Jon Beyonc� Jovi

I've been talking about conditional tenses lately on my Sitzman ABC language learning blog. If you're curious, I've talked about both first and second conditionals, and you're welcome to check them out. But that's not why I'm mentioning them now. I'm mentioning them because of Beyonc�: 

The reason I used this video on the ABC blog is because it shows really good and interesting use of the second conditional tense, which is used when you talk about something unreal or unlikely (like Beyonc� being a boy). It's interesting, because I've had students use this video in two different presentations lately, but I'd not heard the song six months ago. I guess in addition to living on top of a mountain, I'm also living under a rock, apparently. The song's lyrics, grammar, and message are good, and Beyonc�'s looking pretty good as a cop, I have to say! That girl could slam me again a police car and beat the crap out of me with a nightstick any day! Wait, that doesn't make any sense...

Also, Bon Jovi and/or Jon Bon Jovi have come up multiple times in both student presentations and textbooks, strangely enough. One student played this song (but not the video... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though):

Alright, never mind, it was definitely a good thing she didn't show the video. I remember thinking even in 1994 or whenever this video came out that it was ridiculous and frustrating and that it didn't make any damn sense. Is the point supposed to be that if you're a cheating jerk, you should also be a hypocrite and go blow up your ex's new boyfriend's apartment? Because that's what it seems to be about.

Don't get me wrong, I really like both Bon Jovi (the group) and Jon Bon Jovi (the lead singer's handle when going solo), but they were best around the time of New Jersey and Slippery When Wet, when they seemed more like a trashy, glammy, East Coast version of John Mellencamp times four or five (evidently I like Bon Jovi, but not enough to know how many people are in the band).

Hmm, where was I going with all this? Oh yes, music and videos in class. Well, guess I got off on a tangent there, so I may as well put up a few more Bon Jovi videos. Here's what I'm talking about:

And here's the video for what's probably my favorite Bon Jovi song. If you're feeling like a Monday (and today is a Monday, after all), then it's got some good advice for you, my friend:

I guess my second conditional phrase of the day is this: "If I were Beyonc�, I would call up Bon Jovi to collaborate on a concept album about a rocket-powered Chevy full of single ladies rocking in space."

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Ouwraight Poudafinga!

About five or six years ago my brother Paul went to Australia for a while. I only say "my brother Paul" to set the stage, and so you know his name. I've not got any other brothers. Anyhow, I think Paul was in Australia escaping the law or hunting wallabies or something (I guess I truly am not my brother's keeper), but the gist of it is that he was gone for a year or two. He did come down/up to Costa Rica for my wedding, though, which is pretty great, considering that he had to fly around 138 hours to get here, and he had to layover in Atlanta three times for some reason.

OK, I jest a bit. But he did go to Australia for a while and he did come to our wedding, and when he got here, he gave me an mp3 CD of various music. One of the albums that was on it was Tea & Sympathy by Bernard Fanning. There are about four things that seem a little weak about the album title and the singer's name, but I assure you that it's a great album and has become one of my favorites. My favorite song on that album is probably "Sleeping Rough," but since it's not got a video, here's the video for "Songbird," so you can have something to look at (you'll have to watch it on YouTube, since embedding has been disabled).

Good stuff, right? So I told Paul I really liked this guy's music, and he told me about Powderfinger*, Fanning's band. Apparently they're from Brisbane, which is really close to where Paul was living/ hiding out. He mentioned that he should let me listen to some of their albums, since he had a few, but we kept forgetting about it every time we were together in Colorado. So I started checking them out more by myself on the "Internet." If you've not used it before, it's a really neat place for music and stuff. I'm really liking Powderfinger, so I thought I'd share this nice video from their last album (from 2009):

It's a great song, a great video, great lyrics... all in all, it's pretty, um, "lovely"(?) Is that what Australians say, or is that British people? Lucy, you're the only Australian I know: can I get a little help here?

Anyhow, I'd highly recommend both Fanning and Powderfinger if you're looking for some good music. Unfortunately, they're no longer together, but they did leave quite a few good songs and albums to check out.

Thanks for reading, and keep your eyes open for more Blogtoberfest to come!


*Powderfinger: OK, maybe "Powderfinger" is some kind of drug reference, an Australian slang word, or an Australian slang word referring to drugs, but did anyone else think of skiing and powdered snow when they heard this name? Or is it just me because I come from Colorado?

Wasted Years

It's interesting that a lot of thoughts, conversations, and social interactions I've been having lately have involved becoming older. It's mostly been a coincidence, though. In any case, in class yesterday one of my students did a presentation on heavy metal culture. It was pretty interesting, especially to see most of the classmates' reactions to the mere idea of heavy metal. Most assumed it was satanic, even without having heard any heavy metal ever before. At the end of the presentation the student played a song by Iron Maiden called "Wasted Years" and led an activity involving the lyrics. It was actually pretty spot-on in terms of what I've been thinking about lately, and while Iron Maiden does have their skeleton-corpse mascot Eddie, it's hard to argue that there's anything satanic or even dark about the lyrics to this song. In fact, it's pretty optimistic. Have a look at the video:

Iron Maiden - Wasted Years por Pacotosman

The general feeling of nostalgia can hardly be summed up better than through long-haired rockers wearing 80s-style short shorts and playing soccer. Here are the lyrics if you're interested:

IRON MAIDEN - WASTED YEARS

From the coast of gold, across the seven seas
I'm travelling on, far and wide
But now it seems
I'm just a stranger to myself
And all the things I sometimes do
It isn't me but someone else

I close my eyes and think of home
Another city goes by in the night
Ain't it funny how it is
You never miss it 'til it's gone away
And my heart is lying there
And will be 'til my dying day

(Chorus)

So understand
Don't waste your time
Always searching for those wasted years
Face up...make your stand
And realize you're living in the golden years

Too much time on my hands
I got you on my mind
Can't ease this pain, so easily
When you can't find the words to say
It's hard to make it through another day
And it makes me want to cry
And throw my hands up to the sky

(Chorus)

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and be sure not to waste your years!