Oh My!

Still worn out from lack of sleep and trying to act like a twenty year old...
Thought I would know better by now.
I went golfing Tuesday morning with my friend Steve Ameden and Mike Laik. I was really tired, but I had an appointment that I had to keep... Haha.. Steve had made the tee time about ten days before. I hadn't realized how tired I would be from Magic Jam weekend... Also, I had to meet with the board of my clown alley on Monday night, no rest for the wicked as the saying goes...
We teed off at about 7:30 A.M. and it was a very nice day. It was forecast to rain, but we missed it all except for about two minutes of a misty drizzle about halfway thru the round. It was good time to be with Steve. I haven't seen him in a long time. Mike is my regular golfing buddy. Steve looked good. We played Auburn, and I shot an 88.
Got to bed around 1 pm, and was expecting company at 8 P.M. My friend Sterling Dietz was coming over, guess what, I couldn't sleep. Too keyed up. So I got up around 4P.M. and had some coffee, Internet time, and then the family arrived about quarter of six... Katie from swim team practice, Joan, her personal chauffeur
Dinner, and then Sterling. Sterling is a fine up and coming magician. World Teen Magic Champion... We sessioned on several things. I especially want to thank Sterling for helping me with some fine points with his torn and restored newspaper.
Sterling wowed my wife and daughter with his magic... we traded some secrets, sshhh, and hopefully have started a long, and fine friendship!
Sterling entertains my wife!

Sterling shared with me some of his thinking on his revolutionary "Cups and Balls" Routine with Lego's! Wow, he is a thinker. I am surprised he let me in on some of the inner secrets. We enjoyed some cards and coins, and then I had to go to work, which I am proud to say, I was an hour late for!
Time building friendships is valuable!

More pics from Portland Magic Jam

This event was held in The portlander Hotel. It is in a weird location. Smack dab in the middle of industrial Portland, in fact, the hotel is in the middle of a truck stop. Nathan kranzo made an excellent joke about finally fulfilling a lifelong dream of raising his magical abilities to the point of working in a truck stop. Actually the Portlander was great place for the venue. Good food close at hand. Hot coffee and all the amenities.

Below is a picture of Steve Dobson leading a small jam session, this was the norm and differed greatly from the way World Magic Seminar and Las Vegas Live are operated.

This is the lecture area, David Regal is lecturing, although not in this picture...
This is a fantastic, young up and comer, Hart Keene leading another round table session, he has the most wonderful dribble pass I've ever seen... unbelievable, has to be seen to be believed, oh yeah, you cannot see it!
My friend and sometimes mentor... Aaron Fisher leading a session. This guy will mess up your mind!As you can see, the reason I LOVED the Portland Magic Jam is the intimacy of it. Like I said, Dan Waterman, and Greg Moreland deserve a ton of credit for putting on such a FANTASTIC event!
Nathan Kranzo, the man himself doing his thing in the Jerry Andruss room
If you are reading this, and a magician, you will not want to miss this event if it held again next year!
There were a lot of very talented magicians here, all willing to give of their time and talent, I'm not even talking about the four head liners.
Me, myself, and I... prforming the cups and balls for a small audience.

G.G. Green Charming Chinese Challenge!

My friend and magician G.G. Green performs the Charming Chinese Challenge for April. At the Portland Magic Jam!

Portland Magic Jam

my blog posts have been lacking lately..
so here is the latest...
Went golfing several times last week...
Golfed in a tournament as well. Had some fun...

The weekend was a long magic journey to Portland Magic Jam.
I got off work Friday morning, tried to sleep for three hours, but as often is the case... couldn't, had to catch a South bound train.
Met my friend Chad Reibman with his Daughter Ari, and a travelin we went.
The Portland magic Jam was awesome. I really have to thank Chad for talking me into going. AND for setting me up with great digs to lay my head at the end of the day! We stayed with his in laws. They were about 10 minutes away from where the magic jam was held, SWEET!
Friday night was a great kick off event with several performers including my friend Isaac Louie, he had us rolling with his whip routine and so much more! Nathan Kranzo, did a wonderful stand up comedy magic routine.
Nathan Kranzo was the first lecture of magic I ever attended. It might have been the latter part of 2003 or the early part of 2004. He looked great and has really grown magically. I wonder why, traveling around the world doing magic, and magic lectures will make you grow. He had poise, and wonderful stage presence. Really enjoyed his set! Got to bed about 2:30 am. Made for a 34 hour run as I call it without sleep. What else is new! :)
Saturday was more of the same...
The way these things work, at least this one... is the big guns perform their sets, oh, maybe 5 to 10 effects, then they lecture on the ins and outs of how they work. The nuts and bolts of their tricks. But, you have to remember, they all have dvd's, lecture notes, and maybe books to sell you on their tricks.
They are all so very good at magic, make it look so effortless, it is difficult not to buy their material. That's because us magicians want to learn so much so badly.
It really boils down to how hard you want to work at something and how much time and effort you will really put into it. Every magician I've ever met has big eyes! They have more magic product sitting on a shelf or in a box somewhere, than they could ever possibly put into a show.
Anyway, I digress into a sermon of the dangers of magic! :)

I cannot remember the order of events, they have all become a montage in my mind! David Regal seemed to me to be somewhere above the rest in his magic and presence. His mind, and the thinking behind his magic takes a back seat to no one. Truly a magnificent magician! Comedy and wit, and the scary part... he has the technical skills to really make it all work.
Aaron Fisher too, Wow, great lecture on the bluff pass,or as Aaron calls it, the Nowhere Pass, the half pass, and much more. Aaron bombarded our senses. His was like a wake up call to arms. Why play with the spectator when you can destroy them! His lecture was like a fire breathing dragon coming at you.
Steve Dobson, here is a different sort of cat! Steve is truly "old school." Soft spoken, you had to strain to hear him, his coin routines, elegant, sleepy easy... His card handling, gentle and true. A smile here, a little nod, a knowing wink, and bam, you were destroyed!
I think the lecture did more for Steve Dobson and his need for growth in speaking publicly in front of a large group than anything else. He has perfect mastery over many sleights. Hours of daily practice, at a minimum, three hours a day he said... Serious are you? Three hours a day, doing the same execution of sleights with coins and cards? Are you kidding me!? You wanna get good, I mean really good, three hours a day! Wow! Dedication!
Personally, I was over loaded with magic, too much to learn, and really you cannot absorb it all in three days anyway, so you buy the books, the dvd's, the lecture notes... you loved everything, but will you be diligent? learn it all?... probably not. Life will get in the way. So much information that when you get home, you sleep on it, life creeps in, you go to work, you are overwhelmed, and don't know where to start. But you do begin, somewhere, and little by little, day by day, week by week... you improve, you grow!
Sunday, man I was really tired, almost admit to being 50!
The day went by really slowly for me. My mind was on the competition at 4:30. I had to endure (haha) more lectures, panel discussions, and yuck... magic!
I was so tired from lack of sleep, my shoulders bunched up tightly, my eyes were stinging, my feet were hot and tired... gotta perform..
Nine of us brave, sorry souls entered the Parlour contest. I think I was sixth to perform. My friend Chad Reibman led off. He did a really great effect with a candle and paper levitation effect, transforming the paper 1st into a rose, and then lighting that paper rose into a ball of flame turning it instantly into a real red rose. All this to beautiful Bette Midler music, The Rose.
I performed the cut and restored rope/Professors Nightmare, and segued that into Lassoing a card.
I brought up on stage to help me in the latter effect, a new friend I made. Her name is April, she isn't a magician, but her 13 year old son Taren is working on the art.
I really don't know how April made it thru the whole weekend. Making sure her son is well treated, (he was) and allowing him to have as much fun as is humanly possible for a 13 year old. Not being a magician, and not knowing the terminology, wow!

Seemed to me that almost all the people attending were gracious with their time, talent and efforts. The magic scene in and around the Portland area is definitely thriving!
My performance went well, not the best I've done, not the worst. Maybe 75-80 percent. It is difficult to do a "piece" from your set of say, 9 tricks, without it being in it's normal, comfortable place in your routine. But everyone was in the same boat.
I placed third in the competition! I was beat by a ten year old who did a nice job with a dancing cane, and some flourishy card manipulations. Great job Matt!
The magician who won first place, Rick Anderson from Tacoma. Rick has been a professional magician for a lot of years.(http://www.amazementproductions.com/aboutrick.html)
I wonder what prompted him to enter this completion. It almost would seem beneath his level of expertise. I'm not trying to sound unhappy with Rick winning, or having "sour Grapes." I just feel he didn't belong in it. Rick has won many competitions over the many years he has performed professionally (read his bio on his website) I would think a person with his years in the profession would be able to recognize that it would have meant a great deal more to the ten year old Matt, or myself, or any of the other competitors to win a competition at this level of competition. Oh well, I like Rick, I have seen him perform at the Tacoma ring meetings, and also met him several years ago. He is always very gracious and a helpful magician. He is willing to help and teach anyone it seems. Still, I find his entering odd.
The event organizers, Dan Waterman, and Greg Moreland did a fantastic job. Going to hard to top this inaugural event. It was that good!
The train ride home...
Barely made the train, waiting for the performers to finish their acts in competition.
I was not even there for the announcement of the winners, by the way, I received a $25.00 gift certificate for Market Magic in Seattle, 2nd place $75.00 and 1st place $200.00. I don't know where the other gift certificates were for.
But back to the train ride. I sat across the aisle from a young lady named Bex. We chatted and she found out Chad and I are magicians. She asked me if I know Brian Masters. Lol. She works at Pike Place Market, and Brian is a regular street busker there! Brian is also a friend of mine, and has excellent magic skills.
Chad and I performed several magical effects for Bex and the people sitting with her. Our part of the train was the only one that was "Alive!"
To much fun.
Magic burnout!....

Lately,

Golfed yesterday at Maplewood in a tournament for a fire fighters memorial fund raiser.
Had a good time and raised a lot of money for some good causes, Katie is in Leavenworth competing in a swim meet and will be home shortly.
We enjoyed watching her compete Thursday at Auburn High school. She took first in one of her heats and the smile on her face was priceless. It lit up the room! Later as I mentioned this to her, the same smile spread wonderfully across her face!
Just wanted to post this for posterity!

Happy & Sad

WOW! What a game! The University of Washington Huskies took it to the # 3 ranked team in the nation, the USC Trojans at Husky stadium.
This was an upset of epic proportions! The Huskies, winner of O games last season, owners of the worst college football in just about every statistical category a year ago, had the stars align themselves for this major upset!
Woof! Woof!
What a great feeling you can get from sports. The sad part...
This is the type of thing I would be on the phone with my younger brother celebrating the moment! Sadly, he died two years ago at age 46 and those moments can never happen again.
I suppose I must just cherish these moments and the way they cause me to think of my brother Ted, and that he would have been jumping for joy as well!
The simple fact that these things cause me to think of him, and miss him, is something that perhaps should be pleasurable.
Maybe it is the Lords way of telling me to tell the ones I love, that I love them!

Weekend update

Friday, the 11th,
September 11th, a day that will live In infamy. The 8th anniversary of the attack on America by radical Muslim Fundamentalists, lest we forget!
How did you memorialize the day? Did you say a prayer for our country? Watch some news footage? Go about your daily business?
I got off work at about 6 am and went fishing, caught two Pinks and called it a day. The Pink Salmon run is almost petered out it seems, and supposedly that will be followed up with a Silver Salmon run... the banks of the Puyallup are becoming strewn with spawned and spent salmon carcasses. There is a stench there now as you fish. A nice benefit however is that it is less crowded fishing now.
Later that day, Joan and I went to Katie's first swim meet. She is on the J.V. at school. She swam in four events and did really well. It was a joy to see her swim and having fun with her peers.
I didn't last long however and went to bed by 8 pm. A long day as I had been up since about 3pm the day before.
Saturday I got up early and mowed the lawn. It hadn't been mowed all summer as the grass had burned brown and hadn't grown any... With all the Salmon Katie and I caught in the last several weeks, cleaning them on the lawn, I guess it acted like a fertilizer, the grass sprouted back to life and got pretty long. The mowing made it look really nice!
Saturday night we arrived at our church, Nextstep Fellowship. We are a mobile church at present. Setting up everything for worship in Sunrise Elementary school. Saturday was our "launch" event. I was the main attraction as a magician. We also served BBQ'd hot dogs, and watermelon, soda pop as well.
While people enjoyed a tasty meal before the show, I performed a bit of walk around magic.
Just a small teaser to get people in the mood for the excellent stage show to come!
I performed an hour show, moving rapidly but precisely from one effect to another. Since I know most everyone in the audience, and they have seen me perform many times, it was easy to build a rapport with my audience. I was however excited to see some "new" faces in the crowd, maybe about a fourth of the audience. This gladdened my heart.
I had two friends show up that I specifically invited, Mark Storms, a young man that I met thru magic connections and a magic performer as well. Mark has never seen me perform "live" and I was happy to have him and his fiance Taylor in attendance. Mark had this to say after the show in an email to me:
"Tim, you did a great job entertaining the audience last night. I never thought that "Professors Nightmare Could get such great reactions. Literally, there were people saying "How in the heck". Cups and Balls killed. I was a bit disappointed to not see the linking rings in the show. However, on second thought I think it was a good call to leave it out. There were too many kids in the audience that might have a hard time appreciating the great patter you use for that one. FYI, Since last night I have performed paperclipped about 3 times. Each and every time it got an amazing reaction. I don't know why I ever stopped performing it. Anyhow, just wanted to let you know that you inspired me with your show last night. You have really come a long way!"
A friend from my Junior high and High School days, Karen was also in the audience. Karen has been asking me when she can come see me perform? Many of my shows are not open to the public as they might be private events, like a birthday party or some such...
She was finally able to come, and it filled my heart to see her in the audience!
in other words, while I am trying to uplift others, I am uplifted by others as well.
Here is what Karen posted on Facebook:

"Saw Tim Flynn perform his magic act last night and what a show it was! Anyone putting on a function should definitely think about hiring him!! He's funny , talented , and he's my friend!"
Also this:
"Ok, I'll admit this..... You made me laugh and cry. I laughed because you are so funny and I cried because you are so talented and I was happy for you! Onward and upward my friend."
It is interesting to be growing magically, and not just in the ability to do a magic trick, and fool people, although that is very important. But more important I think at this stage in my development is the ability to entertain, or be entertaining with magic. To be fun and upbeat, to help people forget their worries in life for a few moments in time, to send them home with a little glow about them. A smile on their faces and a smile in their hearts and a little "skip" in their walk.
As an entertainer, you actually know when this happens, because you feel all those same feelings. You kind of get a nice little buzz, or "high" from it.
I never thought of myself as particularly funny, but I think some of the effects I have chosen to perform, lend themselves to be funny. Perhaps also, it is the verbiage I use as I sell the magic as well?
Wanted to post this with pictures, but none have been forth coming.

Yummy Yummy, In My Tummy!

What to do with all that Pink Salmon Katie and I caught? Hmm.. How about a smoke job!
Yes!
Here it is 6am on my Labor Day Monday day off... I have just cut up 30 lbs. of salmon and it is now sitting in the brine for the next two hours, after that it gets rinsed off gently and then it all sits on racks for about an hour to get it's pellicle, which is a nice glaze on the fish and helps keep moisture in and the smoke also adheres well to it.
Then the smoking begins.
Last Saturday I smoked a batch of fish, about 20 lbs. worth. I ran into a problem though, as is often the case, I bit off more than I could chew!
I actually brined too much fish, so I called a neighbor and asked if I could borrow his smoker as well. He was happy to let me use it, it was just sitting there all lonesome. Besides, us fishermen know that when it comes to smoking fish, any help gets rewarded!
Well, Katie and I have so much fish, and I have my neighbors smoker, what's a guy to do? Haha!
Light some more on fire!
I had an idea, since I had two smokers I figured it would be fun to try smoking a batch using a different wood smoke. I normally use Hickory chips. I get great revues with my fish, but I have always heard that Alder or apple chips is great too. So I used Alder in one smoker and Hickory in the other.
Both turned out great, but I think I still am partial to the Hickory chips!

I thought I would write out the brine I use, it is not mine, I have been using it for years and always get positive results and many compliments on my smoked salmon. I am not bragging here, just letting you know that it is a great brine I found in a book many years ago.
I have changed a few things to my liking, for instance, the original recipe called for two cups salt, I cut that to one cup as I like my salmon less salty. I have also used fresh minced garlic instead of the listed garlic powder, but this is the beautiful thing about this brine. Use the basic formula and tweak it to your taste. Also, this is a wet brine, rather than a dry brine.
Here is the recipe I use today:
1 Cup Plain salt Non- Iodized
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder, or 2-3 Fresh Garlic Cloves
1/2 tsp. Wright's Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp. Johnny's Seasoning Salt
4 Tbls. Molasses
1/2 Gallon of water
I usually double this recipe because I smoke more fish than can fit into this size container.
Another important factor about brining fish.
If you have frozen the fish prior to brining, you can cut down on the brine time considerably. The freezing of fish process dries out the fish, so that when you put previously frozen fish into the brine, it soaks up the brine more rapidly than fish that was never frozen. Thaw the frozen fish before brining.
I brine my previously frozen fish about two, to two and a half hours. The book says you can do it for as little as one and a half hours.
Sometimes I add more brown sugar, I like the sweetness brown sugar imparts to the fish and also I think it helps with the over all coloring of the finished product!
One other thing I like to do, as the fish is "resting" before smoking, I sprinkle Lemon pepper on the fish.
Some people smoke their fish with too many pan loads of wood chips, but fish will only absorb so much smoke, I usually only smoke the fish the first three hours or so, sometimes I will add a fourth pan of smoke if the fish is really thick. If you keep adding wood chips, all you really do is begin to add creosote to your fish.

Hmmm

Went fishing yesterday on the Puyallup River, Was saddened because Katie couldn't join me, she had her first day of high school for this year...
All the guys asked me about her. One man told me I was not bringing her because she out fishes me... wish it were so!
i hooked into a nice fish right away. I could tell it wasn't a Humpy as soon as it began peeling line from the reel. It made two really nice runs, then began a tug of war between me and the fish. I walked down stream a pace, the fish hunkered down, I knew now that I had a nice King salmon on the other end, they react differently than Humpy's or silvers.
Well, he all of a sudden was gone, now you see me now you don't... Bummer!
I caught three Humpy's in no time, but I couldn't shake the feeling of that big King, so every time I caught another Humpy, I released it. Four fish is the limit. It wasn't long though and I had a nice strike and this fish also ran well, but this one danced on the top of the water, a tell tail sign of a Silver Salmon, and lo and behold, it was, about four pounds.
He rounded out my day nicely!
Going out again today, although I shouldn't.
Bible study tonight and it is raining hard.
Maybe the rain will push some more Silvers and Kings up the river!

Fishing Today

Katie joined me once again on the Puyallup, she has a cheering section of older men whenever she hooks into one. It is interesting to me to watch all these folks not only cheer her on, but try to help her land her fish.

Katie has been having a blast and is learning a lot.
She has a great attitude and wants to learn all she can.
I try to stay out of her way and let her make her own mistakes.
Someday soon we will have a knot tying lesson.
My friend Rudy teaches me new fishing knots every year, the problem for me is I forget them because I do not fish year round and by the time the next season rolls around... I need a refresher course! HA!
We took home eight Humpy's again today!
Sadly, Katie starts school tomorrow and now I will be on my own.