Archive: Arts & Entertainment

SMART TALK

by Dr. Tilde Cedilla




MYANMAR: Coming from Cuba to the Center for English as a First Language, I have to speak English as if it were my first language, and I do. I was proficient enough to read the news on Radio Havana's English broadcast to America. (Our motto, similar in tone to Fox News, is, "We don't make the news, we just report it.")

My point is, if I could learn to say "this" and not "thees," and "yellow" instead of "jello," surely Americans could pronounce Myanmar. You actually say it the way it's spelled.

Trouble is, most journalists say MEE-an-mar. Why? They learned to say "Chechnya" the way it's spelled - CHECH-nya - so why is Myanmar out of reach?

Unlike "Chechnya," "Myanmar" doesn't even have unfamiliar sound combinations to get used to. If you can say "mute" and "immure," you can say "myan."

So I get really sarcastic at any of our patients who happen to be radio or TV journalists, or podcasters. Part of their job is to model the pronunciations of names in the news. They have no excuse for saying MEE-an-mar. I mean, they say "Netanyahu" and "Ahmadinejad" as if those political cowboys were relatives, so why is Myanmar just too much work for them?

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Running to Places Theatre Company (R2P) follows up the smash success of A Christmas Carol with the family favorite – Annie at the State Theatre of Ithaca, January 11-13. The beloved musical tells the story of the plucky young orphan who never fails to believe that better times are "only a day away." The play's director (and coartistic director of the company) Joey Steinhagen is excited to bring this classic to the stage.

"Many people mistakenly believe they've seen this show before," says Steinhagen, "when in reality they're remembering the movie, which is quite different, or reduced versions that they've seen at middle schools. I think people will be pleasantly surprised by the depth of the characters."

SMART TALK

by Dr. Verbos Metikulos



POINTSETTUH: I feel sorry for this poor shrub every winter. It gets planted and nurtured, filling the streets Mexican towns and villages with its beauty. And then it gets shipped north, where ignorant Americanos will call them poin-SET-ahs, or even worse, point-SET-ahs, as if they're never seen the name in print.

At the Center for English as a First Language, we can usually treat this problem by simply asking the patient to look carefully, perhaps for the first time, at the word. Unlike many, this word is pronounced exactly the way it's spelled: poinsettia (poin-SET-ee-ah). Note the next-to-last letter; also note that the fifth letter is an S, not a T. It's really not that difficult.

My colleague Laconia Crisp says she's apt to think the ignorant gringos who can't say poinsettia are simply a lower class of people, but I think she's being harsh; they're more likely just poor readers.

And poinsettia isn't even a Spanish word. Mr. Joel Poinsett, an American diplomat and amateur botanist, named the plant after himself in the early years of this great country. So have some respect.

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The January show in the Gallery @ FOUND features Deborah Jones in a show titled  "The Barn Story: A Graphic Memoir". The show opens on January 2nd and will run through January 27th.

No structure is more characteristic of rural Upstate New York than a barn. In service or abandoned, these grand architectural structures serve as a reminder of our rural cultural heritage and Yankee ingenuity. Jones’ connection with barns began with her family’s 1880 English style barn where she played and worked as a kid.

For thousands of years, art and animals have had a unique and important connection. Tompkins County Public Library invites art lovers to celebrate the bond between the art world and the animal kingdom as it presents “Animalia in Art,” and “Birds, Beasts and Books:  Animal Illustrations in Literature,” during Downtown Ithaca’s Gallery Night from 5 to 8 p.m., January 4.

From the first cave paintings of dun horses and charging aurochs to vibrant images of today, animals are an ever-present muse for artists.  Curators Jenny Pope and Nancy Green will explore that ever-evolving relationship with their fascinating exhibits.

SMART TALK

by Dr. "Gabby" Macron




GENERAL CONSENSUS OF OPINION: If this title looks odd, good for you. You normally don't encounter the consensus redundancy as a triple play. But if either general consensus or consensus of opinion looks normal to you, I withdraw the congratulations.

Look at consensus. "Con" means together, which implies "general," and the rest of the word relates to "sense," feeling, or opinion.

So consensus means general sense, general feeling, or general opinion. Do the poor souls who use general consensus or consensus of opinion simply not speak English as a first language, or are they trying to inflate their self importance by using several words where one will do?

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If you have not clued into the sound of JJ Grey & Mofro, you simply will not understand the gushing nature of this review of their most recent release – their first ever live album. My first exposure to these artists was the Country Ghetto album - then strongly recommended by Jamie Osterhout (bass player of the Melon Brothers, among other bands), who recounted that he clued in on a live performance when down south and thought this was one of the best live performances he had ever seen. High praise from such and accomplished and traveled musician, so I bought the CD and quickly thereafter consumed everything JJ Grey & Mofro have ever released.

Yes, they are that good.  Thanks Jamie!

SMART TALK

by Dr. Ced Riley


PROTEST AGAINST: At the Center for English as a First Language, we use a simple test for the ignorance quotient of a redundancy: Does the opposite modifier make an actual EFL speaker laugh? And here again, yes: Protest for sounds as silly as open down. Therefore, protest against is as redundant as seatbelts on bicycles.

If the pesto craze has you joining the movement to protest cruelty to basil, enough said. We know which side you're on.

We're wondering whether the exploding popularity of Greek yogurt will move PETA to protest the thoughtless exploitation of lactobacilli. They're living creatures, after all.

Children repeat what they hear. Let's protest ignorant sounding English by setting an example and speaking it as it it really were our first language.



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Tully Council for the Arts presents its eighth annual Messiah Sing Along on Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 6:30 PM in the Tully High School Auditorium.

The evening will feature chorus and orchestra performing the beginning section of Handel’s oratorio, commonly known as the Christmas Canon, with the well-known “Hallelujah Chorus” as the finale.

On Saturday, December 8th the Hangar's CabarETC series  continues with a special one-day-only cabaret performance of Back Home for the Holidays featuring Jeremy Webb (The Glorious Ones and Hangar's The 39 Steps) and Nat Chandler (Spamalot, Kiss Me Kate, and Phantom of the Opera) with special guest Joseph Thalken. After last year's smash-hit, Jeremy and Nat return to the Hangar stage to help you get into the holiday spirit. This fun and festive show is inspired by their Broadway experience, warm holiday memories, and being with those we love. Refreshments - including beer and wine - are now available in the lobby.

SMART TALK

by Dr. Winton "Windy" Prolix




INTEL: No, we're not concerned with spy slang here at the Center for English as a First Language. We just want speakers to pronounce until as if English really were their first language.

No wonder kids can have trouble spelling. If they hear intil or intel, how will they learn that it's pronounced and spelled until? Of course, parents, who are the kids' real teachers, blame the schoolteachers and continue their own bad habits.

Likewise, unless should sound the way it's spelled, not like inless. In this wonderful, crazy language, spelling can mislead our pronunciation, but when it actually helps, let's seize the advantage.

Other words suffer a similar vowel shift, simply because some folks just don't hear themselves. Saying vanella and melk makes kids think vanilla and milk are spelled with E's instead of I's, and that the U in sugar is not really a U, as in "put," but an I, as in "big."

I'll have to ask our staff psychologist, Dr. Viva Palaver, to research the reasons behind this carelessness.

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