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Take Off 72: Of Michael Jackson and the Moon
January 26, 2012 08:56 AM PST

Six stories in this episode: five by high-school students who were among the visitors on our open day at the University of Pécs today, and one by Fülöp Eper Flóra, a second-year English major. The high-school authors: László Gábor, Decsi Liliána, Vörös László, Babos Tamás and Ferenczi Ágota.

Take Off 71: American Anthony
December 31, 2011 08:59 AM PST
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The last episode in 2011 features Anthony Krese, a.k.a. American Anthony, a teacher in Japan. Snippets from our Skype chat.

Anthony's website: www.americananthony.com

Take Off 70: Skype Chat with Thékes István
November 06, 2011 12:44 AM PDT
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Seventy episodes already!

Listen to a chat with language educator and PhD student Thékes István, also known as Jerry Thékes.

Technical background info: episode recorded on the iPhone 4, partly mixed and edited with the GarageBand app, also on the iPhone. Look for more tweaks and programming innovations as a result of this app in the future.

Theme music by Kartali László. Acoustic guitar riffs by Horváth József

Take Off 69: Part 2 of the Interview with Kathy
November 05, 2011 01:51 AM PDT

Part 2 of the interview with Katharine Whitcomb.

Kathy's website: http://www.katharinewhitcomb.com

This episode was first released a week ago but was then mysteriously gone for a day. Hope this time it will be okay.

Take Off 68: An Afternoon with Katharine Whitcomb
October 06, 2011 06:42 AM PDT
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Katharine Whitcomb is associate professor at Central Washington University. Currently she is guest professor at the University of Pécs. A poet and collaborative artist, she is also a great person to listen to. This episode is the first of a two-part series featuring her ideas and poetry.

Her website: http://www.katharinewhitcomb.com

Music credit: "Gone In" by Everyday Jones

Theme music composed and played by Kartali László

Take Off 67: Eper to Fly to Texas
June 01, 2011 11:29 AM PDT
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Fülöp Eper Flóra about her upcoming work experience in a Texas summer camp. Music credit: Blake Shelton's "Nobody But Me."

Take Off 66: Hana Humpolíková from Ostrava
March 16, 2011 12:55 PM PDT
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Hana Humpolíková is a student from Ostrava, the Czech Republic, currently on an Erasmus scholarship at the University of Pécs. The other day, we got together in my office.

Take Off 65: Anna Back from Madrid
January 09, 2011 02:18 AM PST
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Rudolf Anna came back from Madrid to Pécs for a short visit last week. After a hot chocolate and coffee, we went to Széchenyi square to record an interview.

Take Off 64: Sounds
January 02, 2011 03:52 AM PST

You can listen to a sound story -- and not only that. You can write it, too! Send entries to jozsefhor@gmail.com.

Take Off 63: Katarina on Writing, Words and Photos
October 28, 2010 11:15 AM PDT
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Katarina Vesela, a colleague from Slovakia, speaks about her recently published book, Academic Writing, among others.

Take Off 62: Three Students from A Coruna
October 28, 2010 11:14 AM PDT
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Horváth Bálint, Fekecs Adrienn and Szilas Péter, three good friends from the University of Pécs, are studying at A Coruna, Spain this semester. Last week they came to chat with me. This episode: soundbites fom our chat.

Please note that due to bandwidth limitations, some of my podcast episodes may not be available at the beginning of November. If you hear a Podomatic rep saying that my monthly bandwidth has expired, don't abandon Take Off: on November 4, my counter will be reset and all the episodes will be back on the air.

Take Off 61: Kovács Gabi's Blog
October 11, 2010 09:39 AM PDT

Second-year MA student Kovács Gabi tells us about her blog at http://kovgab.wordpress.com

Take Off 60: Sonia Valdiviezo on Her Novel
August 29, 2010 01:07 AM PDT
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First we talked, and then we danced -- at the farewell party at Seggau Castle, Austria. Find out about Sonia Valdiviezo's novel-in-progress.

Take Off 59: Interview with Jonathan Smith
August 06, 2010 12:55 AM PDT
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I met Jonathan at this year's Graz University Summer School. Snippets from an interview we recorded on the last day.

Take Off 58: Lovorka and Vladimir in Pécs
June 26, 2010 09:10 AM PDT
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My Croatian colleagues, Lovorka Zergollern-Miletic and Vladimir Legac, and I went to have beer in Pécs yesterday. Guess who turned on his iPhone.

Episode track: "Two Lessons to Learn" by Thalassa. More Thalassa music at http://www.ilike.com

Take Off 57: The Immortal Jellyfish
June 15, 2010 04:49 AM PDT

An article by Bryan Nelson about the only animal known to be immortal, the turritopsis nutricula. See text at http://bit.ly/93JXXO

Episode track: "Mystique" by Marcin Borowski. Browse more Borowski music at http://www.ilike.com

Take Off 56: Szántó Gábor about Wikipedia
June 01, 2010 11:48 AM PDT
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Graduating student Szántó Gábor shares ideas about the subject of his MA thesis, Wikipedia.

Take Off 55: Palin's Speech Opens Sixth Seal
March 10, 2010 08:06 AM PST

Episode celebrates 55th milestone with a classic grotesque article from The Onion.

Theme music by Kartali Lászó

Take Off 54: Winter Olympics Athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili Dies
February 22, 2010 08:46 AM PST

First episode of 2010 features a part of Nancy Franklin's New Yorker article about the Vancouver Olympics.

Theme music by Kartali László

Take Off 53: Taking Off with Szvath Dóra
October 28, 2009 08:21 AM PDT

Second-year student and two-time Blog Oscar Award winner Szvath Dóra narrates a passage from her short story, "Passengers." The full story is on her blog: http://senator888.blogspot.com

Theme music by Kartali László

Take Off 52: Ian Frazier on Phones and Dogs
October 17, 2009 02:42 AM PDT

An excerpt of a feature from the October 19, 2009 issue of The New Yorker.

Theme music by Kartali Lacek. Episode track: "Lions," by The Features.

Take Off 51: Iveszics Alexander's Essay
June 04, 2009 09:13 AM PDT
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"I’m not saying that it’s alright to be nervous all the time, but helping stressed-out people is always better than scolding them." This idea and more in Alexander's essay.

Theme tune by Kartali László. Music credit: Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus

Take Off 50: Voices from the Past
May 17, 2009 12:53 AM PDT
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Kartali Laci is the composer and musician of the new theme tune. Tune in to listen to that and to seven people from the first 49 episodes: Dani, Bernadett, Gergő, Steve, Lovorka, Anna, and Scott.

After this episode was published, Take Off really took off: it moved to 491st place overall. That's not bad with over 30,000 other podcasts trailing behind on Podomatic!

Thanks for listening!

Take Off 49: Bernadett and Attila Comment on Podcasts
March 28, 2009 03:52 AM PDT

Józsa Bernadett and Hudák Attila talk about two podcasts: Take Off and Tokyo Calling, the latter by my favorite podcaster, Scott Lockmann. Music credit: "Melt Down the Knives" by Sin Fang Bous.

Take Off 48: Chat with Carol MacCurdy
March 18, 2009 06:46 AM PDT
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Fulbright Professor Carol MacCurdy and I went to Paulus last week, and I asked her to talk about life and literature in the US. Snippets from the chat.

Take Off 47: Invasion from Space
February 22, 2009 09:12 AM PST

Excerpt from a story by Steven Millhauser.

Take Off 46: Blog Posts by Kati, Dávid and Krisztián
February 16, 2009 09:27 AM PST

Vasas Katalin's debut as a blog writer, plus Tomázy Dávid's and Ömböli Krisztián's stories.

Take Off 45: Meeting High-School Students
January 30, 2009 09:08 AM PST
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On Wednesday, Rudolf Anna and I gave a talk to high-school students. In the episode: sound bites from the event.

Take Off 44: Instant Karma
January 11, 2009 08:05 AM PST

Listen to an article by Sasha Frere-Jones published in The New Yorker on January 12.

Take Off 43: Tomázy Dávid Talks About His Story
January 09, 2009 06:06 AM PST

First-year student Tomázy Dávid talks about a story he will start writing soon.

Take Off 42: Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
December 31, 2008 08:25 AM PST

The last pages from Proulx's highly acclaimed novella.

Take Off 41: Student Voices: Oral Presentation Skills
December 14, 2008 12:56 AM PST

Seven students from my Oral Presentation Skills course share opinions and plans: Balázs, Anita, Kitti, Kinga, Anna, Judit, and Krisztián.

Take Off 40: Meeting Would-Be Freshmen
November 30, 2008 11:18 PM PST
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First, some thoughts about meeting would-be freshmen last Saturday, and then a song by Cargo Cult. Photo: Zsélyi Eszter after our talk, with part of Kungl Zsófi's blog showing in the background.

Take Off 39: Reports by Sziszi, Angéla, István and Eszter
November 18, 2008 11:34 AM PST

A nameday, an exhibition, a trip and a song: four students share their experiences on their blogs. Music credit: Michael Halaas, http://www.ilike.com

Take Off 38: Stories by Dóri, Évi and Lilla
October 27, 2008 11:43 PM PDT

Three blogs, three stories, three students: Szvath Dóra, Balázs Éva and Gazdóf Lilla. Music credit: a song by Ellen Says No, a free MP3 download from http://www.ilike.com/artist/Ellen+Says+No

Take Off 37: Amsterdam Calling
October 21, 2008 03:56 AM PDT
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Kartali László, third-year student of Pécs, jazz musician, vocabulary master, and composer of the Take Off theme music, calls Amsterdam home this semester that he spends in Holland on an Erasmus scholarship. In this episode, we share a part of our Skype chat last weekend. Photo credit: Lacek's photo of the view form his apartment in downtown Amsterdam.

Take Off 36: Five Students Start Blogs
October 01, 2008 09:26 AM PDT

The site is up and running again! Enjoy these podcasts!

Listen to the first posts of Andrea, Dóra, Zsófi, Kornél, and Krisztián. I am planning more episodes featuring students' blogs this semester. If you would like to read these and other blog posts, go to http://take-o-f-f.blogspot.com and look for the list.

Take Off 35: Last Vacation Episode
August 27, 2008 05:35 AM PDT
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The last summer episode this year!

Take Off 34: Find the River with REM
August 13, 2008 11:39 PM PDT
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In just a little more than a day, I'll be there with the crowd watching and listening to REM at the Sziget, Budapest, Hungary. I hope to be back from that concert with a special REM Live edition of the podcast. We'll see. What's sure is that the most recent episode features "Find the River."
#rembudapest

Take Off 2 All Over Again
July 22, 2008 02:29 AM PDT
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I'll post the next episode in early August, after I come home from the Kapolcs Magic Days festivities. Meantime, you can listen to one of my favorite student stories, which also appears in my collection, the JPU Corpus.

Take Off 33: Frank Mills from Hair
July 10, 2008 09:39 AM PDT

That's right: this week, the lyrics comes from that 60s musical, Hair. Enjoy!

Take Off 32: Accelerate with REM
July 01, 2008 11:54 PM PDT

How about shifting into sixth gear with this fantastic track from REM's latest album? Plus listen to my rendition of the lyrics. Enjoy! Also, check out Take Off after the REM concert on the Sziget on August 16. I will be there and share with you some of the highlights of the show!

#rembudapest

Take Off 31: Viva La Vida by Coldplay
June 23, 2008 08:57 AM PDT

The first summer episode! Enjoy your vacation and this story, the lyrics of Coldplay's Viva La Vida.

Take Off 30: Toronto, Starlight, and Zamárdi
June 04, 2008 10:39 PM PDT

Konkoly Kriszta, Horváth Bálint, and Szilas Péter, three English majors at the University of Pécs, talk about an exam and their summer plans.

Take Off 29: After the Conference
May 19, 2008 12:35 PM PDT
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Lovorka Zergollern - Miletic, a colleague from the University of Zagreb, and I gave a talk on coherence and originality in student writing at a Pécs conference last week. After the presentation, we went to have a glass of wine downtown -- together with a team of participants. It was there that I made this recording.

The song is by The Agape Rose. Find more great music by them and other bands at www.ilike.com.

Take Off 28: On the Terrace of Paulus
May 02, 2008 11:43 AM PDT

Kosóczki Kata, Buda Réka and Fodor Balázs, three students from my Oral Presentation Skills II course, are talking about Forster's novel, A Passage to India, and another passage.

The song is "Sol naciente" by Cargo Cult. Go to http://www.ilike.com to listen to songs by them or other GarageBand musicians.

Take Off 27: Stephen Spinder's Stories
April 14, 2008 01:08 AM PDT
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In the past three years, I have met Steve four times: at the annual Budapest Folk Dance Festivals. This past weekend I asked him to tell Take Off a little bit about his interest in things Hungarian and Transylvanian.

Here's the cover photo of his album Ten Years in Transylvania:

If you would like to see Steve's other photos, too, visit his site at

http://www.spinderartphoto.com/

Take Off 26: The Untouchables
March 30, 2008 06:52 AM PDT

A scene from the movie starring Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, plus a conversation with Rácz Krisztián.

The song is by the Mitchell Blues Band -- a free MP3 file from www.iLike.com

Take Off 25: Easter Island by Katherine Routledge
March 24, 2008 03:46 AM PDT

In this episode I read a passage about the prehistoric statues on Easter Island. Read the rest of the chapter and other sections in Routledge's book on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=36yi7JgoBY8C&rview=1

Take Off 24: Through the Glasses of... By Rudolf Anna
March 17, 2008 12:39 PM PDT

Listen to Rudolf Anna's story from her blog at http://anchuk.blogspot.com

The singer featured in the episode is Hannah Ild.

Take Off 23: Krupla Gergo About Reading and Writing
March 06, 2008 12:42 PM PST
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A talented writer, Gergo is a fourth-year student at the University of Pecs.

Take Off 22: Reka's Stories from the Park
February 25, 2008 08:42 AM PST
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This episode features Lugossy Reka and her stories.

Take Off 21: Nikolov Marianne on Vocabulary Learning
February 16, 2008 08:21 AM PST
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Another rerun of a segment from a Joe and Co. episode from last year, featuring Marianne's ideas about learning vocabulary.

The music for this episode is by Everyday Jones, What I'm Missing. Used under the Creative Commons license. You can hear more Everyday Jones songs at http://www.podsafeaudio.com.

Take Off 20: Sliders by Grozli-Nagy Attila
February 10, 2008 09:34 AM PST

The Lord of the... listen to the episode to find out!

Take Off 19: A Chat with Horvath Bernadett
January 29, 2008 01:10 PM PST
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Horvath Bernadett, a friend and former JPU student, joined me in the morning on Skype. She told me about an exercise she's recently designed and about a Newsweek article written by... but you will find that out.

The music: Rain in the Desert, by Little Red King. Used under the Creative Commons license. To listen to this and other Little Red King tracks, visit http://www.podsafeaudio.com.

Take Off 18: Reloaded from the American Corner
January 22, 2008 09:17 AM PST
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A look back at a session held last year in the American Corner. Students read and talk about magazine articles, watch a movie, and discuss what they have discovered at 9 Maria street, Pecs, Hungary.

The music for this episode is by Bob Maus, Next Step. Used under the Creative Commons license. You can hear more Bob Maus songs at http://www.podsafeaudio.com.

Take Off 17: My Top Ten
January 19, 2008 09:56 AM PST
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Ever wanted to know what keeps your teachers on the job? Not really? Well, for those of you who are interested, here's my reason. Ten, actually.

It's those student essays that I will, I know, remember for years to come – and go. There are dozens – for now, let me just share the top, the crème de le crème, the very best.

An essay I wrote five or six years ago.

The music for this episode is by Everyday Jones, Here I Am. Used under the Creative Commons license. You can hear more Everyday Jones songs at http://www.podsafeaudio.com.

Take Off 16: An Introduction to Syllabology
January 13, 2008 11:24 AM PST
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An essay written in 1996 by Schubert Gabor, a former student at the University of Pecs.

The music for this episode is by Tyson Emanuel, Touched by Fire. Used under the Creative Commons license. You can hear more of Tyson's songs at http://www.podsafeaudio.com.

Take Off 15: Joe and Co. Reloaded
January 10, 2008 12:16 PM PST

A part of episode 2 from my first podcast, Joe and Co., Co. and Joe, featuring blog news about Aliz, on the phone with Judit, and Bono from the Guardian podcast.



Take Off 14: On Writing Well
January 08, 2008 12:55 AM PST
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Two parts from a chapter from William Zinsser's On Writing Well, a classic nonfiction guide.

If you would like to listen to the Obscure 80s podcast, go to http://obscure80s.podomatic.com

Take Off 13: Brokeback Mountain
December 31, 2007 12:24 AM PST
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A passage from Annie Poulx's novella. Some of you may have expected an essay of mine for the last 2007 episode: nine listeners out of 24 requested, in my blog poll, that the feature be my funny bad essay. But my only hard copy of that piece, "Why Do We Play Soccer," is missing. If anyone out there still has it, please let me know.

In other news: Take Off is now available on the iTunes Music Store. In the past few days, it has even been featured as a new and notable podcast.

Wishing you all a great New Year's Eve and a shiny happy 2008, when Take Off returns with more great literature by students and classics.

Take Off 12: A Night at the Mall
December 12, 2007 12:17 AM PST

The author: Takacs Daniel. The piece: a short story written exclusively for Take Off.

Welcome to the twelfth episode. Remember the first? It featured Dani, too, with his "Still There," a story about his days in England. Now he returns to Take Off with another masterpiece in this, the Xmas edition of the podcast. Thanks, Dani!

Want to share your ideas about this and other stories? Send me a comment. I am planning an episode featuring listeners' views.

Enjoy and happy holidays to all!

Take Off 11: Holly Golightly
December 03, 2007 03:04 AM PST
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Welcome to the eleventh episode. It features a passage from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The first two paragraphs:

I’d been to a movie, come home and gone to bed with a bourbon nightcap and the newest Simenon: so much my idea of comfort that I couldn’t understand a sense of unease that multiplied until I could hear my heart beating. It was a feeling I'd read about, written about, but never before experienced. The feeling of being watched. Of someone in the room. Then: an abrupt rapping at the window, a glimpse of ghostly gray: I spilled the bourbon. It was some little while before I could bring myself to open the window, and ask Miss Golightly what she wanted.

"I've got the most terrifying man downstairs," she said, stepping off the fire escape into the room. "I mean he's sweet when he isn't drunk, but let him start lapping up the vino, and oh God quel beast! If there's one thing I loathe, it's men who bite." She loosened a gray flannel robe off her shoulder to show me evidence of what happens if a man bites. The robe was all she was wearing. "I'm sorry if I frightened you. But when the beast got so tiresome I just went out the window.”

Take Off 10: Podcast News
November 22, 2007 11:38 AM PST
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Zsani tells about her accident, Reka about leaving home, and Mark about whether it's worth talking about hobbies.

Take Off 9: Five Questions, Five Answers
November 21, 2007 12:17 AM PST

I answer five Xanga featured questions

Take Off 8: Review of Students' Blogs
November 20, 2007 11:57 PM PST
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Featuring recent blog posts

Take Off 7: The Love Padlocks of Pecs, Hungary
November 20, 2007 11:48 PM PST
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Episode based on Wikipedia content.

Take Off 6: Would You Care for a Cocktail?
November 20, 2007 11:44 PM PST

A passage from The Catcher in the Rye

Take Off 5: Hungary Calling
November 20, 2007 11:39 PM PST
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An essay by a student in Zagreb, Croatia

Take Off 3: Alright by Diana Goncz
November 20, 2007 06:15 AM PST

A story from the creative anthology of Take Off about photocopying

Take Off 2: A Child's Photo
November 20, 2007 05:57 AM PST
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An essay by a student about childhood -- from the JPU Corpus.

Take Off 1: Still There by Daniel Takacs
November 20, 2007 05:05 AM PST

The first in the Take Off podcast series, featuring a story by Daniel Takacs about his summer in England. It is also part of the creative anthology of Take Off, the book.