More on Friends

"A friend in need is a friend indeed" What does this expression mean? Click on it and find out.

For more expressions with the word "Friend":

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/friend

The Royal Wedding

A blog that prides itself on being updated cannot fail to post information related to what everybody is talking about: The Royal Wedding!!



Check these sentences from the video. What do you think the underlined words mean? If you don't know, you can check by clicking on them.

“What's truly surprising, and certainly reflects the state of news today, other networks and outlets not associated with news have also thrown their hat in the ring to cover the Prince William and Kate Middleton wedding, including The Weather Channel, Game Show Network, and Comedy Central.”
The LA Times agrees with O’Donnell, pointing out, we’re fighting three wars, people! But the newspaper also plays devil’s advocate, reminding us journalism is a business after all.

If you want to learn vocabulary connected with weddings, follow this link:

http://www.english-at-home.com/vocabulary/holidays-and-celebrations-vocabulary/marriage-and-wedding-vocabulary/

For complete info on the wedding you can visit the CNN website:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/02/15/royal.wedding.essential.facts/index.html?hpt=C2 (you can learn useful vocabulary and watch the videos on the left)

Julie and Julia

Some time ago, I saw the film Julie and Julia. I found the story inspiring and funny at the same time. Mary Streep´s performance is superb, the two plots are skillfully interwoven, and for those who love cooking this is the chance to get to know an icon of American cuisine.



Learn more vocabulary connected with cooking at:
http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/cooking-verbs-0


http://www.english-at-home.com/vocabulary/vocabulary-connected-with-house-and-home/english-vocabulary-for-the-kitchen/

Unemployment in the States

Unemployment keeps being a serious problem in the States. Listen to the news and pay attention to the language used to talk about money and work.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Get more multi-source business and political news from Newsy.com.

The nation’s unemployment rate remains steady at 9.5 percent for the month of July despite a gain of 71,000 jobs in the private sector. Analysts chalk it up in part to a loss of 131,000 temporary jobs, and now many are wondering if unemployment rates in the U.S. will remain stagnant for the next decade.

We’re analyzing coverage from Fox News, NPR, MarketWatch and CNN.



Recent figures confirm the U.S. economy slowed in the spring, and then came to a stall in the summer since employers failed to add as many jobs as anticipated. On Fox News Stuart Varney says unemployment numbers should be nowhere near this high.

“I cannot remember a time when you had 6.6 million people out of a job for more than six months. That is long-term, mass unemployment. Now that rate you just showed, 9.5 percent, that should be a lot lower at this stage of the ‘so-called’ economic recovery. We went into recession in December of ‘07, two and a half years later we should have an unemployment rate way below nine and a half percent.” 



But NPR’s Yuki Noguchi says it’s easier said than done, and points to a major problem in the jobs market.

“Earlier in the year Gault predicted private sector hiring would have accelerated by now but the economy hit a snag and now he expects it might be a few more months before business hire more than a 100,000 people a month. ... The further we go into the year the better the numbers should get on the private side.”

But in an article for MarketWatch, a progressive policy analyst warns it could have been worse.

“To be sure, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act saved or created up to 1.2 million to 2.8 million jobs, and without it, we would have had 8.7 million to 10.3 million jobs lost... the evidence is clear that these policies certainly helped. But we still have work to do.”


Finally on CNN one analyst highlights another problem she says is contributing to slow job growth.



“We’re seeing a trend. Employers are also bringing back temporary or contract workers instead of taking on full-time workers that they’d have to pay benefits to. Experts are saying that in the next few years forty percent of the workforce could be made up of freelancers, because Kyra you know there’s a lot of uncertainty as to what’s going to happen with health care especially, so you know companies are less willing to hire people on full-time.”



So what do you think? Is the economy at a halt, or will job growth pick up in the near future?

Links on the topic:

http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/99ers/?scp=1&sq=99ers&st=cse

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/House-Passes-26-Billion-US-Jobs-Bill-100385794.html

Friends' Day

In Argentina, we celebrate Friends' Day on July 20th. I've been trying to find songs about friends and found many that we've heard quite a lot. Here's a different version from The Beatles' classic: "With a little help from my friends"



You can find the original version and lyrics at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWs1-NEV9O0

What other songs can you recommend for this special day?

Toy Story 3

I've always been fond of animated films so I was more than glad to see Toy Story 3 last week and in 3D!! What makes these stories so popular? Has this part of the sequel come up to your expectations? Looking forward to reading your comments.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Toy Story 3 is opening this weekend, and after a summer of so-so box office performances, could it be a huge hit?

Reviews say the movie brings back classic characters and is appealing for both kids and adults. A staggering 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes means no one has panned the film yet. Critics are praising the movie for its awesome animation, its humor and its heartfelt themes. It’s even getting Oscar buzz.

MSNBC projects that this could be Pixar’s biggest opening weekend ever — that Toy Story 3 could make $90 to $100 million. A reporter says Disney has set the film up for success, especially in trying to appeal to audiences 15 years after the original came out.

“Disney has done a pretty good job of keeping the Toy Story brand around for the last 10 and 15 years by having a presence of Toy Story at its theme parks, re-releasing those DVDS and last fall it re-released Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 in theaters in 3-D. $32 million work of ticket sales were sold so it did keep people interested and engaged.”

This is the first Toy Story to be in 3-D, so tickets cost more. Will that deter audiences, or mean a bigger box office take? CNBC points out that Shrek Forever After tried the same 3-D tactic in May, and it didn’t work.

“Toy Story 3 and Shrek are similar. Both are digitally animated, popular brands squeezing out third and fourth sequels. And now they are in 3-D, which means a higher ticket price. ... Disney does face the challenge of luring moviegoers back to theaters. U.S. box office is down over 6% since early May.”

The summer box office has been weak so far. The Celebrity Café says similar sequels have proved disappointing.

“...many sequels have performed poorly in theaters in recent weeks, including Sex and the City 2 and Shrek Forever After. … While expectations for Toy Story 3 remain high, the current generation of young moviegoers was not around when the first two films...were released.”

But a writer for MTV News says Pixar seems to be a company to count on.

“Pixar has done pretty well for itself over the last 15 years. The studio has yet to release a film that failed to hit the $360 million mark.”

So, will Toy Story 3 be a hit now, when the industry needs it, or will it be another summer sequel flop?

Argentina 4- South Korea 1

For all Argentine fans, here's a report from the New York Times. I'm interested in reading your comments. What do you like the most about this team?

Argentina Coach Diego Maradona celebrated with Gonzalo Higuain, who scored three goals in their victory over South Korea.


Maradona Starts the Attack, and Messi Keeps Driving It

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Published: June 17, 2010

JOHANNESBURG — Nearly a quarter-century later, an old antagonism was renewed Thursday. The two men had been opposing players in a long-ago World Cup. Now they were coaches in suits and shined shoes instead of jerseys and cleats.

If the years had changed the men, they did not change the result. Argentina (2-0) received three goals from forward Gonzalo Higuaín and defeated South Korea, 4-1, all but advancing to the second round on a bright, chilly afternoon with one group match remaining.

Lionel Messi was again exquisite and had a hand — a foot actually — in all four of Argentina’s goals, one of which South Korea put into its own net. With Messi directing set pieces and the flow of play, Argentina played attractive, attacking soccer in a tournament in which defenses have been obstructive and parsimonious.

The same teams had met in the 1986 World Cup, with Argentina winning, 3-1, also in the first round. In that tournament, Diego Maradona was on his way to a championship and an enduring legend, while Huh Jung-moo was assigned to mark him. Maradona later said that Huh had practiced taekwondo more than soccer.

On Thursday the men met again, standing along the sideline as coaches in their suits, one gray, the other blue. Sure, Maradona had said before the match that he would shake Huh’s hand, despite their dusty confrontation.

“He’s a coach,” Maradona said.

But that did not keep Maradona from playing a psychological game in advance of the soccer game.

He said Huh’s team was collectively strong but was bound to lose because Argentina had Messi and South Korea (1-1) did not. Maradona also admonished the referee to protect Messi, the world’s best player.

“If you want to see a show, you have to make sure the stars aren’t treated badly,” he said. “We have come to play football. Anyone who doesn’t want to play football should go home.”

Perhaps he was reflecting on his experience against Huh some 24 years ago. But Huh refused to take the bait. If he had used martial arts in 1986, he said, the referee would have ejected him. Anyway, he added, he would not get rattled by what he called Maradona’s attempt at “psychological warfare.”

“We are playing a football match; this isn’t a war of words,” Huh said. “They are a strong team, but the strongest team doesn’t always win.”

In that long-ago match, South Korea had been intimidated by Argentina, Huh said. This was a different team, led by the captain Park Ji-sung of Manchester United. South Korea had been fleet and relentless in beating Greece, 2-0, in its opener. Kuh admonished his players to enjoy themselves, to play the opponent, not the opponent’s reputation.

Clearly, he was not bullied by Maradona’s pregame remarks. Huh had no intention of playing softly against Messi. After all, Messi was wearing a uniform, not packed in Bubble Wrap.

In the 10th minute, Yeom Ki-hun took down Messi with a rugby tackle and was warned with a yellow card. Another takedown, this one of midfielder Ángel Di María, gave Argentina a free kick in the 17th minute. Messi made South Korea pay this time.

He bent a ball from the left wing and his teammate Martín Demichelis whiffed on a header but shielded South Korea’s Park Chu-young. The ball deflected off Park’s right shin. Surprised, South Korea’s goalkeeper, Jung Sung-ryong, could only stick out his left leg as the ball rolled into his net.

Messi was wrestled to the turf again in the 28th minute. Maradona began gesticulating and yelling at Huh on the sideline, clearly upset. Huh could not understand what Maradona was saying. He waved him off.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a coach to direct any comments toward the other coach,” Huh said. “I think we were trying to tell each other to calm the players down.”

Still, South Korea kept muscling Argentina. In the 33rd minute, forward Carlos Tévez tried to bull his way through two defenders but went to his knees, his jersey yanked halfway up his chest near the left corner flag.

Messi played the resulting free kick to Maxi Rodríguez, a starter in midfield who replaced Juan Sebastián Verón, who had a mild calf injury. Rodríguez crossed into the penalty area to the substitute defender Nicolás Burdisso, who beautifully flicked the ball behind him to Higuaín. He nodded the ball downward from 7 yards and Argentina took a 2-0 lead.

Seconds before halftime, Park redeemed himself for the own goal. He headed the ball upfield toward Demichelis, who turned lazily, only to have possession stripped from him by South Korean midfielder Lee Chung-yong. Lee raced alone into the penalty area and halved Argentina’s advantage to 2-1.

South Korea missed an inviting chance to tie the score in the 58th minute. Yeom pushed a shot wide with his left foot when his right would have been more dependable on a narrow angle.

In the 76th minute, Messi drove his own rebound off the left goal post. Higuaín tapped it into the net for a 3-1 Argentina lead. Another header by Higuaín four minutes later made it 4-1.

“Korea was never capable of controlling us,” Maradona said. “I think Argentina just played with the ball and did whatever they wanted with it.”

After the final whistle, Maradona shook Huh’s hand, again the victor. He could afford to feel satisfied. Spain lost and Brazil struggled to a win, but Argentina was rolling with victories over Nigeria and South Korea.

“It is for the players to say if I’m a good coach or not,” Maradona said. “But if you have such a sensational team, it’s easy.”

Argentina's Victory (An International View)

This is what the CNN says about it.

Maradona's Argentina ease to opening victory

(CNN) -- Argentina's star-studded line-up began their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in their Group B opener in Johannesburg.

A goal from defender Gabriel Heinze after six minutes was all that separated the two teams after an inspired display from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

He could do little to stop Heinze's powerful header from a Juan Sebastian Veron corner, but Enyeama kept his team alive with a string of acrobatic saves to deny World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

Diego Maradona was delighted to secure his first victory as a World Cup host, but critical of his strikers for failing to make the game safe.

"When you don't kill things off in front of goal you can pay a heavy price. They almost got a draw -- we missed loads of chances," Maradona told AFP.

Players such as Leo Messi and Higuain knocked in around 60 goals last season between them yet today it was almost as if they couldn't set their sights on goal.

"But the win means we can be calm -- we are in the right track," he added.