Geared up For Spring

The holidays are over, and the new academic cycle is beginning at the Bonzuko home office. Jas is settling in to a new workout schedule, and looking forward to some Hospitality classes as well as getting some requirements out of the way. Jenn is already doing her DU online classes and is looking forward to another Metro spring! Here are some of the more interesting things coming up within the next few months:

• New and improved Villains, Monsters and Foes class Jenn's teaching at DU to their Liberal Studies grads
• Jas taking Wine Appreciation at MSCD
• New Stage Movement Class at MSCD, almost chock-full!
• RMTA 2009
• Stage Combat Club now a cross-school endeavor
• and who knows what homebrew and martial arts projects will be enjoyed

Image from the Clownlympics performance, Stage Movement Spring 2006. Kris and Chris.

It's Down to Three

So it's come down to three choices for what to call the Stage Combat Darwin Awards. Vote from the three finalists and we'll begin nominations in February!

Vote for the name!

Two days left to choose what the Stage Combat Darwin Awards should be called, O lovely lurkers. Right now we have a three-way tie, so get on here and rock your vote! Results and said contest nominations will ensue soon after Friday's deadline.

Movie Review

After much insistence by friends and students, we finally added Kung Fu Panda to our Netflix queue. Now we must own this flick.

Po is a big doofus with a big heart and a big love of kung fu. His father (a duck??) would rather he go into the family noodle business, but Po is destined for greatness, just like any good hero. However, he has to get past many obstacles first--from his own clumsiness to a terrifyingly powerful villain. The story is uplifting and exciting, and the message of the Dragon Scroll (or the secret soup ingredient) is powerfully moving without bogging us down in message.

This film has astonishing animation of not only stunning action sequences, but detailed character work as well. None of the characters look stiff or stereotypical, and they all have characteristics of their voice actors without the film degenerating into a celebrity-fest. Definitely the best animated fight scenes I've seen since Ray Harryhausen's skeletons fought off Sinbad's men, and the best comedic timing in fight scenes since Daffy Duck spun his staff and said "Ho-ho, ha-ha, spin, dodge, parry, thrust..." Highlights:

• David Cross as Crane.
• The fight on the suspension bridge.
• Po giggling as the villain tries to hit him--it tickles through the fat!
• "Ske-doosh."
• Training sequences with steamed buns as motivation. Works for me!

Bottom line: Kung Fu Panda: ***** out of *****

Thanks to http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2008_Kung_Fu_Panda/2008_kung_fu_panda_005.jpg for the image.

Testing Highlights

Hey all, I should get a video clip on here pretty soon as well, but until it arrives here's a pic from the most recent BQC test night. You really should go watch it on the last Friday of the month, it's a lot of fun. :) Here's me and Jeff looking awesome in our Demo Team demo. Auditions for said demo team are on the 17th of this month, by the way, BQC BBC members. Oh, and there's no charge for awesomeness. ~Jenn

RMTA

The Rocky Mountain Theatre Association's website is finally updated. On it you'll see a long list of the presenters for the festival--the list of experts and specialists who will be teaching the many workshops to the attendees. The only reason Jenn's is so short is that she actually adhered to the word count restriction given in the application! :) If she had known, she'd have put up more cool credentials, but hey, a book is a pretty cool credential, eh?

The Unbeatable Bonzuko Team will both be at the RMTA this year: Jas is partner to a MSCD student who is competing in the acting competition, and Jenn is one of the presenters. See this link for the RMTA newsletter with details of the workshops and bios of teachers. It should be pretty exciting, not the least of which finding how the Bonzuko green commuters will get the heck up there to Durango!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a happy and fruitful 2009!!!!

~The Unbeatable Bonzuko Team