Fun and Games
My pal Webster says eurhythmics is a system of harmonious body movement to the rhythm of spoken words. Rhythm of spoken words! Youll recall that I wrote to you about poetic meter a couple of weeks ago.
Hmm.
Will you embrace a challenge that could benefit you in one hundred million ways?
I think you know where this is headed.
1. Find a poem with meter and move to it.
2. Videotape yourself.
3. Upload the video to www.YouTube.com
4. Don't worry that you're not good. We're not expecting you to be good.
THESE ARE THE RULES: Have fun. This is play, not work, remember?
When your system of harmonious body movement to the rhythm of spoken words video is successfully uploaded to YouTube.com, please send an email to Tamara@WizardAcademy.org and give her the URL so we can link to it from this page.
There might be awards. Yes, there could definitely be awards.
If you are extremely, unbelievably, amazingly good you might look like this guy (except that he's moving to a musical rhythm instead of the rhythm of spoken words.)
I think this could be a hoot. Possibly even hysterical. Who knows? It might even become as big as the annual Wiener Dog Races in Buda, Texas.
And if Michener is right, you're going to learn something that can be learned in no other way.
Just to make you feel less like an idiot, I asked some of my most manly buddies to do this first. Here are their videos:
Tom Wanek, owner of ConstructionGear.com in running shorts, no less.
Shaun Courbat and Kids from Iowa. No fear of the camera here!
That Bald Guy, Sean McNally does Jabberwocky in about 1:40 sec., but wait as the bloopers continue. At about the 5-min mark he does an eyebrow thing that is pure genius. There may be a special award created for best Eurythmic eyebrows. What say ye?
Peter Nevland with Paul Finley, Beauty Queen. One of their newest numbers. Check it out by clicking their names at the beginning of this description. This will take you to the video on their MySpace page.
Rich Mann, in his B. Smylee persona, gives 43 seconds of new meaning to the word “smiley.”
John Groom gives us a stellar minute and a half of interpretive dance and improvisational jazz at the grand piano. Wow.
Ken Brand, that irrepressible impresario, shows us what every white guy does when they think no one is looking. I love this guy.
Vess Barnes gives us eurhythmic face and hands and sunglasses behind the wheel of a Corvette, cenematically lit and shot in black and white like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Cool.
Michele Miller, actress extraordinaire, shows the guys how it's done with ODE TO A TWINKIE. Celebrity dance appearances by Feinstein and Grimes. Don't miss this one.
Tom Grimes, in a direct response to Michele Miller's mockery of him (see previous video,) answers her accusations with characteristic good humor. Watch this magical minute and you'll understand why he was unanimously elected to serve as President Plenipotentiary of the Worthless Bastards. (Yes, it's a real organization.)
Michael Szapkiw, a talented ventriloquist, throws his voice into the ring. Along with a dummy named Bernie that looks suspiciously like the Wizard…
Korim, also known as Jonathan Sterling, is a gifted young poet who writes and performs all his own work. He does 2 pieces on this video, both are good. The second poem is called “I want so bad to change the world, and this is the only way I know how..” This guy is the real deal. Be sure to give him a listen.
First Name Steve! Last Name Rae! gives us a minute and two seconds of Eurhythmic fingers on strings with voice accompaniment. Good stuff, well done. And be sure to notice the last bit, right at the end, where he finishes the melody on the fret strings, his right hand resting. Now that's a guitar player.
Sean Buvala gives us an elegant 46 seconds of wisdom about the rights of all of us. Poignant. You'll like it.
You thought I was kidding about the wiener dog races, right?
These races are a very big deal in our little town.
More than 400 wiener dogs race each year.
Listen to the 2007 Wiener Dog Radio Ad.
Listen to the Wieners of the Caribbean Radio Ad.
Listen to the American Wiener Radio Ad.
Listen to the Wienerstock Radio Ad.
Listen to the Wiener Wars Radio Ad.
Here's the news story that appeared on CBS.
Wizard of Ads, Inc. designed all but the first poster (1999 – below.)
Be sure to scroll down and see them all.
But wait! There's more!
This is Maurice, the famous wiener dog painting by Andy Warhol.
And I promise you I'm not making this up:
The image below is a wiener dog drawing by Pablo Picasso.
Maurice and the Picasso Wiener Dog will both hang in the Library Tower on the campus of Wizard Academy. The tower is scheduled to be built in 2008.
No, we don't love wiener dogs.
We just think the idea of a wiener dog race is fun.