What You Missed: Interpretations of Quotations
July 01, 2009
On your toes Ladies and Gentlemen! It was an All Table Topics Night where speakers had only one to two minutes to create cohesion out of confusion. Under the theme "Interpretation of Quotes", Table Topics Master Minchau Vu threw heat with quotations ranging from Churchill and Aristotle, to Homer Simpson and tongue-in-cheek Chinese proverbs. It took lightening quick minds to rise to the challenge of delivering something comprehensible with the clock running.
In the words of General Evaluator David Fridley, it was an "interesting, lively and challenging night", made even more so when all four of our Honored Guests chose to "strut their stuff" by participating in the contest. Special thanks to our guests: Marcelo Beleber, Chin Hung Chen, Edwin Scott, and especially to Charles Dominguez who won Best Table Topics of the night.
The evening was also memorable for being the first meeting under the stewardship of the newly elected officers: Terryn O'Reilly as Club President, Minchau Vu as VP Education, and Sanjay Sharma as VP Membership. They started their term with a bang, and if tonight was any indication the next six months promise to be electrifying. Weiqiang Wang joined their ranks tonight when he was unanimously elected as our VP of Public Relations.
Always funny and engaging, Brain Paredes served as Toastmaster with his usual aplomb. Thanks as ever to our redoubtable Sergeant at Arms, Jeff Randolph. He is the rock upon which all our meetings rest.
The Contrarians invite our guests to return for another round and extend an invitation to all who are looking for something different to pay us a visit.
-Mike
What You Missed: Marijuana
June 10, 2009
The air was filled with smoke…actually, not smoke but geniality as the Contrarians tackled another taboo topic: marijuana.
The Contrarians were honored to have three guests attend this energetic, well-attended, laughter-filled meeting: first-time guests Sara and Alicia, and former member Vladimyr.
Incoming VP Membership Sanjay, who is one of the club’s newest members, did a wonderful job as the Toastmaster by keeping segments on time and transitioning the meeting smoothly from Prepared Speech to Table Topics to Evaluations.
In her second speech in as many weeks, Minhchau displayed tremendous courage and gave a moving, riveting speech in which she told about a painful event in her family’s past.
As Table Topics Master, Mike showed again that he prepares well and puts effort in researching a topic. He posed thoughtful questions that covered various aspects of marijuana and ranged from very serious to very comical – from whether marijuana should be legalized, to the advantages of having “stoners” as friends. Most of the evening’s laughs came from participants’ answers, even answers to the more serious questions.
One Table Topics question addressed the human cost of the illegality of marijuana. Despite the seriousness of the question, Jeff incorporated a lot of humor in his answer (as many other Table Topics participants did) and even managed to throw in a reference to GE, the company he adores. (Proposing that GE branch out into marijuana growing puts a different perspective on the company’s past slogan, “We bring good things to light.”)
Terryn was typically insightful in evaluating Minhchau’s speech and gave detailed, constructive feedback.
Toastmaster Sanjay announced the evening’s ribbon winners:
Best Speaker: Minhchau
Best Table Topics: Jeff
Best Evaluator: Terryn
-Chris DiFonso
What You Missed: Pandemic
June 3, 2009
The theme for our June 3 meeting was "Pandemic," an appropriate topic
as a pandemic seemed to have kept a majority of our members from
attending the meeting. However, as is typical with the Contrarians, we
might have been small in number for the meeting but we were large in
spirit and enthusiasm; we even welcomed back a former member, Vladimyr
Frazilus, who was drawn back to visit us because of our love for
discussing the social and political issues he enjoys.
Our prepared speakers certainly didn't disappoint Vladimyr or the club.
Brian Paredes spoke about the need to unionize workers, specifically
through the Employee Free Choice Act, and of the danger of that
initiative being thwarted by corporations in his speech entitled "Big
Brother." Similarly, Minhchau Vu didn't shy away from controversy: In
her speech "Marijuana," she spoke not only of the need to legalize
marijuana for medicinal purposes, she also emphasized the benefits of
legalizing the drug for recreational purposes, for example, the
potential tax revenues that could be realized from its legal sale.
Table Topics Master Darryl Tahirali used the theme of "Pandemic" not
only to ask questions pertaining to pandemics--he declared himself
"patient zero," "infected" first Table Topics speaker Chris DiFonso to
answer the initial question, and then Darryl requested that Chris then
go forth to "infect" a speaker to answer the next question, a pattern
that continued through the Table Topics session.
Both prepared speakers received quality evaluations from Jeff Randolph,
who evaluated Brian's speech, and from Ali Fetanat, who evaluated
Minhchau's speech. Even though Ali has been a Toastmaster in the past,
he is a new returnee to Toastmasters, and he has already demonstrated
the enthusiasm and willingness to succeed that distinguish those who
join Contrarians, such as our meeting Toastmaster, Vu Huynh, who ably
led the meeting in only his second time as Toastmaster. General
Evaluator Chris DiFonso gave a measured appraisal of our conduct during
the meeting, providing sound advice to keep us seeking improvement.
Vu announced the winners in the various speaking categories:
Best Speaker: Minhchau Vu
Best Table Topics: Chris DiFonso
Best Evaluator: Jeff Randolph
Despite a meeting with a theme of "Pandemic," all who attended left healthier and stronger than they did when they arrived.
-Darryl Tahirali
What You Missed: Free Speech Online
May 27, 2009
The evening was memorable and entertaining, even for the Contrarian Toastmasters. Our redoubtable Brian Paredes led the proceedings ably assisted by Minchau, Vu, and Jeff as Grammarian, Timekeeper, and Sergeant at Arms. Special thanks to Wei for stepping up as General Evaluator.
The speaking segment began with a powerful speech by Saira, entitled Taliban, where she wove a complex tapestry of fact and insight on a very controversial topic. It also served to remind us why we are Contrarians; we speak on subjects that are taboo with many other clubs. Elaine followed with a funny and informative presentation on how to take better Vacation Pictures! Kudos to Elaine for always being able to bring us back down to earth with humor and grace.
Sanjay led the Table Topics segment on the subject of Free Speech Online. He set forth both thought-provoking and outrageous questions which elicited thought-provoking and outrageous responses. Wei, Mike and Darryl rounded out the evening with polished performances as Evaluators.
Congratulations to Saira who won Best Speaker in only her second Toastmaster speech; and to Elaine for winning Best Table Topics. Special recognition goes to our guests Jenny, Leyla, Kim and Jason. If you liked what you saw and heard, we invite you to come see us again.
-Mike
What You Missed: Old Media vs. New Media
May 13, 2009
What a great meeting to come back to after my 3 week hiatus! It shows I was really missing out on some great meetings that have been productive, fun and controversial (of course)! Our speaker of the evening was Sanjay who talked about a book I heard about many years ago called "Who Moved My Cheese." Sanjay met his speech objectives with flying colors and his recommendation inspired a change to get that book and finally check it out! The authors should send him some royalties!
Although we love to have at least two speakers per meeting, this evening gave us the opportunity to have 100% member participation in Table Topics which is always makes a great evening! Congratulations to Darryl for Best Table Topics.
And finally welcome back Ali, our returning guest and Andy, a new guest. We hope to see you both next week!
-Brian
What You Missed: American Idols
April 22, 2009
Once again, newer members took roles and contributed to a fun and
memorable meeting. Congratulations and thank you to Saira, Moss and
Wei who served as General Evaluator, Grammarian, and Opening Thought,
respectively, for their first time in those roles.
Another first: Sanjay, one of our newest members, gave his
Icebreaker speech in which he told us about his professional and
personal life. He did a great job of balancing those elements, and his
delivery was wonderful, earning him Best Speaker award. Chris gave a
speech titled "Selecting Your Topic" using one of the Better Speaker
Series manuals.
Suzan asked intriguing questions on the meeting theme "American
Idols" and Jeff won Best Table Topics for his answer in which he
discussed two American idols who are also American icons -- John Wayne
and Meryl Streep.
Terryn, who won Best Evaluator, and Jeff gave insightful and balanced evaluations.
-Chris
What You Missed: To Protect & Serve
April 15, 2009
Another successful and well-organized meeting and we welcomed our new guest, Ana.
During the meeting, Jeff
delivered a shortened version of his speech, titled “Exciting Developments in
Cancer Detection and Possible Prevention”. The speech is from project #3,
Advanced Manual: Specialty Speech (Sell a Product). I can’t wait to hear the
whole speech in a near future.
Terryn did an outstanding
job as a Table Topic Master. From the intriguing questions, it clearly showed
that she has done her research well.
Two of our newest members did an excellent job for their roles, Sanjay as a first time Toast Master and Ashutosh as a first time Timer.
Congratulations to Darryl for best table topics speech and Jeff for best speaker of the night.
-Vu
What You Missed: Loveline
April 8th, 2009
Couldn't make it to the last meeting? Then you missed the one in a lifetime opportunity to play Dr. Drew or some ostentatious celebrity like Billy Idol! Our Table Topics Master of the evening was Lisa Pitre who made no reservations on the subject of her questions. In fact, she gave us real questions that were asked on the popular teen radio show, Loveline. Along with the many red faces, there were many more laughs. We hope you get the chance to answer a burning question from a teen whose hormones are too often raging. Buy hey, that's all part of growing up!
We were also fortunate to have two engaging speeches from Mike Sato and Darryl Tahirali. Mike saved us from making Power Point disasters in the future and Darryl reminded us of the power of radio programs from his youth until today.
Thank you all for making another meeting a worthwhile success!
-Brian
What You Missed: International Speech & Table Topics Contest
The April 1 Club Contest meeting was an exciting event of many firsts.
This was the first Club Contest for most of the members who attended that evening. Newest member Sanjay, who was inducted at the beginning of the meeting, competed in the Table Topics contest. Well done, Sanjay! New member Ashutosh, in his second meeting as a member, was kind enough to take the role of Assistant Timer, his first meeting role. Thank you, Ashutosh!
Table Topics Contest Master Minhchau asked a thought-provoking question – “If you were the honorable President of the United States, what would be your agenda for the G20 Summit?” Three Contrarians – Brian, Jeff and Sanjay – gave answers that were insightful.
Suzan, as International Speech Contest Master, introduced Jeff. Jeff gave a compelling speech based on a book written by one of Jeff’s heroes, Jack Welch.
Congratulations to Jeff, who will represent Contrarians in both Table Topics and International Speech Contests at the Area Contest on Saturday, April 11. The contest will begin at 1 p.m. and will be held in our regular meeting room. Please join us to have fun and support Jeff!
-Chris
What You Missed: YouTube
Another successful night for the Contrarians filled with laughter and provoking thoughts. Prior to the opening of the meeting Jeff had a chance to try out another seating arrangement by changing from the usual U-shape to classroom seating arrangement.
During the meeting, the two speakers of the night gave wonderful prepared speeches. Darryl’s speech was from project #9: Persuade with Power and the title was “Invisible Holocaust”. Chris was speaking from the advanced manual (The Entertaining Speaker) and the title was “Going Places”. With this speech, Chris is one speech away from achieving the Advanced Communicator Silver.
We welcomed a new guest, Ashutosh and a returning guest, Norman. Both guests took on the challenge of answering the table topic questions. I would like to congratulate our newest member, Moss, who did an excellent job as a Table Topic Master for the first time.
Congratulations to Rees for best table topics speech, Darryl for best speaker, and David for best evaluator.
-Vu
What You Missed: China
March 4, 2009
With a meeting theme of "China," you just know that this week's Contrarians meeting had substance to it, starting with an opening thought from Jeff Randolph that quoted from Henry Kissinger's "Diplomacy" and featuring speeches from Terryn O'Reilly on "Mission Creep" in the application of the media's fairness doctrine and from Brian Paredes on "Green Body" that explained the consumer-advocacy function of the non-profit organization Environmental Working Group. Throw in some thoughtful questions asked of club members by Table Topics Master Vu Huynh that focused on China, and you might have wondered whether you needed to have done your homework before coming to the meeting!
Fortunately, this week's meeting also displayed the usual laughter and light-hearted approach that has come to be an expected feature of a Contrarians meeting, and helping to facilitate that atmosphere was our meeting Toastmaster Suzan Langlois, who deftly steered us through the body of the meeting. We welcomed back guest Norman, and we formally inducted our newest member Moss Bahadori into the club. Welcome, Moss! Our General Evaluator Lisa Pitre let us know that we are doing a great job as a club but that we need to work on our conciseness--we get so carried away with our speaking roles that we "run through the stop light" and exceed our alloted time. Good thing our meeting began and ended on time!
Our ribbon winners for this week's meeting were:
Best Table Topics Speaker: Chris DiFonso
Best Evaluator: Mike Sato
Congratulations, speakers!
During the business meeting, President Darryl Tahirali moderated discussion of the following items: The Executive Committee meeting would be held immediately following the club meeting; dues to the club and Toastmasters are due this month; the club speech contests, Table Topics and International Speech, will be held during a club meeting before the Area F-4 contest on April 11; and speakers should have Vice President Brian Paredes initial their speech manuals after they have spoken in order to receive the proper credit toward their educational goals.
-Darryl
What You Missed: Babies
February 25, 2009
Tonight it was hard to find a contrarian with a contrary view point when mentioning babies and Nadya in the same sentence! All members were pretty clear and consistent with regard to octo mom's situation. However everyone definitely had their own opinion on babies.
Both speakers tonight gave superb speeches on very different topics. Susan share her irish adventure with us with some enticing visual aides that she was sure to get back. Then Jeff gave a informative explication of constitutional law and some of the current proposals in the new such as the D.C.'s representation. Jeff's reasoning was very persuasive indeed. Both speeches captivated me and both were rich in detail. Unfortunately, both were also rich in time! So neither speaker qualified for best speaker this evening due to running overtime.
We closed our meeting with just as much enthusiasm as we opened it with two great evaluations by and one hilarious list of table topic questions. Tonight's evaluators were Chris and Vu and tonight's Table Topic questions were provided Lisa. Congratulations to Chris for best evaluation and Terryn for best table topics speech. Can't wait until next week!
-Brian
What You Missed: Virginity
The February 4 club meeting was well-attended and honored by the presence of two first-time guests – Linda Kayne-Robb and Moss Bahadori – and returning guest Dan Cossack, who is a veteran Toastmaster.
Another notable element was that both speakers (Elaine Randolph and Chris DiFonso) gave speeches from advanced manuals. Elaine won Best Speaker for her very entertaining speech about mystery novels featuring First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt – novels written by FDR and Eleanor's son, Elliott Roosevelt.
As Table Topics Master, Terryn O'Reilly posed intriguing and thought-provoking questions, and guest Linda was graceful and valiantly answered one. Chris DiFonso won Best Table Topics for his answer to a question about the issue of women using the web as a tool to sell their virginity.
Darryl Tahirali and Suzan Langlois gave insightful evaluations of Elaine's and Chris's speeches, respectively. Darryl won Best Evaluator for giving Elaine feedback on the many good features of her speech and its delivery and a few pointers on aspects that could have been better.
-Chris
What You Missed: Palestine
January 14, 2009
The January 14 meeting was a meeting of many firsts. Saira gave her first Toastmaster speech. Vu took on the role of Table Topics Master for the first time. And, it was guest Lisa's first visit to our club.
Although the theme was very somber – "Palestine" – the meeting was, as usual, very fun and laugh-filled.
Rees lightened the mood by telling a joke to begin the meeting. In the first segment, Prepared Speeches, both rookie member Saira and veteran Toastmaster Darryl gave Icebreaker speeches (the Icebreaker is the first speech in the Toastmasters' manual). Saira gave a humorous, heartfelt speech and won the Best Speaker ribbon.
In the next segment, Table Topics, Vu asked a variety of intriguing questions and showed creativity by addressing issues beyond the specifics of Palestine. Lisa won the Best Table Topics ribbon for her answer to a question about the controversial topic of "collateral damage".
In the third segment, Evaluations, Suzan and Chris employed the sandwich method (praise, improvement, praise) in evaluating Saira's and Darryl's speeches, respectively. In his role as General Evaluator, Jeff evaluated the evaluations as well as the meeting overall. Suzan gave very constructive and insightful feedback to Saira and won the Best Evaluator ribbon.
-Chris
What You Missed: Resolutions
January 07, 2009
Happy New Year! The Contrarians present at last night's meeting are off to a great start with an unyielding commitment to speak more in 2009! Even with attendance being a bit light due to the Xmas/New Year bug going around, the meeting was a smooth success thanks to our Toastmaster of the evening, Mike.
Minhchau provided great Table Topics questions that inspired members so much that those who arrived with no resolutions left the meeting with some or at least some to think about! Congratulations and thanks to our first time evaluator Vu and our Best Table Topics speaker Mike.
Now Contrarians, I wish I could help the resolution of not getting sick this year come true, but I can and will wish you all (that are sick) a speedy recovery so that I can see all your happy shiny faces next week!
-Brian
