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Hedgehog in the Fog

Hedgehog in the Fog is a wonderful Russian animated short from 1976. According to director, Yuri Norstein, 'creative disagreement' inspired the film's hero's extraordinary appearance:   "I remember sitting with the film's artist [and Norstein's wife] Francesca Yarbusova and I started shouting so much that she just sat down and drew him. Just right away - done! But I still can't figure out how we made him so well." Stop Motion Pioneer Norstein, is widely considered one of the greatest animators of all time. He has pioneered using physical mediums to create three-dimensional effects, using multiple layers of glass panes to create an image. His most famous film is based on a story by Sergei Kozlov.    In 2003  Hedgehog in the Fog  won the "№1 Animated film of all the time" contest in Tokyo.  Norstein continues to animate - he has been working on one film since 1981! But his outspoken criticisms of the current Russian government have effect...
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The Italian Job

I believe that Southgate is basing his team talk tomorrow on that given by Charlie Crocker (Michael Caine) in The Italian Job: It's a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.
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Ten most commonly misspelled words?

Came across this recent list, apparently from the Oxford Dictionary. Definately​ Goverment​ ... Seperate. ... Occured. ... Untill​ ... Recieve​ ... Wich​ ... Accomodate Pharoah  Publicially Some interesting changes from the list I used for this OUP post nearly a decade ago  here . The inclusion of 'wich' and 'untill' may alarm - 'pharaoh' not so much....
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What is Moore's Law? Are robots taking over the world?

In 1965  Gordon Moore, co-founder of  Intel ,  observed that the number of  transistors  per square inch on  integrated circuits   had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future   source Computers are getting faster and (relatively) cheaper with each passing year. The phones we carry in our pockets are far more powerful than the ones that sent the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.  Moore has suggested that his law will not continue indefinitely - suggesting  2025 as a possible end date. Others have speculated about  what might replace it .  Download The English Language Teaching Pack  for only £1.99
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Language Wars: Nations without an official language?

In his  Language Wars (2011) Henry Hitchins lists eight nations which do not have an official primary language. This number has now reduced to five, with Ethiopia, Somalia and Pakistan all nominating official languages. UK see here USA though 20 states now have an official language —  see here Australia 80 % speak English but not official Pakistan Urdu became the official language in 2015 Ethiopia Amharic, though there are more Oromo speakers  Somalia Somali and Arabic Eritrea Costa Rica Why these countries? (5 minute read) How many French Words in English?How did they get there? The English Language — Fun Facts & FAQ Teaching Pack  —  only £1.99
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Two views of Christmas

"If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. " Over at Chez  Cratchit, Bob is whistling a different tune.
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