Ruby Chow Passes Away (June 2008) Bruce Lee Review is sad to report the passing of Ruby Chow, on 4th June aged 87. Although her place in Bruce Lee lore is assured, there was so much more to her than many of us might know. As well as a long-running restaurateur she was also a prominent figure in politics and a widely respected member of her community thanks to her civic work and services to Seattle's Chinatown. [Image: Tom Reese/Seattle Times] Bruce Lee Event in Seattle (May 2008) Summer 2008 marks the 35th anniversary for the release of Enter the Dragon as well as the passing of Bruce Lee. To commemorate these milestones, the Bruce Lee Foundation has put together an elaborate event at the Seattle Art Museum and Lakeview Cemetery. Included will be seminars, a 35th Anniversary Bruce Lee Exhibit, screenings of Enter the Dragon, the first-ever JKD Instructor Summit, a graveside memorial and celebration banquet, an Exclusive Limited-Entry Preview Night, and much more! Visit The Bruce Lee Foundation for more information and to register. SENI08: Bruce Lee Museum in London! (April 2008) On Sunday 27th April, BLR was given leave to cut loose the bonds of domesticity and attend SENI08 'The International Combat Sports Show' held at the Excel Centre in London Docklands. The main attraction was arguably the Bruce Lee Zone we've been bleating about since January, with its centrepiece Bruce Lee Museum, soon to find a permanent home, backed by a seminar and signing area and Bruce Lee Foundation stall selling merchandise. To see images and hear audio from the event, click here. Shannon Lee: Martial Arts Illustrated (April 2008) Shannon Lee is the toast of this month's Martial Arts Illustrated (Vol 20, #12), the cover slightly modified from the one on display here, with a brighter logo and building in a background image of her father plus an additional shot of Shannon Lee in fine martial arts fettle to offset the sexy aspect! Inside, she's interviewed and talks about coming to London with the Bruce Lee Museum. The Jun Fan Journal also pays tribute to Bruce Lee student, the late Herb Jackson and chats to Jeet Kune Do exponent and Bruce Lee Foundation adviser Tim Tackett. There's also a feature on Enterbay's efforts to capture Bruce Lee in sculpted form, making this an issue not to be missed. Muscle & Fitness are also running a seven-page piece ('Bruce Lee The Accidental Icon') in the May edition of their magazine while Black Belt's June 2008 offering is something of a Bruce Lee 'lite' edition; Teri Tom's Jeet Kune Do source article details 'how to adjust the depth of your punches to achieve maximum effectiveness in different situations.' SENI 2008: Bruce Lee Museum Update (March 2008) Back in January we revealed that the Bruce Lee Museum is coming to London. With special guests Shannon and Linda Lee now confirmed we can reveal the latest c/o Fighting Spirit News: "The Bruce Lee Museum will be at the heart of Seni08 and will feature 35 unique items and 35 unique photos celebrating the life and times of the legendary 'Little Dragon' As Seni08 pays tribute to the 35th anniversary of his death. Fighting Spirit News can exclusively reveal three of the items as a teaser to the wonders of the full collection that will be revealed at the Excel on both the 26th and 27th of April. Visit Seni08 and see for yourself nine pages of hand-written detailed notes outlining the legendary coliseum fight with Chuck Norris, gaze at Lee's personal date book-opened at July 20th and see what he had planned for that fateful day and check out the three piece suit Lee wore in Enter the Dragon. This is the collection that has got everyone talking and you can see it exclusively at Seni08." Game of Death Single Disc Edition (March 2008) With Hong Kong Legends now consigned to DVD label history, 7th April sees the curious reappearance of Game of Death courtesy of Contender Entertainment. This vanilla, single disc comes at a budget price with a brand new sleeve but little else. Of more interest, we recently contacted former Golden Harvest executive Russell Cawthorne, who is in possession of interview footage from the 1978 version of the film, only previously glimpsed in documentary form. Moves have been made to reunite Cawthorne with Dragon Dynasty main man Bey Logan, who has interesting, overlooked Game... '78 outtake footage. Could we possibly be seeing the beginnings of and playing a part in a new, supercharged edition of the film? Let's hope so! New Printed Matter (March 2008) The latest offering from David Tadman will be an updated edition of his 2002 collaboration with George Lee, Regards from a Friend. This has been updated with new imagery, reverted back to its original title and is endorsed by the Bruce Lee Foundation. No word as yet on a release date. On newsstands, the May issue of Black Belt sees Jeet Kune Do authority Ted Wong 'On the Record', reflecting on the time he spent with Bruce Lee and examines the state of his art in 2008. Teri Tom's Jeet Kune Do Source column illuminates the principle of broken rhythm, which Bruce Lee most likely adopted from fencing. Here in the UK, Martial Arts Illustrated runs with a comprehensive Dan Inosanto interview. Latest Magazines (February 2008) The latest edition of Martial Arts Illustrated (Vol 20, #10) features a tribute to and archive interview with the late Bruce Lee student Larry Hartsell. Also in this issue's Jun Fan Journal you'll find recent news from the Bruce Lee world and a couple of name-checks for this web-site! The April edition of Black Belt runs with Teri Tom's Jeet Kune Do Source column, focusing on an explanation of Bruce Lee's attack by combination and how it applies to punching. Phoo Action on BBC3! (February 2007) February 12th saw the premiere of a new Bruce Lee influenced TV show on the revamped BBC3. The BBC press release sounded promising: "Car chases, Kung-fu and comedy come together in the wonderfully warped world of Phoo Action - an offbeat 60-minute drama special for BBC Three. Based on characters created by Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz, Tank Girl) for The Face comic strip Get The Freebies, Phoo Action is set in 2012, when London is in the grip of mutant criminals, The Freebies. Only Terry Phoo, a hapless Buddhist Kung-fu cop, and unruly teenage heroine Whitey Action, the daughter of Police Chief Benjamin Benson, can save the nation." Given the talent involved and a trippy-looking trailer this looked to be required viewing... but, it wasn't! BLR gave up after thirty minutes as it wasn't our cup of tea. However, It's available to view online until 20th February by clicking here. Legends of the Dragon Delayed! (February 2007) The end of January saw the announcement of a slight delay in Legends of the Dragon's arrival, slipping to 11th February. Then, a few days off the revised release date it slipped again until March 10th, due to perfectionism and dual production efforts on paperback and hardback editions. With Bob Bremer and Tim Tackett's Chinatown Jeet Kune Do book also now slipping from January to the end of April, there's little but a new edition of Simon Kenny's 2001 book 'Pocket Essential: Bruce Lee' to open the year. Roll on Spring and the promise of Bruce Lee products and events to come. The Crow 2008 Calendar (January 2008) Another small slice of news that almost managed to slip through the net could perhaps spell good fortune for you, the Brandon Lee fan who has yet to secure a calendar for 2008, what with one twelfth of the year already done and dusted and tumbling prices on calendars, organisers and diaries at this time of year. The Crow is a captivating tale of love and pain, a classic movie featuring arguably Brandon Lee's finest performance. Click here for more details and to place your order. Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit Returns! (January 2008) Bruce Lee books are seemingly ten a penny to the untrained eye, but there are a few that 'have legs' and endure the journey from hardback, paperback, pulp bargain bin fare to updated reissues and spin offs (Fighting Talk). Bruce Thomas's volume is such a book and you've got to have respect for the kind of work that has the capacity to straddle more than a decade and re-emerge to capture the hearts and minds of fans old and new. The latest look is an old school variant of the original hardback and will be available to buy on 4th July courtesy of Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd. Click here for more details and to reserve your copy. Latest UK/US Magazines (January 2008) The January edition of Combat magazine (Volume 34, #1) contains shameless self-promotion of Steve Kerridge's Legends of the Dragon series of books, a masterstroke we probably would have adopted for the Bruce Lee Review book in our Jade Screen column, had we not decided to part ways with the magazine and direct our energies elsewhere! The end of the Combat piece grants the opportunity to be a part of one of the biggest Bruce Lee events in the UK in a long time and win one of ten copies of the first book due at the end of the month. The latest Jade Screen (Volume 6, #1), includes our Bruce Lee on TV article. Martial Arts Illustrated's February edition (Volume 20, #9) sees the return of the Jun Fan Journal column, arguably the best source for Bruce Lee news in the UK despite its unofficial status. Also featured: an interview with Enter the Dragon's henchman extraordinaire Bob Wall and MAI shines a spotlight on Hardcore Jeet Kune Do: a different way to look at Bruce Lee's martial art by Lamar M. Davis II. Black Belt's March edition features a striking image (no pun intended) of Dan Inosanto and explores 'Jeet Kune Do Grappling'; in this exclusive interview, Dan Inosanto talks about Bruce Lee's ground-fighting research and how he's applying it to modern JKD. Also in the magazine is Teri Tom's regular JKD source column, which dissects the elements of speed, an essential but trainable component of JKD. US street date is 22nd January, but likely to hit the UK in the next few weeks. Herb Jackson Passes Away (January 2008) The start of 2008 is tinged with sadness, as we report the passing of Bruce Lee student Herb Jackson. An engineer and welder by trade, Herb Jackson helped Bruce Lee revolutionise his training regime by building and modifying some of the more durable equipment Bruce Lee honed his tools on. Although word of Herb Jackson's death began to resonate in the closing days of 2007 it wasn't actually confirmed until early New Year. Herb Jackson passed away on December 14th 2007. BLF Special Event: The Nature of Water (January 2008) This modified text c/o Bruce Lee Foundation website: "Bruce Lee remains an inspiration to all through his profound teachings, films and philosophies. Come celebrate Bruce's enduring influence through art inspired by his legacy and philosophies at The Nature of Water art exhibit hosted by Nucleus Gallery, in Alhambra, California. Runs from Jan 5th - Jan 28th". Click here to visit the exhibition website, here for the official press release and here for a gallery of images from the opening. Artwork shown here by Greg Yoshitake. Bruce Lee Mania Magazine (January 2008) A new Spanish magazine emerged in December: Bruce Lee Mania. BLR held off on reporting this at the end of 2007 until we had finer detail. Put together by the cream of the Spanish Bruce Lee scene, including collectors, Jeet Kune Do instructors and biographers, the content is broad and, on the face of it, engaging... although it's difficult to tell just how good it is unless you're fluent in the language! The cost including shipping to the UK is €21.95 (£16 and some change), which for sixty-four pages does seem quite pricey, but this might be due to its very small print run and the overall quality of the magazine. If successful, a second issue is likely to be produced. 'Bruce Lee Museum' Comes to London (January 2008) Tokyo, Japan was the opening venue for the 'Enter the Museum' event in July 2007, which comes to London on April 26th and 27th as part of SENI08. The effervescent Shannon Lee will be on-hand to give a presentation and Q&A. The exhibit will probably mirror the Japan event and be made up of Bruce Lee photographs and memorabilia, though there's no news on what artefacts will be on display. This ties in with the release of the third book in the Legends of the Dragon series, for which Shannon Lee wrote a foreword, which sees its unveiling at SENI. Jeet Kune Do instructor Richard Bustillo has also signed on to give a seminar. This news c/o Combat magazine and SENI.