カーリング、プロリーグ化を検討。 Study started for professional curling league foundation

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ハラハラしながらテレビ画面のカーリング選手を見つめたバンクーバーオリンピック。もうあれから一年かあ。さて今、北海道ではプロリーグ化の構想がでているという記事を目にし、英訳してみました。 (だけどこれまで立役者だったチーム青森の立場はどうなるんだろ? 後ろ足で砂をかけることになるのでは?)
  
 
 
バンクーバー五輪で注目を集めたカーリングをさらに盛り上げようと、道内でプロリーグを設立できないか検討する構想が浮上している。道は新年度から、施設設備やチーム運営費用、集客力などを調査し、プロリーグ化の可否を見極める方針だ。
(北海道新聞 2011年1月6日) 
 
 
 
The government of Hokkaido is working on the possibility to establish a professional curling league in Hokkaido.
The stone sliding sport gained tremendous attention in Japan during the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics, and a plan is drawn to boost its popularity even higher by organizing a league.
From the new fiscal year, Hokkaido will begin to study various factors such as  facility, team running costs, and expected size of spectators before deciding if the leadue forming is practical or not.

怒りの乗客、空港ロビー内にテント・・・ Airport Christmas for Europe’s stranded travelers

 

聖夜の寒波、欧州を襲う。空港は大混乱・・・・

せっかくの休暇が降雪と低温で台無し。イブの夜を空港ロビーで過ごした客は数千。

(右の写真は、搭乗をあきらめた乗客が空港ロビー内に建てたテントです。)

動画は下記をクリックしてください。

 
Across the Atlantic, thousands of travelers including  Americans  are in a race against the clock to get home for the  holidays only to be told to get ready to camp out a long wait. NICK WATT reports from London tonight.
The busiest international airport on earth, the busiest travel week  of the year. Thousands of passengers are now  trapped in what they are calling HOTEL HEATHROW. They won’t make it home for the holidays.
My son and I come home,  it’s like a present to my parents.  and I was even going to surprise them a little bit.
  
With London’s worst snow in twenty five years and the coldest in December in hundred years, Heathrow is just not equipped to deal with it.
  
“I’m truly sorry for every spoiled Christmas holiday, every disrupted travel plan.
In Germany today, a thousand flights were cancelled. In Paris a third of all flights grounded.
  
“Our flight coming in was Air France   ? ”  The guy on the left is a French transport minister. “Our flight was cancelled, we weren’t told the the flight was cancelled.”  In Brussels, they just ran out of de-icer  “They are closing the airport now, right?”  Right. Closed until Wednesday, at the earliest.
  
Many roads across  Europe are also a mess, and the railways, well that is a five hour line snaking around  London’s international Train Station. Some passengers are angry, but most are sanguine   “I’ve just stayed in the cold for three hours. I’ve got no blood left actuallly getting excited. So we just sit there and wait.”  “If I have to take a boat, I will.”  “Good. Determination. Good luck. I hope you make it.”  Sadly the news isn’t great tonight. The temperature is gonna plummet again and a lot more snow is forecast.
Nick Watt. ABC News London.
  
 
 

Wiiを使ってリハビリに。Wiihab is the new Rehab

高齢者のリハビリに任天堂wiiを使うところが増えているようです。アメリカではリハビリをもじってwiihabとよばれているとか。 どんな具合なのか見てみましょう。

動画は↓

No longer the stuff of childs play, the Nintendo Wii  has become an exciting tool used by physical and occupational therapists in rehabilitation settings. This new treatment approach is often called Wii-hab.

  

At CareOne centers, both our therapists and patients say that one of the best things about Wii-hab is that its fun, which means people are more motivated and engaged during their rehab. This motivation is important from a therapy perspective, but theres another benefit. The Wii enables patients to integrate skills while allowing therapists to see how the person is progressing in a more natural environment. For example, a traditional exercise routine might build muscle strength through a specific strengthening routine. An activity using the Wii not only uses that new strength but also integrates it with balanceit provides a way to practice using strength, balance and weight shifting all within a virtual environment.  For some of our older patients, learning to use the Wii as part of therapy has given them a new link to their children or grandchildren. Once patients return home, theyre motivated to practice newly learned skills with the Wii because its something they can do with the entire family.   

Improving function is an important goal for our therapists, and the Wii aids in achieving this goal by helping our patients get moving again.

英作文チャレンジコーナー(はいはい道新) Hokkaido Newspaper “Readers’ voice column”

可燃ごみ収集日に革ブーツとズック靴、プラスチック製踏み台を他のゴミと一緒に袋に入れてステーションにだしました。1時間ほど後に見たら、ブーツとズック靴、踏み台の三つだけが袋から出され、ステーション脇に並べられていました。不燃ごみと思った誰かが袋を開けて出したのでしょうか。市の収集車が来たので聞いたらいずれも可燃ごみでいいとのこと。ごみ袋を勝手に開けて仕分けするなんて不愉快です。おせっかいはやめてください。
 
 (12月14日)
 
 
On the flammable garbage collection day, I  put a bag of trash out in the garbage station.
In the bag were my leather boots, canvas shoes, plastic stool and other trashes. 
 
I got there again about an hour later. Unbelievably enough, the boots, shoes and stool were out there, lined up next to the garbage station.
Somebody had opened the bag and taken them out, thinking they are not combustible.!
 
Then the municipal garbage collection vehicle arrived and I asked the men if those articles belong to the flammable category or not.  They answered “flammable”.
 
I want to have a word or two with the person who meddled with my bag.
 
“It’s quite annoying. Mind your own business.”
 

英作文チャレンジコーナー(はいはい道新) Hokkaido Newspaper “Readers’ voice column”

雪が遅いせいか、今年はやけに枯れ葉が目立ちます。 風の吹き具合によるのでしょうか。 わが家にはそこかしこから枯れ葉が集まってくるのです。先日の強風のときは大変でした。塀や玄関は言うに及ばす、奥まった所にある車庫の前には、多くの枯れ葉に交じって発泡スチロールや空のペットボトルが吹き寄せられていました。枯れ葉は数袋に分け、ゴミ収集にだしましたが、これも有料です。風が相手じゃ、文句も言えませんもんね。
 
  
There are an awful lot of dead leaves seen this winter,  probably because we have less snowfall than usual.
 Many of them , blown from here and there, gather  around my house.  I wonder if this is done by wind-related factos.
 The recent heavy storm was so terrible that it left me drifts of such leaves, styrene foam particles, and empty PET bottles  –  in front of my garage far from the road, as well as my fence and my entrance.
I had to put those leaves in a several bags and place them out for collection service.
Of course it costs me money. But there’s no point in blaming the wind.