Regrets

Do you have any regrets? Look at the following forms to express them:

I didn't go to university.

• I wish I had gone to university.


• If only I had gone to university!


• I regret not going to university.


• I would have liked to have gone to university (but for some reason I couldn't go).


• (With hindsight), I should have gone to university.


• If I had gone to university, I would have a better job (now).


• If I had gone to university, I'd have studied languages (then).

Here are some quotes regarding regrets from the famous:

• "One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late." - Agatha Christie.
• "The only things I regret... are the things I didn't do." Joe Karbo
• "We rarely repent of having eaten too little." Thomas Jefferson
• "You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the present moment. Seize every second of your life and savor it. Value your present moments. Using them up in any self-defeating ways means you've lost them forever." Wayne Dyer
• "Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in." Katherine Mansfield
• "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ''It might have been!''" John Greenleaf Whittier

Source: famous-quotes.com

Too pink or too macho?

Two of Italy's new cabinet members. Photo: The First Post

The following is an article comparing the politics and attitudes in Italy and Spain after the recent general elections in both countries. Read the full article by clicking on the main title ("Too pink or too macho?") to this post.

There has been a lot of talk about gender equality in the run-up to Italy's recent general election, but as is all to clear from the line-up of TV magnate Silvio Berlusconi's new cabinet, men still rule here.

Out of 21 ministers in the new right-wing administration there are only four women, all given lightweight roles.

Most of them have so far won distinction more for their looks rather than for their political prowess.

The glamorous new Minister for Equal Opportunities, 32-year-old Mara Carfagna, is a former showgirl from one of Mr Berlusconi's television networks.

She also came sixth in the 1997 Miss Italy contest.

"You are simply gorgeous," an admirer posted on the new minister's website on her first day in office.

An MP since 2006, she lists her main hobby as "collecting pens" according to one of her profiles.

Environment Minister Stefania Prestagiacomo, 41, is a lawyer and a former co-ordinator of Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in Lombardy.

Fresh faces

Her good looks won for her the title of "Miss Parliament" when she was first elected as MP for Syracuse, in Sicily, 14 years ago.

A popular comedian once described her as: "the best thing in Italian politics".

Mr Berlusconi, now 71, who has described Spain's new government as "too pink" prides himself on being a ladies' man.

He cultivates a playboy image and makes off-colour jokes about his fondness for glamorous women, sometimes earning him public reprimands from his estranged second wife.

He once said that, if he were single, he would marry Ms Carfagna.

Another woman chosen for a cabinet post by Mr Berlusconi is Giorgia Meloni, the new youth minister. At 31, she is one of the youngest people ever to reach ministerial rank in Italy.

The 'grey quota'

She comes from a traditionally leftist Roman suburb where she worked successfully as a youth organiser for the post-fascist National Alliance party.

Maria Stella Gelmini, 34, also a lawyer, from Lombardy, is the new minister of education.

"I don't believe in the 'pink quota', rather the 'grey quota'," she is quoted as saying.

"Now we shall have the opportunity to find out how much 'grey matter' she has," was the somewhat tart comment of the left-wing daily La Repubblica.

Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who went into right-wing politics in the early 1990s after an earlier career as a model and minor actress, setting up a small right splinter party of her own, has been left out in the cold by Mr Berlusconi.

"I don't really think there is a future for me with the new government," she petulantly remarked.

Italian women tend to be discriminated against in the workplace despite some timid recent gender equality legislation.

Employment of women in the cultural labour market is gradually improving, according to the latest Italian government statistics, but Italian women still tend to get lesser-paid jobs - as librarians, archaeologists or historians, for example.

With female employment in Italy almost at the bottom of the EU ladder - at 46% - Ms Carfagna is going to have her work cut out* to try to change prevailing Italian macho mentalities.

Source: BBC News

Vocabulary Focus
:

* if you have your work cut out to do something, then you face a challenging job.

• You will have your work cut out to convince him of your ideas.
• I had my work cut out to get the class ready for the exams.
  

New guide to 'irritating' England

England is a nation of "overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex- and celebrity-obsessed TV addicts", according to a new tourist guide book.

The latest edition of the Rough Guide says no other country is as "insular, self-important and irritating".

But in turn none is more "fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse", with such "an unparalleled range of historic buildings, monuments and landscapes".

Oxford is "superb", Bath "unmissable" and Newcastle "vibrant", it adds.

The Rough Guide produces travel manuals for more than 200 destinations worldwide.

'Deeply conservative'

Back-handed compliments abound in the book, which was produced by four British travel writers.

"It's a nation that prides itself on patriotism - yet has a Scottish prime minister, Italian football coach and a Greek royal consort," it says.

England "isn't just one place, but a perpetual collision of culture, class and race".

On the one hand, "a genuine haven for refugees" with immigrants from more than 100 ethnic backgrounds, but on the other, "a deeply conservative place".

In some ways the country is losing its diversity, the guide claims, "where the hearts of many towns - and increasingly their outskirts - consist of identikit retail zones".

"Yet it's also a country where individuality and creativity flourish, fuelling a thriving pop culture and producing one of the most dynamic fashion, music and arts scenes to be found anywhere."

Certain towns and cities are recommended to visitors, such as Bath which has "graceful, honey-toned terrace, beautifully preserved Roman baths and a vivacious cultural scene".

The Lake District, South Downs and Royal Tunbridge Wells also all find favour.

But many other places are criticised. Plymouth has "a bland and modern face", Derby is "unexciting" and Essex is "an unappetising commuter strip".

'Footie not soccer'

The nation's favourite pastime also takes something of a kicking.

"Football, footie, call it what you will (no English fan ever says 'soccer')", the Premier League is overpriced and with players "more famous than pop stars".

The guide suggests heading to an "unfashionable provincial" club for the "real experience".

"Macclesfield Town against Rochdale on a wet Tuesday night in February - that's a proper football match," it enthuses.

When it comes to England's people the guide gives with one hand - kindly describing them as "animal-loving, tea-drinking, charity donors" whose "warmth is in the humour".

But it takes away with the other hand, saying: "The English have become obedient consumers rather than active citizens, with brand loyalty the nearest thing to religious/spiritual belief."

All in all, the Rough Guide concludes: "The only certainty for visitors is that however long you spend in England and however much you see, it still won't be enough to understand the place."

A spokesman for the company said he believed would-be visitors would recognise that the comments were "tongue-in-cheek".

"Our sense of humour is one of the many reasons, along with heritage and culture that people come here," he said.

Source: BBC News

Do you agree with any of the points made in the article?

How do you view the English and England? Do you have any experiences that back up your opinions? Remember you can be as critical and as rude as you like; as I am (I'm sure I've mentioned this already) NOT English!

Happy Birthday to the Euro!

When the euro was launched there were plenty of people who thought it would crash and burn.

Ten years on, its role as a global currency is secure, even if it hasn't achieved everything its founders hoped.

Wednesday is the 10th anniversary of the agreement that launched the single currency.

However, residents of the first 12 EU states that adopted the euro didn't begin using euro banknotes and coins until 1 January, 2002. Things didn't start out so well.

The euro spent its early life hitting record lows against the dollar - but now it is the greenback that's falling.

Tourists and exporters in the eurozone have to cope with the euro at a record high. Many in Europe are now bracing themselves for the effects of the slowdown in America.

Stronger position

But as the European Commission is keen to remind us, for once the eurozone economies are coming into this credit crunch from a position of relative strength.

About 16 million jobs have been created in the eurozone since the birth of the euro, and unemployment has fallen, from 9% in 1999 to 7% in 2007.

In contrast to the UK, most governments also have room to cut taxes to boost growth if they need to: the average budget deficit in the eurozone countries last year fell to record low of 0.6% of GDP.

Who gets the credit?

Of course, neither of these achievements is necessarily due to the euro, any more than the fall in average inflation and long-term interest rates can be directly attributed to the European Central Bank.

Nearly all of the world's advanced economies have seen a steady decline in inflation since the late 1980s (at least until recently), a development that has pushed down interest rates as well.

However, supporters of Economic and Monetary Union would say that the budget deficit and employment figures do owe something to the euro.

They would say that the Stability and Growth Pact, which asks countries in the eurozone to keep their budget deficits below 3% of GDP has imposed budget discipline.

Even so, some large economies like Germany have sometimes flouted the rules, and the pact was revised in 2005.

Economic reform

Supporters would also say the single currency has forced countries to get on with reforming their economies - including the labour market - because being part of the eurozone means that governments have lost the option of devaluing their way out of trouble.

But many economists would disagree.

Germany has done an excellent job of retaining its competitiveness in recent years by keeping costs down - even as the euro has risen against other currencies.

But the same cannot be said of Italy, whose producers are struggling to keep any foothold in global markets.

This relates to one of the disappointing aspects of the euro's record to date, at least for some of its founders.

No convergence

Economic and monetary union does not seem to have promoted economic convergence among the major economies.

If anything, the reverse is true.

The situation right now is a case in point.

Spain and Ireland did well out of the early years of the euro - too well, some would say.

Being part of the single currency meant that interest rates were lower, for longer than they would otherwise have been, during the boom years when their economies grew rapidly.

That allowed some US and UK-style imbalances to build up, particularly in the housing market.

Both economies are now set to slow sharply as a result of the credit crunch. It is possible that they will even suffer a recession.

By contrast, Germany and France had less of a boom, and may now only suffer a modest slowdown.

Pity the European Central Bank, which has to set interest rate policy for all of them.

Supranational Powers

Monetary policy alone cannot make the mature economies of the eurozone converge.

It would be unrealistic to expect it to.

The only way to achieve that kind of convergence would be to create an enormous central eurozone budget which could redistribute money between countries to help smooth out the differences between them.

There are some die-hard Europhiles who would support this.

But don't hold your breath.

Source: BBC News

Watch a video (by clicking on the main title "Happy Birthday to the Euro") discussing the pros and cons of the Euro.

Do you agree with the points made in the article and video?

Do you think that Spain has benefitted from being part of the Euro venture? Or do you think that Britain has been wise to stay out?

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is a 1996 Academy Award-nominated, BAFTA-winning cult classic film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. The movie is about a group of heroin addicts in late 1980s Edinburgh and their passage through life. It stars Ewan McGregor as Mark Renton, Ewen Bremner as Spud, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy, Kevin McKidd as Tommy, Robert Carlyle as Begbie and Kelly Macdonald as Dianne. Author Irvine Welsh also has a brief appearance as hapless drug dealer Mikey Forrester.

The screenplay, by John Hodge, was adapted from Welsh's novel. It does not contain any references to the non-drug-related hobby of train spotting. The title is a reference to an episode in the original book (not included in the film) where Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are visiting to use as a toilet. He asks them, in a weak attempt at a joke, if they are "trainspottin'". As they walk away, Renton realizes the drunk was Begbie's father.

Plot

Set in Edinburgh, the film begins with a narration from Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) as he and friend 'Spud' career down Princes Street after shoplifting to raise cash, with security guards in pursuit. Renton states that unlike people who "choose life" (a traditional family lifestyle with children and material possessions), he and his cronies have opted out of ambitious pursuits, preferring to live in a blissful, meaningless heroin-induced stupor. We are introduced to his friends: film buff Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), hanger-on Spud (Ewen Bremner), keen footballer Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and unpredictable thug Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Sick Boy, obsessed with Sean Connery, is also a heroin addict, as is the goofy, innocent Spud. In contrast, Tommy and Begbie openly criticise heroin use. Tommy lives an athletic, drug-free lifestyle. Begbie does not believe in heroin, but he is (ironically) a vicious drunk, eager to pick fights for the mere thrill of instigating physical altercations. This point is clearly illustrated when Begbie is seen casually throwing his pint glass off a bar balcony, injuring a woman and causing a large-scale pub brawl.

Source: Wikipedia

Continue reading the plot and the reaction to the film by clicking on the main title ("Trainspotting") above.

I think it is a great film partly because all the characters are frighteningly realistic.

I recommend you watch it if you haven't already. And if you have, watch it again in English (with subtitles).

But I warn you that it isn't for the over-sensitive of you!

Which film do you consider great? Write a brief description of the plot and why you like it so much.

This is one of the tracks from Trainspotting.

The original version is by Lou Reed and is the one featured in the film.

This version is sung by a variety of artists (including Lou Reed) to raise money for charity.

We were robbed of Eurovision!

Cliff was denied illegally!

According to TV documentary “1968. I lived through the Spanish May” - aired on La Sexta - the Eurovision Song Contest of 1968 was rigged by the Fascist regime of Francisco Franco to ensure the Spanish entry won.

The Spanish singer Massiel won the competition, with the creatively titled song ‘La, la, la’, by only one point, beating UK legend Cliff Richard, who was singing his (now) classic ‘Congratulations’.

Director Montse Fernandez Vila has claimed that RTE executives toured Europe offering cash and promising to buy television series and contract unknown artists from other Eurovision member states to influence the vote. At that time the winner of the competition was decided by a jury comprised of 10 members from each of the 17 countries participating with each member awarding one point to their favourite song.

”There is evidence that votes were bought to secure a win for Massiel,” said the director. ”The regime was acutely aware of the need to improve their image… Looking back at the parties that were organised and the way Massiel was turned into a national hero - it seems a bit excessive for a song festival but it all served to glorify the regime,” she said.

No need to rig this year’s soon upcoming contest though. After last year’s debacle, when the Spanish thought they had a winner and were cruelly denied by colluding newly arrived Eastern European nations who all voted for each other, they’ve gone ironic. For 2008 their entry is called ‘Chikichiki’ - a comedy, samba rap complete with crap-but-easy-to-learn dance.

Even if Chikichiki gets nul points in the competition it’s bound to* be a summer hit. So consider yourself warned if you’re holidaying on the playas this season.

This is a certain sign that the country has grown up after its fascist interlude and joined the top table of cynical, self-knowing western democracies. No more rigging pointless competitions, now they just take the piss. Or ‘toma el pelo’ as they say.

Source: Madrid-Uno Weblog

Vocabulary Focus:

* to be bound to : when you are certain something is going to happen

eg He is bound to be tired; he has been working all day and night.

eg I haven't studied at all; I am bound to make a mistake.