IT IS NOW OFFICIALLY SPRING. THIS MEANS LOTS MORE RAIN! WELL, IT WOULD IN BRITAIN…..

This week's edition by: David

Well, Paddy’s Day came and went without as much as a hint of interest. Your two Speedo editors sat in London Pub listening to our showman Jeff and drank a Guinness or two. Let us know what you did on the day!

This week is another standard Speedo week, news, reviews and random features. This week I will be talking about the months of the year, and why they are named as they are.

So read on, and enjoy!



NEWS AND REVIEWS

Last week saw Film Club come and go, with no students attending. Obviously nobody was interested in seeing The Prestige. Never mind! I hear some of the teachers went to the Amok to see Borat, and had lots of fun! That’s pretty much all that happened last week, a quiet one for our standards!

This week sees two clubs talking place. The first is Hugh and Caroline’s Intermediate Conversation Club. This takes place at the usual spot, the Totu Café above Promil. It’s on Wednesday 28th, at 7.30pm, so if you want to go please sign up with the secretaries.

Also this week will be Gosia’s Travel Club. No details on this yet, so keep your eyes peeled. It will take place on Saturday 31st.

In a few weeks we will have Sean’s Lecture. Nobody has any idea what the subject is, but maybe he’ll talk about Scotland or why the Scots don’t like to spend money. I saw a pigeon in Katowice the other week with a necklace made of bread. Sean told me that the Scots are too stingy to throw bread down for pigeons, but live in hope that the pigeons throw bread to them. Funny eh?



MONTHS OF THE YEAR

Continuing the theme of “Where Names Come From”, we have the months of the year…

JANUARY
This comes from the Roman god Janus. He is the god of gates and doorways.

FEBRUARY
This comes from the Roman festival of Februa, a festival of purification held on February 15th.

MARCH
This was the original first month of the year. It comes from the Roman god Mars, the god of war. March was said to be a good time for resuming battles.

APRIL
The month of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. She is associated with Venus, her Roman equivalent.

MAY
Maia (meaning "the great one") is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus, and wife of Vulcan.

JUNE
Juno is the principle goddess of the Roman Pantheon. She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women.

JULY
Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar) in 46 BC. In the process, he renamed this month after himself.

AUGUST
Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this month after himself.

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER
”Sept” is the Latin prefix for “seven”. September was originally the seventh month.
”Oct” is the Latin prefix for “eight”. October was originally the eighth month. ”Nov” is the Latin prefix for “nine”. November was originally the ninth month.
”Dec” is the Latin prefix for “ten”. December was originally the tenth month.


That's all for this week guys, see you next time! Keep reading, and leave comments for us!

Hello again! I hope you all enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day and had one or two pints of the black stuff (Guinness). Some of our teachers went to Szczyrk at the weekend and got thoroughly wet. Spring is about to begin and I’m sure you’re all looking forward to warmer weather as the days draw out (become longer).

What’s happening this week?

Jolene will be giving a lecture on American Folk Music this Friday. Sign up for it in the usual place if you want to go. This week’s Film Club will be held at the Amok Theatre. The film is called The Prestige. See the secretaries for more details. Marcin would like you all to know that his band Papilla are playing in Katowice this Friday. Tickets are 10 zlotys so see the man himself if you’re interested. Go on, you know you want to!


Stupid question of the day:

If I were you who would you be?


Can you crack the Speedo code?
Replace each letter with the letter that follows it in the alphabet:

Rgd khjdr sn rvhl hm sgd lnqmhmf.



As you know, the days of the week in English are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday .. but why?

Monday: The name Monday comes from the Old English Monandag, meaning "day of the Moon"; it is a translation of the Latin name dies Lunae.

Tuesday: Tuesday comes from the Old English Tiwesdag, meaning "Tyr's day." Tyr (in Old English, Tiw, Tew or Tiu) was the Nordic god of single combat and heroic glory in Norse mythology - The Norsemen came from Scandinavia.

Wednesday: This name comes from the Old English Wodnesdag meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden, more commonly known as Odin, who was the highest god in Norse mythology, and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons (and other places) in England until about the seventh century.

Thursday: Thursday comes from Thor, the Germanic and Norse god of thunder. It is based on the Latin dies Iovis, "Day of Jupiter"; compare French jeudi and Spanish jueves.

Friday: The name Friday comes from the Old English frigedag, meaning the day of Frige, the Germanic goddess of beauty, who is a later incarnation of the Norse goddess Frigg, but also connected to the Goddess Freyja. It is based on the Latin dies Veneris, "Day of Venus"; compare French vendredi and Spanish viernes. Venus was the Roman god of beauty, love, and sex.

Saturday: Saturday is the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronos, father of Zeus and many Olympians. In Latin it was dies Saturni, "Day of Saturn"; compare French samedi and Spanish sábado, which comes from sambata dies (day of the Sabbath).

Sunday: The name Sunday comes from the Old English sunnandag, meaning the day of the Sun; it is a translation of the Latin phrase dies solis. English, like most of the Germanic languages and several of the Celtic languages, preserves the original pagan/sun associations of the day; many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed the name of the day to the equivalent of "the Lord's day" (based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica). Compare Spanish domingo.

Quote of the day:
You should never judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares.. he’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes.

Have a good week and see you next time :)

Welcome to March guys! This month sees the start of spring (hopefully) and a monster month of music courtesy of Marcin.
Not much is happening in the world of Speed this week, so not much by way of news. I will tell you however, about the four (yes, four!) Music Clubs remaining this month.

Saturday also sees St. Patrick’s Day. All those with Irish in them (myself included) make sure you get to a pub for a pint of Guinness!

NEWS AND REVIEWS

Last week saw Sean’s Advanced Conversation Club. This was a great success as always.

This week sees the Kids Club make its reappearance, with Linda and Tanya. If you want to join in the monthly fun and games, sign up with the secretaries. It’s on Saturday 17th March, 1.30pm – 2.30pm, to be held in Room 4.

Also this week sees another Music Club with Marcin. This time it’s a band called The Rat Brothers. I have no idea who they are, but Marcin assures me they are good. They play in an “an lo-fi acoustic retro style”, whatever that is. Join Marcin in the usual venue, The London Pub, on Saturday 17th March at 8pm. Sign up with the secretaries.

Marcin would also like to tell you about his own band, Papilla, and their upcoming gig at Dekadencja in Katowice. This venue is on ul. Mariacka 20. Tickets cost 10zl. This takes place on Friday 23rd March, at 8pm. If you want more information, ask Marcin. If you want to know what Papilla sound like you can check them out at the following address:

www.last.fm/music/papilla

Marcin would appreciate this very much. It would raise his profile. So go!

However, it is likely you won’t see the majority of the teachers for this weekend’s gig at London Pub. Why? Because we’re all going to Szczyrk (I think that’s how you spell it) for the night. Good fun will be had by us! But you should go to the gig, because that will be good fun too!

ST PATRICK'S DAY

This week also sees St. Patrick’s Day. This is a time where anyone with Irish blood in them (or rather just anyone) celebrates, usually by drinking Guinness. There will be a lot of green around, and generally people are happy. This takes place on Saturday 17th March.

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent. Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate this holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food, drinking Irish drink, and attending parades.

The St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, Ireland is part of a five-day festival, over 500,000 people attending the 2006 parade. The largest St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City and it is watched by 2 million people. The St. Patrick's Day parade was first held in Boston in 1737.

St Patrick was born in Britain, near the end of the fourth century. His original name was Maewyn Succat. At the age of sixteen, Maewyn was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave. After six years he escaped to Gaul (France). He changed his name to Patrick and became a priest. His mission became to change the druid people of Ireland to Christians. He used the shamrock (see picture above) to explain the idea of the Holy Trinity (father, son and holy spirit). Legend says that Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland, and sent them into the sea to drown.


So make sure you wear green on Saturday, and watch out for the leprechauns!

See you next time guys!

Music Club

Wykonawców Piesni Znanych

London Pub, Plac Piastów 10/03/07 @ 8pm

Dearest creature in creation,
study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
sounds like corpse, corps, horse,
and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

From The Chaos by Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenité

Caroline will be giving a lecture on a subject very close to her heart on Friday at 17:30. It’s going to be about Chocolate, so all you chocolate-lovers out there should sign up for it in the usual place.

Callan Conversation Club is this Thursday at 19:30. Put your name down in the secretaries’ office if you want to go.

Word of the day: daffodil
The daffodil is a flower that comes out or blooms usually in spring. The latin name for the group of flowers it belongs to is Narcissus which is the name of a character in Greek mythology, a tale that warned young men against being cruel to their lovers. Daffodils were also the inspiration of a very famous poem in English literature: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth.

I Wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Humour

A man is talking to God.

The man: "God, how long is a million years?"

God: "To me, it's about a minute."

The man: "God, how much is a million dollars?"

God: "To me it's a penny."

The man: "God, may I have a penny?"

God: "Wait a minute."

Fred is 32 years old and he is still single.

One day a friend asked, "Why aren't you married? Can't you find a woman who will be a good wife?" Fred replied, "Actually, I've found many women I wanted to marry, but when I bring them home to meet my parents, my mother doesn't like them." His friend thinks for a moment and says, "I've got the perfect solution, just find a girl who's just like your mother." A few months later they meet again and his friend says, "Did you find the perfect girl? Did your mother like her?" With a frown on his face, Fred answers, "Yes, I found the perfect girl. She was just like my mother. You were right, my mother liked her very much." The friend said, "Then what's the problem?" Fred replied, "My father doesn't like her."