New

I bought a new pair of shoe in Gong Guan last Saturday. It’s called Converse. It cost me 1,660 NT dollars. Originally I most like another one, but there is no my size. I have to buy this one. But I am still happy.

Duff 'Rose' McKagan

Michael Andrew McKagan, better known as Duff 'Rose' McKagan, was born February 5, 1964. He is an American musician and bassist, who is best known for thirteen-year tenure in the 1980s hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is currently the bassist for the band Velvet Revolver.

Since April 2002, Duff has played bass guitar for the group Velvet Revolver together with ex-Guns N' Roses' members, Slash and Matt Sorum, as well as guitarist Dave Kushner and former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. Their debut album "Contraband" was released in 2004 and peaked at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The group's second album, currently entitled "Libertad", is expected out in 2007.

OFFICIAL FANCLUB

ESL Podcast 222 – Alternative Medicine

*Alternative: means different or different kind of something.
*Lasting: means continuous for a long time. Ex “Long lasting.”
*Swear by something: to believe in something. Ex “I swear by the drugs.”
*Therapy: a kind of treatment. In this case therapy is acupuncture.
*Skeptical: to doubt, to not believe something.
*Herbal: from plant.
*Injure: =hurt.
*What do I have to lose: It can’t hurt, and it may help.

One of my exams was failed, oh god.
I have to study hardly.
well, I want to see the movie first.

Andy Timmons

In the US, studio guitarist Andy Timmons almost became a household name in the late eighties as the guitar player for New York’s gold-record selling rock band Danger Danger. The band had a string of hits and popular videos for singles including “Bang Bang” and “Naughty Naughty,” incorporating a sound that would be best described as a hard rock version of Journey. Unfortunately, their record label derailed their efforts by refusing to release their third CD and, of course, they prevented the band from acquiring rights to it for several years. Andy returned to his home in the lone-star state to further his session career and to develop music with his own group, the Andy Timmons Band.

Over the last decade, Andy has been very busy both in the studio and on stage. He’s recorded or played with artists as diverse as Pink, Paula Abdul, LeAnn Rimes, and Kip Winger. He’s played alongside your G3 heros including Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, and Joe Satriani, and he’s been Olivia Newton-John’s musical director on numerous US tours.

Sadly, those of us here in the US haven’t had the chance to get to know Andy’s instrumental work. Despite multiple CDs released abroad, none received distribution in the US until recently. Now signed to Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label, May 2 saw the release of Resolution from the Andy Timmons Band. Fans of driving, grooving, rocking, sometimes Texas-blues-infused, instrumental rock will want to race out and pick up a copy of Resolution right away.

We spent a couple of hours talking with Andy about the new CD, some of his previous adventures and misadventures in the world of rock and roll and, of course, his outstanding tone!

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StringWorks
Official Website

General Listening Quizzes

1. Dinner Time
Pumpkin doesn't go on pizza.
You're missing a page.

2. First Date
That guy has a moustache.

3. Traffic Ticket
May I see your driver's license please?
Are you trying to influence an officer?

Robin Finck

Robin Finck (born November 7, 1971) is the current lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He was also previously the lead guitarist for the American industrial hard rock band Nine Inch Nails. He also is one of the few artists who has played in two different bands who made VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". Nine Inch Nails ranked (#43) and Guns N' Roses (#9).

Finck grew up in Marietta, Georgia and played with several unsigned bands in the Atlanta area during and after attending high school. He joined Nine Inch Nails as part of their touring band in 1994-95. Once the tour was completed, he took a job playing for the circus troupe Cirque du Soleil in the original tour of Quidam. In 1997, he was recruited by Guns N' Roses to replace Slash, who had quit the band in 1996, and work on their still yet to be released new album, signing a two-year contract. When the two years were up, the album was still far from completion, and Finck rejoined Nine Inch Nails as the band went on tour again. Shortly after the tour ended in late 2000, he returned to Guns N' Roses and toured with them in Brazil, Asia, Europe and North America during 2001-2002. Today, known for his stage presence and soulful guitarwork, Finck remains a solid member of the current Guns N' Roses line-up handling lead guitar duties along with virtuoso fusion guitarist Bumblefoot.

In the summer of 2006, Finck and Guns N' Roses toured Europe playing in front of an estimated 750,000 people. They are now touring North America for the remainder of the year. Their new album, Chinese Democracy, is set for a late 2006 release, with Robin Finck featured on lead guitar.

Robin has been married to acrobat Bianca Sapetto since 2001. They met while working in Cirque du Soliel and currently have no children.

Axl Roses

Some say Axl Rose is the best entertainer on the planet. Ax Rose certainly had the world at his feet back in 1992-1993. Back in 1991, when the whole world was awaiting (the first) return of Guns n' Roses, one could real in Rock music magazines : "What the world needs is Axl Rose".

Axl Rose was a choirboy, gospel singer, pianist, and even taught Sunday school in his childhood. His extremely strict upbringing led him to rebel by the age of sixteen. Getting into trouble left and right with over 20 terms (he only admits to guilt on about 5 occasions).

Axl Rose was once known by the name of Bill Bailey. Bailey being his stepfathers name. He took the name of Rose when he found out when he found out it was his real father's name.

Rose felt that leaving Indiana was his only option so he took off in search of his friend Jeff (Izzy) Isbell, who had already left to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood. In 1986, William legally changed his name to Axl. Axl Rose is the singer of Guns N' Roses since June 6th 1985 (date the band lineup was finalized). Axl Rose is multi-talented with an extreme and powerful vocal range, piano skills, and has even recently taken up the guitar to add to his abilities. Axl Rose is currently the only original member still part of Guns n' Roses. Axl Rose has also bought the name "Guns n' Roses" and is the sole owner of the name.


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Other information

Slash

SLASH was born in Hampstead (London), England on July 23, 1965, and he was raised in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England. His given name is Saul Hudson. His mother is a Black American, and his father is a white Englishman. Both parents are artistic and work in the entertainment field. His mother is a clothing designer for entertainers. She designed some of David Bowie's unforgettable costumes. His father provides art direction for record albums. Two notable clients are Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

At age 11 SLASH moved to Los Angeles with his mother while his father remained based in England. Born in the UK, SLASH was an immigrant in the United States and was to remain one for many years. The family eventually lived together again in L.A. where SLASH had a rough transition to conservative Southern California. The long hair, jeans and t-shirts that he wore even then didn't exactly fit with the other kids. An outsider at school, he lived a bohemian life at home. Surrounded by artistic friends of his parents, SLASH grew accustomed to the moods and eccentricities of those in the music world. Frequent visitors at the Hudson household included Joni Mitchell, David Geffen, David Bowie, Ron Wood and Iggy Pop. SLASH has said that these surroundings prepared him for coping with the stress of the music industry, the conflict between artistry and business.

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Buckethead

First of all you gotta understand Buckethead grew up real lonely on that farm. He figured no one understood him. The only thing they understood about him was how to treat him bad. To this very day, believe it or not, Buckethead does not like to be shocked with a cattle prod.


It wasn't all bad, though, on the farm. As soon as he moved into the chicken coop he started to make new friends. The chickens took real good care of him, and they liked him so much they scratched his face off. Now he could wear a mask every day, just like Halloween! He was the luckiest boy he knew. He didn't know many other boys though, except those kids who lit him on fire that time.

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About Tai-an (泰安)

Features :

Tai-An Station was set in the valley between two mountains. Due to the limitation of steep slope, the station was set under the roadway. As a result, the entrance was under the platform, which was a special design in Taiwan . There was an ?antique? that was worth seeing on the platform. Observe the pillars of canopy carefully, you will find that they were made by the rails produced in early twentieth century. A clear mark of the Office of the Governor-General and a sign indicating the manufacture date in 1905 were still clearly marked on the pillars. If you walk north form Tai-An Station, you may see a bomb-shaped memorial stone on the right. ?The Revival from Earthquake Damage Memorial Stone in Taichung County ? was craved on the memorial stone, while a Japanese description of the damage of bridge, tunnel, roadway and platform caused by the big earthquake in 1935 was craved on the memorial base.

Introduction :
On Sep 23, 1998 the last train left the old mountain line, Taiwan Railways Administration had changed its mountain line, and the old mountain line ceased providing service. This mountain line had begun to serve people since 1908, and given service for almost 100 year. Due to the limitation of steep slope, the old Tai-An station was set under the roadway. As a result, the entrance was under the platform, which was a special design in Taiwan . There was an antique on the platform. Observe the pillars of canopy carefully, you will find that they were made by the rails produced in early twentieth century. A clear mark of the Office of the Governor-General and a sign indicating the manufacture date in 1905 were still clearly marked on the pillars. Although old Tai-An Station was no longer in service, taking the old train still were the beautiful memories of many passengers.

Transportation:
By Train:
Take Mountain Line, get off at the new Tai-An Station, and then just walk for a little while.

-By Bus :
Take Fengyuan Bus to Tai-An. The number of the runs of the bus is not much, but old Tai-An station can be reached directly by taking it.

-By Car
Go through Zhong-shan Highway, get off the high way at Houli Interchange, follow the Route 132 toward Houli, turn left at Sanfeng Road and continue to head north, enter the Tai-An Village, turn right, and get to old Tai-An station.

You can see more information. Wikipedia

Assignment -2：Sentence-making

1.
Perhaps I trouble you to take some photos for me? I need some photos to post on my blog.

2.
The bad guy kill his friend for small potatoes. It is unforgivable.

3.
We can't be tacky outside, otherwise we betray our sloppiness. It's rude!

Successful Learning: Writing Winning Email

Successful Learning: Writing Winning Email: "
Number. 32 © CDTL 2003
“So you think you have good manners?”: Writing Winning Email
Ms Lee Gek Ling
Centre for English Language Communication



Winning email is well-mannered email. Some are born with manners, some have manners thrust upon them, but all must have manners. As manners are cross-cultural, what is considered good manners in one culture may be impolite in another (e.g. informal salutations such as “Hi Peter!” may be acceptable in an email to an American professor, whereas it would be considered overly familiar and therefore rude to an Asian professor). To minimise cross-cultural rudeness, be as cosmopolitan as possible, buy a handbook for international (or national) etiquette, err on the side of politeness, and/or be formal until told otherwise by the recipient of your email.
Features of Winning Email
Accurate, concise, witty (optional) subject line: An attention-grabbing subject line often entices the reader to open the email whereas an insipid or dull subject line puts the reader off. An old subject line from another email thread is misleading; the reader might miss the new email, dismissing it as more of the same old chain.

Correct salutation: Be courteous: spell someone’s name correctly. Taking the trouble to find out what others are called shows you are polite, respectful and careful. To mis-spell someone’s name, if it was written down for you before, is unforgivable, betraying your sloppiness.

Good body: The ideal email should fit onto one screen. If the email is more than a couple of sentences, include sub-headings/numbered paragraphs so that the reader can quickly scan through the main points. Reading an email should take no longer than writing one. Remember"

“So you think you have good manners?”: Writing Winning Email

“So you think you have good manners?”: Writing Winning Email
This is a article that talks about the manners in email writting.
We should learn it!!

Assignment -1：Memoir

Dear all. My name is CHU. YING - HAU. I am 22 years old and male. I grew up in a beautiful village, Taian, Taiwan. There are four people in my family, and I am the firstborn. Now I am a senior in National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I have an examination for graduate school next year. I hope I will be a graduate student of National Taiwan University (NTU).

My interests are music, movie, and internet access. When I am studying, I like to listen to Rock or Metal music. They let me become more and more cheerful. I don’t feel boring in the course book.

When I still at school, I hope I can do something to improve my English. Because we will talk with each other in English everywhere in the future. To reach my goal, I have to break my neck to learn English!

Best,

Terry