Pen spinning

Some of my former students (you know who I'm talking about) had the strange habit of doing tricks with their pens while listening - to help their concentration, they said. By chance, I just found out that this is called pen spinning, and there are thousands of experts at it out there. In fact, there are so many that BIC, the pen company, is organizing a competition!

If you are good enough at it, why don't you try and enter the competition? The prize is a trip to Japan! More details at pen pinning academy. You'll need to hurry up: the deadline is July 31st!

If you're not good enough yet, here's a tutorial:


For extra practice and tricks, type pen spinning in YouTube and you'll find over 6000 more examples and tutorials!

Independence Day

July 4th is Independence Day in the USA. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (on July 4th, 1776), in which 13 American colonies declared they were no longer a part of Great Britain, thus marking the birth of the United States of America.

It's a national holiday marked with a patriotic overtone. It usually takes place outdoors, with parades, barbecues, picnics in the park and fireworks being held all over the country. Decorations take the colour of the American flag (also known as Stars and Stripes): red, white and blue. Read a more detailed description of the festivity by the US State Department.

It's typical of this day to sing patriotic songs such as the national anthem (The star-spangled banner) or Stars and Stripes Forever. If you don't know them, here's a very funny version made by The Muppets: