instructor's presentation in class. Includes a pedagogical model that has been used at Indiana University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as various lesson plans for activities for teaching different cultural aspects of the Spanish-speaking world in the classroom (with audio clips and transcripts). (In progress.)
• Pragmatic Development Includes theoretical and empirical information on the acquisition of pragmatics by monolingual and bilingual children at different stages of pragmatic development. Audio and video samples of children communicating pragmatic intent include: greeting, requesting, disagreeing, apologizing, and complaining. Includes samples from everyday conversations in settings with family and friends. (In progress.)
• Exercises in Pragmatics Activities in pragmatics which allow learners to practice various speech acts in Spanish as a Foreign Language.
• Resources

Discourse Pragmatics - Index

And it's all about 'communicative acts':

What are communicative acts*? Where do communicative acts fit into pragmatics?
What are communicative acts?
As you learned on the first page of this module, pragmatics refers to the way we convey and interpret meaning in communication. Since it would be impossible to cover every area of pragmatics (i.e., all the ways to convey meaning) in this website, we have chosen communicative acts as our point of departure. A communicative act is an utterance, or set of utterances (communicative act set), that we use to perform some sort of linguistic action or function in communication. For example, we use language to apologize, request, compliment, invite, refuse, greet, and complain. Here are some things to remember about communicative acts: The length and complexity of these acts can vary greatly. Sometimes they require only one word (e.g., the greeting "Hello!") and other times require numerous words and sentences in a complex sequence (e.g., "Good Morning, Mr. President. It is a pleasure to meet you."). The meaning of any communicative act is influenced by non-verbal signals such as gestures and even silence. Where do communicative acts fit into pragmatics? Learning to effectively perform communicative acts is essential in accurately conveying and interpreting meaning in any language. Remember, meaning is the key to pragmatics. You may have all the proper language skills, but ineffective pragmatic strategies will limit your ability to accurately express and interpret meaning. What are the necessary pragmatic strategies you need to convey meaning appropriately? PRAGMATIC STRATEGIES can be divided into two types: Sociocultural Strategies—understanding the sociocultural norms of behavior underlying the communicative act Language Strategies—understanding the appropriate language behavior (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, structures) for performing the communicative act Both types of strategies are necessary in order to convey and interpret the proper meaning of a communicative act. How would you apply these pragmatic strategies? Let's look at a real-life situation to get an idea of how these pragmatic strategies apply to communication in Spanish. A passenger boards the bus in Madrid, Spain and asks a stranger to switch seats. He/She says: Perdón, ¿Le importaría cambiarse de sitio? Many sociocultural strategies are needed for this situation. For example... The boarding passenger must know whether or not it is even appropriate to ask the person to change seats. Is it different for elderly people? Young people? The boarding passenger must also decide how to ask based on the social relationship and imposition of the request. How would it be different if there was only one other seat next to a bunch of screaming kids? Knowing how to handle these situations requires the necessary sociocultural knowledge of the society you are in (in this case, Madrid) as well as the different options available for making the request. There are also many language strategies that are necessary. For example... You would need to know the conditional form (typically, but not always, more polite between strangers in Spanish) The proper vocabulary (i.e., perdón vs. lo siento) The other linguistic elements involved in the request (por favor) As you can see, it requires a complex set of skills, even for a relatively straightforward situation. This website is designed to help you learn some pragmatic strategies (sociocultural and language) for successfully maneuvering communicative acts (e.g., inviting, requesting, apologizing) in Spanish.

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
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a history of irony

BBC Radio 4 gave us a magnificent tour of the world that is irony - although it was rather ruined by being presented by... an American:
BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, A Brief History of Irony

Try starting at "a brief musical interlude" at 15.10...

Which version do you prefer?



▶ Oasis - Wonderwall - Official Video - YouTube



The Mike Flowers Pops - Wonderwall - YouTube

All good students should do as their teachers tell them - and good teachers tell their students to listen to a lot of pop music with lyrics...

Lennon received a letter from a pupil at Quarry Bank High School, which he had attended. The writer mentioned that the English master was making his class analyse Beatles' lyrics (Lennon wrote an answer, dated 1 September 1967, which was auctioned by Christie's of London in 1992). Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding the Beatles' lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could. 

I Am the Walrus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Although this is indeed a piece of pure irony, composer and musician Howard Goodall would classify the song as one of the Beatles' best, from 4.43:



Howard Goodalls 20th Century Greats - The Beatles (Part 2) - YouTube

• Socratic irony, when someone (usually a teacher) pretends to be stupid in order to show how stupid his pupils are (while at the same time the reader or audience understand the situation).

Irony - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



A "No smoking" sign surrounded by images of a smoking Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street tube station.

Irony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is this ironic?



Alanis Morisette - Ironic - YouTube

What examples does she mention?
And would you have any of your own?

But here's a comment from the YouTube video:
This song bothers my English teacher since none of this song is actually about irony just unfortunate events. I thought about it and realized that since the song is called irony people listen to the song and realize it's not about irony and so they think that's ironic and that's why the song is called "Ironic"

Here is the original official video to the song:



Alanis Morissette - Ironic (Video) - YouTube

And this is a parody:



It's Finally Ironic - YouTube

'Alanis seems to think that "irony" means "bad timing,"' explained American comic book writer, Matt Sturges, shortly after the song was released.

Examples could inlcude: 'It's a free ride when you've already paid,' 'He won the lottery and died the next day,' and 'It's a traffic jam when you're already late.'

So Eliza tacked on her own quirky statements to finally make the song veritably ironic.

She sings: 'He won the lottery, and died the next day/ from a severe paper cut from his lottery ticket,' and 'It’s a black fly in your chardonnay/ that was specifically purchased to repel black flies.'

The beginning of the chorus, 'It's like rain/ on your wedding day,' which has long been called a coincidence by critics, and not irony, is also changed to: 'It's like rain/ on your wedding day (a day and place you chose because it's known not to rain)'.

While some argue that the original song, in and of itself, is ironic for containing no irony at all, and others call it simply 'stupid,' Ms Morissette welcomes the continued debate.

Alanis Morissette Ironic song gets a rewrite from comedy writer and musician Eliza and Rachael Hurwitz | Mail Online

Alanis Morissette’s song is finally ironic - Salon.com

What's ironic about these photos?
And would you have any more examples?



















18 of the Most Ironic Photos You'll Ever See from Look What I Found

This was in last week's paper, looking at the idea that energy companies should not be allowed to raise their prices:

The energy companies also state that falling dividends will make us worse off, because this will hit pension funds. And we can be sure that’s their main concern. Sam Laidlaw, the chief executive of Centrica with a salary of £5m, and the five British Gas executives who took a total of £11m in bonuses, will be distraught at the effect on pensioners, and won’t for a moment have considered the impact on their own pay. Hopefully, they’ll receive counselling, from someone who can explain they must think of themselves occasionally, as they can’t just worry about the needs of old people ALL the time.

Freeze energy prices and cause the Apocalypse - Comment - Voices - The Independent

But perhaps the most interesting commentator is the British street artist Banksy - with loads of irony:




















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a history of violence part 2

This is a pretty violent movie?
Or how would you describe this classic?



▶ The Shining Trailer - YouTube

Stephen King has brought out a sequel:
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King – review | Books | The Guardian
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bond in the classroom

Do you remember the opening ceremony at last year's Olympics?



James Bond and The Queen London 2012 Performance - YouTube

Someone has written another Bond novel:
James Bond: William Boyd's novel is the PC version. So can he still be 007? | Books | The Guardian
William Boyd's Solo is a success as it assigns James Bond a new mission | Books | theguardian.com

And BBC radio has just started serialising the book:
BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime, Solo, Episode 1

But how about this Q&A session with the celebrity himself:
William Boyd Q&A with James Bond | William Boyd | Books | The Guardian

BOND: THE ANSWERS

When I lived with a young woman called Tiffany Case for some months in 1954. It's as close as I've come to being settled domestically.

She left me for an American soldier, a marine officer.

Dying in a plane crash.

Sunlight on snowy mountains in Switzerland.

Admiral Sir Miles Messervy. He knows me better than I know myself.

Consider the first letters of his names.

For a man in my profession I shed tears far too easily.

Snobbery.

A Mark VI Continental Bentley.

My flat in Chelsea.

Having breakfast on the terrace of the Blue Hills Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica.

I have this lock of hair that keeps falling across my forehead. It drives me mad.

A combination of Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn.

I smoke far too much.

Guerlain's Shalimar. The perfume my mother used to wear.

"Goose" as in "Don't be a goose."

Currently The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.

I detest fancy dress.

"You're going to die, Mr Bond."

Dog.

A cocktail I invented called the Vesper. Three parts gin, one part vodka, one half measure of Kina Lillet.The gin and the vodka to come straight from the freezer. Add a slice of lemon peel. It's extremely powerful.

I was too young when they died to have learned anything from them.

Je ne regrette rien.

Teresa di Vicenzo, known as "Tracy". Our marriage lasted only a few hours.

There's a mercenary soldier called Kobus Breed whom I particularly dislike. He killed a very dear friend of mine in an extremely cruel way.

Ben Hogan, Lafcadio Hearn, Giacomo Casanova, Nell Gwyn, Greta Garbo and Mary, Queen of Scots.

"Same again, please."

Japanese fisherman.

What cannot be avoided must be accepted.

I'd go to 17th-century France, to the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

Gambling, drinking, smoking, driving.

Is this some kind of joke?

A Jensen Interceptor II.

That the show is still on the road.

Noises.

"After You've Gone" by Layton and Creamer, sung by Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald.

Posterity is not our business.

Seize the day.

The last thing you know about yourself is your self.

Did you get the right questions?

BOND: THE QUESTIONS

When were you happiest? 

What went wrong?

What is your greatest fear? 

What is your earliest memory?

Which living person do you most admire and why?

Who is he?

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? 

What is your most treasured possession?

Where would you like to be now?

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Who would play you in the film of your life?

What is your most unappealing habit?

What is your favourite smell?

What is your favourite word?

What is your favourite book?

What is your fancy dress costume of choice?

What is the worst thing anyone's ever said to you?

Cat or dog?

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

What do you owe your parents?

To whom would you most like to say sorry and why?

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Which living person do you most despise and why?

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

What is the worst job you've ever done?

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

How do you relax?

What is the closest you've ever come to death?

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

What keeps you awake at night?

What song would you like played at your funeral?

How would you like to be remembered?

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Tell us a secret.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/28/william-boyd-q-a-james-bond

And here's the full interview:

William Boyd Q&A with James Bond

All you ever wanted to know about Bond – his earliest memory, his most treasured possession, his most unappealing habit. Don't miss William Boyd's interview with 007

• Share94
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• Interview by William Boyd
• The Guardian, Saturday 28 September 2013
• Jump to comments (59)

Priciest purchase … a Mark VI Continental Bentley. Photograph: Motoring Picture Library

James Bond was born in 1924. His father was Andrew Bond, a Scottish engineer who worked for the Vickers armament firm, and his mother, Monique, was Swiss, née Delacroix. Bond was initially educated abroad and became fluent in German and French. His parents, however, died in a tragic climbing accident when Bond was 11 years old. He was sent to Eton, and spent only two terms there before being expelled. The rest of his secondary education took place in Scotland, at Fettes College, Edinburgh, his father's old school. Bond left school at the age of 17 in 1941, and, lying about his age, joined a branch of what would become the Ministry of Defence. He ended the war with the rank of commander in the Special Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and continued to work with the ministry. In 1962 he was briefly married to Teresa di Vicenzo. Since 1953 he has lived in Wellington Square, Chelsea, in south west London. He has no living relatives.

When were you happiest? 
When I lived with a young woman called Tiffany Case for some months in 1954. It's as close as I've come to being settled domestically.

What went wrong?
She left me for an American soldier, a marine officer.

What is your greatest fear? 
Dying in a plane crash.

What is your earliest memory?
Sunlight on snowy mountains in Switzerland.

Which living person do you most admire and why?
Admiral Sir Miles Messervy. He knows me better than I know myself.

Who is he?
Consider the first letters of his names.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
For a man in my profession I shed tears far too easily.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Snobbery.

Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? 
A Mark VI Continental Bentley.

What is your most treasured possession?
My flat in Chelsea.

Where would you like to be now?
Having breakfast on the terrace of the Blue Hills Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I have this lock of hair that keeps falling across my forehead. It drives me mad.

Who would play you in the film of your life?
A combination of Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn.

What is your most unappealing habit?
I smoke far too much.

What is your favourite smell?
Guerlain's Shalimar. The perfume my mother used to wear.

What is your favourite word?
"Goose" as in "Don't be a goose."

What is your favourite book?
Currently The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.

What is your fancy dress costume of choice?
I detest fancy dress.

What is the worst thing anyone's ever said to you?
"You're going to die, Mr Bond."

Cat or dog?
Dog.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
A cocktail I invented called the Vesper. Three parts gin, one part vodka, one half measure of Kina Lillet.The gin and the vodka to come straight from the freezer. Add a slice of lemon peel. It's extremely powerful.

What do you owe your parents?
I was too young when they died to have learned anything from them.

To whom would you most like to say sorry and why?
Je ne regrette rien.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Teresa di Vicenzo, known as "Tracy". Our marriage lasted only a few hours.

Which living person do you most despise and why?
There's a mercenary soldier called Kobus Breed whom I particularly dislike. He killed a very dear friend of mine in an extremely cruel way.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Ben Hogan, Lafcadio Hearn, Giacomo Casanova, Nell Gwyn, Greta Garbo and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Same again, please."

What is the worst job you've ever done?
Japanese fisherman.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
What cannot be avoided must be accepted.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I'd go to 17th-century France, to the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

How do you relax?
Gambling, drinking, smoking, driving.

What is the closest you've ever come to death?
Is this some kind of joke?

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
A Jensen Interceptor II.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
That the show is still on the road.

What keeps you awake at night?
Noises.

What song would you like played at your funeral?
"After You've Gone" by Layton and Creamer, sung by Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald.

How would you like to be remembered?
Posterity is not our business.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Seize the day.

Tell us a secret.
The last thing you know about yourself is your self.

William Boyd Q&A with James Bond | William Boyd | Books | The Guardian

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