Wonderful Speech by Craig Ferguson

This is such a great speech, lovely lurkers. If you didn't see it last night, here 'tis (in a Scottish accent). ~Jenn

Craig Ferguson’s brilliant analysis of ‘Why everything sucks’ EW.com

Shared via AddThis. Image from this site.

Muppet IDs

Check this out. If you remember "that one Muppet" and you don't remember its name, just look at this interactive article from National Post and remember!

Memorable Quote

"Throw in a duck."


~the secret of writing, according to Thomas Pynchon.

Vintage Star Wars

Thanks to stellar blog i09 for posting this vimeo page by one of the original ILM guys. One of the comments says: "hardly a computer in sight" which I think is mind-boggling when you think of how good those old films still are and how much we rely on computers nowadays. I know, I sound like an old lady: "When I was your age, our movies didn't have new-fangled CGI..."

Enjoy this vid, lovely lurkers, and thanks again to Mr. Berry and i09.

Fight Clip Club

Well, it's not really a fight. It's Penn Jillette juggling broken bottles. So we at Bonzuko like Penn & Teller a lot, and we like Discovery Channel's Time Warp a lot. They did another amazing section on this episode wherein they showed the classic cup-and-balls magic trick a few different ways (including clear cups!!!) and it taught everyone a lot about what sleight-of-hand really entails. Anyway...

Enjoy this legerdemain, lovely lurkers.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-penn-juggles-broken-bottles-super-close-up.html

Thanks to this site for the image.

Steampunk Lightsaber

Found this on stellar blog Boing-Boing: it's a steampunk lightsaber. I actually agree with a couple of the comments below the post, in that it does look a little too techno to be truly steampunk. I'd think it would need a vaccuum tube or some gears or a tiny steam engine, or...something less advanced. But it does look super-cool, aesthetically. Check it out here, and see if you agree with me. ~Jenn

It's Officially Summer!

Though the Unbeatable Bonzuko Team normally want to find an ice cave and hibernate during the hot months of Colorado (I don't care if it's a "dry heat"--it's too much! Thank goodness we're not in Arizona), we would still like to cheerfully announce that yesterday was the first official day of summer, and we wish many poolside lemonades, watermelons, cookouts, and anything else that makes you happy about summer. To celebrate, here's a picture of the sun-bright hair of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the upcoming Tim Burton Alice. Thanks to bitchy blog D-listed for posting the newly released pics.

Black Belt Cloud

I just love word toys and language games. This new Word Cloud thing is delighting me no end. It's actually a good writer's tool as well, in that one can see which words one uses most often. This is the word cloud for my To Shin Do Black Belt essay and written exam, including the two addenda posted here on Daily Cross-Swords in the past. It's an unusual, interesting way to read.

~Jenn

Quote to Chuckle at

Evil Kneivel sed:

"Broken bones heal; pain is temporary; chicks dig scars."

Thanks to this site for the image.

Today's Cloud

Thanks Wordle, for addictive wordplay! This cloud is from this blog as of today.

Ninja images

Found this on stellar blog boing-boing. Someone changed a No Entry sign into a Ninja Entry sign, which delighted me. I hereby re-post it for you, lovely lurkers. ~Jenn

Happy Birthday, Arthur Conan Doyle

We are big Sherlock Holmes fans here at the Bonzuko hombu. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading these fantastic Victorian CSI stories, today would be the day to get started. Holmes and Watson are some of the most globally recognizable characters in literature, of any culture. Everyone knows that famous silhouette. Many even believe in Holmes so thoroughly they think he's a real person! When Doyle was sick of writing Holmes stories, he killed him off ("The Final Problem" came out in the 1890s), and the reaction was insane! People wore black armbands in mourning, and the letters Doyle got! Emotional letters, calling Doyle a murderer, asking how dare he...can you imagine? The only other literary phenomenon that even comes close to this today would have to be Harry Potter.

Do whatever you like to celebrate the birthday of a great writer today, but some of it must include reading his work! So school's out--this is fun reading, not work reading. :)

Image is the original illustration of Holmes and nemesis Moriarty from The Final Problem.

Videos are: 1) Doyle himself talking about Holmes and his interest in psychic phenomena; 2) Part 1 of a Bonzuko fave: The Solitary Cyclist. Jeremy Brett was the best film Holmes ever.

This Weekend's Local Fun

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which in Boulder means the Creek Festival, the Bolder Boulder race, and Jenn's parents' anniversary. Lots of excuses to party, basically. But then, in Boulder we always welcome any reason to enjoy a microbrew outside. Heck, we don't even need a reason.

This Weekend's Events:

Friday: NinjaFit at the Boulder Quest Center, 5:45-6:45pm. Last week, Aimee Heckel from the Daily Camera came in to sample the class and write a story on it. Rumor has it that this Friday there'll be a photographer to add to her story. Come by if you want to be fit and famous!

Saturday and Sunday: Boulder Creek Festival: see Jenn help out the Boulder Quest Center with some demos on the stage. Shop at artists' booths and eat good foods.

Monday: The Bolder Boulder: an annual footrace in Boulder. Celebrate by raising a mimosa to the TV footage of our beautiful city. Or, okay, you can walk or run it if you're local and you want to...

Image is Jenn's parents celebrating their anniversary last year.

Another Dumb Thief

Maybe this is why I like stories about master thieves--you know, the old folktale about the thief that steals the manor lord's wedding ring and sheets out from under him, the Robin Hood variations, Arsene Lupin, Sherlock Holmes, Reynard the Fox, colorful Wild West outlaws, the Thief computer game... I've always loved the clever-thief archetype (which is why I often have stories about them here on Bonzuko's blog).

Could my love for clever thieves be because they are so very rare in real life?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTRxIwXbHJGUIojO6Y_Z-Jx22VPwD987HMBO1

BTW, Boing Boing is a stellar blog that is self-named "The directory of wonderful things." I concur. I would like to have a pint of homebrew with all those guys. ~Jenn

Saturday's Exciting Event

The Stage Movement students (THE 3220) at MSCD have been working hard all semester on various forms of movement for stage and how to create characters using physicality. Their class will culminate in a final exam performance of Dr. Seuss stories this Saturday the 16th on campus. Bonzuko's own Jenn was the professor this semester, and had a great time! Hard to believe the semester is over already.

What: Stage Movement Final Exam (Dr. Seuss Emsemble performance)

When: 10 am Saturday May 16th

Where: ARTS building room 271, Auraria campus, downtown Denver

The students will be graded on what you see. This is one of the funnest finals you're likely to experience.

Word Cloud

Have you seen these? Go here and enjoy the play with words. This is the cloud from Daily Cross-Swords.

Silly Potter

Since it's Week 7 in my DU Harry Potter class and Harry Potter week in the live MSCD Children's Lit class (the online kids just finished with him), I've got the bespectacled wiz on the brain. Shall I write an intellectual review and critique the series using all my education? Shall I construct my own brilliantly conceived and stylized fiction in the Harry Potter Universe?

Nope. I'm posting a viral video that makes me laugh aloud. Here ya go. ~Jenn

I'm having embedding issues, so click the link, not the pic. ~Jenn

May the 4th be With You!

Today is Star Wars Day. Yep. Too bad the Stage Combat Club isn't meeting, eh?

Why?

Well, if you speak the title of this post aloud, it sounds just like one of the most famous lines from Star Wars. Try it.

Today, don your Storm Trooper or Boba Fett hoodie, put on your Darth Vader or IG-88 mask, take out your lightsaber, and take a picture. Email your picture to Bonzuko. We'll compile the pictures and see which one wins the people's ovation and fame forever.

For more on Star Wars day, here:
TheStar.com entertainment Today's your day, Star Wars fans

UPCOMING EVENT:
Advanced Stage Combat: lightsaber technique
June 4th - July 30th 2009
Auraria Campus (though this is NOT a college credit course--anyone who has had a stage combat, stage movement, or martial arts class may take it)
Price: $200 (discount for MSCD Stage Combat Club and BQC members)
Be there, young padawans!

Image is of Jenn and John with lightsabers. I have a bad feeling about this...

Theatre Review

Back by popular demand, the ensemble performance class revisited Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a play combining Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I have reviewed this lovely performance before, but here are the highlights from the redux:

• The pace, while tight and seamless, was borderline breathless this time around.
• The repeated scenes bothered me in the last production--in this one they seemed to fit. And the banquet scene as recap also worked well.
• Bonzuko's own Jas nailed the last very gentle "scented rushes" speeches with enjoyment of the poetry and rhythm of the "boat."
• Kudos to Jessica E. who was in class rehearsing Seuss all morning then went straight to this (very similar) show directly after.
• Many of the actors used too much volume, rendering the complex language incomprehensible.
• Big Scott was on today! His Old Oyster and his Mock Turtle were highlights of today's show!
• Humpty Dumpty and the Jabberwocky were both still some of the coolest physical images I've seen.
• The White and Red Knights' fight and falling were also highlights once again. Jas as the White Knight mimed his awkward armor very well. Martial artists and stage combatants take note of Justin's giant dive roll and Jas' beautiful break falls.
• Tea Party scene once again stellar. Brian is a gifted physical comedian, though I missed the use of his rabbit ears illustrating the clock.
• Nice work on adding the Croquet Scene last-minute! It was seamless and well done. I noticed some of the lines were a bit off, but maybe that was just because I knew how last-minute it was. So much fun to hear Linda's red-faced scream, "Off with his head!"
• Brian's flamingo was one of the funniest moments of the afternoon, especially seeing Kris as a tree attempting to fend him off.

Nice work, everyone--it was as delightful this time as it was last! ~Jenn

Random Movement pic

It's time to dig into the movement image archives...hmmmm what do we have here? Ah!

I know a sledgehammer isn't the first weapon one thinks of when one thinks of a ninja, but a sometime-member of the Stage Combat Club (Aaron) had this realistic-looking-yet-light-plastic version that was as delightful as a rubber chicken. So a ninja will use any weapon at hand. Image: Aaron begging for mercy, Jenn as ninja bringing the hammer down. From MSCD Stage Combat Club 2009. Doesn't it make you want to join?