2009-Jan-17 - Music for a Day When Memories and Hopes Meet...

The traditional ''Auld Lang Syne'' is not the only song that could make people think of old friends at the New Year. Transcript of radio broadcast:
29 December 2008

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember, and today we bring you music for the New Year.

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T.J. MacDonald, left, and Stacey Fox, both of Syracuse, New York, welcoming 2008 in Times Square in New York CityIn the United States and other countries, this old Scottish song, "Auld Lang Syne" is played when a new year begins. It is about remembering old friends.

New Year's is a holiday for memories and for hopes. The past and the future come together at midnight. Not surprisingly, emotions are as much a part of New Year's Eve as noisemakers and fireworks. After all, a traditional way to welcome the New Year is to kiss the person you love.

"Old Lang Syne" lends its name to a modern song about a man and a woman who once were lovers. One day, a week before New Year's, they meet again by chance. The singer is Dan Fogelberg and the song is called "Same Old Lang Syne."

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On December sixteenth, two thousand seven, fans of Dan Fogelberg lost an old friend. The American singer and songwriter died of prostate cancer at the age of fifty-six.
He was known for the kind of soft rock popular in the nineteen seventies and eighties. "Same Old Lang Syne" was one of the hits from his nineteen eighty-one album "The Innocent Age."

The idea of meeting an old lover by chance is also at the heart of a Paul Simon song. Here is the title song from Paul Simon's nineteen seventy-five album "Still Crazy After All These Years."

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Chance meetings are one of life's little surprises. They can happen anywhere -- in a market, on the street, even in a taxicab. This song by Harry Chapin is called "Taxi."

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Harry Chapin was a popular folk singer and songwriter. In nineteen eighty-one, at the age of thirty-eight, he died in a car crash on his way to a performance.

Music and emotions go hand in hand. Songs can make us feel the heartbreak of a lost love, or the excitement of finding a new love. Songs can also capture the pain of a wish that a person knows will never come true. Here is James Blunt with "You're Beautiful."

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The nineteen eighty-nine movie "When Harry Met Sally" was about a relationship. Billy Crystal plays Harry and Meg Ryan is Sally. They meet and become friends, though not at first. Later, they fall in love, though not for very long. Then, on New Year's Eve, Harry comes to his senses and finds Sally at a party.

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From New Year's Day, we turn to "A New Day." That was the name of Celine Dion's music and dance show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. It closed on December fifteenth, two thousand seven, after almost five years. It earned a reported four hundred million dollars in ticket sales.

The show's run ended two months before the start of a worldwide tour for a new album by the Canadian singer. But some fans came to the show again and again, so closing night was like an emotional goodbye to an old friend.

We leave you with Celine Dion and a song that some of you will probably sing along with. From the nineteen ninety-seven movie "Titanic," here is "My Heart Will Go On."

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We hope you will join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English, on the radio or online at voaspecialenglish.com. Wishing you a happy New Year from all of us, I'm Steve Ember.

2008-Nov-27 - Car Accident

Car Accident  
It have been almost a week since that car accident, and I've been calm down enough to write this whole thing down here.

It was last Friday--Nov. 14, 2008. And I could have died.
I left for Ann Arbor a little bit after 8 p.m. The highways were quite good that night--not busy at all. So I drove around 60 MPH without any rush driver ""Beep" me. I was in a good mood--showed and dressed up and was listening to Christmas music. On the last highway, i met a truck in front of me and as I always tell my freinds. I hate 3 kinds of cars when I'm driving---trucks, policeman cars and motocycles. So if it's another day, i would switch the lane and pass that truck. But that day, I was in good mood and besides, it's almost my exit coming up. So I just slowly followed truck in the right lane waiting for my exit. But the tall truck block my view of exit sign, so I missed my exit 3 towards downtown Ann Arbor. I was not nervous because I was always told it's ok to miss exit and I can just take the next exit and I did.
Exit 2 is still says Ann Arbor. I thought I would be fine since I was not that far away. And I parked at a public school parking lot after I got off highway and used my itouch found my current location and mapped it. I felt confident to arrive my destination in the next 7 mins as the map told me. But I was wrong.
I've been always telling my friends that I have a poor sense of direction. I alway joke and say"If I say we should take right, then take left." So, that day, I believed I should turn right and that was the wrong way. I was heading west to Ann Arbor. And the roads are extremely tricky.(Downtown Ann Arbor is already very tricky). So there were moutain roads, train tracks, one lane bridge, broken roads...and no lights which is not that amazing, I don't see lights often in America. I missed the lights in Shanghai. They make nighttime like daytime.
When I deeply realized I was lost. I began to nervous and tried to find the way back. Woops, I missed the turn back on Maple RD again which is the way back. I was in a hurry to turn around and go back to Maple. But this little road led me drive upon a mountain where there's a river on one side and cliff on the other. And there's no intersection or people's house to let to make a U-turn and drive back. After 1 mile, I found a house and I used their drive way to turn around the car. I knew that I was so late, so I didn't even have time to find my cell phone which is somewhere in the car and I cound see it because the darkness. On half way downhill where was a contiue turn, my cell phone rang and I thought it's a good chance to see where it was. It was at that point, I found my car was drifted to the left lane. I turned the stealing wheel and it didn't quite listen to me. I scared not only because I lost control of the car, but also next to left lane it's the river...I don't remember if I put break on or something. I only remember that I turn the stealing wheel so hard clockwise to avoid to jump into the river and the car spinned around. I can not see where I was turning. The scene outside was flying fast. I alway hate to go to amuzement park to take those kind of ride, especially, this time is not a GAME!!! I sat in the car, thinking I'm going to die.
After my car stopped, I saw smoke coming out from the front and I jumped out of my seat and try to get out. But I can not open the door. I then opened the other door and climb out. I called Chris and yelled "Help, Help me. Come and help me. " I didn't know what to do. There was two driver stopped and check on me. They were nice and really helped me to calm down. After I make sure I was safe, I found it's impossible to drive the car out. Although I didn't eventually drive into river or hit any tree, but the car was in a deep ditch full of water and mud. I need a tow truck...
I'm just so silly to think that the only thing I need was a tow truck. So I was waiting and do nothing. If I've known that water can also damage the car, I would have tried to scoop the water out...
Chris came in 30 mins in shock. "Thank God" He kept saying. Yes, I could have died if I drove into that river and sank in the car...
Around 11 p.m. tow truck came and helped the car out. Half car was suffered by water. Chris insisted getting a police report and letting the tow truck get the car to car dealer. I don't know what to do so I have to listen to someone.
I could not sleep that night. The accident kept going on and on in my mind, again and again.
I bagan to blam myself. What if I didn't go out that late? What if I didn't follow that truck? What if I turn left and got back to highway? What if I had a GPS in my car? What if I had bluetooth so I don't have to find my cell phone. What if I died...
I told my parents this terrible experience. I thought they were superstitious, so I told them it's my rat year and that day is the only day I forgot to wear any red in the whole year. To my surprise, my mom didn't think so. But she is still superstitious that she told me that's the day my grandpa had the car accident. She believed that my grandpa was protacting me and I believe that, too. I admit I'm superstitious. There's something in this world that you have to believe even you can not see or hear. I asked my mom to donate some money to Tample. My mom was mad and sad everytime I said I could have die... But the whole thing shocked me. I was so shocked that I don't have any motion that night. And I was so shocked that I began to cry the next day. And I was so homesick and I was not hungry at all but thought KFC was extremely good. And I bagan to think I should spend all my money before I die...
The next day, we went to see the car in car dealer shop. It was icy rain and cold and the car was totally out of control(make funny sounds and the roof window won't close.) I felt so sorry and I felt the car was crying.
We will not have the car back for 2 weeks and the expense is $4000...
I try to put more clues together to figure out what happened to me. It was 11.14, just the numbers have alreay frighten me. Chinese people doesn't like number 4 'cause it sounds like die and number 1 sounds like "going to". 1114 is a perfect match for the phrase "going to die"...And it was also the day my grandpa met an accident and lost his life. And it was in my rat year, especially I didn't wear any red that day. And the tow truck driver told us before he left that his grandpa commit suicide in this river. And after this accident I bagan to feel cold all the time and have serious cough everynight. Are these all coincidents or inevitability?
I've bee close to Death. Are they still around me? Or Am I dead?

2008-Nov-27 - A Child's View of Thunderstorms

This is cute....
A Child's View of Thunderstorms

A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school and she feared the electrical storm might harm her child. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school. As she did she saw her little girl walking along. At each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up, and smile. Another and another flash of lighting followed quickly and with each the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile. When the mother's car drew up beside the child she lowered the window and called to her "What are you doing?" The child answered "I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

2008-Nov-27 - I have a dream car:BMW