BR 2-06: Wagon Wheels

Mrs. Sadler and Mrs. Hickman said, "That Ed Muldie must be off his head to leave you poor babies all alone."
I told them, "I am no baby. I am eleven. And Willie is eight. We can take care of ourselves. Little Brother is only three, but we can take care of him, too."

Wagon Wheels is based on the true story of the Muldie family who traveled from Kentucky to Kansas in a wagon. After they had arrived in Kansas, the father left the boys alone to find better land to stay. Then he sent them a letter and a map, telling them to walk to join him.


Brenner, B. (1978). Wagon wheels (I Can Read, Level 3). New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Vocabulary

prairie: 大草原

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A Most Violent Year, Clouds of Sils Maria, and other matters…

Today, we saw two movie trailers: A Most Violent Year and Clouds of Sils Maria. In Japanese, they are called American Dreamer and Actress. Actually, what we saw for A Most Violent Year was not a real trailer but a short clip, and we used it to practice pronunciation.

Have you been following Premier League news recently? Chelsea lost again on Saturday, and many reporters are speculating that the manager, Jose Mourinho, may not be there much longer. The Aston Villa manager has already lost his job. Manchester United and Manchester City played a goalless draw yesterday. Liverpool drew with Southampton. Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal are probably the favorites to win the title now.

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A Most Violent Year, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for A Most Violent Year. It's a movie starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. The Japanese title is "American Dreamer". It's coming to Denkikan on November 14th. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are considered two of the top American actors these days, so I'm very interested in seeing this movie. It costs 5,500 yen for a card for five movies at Denkikan, so it's not too expensive. Denkikan has lots of good movies. Currently, Nightcrawler is playing, and next week Clouds of Sils Maria ("Actress" in Japanese) will start. The following week, they will start showing "American Dreamer" and A Little Chaos (ヴェルサイユの宮廷庭師).

At the major cinemas, Insurgent (ダイバージェントＮＥＯ) is now playing. I recommend it!

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My common errors

Prepositions

I went Tokyo  >>  I went to Tokyo

Articles

I ate apple  >>  愛得他菜pple.
I stayed at Japanese-style hotel >>  I stay打他 Japanese-style hotel.

Using Kanji by mistake

愛得他菜pple.  >>  I ate an apple.

Using because incorrectly

I want to go to Mongolia. Because it is a beautiful place.  >>
I want to go to Mongolia, because it is a beautiful place.

Using know incorrectly

I knew about Jake Gyllenhaal today.  >>
I learned/found out about Jake Gyllenhaal today.

Mistakes with -ing and -ed adjectives

I was boring  >>  I was/felt bored; It was boring
I was fun  >>  I had a good time; It was fun

106

Janis: Little Girl Blue, and other matters…

Today we saw the trailer for Janis: Little Girl Blue, a biopic about Janis Joplin, the famous blues star who died tragically at the very young age of 27. We couldn't really understand a great deal about her from the trailer, which seems to be aimed more at people who already know a lot about Janis and are waiting for the movie with great anticipation.

Last week, I saw Attack of the Titans Part 2. To be frank, it was a little disappointing after Attack of the Titans Part 1, but it was still kind of fun. I saw it at Toho Cinemas, which wasn't a good idea because tickets there are more expensive than at other cinemas. But I had a honey latte at Tully's before the movie, and a sandwich afterwards, so I had a good time.

Do you know what other movies are playing or coming soon? I haven't checked the latest listings, but I believe that Night Crawler and Al Pacino's latest movie are both playing now. I would like to see them, especially Night Crawler, which I heard features a great performance from Jake Gyllenhall.
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BR 2-05: The Drinking Gourd

"But right now the law says Jeff and Vinnie are another man's property—property same as a horse or a cow, property worth $2,500."
"But Jeff and Vinnie are people," said Tommy.

In this story, a family help slaves to run away to the northern states or Canada.

Monjo, F. N. (1993). The drinking gourd. South Burlington, VT: HarperTrophy.

Vocabulary

gourd: 

slavery: 奴隷制

abolish: 廃止する

58 words

Bone Tomahawk and other matters

Today we saw the trailer for Bone Tomahawk, a movie starring Kurt Russell. It's a western, and the story revolves around some men who go to look for a woman who's been abducted. It looks super-violent, but I want to see it, because I like Kurt Russell very much, and he rarely appears in movies these days. The movie tagline is, "Death waits for no man." I can't find a Japanese translation of that phrase.

In the English Premier League, Chelsea appear to be recovering from their malaise. Liverpool played their first match under Jürgen Klopp, and the result was a scoreless draw. Sunderland played their first match under Sam Allardyce and the result was a loss. But Newcastle won their first match in a very long time, so everyone is happy up there.

I saw the second and final part of Attack of the Titans last week. It was a bit ridiculous but kind of fun to watch. I want to see Library Wars Part 2 soon.
166

The Iron Giant: Signature Edition, and other matters…

Today we saw the trailer for The Iron Giant: Signature Edition. It's a partial remake of the original Iron Giant from 1999. I'm not sure exactly what has changed; I'm guessing it's just been reedited. But it was fun to see some key scenes from the movie.

Have you heard any news about the Euro 2016 qualifiers? Northern Ireland, Wales, and England have all qualified. I'm particularly impressed by Northern Ireland, because their population is less than 2 million but they came top of their group. Scotland lost a key match and are out. Ireland have to play a play-off match to qualify.

Have you seen any movies recently? I've heard from some students that they have seen the latest Library Wars movie and that it was very exciting. What else is playing?
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The Iron Giant: Signature Edition, and other matters…

Today we saw the trailer for The Iron Giant: Signature Edition. As the name suggests, this is a remake of the classic movie, The Iron Giant, which was made in 1999. As with the original, the director is Brad Bird, but the cast has changed a little. I read that the movie is based on a 1968 story. It won many awards. I'm not sure exactly how the signature edition is different apart from the voices.

Have you heard about the change at Liverpool FC? Jürgen Klopp has taken over as manager, and everyone in England is very excited about it, because he had great success at Dortmund in Germany. Let's hope he has some success in England.
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葉亞戸場 dog and other matters

Did you hear about Brendan Rodgers? He was the Liverpool manager, but he was fired yesterday. It is a pity because two years ago he almost won the Premier League with Liverpool but in the end Liverpool came second, and then after that their level dropped dramatically. Maybe the main reason was that Luis Suarez left for Barcelona.
We watched the trailer for Heart of a Dog today. It was "philosophically astute", according to a famous film critic. It looked rather interesting. ผมอยากดูหนัง
81 words

I'm hungry now!

ตอนนี้ผมหิวข้าว

Heart of a Dog, Good Kill, and other matters

Today we saw the trailer for Heart of a Dog, a film by Laurie Anderson. It was philosophically astute and beguiling! It was a very meditative experience. I wonder if it will come to Japan.
A few days ago, I saw Good Kill, a movie based on true events about drone warfare. It features a good performance from Ethan Hawke, whom you may remember from Boyhood or Before Midnight (or perhaps Predestination?). Other actors in the movie are Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz, and January Jones.
In football news, did you hear that the Liverpool manager has been fired?
96 words