What's on?

Electric Underground

7.30pm－1.00am   Free at the Cyclops Theatre

    Do you know who's playing in your area? We're bringing you an evening of live rock and pop music from the best local bands. Are you interested in becoming a musician and getting a recording contract(合同)? If so, come early to the talk at 7.30pm by Jules Skye, a successful record producer. He's going to talk about how you can find the right person to produce you music.

Gee Whizz

8.30pm-10.30pm   Comedy at Kaleidoscope

    Come and see Gee Whizz perform. He's the funniest stand-up comedian on the comedy scene. This joyful show will please everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Gee Whizz really knows how to make you laugh! Our bar is open from 7.00pm for drinks and snacks(快餐).

Simon's Workshop

5.00pm-7.30pm    Wednesdays at Victoria Stage

    This is a good chance for anyone who wants to learn how to do comedy. The workshop looks at every kind of comedy, and practices many different ways of making people laugh. Simon is a comedian and actor who has 10 years' experience of teaching comedy. His workshops are exciting and fun. An evening with Simon will give you the confidence to be funny.

Charlotte Stone

8.00pm-11.00pm     Pizza World

    Fine food with beautiful jazz music; this is a great evening out. Charlotte Stone will perform songs from her new best-selling CD, with James Pickering on the piano. The menu is Italian, with excellent meat and fresh fish, pizzas and pasta (面食). Book early to get a table. Our bar is open all day, and serves cocktails, coffee, beer, and white wine.

    Astronomy (天文学) is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about heavens(天堂). But the six planets that he could see with his eyes alone limited man.

    The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens.

    Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. Until there were telescopes(望远镜), man did not know much about the moon. He did not know that the planet called Saturn(土星) had rings around it. His sight was so limited that he could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Pluto (冥王星), the last of the nine planets to be discovered was seen until 1930.

    Before the spectroscopes (分光镜), man didn't know what kind of gas was in the sun or other stars, without radio telescopes(射电望远镜), we did not know that radio noise came from far in space.

    Today, astronomy is a growing science. We have learned more in the past fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy.

    Enrique Iglesias is a most successful singer! Born in 1975 in Madrid, Spain, Enrique is the child of the famous singer Julio Iglesias. Enrique's mother is a journalist. His parents divorced in 1978. Although Enrique lived with his mother, she sent him to live with his father because of concerns about her son's safety. Enrique wanted to be a singer secretly, he didn't wish his father to know that and didn't want to live under his shelter. He sought his dream on his own.

    Enrique released(发行) his first album “Enrique Iglesias” in 1995. This album had a collection of rock ballads(民谣) and five singles from it went straight to the top spots in Latin music. This album was followed by another “Vivir” in 1997. Three singles from this album occupied the top spots on the Latin charts yet again! Enrique also found himself nominated(提名) for the “Favorite Latin Artist” at the American Music Awards. By 1998, he had released his 3^rd album, “Cosas Del Amor”.This year Enrique won the “Favorite Latin Artist”. “Bailamos” got him great fame. One of the songs in this album was also used in a movie. With the success of “Bailamos”, Enrique now already had many loyal fans. The album, “Enrique”, was released in 1999.

    The year 2001 brought more success for him. His album, “Escape” had a few singles that reached the top spots. Enrique became a household name. This album is his biggest successful album so far. “Hero” and “Don't Turn Off the Lights” soon turned Enrique into a super star. His next release in 2002 was a Spanish album “Quizas”. This album brought Enrique a “Latin Grammy Award” for the Best Pop Vocal Album. In 2007, he released another album “Insomniac” and the song “Do You Know” became an instantly popular song.

    The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵) is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn't exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale.

    Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan. His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly. Her title was Mumtaz Mahal: its shortened form Taj Mahal, means “pride of the palace”. In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died. He was so broken-hearted that he thought of giving up his throne(王位). He decided out of his love for his wife to build her the most beautiful tomb(墓穴) that had ever been seen.

    He invited the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was completed. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

    The building itself stands on a marble platform, 29 meters' square and 6-7 meters' high. Towers rise from each of the four corners. The Taj itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.

    The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However, his son put him into prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife.

    Russ Gremel, now 98 years old, decided it was time to donate $2 million to the Illinois Audubon Society, a charity to purchase nearly 400 acres of land for wildlife protection. Gremel was able to make this amazing donation because he purchased $1,000 worth of Walgreens stock seven decades ago whose value has grown recently.

    "A single man with no kids, Gremel has lived in the same Chicago house for 95 years, and has always lived simply", neighbor Patrick Falso told TODAY. Falso said he heard Gremel say many times the "money wasn't mine to begin with" and that he always intended to give it away.

    The Gremel Wildlife shelter was founded on June 4. Illinois Audubon Society president Jim Herkert said Gremel's donation was extremely generous. "It's allowing us to protect a really valuable and important possession and realize one of Gremel's wishes that we could find a place where people could come out and experience nature the way he did as a kid," Herkert told TODAY.

    After doing all this, this past weekend, Gremel adopted an old Chihuahua（吉娃娃犬）. Winnie the dog was picked up as a homeless dog several months ago. She suffered from a kind of cancer, which was treated—and all she needed was a loving home, which Colleen Collins, the founder of Perfect Pooches Adoption Agency, was determined to find.

    Gremel had lost his own beloved Chihuahua earlier this year. When he reached out to Collins about Winnie, she felt this could be a good match. That feeling grew when she brought Winnie to his house for a meet and greet, and Winnie was introduced not only to Gremel but also some of his friends and neighbors. One had brought over a lot of fresh strawberries; all said they'd be there to help out in any way needed.

    In choosing a friend，one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair weather friends. They will be with you as long as you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities (品质) of character, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).

    Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to judge. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person's place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.

    At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults (过错) in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.

    Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on (信赖) a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need a favor, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.

    There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience (经验) and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humor (幽默), too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.

    When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I've found a friend!