The Genesis Band

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Basic

Standard: British accent

The Genesis Reunion

Genesis are back. The 1970s rock heroes have reunited for the first time in many years and, after successfully touring Europe in the summer, Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford are now bringing their “Turn It On Again” tour to North America.

The band haven’t released a new album since 1991, and they last toured in 1992. Now, these are set to be Genesis’ final US, concerts: as Collins says, “Basically, it’s the last time we are doing it.”

PROGRESSIVE

Genesis were a progressive rock band in the 1970s, when they enjoyed cult success with albums like Selling England by the Pound. Vocalist Peter Gabriel was a spectacular performer who wore bizarre costumes during their live shows. Yet they had their had their greatest success in the 1980s after drummer Phil Collins replaced Gabriel as vocalist. The band revoluntionised their live shows by introducing hypnotic drums machine and incredible lighting. Although fans acused Genesis of selling out, the group became a worldwide success with the 1983 album Genesis and songs like “Mama.”

OUR FANS

Why have Genesis reunited now? Phill Collins says, “Well, we certainly don’t need the money. It’s rewarding to know that so many people still like us.” Initially, they wanted to re-form the 1970s line-up, with Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett, and perform their legendary concept album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Unfortunately, Gabriel had other commitments and Hackett refused. In the end, they decided to tour with Phil Collins as vocalist.

The Old School (no audio)

Genesis were formed in 1967 by Peter Gabriel and keyboard player Tony Banks when they were still schoolboys at the exclusive boarding school, Charterhouse, in Surrey, England. They were discovered by record producer Jonathan King, another former Charterhouse student, who gave the band their name. Phil Collins who came from a more modest background, joined the group in 1970 as their drummer. Gabriel left the group in 1975 because the other member felt insistence on bizarre costumes made it impossible to perform serious music. Ironically, the band then became a commercial success, while Peter Gabriel continued as a cult solo artist. In 1966 phil Collins left Genesis: Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford tried to replace him with new vocalist Roy Wilson, but the band finally broke up in 1998;

Mr. Collins

Phil Collins is the most famous former member of the band, thanks to his solo career and hits like “In the Air Tonight” and “Another day in Paradise.” He worked as an actor. He appeared in the American TV series Miami Vice and played a gangster in the British movie, Buster.today he’s an award-writing songs for Disney films like Tarzan, which he has recently adapted as a Broadway musical.  The other band members admit their envy of Collins’s success, but Tony Banks says, “we joke about how short he is: he’s a very short man, you know?” The band still hope to reunite with Peter Gabriel next year. 

Family Album, 27

Source: Family Album

Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian Astronaut

Source: www.maganews.com.br

Special Interview

Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian astronaut

In this interview with Maganews he reveals what he thinks about a variety of subjects

Maganews – What was the most unforgettable [1] moment during your stay at the ISS?

Marcos Pontes – It was when I saw the Earth down there. The view of the planet from space is incredible. 

Maganews – Has the experience of having spent eight days in space changed the way you are or the way you think?

Marcos Pontes – Yes. Up there [2] we can se how small man is and how short our life is. We cannot waste [3] time on the small stuff [4].

Maganews – You have always loved music and even learned to play the guitar and piano. Is there a guitar up there on the ISS?

Marcos Pontes – I like the guitar a lot and I wish I had more time to practice. Up there on the ISS there isn’t a guitar. But even if there were, there would be no time to play it. There was a lot of work to be done there. I had just 6 hours to sleep and even then I only slept three hours. For the rest I was watching the Earth from up there.

Maganews – In 1993 you had guitar classes at CTA. You had a very old guitar. Do you still remember it?

Marcos Pontes – I do (laughs) [5] and I miss [6] it. Today I have a new guitar here, but a new guitar is never the same as an old one (more laughs).

Maganews – What is your life in Houston like, the city that is home to NASA?

Marcos Pontes – I have lived in Houston since 1998. It is a city of over 4million people. From time to time my family and I go to a Brazilian restaurant.

Maganews – What should Brazil do to become a force in the scientific area?

Marcos Pontes – Brazil should invest much more in education. This investment would result in a lot of benefits for the development of our science and technology. The government and private companies must also strike partnerships in scientific projects.

Maganews – Do you cook [7]? What is your favorite dish [8]? Do you like sweets?

Marcos Pontes - Yes. Like all military men, we have to learn to get by [9]. I like simple things likefried breast of chicken [10]. I loved it when my mom made it in the skillet [11]. As for sweet, I’m not a big fan.

Maganews – What do you like to listen to?

Marcos Pontes - I listen to everything, from classical to metal.

Maganews – What religion are you?  Do you pray [12] before you sleep?

Marcos Pontes – I’m Catholic, and I pray. I put my life in God’s hands all the time.

Maganews – If you had to choose another profession, what would it be?

Marcos Pontes – I would do anything involving design, music, or literature.

Neste dia 09 de Janeiro, Dia do Astronauta, reproduzimos aqui esta entrevista feita com o primeiro astronauta brasileiro (matéria publicada na edição de número 32 da revista Maganews).

Vocabulary

1 unforgettable – inesquecível

2 up there – lá em cima

3 to waste - desperdiçar

4 small stuff – coisa pequena

5 laughs – risos

6 to miss – aqui = sentir falta

7 to cook – cozinhar

8 dish – prato

9 to get by – se virar

10 fried breast of chicken – peito de frango frito

11 skillet. – panela

12 to pray - rezar

Brixton: Multi-Cultural London

Welcome to Brixton

Source: www.speakup.combr

Language Level: Intermediate

Standard: British Accent

Jay Brown, a 38-year-old Black Londoner, set up a tour company and gave the British media a big surprise. Her company, Brixton Tours, offers tourists the chance to see an area that no one previously thought of putting on the tourist map, even if as she told me, everyone has heard about it:

Jay Brown:

(Standard British accent)

I got the idea for Brixton tours from travelling: I’ve been to Bali, I’ve been to Rio de Janeiro, I’ve been to India, I’ve been to Copenhagen, I’ve been…travelled quite extensively round Europe. And from travelling and meeting people and they ask you where you’re from, I was really surprised that most people had heard of Brixton from one way or another. So, from knowing that, I thought, “Oh, my God, people are so interested in where…” wherever you go, people are always interested in where you’re from and, with Brixton, I realised that I live in a place which is quite unique and quite special and has so much to offer.

THOSE RIOTS…

Jay Brown found that people around the world know two facts about Brixton. One is that it is a black area, a long-established Afro-Caribbean neighbourhood and a national symbol of minority culture, but Brixton is still a highly unusual tourist destination. The other characteristic of Brixton that everyone members is rioting. In 1981, and again in 1985 and 1995, local youths, fought battles who the police destroying building and cars and creating an enduring reputation for lawlessness. Not to disappoint expectations, Jay Brown takes her tours along the roads where these riots took place, although she says the area is now greatly changed:

Jay Brown:

On my tours I take people down the street where the riots actually happened to show them, and now you’ve got cafes, you’ve got internet store(s), you’ve got restaurants, you’ve got a shoe store called Elephant Foot for people who can’t find shoes in a particular size, but there’s so much. They’ve really invested in the area. And there’s lots of people starting business, because there’s lots of young people in this area as well. You know, it’s attracted musicians, artists, Brixton’s a very creative are and it’s very good for business, because people come here and set up, you know, little shops within the market of bigger stalls on the street. So it’s good: it’s entrepreneurial, it encourages people to be creative and Brixton’s a very creative area.

GENTRIFICATION

Investment, along with Brixton’s central locations and its convenient Underground station, have also attracted many entirely conventional uncreative middle-class residents, but it remains a great place for exploring more exotic cultures. Jay Brown’s tours also go pas the stalls of Brixton market, where an extraordinary selection of international produce caters for a remarkable cultural diversity. As well as Afro-Caribbean fruits like ackee, plantain and callaloo, there are Columbian specialities and African produce like giant land snails.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

Of course, not all these cultures welcome curious visitors. The athletic young drug dealers hanging out on street corners with their mountain bikes certainly do not welcome the attention of strangers, unless they are potential customers. Nor is this an ideal to take photographs with an expensive camera. But, having lived here for 15 years, Jay Brown, is sure that anymore touring the area with her has nothing to fear. In fact, in her company, she says Brixton is an essential part of any visit to London:

Jay Brown:

People should come on Brixton tour because it would get them out of the West End, which is really boring, and it’ll bring them to a place which offers them culture, music, food, entertainment, bars. There’s just so much here that people need to just leave the West End behind and head to south London and do a Brixton tour.

A troubled Neighbourood 

Brixton's streets reflect 200 years of London History. Over the last century it has been famous both as a community of actors and artists, and as an important retailing centre where the first British department store was built and where a shopping arcade was lit with eletricity for the first time. Today, however, Brixton is known for its Afro-Caribbean community. Since the 1950s - when immigrants from the West Indies were invited to Britain to help rebuild the economy shattered in the Second World War - Brixton has become a symbol of Britain' most colourful cultural minority. 

The new lives of early West Indian immigrants were often hard. Painful encounters with racism were almost inevitable and until 1976 there was no legal protection against discrimination.

The Riots

At times the hostility of London's white working classes became violent. Opposition to Britain's first wave of "mass immigration" come to ahead in August 1958, when mobs armed with knives and iron bars appeared on the streets in search of what they insultingly called "niggers." After several black men were beaten unconscious, armed gangs of West Indians retaliated with similar violence. Brixton has been devastated by riots on several occasions, in 1981 thousands of young Afro-Caribbean men reacted to aggressive policing by destroying buildings and burning cars. In 1985 similar scenes of destruction occured after a policeman searching for a robber broke into his house and shot his mother, leaving her permanently disable. Again in 1995 Brixton's street witnessed violent confrontations after the death of a black suspect in police custody.

LONDON'S MELTING POT

Today, despite problems with guns and crack cocaine, Brixton is calmer. Like the Notting Hill riots, which inspired the Notting Hill Carnival, Brixton's riots had positive long-term effects. By drawing attention to local problems, they inspired official efforts to combat racism and diminish poverty. In the years since the riots the West Indians community has also established itself as a valued element of national life. Black fashion now shapes all of Britain's culture, with Afro-Caribbean men and women making a prominent contribution in music, fashion, sport and entertainment. 

In recent years Brixton's association with the West Indies has also began to weaken. As the area lost its reputation for lawlessness, it began to attract a growing number of white professionals. Some locals resent their arrival, but they are just part of a growing diversity - a mix of cultures now being enhanced by an influx of French, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking immigrants from Africa.

BRIXTON GUIDES

For those of you wishing to discover Brixton's past, the Brixton Society visit http:www.brixtonsociety.org.uk publishes guidebooks and provides guides for walking tours. And if you want an insight into the lifestyle of Brixton's black community today, contact Jay Brown of Brixton Tours. Website: http://www.brixtontours.co.uk E-mail: jaybrixton@hotmail.com 

Tel:      +44 (0) 1843 840737

Mobile +44 (0) 7951 676 015

Expedition: Serrote do Capim and Fundoes

As you know I'm a Regional tour guide and also we develop projects for example plant trees and preserve the Archaeological Site's Heritage, and this is an off-topic on my blog about the tourism highlights check out, friends. You can also visit my second blog www.aventureirosdacaatinga.blogspot.com 

Both are located at Sitío do Bráz, in Carnauba dos Dantas town far from 8 kilometres away from the downtown. There we climbed up the river, passed by water falls, archaeological's site (engravings, and rock art painting untill to arrive one of the biggest shelter with painting of Northiest tradition, Serido sub tradition. afterwards we visited the Serrote do Capim beautiful landscape. The Caatinga Adventure fullfilled their promise in the evening , Dean Carvalho, Julio César and me returned to the town.

                                          Belvedere of Cabeço do Capim 

                                 Me, Carlos tour guide on top of belvedere

                                  Pedra do Chapéu (Hat's rock)

                                    Petroglyph located in Water-eye's river

                                  Mirror formed by water's shadow

                                                                           Sunset on top of Falcon's mountain  

Like this post? RT and promote for friends, thank you.

Jokes

Para mais informações visite o site e adquira a assinatura da Revista Maganews www.maganews.com.br

Jokes

 

Santa's Motorcycle

Q. If Santa [1] rode [2] a motorcycle, what kind would it be?

A. A Holly [3] Davidson.

A mother’s love

A little kid asks an expectant woman:

- What is in your tummy [4]?

- My baby!

- Do you love him? 

- You betcha! [5]

- Why have you eaten him then?

Female intelligence

Who has more sense: men or women?

-Women, of course. Have you ever seen a woman marry someone just because he had nice legs?

Father and son

Father: What did you do today to help your mother?

Son: I dried [2] the dishes.

Daughter: And I helped pick up the pieces [7].

Round house

A man built a round house with round rooms. His friend asks him why. The man explains: 

- My mother-in-law [8] said: "I hope there will be a corner [9] for me in your new house."

Noisy night

- What a disgrace! Your dog howled the whole night under my window.

- Don't worry. It usually sleeps well enough during the day.

Publicado na edição de número 52 da revista Maganews.

Áudio – Andy Shepherd e Daniella Rabelo

Vocabulary

1 Santa (or Santa Claus) – Papai Noel

2 to ride a – andar de

3 Holly – sagrado / santo (obs – Harley Davidson é o nome correto da moto)

4 tummy – barriga

5 you betcha! – exp. idiom. = pode apostar

6 to dry – secar / enxugar

7 to pick up the pieces – pegar os pedaços (ou cacos)

8 mother-in-law - sogra

9 corner – canto / “cantinho”

Ireland: The Cork Guinness Festival

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Advanced

Standard: British accent

IRELAND, THE CORK GUINnESS FESTIVAL

All that Jazz!

Ireland tends to be famous for its traditional folk music, but the country also hosts an important jazz event. This takes place at the end of this month in the Republic’s “Second City,’ Cork, on the South coast. Indeed such is the success of the Cork Guinness Jazz Festival that the city’s population will increase by almost a third, thanks to the arrival of up to 40.000 music fans from all over the world.

About 1.000 musicians from more than 30 countries will play in 80 venues around the city over the course of the five-day festival. This year’s acts will include the Branford Marsalis Quartet, the Kurt Elling Quartet, the Lou Donaldson Quartet Featuring Dr. Lonnie Smith, the Joe Lovano Nonet and Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Trio.

Bill Johnson is the chairman of the Cork Jazz Festival Committee. He explains the reasons for the festival’s growing popularity:

Bill Johnson

(Standard: Irish/corn accent):

Cork is one the reasons for the success of the festival. I’ll explain that by saying that the size of the city – it’s a relatively small city of about 150.000 people – and it means that, number one, everything is very accessible and there’s a tremendous friendliness about it and I certainly, as a totally unbiased Cork man, would say that I suspect that the festival wouldn’t have worked as well in a bigger centre because it would become too fragmented, you know, whereas the whole city become involved and it’s great in that sense. For many, many years we have had the tag of “the friendly festival” and I like to think that, again, that still exists because most of us who are involved are fans of the music and of the people who make it. And therefore there is a definite welcome.

In actual fact Ireland is itself an attraction for many of the festival’s performers, as Bill Johns explains:

Bill Jonhson:

Quite often, which is nice, too, some of the American musicians who will be contracted to play here will bring friends with them and make a sort of a holiday of it, you know, and perhaps stay on and, you know, go on and have a look at some of Ireland. And, of course, naturally enough, our history being what it is, a number of them will have Irish connections somewhere along the line, you know, so they welcome the choice, but I think one of the great things about the festival is that we find that we can sometimes get major stars to come to Ireland because they have heard from some of their fellow musicians what a good time they’ve had in Cork, so they say, “Yeah, we’d like to do Cork.”

You know, and I can think of instances where big names have come to Cork for less money than they would normally charge, which we probably couldn’t afford, just because of the reports that they got back from some of their fellow musicians.

The second City (no audio)

Cork is the second city in the Republic of Ireland. Built around the River Lee, the city got its name from the Irish word “corcach,” which means “marshy place.”

During its 1.400-year history, Cork has survived battles, fires and invasions from Vikings and Norsemen. Today about 120.000 people live in Cork city and another 50.000 in its suburbs. The city was the European Capital of Culture for 2005 and many include a 400-year-old food market (called the English Market), the City Jail Museum, St Finbarre’s Cathedral, the Cork Opera House and the church tower of Shandon, where you can ring the church bells.

The county of Cork is the biggest county in Ireland. People who live there often call themselves Corkonians. Their county is known as the Rebel County, probably because it played such an important role in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.

The 30^th Cork Jazz Festival will take place from October 26^th to 29^th. For more information on musicians, tickets, planning your visit etc., go to http//:www.corkjazzfestival.com  .