More About The People Who Know Everything

A special Edithvale thank you goes out to Dylan (disco) Jones tonight.

The lad came up trumps fixing up one or two elements of this blog today.

You may remember Dylan from a previous post about friends of mine who know how to do everything. Dylan will also be blushing when I tell everyone that, like my other friend who knows everything, Kamal Bhushan, he can just about do anything with a deck of cards.

Seriously watch out for Dylan. He is a good friend and a very skilled and imaginative magician. Anyone wanting to check out some of his stuff can catch him performing every weekend at The Magic Store with another top, young sleight of hand artist. 'Sleightgeeks' very own David Mcleod.

Both chaps won 'The Magic Mondays Young Magician Awards' in 2005.

Hustler Before Bedtime

I had planned to post something really important and thought provoking tonight. I started to write this essay based on one of my many magic theories this morning and have been struggling through it for some of the day. Unfortunately it is not ready yet. The reason for this is that I became engrossed in the recent episode of 'Hustle' which my parents sent over from the UK. For anyone who has not seen this show I urge you to try and find some of the previous seasons on DVD. Amazon, I guess, would be a good starting point.

The third season of this drama is currently airing in England and I have to tell you I consider it to be the second best TV show around at the moment. The first is obvious and shame on anyone who does not know what it is. Such people basically do not deserve to own a TV. So what can I say about Hustle other than it is absolutely brilliant. Well it's about con artists and every magician should be able to relate to that right? What else? OK, Every element of this show is perfect.

The writing is outstaning, not just the dialogue mind you but the storylines. This show has Extremely clever plots. The cast is impeccable, in particular Adrian Lester (pictured) who is actually a grad of my old college, LAMDA is fantastic as the' long Con' master Micky Stone. The direction(I think there are different directors throught) is very hip with loads of bits of sureal business.... which I love. Even the opening titles and music have it all.

So there you have it I was going to finish that deep and meaningful post about magic but I got sidetracked by 'Hustle' The post will even have to wait until tomorrow now as I have the new Harry Potter movie to watch on DVD before bedtime.

Things Are Getting Worse

It appears as though things are getting much worse within the ranks of those people who have never heard of 'Retro Novelties'

I just encountered a woman who didn't know what a 'Hand Buzzer' was. This is actually only the start of the insanity though. I come across a lot of other people who expect these things to really shock them. With electricity I mean. Hmmm.... yea, just like those 'X- Ray Glasses' could really see through girls clothes. Everyone knows they can actually only see through mens.

The Schumacher Collection

OK, this one is for my very good friend and F1 fanatic Nick Morton.

It seems The Magic Store has a new cult following.

Several people have been in here today asking to buy the complete Schumacher collection. Now at first sight one may be forgiven for thinking this had something to do with Ferrari merchandise, but rather than re- direct such customers a little further down the southbank to the F1 official stall (yes it is there) I urge any member of The Magic Store team to take note of the following products.

Thought Transmitter
Dynamic Coins
Hopping Halves
Scotch and Soda
Colouring Book
Jumbo Ball to Square
Black and White Surprise
Fart Machine
Blue Backed Bicycle Cards
Blue Backed Mental Photography Deck.....Why these are in blue and not 'Testosterone Red' amazes me.

I am seriously considering packaging them all up in one of those official Ferrari bags.

Now before you folks read this and start to question my sincerity or that I jest, let me say one thing. A young person came in here moments ago asking if he could buy the Same tricks that Micheal Schumacher had bought yesterday. OK that is Basil Brush and not my dog but this really happened.

Small world? Not quite. It seems the young bloke was here at the very same time as the Physio yesterday. Remember him?

My good friend Catherine at P.J Obriens tells me that the Ferrari Team are actually staying at 'The Langham Hotel' which is, for the benefit of those not living in Victoria, just behind our shop.

So 'The Schumacher Collection' is available for a short time only. Just today infact. If anyone would like to order it in its entirity we are offering a discount.

What Were They Doing As Kids??

It never fails to astonish me how many 'Magic Store' customers have never heard of 'Silly Putty'. I am talking about 3o somethings here BTW. Folks who have no excuse not to have owned a little plastic egg filled with this stuff at some point during their childhood.

Just what were these people doing when they were kids?

A guy yesterday had never heard of a spud gun!!??

The Strangest Heroes. (Quayside Chapter One)

Years ago when I was shooting the ill fated Geordie based soap opera 'Quayside' (more about that later) I had the pleasure of staying with the delightful Darren and Becky In Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. They were both Charming and studying to be teachers at the time. They had a spare room, rich in character, which they sub let to me dirt cheap and without telling their land lord. Ahh those were the days.

At night we would sit afore their roaring fire, snuggled up with fine red wine and discuss the arts, education and Star Wars.

I had come to the conclusion back then, and this is a premis that has remained with me, that the bounty hunter known as 'Boba Fett' is indeed one of the richest characters in this trilogy. In fact until George Lucas decided to butcher the back story of Boba Fett in 'Attack of the Clones' I was beginning to become quite intrigued as to what he was all about. Now that I know he was just the son of one of those storm troopers who ended up doing nothing of interest or importance until he is hired by Darth Vader to catch Han in 'The Empire Strikes Back', the bubble of mystery has been burst somewhat.

Also while on the topic of Star Wars back stories, why didn't Lucas try to get a cute Han Solo sequence into 'Revenge of the Sith'? A short scene with Han as a ten year old would have been solid as. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have included it. After all he managed to get Chewbacca in there. He even put Greedo in 'The Phantom Menace' despite having tried to search the intenet to get the fans reactions to this I have as yet come up with nothing. Maybe I was the only person put out by this?

Sorry, back to Darren and Becky. That Christmas I was delighted to recieve from them a Boba Fett Figure on which the tag read

"Some people have the strangest heroes"

I didn't see why it was so strange myself. Darren, for example was a Han Solo fan. The following March when his birthday rolled around I wrapped up a Han Solo in Hoth battle gear Figure for him with a card attached that read.

"Some people have the most obvious heroes"

I often muse about Darren and Becky. It's funny how you loose people without even trying. then again that does sound like a bit of an irony doesn't it? I mean one would never try to loose anything would they? Maybe some would. I still have the Boba Fett figure and the memory though.

That was just one of the things that happened to me years ago when I was doing that terrible series 'Quayside' and as promised, more about that later.

Smart As A Carrot

Those who know me intimately will recognize the picture on the left to be that of my dog Kit.

This was taken during a charity function he attended recently. As you can see he scrubs up extremely well and looks (even if I do say so myself) as smart as a carrot.

Cat Daddy and Disco

I have to say at this interval that it is extremely useful to have a friend who knows and can do everything.

It is well worth your while, as responsible members of the human race, to have a friend like this in your repertoire. In the old days it used to be grand to know a plumber or an electrician etc but since we all started to live in computerised bubbles in outer space it seems to be more advantages to associate with persons skilled in understanding the binary language of moisture vapourators.

When faced with such a problem there are two guys you can turn to. C3PO and Kamal Bhushan.

Adding either of these guys to your Christmas card list will give you the facilty to understand computers a little better and get your own blog looking in shape. I also cannot begin to describe how many hours the Cat Daddy has spent removing horrible little bugs from inside my hard drive.

Thumbs up too for my good friend Dylan (disco) Jones who has also made my computerised life a little easier to understand over the past couple of years....What with one thing or another

It's good to know people like this

Thanks

It's Funny Who You Meet When You Work In The Magic Store

It is Grand Prix weekend here in Melbourne and so it was not a suprise to me that I eneded up spending half and hour or so with Michael Schumacher This morning....lol. It seems that the Ferrari team physio had spent a while in here yesterday with my old buddy 'Magician' Glenn Hamilton, or Glenda to his friends. The physio had directed the greatest Formula One driver of all time here himslef. Funnily enough the Physio was back in here this afternoon too but more about him later. Let's get back to Schumacher.

Although I am, as the title of this blog implies, A Man in A Boys World, I have never really seen the fascination of fast cars (I actually don't even have a licence) or the thrill of the Formula One chase. Instead my childish antics/interests seem to keep me confined to doing magic tricks for a living, playing with Star Wars toys or building cubby houses filled with lashings of chocky milk and vegimite sarnies with my Daughters Maddie and Violet.

I have to admit that it took me a little while to recognize Michael (Schumacher) at first. I suppose that one HEARS the name more than one SEES the face. Or at the very least if one SEES the face at the same time as HEARING The name the face is usually hidden behind a crash helmet. He wasn't wearing a spruce pair of shoes or his TAG watch. Neither was he wearing his Ferrari team leathers (the giveaway of most Formula One racing car drivers when spotted in public) but had instead opted for a tracksuit and runners combo.

His opening gambit was a request for tricks or 'games' as he so cutely put it (I thought that that was particularly delicious) that he could take home to his kids. Now here's an interesting and mildly hilarious point to anyone who works in a magic shop or who is a Formula One superstar.

I replied

"What sort of Budget were you looking at"

Oh how divine! The sad thing about this is I was not actually taking the piss but had genuinly not recognized him yet. He came back with.

"I am looking for some 'games' for my kids"

My next thought was.

"This is Michael Schumacher"

Now I know that I just made it look like I SAID that but I honestly just THOUGHT it and in so doing belted into one of the nest Magic Store dem sets of my life. He left with most of the classics. To seal the deal and also pay for the gear. See what I did there? I said 'gear' cars have gears...lol. he pulled out his cradit card. Yep this really is HIS credit card as it had HIS photo on it. By the way I don't mean it had his identification photo on it as some plastic does these days. No. I mean it had his PHOTO on it. Michael Schmacher carries The Michael Schmacher credit card. Why not indeed?

In summary then he seemed to enjoy the magic he saw here today. He left with quite a fair few 'games' for the kids too. At the end of our meeting I asked if he had any big plans for the weekend to which he replied

"I hope so"

Oh I nearly forgot about the Physio. Well it seems that he also made a appearence today and was once again talking to Glenn. Apparently it had been he that had pushed Schumacher our way. The physio that is not Glenn. He was sold two very famous tricks. The Hopping Halves and The Scotch and Soda coin effects. These were tricks that Schumacher had not purchased. I think the idea was to fool him with them in between laps.