Happiness & Sadness...

Yesterday was my 52nd birthday...
It was a great day for me as my family treated me very well with a sweet dinner, (Which I cooked! :)) and some wonderful gifts too.
The sad thing which is not really a big deal is our son Eric began moving out into his own apartment on the same day. It is a mixed bitter sweet thing. He has been home for about six months and it has really been great, but it is time for him to move on and move out! he will be attending Bellevue College starting this Monday and he moved closer to Bellevue. In an apartment in Renton.
It's all good, but it was a great thing having him around and home safely from the military and over seas...

Roberto Giobbi Lecture

Last Wednesday night I spent a few hours in the presence of greatness. I arrived in Everett Washington for a three hour lecture by Roberto Giobbi.


He is Of Italian descent but lived in Switzerland. He speaks and writes five languages fluently and has written many books on Magic, Mostly card magic. He has written a book series known throughout the world as the Card College series.
I purchased this five volume set a few years ago.


I started reading volume 1 and got side tracked.
I am always getting side tracked magically. Other books, DVD's, seminars, lectures, and performing gigs, not to mention a full time job, and raising a family keep getting in my way! :)
During this wonderful lecture Mr. Giobbi did several magical effects that are taught in his books, which I have. He also spoke eloquently about something called the "Magic Pyramid." I was frantically writing notes trying to keep up with this generous, deep man. Then he mentions that this whole talk about the magic pyramid is written up in his volume # 4 Card College... which I own but have never opened.
I am kicking myself about this. In his first Card College book, Roberto says this at the end of his "Personal Note, which is at the opening of his book under the Heading The path Of The Master: "If you master the techniques and tricks in this course, you will be more capable than ninety percent of all magicians who do card magic, and you will have the tools of a card expert."
Wow! What a statement!
And Knowing Roberto Giobbi, I know this is a true statement.
So why? How do I get side tracked so often?
There is so much great information available, and so much great card effects and magic available. Where does one start?
Well, it seems this Card College series would be a GREAT place to start, and if one really goes thru it diligently, painstakingly... in a few years you would be an expert at card magic and one of the few in the upper 10 percentile of card magicians in the world!
So why wouldn't someone get after it!?
Vision, perseverance, diligence, seeing beyond the here and now....
Putting up with failure. Knowing that thru failure you are on the path to success.
Today as I type it is Sunday afernoon. I have been reading and studying very hard since the lecture.
I have spoken in depth with my friend Steve Ameden about wanting to dig deeper into this card magic. He reminded me of how far I've come, of what I will have to give up to do this Card College study. Making choices. Do I want to really be a connosier of card magic?
Sometimes I feel so good about my place magically, and at other times I feel like I have SO MUCH to learn!
What about my "stage" act? Am I willing to give that up? Put it on the back burner? Or is there a place in between where I can marry it all together!?
I believe ther eis and that makes me a well rounded magician!

Why I Love Magic

People often ask me how or why I got into magic.
It's a long story...
Or they might ask a little deeper question about what you see in magic? Or better yet, what drew you into doing magic? What is it about magic and performing tricks, fooling people that makes it worthwhile for you to do?
That is an interesting question to me, and I don't know if I have a definitive answer.
All I know is that when I am fooled by magic, it is intriguing, astonishing and much more to me.
Not just a puzzle, but when magic is performed as magic... it is wondrous....
The other night at work I had to fill in for some guys as we were short handed. I had to move a couple of planes in the factory, and some stabilizer dolly's and Fin bucks into the various buildings.
This allowed me to work with many "new" people. I know them all sort of, but the way Boeing is, there are always some new faces.
I work with a man named Joe Henry, he is a fork lift operator like me, and has watched me perform many magic tricks. So I thought he would enjoy some of my latest and greatest... He did, and as I performed for him, some others noticed and pretty soon I was performing for many men,well mostly men. My supervisor is a woman and I did some magic for her too... It was really great to see wonder, excitement, astonishment and JOY on these men's faces. I added a little laughter and joy into their lives while at work.
I changed the whole atmosphere of the place.
That is an amazing thing to be able to do. it only took maybe ten minutes, but soon several "guys" were coming up to me wanting to see the trick with the stick. (Hot rod)
What an awesome thing we are able to do.
I left that place feeling really good about myself, and I am sure I left smiles in my wake!

Big Green Egg Table... Weeks Later

BEFORE!

Yesterday I got up early, 11:30 am, which is about four hours into my sleep... Yech... but for a Good reason! :)
My friend Jay Brunner was coming over at noon to help me (or should I honestly say, for me to help him!?) Put the tile onto the table for my Ceramic cooker.
Last time we got together to do this was really cold outside and we had a lot of trouble cutting the ceramic tiles.
We (He) did a much better job this time.
We got all the tiles cut and cemented in to place on the table. Now we will let it sit over night and "set up."
Today we will grout between the tiles finishing the project.


I can't wait to get the "Egg" back up onto the table as it is sitting on my deck and is not as much user friendly as I would like!
So, after waiting about a week for the grout to dry, and after putting some kind of sealant onto the grout, here is the table today!

And of course, it looks even better with smoke spewing from the top, meaning something delicious is being cooked inside. In this instance it would be some Coho Salmon!


I think it looks great, In fact the top is so nice, now I want to do something with the lower section?
Hmm, never satisfied am I!? :)

Palm Springs...

After the wonderful plane ride and drive down the interstate to Palm Springs, which by the way, kind of shot that day, which was a Monday, and my wife and mines 30th wedding anniversary... we went out to dinner at a place called "Babes." Why we chose a BBQ joint... I am not sure.
The food was really good and we enjoyed ourselves. I had a runny nose and my eyes were running and puffy as well.
Tuesday was my planned golf day. I chose to golf in the morning so as not to take up the whole day by golfing an afternoon round. I golfed an the PGA West Nicklaus Tournament course. It was a spendy bill... if you know what I mean, and I think you do!
The course was spectacular.
The weather perfect! About 80 degrees. I was not used to this heat as in Seattle it was in the 30's when we left.


I must say though that it didn't take long to really enjoy the venue at PGA West.
I somehow managed four birdies, and three pars.
I also had some large numbers resulting in a final score of 92 from the white tees.
I haven't golfed much lately, and I was pretty amazed at my putting. It is what got those birdies, well some really nice approach shots didn't hurt either.
The ball really flies well in that California heat!

I golfed with two older gentlemen. I think they were both in their 70's. We had a great time and I think they enjoyed watching me get into and out of trouble out there!
Wednesday my wife and I planned a trip on the Palm Springs Tram. This was really pretty cool.
We drove to the tram which was about 2000 plus feet of elevation, then get on the tram and it takes you up the mountain to an elevation over 8000 feet.

You copuld see the whole of Palm Springs and teh surrounding dessert from there!
We went from 80 degrees to 40 something in a matter of minutes, from hot sunshine to sun soaked snow!
It was pretty neat.
We also visited a Palm Date farm and learned about dates.
Ate dinner that evening at a place called Jackalope Ranch.
This is a beautiful place.
We arrived early and walked the grounds and noticed some oranges on many trees in the area.
They were up pretty high as I think the lower ones that were within reach had probably been picked.
I found a tree with a few within reach and picked some. Joan was a bit upset with me, but hey... I'm on vacation... I peeled them and they turned out to be nice and large Tangerines. I picked some more and they were really sweet and juicy. I don't know why the establishment at Jackalope Ranch didn't pick them and offer them to people coming for dinner or happy hour?
We went back to our hotel for a nap,

(View from out hotel)
and to refresh as I was pretty sick and tired, worn out... we had dinner later at Jackalope Ranch and I ordered a Buffalo Steak.
I was worried about it as I had never had Buffalo before and the price was pretty high, and I was hoping I would like it... well, it was EXCELLENT!
Thursday we slept in a bit and then went into downtown Palm Springs to walk around and see all the shops.
We had a good time and enjoyed the place.
I would enjoy going back.

Near Death?

Can never tell, but all I know is I was vomiting (nothing came up) And lots of people were praying as our plane from Seattle to Palm Springs on Monday march 7th could not land in Palm Springs. The Pilot made TWO attempts and then G forced us back into the sky, not once but twice.
It was eerily silent on our plane as people were really scared. No screaming, no yelling, just "dead silence."
We eventually had to land in Ontario Cal.
My wife & I chose to get a rental car and drive the hour to Palm Springs, it was quite an adventure..
When we arrived in Palm Springs.... we had to go to the airport to get my golf clubs. I enquired as to how the flight from Ontario went. I was told that it was a good thing that we elected to disembark from the plane as everyone that stayed with the plane threw up... not only that, but it took three more attempts to land. I heard that after the 2nd (4th) attempt that everyone was screaming to have them "TAKE US TO ONTARIO!"
I don't know what to say about this, but it was definitely not fun being on an airplane and feeling that this could actually be the end...
I also think that this feeling of sickness carried over into our whole time in Palm Springs.

World Magic Seminar 2011

Had a GREAT time at WMS.
It is kind of weird for me as I am not really looking forward to going right up til I get there.
Then I am there and I feel the love of about 500 or more magicians.
This is my third year in a row attending this incredible event.
I am beginning to look forward to seeing other magi that I am making connections with.
Mainly this year I was lured into attending by the presence of Master Magician Juan Tamariz.
I have never met Juan and at 68 years of young-ness... may never have another opportunity.
He is a spry, energetic waif of a man, but Oh my... can he magish!
Fool you right into shock.
I spent over ten hours in his magical presence!
I would love to sit at his feet and be mentored by him.
Not an elegant magician, but very elegant.
Diminutive in stature, but larger than life itself!
Relaxed at all times, and yet, so very intense. A master, a maestro..

I guess I'll just have to acquire all his books, magazine articles and dvd's....
And more importantly... STUDY, study, study...
What a treasure Juan Tamariz is!

My mentor from days gone by, Tom Frank Drove over from L.A.
What a special treat to spend some time with him.
Tom always greets me with a hug and a smile.
It was a fitting reunion of the three founding members
of what Tom eventually dubbed, "The Alki Magic Studio!"
It is hard to believe that four years (or is it five?) have passed since Tom Moved to L.A. and the Alki Magic Studio vanished into a long road trip and memory.
At the time I was saddened by this but also knew that it was a good thing, like the cutting of the apron strings of a mother and child.

I am always amazed at WMS.
The amount of talent is incredible, funny thing, but I am a small part of that magical talent there.
What I mean is I find it hard not to compare myself to other magicians, while at the same time other magicians are more than likely comparing themselves to me.
Must be an ego thing! Haha...
I blow some magicians away with some of my magic and am totally lost while watching others. I think it is just that we all learn different material and techniques, we are all on a journey and come into it at different angles and varying levels of interest.
Maybe... Maybe it is just me wanting to be the best?!
I have A LOT of work to do, and ironically at times I am doing it.
It is difficult to juggle everything and be a professional entertainer as well. Family, a job, husband and father...
But I try and try! :)