If you go around asking people about their all-time favourite John Goodman film, you’re in for a mishmash of answers. He’s the embodiment of versatility, capable of effortlessly taking centre stage in virtually any movie, outshining his co-stars. For some, he resonates as the affable family man, Dan Conner, in Roseanne.

Others can readily quote his iconic lines from The Big Lebowski, while younger viewers might idolise him for lending his voice to the amiable blue monster, Sulley, in Monsters, Inc.

As for me, I’m all about his role as the larger-than-life drug dealer Harling Mays in 2012’s Flight. The scene where he rolls up to a hotel to save Denzel Washington’s pilot from the mother of all hangovers, strutting down the hallway with a backpack full of cocaine to the tune of The Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil”—that’s got to be one of the coolest moments in movie history.

We are thrilled to share our interview with Goodman on p18, where he delves into reigniting his passion for acting, overcoming his alcohol addiction in 2007, and simply embracing life’s everyday experiences: from dentist appointments to leisurely days in his New Orleans home, and his newfound fascination with the works of Charles Dickens. As grounded and unpretentious as he is remarkably skilled, spending 15 minutes inside the mind of this Hollywood hero is truly a delight.

As one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals, Mid-Autumn Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Sept 29 this year.This day is also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain are harvested by this time.

Here are the things you should know about this special occasion.

Legend

Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations date back to more than 2,000 years ago. In feudal times, Chinese emperors prayed to Heaven for a prosperous year.

They chose the morning of the 15th day of the second lunar month to worship the sun and the night of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to hold a ceremony in praise of the moon.

It was not until the early Tang Dynasty that the day was officially celebrated as a traditional festival.It became an established festival during the Song Dynasty, and has become as popular as the Spring Festival since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Celebrations have continued ever since and more customs for marking this occasion have developed.

Eating Mooncakes

Eating mooncakes while watching the full moon is an important part of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and is more like a symbol of family unity.At the very beginning, moon cakes were served as a sacrifice to the Moon.

The word "moon cake" first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty.Nowadays, moon cakes are given as presents to loved ones and it represents people's wishes to be together during the mid-autumn festival.

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作为中国最重要的传统节日之一，中秋节落在农历八月十五，今年是9月29日。这一天也被视为丰收节，因为此时水果、蔬菜和谷物已经收获。

以下是关于这个特殊节日的一些重要信息。

历史

中秋节的庆祝活动可以追溯到两千多年前。在封建社会时代，中国皇帝为了祈求丰年，选择农历二月十五日的早晨来祭拜太阳，以及八月十五日的晚上来举行赞美月亮的仪式。

直到唐代初期，这一天才正式被庆祝为传统节日。它在宋代成为一个固定的节日，自明清两代以来变得和春节一样受欢迎。

庆祝活动一直延续至今，并且有更多标志这一时刻的习俗逐渐形成。

吃月饼

在中国，吃月饼、赏月亮是中秋节的重要活动，更像是家庭团聚的象征。最初，月饼是供奉给月亮的祭品。

“月饼”一词最早出现在南宋时代。如今，月饼作为礼物送给亲人，它代表着人们在中秋节期间希望团聚的愿望。

0020 Formal Emails.mp3
0020 Formal Emails.pdf

[start of story]

Dear Dr. Lee:

I don't know if you'll remember me, but I introduced myself to you after your keynote at last week's conference. As I mentioned to you, I have read all of your work and I am a great admirer of your research. Your article in the top journal Language Learning was groundbreaking.

The reason I am contacting you is that I would like to come to your university to study with you. I met some of your students at the conference and they couldn't stop singing your praises as a professor. I don't know if you are accepting any new students for the next year, but if so, I hope you will consider me.

I have included two attachments to this email. I am sending a copy of my CV, and I am also including a research paper I completed earlier this year. I hope that these will give you an idea of my qualifications and experience. Please let me know if you need more information or more samples of my academic work.

It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you at the conference, and I hope to hear more about your research at a future conference.

Sincerely,

Lucy Hocevar

[end of story]

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0019 Tough Negotiations.pdf
0019 Tough Negotiations.mp3

[start of story]

I'm not what you would call the world's best negotiator, but sometimes it's necessary to engage in a tough negotiation. Take, for instance, the time I had to renew the lease on my apartment. This was back in college, when I was renting a small studio in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. When my lease was up, the landlord and I sat down to hammer out the terms of a new lease.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm going to give you a break on rent if you sign a two-year lease instead of just a one-year lease."

"Well," I said, "I don't know. What sort of break are we talking about here?"

"I'll give you a 5% rent increase instead of a 10% increase in exchange for you signing a two-year lease. It's a win-win situation: you get a cut in rent, and I get the security of a two-year lease."

At this point, I decided to make a counter-proposal. "How about this," I said, "You give me a one year lease with a six percent increase."

"No, I can't make that sort of deal," he said. "But here's what I can do, and it's my final offer: I'll pay for your electricity for the first 6 months of the lease, along with the other terms I mentioned before."

"You drive a hard bargain. Okay, it's a deal," I said. I guess I could have tried to bargain him down a bit more, but I was happy with our agreement. Now all I had to do was sign on the dotted line.

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0018 Seeing Old Friends.pdf
0018 Seeing Old Friends.mp3

[start of story]

This has been a month for seeing old friends. I got an email a couple of weeks ago from an old friend from college. She and her family are visiting L.A. for a week. They plan to see family and to visit old friends. Since she moved away, I hadn't seen her in ages. I'm looking forward to meeting her new kids and seeing her again.

Another old friend called this week. She and I were buddies when we were young. She plans to swing by L.A. on her way to San Francisco. We've made plans to have lunch. She works in Washington D.C. and is normally very busy. I'm glad she could make time for us to get together.

When we say good-bye to our friends, we always hope to keep in touch. But, what with this and that, it's sometimes hard to do. With friends that I've fallen out of touch with, it's sometimes hard to meet again and pick up where we left off. We've both moved on to a different phase in our lives. Some of my old friends have become very successful, and are living lives in the fast lane. Other friends are having a more difficult time and are just making ends meet. But, no matter how they're doing, it's always nice to touch base again.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these old pals and catching up after all this time. We just won’t mention how much we’ve aged.

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0017 Reading the Newspaper.mp3
0017 Reading the Newspaper.pdf

[start of story]

I fell into the habit of reading the newspaper every morning when I was a kid. Back then, there used to be two daily newspapers – a morning edition and an afternoon edition.

Nowadays, of course, most cities in the U.S. have just a morning paper. I'm not too picky about which newspaper I read, although when it comes to national newspapers, I prefer reading the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal over USA Today.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a news junkie. I just like browsing the different sections, reading the headlines, and checking out the classifieds. I usually skip the sport section and the funnies, and only flip through the food and health sections, but I always read the front page and the editorial page. On the weekends, I'll skim the entertainment section for movie listings and reviews.

I'm sort of old fashioned in that I still like reading a real, paper newspaper. Sure, I also read some of my news online, but nothing beats lounging around on Sunday morning reading the big, thick paper. Don't worry, though: I always recycle my stack of newspapers.

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0016 Driving on the Freeways.pdf
0016 Driving on the Freeways.mp3

[start of story]

Driving in a big city like L.A. can be very difficult. It sometimes feels like I'm doing battle just to get to the grocery store. What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out people's aggressive side? The most mild-mannered driver becomes crazy when they get on the road.

In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute to their jobs or just to get around town. I think driving on the freeway has its good and its bad. On the one hand, there are no stoplights and the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour so you can get somewhere quickly. On the other hand, there are drawbacks, too. People like to gun their engines and cut off other cars to get ahead. If you’re driving in the passing lane, for example, you’d better be driving very fast, since most people are speeding. With all of these speeding cars, it’s not unusual to see a pileup every day of the week!

As an alternate to the freeway, I sometimes take surface streets. Of course, surface streets have their drawbacks, too. If you have a long commute to work or school, it can take you a long time to get there. There are a lot of stop signs, stoplights, and crosswalks. And, people sometimes tailgate if they think you're not going fast enough. Now that I think about it, there's sometimes even more congestion on surface streets than on the freeways!

It’s tough living in L.A. unless you never leave your house!

[end of story]

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0015 Problems at the Office.mp3
0015 Problems at the Office.pdf

[start of dialogue]

Lucy: Hey Jeff, can I pick your brain for a minute?

Jeff: Sure, what's up?

Lucy: Well, I have a sticky situation at work and I wanted to get your input. You're always so tactful.

Jeff: Thanks. I'm not sure I can help but I'll give you my two cents.

Lucy: Well, it's like this. There's this guy I work with who is always making jokes about the boss. Don't get me wrong. I like a good joke now and then, especially about the boss. But, sometimes he goes too far.

Jeff. What do you mean?

Lucy: Well, just the other day, he got a picture off the Internet and cut and pasted the boss's head onto it. Let's just say it was a very unflattering picture of him.

Jeff: Hmm. That's really unprofessional, but it sounds harmless enough, if he kept it to himself or just showed it to a few friends.

Lucy: That's just it. He didn't keep it to himself. He attached the picture to an email and sent it to the entire company, including the top brass.

Jeff: You're joking, right?

Lucy: No, I'm not. This is what I meant when I said he goes too far. He just doesn't know when to quit.

Jeff: Is he a friend of yours?

Lucy: No, not really. But, I don't want the guy to get fired. He's actually a good person. He's just clueless, that's all.

Jeff: Well, that's a tough one. Let me think about it. Maybe there's a way to get him to cut it out before he gets fired.

Lucy: Thanks. I appreciate it.

Jeff: Oh, it's no big deal. Let's go get a bite to eat.

Lucy: Sure. Sounds good to me.

[end of dialogue]

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0014 Going to the Post Office.mp3
0014 Going to the Post Office.pdf

[start of story]

For me, things never go very smoothly at the local post office. I've learned that if you want to mail a letter, you'll have no problems. But if things get more complicated than that, well, watch out!

Yesterday I went there to mail a small package and pick up a book of stamps. I wait my turn in line, and when I get up to the window, the clerk says, "What can I do for you?" "Well," I say, "I need a book – no make that a roll – of stamps. And I need to send this package priority to San Francisco." "You want insurance with that?" he asks me. "Uh, I don't know, what do you recommend?" "Well," he says, "you can send it priority with tracking if you want to see when it gets there, you can send it insured if the contents are valuable, or you can do both."

"Okay, I'll take the insurance." "Then step aside to fill out the insurance form," he says, "and bring it back up to me when you're finished." With that, I was waved aside to fill out my form. "Next in line!" the clerk calls. When I finish filling out the form, I wait patiently until the gentleman being waited on in front of me is finished, and then step back up to the window. "Sorry," the clerk says, "I'm on break now. She can help you at the next window."

Maybe it would be quicker just to drive my package to San Francisco.

[end of story]

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0013 Going to the Drugstore.mp3
0013 Going to the Drugstore.pdf

[start of story]

I stopped by the drugstore last night on my way back home from work. I had a few toiletries to pick up, as well as my prescription. Fortunately, the chain pharmacy where I go has a little bit of everything: food, greeting cards, magazines – it’s almost as big as a regular supermarket.

To begin with, I needed to get some medications for my allergies. I've got hay fever, so I'm sneezing up a storm every morning when I wake up. While I was at it, I also got some antacids and some Band-Aids. Now it was time to pick up my refill.

I stood in line for a few minutes before being waited on. Since it was not a new prescription, the pharmacist didn't have to do a consultation with me. I just gave the clerk my insurance card and she rang up the sale. Fortunately, I have a low co-pay, so my HMO foots most of the bill.

[end of story]

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