Ahh, spring. Longer days, birds chirping, flowers blooming. All the things a person needs to feel inspired. Which is why tonight was our semi annual speech contest for inspiring speeches!
Congratulations to Michelle for best inspirational speech, and congratulations to Joanna for best evaluation!
Michelle and Joanna - inspirational speech and evaluation contest winner!
Last night the soft spoken but imperious Kathryn asked questions no one would normally ask for the table topics session. By putting her supposed friends in the hot seat, we found out some very interesting things about our fellow club members. As usual, the results were insightful, and hilarious..
#1: What is the strangest home remedy you have ever experienced?
#2: what happened when you bought more sudafed than is allowed?
#3: You have never had a sick day… What is your secret to good health?
#4: Why are kleenex puffs so much softer than other facial tissues?
#5: Why is there no cure for the common cold?
#6: If you could discover the cure for any disease, what disease would you cure?
PS. Sorry for getting this out late…normally it would be near real-time but I’ve been sick the last couple of days
Last night, we had epic debate: “Should the common decongestant Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) require a prescription?” Pro side = Yes, Con side = No.
Here’s a little background on the topic, from the debate master Roger:
I had read about this topic a little over a year ago in a newspaper, and thought inclusion during our cold and flu meeting might be interesting:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-14-pseudoephedrine-meth_N.htm
Tonight’s meeting was a total gas. I love silly topics and Toastmaster Michelle pulled it off with aplomb. You know what aplomb is? I don’t either, but somebody said it’s like a mixture of panache and insouciance. Anyway. Tonight’s meeting topic was Muppet’s and you’ll get a full recount of the meeting in an upcoming meeting review, but now, here’s your near real time extemporaneous speaking topics.
Extemporaneous speaking opportunity #1 were table topics, led by the somewhat Muppet-like JC:
Next was the debate, led by the always entertaining Peter. His topic for tonight: who is the more lovable and adorable Muppet? Team P argues Miss Piggy is clearly the more most lovable and adorable of all Muppets, while Team F argued that Fozzie Bear was more deserving of the honor.
Guess who won? In the mean time, feast your eyeballs on these hecklers:
and the burning question remains….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zILeTxoIQ0
Guess what? (What?) Tonight’s theme was “vision”, and tonight’s extemporaneous speaking topics were led by Ms. Rachel and Ms. Rebecca, and they were very thought provoking and mostly vision related….here’s what we discussed:
TT #1: Dorothy Parker once wrote a very short poem: “Men seldom make passes / at girls who wear glasses.” Why would she write such a hurtful thing?
TT #2: Visionary Steve Jobs was a professed Buddhist, and therefore presumably believed in re-incarnation. What form will he take when re-incarnated?
TT #3: In the comic book Daredevil, Matt Murdock was blinded after coming in contact with some radioactive material that fell off a truck. The radioactivity heightened his other senses immensely, and despite being blinded, he became a superhero. If you were blinded by radioactive material, how would you use these super powers?
TT #4: In the movie version of Daredevil, the main love interest was played by Jennifer Garner, who is now very pregnant. When her child is born, what should she name it?
TT #5: The 1985 movie Vision quest is about a wrestler from Spokane, Washington. Besides producing wrestlers who star in movies, tell us more about Spokane…
And next…the debate was run by Ms. Rebecca…who pit the pro side against the con side in the perrenial debate – is TV bad for you? Pro side argued that yes, TV is great! Con side argued that TV is harmful and should be done away with!
(Pro side won…not that it matters to me….I don’t really watch TV)
Boys and girls, I’m sure you’ve heard that Snowpocalypse Twenny Twelve is finally upon us, so we are canceling Toastmasters tonight. I know, I’m not happy about it either, but that’s the way it is. So please stay warm, be safe, help yourself to a steaming cup of hot chocolate (I recommend a touch of peppermint schnapps) and we’ll see you next week!
Great meeting last night led by the fantastic Devon! Tonight’s theme was Finland. You might be asking why Finland? Well…Why NOT Finland?
Tonight’s table topics were led by Lisa…table topic #1: tell a story about 1) the running of the bulls in Spain and 2) sleepwalking
Table topic #2: tell a story about 1) Dutch windmills and 2) kissing
Table topic #3: tell a story about 1) the Eiffel tower and 2) smart phones
Table topic #4: tell a story about 1) Swiss bank accounts and 2) shoe shines
Tonight’s debate, led by Eddie: Pretend you’re a Finlander, your homeland has been invaded multiple times by neighboring Sweden and Russia, and you’re forced to choose an allegiance to one or the other.
Argue whether your country should be run by either Swedes or Russians…and go!
Also congratulations tonight to JC for earning his Competent Communicator badge, and congratulations to Rebecca for giving her icebreaker speech! Great work guys!
Tonight’s first extemporaneous speaking opportunity, the debate, was brought to us by Mr. Austin, who asks the eternal question: drive home, or fly home for the holidays?
Tonight’s second extemporaneous speaking opportunity, table topics, was brought to us by Mr. Eddie.
Table topic #1: You own a big candy company. How do yo convince the government not to tax candy?
Table topic #2: John Candy, from the film Planes Trains and Automobiles, was an annoying travel companion. How do you get rid of annoying travel companions?
Table topic #3: You are the ad executive for Frosted Flakes, and you fired Tony the Tiger in favor of Tiger Woods. But it’s not working out, and you want Tony the Tiger back. How would you convince Tony the Tiger to take his old job back?
Table topic #4: How would you get the Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to unionize?
Thanks again to Eddie and Austin for coming up with neat questions for tonight’s meeting! And if you have an answer for one of tonight’s meeting topics, come to a future meeting, or join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/chamberclub540
With the theme “The Fall Classic,” Toastmaster Dave led a fun filled evening based on the World Series (which starts tonight btw) weaving various anecdotes and historical facts about the championship series of major league baseball throughout the evenings meeting.
Our speakers covered a variety of topics in their presentations. Gazelle talked about “living the dream” and what that means to herself and the people in her life, Eden revealed her very personal struggle with rheumatory arthritis and Michelle telling us how we can all have “forever friends” by adopting a pet and attempting to sell her cats in the process, Sampson and Lola for $22,000 (not really).
A lively debate regarding the merits of tax-payer supported sports stadiums was led by JC while Devon offered a varied table topics session involving questions on candy, pranks, blimps and other topics.
Maria served as our General Evaluator, stepping in at the last minute to help out and led our evaluation team as they provided critical feedback to our speakers.
Two guests joined us for the festivities last night and got to witness the presentation to Gazelle of her CC badge from club President Michelle as Gazelle gave speech #10 (congratulations Gazelle).
Greetings fellow Toastmasters,
On Tuesday, 16 Toastmasters and two guests took a ride into the mythic
and the poetic with John at the helm. “Logos and the
Poetic” focused on the poetic side of the division between the
analytic method of viewing things and the poetic, the latter depending
on metaphors, symbols and allegory. Connections were explored between
myth, worldview, and meaning, going from epic poetry to zombies and
back again to the power of symbolism. Sprinkled throughout the night
were references to and ideas about how all of this works and connects
to the real world.
Acting club President Rachel started off the evening with the
Question of the Day: would folks rather read an article in Scientific
American or analyze a poem?
Bob read our mission statement,
Ryan presnted the Toastmasters’ Moment.
Devon was our Word of the Day/Grammarian, and introduced the word
of the day: Propaganda
Next up was Bob, filling in for Eden as General
Evaluator, who introduced the evaluation team.
Gabe the Timer, Richard was assistant Timer
Alli Coffin was Ah Counter
Michael was the evaluator for J.C.,
Russ evaluated Eddie
Rachel was the evaluator for Peter
Dave was our Competent Leader Evaluator
The speaking part of the evening started out with J.C., who
gave speech #6 from the CC Manual: “This Too Shall Pass” and Other
Reminders
Starting off with a discussion of a bracelet inscribed with custom
symbols centered around the phrase “This too shall pass”, J.C. talked
about the transitory nature of man in the universe, about the
smallness of humanity, that we’re all really just descended from star
stuff, as well as explaining how sometimes small issues are as
irrelevant as an invisible tea pot orbiting the moon. J.C. ended with
observations about keeping going on with life despite temporary
conflicts, knowing that “This too shall pass”.
Next up, Eddie presented speech #5 from the CC manual. “Bad Stats”
Eddie talked about a fellow worker who shares apocalyptic e-mails
about studies done that show that the world is swiftly going down the
toilet because of overpopulation, resource scarcity, and other issues,
always presenting the most dire interpretation of events, and how the
way out presented appears to be for things to get so bad that people
in general won’t be able to mess things up, because there won’t be
many people in general left .
Gazelle presented our table topics, focusing on poetry,
people’s favorite poems, and spontaneous answers given in rhyme.
Next up was our business meeting, presided over by Rachel
Gazelle won the area contest for best humorous speaker! Yay
Gazelle! She next competes in the Division B contest, which has yet to
be scheduled but is going to be on a Thursday in October, possibly
either the 13th or 20th..
And dues are really, really, due. Please pay them.
Next up was Peter with “Dr. Wigand”, Speech #2 from the Special
Occasions Advanced Manual. Peter told us about one of his heroes, Dr.
Wigand, a scientist for Brown & Williamson Tobacco who blew the
whistle on outright perjury committed by the company’s executives in
testimony before Congress. This lead to a massive settlement agreement
between Brown & Williamson and all fifty states. Dr. Wigand continues
to promote smoking awareness as well as lobbies for the money from the
settlements to go to the smoking related programs that they were
intended for.
Next up was Maria with our Debate. The Debate question was
whether or not popular magazines like Vogue and Cosmo should be taught
alongside Shakespeare as literature in order to engage more folks.
During the evaluation session, Bob as General Evaluator gave his
evaluation of the meeting in rhyme. Bob, if you’re out there, consider
sending the poem to the list.
For awards,
The pro side won for the Debate
J.C. and Eddie shared the chocolate for Word of the Day
Guest Laura won for Best Table Topics
Russ won for Best Evaluator
Peter won for Best Speaker
Eddie also received the half CC award for completing Speech #5,
There was a touching ceremony conducted by Rachel where in the
tradition of little fun toys given out as awards to Chamber Club
members the Secretary was given a plastic magnifying glass for
attention to detail, with thanks for being club secretary. I, not
using the royal we or speaking the third person, am going to be absent
from the club for about six months to pursue education in writing.
Being a member of Chamber Club has been a great experience, and
writing these summaries of the meetings has been fun. I hope to see
folks again. Eddie is taking over the role of Secretary, andI’m
sure he’ll do a great job.
—John M.