"Give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws"

This quotation sums up what Napoleon thought of music, after understanding the enormous power of it. As our next gathering is going to be the “Moon-au II” I decided to post something about how music affects our behaviour.

Look what I found searching the web :

It has been proven that music influences humans both in good and bad ways. These effects are instant and long lasting. Music is thought to link all of the emotional, spiritual, and physical elements of the universe. It can also be used to change a person's mood, and has been found to cause physical responses in many people simultaneously.

Responses to music are easy to be detected. Music affects the amplitude and frequency of brain waves. It was found that slow music could slow the heartbeat and the breathing rate as well as bring down blood pressure. Faster music was found to speed up these same body measurements. Rhythm organizes physical movements and is very much related to the human body (the heartbeat, while walking or during breathing.).

An Australian physician and psychiatrist, Dr. John Diamond, found a direct link between muscle strength/weakness and music. He discovered that all of the muscles in the entire body go weak when subjected to the beat of music from hard rock musicians, including Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Queen, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Bachman - Turner Overdrive, and The Band.

Tests on the effects of music on living organisms besides humans have shown that special pieces of music (including The Blue Danube) aid hens in laying more eggs, help cows to yield more milk or wheat to grow faster.

In my life, music plays a really important role…I mean, (almost) everything I do is followed by it : Doing homework, relaxing, feeling happier, even when I’m farting around (good one, huh?) or posting on our blog (right now I’m listening to my Johnny Cash and June Carter playlist).

What about you, meetupspeakers, what role does music play in your lives? Which are your favorite songs or singers?

Text taken from: http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

Slang words

Yeah...it was a blast our last get-together.
Right below, some of the slang words we learnt last meeting.
But I won't give you the meaning, ok? I think it's way better if you guys leave a comment with a sentence that you'd say using these slang expressions.

1. Go jump in the lake
2. Cheesy
3. Rip-off
4. Dirty cheap
5. Fishy
6. To puke
7. To waffle
8. On his last legs
9. Fox
10.Nuts
11.Picky
12. To bug someone

To learn more, check it out:
http://www.aboutlanguageschools.com/language/slang/
*Image taken from University of Leicester Student Slang Website:
http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/glossaries/2009/unileics09/home.html

Check out how much fun we have!

Here we go! Do you want to join us?

Well, Well...

This post is going to be a little bit different... Berttoni, this one is for you! haha =) ...
So, as everybody already knows, you're leaving Yázigi and consequently the MeetUP SpeakUP Club, and we all feel a little bit ' Berttoni sick'.
It's been sometime that we are togheter ( 1 year to be more exact) and thigs have changed a lot. You brought to our Club an identity, hapiness and a large amount of knowledge, of course.
Besides being an amazing teacher, you're an amazing person, Toni! Extroverted, Easy-going, full of culture, always interested in bringing new games and topics to be discussed, always finding time to update the blog, and specially always ready to learn with us!
We are never ever going to forget you, your points of view, your british and sometimes russian accent(thRRRRRee), the way you'd make strange faces and never REALLY laugh when we were taking pictures! aihaiuah

Owww MT, We can only wish you all the best, success, and that you accomplish everything you're planning to! We'll be here cheering for you, wherever you go. Please, Keep in touch!

Thank you for every single thing. You'll be in our hearts and minds FOREVER, Berttoni!

We'll miss you a whole lot!

MeetUP Speakers

Everyone's invited!

Hey guys, let's celebrate this semester's last MeeUp! And say "Farewell Teacher Berttoni". Don't miss. =D

Crazes and Fevers

Titanic, Lady Gaga, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, MIB, Lord of the Rings, Beyoncé, Harry Potter, Twilight Series, Crazes, Crazes, Crazes. This meetup we are going to talk about the fevers that come and go, things that burst out of the blue and seem out of this world for many people. The latest of them? World Cup, for sure. So, meetupspeakers, what are the crazes you guys can remember of?

MeetUp Goes to the Movies

That's right, everyone. As suggested, this time meetupspeakers are going to hit João Pessoa's movie theatres.

Don't forget to access our blog this coming Friday to vote for the movie we're watching. =D See you there!

Mind, Body and Spirit Festival

First established in London in 1977, the Mind Body Spirit Festival stands as a spiritual icon with over 33 years experience of event innovation and inspiration.

Today thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad attend this yearly celebrations in London and Manchester, attracted by the eclectic mix of musicians, international workshop leaders, best-selling authors, artists and cutting edge exhibitors.

There's a mix of old with the new, innovation, inspiration and support, creating an authentic space for like-minded individuals to come together and commune in the spirit of fun, self exploration, self empowerment and self improvement.

As we are living in a time where "I don't have time" seems to be the motto, this festival seems but a good alternative for the overwhelming demands of this 21st-century life. Now, what do we, meetupspeakers do to keep healthy minds, bodies and spirits?

Once upon a time...

Probably one of the most beloved sentences ever heard by both adults and children, this well-known expression is by far the most powerful as well. It implies an overture to great adventures, an introduction do unexpected characters, a welcome to unimaginable places. Next MeetUP will pay its tribute to the world of stories.

So, do you guys have a favorite story, one you would read over and over again without ever getting bored of it? Can you remember the first book you read, or the first story you were told? And after all, what makes a story good? And a storyteller?

Get ready to give wings to your imagination: next Saturday we are going to travel around the universe of stories!

ROOM 101!

There's a TV show at BBC called ROOM 101, in which celebrities are invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign them to a fate worse than death in Room 101 (named after the torture room in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four).

In the show, the audience often takes part in deciding what will enter the room, although the host is responsible for the final decision. Any item can go into Room 101, from boiled eggs to your aunt's awful laughter or the teletubbies.

In our next meetings, this is exactly what meetupspeakers are going to do: let's think about all small annoying or absurd things that should be locked up in a room away from everyone in order to make the world a better (!) place to live.

To warm things up until then, how about suggesting things here in our blog and wait for the next commentator to send or save your suggestions to/from that room?

Hey, Apple!

Here and there, now and then, there has always been some little thing that gets on our nerves and makes us lose our temper. From the dripping of a tap to some neighboors' awful taste for music, we have to put up with a lot daily in order to live in harmony. And if that isn't enough, some youtube videos will do that job quite as well.

In this week's meeting meetupspeakers will deal with annoying things: what do you usually do to avoid getting annoyed? how easily can someone get on your nerves? Are there any antidotes to make your day slightly better?

Humour in Our Lives

After a quick survey, our next topic was unanimously chosen in our first MeetUp gathering: Humour.

During Shakespeare’s time, there was a common belief that everybody was controlled by four humours, which were MELANCHOLIC, PHLEGMATIC, SANGUINE and CHOLERIC. They were directly influenced by the quantity of certain liquids in our bodies (respectively black bile, phlegm, blood and yellow bile). So by 1600 it was common to use "humour" as a way of classifying characters.

Meetupspeaker Tania already posted something about that sometime ago, and as I felt that our discussions here should start with what makes us laugh, I decided to bring it back again and ask you, folks, what humour best describes you? Read the analogy below and tell us, which one you are.

Once upon a time four people were walking in the forest when they found a rock in their way. So the MELANCHOLIC, very disappointed, said: “it’s a tragedy, there is a BIG rock in my way! This happens JUST with me! And now what should I do? I’m going to miss my meeting, my life is ruined”. The PHLEGMATIC felt flabbergasted admiring the rock’s beauty; he sat down on it and started dreaming awake. He also thought about some BEAUTIFUL ROCKS that he had seen on his ife and it would be wonderful if his girlfriend were there as well. Then, he breathed deeply the plants smell around him and went away. The SANGUINE, who was oming very overjoyed with the forest fresh air and the beautiful plants that he was seeing, jumped over the rock; he tried to make some dance steps and went away elighted. For sure, in two minutes he had forgotten that INSIGNIFICANT STONE. In the CHOLERIC’S case, upon seeing that STUPID rock, he really got cross, cussing at people who could have taken care of the path and could have removed it. Very furious, he kicked it hurting himself; getting angrier for that, he kicked it again and, suddenly, had a great idea of how to remove it from the path.

WELCOME!

A new year has come and our MeetUp SpeakUP meetings are about to get started once again. If you're crazy about English, or want to keep practising what you have learnt throughout the years, if you're trying to improve your argumentative skills of if you're just looking for an excuse to speak speak and speak English for a couple of hours--this is your club!

No books, no homework, lots of games and discussions about anything we feel like talking about wherever we decide to go. Ask any of our participants, they'll give their words for it!

What are you waiting for? We are very close to resume our 2010 gatherings. Call Yázigi João Pessoa for further information.

See you soon, meetupspeakers!
Teacher Berttoni.