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Soul Men Curse?

Soul Men Curse?

Date: Sep 10 2008

Themes: News

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Last month, two African-American stars died in the same weekend. The strangest part about it is that they had just filmed a movie together.

Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes finished working on a movie about soul musicians called Soul Men last spring. Last month, Hayes, 65, was found next to his treadmill. He was famous for writing and performing music in the ‘70s, but his career was also strong in recent years. He even played the chef on South Park!

Mac was a comedian who died of pneumonia at age 50. No one suspects foul play, but Devan and Marni wonder if the film is cursed.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Marni

Marni

Devan:  Can you believe that Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes both died?

Marni:  In the same weekend! And how odd is it that they just filmed a movie together.

Devan:  I know! Samuel L. Jackson must be getting nervous.

Marni:  I was thinking the same thing. Is just like, “Is there a death wish out for me?” It seemed just like a total coincidence that the both kind of just…

Devan:  It’s so sad.

Marni:  It is sad!

Devan:  I heard on the news that Bernie Mac had pneumonia but they said that he was gonna be fine and that they were gonna let him out of the hospital the next day. And then all of a sudden, bam! He just died.

Marni:  ...gone. And he was only 50 and just not a person I would have expected to hear about dying. And then Isaac Hayes! I love Isaac Hayes and he had such a prolific, you know, from Shaft, writing all those old soul songs and…

Devan:  ...it’s so sad. If I was Samuel L. Jackson, I’d definitely be nervous since he’s the other star of that movie with the two of them.

Marni:  I know! Soul Men? Is that what it’s called, I think? Soul Men? I know! It seems really kind of random.

Devan:  It’s like Poltergeist all over again, another cursed movie or something.

Marni:  Yeah, perhaps. But now I’m intrigued. I bet there will be a lot of hype around it…seems to be the way. They’ll be missed.

 

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Discussion

Naturally, Devan and Marni wonder if Samuel L. Jackson, the other star of Soul Men, is worried after his two costars died. Devan recalls the Poltergeist curse, in which four cast members died in the six years following the release of the film. They don’t even mention that another soul legend, Ike Turner, died recently as well!

Devan and Marni find the deaths especially sad since both men were relatively young. They suspect that the movie will get a lot of attention, not unlike Heath Ledger’s last film, The Dark Knight.

What’s your favorite Bernie Mac or Isaac Hayes moment? Do you believe their movie is cursed, or are their deaths just coincidence?

 

Comments

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sonia4real

United States

HI

11:41 AM May 05 2011 |

Ellenshu

China

it is sad

06:29 AM Dec 24 2009 |

Mrs.HoneyBoo

Denmark

very offen people ashure themselfs that if they do smth they will be cursed. at the same time its not so. so, believe only in urself, dont let anybody fool u.

12:56 PM Mar 31 2009 |

Avverrois

Avverrois

Brazil

 Hi, Bery! I tested the audio streaming with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox (Which I like most) and the sound was good in both. It´s just click in "Listen to streaming audio of this English lesson " . Maybe the sound configuration of your computer should be checked.

10:34 AM Oct 25 2008 |

yonghuaqiu@126.com

China

wish they 'll have a happy time in the heaven.

i like their show

02:26 AM Sep 18 2008 |

DricaBr

DricaBr

Brazil

Mac suffered for a rare condition name Sarcoidosis. There's no such thing as curse.

 

11:00 PM Sep 16 2008 |

DricaBr

DricaBr

Brazil

Mac suffered for a rare condition name Sarcoidoses.
There’s no such thing as course.

07:35 PM Sep 16 2008 |

tita94

tita94

France

it's very sad, It is a drole of coinsidence, no?

05:45 PM Sep 16 2008 |

xingfeng

xingfeng

China

      is it free? i don't watch  it?

 should i do?

10:37 AM Sep 16 2008 |

pigpig angela

China

Tongue out

07:11 AM Sep 16 2008 |

Amy1006

China

My listening is so poor.I can’t understand until I see the dialogue.What can I do??

02:00 AM Sep 14 2008 |

Cash_Serrico

Cambodia

I can’t understand every well. I can’t i improve my listening. I understand maybe 50% of all!

08:59 AM Sep 13 2008 |

8rees

8rees

Japan

Isaac Hayes! He did amazing job for the movie "Shaft".

His songwriting for Sam & Dave is classic!!

I remember watching "Bernie Mac show" on TV in Canada.

This news is so sad…

08:39 AM Sep 12 2008 |

NikolasW

Russian Federation

It’s not mystery, it’s like a assumed story…

04:51 PM Sep 11 2008 |

john_zhang_q

China

it's really incredible,what a coincidence it is!perhaps,nobody knows the reason,and do you know it has ever taken place in China?The hong kong queen of pop Anita Mui also died of the cancer after another king of pop Leslie Cheung died eight months ago in 2003.

The vired thing is that you can't find any cursed relations between the two persons.

07:30 AM Sep 11 2008 |

almaling

almaling

China

I don't think it has any curse in the world, that's not a really thing.

All guys, just believe you true life.

04:00 AM Sep 11 2008 |

hbj0420

China

hey,bery it's all free, may be your web has a problem

02:21 AM Sep 11 2008 |

hbj0420

China

hey,bery it's all free, may be your web has a problem

02:21 AM Sep 11 2008 |

hbj0420

China

hey,bery it's all free, may be your web has a problem

02:21 AM Sep 11 2008 |

hbj0420

China

hey,bery it's all free, may be your web has a problem

02:21 AM Sep 11 2008 |

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