36 holes and drained

Yesterday was spent playing Sumner Meadows Golf Course.
Mike and I played 36 holes having fun in the sun. Drained is how I felt afterward.
I shot a 90 the first loop, and an 80 the second. Would have been my first time breaking 80, but I had Tom Watson disease, that's where your putts end up short of the hole. Lots of birdie opportunities left on the course!
We had a great time with lots of laughter.

Stones?

Recently I purchased some wood charcoal for cooking in our Hibachi pot. I was reaching in for a handful of wood and found this rather large, heavy piece.
Funny thing is it won't burn! It is a stone, a rock. It must have been in the mixture of charcoal wood for a long time as it is blackened nicely just like the wood pieces... it weighs 1.2 Lbs.
I believe the bag is sold by weight, so that means I am missing at least a tenth of what I paid for... stoners probably filled this bag!

Austrailia Update

Well, that is really not a good name for this post because we haven't heard from Katie yet and here it is Sunday, I think it is Monday where she is... I pray for her and hope she is having a blast!

Trippin'

Today is now Wednesday and Katie flew off to Australia yesterday, she is now there, it was along journey with a lay over of about five hours at LAX and then across the pong. I heard their plane was struck by lightning twice.
I guess it was a bumpy ride.
I will miss her very much and am sure her dog will be going crazy by the time she returns in twenty days.
Lucky girl!

Super!

What a wonderful day yesterday, seems like today to me cuz of my work shift!
Got off worka nd hit the links at Maplewood golf course.
The weather was perfect! The fairways wide! and the greens in great shape.
I shot an 85 with a birdie on the 2nd hole with a sweet putt of about 25- 30 feet.
I was hitting the driver really well, missed a few putts I shoulda made but all in all, Mike and I had a wonderful outing!
Got home by 10 am, now that was a nice surprise, cuz I got yo bed by 11 and was up at 6:15.
Went tanning to get ready for Hawaii next week!

Clowns R Us

Last nights alley meeting was a fun time, we had a great turn out, Here are some pictures from last month and this month,
What is a foulard anyway? haha.
Teeny and L'il Britches did an AWESOME job with their new magic skit presentation.
I love magic, you guys are all awesome at it by the way, wish I had all your talent!
We have a ton of talent in out alley, wanna tap into it? Show up, come excited, be prepared and participate!
We rock!
Roger Lander and Julie Terry, (Beep Beep) taught some fantastic Balloon sculptures as did Marco Desimone!
We had a fun time with one liners and a fun word game with the word "Foulard."
Dirty bird that is...

Great News

Had my consultation today about the MRI done for my left knee.
All is well, looks great inside there!
Don't understand why it swelled.
There are two minor bone spurs, but am told not to worry about them at this time.
Cartilage and meniscus all look good.
So, I am confused as to what caused it to be a problem.
Maybe simply cuz I'm 50?
My weight is down to about 183!
My workouts are working.
Life is good!

Sunday Afternoon Magic

What a great thing this hobby of mine has become!
What a mammoth learning experience.
I set up the Sunday show, late Saturday night for 2pm the next day.
The folks I would be performing for were heading back to real life that afternoon.
About 1 pm my wife asked if it was alright to take the girls, Katie and Jenni to the Ocean Shores Community Center. I said no problem as long as you get back by quarter of two.
I had already run thru my set for the show and was just chillin' before performing.
Well, Joan got back in time, but we had a few snags and we got going late.
I Hate being LATE!
Plus, I wanted to be early to have a few minutes to set up, maybe ten minutes would be all I would need.
Anyway, we arrive late, I'm fuming, but hopefully not showing it outwardly, and my friend Dale has forgotten his lap top which we would use for playing the cd during the Vanishing Bandanna effect. He offered to return and get it, and I reluctantly agreed.
I set up after greeting everyone, some which I know sorta well, Joey played softball with Dale and I back in the day, and his wife was our score keeper. That's when I got to know their children.We were bigger than life to them!
Anyway, as all good entertainer's must do... I stalled!
I decided to perform some card magic for the young ladies, they were 13 or 14, and one was 15.
I opened with the Biddle Trick and it went over splendidly!
Moved into the One Eyed Jack Sandwich with a few other members of my audience (funny that, My audience!)... this was the best this effect ever played. I learned a valuable line to say during this performance. That is sweet!
That segued into my three card finale of Paperclipped.
Oh my! The reaction... Fantastic!
The young man's exact words were, and they were loud.."Holy Cow!"
The line I used that I want to remember is, you both selected the exact same card.
It played better than it sounds.
Dale had returned in the middle of Paperclipped and it was perfect timing!
Thanks Dale!
So on with the show!
A little one finger warm up to begin, then a really nice three card cut out effect that involves three participants but plays for the whole audience. Three different spectators choose a random card. They show it to everyone else while my back is turned so they are all in on it! I then proceed to cut out their card in a single sheet of newspaper. It's a nice piece for a warm up or an MC piece. This effect has developed into a nice, fun piece of magic with some fun, and funny patter lines that I repeat with each succeeding card, almost as a running gag.

Now some real magic! Chinese Sticks! This went especially well, and the lines were wonderful, An invisible frog hair indeed, kind of salty, ew!
Acrobatic Knot had some nice ooh's and ahh's from the spectators too.
Cut and restored rope with Professors Nightmare ending was next and it too went really nice.
Followed that up with a fun, entertaining piece of magic called lassoing a card, this is a wonderful effect that plays very nice! The magician in trouble effect!
Vanishing Bandanna and egg bag. I wish I had pictures of those because the girl I used in the bag trick was wonderful, her name is Jade.
I ended with the cups and balls and of course...
It is always a great ending!
But here is where the learning begins!
After the show, as people were loading up, and checking things twice in order to leave.
I soon realized they wanted some more. It's not too hard to figure out when a group of three or four children have you surrounded.
So, I went into the Crazy Man's Hand Cuffs.
I think I aced this trick by the reactions it got. It wasn't long and soon the group around me grew to include several adults.
I launched into Jumping Gems and this too got a huge reaction, as did the Hot Rod, and Amazing Jumping Arrow.
I left it at that, but here's the point.
Perception.
These people were expecting a magician... and that's what they saw!
Magic!
Monday, while performing for the wonderful Doctor.
I was and am his patient and friend, he knew me before I got into magic.
It takes a little more work to be a magician for people like that.
Next Monday I'll see him again and plan on leaving a signed card on his ceiling.
I also left him with a copy of my dvd that has five stage effects performed live.
We'll see how it goes!

One final note.
Does this older fellow look at all familiar?

He is Jay Leno's uncle, Bill. He is pictured here with our friend Dale. Mr. Leno as we all call him, coached Dale and his own sons in Little League forty years ago.
I almost got on their team but was selected by another.
Do you see the family resemblance? In their jaw line?

knee Troubles

I had to take an extra day for vacation because I had a doctor appointment up in Arlington, Wa. at 10 am Monday!
Got up about 7:30 and my wife and I drove the 70 miles.
The doctor I want to see will soon be retiring. His name is Fred Davis. He is one of the top Orthopedic Doctors in the United States. I met him about 25 years ago thru the Amway business. He is a Diamond or an Emerald in that business. I was in his line of sponsorship way back when. Those were some great times in my life.
I know many people have negative feelings or ideas about Amway. Things like, "it's a pyramid, or, it's that door to door soap selling business,I wouldn't want to do anything like that, or, you use your friends!"
I find all these just excuses, here's why.
Amway is actually a reverse pyramid. The job YOU have is an actual pyramid, I mean think about it honestly, can you ever pass up your boss in your job? Do you have the opportunity to become the owner where you work?
How about not wanting to sell great products to your friends?
They are already supporting some Joe Blow they don't even know. You deliver the product to their door step, and they save money. By the way, friends should be helping friends out. That's what friends do. As far as "getting someone else into something." I think it would be great to help another human or family become debt free, or financially secure. How about ALL the things you do for your employer now that you don't like doing? Like smiling at them or appeasing them because you are afraid to lose your job, or have to work for someone that... well you get the picture.
But here's the rub,
Any Excuse Will Do.
But, I didn't decide to go off on a rant about Amway, it's just that I had a great time as a distributor, met lots of good people, and read lots of great books that helped develop in me a positive mental outlook.
It probably was a time in my life that helped foster good ideals about marriage too.
anyway, Fred saw me, and stuck a four inch needle into the side of my knee. He extracted about 30 cc of fluid that was swelling fluid, (for lack of a proper name)...
Then he put something into my knee area that he called "joy juice." My wife thought he heard him say joint juice and asked him what that was! Haha...
Fred told her it was something they use for women. Some kind of fertility drug. This could get strange! Lol...
After the exam, the twisting and pulling of my knee, I did some magic for Fred.
Fred has a great laugh. He is 67 years young, he is a joy to be around, why?
Because he is still a child at heart!
He enjoyed the magic, so did I. I just enjoy being around people like him.
We finished up around 11 am. He called the hospital next door and set me up with an MRI. This was really lucky for me to be able to get this on the same say, rather than having to drive back down to Arlington another day.
Joan and I enjoyed the town or Arlington. We took in some antique shops, sporting goods store, and had a nice lunch together.
The MRI appt. wasn't until 3:30, so we had some time to kill.


We got home around 6:45 pm.
It made for a long day.
I go back next Monday for the results of the MRI. Bummer, have to take another day off work!

Up In Smoke!

Left early Friday to spend a few days at Ocean Shores.
Our daughter Katie drove the whole way, a two and a half hour drive. She drove really well, and obeyed the sped limit. Funny thing about that, I mentioned to my wife that I think we would have arrived a mere ten minutes earlier had I driven, disobeying the speed limit. Perhaps even later had I been pulled over by officer friendly!
Our friends the McDowells have a wonderful 2nd home on the canal. The canal is a fresh water, man made canal that links much of Ocean shores residents together via the waterway.
I never knew it was there until a few years ago when the McDowells bought their place.
It is quite wonderful to have a slow flowing "river" running in your back yard.
Several types of fish inhabit the canal. Trout, Bass and perch, I think Crappy as well.
Recently the home owners association planted some big Carp in the canal to help keep the Mil foil from growing so rapidly.
In many ways life at the Ocean is laid back, and in some ways it is a working vacation.
The home was purchased as a fixer upper.
Dale and Jean have been busy making the place a nice get away. Rebuilding the decks, cutting away encroaching foliage, re plumbing some fixtures, installing new screen doors and windows.
There is always a project or two to work on while spending time there!
I never mind because it helps them out and makes me feel good to pitch in.
Besides, we are with good friends, away from work and home, and at the beach!
We ALWAYS have great food too. Almost every meal is top notch.
Salmon, Crab, and awesome potatoes.
Or, perhaps you would rather have a simple snack like artichoke dip made with left over crab, along whit some home made salmon spread from the left over Copper River Salmon?!
Maybe you would enjoy hamburgers on the Barbie, made with Elk meat!
Lots of snackin' in between meals too!
Like I said, everyone pitches in, breakfast consists of bacon and eggs, and pancakes one day, French toast another, of course a generous helping of fruits too!
Dishes must be done by hand, so we all take turns getting our hands wet.
Matt, Jessica's fiance pitched in with his carpentry skills, patching some holes in the walls with drywall, and sanding them smooth. He also spent some time re attaching a shield on the lawn mower.
They haven't set a date for their marriage yet, but should be sometime next year!
I wasn't as much help as I usually am because of a very sore knee.
Saturday arrived and it was a beautiful day, my days at the beach often run together.
I think this was just a nice, lazy day for me, of course it was the 4th of July, Independence day!
I haven't bought fireworks in several years. It is kind of odd to grow older and see the two sides of the fireworks coin...
When I was a boy, my folks really went all out on the 4th! We had a great time, BBQing and lighting off huge amounts of fireworks. I think this is what makes it such a special day for most folks. Family and friends breaking bread together and ending the day in anticipation of the great wonders of gun powder! HA!
When you are little, they look SO BIG!
And they are!
We take this tradition and share it with our own children, perpetuating the wonder and joy!
As I watched the fireworks show on the beaches of Ocean shores this year, I had to laugh... so many people are complaining about their lot in life, whining about their lack of money, the economy is killing them, many are afraid that they will lose their jobs, and yet I say millions of dollars literally lit on fire.
Why do we do this?
A release of some sort?
A big "F" you to the world of financial woes that keeps us down? Some defiant thing that we must do to tell the world we are o.k.???
Just some thoughts I harbored as I enjoyed watching everyone burning their hard earned cash in spectacular fashion!
But I regress, or perhaps I have grown somewhat cynical, or both! lol...
We enjoyed the show at the Ocean. We met up with Joey Leno and his wife Chris, and extended family and friends...
We couldn't stay long with them because our children had met up with some friends of their own and we wanted to spend some "fireworks" time with them.
I had brought most of my magic show with me... just in case.
Most of Dales family has seen my show several times, so unless there was some new people to share it with, I was going to skip it for this year.
While enjoying time with Joey Leno and his clan, I noticed that there were many young people and some not so young. His daughters were there, and one of them, Teresa, has a son, Trace who is 3 or 4. They also had several friends like I mentioned. Shelly, their other daughter has no children but dates a fellow who has some and his uncle was there and he has some as well, to make a long story short. I offered to do a show for them, "Tomorrow."
More on that later!