Yes, I watch their shows and even have one of their CD's. Love their songs and singing, and a couple are pretty cute too! (I like the blond one with the bad haircut.) So very sorry to hear about George. He was the big guy, right? Wow, they must all be in shock. I'm going to do a search and read about it. Yes, he was pretty young but had a wonderful experience singing with the group. Thanks for letting everyone know. This post was edited by socks12345 on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 21:25

I agree that the people who orchestrated this whole operation all deserve praise. The miners seem to be doing well, despite what they have endured. The President of Chile would get my vote for re-election (if I could vote in Chile). He and his wife were real troopers, and it's obvious that they were there to support the miners, families, and rescuers...rather than just a photo op. And it's great that there was so much news coverage--it was a heartwarming story with a happy ending. Hooray for Chile!!

I just last week sent a dvd player and a vhs player to DGD up in N.Ca.Their's broke several months ago,and we had extras here .They are happy campers now,especially the kids. I still have a dvd/vhs player in the living room,dh has another in his room and GD has one in her room.Guess you can tell dh is an electronics fan.LOL......... Kathi

TG, it's not a Texas thing (that's just what that particular study was focused on), it's a human thing. When we want to fit in, or just be well understood, in a group who speak differently, we tend to pick up bits of their accents (unconsciously--though I'm sure Mimipadv is right about the pandering, and could add con men to the list who do it on purpose), and if it's an accent from our native cultures, even if not our normal way of speech, we tend to go in for the whole thing to the degree to which we want to fit in. If we want to establish ourselves as the real deal, the accent may actually be stronger for than the people who always speak that way. It works the opposite way too. People who want to retain their senses of who they are find it difficult to lose their accents when speaking in a foreign language. They may have surface thoughts that they really want to speak more like a native, but in their hearts they don't want to let go of their own ways of speaking. There's often an element of classism in that. You've heard the old saw about everyone attending Oxford University coming out with the Oxford accent? I don't know that that's true anymore, and in the past there have been people who have worked hard to shed it, but, in general, when anyone with foreign or lower class accent was there, there would be such massive social pressure to change that it happened and stuck through their lives. Similarly, when people feel the opposite of wanting to fit in, especially if they feel that their origins are superior to the group they're among, their own accents are less likely to soften. That doesn't have to be class based, or alienation, however, and could just be retaining a sense of identity to their origins and selfhoods. Or something like that. :) I have a friend I rarely see in person (we e-mail a lot), who is from D.C. I noticed last time we had dinner together--here in California--that I was stretching words at the end of an intonation (I think that's what it is) in the D.C. way. I guess that was my unconscious way of embracing her. :) My own accent pops out most when I'm with people who speak with a Western drawl, but it retains that, um, well, "surfer" bit.