Some of you might be interested to know where I got the idea for Ancient Japanese English Study Secret: this funny commercial I used to watch as a child:

There was so much to discuss about electricity on this week’s show, that we didn’t have time to bring up the electric chair, an All-American form of capital punishment that is STILL carried out in the U.S.A. today, in the great states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia.

Although I have trouble (don’t like it) with capital punishment (punishment by death) in general, the electric chair seems particularly barbaric (cruel, inhumane) by modern standards. And while some criminals certainly “deserve” to be electrocuted, that doesn’t necessarily mean it should be allowed to happen.

But I digress (get off topic). The electric chair was first used in 1890 and had various nicknames through its history, such as Sizzlin’ Sally, Old Smokey, and Old Sparky. Interestingly,  AC current was chosen, because DC was just starting to be used in people’s homes and early electric utilities feared that consumers would not like it if the same type of electricity used to power their homes was also used to kill criminals

Just in case you haven’t seen the riveting movie the Green Mile, starring Tom Hanks, I give you this description of the electric chair:

The head and legs of the condemned person are shaved and the prisoner is strapped into the chair. A natural sponge, moistened with a saline solution, is placed on the head to aid conductivity. One electrode is attached to the head and a second attached to the leg to provide a closed circuit. At least two applications of an electrical current are applied with the time and current depending on the physical state of the condemned person. Typically an initial voltage of around 2,000 volts is applied for up to 15 seconds to attempt both to induce unconsciousness and to stop the heart. The voltage is then lowered to reduce current flow to approximately 8 amps. The body of the person may heat up to approximately 138 °F (59 °C), and the electric current will generally cause severe damage to internal organs. - Wikipedia

 

~Bob

If our Black Death show left you wanting to learn more about the topic, it just so happens that this week the fabulous In Our Time radio program also has a show on the black death. This show, aired weekly by the BBC, explores a variety of historical, scientific and philosophical topics with experts in the field. You can listen at the website or via podcast.

Be prepared, however: while the discussions are both fascinating and enlightening, they will most definitely challenge your listening skills.

~Bob

Capitalizing on the Bob and Rob Show’s recent endorsement, Barack Obama soundly defeated Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina primary yesterday. Combined with his strong showing (performance) in Indiana, it looks like Barack will be the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee.

If Obama does go on to win the Presidency, it is not yet clear whether Bob and Rob will be offered positions in his cabinet.

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It’s been a long race, and perhaps you’ve noticed the words caucus and primary used a lot. If you’re confused about the difference in meaning, don’t worry, because I have the feeling most Americans don’t know either.

First, both a caucus and a primary are a way for the each political party to let voters in each state select their party’s presidential nominee (person selected to run for office). Most states use the primary system, where voters statewide simply cast a vote for the candidate they support.

The older caucus system - which only a few states use, such as Iowa and Nevada - is based around a series of meetings. Voters come together and discuss the candidates and vote for their candidate of choice for their party’s nomination. Compared to the primary system, this is much more social and out in the open (not secretive).

~Bob

As you probably know, one way to listen to the Bob and Rob Show is by podcasting. While podcasting has become more popular over the years, some people still have trouble getting their head around it (understanding it). If you are one of these folks, then watch this easy-to-understand podcast introduction. Created by Common Craft.

On this week’s show we started a new segment called “Word Power”. I got the idea from this wonderful little application called Visual Thesaurus, which lets you create “word webs” of related terms and concepts. It seems much more intuitive than a traditional thesaurus, because it allows you to visually explore words through their semantic relationship with other words and meanings. And because you can see how words are used in different parts of speech, it will help you to use words more precisely - and give you a larger, richer vocabulary.

Give it a try and let us know what you think. We’ll be using it for another Word Power segment in our upcoming “Electricity” show.

~Bob

I’ve been watching with interest the collapsing price of the dollar recently. Since I am paid in Japanese yen by my university, every time the dollar weakens I get a pay raise.

It’s also good news for Bob and Rob Show members who are paying in non-dollar currencies. Consider the Euro: at the current exchange rate of 1.5 euros to the dollar, our $4.99 monthly membership now only costs € 3.32, or around ¥500. In Japan, that’s roughly the price of a Starbucks Grande Latte.

Care for a Study Guide with your coffee?

~Bob

Today I took a trip to one of my favorite stores in Japan - the American wholesaler, Costco. Called a warehouse store, it sells everything from baked goods to office supplies in bulk, and at relatively inexpensive prices. It also looks and feels like a warehouse, with concrete floors and pallets of products stacked up everywhere.

But I don’t care about the store’s aesthetics. I love that I can buy a huge bag of bagels for only $6 US dollars, or a giant frozen bag of mixed berries for $12 US dollars. And did I mention the jumbo size pizza for only $15 US dollars? It’s a perfect store if you own a small business or have a large family, and the $ 50 dollar annual membership fee is quite reasonable.

When I first came to Japan in 1990, I was shocked at how expensive everything was. However, after 15 years of economic recession and price deflation - and with businesses like Costco arriving in the late 1990’s - some products are actually cheaper here now, especially when you compare prices to expensive places in the U.S., like California.

(As if having a Costco wasn’t good enough, since 2001 I have also been able to order English books through Amazon.com Japan - with no overseas shipping charges! Someone please explain to me how Amazon.com makes money doing this?)

The dark side to all of this is that our world is becoming smaller and more homogenized. While globalization has its benefits, it also threatens to wipe out (destroy) much of the world’s diversity, as well as local communities. It’s hard to give up (stop using something) cheap pizza and peanut butter, but it’s also difficult to see rice fields and bamboo groves paved over for American-style super stores.

Guilty as charged!

~Bob

Yesterday I started feeling like I was coming down (getting sick) with a cold, and after getting a headache in the evening, I worried that it might actually be the flu (short for “influenza”). Luckily, I seem to be fine now.

I’m not sure about your language, but the Japanese often refer to both colds and the flu as “kaze”. In English, however, a cold is usually less severe than the flu. While both are caused by viruses, the flu always knocks me out (debilitates me), whereas a cold just gives me a sore throat, cough and stuffy nose. When I catch a cold, I usually still go to work; when I have the flu, I stay in bed.

I’m no doctor, but I would say that the flu is a strain (kind) of virus that causes more severe symptoms (signs of a disease)  than a cold, such as high fever and muscle aches.

Which also explains why we say “a” cold and “the” flu.  Colds rarely kill people and are commonplace (not rare), so we use the more general “a”. However, the flu can be very serious. We study and track (monitor) specific viruses, such as THE Avian Flu. The flu also used to kill millions of people, so it stood out (was easy to notice). Scientists were also unaware that there were numerous (many) flu viruses. If they had known this, perhaps the flu would have been called “a flu”.

~Bob