The Double and Blue Jasmine (rewrite)

Today we watched two movie trailers, Blue Jasmine and The Double. Blue Jasmine is the most recent Woody Allen film to reach Japan, and it's playing now at Denkikan. It's about a woman called Jeanette, who changes her name to Jasmine and marries a rich man. Unfortunately for her, he becomes poor after being arrested, and she has to move away and live a more modest life. The movie examines the breakdown of her personality and life.

The Double is not in Japan yet, but it stars Jesse Eisenberg playing a man whose face is copied. Mistaken identity appears to lead to him being arrested. It looks like a very interesting movie, but I don't know when it's coming to Japan.

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The Double, Blue Jasmine, and other matters…

Today we watched two movie trailers, Blue Jasmine and The Double. Blue Jasmine is the most recent Woody Allen film to reach Japan, and it's playing now at Denkikan. It's about a woman called Jeanette, who changes her name to Jasmine and marries a rich man. Unfortunately for her, he becomes poor after being arrested, and she has to move away and live a more modest life. The movie examines the breakdown of her personality and life.

The Double is not in Japan yet, but it stars Jesse Eisenberg playing a man whose face is copied. Mistaken identity appears to lead to him being arrested.

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Food in Kyushu (2)

Food in Kumamoto

I like karashi renkon

Golden Week

This year's Golden Week contained a surprise for me. Right until the beginning of Golden Week, it looked like we weren't going to do anything special, because my daughters tend to be rather busy with their studies. But when Golden Week began, they said that they had time to go camping and would very much like to go. They particularly wanted to go to a beach, so that they could play with our dog. We set off on Sunday and stayed one night at a camp site in Ushibuka. It rained during the night and the next morning, so we came back rather early, but we had a great time. Ushubuka's a good plce, but it's quite far!

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Before Golden Week, I thought perhaps that we wouldn't do anything special, because my daughter usually studies very hard and doesn't have much free time. But to my surprise just after Golden Week had begun she said she wanted to go camping. It is rather difficult to find a camping spot at short notice in Golden Week, but luckily we were able to find a camping site in Ushibuka that was free, so we went there. We had a good time but it rained on the second day so we came home early.


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Food in Kyushu (3)

Food in Kyushu (2)

Food in Kyushu (1)

My Golden Week

Before Golden Week, I thought perhaps that we wouldn't do anything special, because my daughter usually studies very hard and doesn't have much free time. But to my surprise just after Golden Week had begun she said she wanted to go camping. It is rather difficult to find a camping spot at short notice in Golden Week, but luckily we were able to find a camping site in Ushibuka that was free, so we went there. We had a good time but it rained on the second day so we came home early.

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The Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly

UFR3: The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly

Step into the surreal world of the old woman who swallowed a fly. A bizarre story perfectly matched with quirky illustrations, this traditional rhyme features a catchy rhythm and jaunty repetition… [back cover]

I learned this rhyme when I was a little child. I remember the song was popular on the radio, too. The book is about a woman who swallowed a fly by accident, and then swallowed a spider to catch the fly. She didn't know what to do about the spider, so next she swallowed a bird… and so on.

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The Amazing Spider-man 2 (rewrite)

Today we watched the trailer for The Amazing Spider-man 2. The movie stars Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. I think they suit the roles very well. The trailer we watched was trailer 3, which was very exciting but didn't tell us too much about the story. From what I could tell, Spider-Man

has to fight Electro, played by Jamie Foxx.

This movie is one of the Sony movies, made under licence. The Sony movies are rather different from the Marvel ones, such as Captain America. Incidentally, I saw Captain America: Winter Soldier recently. It was very exciting.

Check out the official movie site!

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Today we watched the trailer for The Amazing Spider-man 2. The movie stars Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. I think they suit the roles very well. The trailer we watched was trailer 3, which was very exciting but didn't tell us too much about the story. From what I could tell, Spider-Man has to fight Electro, played by Jamie Foxx.

This movie is one of the Sony movies, made under licence. The Sony movies are rather different from the Marvel ones, such as Captain America.

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Brer Rabbit and the Blackberry Bush

Usborne First Reading Level 2

Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox are always up to mischief. Now Brer Fox thinks he has the perfect plan to stop Brer Rabbit once and for all.

In this story, Brer Fox captures Brer Fox in a trap and he plans to eat him. But when he is trapped Brer Rabbit says: "Hurray!"

"Do you want to be eaten?" asked Brer Fox.

"Oh, yes," said Brer Rabbit. "Fry me…boil me…eat me in a pie!"

This confuses Brer Fox, and Brer Rabbit finally gets away.

You can find out more about this book at the Usborne website. You can also download a worksheet.

Vocabulary

 blackberry: 黒イチゴ

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Today we watched the trailer for Amazing Spider-man 2. The movie stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, who is also Spider-man, and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. Spider-man's main enemy this time is Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, supported by Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). The battle scenes look spectacular, so I'm looking forward to seeing this movie.

However, my feeling at the moment is that the Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst Spider-man movies were better!

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Henry and Mudge in the Green Time

…when he saw Henry hooking up the water hose, he tried to hide under the steps. But it never worked.

There are three stories in this book. I will talk about The Bath. Mudge hates taking a bath, but he cannot escape. But he always gets his revenge on Henry!

Check out the Henry & Mudge site!

Vocabulary

droop: 垂れる、垂れ下がる、下垂する

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Blended again!

Today we watched a trailer for Blended, a movie starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. At the beginning of the movie, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore go on their first date.

Unfortunately, the date is humiliating for Drew Barrymore, because they eat shrimps with very hot sauce and she spits them out. She wants to drink beer to cool down, but Adam Sandler has drunk her beer! She drinks soup instead, but gets her dress messy.

They decide they never want to meet each other again. But they mixed up their credit cards so Adam goes to see her. And, through some strange circumstances, they go on holiday together to Africa. They have many strange and funny experiences there.

I enjoyed the part where Adam Sandler was bored and got a phone call from his family:

An avalanche? In our back yard?

Later, when he visits Drew's family, her children say: "She doesn't like you." But he says:

Believe me, bro, I don't like her either.

I checked out the movie on allcinema.net but it appears that the movie's release in Japan has not yet been decided. I hope it comes soon. The movie was directed by Frank Coraci, who also directed The Wedding Singer. Check out the official site!

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Blended

Today we watched a trailer for Blended, a movie starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. At the beginning of the movie, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore go on their first date.

Unfortunately, the date is humiliating for Drew Barrymore, because they eat shrimps with very hot sauce and she spits it out. She wants to drink beer to cool down, but Adam Sandler has drunk her beer.

They decide they never want to meet each other again. But they mixed up their credit cards so Adam goes to see her. And they go on holiday together.

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Blended (rewrite)

Today, we watched the trailer for a movie with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. I think it was called Memorial Day Weekend. It starts with a date between Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. The date is humiliating for Drew Barrymore, because she eats some food that is too hot. She wants to drink some beer to soothe her mouth, but Adam Sandler has drunk her beer. They decide not to meet each other again.

However, they get their credit cards mixed up, and Adam Sandler has to go and see Drew Barrymore. Through some strange set of circumstances, they both go to Africa with their families, and have some interesting and funny experiences together.

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Blended

Today, we watched the trailer for a movie with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. I think it was called Memorial Day Weekend. It starts with a date between Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. The date is humiliating for Drew Barrymore, because she eats some food that is too hot. She wants to drink some beer to soothe her mouth, but Adam Sandler has drunk her beer. They decide not to meet each other again.

However, they get their credit cards mixed up, and Adam Sandler has to go and see Drew Barrymore. Through some strange set of circumstances, they both go to Africa with their families, and have some interesting and funny experiences together.

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Henry and Mudge Take the Big Test

"Mr. Papp is your teacher," Henry told Mudge.
Mudge wagged.
He jumped up to lick Jack Papp's face.
"No, Mudge!" said Henry.

Henry is walking with Mudge one day, when he sees a man walking with a collie. Whenever the man gives the collie an instruction (such as "Stay" or "Down"), the dog follows it instantly. Henry and his mother start thinking that Mudge should be like the collie, so they take him to school, to be taught by Jack Papp. But will Mudge be able to learn like the other dogs?

Vocabulary

dog treats: 犬のおやつ
wag: 振る

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Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend

Henry & Mudge

This is a quote

This is not a quote.


shabbiest: 最も粗末な, 卑しい

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Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend

Henry and Mudge are stuck inside on a yucky winter day.

This book is very nice.

keep on sleeping: 寝続ける
yucky:　不快な

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Self-intro

Hello, everyone. I'm Rick L. I'm from the southwest of the UK and now I live in Kumamoto City. I work at Kendai and I come to KGU once a week for writing classes. In my free time, I like reading, watching movies, playing tennis, and playing the koto. Unfortunately, these days I don't really have much free time. I like drinking tea. I have many kinds of tea in my office. Please come and join me sometime!

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Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps

…if Mudge slept outside, Henry would be alone, trying to sleep in an empty room in a strange house in a dark yard…

As the title suggests, Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps is one of the books in the Henry and Mudge series. Henry and Mudge go to visit Henry's grandmother in the countryside. Because they are visitors, Mudge has to sleep outside. But he is worried about Henry, who will have to sleep alone inside.

moth: 蛾
porch: 屋根付き玄関
bobcat: ボブキャット

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Self-intro

Hi, I'm Rick. I'm from the southwest of England. Now I live in Kumamoto City. I teach Writing classes at KGU. I'm a professor at Kendai so that's where I usually am. In my free time, I like watching movies, playing the koto, and playing table tennis. Unfortunately, I don't have so much free time these days. I like drinking tea very much, and I have many kinds of tea at my office in Kendai. Please come and see me.

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Welcome to Writing III

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Writing III. Nice to meet you!

In these classes, we'll be doing various activities to help you write better. Similarly to speaking, it's important to be able to write fluently, too, so in Writing III we'll be focusing on raising your confidence and speed.

Some of the things we'll do:

• book reviews
• Gofun ha Juubun (timed writing)
• Juppun ha Juubun (timed writing)
• Essays
• typing practice

Basically, we'll do all these things on blogs. Putting all the activities together, I'd like you to write 8,000 words this semester. That might sound like a lot, but, if you come to all the classes and also write a little outside of class most days, it will be quite easy!

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