A big step for traceurs everywhere!
I mean… I guess…
According to American Parkour and this blog about vocabulary, “Parkour” has been officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary as of September of this year. And since the OED is basically the main authority when it comes to the English language (besides the Modern Language Association and Urban Dictionary), this makes parkour totally legit now!
Alright, all sarcasm aside, I think it’s pretty cool that parkour made it in the OED; however, I’m not really all that surprised. After all, parkour is a totally legit sport/activity at this point, and its reputation continues to grow. It just makes sense to me that they would add it to the dictionary.
Besides, they added “Bootylicious” to the OED, didn’t they?
In any case, “parkour” is defined by Oxford as such:
The discipline or activity of using acrobatic and other techniques to move rapidly over or around the obstacles presented by an (esp. urban) environment; (freq.) = FREE RUNNING n. Parkour and free running are frequently taken to be synonymous, although in some usage the two are differentiated, with parkour emphasizing the importance of efficiency and fluidity of movement, while free running places more emphasis on performance and self-expression; cf. quot. 2009 at FREE RUNNING n.
[2002 Evening Standard (Nexis) 18 Apr. 3 The rooftop surfing, however, is part of a new form of urban martial arts currently taking France by storm. Called Le Parkourthe obstacle courseit is a mixture of acrobatics and daredevil antics.] 2002 Daily Express 19 Apr. 19 David Belle invented the art of Parkour while he was growing up in a Paris suburb in the Eighties. 2005 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 May M3/1(heading) In the growing discipline of parkour, railings become gymnastics bars and trash cans become vault boxes as adrenaline junkies treat the city as their playground. 2009 Archit. Rev. Aug. 25/3 So commissions imaginatively include, for example, a team of Danish parkour artists, who will be flipping and bouncing across a public square.
All I can say is, they add a whole lot of random info to the definitions in the OED. I just came for a definition. If I wanted the whole history of the word, I would have looked it up on Wikipedia…
NOTE: The dictionary pictured above is not the current edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, nor is it an Oxford English Dictionary at all. It’s just a random picture of an average, every-day dictionary. Just so we’re clear.
Tags: Dictionary, Parkour
Another Sesame Street story! The company just seems to be going through a stint of great press lately.
In any case, I couldn’t help but post up the video they just released featuring Grover in a towel. The segment is designed to teach kids about the word “on,” but it’s also a spoof on the famous Old Spice commercial that has been circulating on the interwebs as well.
If you haven’t seen the commercial, here it is bellow. It literally changed my life.
Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
Pure brilliance. You can watch it several hundred times and still find new meaning/humor in it. Or maybe it’s just me…
Anyway, here is Grover’s response to the video. Also quite funny.
Sesame Street – Smell Like a Monster
Tags: Puppetry, Sesame Street, TV
I guess Katty Perry was just determined to get a TV spot with puppets after the recent Elmo/cleavage fiasco on Sesame Street. Whatever the case may be, it was recently announced that the pop star will guest star on a very special episode of the Simpsons. That’s right, one involving puppets and live action.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only ones thinking, “If the Simpsons could choose anyone to be the very first live guest on the show, why choose Katy Perry?”
At the very least, I hope she wears something a bit more modest…
In all honesty, this isn’t actually a shot at redemption for Perry since her segment of the episode was shot just before PBS announced that they would remove her from Sesame Street. Go figure.
The Simpsons puppets, which look quite good in my opinion, were created and operated by Swazzle and the puppet segment was produced and directed by The Chiodo Brothers. I like that the show decided to change things up and do a puppet episode. Something the Simpsons has in common with Sesame Street, besides the fact that both shows have been on TV forever, is that they are extremely innovative.
The episode “The Fight Before Christmas” is scheduled to premier on Fox Dec. 5th. Here’s a sneak peak clip of the puppet episode that was taken at Comic Con 2010:
Comic Con Sneak Preview – Simpsons Puppet Christmas
Have you heard? The US National Yo-Yo Contest is happening this weekend in Chico, California. The competition will be on Saturday, October 2nd with events running all day.
I admit, I haven’t touched a yo-yo in years, excluding the Chinese yo-yo (diabolo). However, every time I see a skilled yo-yo practitioner, it makes me wish I still had one.
Naturally, with the anticipation of the US National Yo-Yo Contest, it’s almost impossible to keep myself from running to the store and buying myself every style they have. Nevertheless, I will let the masters be the masters and watch them do ungodly things with a wheel and a string.
For those of you who are on the edges of your seats in anticipation, here’s a sample of what the competition will bear. The following is a video from last year’s competition. Enjoy!
US National Yoyo Contest 2009
Tags: Competition, National, Yo-Yo
I was talking to a good friend of mine about magic not too long ago. Somehow we ended up on the topic of gender in the magic world. My friend mentioned that she had never seen a female magician perform before.
I searched my mind and had to agree. Women will often assist magicians, and some of them will even perform their own tricks. However, neither of us had seen a female magician lead a magic show. I don’t think there’s anything stopping women from trying their hand at magic, it has just historically been a male-dominated art.
However, I just saw some of the most impressive illusionist skills and sleight of hand tricks I’d ever seen, and they were performed by a female magician. Ekaterina Dobrokhotova is a Russian born, Canadian raised illusionist and circus artist. At an early age she took up juggling as well as magic. She later found that she had a knack for card manipulation, or “flourishing.”
I have the online magic training center Ellusionist to thank for introducing me to the artist. And I was nothing short of blown away when I saw some of Ekaterina’s work, my jaw hanging in disbelief of how she makes it look so easy. But don’t take my word for it, see her for yourself.
Examiner article: The Flying Karamazov Brothers on Letterman this week
Check out The Flying Karamazov Brothers this week on Late Show with David Letterman. They are scheduled to have a 30 second spot on each show this week just after the commercial break. Tune in to Letterman at 11:35pm Eastern on CBS to catch them.
Nick Woolsey, creator of Play Poi, is a great enthusiast of poi, dance, and fire. When he first discovered fire poi, he was mesmerized by one’s ability to manipulate and dance with the flame. Ever since, he’s been learning poi and sharing the skill with others.
In a recent interview with filmmaker Michael Waters, Woolsey describes what is called “Beginner’s Mind” or the feeling one gets when learning a new skill: it’s inspiring, it’s joyous, it’s like nothing else. Waters is currently filming a documentary for Songs Without Boarders and asked that Woolsey describe why he would bother learning to sing, even though he doesn’t think he’s good at it.
The following is Woolsey’s response:
Just got word back from the New England Parkour Charity Jam team. If you aren’t aware of the various twists and turns in the event planning process, you can read up on the whole thing on Examiner.
Here’s the short version: New England traceurs decided to plan a jam to raise money for the American Cancer Society, they picked a place and date, place was not available at planned date, they rescheduled, police said on day of event that it was no go, place moved day of the event.
And because of all the confusion, I was worried they they wouldn’t end up making very much money from the whole thing. However, the funds raised from the event totaled $200. Additionally, there was another $85 which was donated directly to the American Cancer Society. A total of $285. Not too shabby for an event who’s location had to change at the very last minute.
Also, this was the first time any of these guys have organized such an event, so it was a great success in that sense. Hopefully this will not be the last time the New England traceurs decide to organize a jam for charity. I think it’s a great idea!
That’s all for now folks!
Examiner Articles on this Topic:
07/22/10 Boston traceurs plan parkour charity event for cancer research
08/09/10 Parkour charity jam for American Cancer Society postponed
09/14/10 Red Bull sponsors Art of Motion parkour event
The blogosphere has really been buzzing about the recent incidents with Katy Perry and the music video she taped with Elmo on Sesame Street. Apparently, critics said the video was just too raunchy to put on TV in front of the eyes of preschoolers.
Perry was invited on Sesame Street in order to film a segment for a show that was scheduled to air sometime around New Years Eve (they’re way ahead of the game over there on Sesame Street, aren’t they?). The segment features Perry preparing to meet Elmo for a play date. Perry is expecting to play dress-up, while Elmo has other ideas entirely (minds out of the gutter please, we’re not at the raunchy part yet). In any case, Sesame Street posted the video on YouTube as a promotion for the new season. However, the video made the YouTubers excited for an entirely different reason (okay, here’s the raunchy part).
Sesame Street found themselves bombarded with YouTube comments from upset, disappointed, concerned, and all-in-all hot and bothered (emphasis on the “hot” part) public. Sesame Street took notice of the comments and decided it would be best to drop the segment entirely from the show.
If you ask me, I’m not sure that the preschoolers will be paying much attention to the scantily clad singer on the TV; although, they’re older siblings probably will (especially the pre-teen boys). In truth, there’s plenty of worse stuff that can be found on just about every other channel on TV, but I suppose it makes sense not to encourage this particular type of attire directly to young minds.
Oh, Sesame Street. Always looking out for the best interests of the kids.
I was just introduced to the art known as “Black Art” or “Black Theater.” Though I admit I do not know all that much about it just yet, it has apparently been around for a very long time and comes from a traditional Chinese art.
In any case, the following video is of Omar Pasha, a practitioner of Black Art who uses it as a way to do pretty spectacular magic shows. Enjoy!
