16 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Series Tags: series
I’ve rewatched some episodes of Game of thrones. Fascinated by the plot itself, I still find the following things disgusting:
1. Daenerys’ thrashy white hair + her nasty brown eyebrows. very, very cheap. and she even has some moustache, that’s REALLY disgusting.
2. very slow pace; the action goes too slow, there is neither tension nor suspense.
3. intimate&bedroom scenes are tasteless, they cause loathing, not excitement! as if the creators of GoT have never seen the same scenes in other shows, like Spartacus or the Tudors, where they are really exciting and sensual. In GoT they f*ck melancholically as doomed autumn flies.
4. the show follows the current fashion&conjuncture in an idiotic way: there is a needless gay scene, there is even more needless lesbian scene. what is this crap??? only because nowadays no one tv show goes without gay scenes? so so so tacky. it could be good, though, but the trouble is that the creators are not able to make such things, they need a special training from more professional colleagues :).
5. some very important and key episodes are omitted, but some insignificant, boring and unimportant scenes occupy all the screen time – that’s more than strange.
12 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Music Tags: I hate it
I hate everything about the Beatles, I always did. Maybe because my father is a huge fan of them and all my childhood I was obliged to listen… If I was not probably I would be just indifferent. But I was poisoned with this rubbish and now every time I hear their music, it irritates me very much. Last time it happened when by a chance I saw a commercial for ‘Orange’ (a perfume) by Hugo Boss, there was one of their most nauseating songs, ‘Drive my car’ as the soundtrack. :( I hate their primitive lyrics and tunes, their stupid hairstyle, I hate their stubborn fans and I hate the idea that they’re above any critical remarks, cause they’re f*cking genii and eternal idols.
09 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Books Tags: gothic, horror, writers
Nowadays Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft is a reputed master of weird horror, thriller, mystery and fantasy stories. But contemporaries did not bestow honours upon the writer. During his lifetime and the first two or three decades after his death the writer’s literary heritage has always considered as "trash", and Lovecraft himself was scorned as a craftsman. Yet the publisher Arkham House (organized by one of the closest and most loyal friends of Lovecraft, Robert Bloch) have done a lot over the years for the recognition and promotion of Lovecraft’s gothic stories. In fact, the royalties from Arkham House was the only source of Lovecraft’s meager income, because his work in Weird Tales did not bring neither revenue nor even an adequate moral satisfaction. That was during the Great Depression, and the Americans did not need the horror book – their reality was much worse. The writer himself said bitterly that his career began at the most inopportune moment. He realized that his stories are too good for cheap magazines and pocket books, but still don’t meet the level required by a serious publisher. In addition, editors rejected most of the stories for being too frightening and gloomy that reduced almost to zero any chances for publication.
It is well known that the most important driving force behind the fan-culture is the mythology around the object of veneration. There is an absolutely incredible amount of conflicting legends around Lovecraft: he could be easily called the most enigmatic figure in the literature of 20th century. In addition, it is generally the first man of art whose name is associated with so many unusual, mysterious, reverent whisper legends. We know a lot about Lovecraft, and at the same time almost nothing. People who call themselves his close friends, acquaintances and even relatives, at best consisted in corresponce with him. Lovecraft’s best friend – Robert Bloch - talked to him a couple of times on the phone but never met in person. No one has been able to describe accurately the appearance of the writer. The few surviving photographs depict different people, and one of them simply can not be Lovecraft, as photographed next to Franz Kafka. More or less certain that the writer had an exceptional memory, which helped him to achieve considerable success in a few select scientific subjects, he knew several languages. Due to ill health he did not attend college and was engaged in self-education. The foundation legend of the writer’s life, and accordingly, the transition of HP Lovecraft in the eternal idols were mysterious circumstances of his death. There is no reliable information on this subject, and even serious researchers discuss implausible versions: he starved himself to death, shot himself five times, or just hanged himself … Why not suggest that he disappeared in the vast expanses of R’lyeh, then.
The same mystery and hints characterizes the Lovecraft’s personality. His friendly correspondence takes place exactly in the most severe years of the Depression. At this time none of the writers involved in the thankless job of writing horror stories could afford to travel around the country. Therefore, all communication was reduced to the epistolary genre. It was hardly rational in Lovecraft’s distress to waste even little money on postage and spend the whole day writing letters. And he wrote scrupulously! Often his letters reached a volume of seventy pages, filled with small neat handwriting. And the number of letters have been impressive – he got them by tens and hundreds, and always answered. His extraordinary kindness and attentiveness should be noted – without any reward he wrote reviews on someone else’s work, gave extensive and detailed advice, even corrected and finished other people’s stories. So, his regular correspondents (Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith) were his best friends. They give quite confusing and doubtful of "Grandpa"’s life. Lovecraft often signed his letters as Grandpa, and it is a common euphemism for the word "devil", by the way. According to them, the writer just adored cats, ice cream, books, Lord Dunsany and the ancient architecture of his native Providence. He liked to walk at night, got strange parcels from exotic countries, met some suspicious persons, was well acquainted with many little-known and archaic ecstatic cults, as well as with more modern and advanced black magic of the Middle Ages. He preferred solitude, though he was married to a certain Sonia Greene, had exceptional knowledge of history and often amused himself compiling a list of inaccuracies in Hollywood epic films. Led the life of an ascetic, was not interested in any carnal pleasures, hate progress, starched collars, women, and Leo Tolstoy, and everything that was anyhow connected with the sea. Notable for his refined and gentle humor, he willingly gave advice on the literary creativity, and conscientiously reviewed the poetry and prose of his pen pals.
Lovecraft was not satisfied with the usual subjects in those years, a set of ghosts, grave-diggers, witches and the walking dead, and he has moved much further into the abyss of the unknown, creating a strange world with it’s own completed mythological system and all necessary elements of history and religious cults. Only a few of his stories have no relation to the concept of the "Old Gods". They tend to affect no less terrible subject – usually a medieval magic. Lovecraft skillfully injects tension, an intrigue almost always reveals itself at the very last line of the story. Lovecraft’s original language – a little bit archaic, tinted with secret knowledge, embellished with numerous deliberately piled definitions. This style, like the rhythm and pace, is an excellent fit for his mossy horror stories, without a doubt, but in the beginning it makes the reading not very easy. The thrill is caused by poetic descriptions of things so horrible that they have no place in this world … and some vague allusions to a far more terrible things bring even more thrill. And this is the main Lovecraft’s concept - simple horror story with guts sickened his inventive nature in which the finest and most appalling ideas of the supernatural so sophisticatedly intertwined.
Art, like all our life consists of paradoxes entirely. By the mid-80′s the former craftsman Lovecraft has been proclaimed a master of weird fantasy, his novels and short stories translated, published and available at any bookstore, some biographies and pseudo-scientific research works also appeared. Lovecraft now is a recognized founder of the modern gothic novel and also a father of many other equally important things. Frankly, I always think about the dual nature of things in this regard. But, apparently, it is the fate of almost everything great – to be recognized only after death, while many of mediocre contemporaries enjoy success and loyalty of critics. Although many "cult" graphomaniacs are only good to be fish food. But it’s another story.
09 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Movies Tags: tips and tricks
If your media player plays .mkv files with sound but without video, try the following steps:
1. Download and install MKV Toolnix.
2. When installed, run mkvmerge GUI from the Start menu.
3. Drag your .mkv file into the input window.
4. Press Mixing, wait until done (15-20 s). Try to run.
5. If video and sound are not synchronized, try to change FPS (if you try all the standart settings one by one, some of them would finally work:). Notice that setting a delay for video or/and audio usually doesn’t help, so you should try exactly FPS option :).
09 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Movies Tags: dvd, movies
The Machinist (2004): Dark and mysterious, this movie could be directed by David Lynch. Actually there is nothing new here, all the elements were introduced before in many other movies like Angel heart, Memento, Lost Highway etc. And still the mixture of these elements is very tasteful and intriguing, spiced with direct and hidden allusions to Dostoevsky :). A very impressivet psychological thriller, definitely worth watching.
ps. Everybody knows that Christian Bale has lost 30 kg to play the insomniac Trevor Reznik. To become a walking sketeleton, the actor used a very simple diet: 1 apple and 1 can of tuna a day :).
Blue Valentine (2010): 
In short, this is a story of a married couple where a guy is deeply in love, and a girl doesn’t know what she wants from life. The guy (Dean) is simple-minded, but kind, optimistic and devoted while Cindy (the girl) always faces disappointments and has only one answer for any question ‘I don’t know’. Was she really in love when married Dean? Of course, she doesn’t know, but we see that she was not: she was just desperate being pregnant from a previous boyfriend… One loves, another uses, as ever. Neither a drama nor romance, just a banal and typical life story. The director of the movie spent 12 years thinking over this project. Obviously he could make something more interesting after that.
The other woman (2009): a movie based on a book. The protagonist is a young woman (22 year old ), a lawyer freshly graduated from Harvard. She falls in love with her boss at first sight. Luckily, his marriage is unhappy one, so when Emilia gets pregnant, he divorces his wife to marry young, pretty and loving Emilia. But he has a son who doesn’t accept Emilia as a stepmother. And Emilia sinks into depression after the sudden death of her newborn daughter. There is a touching scene: when Emilia cries leaning the truth about her daughter’s death from the ex-wife of her husband.
06 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Books Tags: in English, library
I’ve just found a really great site. There are tons of books to download, not only in English, but in French, Spanish, German and some other languages.
06 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under English Tags: expressions, meaning
At the time of Jane Austen a well-bred woman could easily say something like ‘a hundred officers made love to me’, and nobody would think about her as a whore :). That time this expression, to make love, meant only ‘to court’. Everybody would understand that those officers were just her beaux, admirers and suitors, not lovers :). The same about expression ‘to be taken to bed’. A lady could say that she was taken to bed, because it meant ‘to be in childbirth’.
What do you think Jane Eyre has done to satisfy a coachman? ‘I got out of the coach, gave a box I had into the ostler’s charge, to be kept till I called for it; paid my fare; satisfied the coachman, and was going: the brightening day gleamed on the sign of the inn, and I read in gilt letters, ‘The Rochester Arms’.
Obviously, she just gave him a tip :).
03 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under English Tags: cliche
Some years ago the researchers at Oxford University compiled the list of top ten irritating phrases:
1 – At the end of the day
2 – Fairly unique
3 – I personally
4 – At this moment in time
5 – With all due respect
6 – Absolutely
7 – It’s a nightmare
8 – Shouldn’t of
9 – 24/7
10 – It’s not rocket science
BBC did some investigations about most irritating office phrases, the result (50 irritating expressions) you may read under the cut. My own list is quite long, too. Most of all I hate these words and phrases:
team, team leader, team player
princess (addressing a girl)
proactive
you guys
that’s it
gorgeous, awesome, fabulous
(something) rocks
just sayin
not being funny but
no offense but
There are some cliche in lyrics that I really hate, like make me real, take my breath away etc.
Read BBC’s top 50 of the most irritating office phrases and expressions
More
03 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Writing Tags: amazing, authors, writing
Amanda Hocking (born 1984) wrote 17 vampire-romance novels in her free time (she was employed as an assisted living worker). Rejected by publishers all over New York, Amanda decided to self-publish on ebook platforms only. By March 2011 she had sold over a million copies of her books on Amazon, earned two million dollars and became a full-time writer after signing a contract with St. Martin’s Press (another $2 million). The books are being converted into a screenplay… Impressive!
An interview with Amanda (NY Times).
Amanda’s blog.
03 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Books Tags: download, in English, library, links
…modern books in English? This is a frequently asked question:). There are mostly classic books in free e-libraries, and not everybody likes classics. I read mostly classics:) but sometimes I want to read something contemporary. For some reasons I don’t use torrents, so I find modern English books here:
http://www.ebdb.net – a search engine. Actually you may use only this site cause it searches within all known libraries.
http://englishtips.org – an enormous source of any books in English, from course books to fiction and non-fiction.
http://www.greylib.su – there are books in many languages besides English. I love this site!!! There I finally found a complete collection of H.P.Lovecraft stories:).
Other good sites: http://www.freebookspot.cc and http://ebookee.org
Keep on reading, it’s the best and most pleasant way to learn English:).
02 Jul 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Movies Tags: dvd, movies, notes
Atonement is a long and boring movie but even this fact is not a trouble. It’s thoroughly false. A glossy fake, insincere and shallow rubbish. Maybe the book is better:). Cause the story is really interesting, moving, touching etc. But the realization is weak, probably only very naive and sentimental viewers could be moved by such helpless acting as Keira Nightly performs. I’ve seen the trailer of Atonement in 2007 and was impressed. The movie spoiled my impressions of the trailer :). also, there are some rhetoric questions about this movie. When Keira Nightly is gonna fix her malloclusion and narrow-eyed/nose-wrinckled grimaces? Is there any other old bag BESIDES (please! please!) Vanessa Redgrave to play old women?
Priest is just another post-apocalypse trash, there’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Every time I watch such a… huh… production, I can’t help but wonder: why, oh why they could not spare some more money from an enormous budget to pay a good screen writer?? Priest is such a cliche that’s not even clear why the hell it was made. Probably they did it just for lulz =).
Biutiful – piercingly sad story about imperfections of human nature. Very typical movie for Iñárritu – perfectly written, acted and directed. Being a huge fan of Iñárritu, I was afraid to see his favorite triple plot scheme for the 4th time :). Well, no. This time the movie is almost linear, although Iñárritu could not avoid temptation to show some extra-details about side/background characters. I think that Iñárritu is one of the most talented, fresh and interesting contemporary directors, and if he didn’t get an Oscar yet it only means that Oscar doesn’t deserve him ;). This sad, dark and depressive movie is a breath of fresh air after commercial trash that occupies 99% of screens.
25 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Books Tags: true story
Don’t tell mummy by Toni Maguire is a true story of child abuse. Toni’s father abused her from 6 to 14 in any possible way till her pregnancy. All this time her mother knew everything but didn’t interrupt her husband. The father always told Toni to keep silence cause other people would blame her. And he was right: when 14 year old Toni discovered her pregnancy, she was scorned and blamed by everybody. The late abortion almost killed her; the father was imprisoned, but it only brought more anger and blame on Toni.
The book seems to be helpful for those who experienced the same abuse.
25 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Series Tags: actors
Why does Sean Bean die in 99% of his movies? I can hardly think about any movie where he survived. That’s weird.
And there is nothing to watch in Game of thrones after the execution of Eddard Stark :(.
21 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Books Tags: fantasy
A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin.
I started reading this book with some excitement: I didn’t *really* enjoy the TV-series based on it, but after first episodes of Game of thrones I thought that I would like to read the book which is probably far more interesting. I’ve heard of A song of ice and fire before, and got from some reviews that the book represents one of the finest examples of epic fantasy sagas of recent years.
The beginning is not easy: lots of names and places, a few subplots, many flashbacks and background details; some lines are quite far separated in space. I had to keep in mind a lot of information, hoping that the author will soon explain how some certain characters are related to each other. Only after a hundred pages there is light at the end of the tunnel: the details are explained, the background info is given, the action begins. From this point the book becomes really interesting.
Surprisingly, the protagonists are the children. Warden of the North Eddard Stark has five legitimate children: Robb, 14 years, Sanz, 11, Arya, 9 years old, Brandon, 7, Rikon, 3 years and a bastard son – John, age 14. These kids and their parents will go through all kinds of tests, and you can only wonder at the talent of Martin to picture a variety of such realistic psychological portraits.
The story begins at the time when the 7 Kingdoms are going to face winter, after summer which lasted for 10 years. The House of Lannisters, gradually subjecting the current King Robert, is eager to take the power completely. At the same time, on another continent across the sea, an offspring of the previous king dynasty (the Targariens) tries to find an army intending to return the crown. After the death of King Robert a bloody struggle for the throne begins while the Targerian princess, Daenerys is preparing the army to invade the 7 Kingdoms, and the Others (inhuman creatures designed to kill) are wandering in the North.
George Martin’s world is less diversified than worlds of some other fantasy writers, such as Robert Jordan and John Norman. There are two continents, on one of them mainly nomadic tribes (resembling the Hun) live. On the other there are Seven kingdoms located, their political and social system is close to our middle ages. An interesting detail is the presence of the Wall which obstructs the creatures of the North (although some of them exist only in fairy tales and legends). Martin doesn’t try to surprise the reader with a variety of political systems and other external entourage, his main concern is the inner world of his characters. There is no that much fighting in the book, but we see all sides of the struggle for power. Those who crave for power are going to violate any laws, and participants of political games warn ‘honestly’ that they can not be trusted in spite of temporary help in some affairs. Through the eyes of maturing children we learn the basic laws of life, the despair of losing a loved one and the fury of betrayal, responsibility for one’s actions and choices between what is wanted and what is should be done.
The heroes of the book are not black and white characters. This is one of the greatest strengths of the book. Having entered into their thoughts on the author’s will, we see both their positive and negative features. All of them went through some difficult circumstances, but some of them were able to get through with dignity, others not. Catelyn, Eddard Stark’s wife, during the illness of her son stays completely aloof from any guidance of the castle, and all the care falls on the shoulders of her first child, 14 year old Robb, who is suddenly forced to grow up. And in another great grief, when heads of Houses want to destroy everything in bloody war, she tries to restore peace. Tyrion Lannister, the ugly dwarf brother of the queen, rejected and despised from childhood by his father and other relatives but not broken, only his spirit and mind hardened – he helps the Starks children when they, having no father around, meet difficult life circumstances. And he also leads the army into the valley, where the hirelings rob and rape everything that moves. Excellent knights make glorious victories in tournaments… and behave stupidly in international politics. Cruel mercenaries and assassins may keep a drop of mysteriously survived kindness in their hearts…
In violation of the genre rules, positive heroes of the book die, suffer, get into hopeless situations – despite all their good qualities, just as inexorably as the villains. The author does not let them live only because the reader will feel sorry for them. Although, I must say, in the first book we have not lost any really valuable character but a few good men gone forever.
Reading the book is like watching a soap opera. There are episodes and lots of positive and negative characters; it’s very interesting to read about certain characters, and some other characters and fragments about them are so boring that you feel like performing a duty. From time to time your interest in some threads of the plot may fade, then the author tosses a little firewood of new details and event to keep you reading. Despite this controversial assessment, after reading the first book I got a persistent positive impression, and now I want to read the sequel. The intrigues about the Iron throne really struck my fancy. This is despite the fact that such intrigues are usually very difficult to describe in plain language, showing them both sophisticated and convoluted. Martin succeeded. So, the struggle for the throne continues. Three people declared themselves kings. Winter is coming, the army of the dragon princess is gathering, the Others are becoming a real peril and the Night Watch is too weak and small to stop them. A Clash of Kings is the next to read :).
20 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Quotes Tags: fav quotes
There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal bath where the hairy and slippery mix in a multiplication of mediocrity.
(c) Vladimir Nabokov
19 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under English Tags: tips and tricks
The tips from Alex Case. The comments are mine.
1. Start your own English language blog. Even for people who don’t have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they don’t know what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary (journal), and a more up to date way of doing this is to write a blog. Popular topics include your language learning experience, your experience studying abroad, your local area, your language, or translations of your local news into English. I particularly like this advice, I think it’s really helpful. If you don’t know what to write – just translate somebody’s else blog! Don’t forget the copyrights and links, though.
2. Write a news diary. Another daily writing task that can work for people who would be bored by writing about their own routines in a diary is to write about the news that you read and listen to everyday. If you include your predictions for how you think the story will develop (e.g. “I think Hillary will become president”), this can give you a good reason to read old entries another time, at which time you can also correct and mistakes you have made and generally improve what you have written. Good idea. Here TV could be helpful – no matter if you watch news in your native language or English, it would be easy to write their brief content.
3. Sign up for a regular English tip. Some websites offer a weekly or even daily short English lesson sent to your email account. If your mobile phone has an e-mail address, it is also possible to have the tips sent to your phone to read on the way to work or school. Please note, however, that such services are not usually graded very well to the levels of different students, and they should be used as a little added extra or revision in your English studies rather than as a replacement for something you or your teacher have chosen more carefully as what you need to learn.
4. Listen to MP3s. Although buying music on the internet is becoming more popular in many countries, not so many people know that you can download speech radio such as audio books (an actor reading out a novel) and speech radio. Not only is this better practice for your English than listening to English music, from sources like Scientific American, BBC and Australia’s ABC Radio it is also free. In fact, it’s easy to download any audio course from P2P and listen to it on your way to work/back home. Dialogs are especially useful!
5. Listen to English music. Even listening to music while doing something else can help a little for things like getting used to the natural rhythm and tone of English speech, although the more time and attention you give to a song the more you will learn from listening to it again in the future. If you hardly recognize the words, just search for a song’s lyrics online!
6. Read the lyrics to a song. Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take some time to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. If the lyrics are not given in the CD booklet, you may be able to find them on the internet, but please note that some lyrics sites deliberately put a few errors into their lyrics for copyright reasons. Once you have read and understood the lyrics, if you then listen and read at the same time, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech. To avoid ‘lyrics with errors’ look for lyrics on fan sites of those bands.
7. Sing karaoke in English. The next stage after understanding and memorising a song is obviously to sing it. Although some words have their pronunciation changed completely to fit in with a song, most of the words have the same sounds and stressed syllables as in normal speech. Remembering which words rhyme at the end of each line can also be a good way of starting to learn English pronunciation. They say it’s a good way to memorize the correct pronunciation… if your family and neighbors don’t mind, of course =).
8. Write a film, music, hotel or book review. Another motivating and easy way to make yourself write in English is to write a review for a site such as Amazon or Internet Movie Database. Many non-native speakers write reviews on sites like this, and if you have some special understanding of the book, music or film due to your first language or knowing the artist personally, that would be very interesting for the English speakers who read and write reviews on the site. Very good tip, especially for fans of music and reading who used to listen/read a lot and regularly.
9. Only search in English. Switching your search engine to the English language version of msn, yahoo, Google etc. can not only be a good way of practising fast reading for specific information in English, but could also give you a wider choice of sites to choose from and give you an idea of what foreigners are writing about your country and area. Very often you may notice that amount information in English is definitely larger:).
10. Read a book you’ve already read or seen the movie of in your own language. Although most language learners under Advanced level would probably learn more from reading a graded reader or something from the internet than they would from reading an original book written for English speakers, for some people reading something like Harry Potter in the original can be a great motivator to improve their English. To make this easier for you and make sure that it motivates you rather than just making your tired, try reading a book that you already know the story of. This not only makes it easier to understand and guess vocabulary, but you are also more likely to remember the language in it. If you have not read the book before, reading a plot summary from the internet can also help in the same way. My favorite tip!
The rest 60 tips under the cut!
More
18 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under English Tags: grammar
Some time ago I’ve downloaded an English grammar book by Denis Runov. I did it just for lulz and turns out there are only lulz in this book. Runov claims the creation and development of some very special ‘cognitive motivational theories‘ of teaching/learning English, whatever it means. Runov is the eponymous founder of a school and author of many course books; his Grammar looks very serious – beautified with some very complicated schemes to replace scientific evidence; however, there are some very interesting statements in a chapter about articles:
- articles are untranslatable.
Well, the origin of a (an) is known, it comes from the word ‘one’, and it could be translated in some cases with the same word, for example a yard of cloth is equal to one yard of cloth. Sometimes a (an) has a meaning ‘every’, for example: an apple a day keeps the doctor away is equal to one apple every day keeps the doctor away. Also a may mean ‘the same kind’ or ‘the same size’ – all of a size, all of a piece. Definite article has the definite meaning – this, that, those, these.
Denis claims that:
- a (an) is not used with proper nouns. It is used! For example:
a Mr.Smith – some Mr.Smith. She fell in love with a Smith = She fell in love with one guy from the Smiths :).
а Botticelli – a painting by Botticelli; a Birkin – a bag made by the Birkin bag brand; an Aesop in speaking – to speak allegorically (as Aesop did);
her novels are quite nice but she’ll never be a Jane Austen – she will never be a really famous author of love-story novels.
- a (an) is not used with uncountable nouns. It is used!
‘Two coffees and a tea, please‘ (an order in a restaurant); at a time = at the same time, to take 2 pills a time.
Also in some certain cases a (an) is used with uncountable nouns like knowledge, understanding, distrust, education. She got an education as a ballet dancer.
Also a is used in expressions like: a picture is worth a thousand words, a million miles in a thousand years, a hundred years of solitude :).
In short, this book seems to be pretentious, pompous and absolutely worthless as all this ‘unique’ Denis’ School method =). Learning the rules for using articles by heart is useless without an understanding of the context.
ps. The greatest comfort for all students of English is the fact: even native English speakers make mistakes in article usage :).
18 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Pets Tags: bunnies, Dolly, pets
I’ve never kept a bunny before and could not possibly imagine that bunnies are such lovely pets. They’re playful, funny, tame and docile.
When my husband brought me a baby bunny I was lost in admiration. Baby bunny was so tiny (like a PC mouse), so lovely, so incredibly cute that seemed to be just a toy, not an alive creature. Very soon we discovered that this heavenly creature is too young – she didn’t accept any veggie as she had only mommy bunny’s milk before. Also, she was almost toothless and hardly could chew anything we tried to give her. I was desperate and decided to give her some cow’s milk if she would not eat next day. Probably she was hardly older than 2 weeks and just opened her eyes. It’s a big crime to sell poor animals at such age, but there was nothing to do. At least I could save her. Maybe such little babies even don’t survive if their owners follow advices of local petshop owners… and if they buy bunnies for kids just to play them to death:(.
My husband got very strange advice from the petshop’s owner. She said that dwarf bunnies must eat only parsley and celery, and never have water! Fortunately there are many sites about bunnies with adequate and sufficient recommendations. Our Dolly eats plenty of hay and grass (actually it’s wheat/millet/corn that I grow myself in the balcony :) cause I’m very much afraid of any infection/poison and don’t want to pick up the grass in a park or field). Also Dolly likes tomatoes and carrot:). She’s not fat at all so sometimes I give her some organic oat/barley flakes. She likes to play with cartons, pieces of cloth and plastic pipes :). She adores to be held and caressed. Especially when I caress her forehead and chin. They say bunnies like to be caressed there cause it makes them feel as chief bunnies! :) And when my bunny is happy she always licks my hands – they say bunnies show their respect this way :).
18 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Writing Tags: fiction, tips and tricks, writing
I know I’m late but I’ve come across it just now – there are tips and rules for writing fiction from many well-known British writers. And here is the second part. I should have cross-stitched this one: Don’t be one of those writers who sentence themselves to a lifetime of sucking up to Nabokov.
I do agree, cause V.Nabokov has always been my idol, the horizon that’s impossible to reach chasing perfection.
15 Jun 2011
honeybunnyPosted under Psychology Tags: psychology
Psychologists have explanations for anything, and especially for dreams and nightmares. Let’s see what the most common nightmares mean.
Somebody/something is chasing you. You understand that this body wants to harm you. No matter how fast you’re, no matter how hard you try to hide – you can’t escape your pursuer. Psychologists say that your pursuer is… yourself. A part of you that you’re afraid to confront. Decision: try to find out that causes the tension in your real life. It may seem that escaping is much easier but you should be brave and pushing. Face your trouble or that side of your personality which you’re trying to escape and hide from. It’s better to sort out than to hide.
You’re losing your teeth. Or they’re crumbling away. Or you’re looking in the mirror and see your teeth rotten, or sharp as a vampire’s etc. As a rule it means that you’re in a situation where you’re losing your self-confidence. When you lose your teeth in nightmares – you lose your confidence in real life. You don’t care about your self-esteem, don’t belive in your strength. You rely on other people to feel confident – trust yourself instead.
You’re looking for a toilet desperately. But all the toilets you could find are located in some very strange places or in full view of everybody. You stand in line but when you finally get in you see that it’s unusable. The nightmare doesn’t mean that you had too much tea before bedtime. You can’t express yourself. The line for a toilet actually means that you set the others’ needs higher than your own. The best solution – put yourself, your needs and wishes on the first place. It may seem selfish but in fact it’s easier to meet the others’ needs when you filled your own.
You’re naked in a public place. You desperately try to cover your body. All people around are dressed but they don’t notice your nakedness.
It means that you feel yourself vulnerable. Probably, you’re not sure about your job or relationship. You’re in some unknown territory and must confirm your skills and talents. The solution is to express and behave yourself without worries about the others’ opinion.
You’re taking a very important exam. You’re terrified as you didn’t prepare yourself. Too late to change anything and you’re deeply upset.
The nightmare means that usually you prepare yourself for any task too diligently. You set the highest standarts and you’re too much worried, too much afraid of showing a bad result. You’re the most pitiless and severe examiner for yourself. When you judge yourself too severe you’ll always feel yourself a loser – no matter how you’re successful. Try to find something joyful and spontaneous in your life – something that doesn’t take endless preparation.
You’re flying. You’re very happy. Usually it means that you free yourself from some depressing circumstances. You’re free from restriction, free like a bird. Enjoying the freedom don’t forget that some other opportunities to change your life are near.
You’re falling down. Sometimes you tumble on the ground, sometimes you’re falling down for a very long time, from a steep into the deepest abyss.
You’re afraid of losing control. The falling means that you should get rid of the duties and chores which pull you down. You’re stressed and that’s why in this case psychologists recommend to take easier some facts of your life. You should also try to relax the tense muscles before bedtime.
Your car is out of control. You try to brake, you’re afraid of crashing. The meaning of the nightmare – you want to find a right way in your life (usually in your career). Although you have a plan you can’t change the circumstances. The unavoidable car crash shows your understanding the inevitability of your conflict with somebody. Instead of waiting for a crash, try to concentrate on those spheres where you hold the control. Don’t be afraid of asking for help and accept the situations and facts you’re unable to change.
You’re late. You’re in a hurry but understand it’s already too late. Sometimes you meet some distractions or obstacles. You check the time, you’re scared as time is running out.
Actually it means that you’re worried about losing time in your real life. You suffer from lack of opportunities, you lose time that you could use to start a family, to make a career.
The solution is to stop useless actions, occupations, relations. If your boyfriend doesn’t want to marry you and a family of your own is essentially important for you – quit this hopeless relationship, start another. Make a decision and your time will belong to you.
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