Today I’d like to talk about a video called: Life Lessons with Jon Lajoie. Jon Lajoie – I’m probably saying his name wrong – is a Canadian comedian. You might have seen his music videos like Everyday Normal Guy or Stay At Home Dad. Those videos are so funny, so go and watch them if you haven’t seen them already. And I’m going to talk about them another time too.
Life lessons is a parody of the kind of common advice that you see in self-help books or books of famous quotes or proverbs.
He starts every sentence with: so and so once told me …
My father once told me, or my grandmother once told me …
And the first part of the sentence sounds like it’s going to be the typical kind of advice that people give, and then he says something unexpected at the end.
So the first one starts: My father once told me: John, be strong. Strength will help you …. And you think he’s going to say something like: strength with help you deal with the many challenges that you will face in life. But instead he says: break things.
So you start off assuming he’s talking about emotional strength, but in the end he’s actually talking about physical strength.
The next one he says is: My grandmother once told me: John if you want to be successful in life … And you think the next bit might be: study hard and believe in yourself or be nice to people or whatever … but instead the end is: forget about it because you're a retard.
And in between what he’s saying, there are famous proverbs or sayings written on the screen – well the first parts are famous – and he has changed the endings.
So, the first one starts: When life gives you lemons ...
That is part of a famous saying which goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Which means that you should try and make the best of a bad situation. Kind of like: Every cloud has a silver lining. But instead of make lemonade, he changes it to: When life gives you lemons ... throw them at people who own expensive cars.
The Acadia Report
When we were visiting Acadia University last year the student elections were on. I filmed some of the campaign posters because I thought it would be interesting to study the language they used.
Some them were quite simple and to the point.
Vote Steve Barron for councillor at large.
And others were more creative and wrote things like rhyming slogans.
Vote for Chappy and he’ll make you happy.
Claire Bear Countdown … this is a take-off of the Care Bears which were popular characters in the 80s.
So what if you can’t pronounce my last name?
This girl played on the fact that she has an unusual last name.
These people campaigned as a group called Team Easy.
We ain’t sleazy, we just easy!
And I thought this poster was pretty funny.
Vote Matt Chapman. He’ll be like your favourite bra and support you.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today an oil spill in Alberta, Canada has killed hundreds of birds.
What do you think of Sarah Palin?
Momo
What do you think of Sarah Palin?
サラ・ペイリン氏のこと、どう思う?
Sarah
Well, she has an awesome name.
ステキな名前ですね。
Momo
I knew you were going to say that.
はいはい、絶対に言うと思った。
Sarah
And if you rearrange the letters in her last name, it spells plain.
それに彼女の名字のスペルを入れ替えたら"plain"【さえない・パッとしない】になる。
Momo
Mmm, it does too. Seriously, though …
確かにそうだね。。。
Sarah
I don’t know, I haven’t read anything about her, except that she calls herself a “hockey mum”.
彼女についての記事を読んだことないからあまりよく分からないよ。 彼女が自身を『ホッケー・ママ』って呼んでいるっていう以外はね。
Momo
I saw that too. What does that mean? All her kids play hockey?
私もそれ知ってる。 どんな意味なんだろう? 子供がホッケーやっているから?
Sarah
Yeah, I guess so. But actually, it sounds like it’s some kind of stereotype.
うん、そうかも。 でもステレオタイプ的な呼び名かも知れない。
Momo
What do you mean?
どういう意味?
Sarah
Like, it’s not about whether your kids play hockey or not, if you’re a “hockey mum”, then it means you’re a certain kind of person.
子供がホッケーをしているかどうかに関わらず、もし『ホッケー・ママ』と呼ぶ女性はこんなイメージの人って感じ。
Momo
What kind of person?
どんなイメージの人?
Sarah
I don’t know. I’ve never head it before.
聞いたことないから分からない。
サラのメモ:
I'm still not sure what a "hockey mum" is ... does it simply mean that her kids play hockey or does it have a deeper meaning?
Life Lessons with Jon Lajoie
My father once told me: John, be strong. Strength will help you break things.
When life gives you lemons ...
... throw them at people who own expensive cars.
a 1995 Camry car owner
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Dale Carnegie
My grandmother once told me: John if you want to be successful in life, forget about it because you're a retard. I'm not sure what she meant by that, but I'm pretty sure it's good advice.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
Alien vs Predator 2 is the movie version of that book.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
Thomas Jefferson
My brother once told me: punch, kick, stab, punch, kick, stab. Just kidding. Those were things that he was doing to me. We weren't very close.
We have nothing to fear but fear of tigers.
tiger attack survivor
We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
My grandfather once told me: John, when the going gets tough ... and then he fell down the stairs. He never did finish that thought.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world
look funny because nobody has eyes.
Todd Gandhi
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi
My best friend once told me: give me your wallet or I'm going to blow your fucking head off.
That was the first and last time we ever hung out. But it was awesome.
History is written by those who own functional pens.
a famous pen company
History is written by those who win.
A wise old man once told me: I'm a wise old man so I'm allowed to touch you in the bathing suit area.
He taught me a lot of things.
All the world's a stage. A racist stage.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts …etc
Shakespeare, As you like it.
My uncle once told me: believe in yourself, work hard, and try not to have sex with other people's wives.
I played twins in Double Impact.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
I will leave you with these words of wisdom. It's not what your country can do for you,
but what your country can steal from other countries.
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy, inaugural address, 1961
Good night.
knfの独り言:
Jon Lajoieの他のビデオ
Everyday Normal Guy
Stay At Home Dad
Show 822 Thursday 11 September
The Daily English Show
http://www.thedailyenglishshow.com/
Author:studio tdes
◆ニュージーランド出身のサラが
毎日お届けする世界初、英語学習
バラエティー番組。
◆北海道ニセコのstudio tdesから
毎日発信中。
◆ケータイ、iPodでも視聴可能。
◆英語教材として、どなたでも
ご自由にお使いいただけます。