Movie: 83rd Annual Academy Awards

Image from Rachel Rambles

The hottest topic for the day is of course the 83rd Academy Awards which was held this morning in Hong Kong time. I was lucky enough not to be at work, so I managed to watch most of the show on TV.

Colin Firth
Image from vancouversun

The King's Speech wins big at Oscars today, with the film grabbing the Best Motion Picture, the Best Achievement in Directing, the Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, and of course, the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Colin Firth. The trailer was so intriguing that I am definitely not going to miss this one in the cinema.

Natalie Portman
Image from vancouversun

The Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role goes to Black Swan's Natalie Portman, who went on to the stage with her unborn baby, received thunderous well-deserved applause for her stunning performance in the film, in which she has to act out psychotic symptoms of strong delusions, visual hallucinations and paranoia.

The Social Network
Image from Screen Rant

A pity for the Golden Globe super winner The Social Network today as the film only managed to claim  the Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, the Best Achievement in Editing and the Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score.

Other highlights of the show was Anne Hathaway, who has put herself in not less than 6 different dresses in one night, all of which stunningly glamorous! I bet some, if not all of them, are sponsored by Prada! She's never my type but did show off well today. Here's one of the dresses.

Anne Hathaway
Image from CBS News

But talking about hot prettiness, I pick Scarlett Johansson in her see-through plum Dolce & Gabbana Qipao!

Scarlett Johansson
Image from vancouversun

Toy Story 3 clinched the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year without much of a fight from How to Train Your Dragon, but next year, the fight will be much tougher.

Toy Story 3
Image from cbc

Inception wins several awards too, but the most deserved of all is the Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Inception
Image from charcoal4

Just look at that! No movie got better this this year!

Resources:
Road to the Oscars'11 @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/features/oscars/2011/nominations

Black Swan @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan_(film)#Plot

Black Swan @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/

The King's Speech 2010 Trailer @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aS4hoOSlzo

Economics: Hong Kong Budget 2011-2012

I think everyone is talking about the 2011-2012 Budget, so I would also like to join the party. I have selected lots of links to news for you to read at the Resources section below if you want.

Financial Secretary John Tsang before the Budget Speech
Image from Kansas City

But to cut things short, here are a few of John Tsang's moves that fight the problems faced:

Problems	Reaction	Locky's Quick Opinion
Risk of Asset-price Bubbles	Add a total of 9 residential sites, 5 of which should offer 3000 small and medium-sized flats in total, making a total of 52 [1]	52 cards on hand makes a deck of cards, but when will they be used? No time frame. Housing market? Up, up, hurray!!!
Inflation (The Living Human)	Will continue to diversify the sources of our food imports. [2]	Buy more from places other than China? Only US$ drops like HK$ really. I think we have to import food from Mars.
Inflation (The Rich)	Will issue $5 billion to $10 billion worth of Hong Kong-dollar iBond under the Government Bond Programme. [3]	Sorry, I have no money to buy bonds. Even if I do have money to buy bonds, I have to put all my money in there to ensure my cash isn't eroded, then where do I get money for food? Why not just give me the cash?
Inflation (The Electronics)	Granting each residential electricity account a subsidy of $1,800. This will cost the Government about $4.7 billion [4]	This is okay, if you owe a place yourself or if your rent doesn't cover the electric bill. Because if your rent and the bills come in a package, then your landlords get all!
Inflation (The Rich)	Waiving rates for 2011-12, subject to a ceiling of $1,500 per quarter for each rateable property. It is estimated that about 82 per cent of properties will be subject to no rates in the year. This proposal will cost the Government approximately $9.9 billion [4]	This doesn't benefit anyone who has no property
Inflation (The Supported)	Paying two months' rent for public housing tenants...This measure will involve expenditure of approximately $1.9 billion [4]	Reasonable enough, but if you rent a private apartment, then sorry!
Inflation (The Poor and Needy)	Providing an extra allowance to Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients, equal to one month of the standard rate CSSA payments; and an extra allowance to Old Age Allowance and Disability Allowance recipients, equal to one month of the allowances. This proposal will involve an additional expenditure of about $1.9 billion. [4]	Good move, but is one month CSSA enough?
Inflation (The Responsible)	Increasing the allowance for maintaining dependent parents/grandparents by 20 per cent... This measure will benefit about 510 000 taxpayers and cost the Government $570 million a year  [4]	Fair enough, but that is so little money!!!
Inflation (The future generation)	Raising both the child allowance and the additional one-off child allowance in the year of birth by 20 per cent from $50,000 to $60,000 for each child. I estimate that this measure will benefit about 300 000 taxpayers, costing the Government $650 million a year.  [4]	Another small budget deal.
Inflation (MPF)	a one-off injection of $6,000 into the MPF accounts of all MPF scheme members and members of occupational retirement schemes covered by the Employment Ordinance of Hong Kong as of 23 February 2011... $24 billion for this measure. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau will announce the details in due course   [5]	WHAT???????? MPF????? Cash me out, man!!!!

Opinions:


What is my verdict of the Hong Kong Budget 2011-2012? All smoke and no fire.

Chan Wai-Yip threw "Hell Money" at John Tsang a day after the Budget Speech
Image from The Standard

The most talked-about was his argument against the $6000 tax rebate. He claims that a tax rebate will drive up the inflation level further, but will it? First, you have to look at how much tax you have taken from the citizens this year. If the tax rebate is less than the tax collected, then obviously, his argument doesn't stand!

So, how much has the government collected from us? "The revised estimate for total revenue is $374.8 billion" ^[6] (here is more past records for your reference).

How much will the $6000 MPF injection cost? Only $24 billions!^[5] So that is less than 10% of the money they take from us! If giving us back $1 when we give you $10 will increase inflation, then that means taking money away from us will help solve inflation? Ridiculous! If they really think so, then the government officials should really get pay cuts, because that will fight inflation!

Homework: Can you think of more points of counter-arguments?

Vocabulary:
to cash sb out -- (slang) to pay sb with cash
verdict -- (n) [C] an opinion or decision made after judging the facts that are given, especially one made at the end of a trial
All smoke and no fire -- an idiomatic expression which describes something that was originally expected to be great or exciting turns out to be much less than amazing. For more details, please read this link.




Resources:
The 2011-2012 Budget
http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget16.html
[1] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget08.html
[2] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget16.html
[3] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget17.html
[4] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget18.html
[5] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget69.html
[6] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/eng/budget19.html


Hong Kong Budget 2011-12: Highlights and Analysis of Housing Policy @ Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/hong-kong-budget-2011-12-highlights-and-analysis-of-housing-policy-2011-2#ixzz1Eqo6POIr

Inflation-buster $10b iBond of limited interest @ The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=108467&sid=31407417&con_type=1

Bridge wealth gap, warns Leung @  The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=108394&sid=31394461&con_type=1&d_str=20110223&fc=2

Saying: All work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/03/saying-all-work-and-no-play-makes-jack.html

Tax Revenue @ Inland Revenue
http://www.ird.gov.hk/dar/2009-10/table/eng/revenue.pdf

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/verdict

People: Justin Bieber's New Haircut

Image from disneydreaming

"February 21, 2011 will forever be known as THE DAY JUSTIN BIEBER CUT HIS BEAUTIFUL HAIR. Life as we know it will NEVER be the same. Never. Ever, ever."

This is the opening line from TMT.com. Honestly, I don't like Justin Bieber, not because he is too young to make millions of US dollars, but because I don't like his songs. Why don't I like his songs? Well, because I'm too old to hear a 14-15-16-year-old boy singing love song to an even younger girl. I'm way over that age! And! I don't like continual repetition of "Baby". It's like brainwashing!

Image from gossip.whyfame.com

But his hair is really impressive! I mean, how many boys in Hong Kong are following this hairstyle? Basically, countless! Everybody wants a part of his hair, worldwide! And it is more like it is the hair that makes his famous, not his songs, or his musical talents, or his young age! Can you name some stars who first became famous because of the hairstyle? Or maybe, can you name any stars that has a signature hairstyle? I can name a lot! Try taking a look at this website here!

Let's see how Justin does his hair!

Reminds me of what Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) said in the following video:

"You have just flush you xxxxing career, down the toilet!" -- Les Grossman

And Les Grossman is right, stars can fall and rise simply because of a change in hairstyle.Well, wish Justin good luck!

Just in case you want to revise your hairstyle terminology, you can revisit Vocabulary: Hairstyle Terminology
and Vocabulary: BaldnessTerminology. What is Justin Bieber's hair called? Is it a fringe or a flip? Well, looks like it doesn't matter anymore.

Vocabulary:
repetition -- [U] when you do or say something again
brainwash -- [T] disapproving to make someone believe something by repeatedly telling them that it is true and preventing any other information from reaching them
Brazilian Blowout -- (n)[U] mentioned in Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) video. See picture below.

Image from http://www.troyrichardsalon.com/blog/uploaded_images/brazilian_blowout-786666.jpg

Resources:

Bieber's Haircut -- Altering the Course of Humanity @ TMT
http://www.tmz.com/2011/02/22/justin-bieber-haircut-tmz-on-tv/?mediaKey=f35a1585-05a3-4406-9ef9-46b20c2302fc&isShareURL=true

Justin Bieber @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_bieber

Studio Stylish Brush
http://www.georgecaroll.com/male%20stars/famous%20hairlines/famous-hairlines.htm

Robert Pattinson & Les Grossman MTV Movie Awards Promo 2010 @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JerwUH-d6Oc&feature=player_embedded

Vocabulary: Hairstyle Terminology @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/07/vocabulary-hairstyle-terminology.html

Vocabulary: BaldnessTerminology @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/08/vocabulary-baldness-terminology.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/repetition
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/brainwash

Song: Misery -- Maroon 5

Image from buzznet

Image from Wikipedia

One of my latest favourite song is Misery by Maroon 5, a boy-band that has begun rocking since 1992 till now that all members have become man-band. They only get more and more famous with age. Maybe this is what people call "mandom".

Image from Wikipedia

Anyway, back to the song, Misery was released in Maroon 5's third studio album called Hands All Over, with a name kind of match the actions in the MTV of this song. The MTV only featured lead vocalist Adam Levine rather than all members of Maroon 5, but the reason may well lie on the fact that female star in the MTV is his 24-year-old Russian supermodel girlfriend in real life, Anne Vyalitsyna. You wouldn't want your girlfriend to make MTV with someone else, would you?

As for the song, I like the upbeat melody and then simple metaphors used for supposedly a not-so-high-morale song.

Adam explains the meaning of the song himself as follows,

Frontman Adam Levine told MTV News: "'Misery' is about the desperation of wanting someone really badly in your life but having it be very difficult. Kind of what all the songs I write are about. I'm not treading on new ground, but I think a lot of people - including myself - deal with that all the time. Relationships are difficult, and it's good therapy to write about them."

Hope you like it!

Vocabulary:
mandom -- (n) [U] the noun for adjective "man"
lead vocalist -- (n) [C] the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song
morale -- (n) [U] the amount of confidence felt by a person or group of people, especially when in a dangerous or difficult situation
tread -- (vb)   [I or T usually + adverb or preposition]  mainly UK to put your foot on something or to press something down with your foot

Lyrics:

Misery
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
So scared of breaking it
But you won't let it bend
And I wrote two hundred letters
I won't ever send
Somehow it is cut so much
Deeper then they seem
You'd rather cover up
I'd rather let them be
So let me be
And I'll set you free

[CHORUS]
I am in misery
There ain't no other
Who can comfort me
Why won't you answer me?
Your silence is slowly killing me
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back

Your salty skin and how
It mixes in with mine
The way it feels to be
Completely intertwined
It's not that I didn't care
It's that I didn't know
It's not what I didn't feel,
It's what I didn't show
So let me be
And I'll set you free


[CHORUS]
I am in misery
There ain't no other
Who can comfort me
Why won't you answer me?
Your silence is slowly killing me
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back

Say your faith is shaken
You may be mistaken
You keep me wide awake and
Waiting for the sun
I'm desperate and confused
So far away from you
I'm getting here
Don't care where I have to go

Why do you do what you do to me, yeah
Why won't you answer me, answer me yeah
Why do you do what you do to me yeah
Why won't you answer me, answer me yeah

[CHORUS]
I am in misery
There ain't no other
Who can comfort me
Why won't you answer me?
Your silence is slowly killing me
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back


Homework:
Try to pick out the metaphors used in this song.


Resources:

Misery @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_(Maroon_5_song)

Hands All Over @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_All_Over_(album)

Misery Lyrics @ Direct Lyrics
http://www.directlyrics.com/maroon-5-misery-lyrics.html

Adam Levine @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Levine

Anne Vyalitsyna @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Vyalitsyna

Misery @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g6g2mvItp4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_vocalist
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/morale

News & Game: Angry Bird on iPhone and PC

Image from Digital Trends

Yeah, normally, we talk about things that can help you learn English, but Angry Birds is such a big hit! The game has recently won two big awards at the annual Global Mobile Awards 2011 -- the "App of the Year on the Apple Platform" and the "Best Mobile App" awards. And I dare say, virtually every owner of iPhone in Hong Kong has some of these birds in it.

According to Ewalt @ Forbes, "Finland-based game developer Rovio Mobile has sold over 12 million downloads of the software since it debuted in December 2009 on Apple’s app store." Now, that is a lot of money!

And of course, the game doesn't stop there, there will be a lot more to offer, say toys?

Image from Forbes

Interesting enough, there is a story behind the design of this game. According to Wikipedia, "At the time, the "swine flu" epidemic was in the news, so the staff made the birds' enemies pigs." So H1N1 was not only a killer disease after all -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has definitely "cast pearls before swine".

Image from limfy.com

Although I don't have an iPhone, the fun doesn't stop there. I happen to have discovered a full PC version of Angry Birds for Windows 7 and it is free! I've been practising for awhile but I'm really bad at it. Maybe you can do better, but do not spend all the time playing and forget about learning English!

Happy learning! (and gaming)

Down Angry Birds PC version for Windows 7 at the link given on iReclusive
http://ireclusive.blogspot.com/2011/01/angry-bird-pc-version.html

There is also a Valentine's Day Edition on iPhone, have you bought it yet?

Image from Mashable

Vocabulary:
virtually -- (adv) almost
epidemic -- (n) [C] the appearance of a particular disease in a large number of people at the same time
"To cast pearls before swine" -- To give things of value to those who will not understand or appreciate it.


Resources:

Global Mobile Awards 2011
http://www.globalmobileawards.com/awards/winners_2011.htm

iPhone 4 and Angry Birds win big at Mobile World Congress
http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/02/17/iphone-4-and-angry-birds-win-big-at-mobile-world-congress/

Angry Birds PC version for Windows 7
http://ireclusive.blogspot.com/2011/01/angry-bird-pc-version.html

Angry Birds Official Website
http://www.rovio.com/index.php?page=angry-birds

Angry Birds Cinematic Trailer @ YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bk_nqUQ0fc&feature=player_embedded

Angry Birds In-game Trailer @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNzRyd1xz0&feature=player_embedded

Angry Birds, Happy Toymakers @ Forbes
http://blogs.forbes.com/davidewalt/2011/02/17/angry-birds-happy-toymakers/

Angry Birds @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_birds#Development

Interview: Rovio on the origin of Angry Birds, being inspired by swine flu, and why you may never see an Angry Birds 2 @ Pocket Gamer
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Various/Angry+Birds/news.asp?c=24243

Vocabulary: Swine & Scapegoat  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/04/vocabulary-swine-scapegoat.html

Angry Birds Gets Facebook-Infused Valentine’s Day Edition @ Mashable
http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/angry-birds-valentines-day/

Angry Birds Peace Treaty @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/virtually
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/epidemic_1
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cast_pearls_before_swine

News & Idiom: Repent and be saved; there is justice in heaven and Earth

From "(an empress and ) a eunuch", to "Overbite Ton(y)", to "Piggy Daddy" and now someone who needs to "Turn back and the shore is at hand" (repent and be saved), Tony Chan, who has twice contributed to the proof that "there is justice in heaven and Earth", has definitely provided a lot of nice quotes for the press. Entertaining as much as it could possibly be, what are these Chinese proverbs equivalence in English?

Jubilant Chinachem Charitable Foundation chairman Kung Yan-sum
Image fromThe Standard

Interestingly, there are many similarities between English and Chinese in terms of meanings of expressions.

Last year, Greenpeace International wrote a blog entry to warn the danger of Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor, titling "Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor: it’s not too late to turn back".

Randa Mirza, a crew member from Lebanon,
watches the Rainbow Warrior sailing 20 miles from the port of Bushehr, Iran in 2007.
Image from Greenpeace

"It's not too late to turn back" is not exactly an idiom in English, but it matches the meaning of "Repent and be saved" and it is common enough in many TV programs or movies.

Now, how about "there is justice in heaven and Earth" equivalent? Well, there is another common idiomatic expression in popular cultures, and that is "Justice will prevail".

L. in famous Japanese Manga Death Note
Image from Wikipedia

Prevail means to get control, or to be more powerful than something else. If justice will prevail, then justice will eventually win, so the good people will win and bad people will lose.

I'm a little surprise that The Standard did not try harder to dig up these expression and decided to use their own translations. Well, doesn't matter, you can learn that from our English Playground.


Vocabulary:
It's not too late to turn back -- "Turn back and the shore is at hand" in Chinese, or "repent and be saved"
Justice will prevail -- "there is justice in heaven and Earth" in Chinese
prevail -- (vb) [I] formal to get control or influence

Resources:


Idioms: Grey (with the Simpsons) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/06/idioms-grey-with-simpsons.html


Technology: Where's the iPhone 5?
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/01/technology-wheres-iphone-5_12.html


'Repent and be saved,' say victors @ The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=108103&sid=31299127&con_type=3&d_str=20110215&fc=2

Feng Shui master loses claim to Nina Wang fortune @ BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12445500

Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor: it’s not too late to turn back @ Greenpeace International
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/irans-bushehr-nuclear-reactor-its-not-too-lat/blog/26237

Justice Will Prevail @ TV Tropes
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JusticeWillPrevail

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/prevail