‘L’ Assommoir Perdu’ Part 1- Berlin films 1995 – 1997

15th June 2022

image from flickr.com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/s_jano/16944237056

In 1995 I began making a series of short, silent Super 8 films that would be collectively known as ‘L’ Assommoir Perdu’.

The first film made in March 1995, after a particularly bitter Berlin winter, was called ‘Igor or the Young Person’s Guide to Berlin.’ The title refers to the music chosen to accompany the film: ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ by Benjamin Britten.

Igor, played by Martin O’Shea (who was my main actor in many films, and later theatre projects), is an idealistic Socialist and Brecht fanatic. The young man visits Berlin, making pilgrimages to the Brecht Haus and grave, as well as various locations associated with Socialist Berlin.

We began the film quite seriously but at one point, when Igor reaches into his pocket to find a toffee, it took on a more light-hearted tone.

The climax, with a cast of dozens, was totally unplanned. The boy band Take That were playing two gigs in Berlin and the weekend before, for some reason, a large group of teenage girls marched up Unter Den Linden, from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate, singing Take That songs.

Following ‘Igor’ was a more modest film, shot in about an hour in a small park at the end of my street.

In ‘Kleingeld und Dulcimer’, Martin O’Shea plays Mr Kleingeld (German for small change), a loner of indeterminate age. After going shopping in a cheap supermarket, Mr Kleingeld sees a busker and is so impressed, he gives the musician some small change. Very small change. However, Mr Kleingeld has no idea about social behaviour and Mr Dulcimer, played by Detroit musician Jeff Tarlton, reacts to having his space invaded.

This film won first prize at the Prenzlau International Film Festival in winter 1995, which was held on a farm north of Berlin.

Cultural nod – the character of Mr Kleingeld was based on British comedian Eric Morcombe.

The third film, featuring a cameo from Mr Kleingeld, is ‘Les Aventures de Bruno Dalle’. Bruno tries to be French cinema icon Jean-Paul Belmondo. His girlfriend, Iris, brings him back to reality. She needs him to get a job. Angered, Bruno decides to take his Belmondo fascination further. He meets his friend, Richard Rastignac (who will appear in a later film), and is given a gun and told to go rob a bank. Will Bruno go through with the plan ? How will he appease Iris ? What exactly is Mr Kleingeld doing in this movie ?

Cine transfer organised by Martin O’Shea with the assistance of Screenshot Berlin (www.screenshot-berlin.de).

Butterfly Decal: ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’ EP

12th June 2022

A still from Niall’s Red Ribbon: A Short Story video

Butterfly Decal, the band I am in along with my dear friend Niall Keohane, are finishing the final mix on our debut EP.

The Jazz-inspired EP, entitled ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’, has four tracks:

1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story

2) Red Ribbon Suite

3) Swing, Princess, Swing

4) Miles et Juliette

Track 1 is a piece of first-person prose over a Jazz background and sound effects, a collage of film, music and poetry.

The video features Niall’s stunning B&W photography, (from the UK), while I add some shots from Sai Gon, Viet Nam. As the track nears the end, a theme from the next cut appears, low in the mix, leading to …

Track 2, an instrumental piece in three movements. Parts 1 and 2 share a melody but have a tempo change, whereas Part 3 leads to a melodic resolution.

Track 3, ‘Swing, Princess, Swing’, is based around a two-chord guitar structure. I’m only playing a $40 acoustic guitar here but Niall’s production makes it sound (almost) professional. Niall also adds backing vocals.

Track 4 is another story set to music. In the late 1940s, Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis travelled to Paris where he met, and fell in love with, singer Juliette Greco. As with Track 1, this cut features narrative, music and effects.

We plan, once we have enough material, to make our music available online on Bandcamp or SoundCloud, as well as posting more videos on YouTube.

The production was by Niall at his home studio in Birmingham, UK

Thank you so much for visiting this site. If you have time and interest, please view the videos and share them with your friends. The ‘Likes’ and views really help.

“Because it’s my nature.”

2nd June 2022

The fable of the frog and the scorpion

One day a scorpion was out walking when it came to a river. The scorpion, who couldn’t swim, wanted to cross the river, and saw a frog resting on a stone.

“Hello, frog, can you carry me to the other side ? I can ride on your back.”

The frog refused.

“You are a scorpion. You will sting me.”

“Why would I do that ? We would both die,” asked the scorpion.

The frog thought, then agreed. The scorpion climbed onto the frog’s back.

However, half way across the river, the scorpion stung the frog. The frog, in pain, asked the scorpion,

“Why did you do that ? Now we will both die.”

“I know,” replied the scorpion, “I couldn’t help it because it’s my nature.”

A modern day tale

Classes of students who are undisciplined, disrespectful and physically or verbally abusive.

The centre makes rules. The students start each lesson reciting them.

Rules such as not saying, “No,” to a teacher when asked to do something, not calling a teacher by a disrespectful name, no running, no eating in class.

Yet, forty minutes later, masks are off and half the class are eating, running in the halls, shouting. Students say, “No,” to polite requests, and call teachers disrespectful names.

They have been told if they break these new rules, they will be sent home, and if the offense is repeated, they will be expelled. Still they continue.

Why … because it’s in their nature.

Mr Orson Welles in ‘Mr Arkadin’ 1955

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I shouldn’t have to write this, but …

24th May 2022

Do not ever hit or touch a teacher

Always wear a mask at school

Wear your mask over your mouth and nose

Do not eat in the classroom

Class starts exactly on time

If your class is at 10:00, it starts at 10:00

10:01 is LATE

Thank you

Thank you, Little Princess

23rd May 2022

On Saturday, one of my very special, Top Cat students came to my class to give me these treats.

A teacher never forgets any gift from a student. I thank you so much, Little Princess. I ate them last night and they were delicious !

Best of luck with everything

You restore my faith in teaching 🙂

Thank you, my Princess (third time)

15th May 2022

Really appreciated.

Young Teens: Three British Legends

13th May 2022

You have read about three famous people from British history.

Question 1: Who are they ?

Here is a short video about Robin Hood.

Watch it twice, the second time write down any words you don’t know. I want at least five words.

Question 2: Returning to our three famous people, who was real, who was based on a real ruler and who is maybe only a legend?

Question 3: Match the pictures with the legends. EXAMPLE:

Sir Lancelot is part of the King Arthur legend.

Now … Your turn

Picture 1 is Friar Tuck

Picture 2 is Black Bess

Picture 3 is the sword Excalibur

Picture 4 is Maid Marion

Picture 5 is the Green Man Pub in London

Picture 6 is Sherwood Forest, Nottingham

Picture 7 is Camelot Castle

Creative Time – which character do you like most ? Which one would YOU like to be ? Alternately, tell me about someone from YOUR country’s history.

Write a short story, and feel free to draw and colour. You may make a comic book, if you like. If you can’t draw, no problem, just write.

Vocabulary bank:

brave / cheerful / cruel / dangerous / disrespectful / greedy / honest / intelligent / legendary / loyal / punish / ruler / ubiquitous /

extremely / amazingly / unbelievably

I wish I could be … // In my dream, I would be …

Answers

1 – King Arthur / Robin Hood / Dick Turpin

2 – King Arthur was based on a ruler but probably a Duke, not a King. Dick Turpin was real, while we are still not sure if Robin Hood was real.

3 – Robin Hood / Dick Turpin / King Arthur / Robin Hood / Dick Turpin / Robin Hood

Young Learners: Ancient Egyptian Gods

12th May 2022

An activity that combines listening & reading, collecting information, and allows for creative thinking, not to mention introducing students to different cultures and legends.

Today we are going to learn about some of the ancient Egyptian gods. First, where is Egypt ? In which continent is Egypt ?

Egypt is in the north – east of Africa.

What ancient buildings can you see in Egypt ?

The Pyramids, the largest one was built about 2,500 BC (about 4,500 years ago), and at 481 feet (146.6 metres) was the tallest building for 3,800 years (NOTE 1).

The creature in front is called the Sphinx. What kind of animal is the Sphinx ?

The Sphinx has the face of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird (maybe a falcon or eagle).

Ancient Egypt was thousands of years ago, from 3150 BC (BCE) to 332 BC (BCE). Animals were very important.

What animals can you see in this picture ?

We are going to focus on four Gods:

Thoth // Bastet // Ra // Anubis

Vocabulary

Pyramids

Sphinx

Tomb

Hieroglyphs

Let’s return to our two gods

Thoth and Bastet

Watch this video, and write down information about the gods.

What animals do they look like ?

What can they do ?

What animal was Bastet ?

Bastet was a cat, and cats were very important in Ancient Egypt. Can you think why ? What do cats like to chase and eat ? Check your answers:

Now … be creative. Invent a God from your country. First, think what animals you have, then what they can do. Don’t forget to tell me why.

Use crayons, colour pencils. If you can’t draw, it’s OK; just write me a magnificent story. Don’t forget to use the amazing adjectives you have been taught.

Would you like some music to help you while you work ?

Note 1: The first buildings to be taller were cathedrals, in England. St Paul’s was in London, then the cathedral in Lincoln became the tallest building in the world.

Note 2: The British Council ‘LearnEnglishKids’ page has some excellent resources and free print-outs.

IELTS: Sisyphus as metaphor

10th May 2022

Last week I held an IELTS Speaking Test. Only one student hit 7.5 although, in fairness, I was probably on the generous side in awarding the student such an admirable score.

Or, to be precise, learn from their mistakes.

I can break them down into three main areas:

coherence

vocabulary

complex sentences

Kicking off with coherence; it doesn’t matter how fluent you are, unless you answer the question, you will loose marks.

The test allows us to assess your understanding of both question and task. An example: one question was

What is the most popular activity in your country ?

ASIDE: I’ve told students until I’m blue in the face, never repeat, “In (my) country,” but since when do teenage students ever actually listen ?

The question asks for ONE activity; several students talked about two or three. This is not answering the question.

Anyone who’s studied at University will know how imperative it is to follow instructions.

COMIC RELIEF: One student, from a previous test, replied that the most common activity, “In my country,” was brushing teeth, and that foreigners do this every day, but Vietnamese only do this once or twice a week. Said student had to continue for two minutes. Needless to say, there were no flying colours.

More disturbing was the lack of IELTS vocabulary. You have been told time and again what that means, and I can’t keep hitting my head against a brick wall.

And so to work … get out your notebooks (those that actually bother bringing notebooks to class), look up previous lessons and write down:

TEN L-FWs

FIVE less common idioms

FIVE everyday expressions

TEN phrasal verbs

TEN basic collocations

I have taught you these ad infinitum. If you are struggling with this exercise, you will probably only get a 5 for the Lexical Recourses section.

Lastly, the old chestnut, complex sentences.

I had nine students, each with about ten minutes of speaking time. How many complex sentences do you think I heard ?

EXERCISES: Use at least two L-FWs, one idiom and other IELTS elements

(and if you think it’s funny to ask what I mean, after all this time, by ‘IELTS elements’, just get up and leave the class).

Speak for one minute about:

one of your cousins // your favourite gift // sports // your best memory from childhood // best films // problems in your city // typical local food.

Part Two: Critical Thinking

“Oh, teacher, I’m tired and feel lazy.”

Work in teams. Watch the following short clip about the ancient Greek king, Sisyphus:

Characters from Greek and Roman mythology permeate western culture, and references and allusions are ubiquitous.

You may watch the video again, writing down new words. There is a lot of background (in which you may encounter a character from ‘The Avengers’ movies), but the main feature starts around the 4:00 mark.

Your task is to relate this story to modern life. Choose a person you know, or something from your own experience. You may even project your thoughts about the future, once you have left education and joined the workforce.

To assist you, some pertinent L-FWs and idioms:

futile (adj) futility (noun) / absurd / pointless / meaningless / contemptable / repetitive / a metaphor

a total waste of time / flogging a dead horse

sick to the back teeth / day in, day out

cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

talking until (pronoun) blue in the face / the grind

putting an old head on young shoulders

Look up the meanings yourself. Your teacher won’t be with you to give you the answers in life. Think for yourself.

Jazz models, fashion and attitude

5th May 2022

A selection of photos found on web searches. No copyright infringement is intended.