(Mid to High Level) Outsourcing

A new Department of Labor report finds personal outsourcing is revolutionizing how Americans don't do their own work.

A comedy/news piece from The Onion

Watch

Outsourcing

And for sports fans:

Rodrigo

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth album by the English band The Beatles.  Released on 1 June 1967, it was an immediate commercial and critical success, spending 27 weeks at the top of the albums chart in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at number one in the United States. Time magazine declared it "a historic departure in the progress of music".

Listen:

 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Track 1. SGT Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

 It was twenty years ago ______

Sgt. Pepper taught the band to ______
They've been going in and out of _____
But they're guaranteed to raise a _______
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the ______
We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sit ______ and let the evening go
Sgt. Pepper's lonely, Sgt. Pepper's lonely
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
It's wonderful to be here
It's ________ a thrill
You're such a lovely audience
We'd like to take you home with us
We'd love to take you home

I don't really want to stop the show
But I thought that you _______ like to know
That the singer's going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing ______
So let me introduce to you
The _____ and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Track 2: A little Help From My Friends

____ ____ ____ ______ if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing ____ of key
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna ____ with a little help from my friends

What do I do when my _____ is away?
(Does it worry you to be alone?)
How do I feel by the ____ of the day?
(Are you sad because you're on your ____?)
No I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends

(Do you need anybody?)
I need somebody to love
(Could it be anybody?)
I want somebody to love

(Would you _______ in a love at first sight?)
Yes I'm certain that it _______ all the time
(What do you ____ when you turn out the light?)
I can't tell you, but I know it's _____
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Oh I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends

(Do you need anybody?)
I just need someone to love
(Could it be anybody?)
I want somebody to love

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends
Oh I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends
With a little help from my friends

Track 3: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

__________ yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade _____
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope _____

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your _____
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she's ____

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh...

Follow her down to a bridge by a ________
Where rocking _____ people eat marshmallow ____
Everyone smiles as you drift past the _____
That grow so ________ high

Newspaper _____ appear on the shore
Waiting to _____ you away
Climb in the back with your head in the _____
And you're gone

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh...

Picture yourself on a train in a _____
With Plasticine porters with looking-glass _____
________ someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh...
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh...
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds [fade out]

Track 4: Getting Better

It's getting better all the time

I used to get ____ at my school (No I can't complain)
The ______ who taught me weren't cool (No I can't complain)
You're holding me down (Oh), turning me round (Oh)
Filling me up with your ____ (Foolish rules)

I've got to _____ it's getting better (Better)
A little better all the time (It can't get more worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (Better)
It's getting better _____ you've been mine

Me used to be angry young man
Me hiding me head in the ____
You gave me the word, I finally ____
I'm doing the best that I ____

I've got to admit it's getting better (Better)
A little better all the time (It can't get more worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (Better)
It's getting better since you've been mine
Getting so much better all the time
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better

I used to be cruel to my _____
I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she _____
Man I was mean but I'm ________ my scene
And I'm doing the best that I can (Ooh)

I admit it's getting better (Better)
A little better all the time (It can't get more worse)
Yes I admit it's getting better (Better)
It's getting better since you've been mine
Getting so much better all the time
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better
Getting so much better all the time

Track 5: Fixing A Hole

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets ___
And stops my mind from _______
Where it will go

I'm filling the _______ that ran through the door
And kept my mind from wandering
Where it will go

And it really doesn't _____ if
I'm wrong I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong
See the people standing there
Who _______ and never win
And wonder why they don't get in my door

I'm painting my room in the _______ way
And when my mind is wandering
There I will go
Ooh ooh ooh ah ah
Hey, hey, hey, hey

And it really doesn't matter if
I'm wrong I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong
Silly people run around
They worry me and never ask me
Why they don't get past my door

I'm taking the time for a ______ of things
That weren't important ______
And I still go
Ooh ooh ooh ah ah

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
Stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go oh
Where it will go oh

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go (fade out)

Track 6: She’s Leaving Home

Wednesday morning at _____ o'clock as the day begins
Silently closing her ________ door
Leaving the _____ that she hoped would say more
She goes ___________ to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the __________ key
Stepping outside she is _____

She (We gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (__________ most of our lives)
Home (We gave her everything money ______ buy)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years (Bye bye)

Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's _______ there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband "Daddy our baby's gone
Why would she treat us so ________________?
How ______ she do this to me?"

She (We never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
Home (We ______ hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years (Bye bye)

Friday morning at ____ o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the ____________ she made
__________ a man from the motor trade

She (What did we do that was wrong)
Is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
Fun (_____ is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always _______
For so many years (Bye bye)

She's leaving home
Bye bye

(Advanced) ENO

Do difficult times make for better art and music? Brian Eno discusses the future of creativity, against a backdrop of the post-2008 banking crisis. 

Lesson aims:

To build awareness of cultural topics and terms.
To consider the arts in a social and economic context.
To focus on the use of adjectives in discussing contemporary arts.
To engage in a speculative discussion around future art forms.    

1. Before watching:

Read and think about the quote in the picture. Why is Eno saying this? And why now, in these times? Do you usually think of an artwork as an object or an experience? Does it make a difference what sort of artwork?

Think about these genres of music:

Hip Hop, Blues, Punk, House, New Wave, Hard Rock, Jazz, Classical, Baroque, Soul. What sorts of audiences originally adopted these styles? How do they reflect the social context from which they emerged? How have their audiences changed over time?

What genres of music do you enjoy? Do your your tastes reflect your social class, level of education, social background etc?

2. Watch only the first 5 minutes - the introduction and profile of Eno:

Click the link below:

Brian Eno profile 2011

Which big names has Eno worked with?

What makes him different from other music producers?

What sort of music is he currently developing?

3. Watch this part again.  Check the meaning of the adjectives below. Listen for these adjectives and put them into order:

lateral

misunderstood

grim

wild

maverick

seminal

inseparable

cryptic

convulsed

Finished? OK. What nouns (if any) were used with these adjectives? (Watch again to check.) Which adjectives were used to describe arty or cultural things? Which were used for other, less arty things?

4. Discuss these excerpts. What do the parts in italics mean?

"It’s Nick Clegg’s one time adviser on youth issues, back in his own salad days."

"His outfits were enough to catch your eye, or even have it out."

"He’s a little maverick genius burrowing around on the fringes of rock ’n roll."

"Seminal American outfit Talking Heads."

"As to how Brian Eno makes music with U2 and others, we sense it’s not by turning all the knobs up to eleven. He’s been known to issue his musicians with cryptic little notes."

"Coldplay released an Album helmed by Mr Eno at the time of the banking crisis. That’s the last banking crisis. Hmm. Have we hit a snag with the theory that troubled times bring forth great music? (What does the speaker think of the Coldplay album?)"

Match them to these synonyms: band / led / digging and searching / former / youth / poke it out / making a bigger noise / give or provide /  run into a problem

NB: "turning all the knobs up to eleven" is actually a reference to a 'mockumentary' film about a fictional (and incredibly daft) heavy metal band called Spinal Tap. Watch the famous "these knobs go up to eleven" clip here:

Spinal Tap 

This is a good example of how popular culture can become 'proverbial' or part of common language.

5. Now watch the interview (from 5 min in)

How does Eno answer the question about difficult times?

What new art forms is Eno interested in?

What does he say about how we should think about new art forms? What comparison does he make?

What is one of the problems for a young artist today and how does this differ with Eno's own experience?

How does the idea of "open source" change the idea of the artist for Eno?

What does he mean by musical seeds?

6. Reflect: How does Eno's vision of a creative future for musicians based on sharing relate to the quote about artworks as "triggers for experiences" at the beginning of the lesson?   

Do you agree with Eno's idea that it's more interesting for artists or musicians to 'share' the creative process rather than work more individually? Could there be any negative aspects to this model of creativity? 

What are the advantages of artists exercising more individual control over their work?  

Does artistic leadership mean the same thing as artistic individuality?

Is it necessarily a good thing that the "distinctions between art forms" such as music and visual arts are disappearing in new art forms such as app art? Can it sometimes be a good thing that a particular art form such as painting or music is kept distinct from others? 

7. Watch the interview part again. Pre-check the meaning of these adjectives and then watch and order them.  Also note which nouns (if any) were used with them.

conventional

comfortable

app-based

primary

porous

worthwhile

shareable

alarming

collective

8. Eno used the word "palette" a few times. What was he talking about? Where does the word originally come from and what object did it refer to? Can it still mean that in English? How has Eno changed the meaning of the word? Do you know any other french words used in the context of the arts?

9. These are verbs that use prepositions. Can you remember how they were used? What seeps out? What is scrambled up? What breaks down? etc? Watch again.

 

seeps out

scambled up

break down

collage together

bind together

emerge from

Finally, if you liked Eno, here's one of his most groundbreaking albums, done in 1981 with David Byrne. Remember this was done before digital sampling and all that.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
 

(Higher Level-Advanced) A Bar-tailed Godwit

Bryan continues with his excellent project of interviewing migratory waterbirds before they fly to Northern Asia. Here he speaks to a bar-tailed godwit.

A Bar-tailed Godwit

(Higher Level-Advanced) The Math of Starry Night

Physicist Werner Heisenberg said, “When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first.” As difficult as turbulence is to understand mathematically, we can use art to depict the way it looks. Natalya St. Clair illustrates how Van Gogh captured this deep mystery of movement, fluid and light in his work.


Watch video:

The math of Starry Night

Noun Area

Test your vocabulary

 Do Quiz:

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