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April Fool's party

On Friday, April 1, Inner Affair goes back to the days of funk! Classic Tunes from the 70's and 80's by DJs Den & Sion, 9pm till late.

Tickets: Free entrance for those in costume, otherwise 50 yuan (US$6)

Time/Date: 9 pm, April 1

Place: Inner Affair, 1/F Qiankun Dasha, 6 Sanlitun Xiliujie, Chaoyang District

Tel: 8454-0321

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The "worst" party

Organized by ozone productions, the party is set to be "the worst ever", with the lamest music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Special prizes will be awarded to the worst dressed or for bad fashion sense.

Tickets: Free entrance

Time/Date: 9 pm, April 1

Place: Pula Pula, Tianze Lu, Oriental Seven Colours Plaza, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6466-8575

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La Nuit Francaise

Again on the 2nd Thursday of the month La Nuit Francaise will be held at Le Rendezvous. The monthly event is an opportunity for all French people and everyone interested in France or speaking French to gather together.

The evening features three glasses of wine for participants and a special exhibition.

Time/Date: 7 to 10 pm, April 14

Place: Le Rendezvous, 3 Gongti Beilu, across from the Pacific Century Plaza, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6462-9110

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Marco V

Dutch DJ Marco V drops by Banana for a gig which is supported by Hong Kong's DJ Spark.

Marco V has been around for many years, as an inventive, style blending deejay and a successful and devoted producer. His spinning is energetic, crowd pleasing and never sees an empty dance floor. He was ranked No. 15 in this year's international DJ MAG DJ Top100.

Tickets: 40 yuan (US$4.80) in advance, 50 yuan (US$6) at the door, both including a free drink

Time/Date: 10 pm to 4 am, March 31, April 1

Place: Banana, in the lobby of the Scitech Hotel, 22 Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6528-3636

    Oil is essential for modern life. About 64 percent of the world's oil is located in the Middle East, but the heaviest consumers of oil are Europe, America, and Japan. The problem lies in getting the oil from the countries that produce it to the countries that consume it. This is mainly done using oil tankers. Usually the oil is shipped safely and with no problems, but occasionally there is a disaster.

    Every year millions of tons of oil are spilled into the ocean. Although this is only a small percentage of the total amount shipped around the world each year, this spilled oil can have terrible effects on ocean life, including the coastlines where the oil washes up onto shore.

    One of the worst oil spills in history occurred along the Alaskan coastline in 1989, when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground off the coast of Alaska, spilling 42 million liters of oil. Although it wasn't the largest oil spill, the disaster was terrible because it occurred in such a sensitive natural area. In this spill, the tanker's captain, who was tired from overwork and drinking alcohol, had gone to take a rest. He gave control of the ship to another sailor, who was unfamiliar with the route. The ship ran onto Bligh Reef. Damaged by the reef, the ship leaked oil out into the ocean. More than 1,600 kilometers of coastline were affected by the oil spill. Many birds and otters died as a result of the oil covering their skin, and many other sea creatures and the animals that fed on them were also severely affected.

    The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.

    The key to their success: 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.

    The goal is to find out whether kids using today's new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.

    The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device's camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accompli shment in Ethiopia.

    With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn't know any English. That's unbelievable,” said Keller.

    The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won't be in Amharic, Ethiopia's first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.

    In 1973, I was teaching elementary school. Each day, 27 kids entered "The Thinking Laboratory." That was the name students voted for after deciding that "Room 104" was too dull.

    Freddy was an average student, but not an average person. He had the rare balance of fun and compassion(同情). He would laugh the loudest over fun and be the saddest over anyone's misfortune.

    Before the school year ended, I gave the kids a special gift, T-shirts with the words "Verbs Are Your friends" on them. I had advised the kids that while verbs may seem dull, most of the fun things they do throughout their lives will be verbs.

     Through the years, Pd run into former students who would provide updates on old classmates. I learned that Freddy did several jobs after his graduation from high school and remained the same caring person I met forty years before. Once, while working overnight at a store, he let a homeless man sleep in his truck. Another time, he lent a friend money to buy a house.

    Just last year, I was conducting a workshop when someone knocked at the classroom door. A woman excused the interruption and handed me an envelope. I stopped teaching and opened it up. Inside were the "Verbs" shirt and a note from Freddy's mother. "Freddy passed away on Thanksgiving. He wanted you to have this."

    I told the story to the class. As sad as it was, I couldn't help smiling. Although Freddy was taken from us, we all took something from Freddy.

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.

As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well­known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide (潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water—to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.

Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and "it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate (导航) US to a road. But we got stuck… there's lots of mud". She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck (吊车) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car, though—after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr Tomonari said, "It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny. "

The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1,500 in extra charges.