A Yard of Bubblegum.

We had an interesting weekend this past Memorial Day weekend. We went to the town of Monroe which is on the outskirts of Seattle. My son had a baseball tournament. It would have lasted for three days if they had won on both Saturday and Sunday. However, they didn't do so well on Sunday, so we were free to leave. There is a saying in England, 'A change is as good as a rest,' which I think applied to our weekend. We don't often get out of Wenatchee, and although Seattle is only three hours away, it is a totally different environment. The climate is much wetter, so the whole place is green, with trees everywhere. Being from England, it makes me feel quite at home. And it is obviously more populated than our small rural town, so there is a lot more to do. After the last baseball game, we headed into town to have lunch and do some shopping. There is a place that I always try and visit whenever I'm in Seattle. It's called World Plus Imports. The name gives away the theme of the store. It is a very colorful international shop, that has everything from food, to jewelery, to furniture. It's one place where none of my children get bored, so I have enough time to really look at everything. There are also English products that I cannot get in Wenatchee. So, I load up on them whenever I'm there: English style baked beans (the ones over here are really sugary), Digestive biscuits, and Maltesers. Some of you who have been to England, might have tried these. I told my kids, who were scampering everywhere like mice, that they could each choose something. Within a few seconds, one of them was waving a huge, plastic tube of bubblegum in my face, “Can I have this, Mum?” “No!” was my very plain but to the point answer. It was a whole yard of bubblegum. We're talking about three feet. They would never stop chewing if we had bought that! And, I'm sure, the dentist would have plenty to say at their next checkup. What will they think of next?

Grammar notes.

Practice of 'would have', 'could have', and 'should have'.

1. We could have saved time if we had taken the short cut.

2. I would have called you if I had known that you were in town.

3. They should have been here by now; I hope nothing has happened.

4. I couldn't have driven my car yesterday even if I had wanted to; I dropped my keys down the drain!

5. If we were able to, we would have helped him.

This is a very special podcast because I have some thanking to do. Every now and then, I check on the statistics of my podcast, and yesterday I saw that I have had more than a million downloads all together. Thank you, to all of you who have listened to my short ramblings for the past two and a half years. I suppose one million downloads isn't really that much when it comes to the internet, but for me, it's a rare number, and one that I am very excited about. Now, I can tell my friends and family, "Hey, my podcast has been downloaded more than a million times!" It's a great way to show off. A million isn't really a number that I hear very much, apart from the occasional expression. 'One in a million' is a common expression which means something or someone very special. 'A million to one' is obviously a very low chance of something happening. For example, 'The chance of me getting that job is a million to one.' However, there has been a lot of talk recently using the word 'million' because someone in our little town won a million dollars a few days ago. I'll go into the details in another podcast, because it is a story worth telling. But I will tell you that it is a deserving family of seven, both parents are teachers, and three of the five children were adopted. It's the type of story that makes you glad, because they are the kind of people who seem to deserve something special. Anyway, I'm just glad that some of you are still listening to what I have to say, and putting up with my imperfections. I must tell you that what I enjoy more than anything about podcasting, is receiving emails from you, and getting to know you a little. It's like traveling without leaving home. So, I send you all a sincere thanky ou from Wenatchee, and look forward to the next million.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: statistics, to ramble, to show off, one in a million.

1. Statistics show that it is safer to fly than to travel by car.

2. I wish he would get to the point. He just rambles on about unrelated ideas.

3. He polished his new car and showed it off around town.

4. My grandmother is one in a million; she's a very special and unique individual.

You can really feel that Summer is on its way. Everyone is coming out of the woodwork. People are actually walking on the streets. You don't often see that; it's usually empty sidewalks and everyone in cars. But now, there is plenty of reason to walk. The air just feels soooo good, and the sun is not yet too hot. As I was driving home the other day, I saw two very sporty men on bicycles. Now, there happen to be a lot of cyclists in this area. It's a cycling paradise actually, because of the nearby hills and trails. But, these men were different. You could tell that they weren't cycling for pleasure. They were policemen. And they were cycling up my road! I felt sorry for them actually; our road is very steep. By the time they got to the top, they would have been exhausted. They looked as if they were in really good shape, not the typical, overweight, doughnut eating policemen in patrol cars. If you love cycling, it would be an ideal job. You'd get paid for riding your bike all day. And I doubt that they have to deal with many hardened criminals. First of all, they wouldn't get very far if they had to chase anyone in a car. And secondly, in a hot, hilly town that doesn't have many people on the streets, who would they arrest anyway? Perhaps they are showing a friendlier, healthier type of policeman to the community. They would be handy in places where people gather, like baseball parks, and community events that are outside. I suppose they could even race through a mall on their bikes, or a huge store like Walmart. Now, that would be useful because a lot of shoplifting goes on in those kinds of places. Seeing policemen on bikes, certainly changes their general image, and though they look friendly, remember that they are armed and dangerous.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: sporty, a ...... paradise, to deal with.

1. She looks fit and sporty; I bet she works out, or does some kind of competitive sport.

2. That shop is a chocolate lover's paradise; it is nothing but chocolate.

3. He had to deal with customer complaints all day, and then his car broke down on the way home, the poor man!

It's not very often that you get the opportunity to try out many kinds of instruments. Have you ever blown a bassoon? Have you ever strummed an electric guitar, or tried a set of drums? We had the chance to do that on Saturday. The Woodshouse Conservatory of Music was holding what they called an 'Instrument Zoo' for the public to come and enjoy. When we walked into the entryway, we were greeted by a face painter (for the kids) and we were given a map showing us which instruments were in which rooms. On the main floor, we walked into the room which is normally used as an office. A young man was there with a clarinet. Cool! My sister used to play one when she was little. I love its cool tones. He played a great piece from Pirates of the Caribbean. We are movie soundtrack buffs in our household, and that is a soundtrack that we are very familiar with. He caught our attention immediately. "Do you want a turn?" he asked. Of course I did, but I wanted to let my kids try it first. They all looked shy, and I could tell what they were thinking, "He's just had that in his mouth; do I have to put it in my mouth?" I thought the same, so I asked if he could clean the mouthpiece. He graciously did more than that; he put a new reed in it for me. Anyway, after my obsessive compulsive disorder was satisfied, we all had a go and loved it. Next, we moved onto the bass saxophone. It's huge. Infact, it's about the same size as my daughter, who did her best to blow it, but couldn't. Upstairs to the second floor we went, following the map, hearing all sorts of lovely sounds coming from the rooms, and walking past signs that said, 'Don't feed the animals.' Yes, very funny. In the next room, something very special happened. The oboe teacher, seeing us walk in, played a track from Star Wars. The mouths of all my kids dropped open. This was the 'bomb' as they say here, which is slang for the very best. The boys lined up to have a turn, germs or no germs they didn't care. But believe me, it's hard to blow. That beautiful, haunting sound of the oboe requires a lot of breath! Suddenly, another lady walked in carrying a very long instrument, a bassoon. She gave us a demonstration of what it can do by playing some Mozart. Again, we all had a go, mixing and spreading germs, which now makes me cringe, but at the time seemed to be irrelevant. We finished off our tour with the electric guitar and the drums. Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones were played by the guitar teachers, and my children just strummed one or two notes to accompany. What a great experience. When would you normally have that kind of an opportunity? Not very often, I think.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: tone, graciously, to strum, reed.

1. His tone of voice was very harsh and threatening.

2. I accidentally scratched his car, but he graciously forgave me.

3. Don't strum the guitar too loudly; it sounds better when it is quiet.

4. Reeds grow near rivers; they are also used for instruments.

Like many good things, the Garp started out as an idea. A boy had been told by his Science teacher to make an instrument involving specific measurements and the number eight. Well, the idea moved around in the mind of the boy for a few days, changing its shape a little, becoming more real and more possible each day. A day before he had to produce the instrument, and show it to his teacher, the boy set to work. He sneaked into his father's workshop and looked around. Gosh, look at all those tools. "I can surely create something wonderful here," he thought. First, he picked out a piece of wood from the many that were there. He put it in the vice, and tightened it. Then, he very carefully marked in pencil the measurements that his Science teacher had given him. Then came the screws. He screwed them in at each point where he had marked the measurements. Finally, he chose eight elastic bands, stretched and looped each one around two screws, creating a stringed instrument. "Yes," he thought, "this looks good." But, when he plucked the elastic bands, there was hardly any sound. Even the most stretched band didn't make much of a noise. He scratched his head. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he thought. He paced up and down the room for a few minutes, going over the steps he had taken, wondering what had gone wrong. He sat down with a sigh. Then, he started to think about stringed instruments that he had seen: guitar, cello, harp, violin. "Ah-ha!" a light bulb went on in his head. All of those instruments have a hollow; the strings are not right up against the wood. Perhaps a hollow will help to create a sound. He considered other materials that were lying around that he could use for a stringed instrument. He came up with a cardboard box from the recycling bin. He removed one side, making it into a triangle. Taped it all together, made the measurements, cut little notches at each measurement, and put the elastic bands in each notch. Surely, this would work.....He ran his fingers along the line of elastic bands, and to his delight heard a 'drrriiing!' Yes, he had found a hollow big enough to make it all work. Happily, to complete his creation, he spray painted it gold. He admired it for a while. "It's like a cross between a guitar and a harp. I'll call it, The Garp." So, that is how it came to be, and that is how he got an 'A' in his Science class.

Grammar notes.

Related expressions: involving, to set to ..., to pace, to take steps.

1. Exs: I'm considering involving Peter in our discussion.

They were in an incident involving a gun and a stolen car.

2. They set out on their journey.

We set to work immediately because it would take hours to finish the project.

3. The lady paced up and down the hospital room; she would soon deliver her baby.

4. The council was going to cut down all of our neighborhood trees, but we took steps to stop them.

What does a food drive mean? It's nothing to do with driving a car, that's for sure. You could also have a clothes drive, or a drive of something else. It is a call for donations, to put it simply. I received a plastic bag in the mail, placed there by the local postman himself. He, and many others like him, do a yearly food drive to help hungry people in our community. Everybody gets their mail, so everybody will have received the same bag. All the information that you need is written right there on the bag. It tells you what the drive is for, and that the National Association of Letter Carriers and the local Food Bank are working together to collect for the poor. 'Stamp out hunger', it says. To stamp out something is when you finish it, or do away with it completely. You will probably have heard the expression in other contexts such as: 'stamp out violence', 'stamp out bullying', 'stamp out racism'. To stamp out gives you a good visual for the meaning of the expression. I think that this particular food drive was well organized, in that, the information comes straight to everyone's home, in a bag that will be used to carry the food to the mail boxes, where, the next day, the mail man will pick them up. Very smart. If it is easy for everyone, then it is likely to succeed. The only requirement for the donators was that the food be 'non-perishable', which means nothing that can go bad easily. Canned foods, dry food like rice, pasta, dry milk, or dry soups, and boxed food are just those kinds of non-perishables. So, you simply pop whatever appropriate food you have in the bag, take it out to your mail box, and leave it there. The plastic bag will protect the food if it rains, and the postmen or mail men will take it from there. Somehow, there always seems to be something that you can give. A community effort to stamp out hunger. What a good idea!

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: to stamp out, non-perishable, to drive.

1. We are trying to stamp out dangerous speeding, by putting warning signs along the roads.

2. Non-perishable food is the easiest to transport because nothing happens to it.

3. He drove me crazy with his constant talking in the car.

Hello everyone, no podcast today, I'm afraid. For a few days I have a lot of appointments lined up. So, I will podcast again on Wednesday. I'll let you know what I've been up to then.

Morris Park is loved by many people in Wenatchee. It is a little league baseball park that has been around for more than forty years. Up until recently, it was in desperate need of repair and renovation. There were electrical problems, no heating or air conditioning, and the toilets were unspeakable...so I won't say anything about them. The parking lot was also a disaster; people would park badly, taking up too much space. Everything needed to be changed and updated. Well, over the past few months, a team of very focused volunteers has managed to raise money, put in many hours of labor, and transform Morris Park. It is barely recognizable as the original little league park that has been used for so many years. But you know how it is; when a place changes completely, for the better, you soon get used to it, and even forget about its former appearance. That is the case now with Morris Park. Now, as you pull up in your car, you see a brand new parking lot, with freshly painted lines for each parking space. Then, you walk through an attractive, brick gateway which leads to a large, area that is roofed. People can shelter from the sun or rain in this area, and it is right next to the concession stand, so the queues of people lining up for food and drinks are also sheltered from the elements. The original building which housed the concession stand, toilets, and storage for equipment was pulled down. Now, in its place, stands a totally new, heated, air conditioned, safe, and larger facility. There is even an upstairs meeting room with an attached deck. Everyone is impressed at what a good job the team of volunteers did. We have all benefitted from it. You know, most of the people who got involved, already had full time jobs, but they donated their time over many weeks, for the sake of keeping little league in the area. Other people donated materials that they no longer needed for the construction. It's encouraging to think of what can be accomplished when people work together for a good cause.

Grammar notes.

Useful expressions: to be around for..+ time, to house, for the sake of, to be in desperate need of.

1. This brand of jeans has been around for about fifty years.

2. That storage facility houses expensive vintage cars.

3. Sometimes landscapes are ruined for the sake of economic progress.

4. The climbers were in desperate need of sleep, but they had to get down to base camp before nightfall.

Art seems to be a very personal thing, as far as what a person does and doesn't like. You must have found that, at some point in time, you have been in a place where all of a sudden you come across a piece of art that you absolutely love. That happened to me on Saturday. When I was hanging around the ball park in Moses Lake, in between games, I noticed what looked like a statue outside one of the many non-descript buildings that were close by. I had nothing else to do, as the next baseball game wasn't going to start for another twenty minutes. So, I decided to walk over to the building and take a look. I'm glad that I brought my camera, and that the battery was charged, because I came across a beautiful work of art. It was a metal statue of a very defeated looking Native American Indian, on an exhausted looking horse. It was large, and very detailed. Partly, the surprise of finding such a soulful work in a really soulless collection of buildings drew me close to the sculpture. "Who on earth made this?" I thought to myself as I walked around the base of the statue, looking carefully for the name of the artist. There was no name, however, nothing on the base or the statue itself. The base of it was surrounded by weeds and gravel. It almost looked as if this piece of art had been thrown away. What a find! I lay down on the floor in various positions, just so I could get some good shots of all the details. Since leaving Moses Lake, I have been searching on the internet for the artist's name. So far, I have not come up with anything. I tried to phone the auto museum, infront of which the statue stood. Surely someone in the building would know something about it. I will keep on looking for the artist's name, and I'll let you know who it is. In this Northwest region there is actually a lot of Native American art of all kinds, from totem poles, to jewelery, to sculpture. If I were part of the council of Moses Lake, I would put the statue in the middle of town and have it lit up. It is a significant find, because Moses Lake is where Chief Moses comes from. He was a well known, very educated chief who advocated for his people and their land. The statue echos the history of this area, it's very identity. It's as beautiful as it is historical, and deserves a place in full view of residents and visitors.

Grammar notes.

Related expressions: to come across, a find, to come up with something.

1. I went for a walk, and came across a necklace in the leaves.

2. That car was a real find. It was in great condition, and a great price as well.

3. We are trying to solve the problem, but so far we haven't come up with any solutions.

You know, I'm getting better at learning about technology. I wouldn't say that I am totally ignorant about social media, but neither am I an expert. At least now I have a Twitter button on my blog page, in case anyone likes a blog and wants to send a Tweet about it. I also joined Facebook a while ago. For about a year I enjoyed my personal Facebook page; I reconnected with friends who I hadn't seen for a long time, and I quickly got up to date with what they had been up to over the years. That's the beauty of Facebook. Then, I thought, "Why don't I create a Facebook page for A Cup Of English?" So I did. It had a very positive reception, and many people joined it quickly. Someone then suggested that I create a group especially for my podcast followers. "Good idea!" I thought. That worked too. But then, everything went pear shaped (that's an English expression for things no longer being straight forward). I canceled my A Cup Of English page because some of my personal friends had joined, and I wanted to keep it strictly about the business of English. So, I canceled the page. Little did I know that the group continued, even though I, the administrator, had disappeared. I hope that some of you out there can come up with a suggestion for me. The problem that I have created is the following: the A Cup Of English group is an open group, so I can neither control it, nor become it's administrator again....Mmm, so what do I do? It is impossible to contact anyone from Facebook. I have tried to re-do my Facebook page, but that would mean using my acupofenglish@live.com email, and that was already used to set up the original page and group which I'm not allowed to do. I wrestled with the situation so much that I got totally frustrated. My only option is to create a different email address that is similar to my usual one, and join the group....I haven't tried that yet. At least it would give me the option of commenting on the page. There is a saying in English that applies here, "What you don't know can hurt you." It basically means: be careful and be informed before you take action!

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: pear shaped, the beauty of, the business of.

1. We had organised the event for weeks, but half way through, everything went pear shaped.

2. The beauty of the Apple iPad is its speed.

3. She is a very busy woman; she doesn't want to sit around and gossip. She wants to get on with the business of baking exceptional cakes for her bakery.