In Case

You were wondering...
Thought I'd write to my faithful 31/2 people who read this blog...
Yep, it's kind of late, about midnight on a Sunday, sleep eludes me, my mind wanders down many paths, tried praying, but soon I lose the thread... thinking about the Boeing strike, now starting it's fourth week, no negotiations yet, no money, thinking of yesterday and the wonderful time we spent out on Puget Sound. Traveled across the bay to Blake Island. A private Island without roads, no garbage cans either. Pack it in and pack it out.
I think the Nez Perce Indians might own the island, not sure. Tillicum Village is there, it's a nice tourist getaway, with totem poles and wonderful Salmon dinner. They cook the Salmon over open fire pits of Alder wood as you can see. The Salmon fillets are spitted onto Cedar wood. Just watching the Nez Perce cook the food was tantalizing. Mouth watering, isn't it!?
The Island isn't very large, over night camping is allowed and they even have an area or two for groups.
Wild life is free roaming. We saw many deer as we hiked about. They were not afraid of humans.
Out on a barge tie up we encountered some Sea Lions enjoying some sun tanning!
Our son Ryan and his girlfriend Myoko enjoyed the adventure with us. Our daughter Katie came along as well. The weather was great, especially on the Sound at the end
of September!
Mount Rainier
is always a magnificent site. Just keeps you aware of how small we really are. We live in an exciting and beautiful piece of the world!
Nice sunset as we headed back across the bay to the Alki Boat launch!

Other thoughts include some upcoming magic gigs.
One in particular has my mind working overtime. I have been hired to do a "show" for some four year olds party, actually it is a favor someone is doing for me as they know I ma on strike and have no income temporarily, the actual birthday boy is turning one. I am told that there will be about twelve children ranging in age up to maybe twelve. Some adults will be there as well to be sure. I have been trying to put together a childrens show and it is coming along,. Basically I have lots of material but haven't put it into a cohesive whole yet. Wow! Stressin' over childs party!
The theme I guess is animals. This is actually a plus for me as I have been slowly working on balloon animals.
Why so stressed about learning magic for the real young?
I dunno, feels like a step backwards, and yet I know this isn't true. In fact it is a positive step forward to becoming a better artist and more rounded performer. I guess maybe it's just that to be honest, it's a lot of work!

Thursday Qualatex

That is the type of balloons that animal balloon artist use. I bought a couple bags of the Qualatex balloons three years ago, My how time does fly! I have been wanting to get back into balloon sculpture but have also been thinking it is childish. I remember Tom Frank telling me how foolish that notion is and that the guys that make balloon animals are in high demand and make lots more money than the average magician!
Being a member of the Big Foot clown alley has rekindled my desire a little to pursue this venue!
Also, last week I got a gig at a senior center and the activities director asked me if I do balloon animals. So, it is time to learn this fun and lucrative art! I spent yesterday as a beginner once again!I realize one afternoon blowing up, tying, and twisting balloons does not a balloon artist make. But hey, it's a start!

Magic Session Tuesday

In attendance were Randy, Jose, Mark and I.
Jose's wife Cindy treated us all to some nice apple strudel cake.
Actually a nice intimate group. Mark exhibited his nice Silver & Gold Sherwood cups & balls, as well as his copper Sherwood cups. Stunning!
The evening was spent talking about magic history and philosophy as well as some sleights and fun tricks or things that are entertaining and not tricks. I did nothing! Actually a wonderful little piece of entertainment by Steve Bender from Ickle Pickle. His Do nothing effect. About a minute to a minute and a half of 'doing nothing,' but doing nothing really well.
We went over the 'Bizarre Twist' routine that Gary taught me several weeks ago. A nice three card routine. Also, I taught the
'True or False' seven card effect from Steve Bender.
Mark & Jose worked on the pinky count. Jose had become somewhat proficient with it in the past, but thru lack of use...
I think we all have that happen to us. That lack of use thing, Use it or lose it.
This is why I suggested we write down ALL the effects we know. This way we can look at the list and remember what to work on or brush up on now and then.
We have a tendency to fall in love with the latest and greatest. Speaking of the latest and greatest, We discussed 'extreme burn' By Richard Sanders. A wonderful money changing effect. But why do I want to learn it? To have a cool magical trick? What is the 'story' around the effect? Why do it? What is the point? How do you go into it? How do you come out of it?
Also discussed was the idea of being focused at these sessions, this is what I have been trying to do with them. We all agreed that we would enjoy learning the three shell game. Most of us has a set of shells of some sort. Randy mentioned he would like to learn the Egg Bag. I kind of pinned him down as to whose routine he might like to learn, or perhaps melding several. It was good productive session!

Busy, busy, busy...

Well, the hibachi is back together, I don't know how well it will hold up. I think it cracked for a couple of reasons.
First, it is probably 50 years old, and sat in a garage for all those years. Second, it is made of clay, not ceramic. The fluctuating weather and heating it up when it is cold outside probably isn't good for it. I BBQ all Winter long you know! So, I will be trying it out soon and maybe give it another coating of repair goo...

The magic I did for the Renton High School class of 1978 went extremely well. I did walk around magic while people arrived and enjoyed a few drinks during "happy hour." Karen, the woman that "hired" me had sent a confirmation form to everyone that pre registered. In it she mentioned something about Tim Flynn, a 1977 Renton alum performing magic. So as the evening progressed many people were asking when the "show" was going to start?
I mentioned to Karen this, we were concerned that most people would not want to sit and watch a show as they would be more inclined to want to catch up.
However, I planned for this contingency and had all my stuff available and set up in advance. I even brought my sound system and it too was all connected and ready to go.
The event was held at a place called the "Big Picture." It is a bar and restaurant in The Redmond Town Square. There is a theater there with a stage.That's probably why it is called, The Big Picture! While I wasn't able to use the stage, I did set up below, and about 75 to a 100 people enjoyed my magic act.
Since I knew most everyone from high school, it was an interesting show with plenty of fun by play and jabs and good natured barbs on both sides.
Lots of laughter, and I got good revues.
Chinese sticks, Acrobatic Knot, Cut and restored rope, lassoing a card, Floating card, Vanishing Bandana, and the Cups and Balls.
Karen picked up a nice "magic" hat for me and sewed a rabbit on it with a sign for tips. The hat and I netted $166.00!!!
Nice!
I hope someone took some decent pics.
Walk around effects included, Marked for Life, Crazy man's hand cuffs, the Hot Rod, and some various other card effects.
After the Big Picture shooed everyone out at midnight, several of us went to another pub and I entertained some there.
I got home around three a.m.
Sunday we attended the wedding of our friends Larry and Vicki's 21 year old daughter!
Nice wedding and now they are empty nesters.
Watching Larry give away his only daughter was difficult. Our daughter is 15 and that day will be upon us one day.

But, that is as it should be!
Monday!
Got up early, couldn't sleep anyway. Woke up about 5 a.m. and decided to get up and take a shower.
Met up with the svelte one. Steve Ameden at Maplewood golf course. The day started out rainy, but as soon as we were ready to tee of at 8:45... no rain and later it got nice and sunny!
I parred the first three holes and played fairly steady for the 1st nine, scoring a 40. But the back nine my lack of sleep affected me, my shoulders got stiff and I shot a 46 for a total of 86.
We had a good time and lots of laughs and it is always a pleasure to be with Steve!

Nice, Late Summer!

Sunday we enjoyed church and friendship and fellowship!
After church we spent some time at our friends the McDowells. They BBQ'd ribs! They were awesome and we added some potato salad, and home grown string beans! I enjoy sharing my magic with Dale and Jean. They always laugh and have come to enjoy "what new magic have you learned recently?" So I always enjoy entertaining them.
Monday I spent the day washing three vehicles. I also waxed one. Joan's sister Arlene bought a nice 1992 Acura Legend. I washed and waxed it for her and cleaned the windows inside and out. Looks nice!
Woke up Tuesday a little stiff and sore from the three car wash and wax ordeal from Monday. I had a tee time to play Glen Acres Country Club with my friend Steve Ameden. He hasn't golfed in about 8 years. It is always a treat to play at a Country Club. I shot a 94 and Steve, well, he looks good doesn't he. Actually we had a great time just being together and hitting balls. Steve lent me one of his drivers to hit. OH MY GOSH! I belted it. Every time I hit it, it was a straight shot about 275 yards up the gut!
Steve better look in his bag often to make sure it hasn't magically vanished!

Humpty Dumpty...

Sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall... All the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn't put Humpty back together again!
Well I hope this isn't true with the marvelous technology of today!
I went to the hardware store and picked up some Rutland Furnace Cement.Or in this case "refractory cement." Whatever that is!
I slathered it all over the broken pieces, in between them after wetting the edges so the cement will sink in and bond. The package says it will be stronger than before it was broke.
Basically trying to glue the hibachi pot back together again! This stuff says it is good up to 2000 degrees. I'll let it sit for two days to dry. And on Monday I'll slowly burn some wood chips in it to "cure" it! I think it will work! Wishful thinking? Maybe.

One week to go until I perform walk around at the Renton High School class of 1978 reunion. Should be a great time as I know many of the alumni. I graduated the year before, 1978, and my younger brother was in that class. I haven't performed much walk around, do this will be a good opportunity to see what I got!

Tired but...

Got outta bed at 10:30 this morning. My lovely wife asked me if I slept good, I grunted, "no, not really."
Funny, huh. I slept for a good ten hours but it didn't feel right. Tossing and turning, thinking...
Got up and after a cup of coffee or two, or three... we went over to our nephew Brian's home. He broke the same bone in his foot that Joan broke two years ago. I offered to mow his lawn for him. He accepted. We had a nice visit while there too. We came home, had some lunch, left over pork chops and I feel sleepy.
I just finished an hours worth of work puttin' Man O War varnish on the Hibachi table and the magicians table Jose gave me, and I still feel sleepy... Being awake during my normal sleeping hours must be the culprit!
Look at this BUMMER!Man, I wish this hadn't happened. I'm going to try to repair this with some type of Furnace Cement.

Dear Mr. Obama

We have over 700 comments posted now, and approving each one has been laborous and intersting.

I promised this man's father I would ensure that no disrepectful posts would be approved. I have kept my word.

But I have more commercials on the issues I want to create so I have to shut down the comments section.

In all, about 75% of the comments were positive and supportive, 15% were disagreeing but respectful, and 10% were ugly, demeaning, rude, and hateful. So much for HOPE.
weneedmccain (5 days ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Thanks everyone for your posts, your passions and convictions.

Democracy, freedom, war and all the baggage that ocmes with it are complicated issues.

I wish everyone would search out the facts and not listen to the propoganda on both sides of the isle to find the truth.

In the course of history, we have set many nations free, and it has always carried with it a price.

I support McCain simply because he loves this country and puts it first.

On Stike at Boeing.

Day six I believe. Sleep eludes me as I try to turn my clock around to what normal people have. Who decides normal? I do! HA!
Last Sunday night I spent some time at Life Center in Tacoma. I was not prepared for the enormity of the place. A clown friend of mine thru the Big Foot clown alley wanted me to entertain about 70-90 senior citizens. Her clown name is Hippy. She is also a 2nd grade school teacher. We had a great time. Hippy did some clowning around for about 15-20 minutes then introduced me, the main event!
I performed for about 45-50 minutes and was told later that they wanted more! That is how you are supposed to leave em, wanting more!
Tuesday I went golfing at Twin Lakes Country club. A free round of golf at a country club is always a special treat! The weather was perfect. I hit some great shots and some not so great shots. Putting on country club greens is always an adventure! Fast, fast, fast! I shot a respectable (?) 94! Later Tuesday evening I enjoyed our Big Foot Clown Alley meeting. The clowns were teaching face painting. Not for me at this time, but I am a member, and want to give any support I can. I watched as one of the clowns did a magic effect with a "birthday" boy and a dove pan. Very nicely done. Magically producing a real birthday cake!
Balloon twisting demonstrations and more. I gotta get into that twisting thing!
Last night I met up with some magicians, Jose and Leslie. We had a nice session. We worked on Bizarre Twist, Tricky wallet, Some coin stuff. Jose did a very nice quarter from sugar packet effect that was taught to him by Mark Storms over a year ago! Sometimes this stuff takes time to percolate!
I also performed for the first time, Al Schnieder's Osmosis for Leslie and Jose. Jose said it looked good with no flashes. Sweet, a work in progress coming to fruition. We also discussed dressing as a magician theory. Comparing Doug Henning, Chris Angel, David Blaine and others. We all hear that you should dress a notch above who you are performing for. These guys certainly don't. So, maybe it's your persona, or attitude.
Jose showed us his new folding magic table. Later he presented me with one that he has built!
What a sweet man and a wonderful treat! His prototype he called it!
Magic has been a true blessing to me. I hope I can be a blessing to others thru this art.
Before heading to Jose's. I stopped by Gary Smith's home to pick up a magical item that I am borrowing from Gary.
Gary was bummed because he couldn't make the session and was planning on it. His wife has back problems and was on meds. He shared with me his work on David Roth's Portable hole. Gary has really nice chops with coins. A little rusty as he hasn't performed in many years, but you can see the underlying work that was once foundational and the many hours spent in the art.

Neglect

I have been neglecting this blog lately. I don't know why. Maybe it's simply because I don't hear from the faithful 3and a half often enough?
Anyway, what's been happening?
I went golfing on Wednesday with my friend Mike. It was a beautiful day in the sun. I got up early at about 1pm and we had a 2:30 tee time. I usually golf after work int eh morning, so this was a nice treat. Druidsglen is a wonderful track and mighty tough. I don't know what my score ended up being. It has been awhile since I golfed and I had no touch. I had a blast though, and drove the ball 275 yards a couple of times.
Last weekend Ryan returned home from his trip to Denver and Dallas. He went to Denver to spend some time with his girlfriend Myoko and her family. Ah, young love! Travel clear across half the country to be with someone! Myoko has spent about a month or two traveling across Europe. Italy, France and so on.
After Denver, Ryan went to Dallas and was one of the keynote speakers at a christian singles conference where he spoke to a room of around 1500 people! That is totally awesome! He arrived back in Seattle Sunday night and spent a night and day with us.
I drove him home on Monday and had an opportunity to meet some of his friends. I performed some great magic for them. Mostly cards but I did perform crazy man's hand cuffs with rubber bands. Too much fun.
Last Saturday was a family reunion of sorts. My cousin called it and it was at Lake Wilderness by my home. It was kinda weird. Most of my cousins live about 60 miles North of me and the Reunion was from 9 am to 2 pm. That is the time we had reserved for the picnic shelter at Lk. Wilderness. My wife and I arrived at 10:30 am and we were the first ones there. Soon my cousins arrived at 11:30 and 12 noon. They drove a long way for a two hour visit. My sister arrived at about 1:30. I invited everyone over to our home but had no takers.
Boeing machinists union local 751 which I am a reluctant member voted to reject the contract Boeing offered us. We are supposed to be on strike right now, but for some odd reason our union big wigs is allowing a 48 hour window for Boeing to strengthen their offer. That window closes in about 22 hours.
School has started again and Katie, now 15 is beginning her sophomore year. Soon she will be driving and dating! Argh!
Hey Eric, if you are reading this... I love you!
Sunday evening I will be performing in Tacoma at the Life Center for about 90 senior citizens. Looking forward!

Leslie Thyagarajan; Magician for hire

My good friend Leslie!
Here is my friend Leslie from Idia.
He has many talents! Artist, child entertainer and soon to be a father.
I met Les a few years ago while I was performing magic at Monday night magic at Third Place Books in Seattle.
We have developed a good friendship based on magic and getting to know each other. The more I find out about this talented man, the more amazing he is!
I love his relaxed manner. Not forcing himself but rather, just nice and relaxed, being himself! The wonderful laughter of the children speaks volumes about him.
Les, you rock!

Friday Session

Met at Leslie T's home last Friday to session.
I arrived at 6:45.
Leslie is a gracious person. It was just a sweet, intimate session with Leslie and I.
We planned to go over some cups and balls as Leslie is trying to nail down a routine. Funny thing is, we never touched the cups and balls except for a few moments when I walked in.
Leslie walked me thru some nice stuff using Judy the mouse and also his nice "fastest trick in the world" using a rubber band.
We watched some video. Leslie is making a dvd for promoting his magic and teaching children. It is coming along nicely!
I gave him a copy of my dvd. We also watched it. That killed about an hour.
Leslie asked me to walk him thru a couple of false cuts, a table cut, and an in the hands one too.
I also showed him a Tommy Wonder effect. A card thru hank revelation.
His wife Sarah arrived home around ten pm.
Sarah is carrying their first child. I think she said she is seven months along!

We talked for awhile, and I performed card on ceiling and Anniversary waltz. Leslie wanted to know how to do card on ceiling so I taught it to him.
Anniversary Waltz really thrilled Sarah!
It was a good time, I got home around midnight.

Roger Klause Encore Performance

Magician Roger Klause passed away.
Roger W. Klause, 70, died Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008.
I never met Roger but have heard a lot about him. He was a magnificent magician. I never attended the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. It is my understanding that Roger was a frequent attendee.Roger became a regular fixture at magic gatherings, sought by magicians of all levels and from all continents. By the time he was 30, he had developed and earned the reputation for masterful and skillful sleight of hand. His routines regularly bewildered other magicians who found themselves unable to penetrate his methods, and he frequently perplexed the other masters - the ones who "could not be fooled."
By 40, Roger had lectured to and taught many of the finest magicians around the world, some of whom traveled great distances to meet him. At one point, he was famously dubbed, "The Leader of the Underground," signifying his importance to the fraternity and his influence on those he met and the respect he had earned from his peers.


What can we learn from his death? To get on with your life! Get after those things you desire to do.