Volume 64 No.2 January 2007 The Griffin - Talk...
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The Griffin The Monthly Journal of North Wales Magic Circle : Cylch Hud Gogledd Cymru Volume 64 No.2 January 2007
Transcript of Volume 64 No.2 January 2007 The Griffin - Talk...
The Griffin
The Monthly Journal of North Wales
Magic Circle : Cylch Hud Gogledd Cymru
Volume 64 No.2 January 2007
A happy New Year to you all. The festive celebrations seem a blurred memory now that February is upon us For those of you who performed your magic over the festive season I hope all went well and that you will have many more bookings in 2007 I didn’t watch much TV over the festive period but looking through the papers I did not notice any magical shows advertised. There always used to be a Christmas special with great illusions which sadly we do not get to see anymore. The TV these days is full of reality shows or cooking programmes Our December meeting was bring a trick night and at our recent committee meeting we had decided to issue raffle tickets to everyone when they arrived so that we
could all have a go performing a trick Well it turned out to be an entertaining evening with some hilarious antics of six members of our circle asked to perform the carol “The 12 days of Christmas” directed by Eddie Hughes and assisted by his daughter Bethan You can see why Eddie is a great children’s entertainer as he got our members to go along with his musical sketch by getting them to stand up in turn and show cards depicting scenes from each of the 12 days of Christmas….where’s the video camera when you want one!!!!!!! Our first meeting of 2007 was the annual auction. I was asked by John Broomheads widow if we could sell his collection of tricks so a big thank to Noel who did a sterling job and also to all of you who bid at and bought the items raising a tidy sum for June and she was very grateful I feel I must also take this opportunity to thank Howie for putting together a bumper packed Christmas edition of our Griffin. 22 pages to delight entertain and inform. I am sure we all appreciate the time and effort he has spent on collating the contents……..well done! If any of you are attending the Blackpool convention the dates are 23-25 Februarybut first we have our very own close up comp in Feb. and I look forward to seeing you there along with some entertaining performances Kind regards Peter
Peter'sPresidential
Patter
Just in case you've been on the planet Zog for the last six month's, the annaul Blackpool Magician's Conference is just around the corner and if you don't know already, here are a few of the artistes booked so far are:
STAN ALLEN (USA): Comedy with a bunny
GREG FREWIN (Canada): the world’s greatest Dove Magician
JULIANA CHEN (China): a Grand Prix Winner at a FISM Convention
JAY SANKEY (Canada): A Close-Up master
DAVID ROTH (USA): a master of coin magic
MICHAEL RUBENSTEIN (USA): great close-up magic
RANDY WAKEMAN (USA): the first visit over here for 15 years
SIMON LOVELL (USA): the crazy man of magic
GREG WILSON (USA): close up and stand up
HENRY EVANS (Argentina): super close-up worker
ALDO COLOMBINI (USA): terrific close-up magic
NATHAN KRANZO (USA): the first visit of this great close-up worker
IAN ROWLAND (UK): Mentalism and close-up
DIRK LOSANDER (USA): the inventor of the sensational Floating Table
OMAR PASHA: the world’s greatest Black Light act
ADRIAN WALSH (UK): television’s hilarious comedy compere
TONY STEVENS (UK): Compare of the Saturday night championships
SOS & VICTORIA PETROSYAN (Germany): incredible Quick Change
spacialists
DIE ZAUDERER (Germany): the recent FISM comedy sensation
MARC METRAL (France): superb ventriloquist with a live dog
JEROME HELFENSTEIN (France): a stunning hand shadow act
NESTOR HATO (France): a new manipulation star
DAN GARRETT (USA): Close-up and Stage performer.
THE 55th ANNUAL MAGIC CONVENTION, 2007
on Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th February 2007 at the Winter Gardens Complex, Blackpool. The world’s largest Convention!
Over 100 dealers from all over the world.
President: Peter HewsonThe Willows, Bryn Hyfryd Park, Conwy
LL32 8PF. tel: 01492 596461President Elect: Peter HewsonSecretary & Welfare Secretary:
Arthur Booker4 Bodelwyddan Avenue, Kinmel Bay, Rhyl,
LL18 5BW. tel: 01745 330733Treasurer: Robert Scott
3 Pendyffryn Road, Rhyl, LLI8 4RU01745 351918
Book Librarian: Eddie Hughes & Paul Hughes
“Taklakot”, Craig Road, Old Colwyn, Conway.LL29 9HN. tel: 01492 516712
Video Librarian: Mark Thurold8 Avon Court, Connah's Quay, Deeside, Flintshire
CH5 4UN tel: 0779 353 0634Entertainments Secretary: Noel MasseyThe Stables, Brookpark Farm, Chester Road,
Northop Hall, Mold. Flintshire. CH7 6NJtel: 01244 812813
Competition Organiser: Russell Roberts17 Maes Cynfaen, Brynford, Holywell
CH8 8LA. tel: 01352 716 845Photographer & Griffin Editor: Howie Fay"Witzend" 10 The Rowans, Broughton, Chester.
CH4 0TD tel: 01244 534894(home) tel: 01928 750 374(office)
email: [email protected] Members
Trevor LewisRob Coleclough
Dave BakerDon Gilroy (Past President)
The Committee
Subs Are Now DueDid You Know That
You Can Now Pay Your Annual Subscriptions By Standing Order.
Simply fill in the Standing Order Form included in this edition of The Griffin and every year your subs will be paid by your bank saving you time and effort and helping to put a cheesy grin on the face of our esteemed secretary Bob Scott.Your subscriptions represent fabulous value for money and entitles you to all the benefits of being a member of Wales' premier magical society.
Bob Scott writes: "It is with deep sorrow that I only found out today that Margaret Evans, wife of very long member Arthur Evans of ‘Penfro’, Cae Gadlas, Bala, passed away sometime during Christmas. Apparantly she had not been well for some time. (No further info) Arthur is an exceptionally decent bloke who I have known for many years. He had found the journey to the monthly meetings difficult, but did make an effort to support our Lecture nights. Our deepest sympathy to Arthur and his children Mari, Huw and Tudor and their families at this very sad time, more especially at that season of the year."
Margaret Evans
Jon's WorldLet me start by wishing all readers a Happy New Year, if I didn’t see you in the January meeting. Well another month gone by and another of the NWMC’s auctions has passed. This year hopefully helping out some of our friends get rid of unwanted tricks, manuscripts and very unusual objects.I think the buyer of the year award has to go to Tim closely followed by Jay who must of hired a van to take their stuff home.Howie added to his vast collection of rocky raccoons, shown in all its glory by Noel, although the raccoon spent the entire time upside down (poor bugger), Howie was assured this one was neutered!And with the close-up comp coming up in Feb everybody was keeping an eye out for the sale of the century to add to there repertoire. Although Noel was having to work very hard to keep the prices reasonable most people thought it was eBay “next lot a brand new shadow box complete with assistant” the auctioneer hollers “give ya one pound twenty” someone replied at the back. Hopefully next year people will bring more cash if not u can use Barry’s cheque book. One more thanks to Noel for the classic blooper regarding the Chinese sticks that weren’t as good as Terrys *ick I mean stick! (classic)Well Blackpool is upon us, 23rd to 25th Feb if anyone doesn’t know, no doubt you will find Howie and Ged propping up the nearest bar. I think it would be a good idea for all members of the NWMC going to Blackpool to meet up at some point during the Saturday, after all we are a club. So hopefully my next report will be of the close up comp although it might be a little vague as I have been bullied I mean asked (sorry Russ) to take part. So I’ll sign off for now and see you all next month. TTFN
Safire Illusionists. After excellent reviews in the entertainment press following their five week run in Aladdin at The Albert Halls Bolton, Safire are now busy preparing for their next project - an 85 date UK theatre tour with BBC’s Chuckle Brothers. They will present two illusion spots together with their Magic Light Puppet Company act, which promises to be bigger and better than ever before! Spooky Goings on 2 will be the biggest and most extensive tour that the Chuckle Brothers have ever staged. Safire have been busy designing and building special effects, illusions and UV puppets for the show since September 2006. For tour dates visit www.thechucklebrothersontour.co.uk or www.magic-of-safire.co.uk.
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Well I can't wait, it's the new year and that can only mean one thing. . . Blackpool's just around the corner.I hope to see you all there, looking and learning about all the new things in magic and finding who's the new kids on the block.I'm going with my magical buddies, Ged, Rob, Geoff (a newcomer to magic), Titanic Tim and the inimitable Dave "Mad Dog" Mansell, we're going to have a ball!This will be my 15th Blackpool in a row and these days it's more about "the craic", the opportunity to catch up with friends and colleague from within the magical world that we just don't see often enough, than buying the latest gimmick or gizmo that's taking the world by storm.It's strange that every year there's always one item that captures the imagination of the magical throng, the runaway sales success of the convention. In past years this has been The Raven, Boomerang Card, Magnetic finger rings, gold plated Ninja Rings. Every year, without fail, there will be one item that just about everybody's buying and just as strangely, a few months later, nobody will be using it anymore. Perhaps it's because although it may have seemed an easy to do, no practice required miracle, demonstarted with unbelievable ease by the stall holder, it usually turns out to be something which needs a lot of practice or proves to be just impractical in real world performance. Whatever the reason, I'm sure we'll all be there again this year, searching for the reputation making self working effect that will propel each and everyone of us into international stardom and probably we'll find out, once again that it's not quite the effect for us. But this is just part and parcel of the best magical weekend of the year. So enjoy the convention, if you want to catch up with me and my magical compadres, we're sure to be found in the Spanish Bar, see ya there!Howie
What's On In 2007 at North Wales Magic
Circle6th FebruaryClose Up Competition:
See Russ Roberts to put your name down to compete for some covetted competition silverware
6th MarchMarc Oberon Lecture
Marc, fresh from Blackpool will be
demonstrating items not seen at the
Convention.
3rd AprilDebut Magic:
A Great Chance to see the New Kids on the
Block "strut their stuff" to gain memebership into our estemmed
and ancient magical society.10th April: Greg Wilson,
This guy needs no introduction, if you don't learn something on this night you will have been facing the wrong way
8th May: Tony Binnerelli, the Italian Paul Daniels. If you don't catch his lecture this time around you probably never will!
Ged's G SpotTHE G SPOT FOR FEB 06
WEIRD WEIRD RAINHeads up! There's all kinds of strange stuff falling from the sky: frogs, sardines, jellyfish, alligators and maybe - just maybe - cows! Here are some documented cases of really weird precipitation. As I sit writing this week's feature and glance out my window, it's pouring rain outside. One might say it's raining cats and dogs. Not literally, of course. But that's not to say that at times in many areas around the world that it hasn't rained things just as strange as felines and canines. Sometimes, things even stranger. Weird rain is one of the more bizarre - and still largely unexplained - phenomena that is periodically (yet continually) reported from all corners of the globe. There have been accounts of frog rain, fish rain, squid rain, worm rain, even alligator rain. The logical explanation for the odd occurrences is that a tornado or strong whirlwind picked up the animals from a shallow body of water and carried them - sometimes
for hundreds of miles - before dropping them on a bewildered populace. This explanation has yet to be proved, and it can't quite account for all of the documented incidents, as you'll see below.Here are some of the more unusual cases - a small sampling from thousands of reports over the years - that defy all rational explanation.
FROGS In 1873, Scientific American reported that Kansas City, Missouri was blanketed with frogs that dropped from the sky during a storm. Minneapolis, Minnesota was pelted with frogs and toads in July, 1901. A news item stated: "When the storm was at its highest... there appeared as if descending directly from the sky a huge green mass. Then followed a peculiar patter, unlike that of rain or hail. When the storm abated the people found, three inches deep and covering an area of more than four blocks, a collection of a most striking variety of frogs... so thick in some places that travel was impossible." The citizens of Naphlion, a city in southern Greece, were surprised one morning in May, 1981, when they awoke to find small green frogs falling from the sky. Weighing just a few ounces each, the frogs landed in trees and plopped into the streets. The Greek Meteorological Institute
surmised they were picked up by a strong wind. It must have been a very strong wind. The species of frog was native to North Africa! In 1995, reports Fortean Times Straw of Sheffield, England, was driving through Scotland on holiday with her family when they encountered a severe storm. Along with the heavy rain, however, hundreds of frogs suddenly pelted her car.
FISH A powerful whirlwind might explain a rain of small fish, but it cannot account for the ones that fell on a village in India. As many as 10 people reported picking up fish that weighed as much as eight pounds that had come crashing down on them. In February, 1861, folks in many areas of Singapore reported a rain of fish following an earthquake. How could the two possibly correlate? Golfers dread gathering clouds and a rain that might ruin their game. But imagine the consternation of several duffers in Bournemouth, England, in 1948 who received a shower of herring. Priests often pray for blessings from above... but fish? In 1966, Father Leonard Bourne was dashing through a downpour across a courtyard in North Sydney, Australia, when a large fish fell from the sky and landed on his shoulder.
The priest nearly caught it as it slid down his chest, but it squirmed away, fell to the flooded ground and swam away. These things don't always happen in a heavy rain. In 1989, in Ipswich, Australia, Harold and Degen's front lawn was covered with about 800 "sardines" that rained from above during a light shower. This report is most unusual: In an otherwise clear sky in Chilatchee, Alabama in 1956, a woman and her husband watched as a small dark cloud formed in the sky. When it was overhead, the cloud released its contents: rain, catfish, bass and bream - all of the fish alive. The dark cloud had turned to white, then dispersed.
FLESH AND BLOOD In 1890, Popular Science News reported that blood rained down on Messignadi, Calabria in Italy - bird's blood. It was speculated that the birds were somehow torn part by violent winds, although there were no such winds at the time. And no other parts of the bird came down - just blood. J. Hudson's farm in Los Nietos Township, California endured a rain of flesh and blood for three minutes in 1869. The grisly fall covered several acres. The American Journal of Science confirmed a shower of blood, fat and muscle tissue that fell on
a tobacco farm near Lebanon, Tennessee in August, 1841. Field workers, who actually experienced this weird shower, said they heard a rattling noise and saw "drops of blood, as they supposed...fell from a red cloud which was flying over."
MISCELLANEOUSIn 1881, a thunderstorm in Worcester, England, brought down tons of periwinkles and hermit crabs. In November, 1996, a town in southern Tasmania was slimed! Several residents woke up on a Sunday morning after a night of violent thunderstorms to find a strange, white-clear jelly-like substance on their property. Apparently, it had rained either fish eggs or baby jellyfish. A Korean fisherman, trolling off the coast of the Falkland Islands, was knocked unconscious by a single frozen squid that fell from the sky and konked him on the head. In July, 2001, a ed rain fell on Kerala, India. At first it was thought that a meteor was responsible for the strange-colored rain, but an analysis showed that the water was filled with fungal spores. Still, where did all of those red spores come from to be rained down in such concentration? From about 1982 to 1986, kernels of corn have rained down on several houses in Evans, Colorado - tons of
and hull. At first, the story goes, the fishermen were arrested for trying to perpetrate an insurance fraud, but were released when their story was verified. It seems that a Russian transport plane carrying stolen cattle was flying overhead. When the movement of the herd within the plane threw it off balance, the plane's crew, to avoid crashing, opened the loading bay at the tail of the aircraft and drove them out to fall into the water below. True story or hoax? One investigation traced the story back to a Russian
television comedy series.Personally, I think the story is the most preposterous....
Wait a minute... I think I just saw something large and black and
white fall past my window. Is that mooing I hear?
Well that’s it from me until next month; if in the meantime if in the mootime you come across anything that you think would be
suitable for this column, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can email me at ged
[email protected] See you on the other side Ged.
it, according to Gary Bryan, one of the residents. Oddly, there were no cornfields in the area that might account for the phenomenon. In August, 2001, the Wichita, Kansas area experienced an unexplained rain of corn husks. The news report stated that "thousands of dried corn leaves fell over east Wichita - from about Central Avenue to 37th Street North, along Woodlawn Boulevard and on east - each about 20 to 30 inches long." In 1877, several one-foot-long alligators fell on J. L. Smith's farm in South Carolina. They landed, unharmed, and started crawling around, reported The New York Times. Perhaps the most bizarre report is one that, unfortunately, cannot be confirmed. It may be just the stuff of urban legend, but it's so weird and so amusing that had to be included. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not it's true.Sometime around 1990, a Japanese fishing boat was sunk i n the Sea of Okhotsk off the eastern coast of Siberia by a falling cow. When the crew of the wrecked ship were fished from the water, they told authorities that they had seen several cows falling from the sky, and that one of them crashed straight through the deck
Aries March 21 - April 19You can cry all you like, but it’s not going to bring back the 5 litre carton of ice cream you just ate..
Taurus April 20 - May 20
There won’t be a dry eye in the house this week when support beams collapse under the heat of 10-foot flames and block all available exit routes.
Gemini May 21 - June 21
You never considered yourself to be someone who’s particularly good with his hands, but that’s not to say that you won’t miss them.
Cancer June 22 - July 22Your belief that others are secretly conspiring against you is truly absurd. In fact, they couldn’t be more open about it if they tried.
Leo July 23 - August 22
After a string of rejections, you’ll finally find love this week on the most unlikely of street corners.
Virgo August 23 - September 22
Long after your death, many will remember you as the first man ever to simultaneously break both the sound and cement barrier.
Libra September 23 - October 23As upset as you’ll be over breaking your New Year’s resolution, it will ultimately pale in comparison to how friends and family members of your victims will feel
Scorpio October 24 - November 21
The New Year will start out with a bang for you. Unfortunately, it will also end with a bang for you.
Sagittarius November 22 - December 21All your questions about the coming year will be answered moments after the purchase of a 2007 desk calendar
Capricorn December 22 - January 19Marriage will feature prominently in your life during the first half of 2007, while hope and an opportune flight of stairs will feature prominently in your life during the second half.
Aquarius January 20 - February 18
Travel will be at the top of your list in 2007, as you desperately bounce from one heart specialist to the next in hopes of some sort of treatment.
Pisces February 19 - March 20
2007 might finally be the year when you take your life into your own hands and begin doing something proactive about your future. Keep checking back here to see if that’s indeed the case..
Arthur's Cosmic Stars
Your
2007
Unc
annilly Acc
urate
Horosc
opes
for the c
omimng
Mon
th B
y My
stic A
rthur
Book
er "Into the future
Look
er!"The Year
Ahead
