Day Shift! Argh...

Today was the first day of a week long Mobile Crane Recertification course I have to take for my job at Boeing.
It is a lot of math and other stuff. Hands on work with the crane, and while I find it interesting, I do not like getting out of bed at 4:30 AM and driving to Seattle to start this class at 6 AM...
It has been a long day and my internal clock is out of whack.
Tests upcoming, both book and a physical driving of the crane and a load.
four days to go!

Thanksgiving celebration!

What a wonderful day!
Eric home to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time in five years.
We enjoyed having my wife's sister's family over.
I worked the night before and Joan did all the work.
What an amazing spread she laid out for everyone.
I don't know how she does it year after year.
Seems every year the "bird" turns out perfect.

(Click pictures to enlarge)

Cold & Brittle!

Are you kidding me!
I was getting gas last week. The temperature was about 10*.
I sat in our Chevy Tahoe as I allowed the gas pump to fill er up, about 70 bucks worth as because of the snow, everyone wanted to use the four wheel drive vehicle... anyway, as I went to open teh door to get out of the Tahoe, the handle simply broke off in my hand.
I just couldn't believe it. I looked at the door handle sitting in my hand in utter astonishment!
Now I have to electronically open the window, reach outside, open the door, then electronically close the window before I can close the door.
Unbelievable!

Cub Scout Motto: Always be Prepared

Last night, because of the snow, I had to pick my daughter up from a friends home. It was about five miles away in Ravensdale... Cool name, sounds like a wooded, secluded place... and it is!
Four wheelin' all the way there!
I found the home easily, rang the door bell... no one answered. I thought maybe the "chime" is upstairs or somehwere where the occupants of the home weren't able to hear it. In our home the chime is upstairs, if we are down stairs watching T.V. We don't always hear the door bell... So I knocked. I noticed a nice fire burning in a wood stove near the entry way, a voice called out from upstairs to "come on up." it was the wife/mother of the house. All of a sudden about seven young people converged on me asking me to do some magic... whoa Nelly, I think I had been set up! haha... Okay, give me a minute. My hands were still cold from the 10 degree weather we are enjoying!!!
I stalled a few minutes by meeting and greeting people, handed someone a deck of playing cards, took off my jacket and proceeded to do the crazy man's hand cuffs as an opener. It went extremely well. Now I had em where I wanted em... I pulled out a jumping gem rod and did the jumping gems routine for them. The nine year old son, named Montana, loved it.( So did others) He was sitting on the floor directly in front of me. (Afterward he wanted to know where he could get a set!)
Then I got into some nice card work, opening with The Biddle trick, it wowed them, and I moved into One Eyed Jack Sandwich which I use to teach people about poker and one eyed jacks are wild. It also get's me a signed card that I then use in Paperclipped... Now they are all shocked... I figured that was a nice little set of magic and decided to collect my daughter and go home.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs... I realized there was a set of twin boys, probably age 15-16... They had been real quiet during all the magic, so I asked them if I could do something for them? They agreed, and now everyone was standing around on the stairs etc. I did Card in Box whereby their chosen card is the only one standing in the box held by them after several futile attmpts by me to find it. Truly a magical experience which happens in the spectators hands...

As we were driving home my daughter received a text message on her cell phone. It was from one of the twins, it said, "That was amazing. I still don't know how any one of those tricks worked. My mind is blown."
-Kenny Humble.
The twins were sort of behind me to my right during all that I performed, kind of shy and hanging back. My daughter told me later that she was worried that they might "see" something from their vantage point. I assured her... there was nothing to see, and his text confirmed it!
I love magic and enthralling people.
What a great gift!

I just love the snow

Whenever it arrives it is wonderful!
I feel like a child again. All the wonderful memories of hot chocolate, Hot apple cider, sledding, building snowmen, snowball fights, missing school, or even half days at school. I remember enjoying playing with my school chums, everyone bundled up with ear muffs that never quite worked, wearing socks on your hands because we never had mittens or gloves, (probably because we lost them)...
Hooky-bobbin when we got older..
Oh the snow! Hot fires and cutting wood, power failures and candle light...
Christmases and Thanksgivings... all winter things and snow...!!!

LMAO At Myself...And Soft Coins-Finally

I recently have begun working with flash paper for a few magical effects. Flash paper is special paper that looks like tissue paper but burns immediately upon contact with a spark or a flame. It is beautiful stuff. The idea is to roll some up into a small ball and light it, toss it in the air or into your other hand and something magical will appear in it's place. I have been using it to produce a coin. The funny thing to me is that when I light it, it burns so brightly, so quickly and there is this little "Whoosh" sound so it startles me. This is causing my heart to leap in my chest and drop the coins to the floor. I am getting a kick out of this. And I get a bonus effect where I get to smell burning hair as the hair on my knuckles gets singed! I only wish I could be a fly on the wall watching myself. I would be laughing hysterically!
Ever since I got involved in magic and watched my mentor Tom Frank work with coins, he has used something known in magic circles as "Soft Coins." His silver dollars are well worn and have a tinge of dirt on them. In other words they look old and magical.
I thought it would be good to get nice shiny old coins that still have a lot of edge work on them.
I recently got some nice soft silver dollars from my wife, quite unexpectedly. They were in her fathers safe deposit box. I think there were about 40 silver dollars in all. I asked if I could see them. Much to my delight and surprise, I found two nice sets of worn silver dollars. One set consists of five Peace dollars.
These are from the years 1922-1928. and the set I really like is the set of five coins ranging from 1879-1899. The reason I like the older set is because they look and feel older, they are more worn, hence, "Softer."
They slide smoother and quieter, talk less and as I play with them,I get a nice smile inside of me. I know it is pretty weird to understand if you do not do magic, but to me, they are fantastic. A little piece of magic heaven!

I find it rather comical that I am not interested in the value of them as silver. I think they cost about 25 dollars each at present. That would mean this is about five hundred dollars worth of silver. I am not sure which set will get more usage. I really do not need them both. I am just a little greedy!
I feel liek I just got a nice bump in the game of monopoly, except it's for real and feels so much nicer. Everytime I handle the coins I get a little elated.
Like a child with a new baseball glove. I guess that is to mean I am cherishing them in an odd sort of way! I just like looking at them, the sound of them as I drop them onto each other. They are truly beautiful! They have character!

Dropping Like Flies...

Not a very good way to say it, but that is the way one co worker put it to me the other night.
Recently at work we have had a couple of men die, both in their mid fifties. One man died of a heart attack after complaining of shortness of breath all day. People had asked him if they should get medical to come take a look at him? He said "no, I'll go to the doctor on Monday... sadly Monday never arrived for him as he had his heart attack that weekend. Last Wednesday we lost another man to an auto accident. He was trying to sell his car to a potential customer and while "showing" it off, he went around a curve too fast, off the road and into a ditch. He struck a tree and died. The passenger lived.All of this saddens me and again it reminds me to "Tell the ones you love that you love them."
Live your life. Get after something you have been putting off. Mend some bridges. A few weeks ago the voice of the Seattle Mariners Dave Niehaus died. I was saddened by this as well. I actually found myself tearing up several times as I listened to the radio and all the talk about this wonderful man. So what am I trying to really say here?
Get on with your life man!
LIVE! Smile! Walk with some bounce! Be vibrant!
I need to take my own advice.
Yesterday was Friday, I met with a fellow magician after work in the morning. I sold him a set of linking rings that I have, an extra set as for some odd reason I bought another set. Now I had four sets and what the heck do I need them all for? A nice back up set is necessary so I met my friend John and made him happy. I got home and stayed awake all day. I worked on repairing some gimmick coins, doing some things with flash paper for a new magic trick I am working o. It was a very productive day magically and yet, since it was "all behind the scenes" stuff... in a way it feels as though I didn't do anything... weird!
On the other side of that same coin I have bit of a glow from it too.
It wasn't so long a go that I was totally in the dark about all of this and now I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel (At least today!)...
Life is good, enjoy it, share it!

Man I Am Jonesen..

Jonesen for a magic session. Here it is 12:30 in the morning on a Friday, I slept all day and am awake and no one "my age" to play with...
Called a friend, he never answered, called another he never answered... Got some decks of cards out, shuffle the cards, mix em up, work some false cuts, Faro shuffles, one handed cuts. Went into the magic room and picked out a new deck. A gift deck from My friend Mark Jensen when he returned from SAM/IBM in 2008. These cards have been sitting unopened on a shelf. I am now shuffling them, They are really nice. Faro shuffle right outta the box. Do eight Faro shuffles in a row, back in new deck order. Why did I wait two years to try these cards out! A gift ain't a gift until you unwrap it. Sorry Mark, thought I'd keep them in pristine order on a shelf... What was I thinking? :)
I made a pot of decaf coffee... got out a manuscript from a friend in Delaware. Reading it uplifts me, there is a very nice card routine in it...
I might have to move to L.A. to be able to session all night. Just kidding, but I know my friend Tom would be up for it. I miss him and us and magic with him.
Yesterday i went to Bellevue and sessioned with G.G. Green at his office at the Hyatt. Three hours and it was gone in a snap. G.G. bought me lunch. Thank you bro, I really enjoyed the time together! Your magic is making leaps and bounds!
Recently purchased a Whit Haydn teleportation device. I spent a few hours today typing up the script to use along with it. Later, after dinner I melted some toilet bowl wax together
with paraffin to make a small piece of the puzzle come together! I have enough of this stuff to last a lifetime. Really nasty looking Goo!

I cannot wait to perform the teleportation device, a couple of weeks out I think. Maybe a month with all that I have coming up.

First Massage

Today my wife and I went in to a message clinic. It is my first massage by a "professional" ever. It was pretty nice!
We had to meet with a doctor first, he felt me all over looking for what? He asked me if I had any specific areas of concern. I mention the right back side of my neck has been bothering me. I think it is strained because of the work I do. I have been backing airplanes up for many years. I look over my right shoulder a lot. Sometimes I do this to the point of seriously stretching my neck. I think it has caused this pain. So I had a nice one hour massage.
A few days later on Saturday my lower back began to hurt. It hurt when I bent over. Like a muscle spasm, felt like knocking the wind out of me except there is no wind there? Today is now Saturday a week later and my back is finally feeling almost back to it's old self. I have never had any serious back problems. The occasional muscle spasm after baseball season, but never anything serious. My right foot has been feeling rather warm and tingly as well. Kind of like blood rushing to it. I am wondering if the massage opened up some what? Some capillaries to allow better blood flow?
I have never been to a chiropractor before. I first felt that they might make things worse. I don't like people cracking my back or manipulating my bones. I am of the school of thought, "if it ain't broke.... don't fix it."
I will admit that the massage did make my neck feel better. Not completely but still better.

That's Impossible

That's Impossible is a magical event held once a month at Egan's Ballard Jam House in Ballard.
I went to the event last night to watch some magic. Specifically to watch a woman named Crystal Sinclair.

She is a street performer from the far Northern corner of Washington state.
She learned her skills as street entertainer from the likes of Slydini and Jim Cellini.
My magic Mentor and teacher is Tom Frank. He also learned from Cellini so I was excited to go see Crystal perform.
I arrived at Egan's about 6:35 for the 7pm performance. Tony Comito emceed the event, and like always, he is an excellent emcee.
He is a very good magician as well!
Tony did some magic and then handed the stage off to another performer, his name is...Darrell Fisher. He was a very comedic performer. Darrell is a corporate entertainer and graciously shared his magic with us even though he recently suffered a tremendous loss. His mother passed away three days before this event. My condolences Darrell, and thank you for sharing your wonderful magic with us.
But I came to see Crystal.

She did a very nice job of entertaining everyone. I stayed for the second show as I couldn't see driving an hour to home and staying for a half hour, and then driving to work.
I was disappointed in the amount of people who were at the 9 P.M. show... only about 7 of us.
I spoke with Tony about this and he may have to go to only one show. We thought perhaps it is the winter night time thing, what with the sun going down around 6 P.M.
I was invited up onstage with Crystal during her 2nd performance to be her helper during her sword thru neck routine. We had some fun with it as you can see.
Sponge balls, Cut and restored rope, Linking rings, cups and balls, card routines... but mostly it was Crystal's relaxed way of doing magic that I will take home with me.
I wish i could just go and watch as a layman again, I have this challenge when watching magic that I am always in "learning" mode. Not necessarily a bad thing, just wishin.'