Danger 5!

Wow, I almost think this may not be real, simply because it looks like it's going to be so amazing:

But according to their website (which has a pretty hilarious spoof on a 60s action magazine complete with clickable articles), they're actually going to produce this, starting November 21st. I'm pretty sure the guy who says "Domo Arigato" is wearing the same wig I wear for most Halloweens.

I'm gaining more and more respect for Australia and Australians.

Fast-Talking Explanation Videos

If you remember a recent post about coffee, then you may remember an interesting video in that post. It basically explained more about the whole coffee production process. It turns out that the guy who made the video, someone named Grey, has made some other videos that I think are pretty cool. I actually put this one on Sitzman ABC since it explains Daylight Savings Time (they don't do it in Costa Rica, and it's a weird thing to describe or justify to classes sometimes):

And I also liked this one about continents, which is incidentally another controversial topic in my classes here:

The reason it's a controversial topic is because, as the Grey notes in the video, in the US they generally count 7 continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica). However, in a lot of Latin America, Costa Rica included, they count North and South America as one continent, and from there the confusion begins.

Anyhow, I thought they were cool videos, so have a look if you'd like. Grey's YouTube page also has some explanatory videos related to the United Kingdom and different electoral systems, most of which are fast, entertaining, and educational. Have a look!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

The Dead Pants

I know I've mentioned Die Toten Hosen on this blog before (here's the post to prove it), but I wanted to put up a few of their videos because they're still one of my favorite bands in any language. Their name, as the title of this blog indicates, means "The Dead Pants," but "toten Hosen" can also mean that nothing's going on somewhere (maybe like "the boondocks" in English?).

When I was looking around the internet doing "research" for this post, I also came across this. It's got a good general overview of the band and it's in Spanish. It also seems that they actually came to Costa Rica in 2009! I wish I had known about it, but then again, I'm not sure I'd have gone, since my concert-going days seem to largely be a thing of the past.

Anyhow, here's the video I put up in the other post, for "Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist," which means "Get up when you're on the ground." It's actually a pretty motivating song, and I played it in my German class this evening. My students seemed to like it:

But wait, that's not all! Here's "Walkampf," a sort of play on words that literally means "Whale-Fight." It's definitely one of my Top 5 German Punkisch-Rock songs featuring a bagpipe. It's not necessarily got a positive message or anything, but it's fun to listen to and the video's pretty cool, too:

This one definitely doesn't have much of a message at all, except for that the Bayern M�nchen football team is crap. Die Toten Hosen are from D�sseldorf and they're big fans of the local team, so the chorus says, "So many things can happen, so many things can occur, only one thing I know 100% for sure: never in my life would I go to Bayern!":

And they even have some pretty good songs in English! This is one of my favorites:

So, there's a very basic primer to this group. If you like the songs, I'm sure you can find more just by following the YouTube links at the end of each video, or you can also go to their website to find more information about them.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Your Challenge, If You Should Choose To Accept It...

I DARE you to try to find something about this video that isn't awesome:
(Note: "Like all good things, it must eventually come to an end, and that isn't awesome" doesn't count) 

You're Welcome.

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?

I Heart German, Germany, and Germans

I heart German, Germany, and Germans, but you have to admit that they do often provide fertile ground for some good-natured joking (after all, when most people think of Germany, the first thing that comes to mind is "humor"). Additionally, Blogtoberfest is inherently Teutonic in nature due to its name, so on that note, I wanted to post my two favorite not-necessarily-German "Funny German" videos. I originally saw both of them via my friends Brian and Barbara quite a few years ago, actually, so you may have seen them, too. If not, enjoy:

This one really makes a strong case for Germans' rights. Now, here's another classic, and although it involves German, it's actually more of an English-oriented video:

So, that's it for now... but you can hold off the incredible onslaught of blogging that is Blogtoberfest for only just so long (till about tomorrow, probably). Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Using My Illusions

I took this picture in Las Vegas at the beginning of this year. It demonstrates the awesome
staying power of Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion albums... and trampy wedding dresses.
Stephanie Seymour would be proud.

Mike recently pointed out that September 17th was the 20th anniversary of Guns N' Roses' albums Use Your Illusion I and II. Rather than wallowing in self-pity because I'm getting older, and rather than mourning and my lost childhood/ youth/ innocence/ hair, I decided to be positive and say what I like best about these memorable albums. But just as a disclaimer, I still prefer Appetite. As long as we're clear on that, I can talk about how great the Illusions are.

Use Your Illusion I

I guess I was introduced to these albums a bit late, since I bought them when I was in Germany as an exchange student in 1998. I know I'd heard some of the songs before, but I was pretty late getting on the album train, and most of the music I had until about 1993 was on cassettes that I recorded while listening to radio. We didn't have cable, and the internet didn't exist yet in any comprehensible form, either. We had to work hard for our entertainment in the early 90s.

In any case, I believe I bought these two albums at a Saturn store in Hannover, Germany in 1998, and listened to them over and over on my Discman. At first I preferred UYI II over I, but within a few years I'd switched and started to prefer I. It's hard to argue with; It's got "November Rain," the better version of "Don't Cry," and the lyrics "I ain't superstitious but I know when something's wrong" (from "Garden of Eden"). I also had a long period where I was into "Bad Apples," calling it the "quintessential distilled version of a GNR song" or some such nonsense. It is a good and underrated song, though. But the best point on the album is certainly on "November Rain."

At seven minutes and nine seconds into the song, Slash begins the first note of his second solo in this song. Based on that one note, around 10 years ago I came up with a theory based on the excellence of that note. The theory is called, simply, "The 7:09 Theory." I've also been known to shoot my mouth off and say that this is "the greatest moment ever in music" and that "everything before it led up to it, and everything after this note was just music going downhill." Sure, I'll stand by those statements.

Use Your Illusion II

As I said before, I've gone back and forth regarding which of these albums I like better, and I'm currently in a II phase. It's just got such a jam-packed opening ("Civil War," "14 Years," "Yesterdays," and even "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"), the likes of which is unlikely to be found on another album (except maybe U2's The Joshua Tree, but the three songs there sound too similar anyhow). Plus, it's also got the under-appreciated songs "Breakdown" and "Locomotive," as well as "Estranged," which, despite its weird, dolphin-infested video, is a great song. The only down note seems to be "My World," but since it's such a bizarre track, we can almost write it off as an Axl rant instead of an actual GNR song.

II doesn't have anything as memorable as 7:09 into "November Rain," but it does have one thing that I think is really great, weird, and hilarious. On the song "Pretty Tied Up," which is possibly about a dominatrix, the perils of rock n' roll decadence, and/or finding money in the street, there's a strange line near the end of the song. After Axl sings "It's days like this that push me over the brinks," a deeper voice comes on and says "Kool Ranch Dressing." That didn't make sense when I first heard it, so I looked to the lyrics sheet in the liner notes. On the lyrics, it said "Cool and stressing" but then literally underneath that, it said "(Pronounced: Kool Ranch Dressing)". I just remember reading that on a train from Hannover to Munich and being blown away, since neither the original line, nor the attempt to explain the "correct" pronunciation, made any sense whatsoever. Obviously, I was dealing with Advanced Rock Music. And it's been a great ride ever since.

So, that's it for now. If you liked or like those albums, feel free to go to the comments section to chime in. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back in 2031 for the 40th anniversary blog post!

And OK, sure, why not:

The Wall

"We don't need no education"??

"We don't need no thought control"??

"No dark sarcasm in the classroom"??

"Teachers leave them kids alone!"??

It looks like I'm going to have to make some drastic changes to tomorrow's lesson plans.

Although I'll still probably promote the same meat eaten : pudding allowed ratio.

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!

Killer Killers Videos

I wanted to post this Killers video for "Spaceman" because it's great:

This video captures the general aesthetic I was going for when I participated in the Mr. FCHS competition quite a few years ago (I represented the school newspaper and sang a strange version of "Louie Louie" for the "talent" section, although I didn't have enough of a budget for so many masks, chandeliers, and a four-story stage). I actually thought I had posted this video before, but I can't seem to find it on my blog. If you've already seen it, that's fine, but just so you know, the only reason I use this blog is so that I can have a depository of videos available to me at all times!

I definitely think I've also posted this video for "When You Were Young" before, but I can't seem to find the post where I mentioned it, either, so here it is again:

It reminds me a bit of Berl�n de San Ram�n, although I don't think I looked that cool at my wedding...

Oh, and one quick question: If you play guitar in a rock band and you have big, bushy, curly hair, are you required to be shirtless and wear a leather vest, or is it just some sort of informal pact that compels you to do so? Just wondering.

K�benhavn

If you've been following this blog--or me--then you know that Angela and I went to Colorado for a week or two to visit my family and some friends. So, I've been a bit behind on blog posts. I'm still catching up with things I need to do here in Costa Rica, but to tide you over until the next post, here's a cool retro video about Copenhagen, a city which everyone should see at least once:

It's a bit short on historical, geographical, and a variety of cultural information, but it sure talks a LOT about bikes!

Shakira

I know that for a while now, many of you have been asking--well, "shamelessly begging" is probably a more appropriate word choice--for me to do a blog post about Shakira. So, here you go.

After living in Costa Rica for almost 5 years, I should probably understand Shakira's Spanish lyrics better, but I don't. My only consolation is that I can't understand her English lyrics very well, either. I'm wondering, though, why she makes English and Spanish versions of much of her material (yes, I know the answer is "more market, more money," but artistically, I don't really get the point).

I remember 11 or 12 years ago, when I was an exchange student in Germany, we saw the video for her song "Wherever, Whenever":

I've got a couple of things to say about this video:

1. Sure, she's very pretty, but I guess I'm one of those guys who's just not turned on by those weird gyrations. To paraphrase Seinfeld, it's like a full-body dry heave.

2. "Lucky that my breasts are small and humble / So you don't confuse them with mountains" may be some of the stupidest lyrics ever sung in English, and I'm including songs by Raffi here.

3. No one likes the pan flute.

Still, after seeing this video, I believe I had a conversation with my friend Christa, who assured me that both Shakira and Ricky Martin were much more sophisticated and "deeper" in Spanish, but something had gotten lost in the translation. I had to listen to them in Spanish, I was told.

And I think she was right; Shakira is better in Spanish, especially if you don't understand Spanish. Maybe it's something about her beats or rhythms that loan themselves to being accompanied by Spanish lyrics, but it just seems better. Check out these two recent examples, "Loba"/"She Wolf" and "Rabiosa." First, the Spanish version of "Loba":

And now the English version:

Do you see what I mean? In the first one, you're somewhat distracted by a pretty girl, and you quietly wonder to yourself if she'll accidentally snap her spine dancing like that. But in the English version, you can understand the lyrics, and you just think, "Hmm, this song is kind of stupid."

Let's look at Exhibit B, "Rabiosa":

And here it is in English:

So, yes, exact same video. The weirdest thing about this song is the lyrics; they've translated "Rabiosa" as "Rabiosa," "boca" as "boca," and "Oye mami" as "Oye mami." Maybe someone's taken the hint that her songs are better in Spanish, and so the English versions are just gradually becoming Spanish versions, one word at a time.

In any case, here's my favorite Shakira song and video, which as far as I know, is only in Spanish:

So, there's your Shakira post. Now shut your bocas.

Robyn

Lately I've been enjoying Robyn's latest album, Body Talk. I got it as an Amazon download, and it's got some great tracks. However, I'd not seen any of the videos until yesterday, when I came across this one:

I guess her outfit and haircut are a bit unfortunate, but her dancing's actually pretty great, and the song's as good as any Swedish girlydancepop that I've ever heard. So hopefully it'll make your Sunday a bit better!