New Years Eve, baby........

Well, The holidays are almost over, and I discovered that I will post only weekly, unless something extraordinary happens. I have too much going on right now to post each day. My Secret Santa gift came Monday, and it was really cool. It is a book written by Richard Osterlind,and it has some excellent tips and instructions on performing real magic. I devoured the book, and it will be a re-read definately. Monday I also placed a large order at the SpookClub for some books and a utility, and a gimmick. Lately I have really gotten the bug for really honing out a performance, by linking tricks and creating a storyline to go along with it. That in my opinion is where the true magic is, if you just do a trick, it is just that, a trick. Should you perform a routine that includes tricks, well my friend, I believe that is magic.
Well, on the personal front, we celebrated at my parents house on Christmas eve, and Shell's parents on Christmas day. Christmas as a whole was good for our family, we were wiped out though. I hate to say but it seemed to pale in comparison to the anticipation for DisneyWorld. We will be going there on the 16th next month. I plan on Gigi, Shell and myself to have a great time. My mother-in-law is going with us, as well as her brother his wife and their daughter, who is close to Gigi's age.
As I sit here, it is New Years eve, and I just returned from buying fireworks and board games. We are going to be celebrating by ourselves tonite, and with friends tomorrow. Lance and Kristen will be coming over, and they are great. Lance and I seem to hit it off, and his wife is just as sweet a person as you will ever meet. We are going to grill steaks, and shoot off the fireworks,(not simutaneously though). Gigi loves to watch fireworks, but hey who doesn't, and the little pyromaniac inside me love shooting them off.
This afternoon, I finally got Gigi's computer set up in her room, she is real pleased, so of course, that pleases me. Shell has already taken all the decorations down in the house, that was a chore, but it is nice to see things back to normal. Tonight I have decided to make no New Years resolutions, as I have rarely upheld the last four years worth. You see, I didn't come through with the millionaire thing, nor the loose weight thing,(actually gained a little), etc, etc, etc,.........
Well, I am being requested by the Queen to play CLUE Simpson style ;)
'till next time, peace love and tight bearhugs......

as the sun sets..........

Well, here I sit after a nice dinner, reflecting on the day. Looks like all is well on the home front. I had a pretty slow day to again, hoping work will pick up. The presses are staying busy, but man the prepress side is about dead.
On the magic front, let's talk trash, and roumors first. Looks like Penguin has their site working again, but with no forums, some 48 hours. On the down side other magic sites are getting hit with the virus. Luckily the good ole SpookClub is clicking along just fine. There is a report that Derren Browns site has gotten hit, but I haven't verified that report. I hope this person, whoever they are, would lay off the hacking. I wouldn't wish this kind of confusion on my worst enemy. Well, O.K. maybe I would, but not to do damage, just as an inconvenience. There have been some rumblings on another site about Waynos logo for the SpookClub, I have a sneaky suspicion that a competing online magic shop is behind that little rumbling. I have seen a few posts that add up to as much. Either way, I hope he gets things sorted out so as to avoid any issues.
On a different subject, I am anxiously awaiting my secret santa from the SpookClub. That is another great thing about the SpookClub, It honestly is like a group of great people with a common interest. Nine of us participated in a secret Santa gift swap, and it is really neat. I am looking forward to seeing what my secret santa chose for me.
With christmas coming up, for some reason I am really wanting an ipod. That is one neat toy, I would get a ton of use out of, but I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on just one toy. I just built a new computer, and had to put a set of tires on my car, and especially when I haven't gotten a straight jacket yet, much less chains for escapes I plan on.
My hundred foot rope escape is a good deal, but I think a chain escape would have more impact. I am looking forward to doing a buried alive stunt, I am trying to get everything planned out so it will go as planned. The one thing that would make it a little more impressive would be an entourage of people, to make it bigger. This is something I think can be done and be pretty impressive. Here is what I want to get going; To be buried 6 foot under wet cement in a casket, the casket will be strong enough to withstand the cement, I don't have a deathwish. Stay buried for 48 hours the first time. then as I work out the kinks up to a week then, maybe two weeks. A convincing stunt would be to be buried long enough that grass is actually grown in the soil which covers me. This would be pretty strong, and there are a few ideas I have for adding a little drama to it. This would be great publicity for a grand opening for a store, that's what I would like to see, or even after being buried, have another magi, perform a show right after, being buried, then right before being dug up.................Man the ideas are swirling right now.
Well, I am going to draw some more sketches. remember, Hapiness ia a shell that doesn't talk.

TEWSDAY.....

Yet again another day has passed, and the Penguinmagic.com forums are still owned. SpookClub.org, fortunately has not been touched, but someone in the magic community is not a happy camper. Oh, well, maybe in some odd way this will help SpookClub grow, not only in forum members, but also in sales and customers, for Wayno. He's a good guy and deserves this shop to be a success, and I have no doubt it will be.
Today I had some lunch guests, my wife, little girl, mother-in-law and Maria ( a friend I haven't seen in a while.). I broke away from surfing the web, and trying to beat my high score at curve ball to eat lunch and visit with all of them. Took a whole hour, I usually don’t take a lunch, but hey, it’s Christmas time. I felt a little guilty about wanting to get back to the web surfing, I guess I do it to much.
While at work I had a thought on a website intro I mught try and use, it is in Flash;
A spaceship (like from my favorite martian) stops from light speed, and you see there is a monkey in the spaceship, the spaceship lands in a field, climbs out of the ship and starts hopping up and down screaming (as monkeys do), then craps in his hand an throws it at the screen (as monkeys do), as the poop slides down the screen it reveals the menu for the site.
I know this is childish and weird, but hey, show me a site that has this as an intro
I found out that Gigi is staying the night at my mother-in-laws tonite, so we have the house all to ourself, and as you would guess Shell is on the couch watching season 2 of Alias, and I am reading magic books, watching dvd’s for routine material, and typing this blog out. Truly after you’ve been married a while, 7 years for me, things just aren’t like the honeymoon. I think it is actually better, but that’s after you get over the rough parts, which everyone has, it just comes in different forms. For some it’s infidelity, for others it’s lack of respect, for some it’s drinking from the milk carton but ultimately you have to get used to each other, and comfortable. It has taken us a while, but we found our rut, and were stuck! J So I guess, I will try and get through a few levels, on my console game, while keeping an eye on the forum occasionally.
Lately I have really been into the cups and balls, when done right they are absolutely beautiful, of course when done wrong, they just look like crap. That is why I love them, why they appeal to me, it is all hero or zero with them. Once you learn the mechanics, and a few other moves, you can create an absolutely stunning performance that will stand out by itself. Should you be interested in cup routines, check out an Indian cup routine, not only hard, but man you will respect the fire out of the performer if done right. I have been studying a routine by a magi named Les Greenhalgh, he issued this particular routine in 1974, one year and four months after I was born, but it is still relevant today. If you can use a set of Indian cups, you can perform about any cup routine with regular cups. Also Kirk Stiles, had some loading techniques that help out on the Indian Cups.

That's about it for today guys, hopefully, I can start giving more info on some tricks, tips, and maybe even advice. Magic wise of course, not on life, God knows you don't want life advice from me. Hell I am an unmedicated manic depressive, who just hopes to stay manic more often than not........that's actually sad but true. I can't stand anti-depressants, but isn't that what a clown is supposed to be? ;)

Happiness is an IT that doesn't snap!

BA

Yesterday was........

Here I am again, and I am post-posting for yesterday. Well, I got up late, around 8:30, then watched several christmas specials. A Christmas Story is one of my favorites, along with the cartoon of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. After several shows, I decided to go fill "the hole", and what a hole it was, I filled the whole hole, with a shovel not a hoe. Well, the story is this, Earlier this summer, someone (I'm not naming names but, he knows who he is) drove a backhoe through our backyard with wreckless disreguard as to where the field lines, septic tank, or input line lay. As a result of this heinous act, the input drain pipe was collapsed resulting in an atrocious backlog of used waters remaining in the shower, and bathtub. Fortunately, this was only water from sink, showers and washers (clothes, and dish). Either way, it leaves a foul stench when those odors are allowed to float adrift within the house, but at least it was not from the toilets, which due to the extreme age on the house, are on a seperate system. So, a couple of weeks ago, I dug up the entire inlet pipe to the septic tank, and replaced it. I left the hole open to makesure all of the joints were sealed, and was not leaking. The hole was about 5 feet deep, and 3 foot wide and 6 foot long. That my friend is a lot of digging, although, filling is a lot easier than digging, it is still a little bit of excercise.
On a different note, the forums, I sometimes visit related to magic have been hacked and owned. The names are Sleight Geek, Penguin, and Magic Cafe. Magic Circle Jerk, has gone on break, but luckily my favorite forum, is still all good. While I am on the subject of magic, I am working on a new effect, not created by me, but am working out the routine to fit me. It is a card thru the window effect, it is pretty ingenious, and works pretty flawless, and looks great. Although, I like card effects, I personally think performing with everyday ordinary objects makes for more strong magic.
I did watch Spiderman 2 and it was pretty decent, I still think part 1 was better as far as story wise, but 2 left off with the plot obviously screaming,"hey part three will have the green goblin back, so how clever are we!" I was unimpressed by the ending. Although, speaking of Marvel movies, I saw the preview for Electra, and it looked interesting, which will make 2 Marvel movies Jennifer Garner has been in. The first one being DareDevil starring Ben Affleck.
Basically, I had an uneventful day, and went to bed early, around 8:30, which meant I had a good 12 hour day. Lovely, just lovely.

Until next time, keep on smiling.

Brian

Night time, yet again...........

Well, today was a lot of fun, not very eventful, but fun. We got up and went to the Calera Railroad museum, and rode a train with Santa. Gigi had a blast, we went about 3 miles, stopped, then Santa boarded the train. We then left there and went to lunch, came back and napped. After a brief nap we watched Dodgeball, it was about a B. I really like Vince Vaughn, he is a good comedy actor. He was great in the movie "Made". Anywho, two hours, three chicken fingers, and a few fries later, here I am. See, I told you not much happened.
On the lighter side, I got caught up on a great book I am reading called "Hiding the Elephant" by Jim Steinmeyer. A great history of great magicians of old. I really wish I had the talents that some of those magicians had, although, there are a couple that are rumored to not have very adequate skills, and they were pretty famous, so maybe I won't be a Copperfield, Blaine, or Burton, but if I could make a decent living at it, that would be fabulous. Takes a lot of practice though. I tend to burn through a deck of cards pretty fast practicing, I try and keep at least a dozen or so around. Blue backed are my favorites, though I do use red backed some also. My favorite thing right now is disappearing objects. Disappearing a handkerchief is probably my favorite right now. Although, I really don't like being asked to perform, it just sort of ruins the magical spontaneity having someone ask for a trick, then six other people start staring at you every move to try and catch a glimpse at anything.
I have tried to teach my neighbors kid a trick or two, and he is just a little young yet, but I believe he will grow into it pretty soon. He hasn't got the whole secrecy thing down pat yet, but hey, he's only 7. He asked me to show him a trick, so I asked him to pick a card and not let me know what it was, I had him put it back in the deck, then I shuffled the cards, as I was performing about to tell him what I was doing, he as-a-matter-of-fact said," Oh, I know, your going to make the card come to the top of the deck." Well, little did he know, as I spread the cards out all cards were face up, with the exception of one card, his. His eyes lit up with disbelief. The point I am making here is, that the best magic comes when none is expected. Well, I am off to read some more, then head of to sleepy town, I got me a hole to fill tomorrow. I'll tell you all about that after that project is over. Not that it's a secret, I am just tired of typing right now.

Till next time, keep on smiling!

Friday evening

Well, I wound up having to work until 5 tonight ( I usually leave between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m.) as a result of coming in late and a coworker who usually stays late to cover the presses not being there today. His daughter graduated from Auburn University, I know he is a proud father. While I got off of work at 5, I decided to let the traffic die down, and left around 6.
After dinner, Gigi, my daughter, showed me a bunch of crafts she did at school. Then I washed dishes with Shelly, and sat in front of the computer.
I heard from a friend the other day, Byron, and I had lost touch with him because of us working odd shifts. Talk about surprised, the last time I heard from him was 2 years ago, I regret not doing a better job keeping in touch with him, but all is good. He is a great person, and has a heart of gold. There is another friend I used to have, that I need to get in touch with, Chuck is his name. He was a friend of mine from Kindergarten. We grew up together and had many great times, I got married, then he got married, and that was about it, we just lost touch. I wish it was easier to not let life take souch precident that you don't find the time to keep a friendship alive. That is an excuse, I do realize it.
On a positive note, I have a great group of people I work with. They are intelligent, funny, wity, and just plain fun. Actually, the conversations we have get kind of out of control at times, and we have to gather it back up. Of the 7 employees in that department there is only one female, and I feel sorry for her. She has to put up with a bunch of male humor, but I tell you she is great. She not only puts up with us, she joins in at times, and is a lot of fun. Work would not be tha same without her, she is always positive, and is always helpful and cheery. Except for when she is not, LOL. The guys are all fun too, we all try and keep everything light, because sometimes it gets a little heavy, if you know what I mean.
Well, in the morning, we are taking Gigi to see Santa. I need to get on to bed now.

Always look on the brighter side of life! *whistling*

Slow day

Hi all, i am currently at work, and man is it slow! My day started off in a panic, I woke up 2 hours later than I usually do, new medicine I took last night, so i had to skip the shower, and got to work about 30 minutes late, but no worries, we are very slow. Plus, I have a great boss. He not only puts up with my crap occasionally, but he is very understanding that crap happens sometimes. Anyway, i got here and started trying to find things to do.
This economy we are currently a part of is in pretty bad shape, although it could be worse. I have already caught up on the forums I visit, and have practiced some palming techniques with both a card and coin. So I then decided to add to my blog I started last night on a whim. I still don't know what to think of this blog, I mean the only people that will read this are ones that are directed to it, and even then they are probably trying to get a peek into the freakshow that is my life. LOL. I have listened to several shows of "This American Life" today, and about 3 hours of Radio Tiki on itunes eclectic stream.
I still have a couple of gifts to get my bride for Christmas, my daughter is taken care of, and between both sets of grandparents and us, she shouldn't want a thing for about 16 years! We all love her a ton and as such, we all tend to spoil her in our own ways. She has such a wonderful personality, and she makes me so proud to be a father.
I try and be the best i can to her, but I have to admit, I sometimes doubt myself. If I can be half as good a father as my dad was to me, that will be a success to me. My father was and is the best, in my mind. I know his perception and my perception of back then are different from some of the comments he has made. When I remember him as a father when I was little, I remember a hard working man who did what it took, and when he had the spare time from work he spent it with us. I can honestly say, I can't remember a time when my sister and I wanted to spend time with him, and he tell us no. He always had time for us, and taught us great lessons about life, love, and being an honorable person. He is my Idol, Role Model and Hero. I will share more about him later.
My Mom is great also, she was the perfect mom, she always had crafts for us to make, took us to matinees in the summer, and made the best snacks. As a family we would go camping a lot, and I loved that, especially when our neighbors went with us. Jim, Ilona, Tina and Scott, man did we all have fun together, they were like my second family. Mom and Ilona were like sisters almost. Sometimes, I wish I could go back to childhood, but that will never happen. So I just act chilish everynow and then, and that is one thing I think my daughter loves about me, I am not afraid to get on her level and play.
Finally, my sister, whom I love so dearly, as children, I was occasionally a pest as big brothers generally are, which I do wish I could change at times. I just hope she understands that I only aggravated her bacase I love her. She makes me so proud to see her now, happily married to a great guy, finally. Her first husband was not so nice, that's all I'll say about that. Her new husband seems to fit her perfectly, and he fits into our family like he has always been there, it is great. I really enjoy talking to him, and doing things like, watching football, talk politics, etc. Did I mention he's a Marine? He is, and it just impresses the heck out of me. I know it sounds kinda silly, but isn't this what a blog is about. I believe they will be together 'till death, and that makes me happy.
I will just fill in some stories and info on other relatives later, maybe try and make somethings sound more interesting, like chasing my sister with a pizza cutter..............getting my fingers trapped in a closed and locked door, as a result of chasing my sister, and stories of the infamous Sam and Bethoven. Till next time, be good.

Brian

Post number one

Hello all, this is my first attempt at a weblog. I really don't know what it is supposed to accomplish, but maybe it will do something. We'll see.