Cartoons!

Glenn Woodson, stepping in at the 11^th hour, led a spirited meeting as TMoD today. With the universal theme of "Cartoons," each functionary was introduced with their favorite, accompanied by an expertly crafted slide show with the appropriate graphic. With 17 members and 2½ guests (Sterling Woodson being the ½) attendance was strong considering that it was graduation day!

Donna Cunningham led off with opening remarks:



Cathy Lee (favorite cartoon: Roadrunner) led Table Topics, calling on Tito, Christina, and Chance, with Chance winning Best Table Topics speaker:


Three prepared speeches followed.

Aysun Caliskan's Icebreaker, delivered without notes highlighted the important decisions she began making at a very tender age. Aysun was voted Best Speaker for this outstaanding speech entitled My Right Decisions:


Karen Woodson (favorite cartoon I Love to Singa) followed with her #6 speech that translated the words women often say into terms the men can understand. Karen effectively used her voice to make her point in a very humorous way and was voted Most Improved for A Woman's Dictionary:


Fred Sadler gave his rendition of Bill from the advanced manual Interpretive Reading. In Fred's case "reading" sounded a lot like "singing" - and Fred's dramatic interpretation of the soliloquy from Carousel was a perfect #3 speech (The Monorama) from this manual.


The evaluations by first-time evaluators Tito DeJesus (favorite cartoon: Beavis and Butthead) and Christina Hicks (favorite cartoon: The Backyardigans) were so good that General Evaluator Emilie Staryak (favorite cartoon: The Simpsons) couldn't decide which was "best" - so they both received Best Evaluator.

Tito's evaluation of Aysun's Icebreaker:


Christina's evaluation of Karen's #6 speech:


Oh, and Glenn's favorite - Gossamer from Hair Raising Hare:




Until next time - for better thinking, listening, and speaking...

Science Fiction - and Farewell to Brian

Today's meeting is another traditionally "low attendance" one due to final exams and preparation for graduation next week. However, with 18 members and one guest you would never have guessed it! It was another bittersweet meeting - the sweet being Joyce Laker from Uganda giving her #10 speech, we welcome her to the ranks of "Competent Communicator" - and the sad being Brian Anderson's last meeting. Although we are fortunate to have half of "Team Anderson" with us awhile longer, Brian will be graduating and moving on. Brian has been such a stalwart backbone of the club for the past two years, and will be very much missed by all. See below for his farewell to the club. We did however have a long-lost member, Elizabeth Mitchell, return.

Chance Litton had an opportunity to show us yet another dimension to his versatile set of skills by running the meeting smoothly and with his prototypical Chance-ness. The meeting started with Tito's remarkable opening remarks - what was once wild and fantastic is now commonplace:

Opening Remarks by Tito DeJesus:


Chance's theme was of course science fiction - as distinct from fantasy. Explaining that films such as Star Wars are really more in the fantasy realm than science fiction, Chance extolled the virtues of the genre, including the top science fiction films (Blade Runner).

Margaret Stevens led an energetic Table Topics session with thoughtful questions of John Armstrong, Karen Woodson, and Tito DeJesus. Tito DeJesus won best Table Topics speaker with his explanation of why Blade Runner is his favorite science fiction movie:


The prepared speeches were begin by Donna Cunningham's fascinating peek into Gullah, and how she has been torn between the culture of her present and that of her past. Donna was voted Most Improved speaker.
Donna Cunningham's #3 speech, Bin Yah Come Yah:


Joyce Laker completed the Competent Communicator manual with a call to action on the worldwide problem of HIV-AIDS. While improvements have been made in the problem, Joyce showed how much more is needed. She was inspiring by showing how we are impacted in our roles as parents, educators, and citizens. Joyce won Best Speaker for this - and the congratulations from all for achieving Competent Communicator.
Joyce Laker's #10 speech HIV AIDS: A Call to Action:


Expert evaluations were performed by club and area champion Angi Anderson and Arnie Buss. In an upset, Arnie was selected best evaluator by GE Art Testani:


Brian Anderson bids farewell to the club. We will miss you and wish you all the best!

Angi Anderson and Tito DeJesus win Area A1 contests

On Saturday, September 13th, Angi Anderson and Tito DeJesus won the Area A-1 Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contests respectively at the combined Area A1 / Area A2 event held at the Agricultural Center in Salinas. This is the second year in a row that NPS Toastmasters swept both contests!

Angi's masterful and humorous assessment of Dave Empey's test speech about the proper use of English grammar won her top honors over four other excellent evaluations. Her spot-on insights were coupled with delightful humor and suggestions for enhancing an already successful speech.

Tito honed his speech about his favorite island paradise off the coast of the US (New York City) to a fine edge of wit and poignacy - wrapped up in a presentation so seasoned that he looked like a ten year veteran of Toastmasters. Four other very humorous presentations were surpassed by Tito's effort which was another level better than his performance at our club contest two weeks ago.

Other NPS players at the Area Contest included Carl Thormeyer as Humorous Contest Chief Judge, Chance Litton as Evaluation Contest Toastmaster, Fred Sadler and Art Testani as judges, and Emilie Staryak as Chief Ballot Counter.

Angi and Tito will now compete at the Division Contest in Aptos on Saturday October 11th. The winners there will move on to the finals at the District Contest in Santa Clara on November 14-15, 2008.

A BadA** Humorous Contest!

A near record crowd of 24 members and one former member (now being re-instated) enjoyed one of the best Club Humorous Speech Contests ever with five (5; count 'em!) outstandingly funny contestants! All five contestants were Jay Leno guest material but only one, Tito Dejesus emerged as the winner with his good-natured parody about New York City. Chance Litton finished second by the narrowist of margins (according to Chief Judge Carl Thormeyer) with a repeat of his now notorious "Five Baddest A____s of All Time" speech. Newest members Max Akhterov and Tonya Holloway gave hilariously funny speeches, as did Angi Anderson talking about "Girls Night Out". Each performed with originality and panache.



So: Tito goes on to represent NPS TM #2032 in the Area A-1 Humorous Speech Contest next Saturday afternoon 13 Sept. in Salinas, while Angi will represent us in the Area A-1 Evaluation Contest. Chance Litton has been tapped to be Toastmaster of the Evaluation Contest.


Tito's winning speech, A State of Mind that Never Sleeps:



Max's speech Cultural Learning of America for the Benefit of Personal Enrichment:



Tonya Holloway's Help Me find My Skin:


Angi Anderson's Girls' Night Out:


Chance Litton's Five Baddest A____s of All Time




The event was ably organized and chaired by Joyce Laker who also serves as President of the MIIS Toastmasters Club. Mike Kensick became our ninth new member since July 1 and was welcomed by Club President Fred Sadler.


Our latest newletter by VPPR Tito Dejesus (newly posted to our Web site) colorfully announced our club pot luck social, which is set for Friday September 19 @ 6pm to be held at the La Mesa Community Center. This is a great opportunity for spouses and significant others to participate in the fun of Toastmasters.



Our Treasurer, John Armstrong announced dues of $39 for the six month period beginning October 1 should be payable to NPS Toastmasters. Please bring a check or cash to next week's meeting. Never in the history of humankind, has so much fun been had by so many for so few (dollars) - with apologies to Winston Churchill.