Handy tip of the day – have a Christmas DVD box set to hand for everyone to enjoy in case there’s nothing on the TV!

We’ve been enjoying this delightful set of treats. Eight Charles Dickens collection. It is presented in a lovely case and makes a great gift.  

The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Martin Chuzzlewit, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend

Super Classics! Enjoy!

Truth or Illusion?

By Alex Tresniowski

The FBI Investigates Magician David Copperfield—and Raids His Las Vegas Magic Museum—after a Woman He Met During a Performance Accuses Him of Assault and Rape

A pretty young model sits in the dark, watching David Copperfield work his magic. As audience members around her are plucked from their seats and put onstage to be a part of the illusionist’s world-famous show, she says to her friend, “I’m sure all the people who go up there are actors.” But then, suddenly, Copperfield touches her shoulder and says, “Come with me.” “He asked me to do a trick with him, and after the show he asked for my phone number,” says Belgian model-turned-photographer Ambre Frisque, 29, who met Copperfield at a 2000 show in Brussels and went on to date him for more than three years. “Later on he showed me a tape of the show where he saw me and said, ‘Oh my God, she’s pretty, I want to meet her.’”

Below: a photo of Ambre Frisque

Now another woman who met the magician the same way is accusing him of raping her on his private island in the Bahamas this July. According to the Seattle Times, the unnamed woman, an aspiring model from Washington, told authorities that Copperfield, 51, had an assistant approach her at a Jan. 25 show in Kennewick, Wa., and escort her and her family to special seats before picking her to help him with a trick. The woman claims she later agreed to accompany Copperfield to Musha Cay—his secluded, 150-acre retreat 85 miles southeast of Nassau—but was shocked to discover she was his only guest. During her two-day stay, she told Seattle police and FBI agents, Copperfield assaulted and raped her; a Seattle grand jury is investigating the charges. Copperfield denied any wrongdoing through his attorney, David Chesnoff, who says his client “has never struck, forced himself or threatened any woman.” Copperfield himself “is horrified” by the allegations, says friend and art-gallery owner Helly Nahmad. “Nothing here fits; there is no past history. This is out of the blue.”

Several of Copperfield’s friends and colleagues who spoke with PEOPLE say they are stunned by the charges. “He’s a fantastic guy, very caring, and he would never hurt anybody,” says Frisque, who split with Copperfield in 2003. The rape charge “is so not him, I’m sure it’s impossible.” Restaurateur Paul Sevigny has known Copperfield for 10 years and says “he treats women beautifully. And the chicks this guy is with—it’s unreal. Five years ago everyone was saying he was gay, and now he’s a rapist? Not for a second did I think this could be true.”

Yet the Seattle Times reported that investigators have a rape kit assembled shortly after the accuser returned to the U.S. from Musha Cay. On Oct. 17 FBI agents raided Copperfield’s rarely seen magic museum and warehouse in Las Vegas. In the wake of leaks to the media by federal officials, the FBI—brought in because the alleged victim travelled in and out of the U.S.—is no longer commenting on the case.

Now the man who walked through China’s Great Wall and made the Statue of Liberty vanish must face perhaps his stickiest predicament. Raised in middle-class Metuchen, N.J.—his father owned a clothing store, and his mother was an insurance adjuster—David Seth Kotkin discovered his destiny the day his mom took him to a magic store when he was 10. At 14, he invented a trick mind-reading pen; at 16, he was teaching a college magic course. He went on to host a series of CBS specials on his way to becoming, according to most experts, the premier illusionist of his time.

Along with his reputation for perfectionism and tireless work ethic—he routinely performs as many as 500 shows a year—Copperfield was known to date women he met during his shows. In 1993 he invited model Claudia Schiffer onstage for a trick; just months later they were engaged. The couple stayed together for six years before splitting in 1999, amid rumors their relationship was simply a business arrangement. “Why would Claudia give up all those years of her life for a fake relationship?” Copperfield told PEOPLE in 2001, shooting down the charge. (He also denied rumors about his sexuality, saying, “If I was gay, I’d be proud of it. But God didn’t make me that way.”)

Barbara rejected David's advances

Friends and colleagues say Copperfield keeps such a hectic schedule that meeting women any other way is difficult. “It’s not like David can walk into a bar and mingle,” says a female former assistant who helped Copperfield select audience members for tricks. “David never once told me to get pretty girls to join him; his directions were more like, ‘Get people who will be energetic.’ But other assistants told me he likes young, blonde women, so I sort of gravitated towards them.” After his split from Schiffer, says the ex-assistant, he “got more flirty with women in the audience, but even then it wasn’t weird. I figured it was just his way of meeting girls.”

Not much is known about Copperfield’s encounter with his accuser. Apparently she did agree to go with him to Musha Cay, a cluster of four islands that Copperfield bought for $45.5 million in 2006 and that is only accessible by boat and charter plane. Was she, as she claims, the only guest? Possibly, but people familiar with the resort say there are normally at least 10 staffers there. “There were often beautiful women with him,” says one ex-employee, “but I never saw anyone there against their will.” Austrian model Barbara Duerrer says she accompanied Copperfield to Musha Cay in April 2006, and that after she rejected his romantic attention, he was courteous about it. “We laughed a lot; we had nice dinners,” says Duerrer. “It was sweet.”

While the grand jury decides whether or not to recommend formal rape and assault charges against Copperfield—who has yet to be interviewed by authorities—his friends have been reaching out and offering support. “He’s a perfect gentleman who has always treated his girlfriends with respect and care,” says one female friend who has known him for several years. “He’s always so sweet; that’s why this doesn’t make sense. I just don’t think David has a dark side.”

• Contributors:
• Jeffrey Slonim/New York,
• Molly Lopez/New York,
• Steve Helling/Orlando,
• Mark Gray/Las Vegas,
• Howard Breuer/Los Angeles

Have you ever heard of the World Magic Awards Show? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, their 2007 show didn’t attract many top people nor top magicians.  Here’s an article written on Fox News, although I don’t know why they say it was aired on MTV? Was it?

Our Favorite Magicians Ever

By Amy Harrington & Nancy Harrington  - Getback

This week the 2009 World Magic Awards aired on MTV, and while prestidigitation sometimes gets a bad rap (OK, we admit Doug Henning did not do much for the industry’s hip factor), in our minds, the thrill of illusion doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

We saw David Copperfield perform in the ’80s. He made a motorcycle — with him on it — disappear from the stage and reappear in the middle of the theater on a platform that covered a few rows of seats about 20 feet away from us. Now we get that there was probably a stunt double onstage, but there was NO accounting for the bike. People nearby were touching it and the chairs below it. It was not a hologram or mirror trick. There was no trap door in the floor and nothing suspended from the ceiling — just a 650-pound chopper carrying the Master of Illusion himself. It blew our minds.

To us, all the current-day spellbinders owe a huge debt of gratitude to Copperfield. And while many of the performers’ presentations can be a bit cheesy, we are big fans of the art. Here’s our list of our favorite magicians EVER!

Siegfried & Roy

It’s a life-long question that only Hall and Oates can relate to — which one is Siegfried and which one is Roy. The answer is simple: it doesn’t matter. One would not be a success without the other. Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn met on a cruise ship where Siegfried was a magician. Roy (the dark-haired one, for those who are still curious) joined him as his assistant and upped the ante by adding a cheetah to the act (Roy had allegedly smuggled the wild animal onboard the ship). The German-born magicians ultimately became a staple of the Las Vegas magic scene, signing a lifetime contract with Steve Wynn’s Mirage Hotel.

But things went terribly wrong on Roy’s birthday in 2003. That night, one of their legendary white tigers, Montecore,grabbed Roy by the neck, seriously injuring the illusionist. There are many theories about what happened that night. Some say Montecore tried to protect Roy when he stumbled, in a protective mother/cub kind of way. Some say it was a brutal attack by a wild animal. Still others contend that Montecore got distracted by the oversized hairdo of a fan in the front row, and that when the woman reached out to pet the dangerous feline, Roy sacrificed himself by getting in between them. A final theory holds that Montecore, injured by a trap door, was scared and accidentally injured Roy in a pileup with the tiger and some stagehands.

Whatever Montecore’s motivation, the illusionist was in critical condition for weeks and suffered partial paralysis as the result of a stroke. The act was put on hold for five years while Horn went through intensive rehabilitation. But six years later, Roy proved to the world — and the tiger —that it was all water under the bridge. In a ten-minute performance filmed for “20/20,” Siegfried, Roy, and Montecore performed together one last time before officially retiring.

Doug Henning

Doug Henning was a Canadian il-LUUU-sionist who brought a truly theatrical flair to his work (and his stage clothes). The Houdini hippie created a live stage show in the early ’70s directed by fellow Canuck Ivan Reitman; Henning later brought the Tony-nominated show to Broadway. His magical routines soon became an annual network television event called “Doug Henning’s World of Magic.” He also created stage effects for such performers as Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

But Doug never had a chance to see his biggest dream materialize. The project, called Maharishi Veda Land, was the brainchild of Henning and the founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A Disneyland for the spiritually attuned, the destination location was to combine theatrical illusions and technology with the teachings of sacred Hindu texts. The thought that such a place could exist and succeed sounds implausible to us. But in the words of Henning, “Anything the mind can conceive is possible. Nothing is impossible. All you have to do is look within, and you can realize your fondest dreams.”

David Blaine

In the mid ’90s, David Blaine looked like he was on the fast track to becoming a legendary magician. His first TV special, “David Blaine: Street Magic” was a SERIOUS mind-freak (take that Criss Angel!), and his quiet and thoughtful demeanor was often spellbinding. Then he became a stunt magician, constantly trying to one-up himself with endurance tests: being buried alive, freezing himself in a block of ice, and standing inside a plastic box on a pillar. Was this magic or a way to avoid getting a real day job?

Either way, we can pinpoint the moment when David Blaine crossed over from being cool to being odd, and it wasn’t even in his control. During Michael Jackson’s still inexplicable 2002 VMA acceptance speech for what he thought was the Artist of the Millennium Award (it was, in fact, a sparkly decoration on a birthday cake), MJ said these simple words, “David Blaine, your magic is real, and I believe in you.” Not exactly a career-building character reference.

Penn & Teller

Penn & Teller are often called the “Bad Boys of Magic.” Penn Jillette (the loud, tall, funny one) and Raymond Teller (the short, silent, creepy one) are known for their gory, macabre tricks that combine illusion, comedy, juggling, and mime with a touch of politics. They describe themselves as “a couple of eccentric guys who have learned how to do a few cool things.” Their act includes a strait-jacketed Penn hanging over a bed of spikes, Teller’s run-in with an 18-wheeler, knives going through hands, and the ultimate version of the bullet trick, in which they both simultaneously fire guns and catch each other’s bullets in their mouths.

“Penn & Teller: Bulls#*t!,” their Showtime TV series now in it’s fifth season, exposes fraud and fakes and debunks the myths from everything to New Age healing and relaxation techniques to alien abductions. Personally, we think that Penn’s best illusion was making himself disappear after week one of his stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Harry Anderson

You might know Harry Anderson from his days as Judge Harold Stone on “Night Court,” but he’s actually quite an accomplished magician. In fact, he got his start as a kid doing card tricks and shell games on the street and doing gigs at Hollywood’s legendary Magic Castle. That honor led to a recurring guest spot on “Saturday Night Live,” which won him the role of Harry “The Hat” Gittes on “Cheers.” From there, he went on to “Night Court,” playing the wacky judge who’s an amateur magician obsessed with Mel Torme (two character traits shared by Anderson that the creator claims were coincidental).

Then, after playing a fictionalized version of humor columnist Dave Barry on “Dave’s World,” Harry left the TV spotlight and returned to his first love: illusion. He moved to New Orleans, where he opened a curiosities shop called Sideshow and a nightclub named Oswald’s Speakeasy. Sadly, he and his family left New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Anderson still tours as a magician and regularly hosts magic conventions.

Lance Burton

Since his first magical moment as an audience volunteer at age five, Lance Burton has been fascinated with the art of prestidigitation. His first bewitching moment in the spotlight should have been the sign that he would go on to have a career in illusion. Only one week after moving to Los Angeles, he made his first appearance on “The Tonight Show.” Magic fan Johnny Carson was so impressed with the young man’s talent, he gave him an unheard-of 12 minutes of air time. No one would have suspected then that he would grow up to be the most famous magician on the Vegas Strip. After long runs at the Folies Bergere and the Hacienda Hotel, Burton settled into his new home, signing a 13-year contract with the Monte Carlo Resort to work his magic in the Lance Burton Theater. If you find yourself in Sin City anytime soon, check out his newest illusion: the $10 million “Solid Gold Lady.”

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris, an amateur magician, has said that his tricks are better suited for the talk show circuit than a club. He’s performed his sleight of hand on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” His tricks are so impressive that he managed to cast a spell on the powers that be at the Magic Castle, who invited him to sit on their board of directors — the first celebrity to be so honored since Cary Grant.

Sure, he’s hosted the Emmys and the Tonys, but more impressive to fans of illusion, he hosted the 2008 World Magic Awards. Harris, who became a self-proclaimed magic geek as a kid, admits there is a certain nerd stigma to the art, saying, “It’s the coolest hobby in the world, but people tend to get into magic because no one would talk to them.”

Criss Angel

MTV has dubbed Criss Angel ”the post-modern Houdini.” The star of the A&E series “Criss Angel Mindfreak” is a bit too pretentious for our tastes. But he has been named Magician on the Year five times in a row, the first illusionist to achieve that honor. Plus, he can levitate, walk on water, and cut himself in half. And as a self-proclaimed escapologist, he has freed himself from strait-jackets and imploding buildings and even got run over by a steamroller while laying on a bed of glass. Maybe Perez Hilton is not a fan (he tweeted during a performance of Angels’ Vegas Cirque du Soleil show, “Believe,” that he’d “rather be getting a root canal”), but his “Loyals” — the nickname of his hardcore “Mindfreak” fans — would follow him to the ends of the earth, or at least to his latest “Mindfreak: Secret Revelations” book signing.

Ed Alonzo

If Ed Alonzo looks familiar and you’re not a magic fan, you must have loved “Saved by the Bell” when you were growing up. Alonzo played the owner of everyone’s favorite hangout, The Max (which was also his character’s name). After guest-starring roles on other sitcoms, he started doing a comedic magic act at the Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California. Ed’s continued to work his magic on TV and in live venues and recently designed and performed illusions in Britney Spears’ big comeback — her 2009 Circus Tour – but unfortunately he couldn’t make the lip-syncing rumors disappear. Sadly, Ed didn’t get the chance to join Michael Jackson during his planned London concert appearances, but he did witness Jackson’s final rehearsal just before the King of Pop’s untimely death.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/11/27/favorite-magicians/

religion is a bit of a hot-button topic.  most people seem to be very sensitive on their opinion of god and religion.  last year, bill maher made Religulous which i  never saw but heard both good and bad things about it.  this is another documentary on a similar subject, but it looks like it won’t piss as many people off.

Empty House

South Carolina strangles the past

for the both of us. Years spent

in this house have faded

into one another. Forgetting

the fun which once made its home

inside these walls. You ask me

where I want to live

and I say San Diego.

That’s far enough away,

don’t you think?

Just a smile and a nod

that’s all I’ll get.

You pack making sure

we have everything

on your list. I find myself

left out of this whole process.

I toss an old copy of David Copperfield

into my only box, marked ‘stuff.’

You pace the floors and talk

in sentences that never

seem to end. How can you talk

so much and listen so little?

I watch you go down your list

one last time. I don’t really care

anymore. Only one thing matters.

His ring that I took from the desk

the morning after we went out.

It’s silver and the stones

have long escaped the band

leaving only empty

spaces. You’ll never understand

why I jump in. He and I did things alike.

I turn the bottle of Jack up.

Perhaps he can comfort me.

You don’t seem to notice or even

ask why. Silence questions more.

Tomorrow we’ll leave. Tonight

we’ll sleep back to back

in this empty house. I’ll reach up

to turn the light off and hope

I dream of not waking up with you

or him, just of not waking up at all.

Okay… before I rant I will say that there are some fantastic illusionists who use their own physical skills to do their illusions. Sleight of hand, close up illusions – all very good… but as for magic, that’s the stuff of King Arthur and Merlin, or Dungeons and Dragons.

I appreciate the skills of these illusionists almost to the same extent that I detest so called magicians and illusionists that rely on getting an audience to lie, tricks of the camera and other such bull to make their “tricks” work.

It stems back to me as a young lad being privileged enough to see Paul Daniels make an elephant “disappear” with his “magic”…. what a bunch of tosh.

The “trick” involved a big square tent with a pointy roof. The tent sides all drop down outwards so they lay flat on the ground. The roof of the tent is pulled off by a rope going up to a crane jib. In the top of the tent is a trapeze.

The idea is that the sides are down but the roof is on so the trapeze can’t be seen. Hidden in the roof is Debbie McGee. An elephant is walked into the tent. The tent sides are hoisted up, Paul says some “magic” words and then the tent sides drop and the roof cover is rapidly whipped off to reveal no elephant in the tent and just Debbie McGee sat on a trapeze.

To add credibility to the “magic” there are four Gurkha soldiers guarding the four corners of the tent. Their job is too act all shocked when the elephant vanishes… and have been told to lie, as they have to say the elephant hasn’t left the tent by any other means. This is where Daniels starts to get supposed audience participants to lie to the viewing public to help the so called illusion. I’m sorry, but if it takes making people lie to make the “magic” work, then it is nothing but a con at best. Not an illusion, not magic… a pure con.

What made me feel worse was even as a young kid I knew how honourable & honest the Gurkha soldiers are – I knew these brave soldiers would do anything for the Queen & Country…. and here they were being told by the dwarf like Daniels to lie for entertainment…

To add even more credibility to the farce they even had Johnny Morris there, walking around in the tent and jumping up and down proclaiming how the ground under the tent was absolutely solid. For all Johnny knew it was…

From my vantage point I watched the elephant getting walked into the tent. As the sides went up the rear tent panel opened like a pair of curtains (hidden from view, and ignored by the Gurkhas) and the elephant was lead out onto a platform. This was a lift platform that then dropped the elephant into a big old hole in the ground. As the platform retreated into the hole, the curtains were shut again. All of this happened very quickly as Daniels spun his cheesy magic to the camera…. and then! BANG… the tent sides drop, the roof is lifted and you are left with Debbie on the trapeze and no elephant – as the elephant is now hidden in a hole underneathe the back tent panel that has been dropped over the hole. See… I told you for all Johnny knew the ground directly under the tent was solid.

What the home audience see is the disappearance of an elephant, a confused Johnny Morris, four Gurkha chaps who have been told to lie, and several scattered spectators who also “didn’t see anything dodgy happen”. Home audiences are wowed and one small boy who saw it all for his own eyes is thoroughly disillusioned (see what I did there?).

Derren Brown is another to get people to lie for his act. The Lottery number trick was all done with split screen monitors (a bit like in movies where a thieves loop a video clip of a corridor to trick the guards). I won’t go into that here – but instead I’ll hand over to this YouTube clip (by Mutated Monty) that explains it. If one guy with a camera at home can do this, then Derren Brown would have no problem. Goes to show what a bunch of arse it all is. Well Done Mutated Monty.

So, unless you can pull a clever trick off WITHOUT getting people to lie to cover you, or relying on camera or computer trickery, then you don’t deserve to be called an illusionist – AT ALL. You are nothing more than a visual effects performer or con man.

Copperfield, Blaine, Daniels, Brown and all – you can all kiss my enchanted ring with your huge vanishing buildings and psychic mumbo jumbo – it’s all pathetic tat.

Now, street performers who can, by pure use of hand skills, make things happen before my eyes, then you people are the true illusionists. Lets not forget though – it’s all illusion and not magic…. magic is all Lord of the Rings.

What brought all of this up you may ask…. Simple… I just found out our works Christmas party has table “magicians”…. I am really hoping they are from the street performer side of the illusionist track, than the pathetic fakers side…

]]> http://backstagebusiness.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/sawing-a-girl-in-half/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:17:06 +0000 jcsum http://backstagebusiness.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/sawing-a-girl-in-half/

British magician P.T. Selbit is credited with first performing the illusion of sawing a lady in half in January 1921 at the Finsbury Park Empire theatre in London. Subsequently, American magician Horace Goldwin presented a version the same year which sparked a ‘war’ and rivalry between the magicians. For more info on the history of this illusion, read the excellent wiki article here.

In this entry, I will explore various modern-day presentations and variations of this classic illusion plot. I have tried to put the video clips in some kind of chronological order. I am specifically exploring illusions that can be performed live and not just made for TV.

The first clip is the traditional presentation for the Thin Sawing model that most illusionists do even to this day. This is just to get you familiar with the illusion because I know that there are many who have heard of the illusion over and over again, but never actually seen it.

Channing Pollack performed a presentation of the Double Sawing in half which is credited to Alan Wakeling. Essentially, two girls wearing different coloured costumes are cut in half. Their halves are switched and restored so that the girls bodies are now mismatched. Subsequently, Doug Henning, Andre Kole, Kirby Van Birch and others performed it. If you are interested, you can see Brad Ross & Fred Moore perform it on a Disney show here:

This is an excellent example of how to make a ’standard’ illusion your own by adding to it without actually changing the core illusion itself. Siegfried & Roy do the traditional Thin Sawing but what they do before and after the Thin Sawing to get in and out of the illusion is remarkable and great magic.

A huge evolution in the Sawing in Half came in the form of David Copperfield’s “Death Saw”. As with many quantum leaps in illusion innovation, Copperfield’s team broke new ground with the illusion. Besides the cutting edge illusion design and method, it is the the motivated presentation that makes this illusion performance in a league of its own. Nuff said!

“Clearly Impossible” was created by Jonathan Pendragon and was another innovation in the thin sawing as it uses clear boxes. It is extremely baffling for audiences (I was completely fooled the first time I saw it… and many times after that). It is now performed by many illusionists worldwide since it waas released to the market several years ago. Here is a video of U.K.’s Barry & Stuart performing it.

Brett Daniels used to perform the classic “Thin Sawing” before he updated the illusion to this version. It is in a way a visual combination of Copperfield’s “Death Saw” and Pendragons’ “Clearly Impossible”. I personally do not really like it but I know many do.

In a previous entry, I shared Mark Kalin & Jinger’s wonderful presentation of Alan Wakeling’s sawing which was designed to follow Selbit’s original presentation using audience participation. From the above-mentioned Wiki page, whilst Wakeling performed this illusion and perfected aspects of it, the general configuration and method have been attributed to an earlier magician, Virgil Harris Mulkey (1900-1989), aka. “The Great Virgil”, who first performed it in 1942 and later passed on the idea to Wakeling. Kalin & Jinger’s current presentation is copied by many magicians around the world today and I republish it here again if you did not see it.

Criss Angel performs an open version which I believe is an open sawing created by Ken Whittaker & Paul Haynes (Someone can correct me if I am wrong). But, he suspended it with chains which gives the illusion a very raw feel.

However, I have never seen a video of this illusion actually being performed live. Below is a clip from his older stage show (which he performed in the old WWE restaurant basement in New York) but this clip was obviously made for TV and has multiple edits. The one in his MindFreak TV show is also made for TV so not representation of a live stage illusion. I’m quite sure he performs this in his Vegas “BeLIEve” show but he does not get restored in the end.

Kevin James developed a very unique open sawing that was worked and reworked over several years. (Criss Angel did a similiar style illusion for his MindFreak TV show where he visibly pulls a girl apart that was purely made for TV.) I should mention that the version that is shown on various TV shows like America’s Got Talent was edited. I found a clip of the actual live performance… still great!

Just for the sake of completeness, I thought I would include some innovative variations of “Modern Art”. Created by prolific illusion designer, Jim Steinmeyer, “Modern Art” is a practical vertical sawing a girl in half. We used to perform this illusion in 2007 and early 2008 until Ning demanded to remove the illusion from our show because it was too common. But I digress.

John Bundy & Morgan do a great Halloween-themed illusion show called “Spooktacular”. As such, all the illusions presented in the show are Halloween themed and in costumed character. In his version, his prop is in the form of an upright coffin which really makes sense from the motivated prop design point of view.

Stuart & Jayne out of the U.K. work under the stage name Safire Illusionists and have an original design for a “Modern Art” type illusion. It looks great and is quite unique.

Dan Sperry performs a variation by Bryan Gilles called “Tilt” that is pretty neat. While, I doubt the average lay audience will appreciate the difference, magic geeks will.

How could end this entry without giving J C Sum & ‘Magic Babe’ Ning a plug  I redesigned, rebuilt 95% & restaged Gerry Frenette’s illusion for own unique version of the sawing a girl in half illusion. There are probably less than 5 of these in the world currently and only one with our design and exact workings.

David Copperfield conseguiu atrasar em seis meses o processo apresentado em julho por uma mulher de Seattle, que alega que o mago a atacou sexualmente enquanto visitava a ilha particular dele nas Bahamas.

Um juiz federal adiou o julgamento na terça-feira (27), para que a promotoria federal em Seattle pudesse completar a investigação penal.

A mulher é uma ex-candidata do Miss Washington, que o conheceu durante uma atuação dele em Kennewick, Washington, e o mago a convidou para sua ilha em julho de 2007.

Il Divo (2008) may have needed footnotes, but the satirical swipe at Giulio “Prince of Darkness” Andreotti revealed that Italian politics is never dull. In 1978, prime minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by a terrorist cell known as the Red Brigades. After nearly two months in captivity, he was found dead in the trunk of a car parked between the HQs of the two parties he hoped to reconcile. Il Divo implied that Andreotti may have somehow been complicit in his rival’s death—although this was never proven.

Marco Bellocchio’s Good Morning, Night (2003) relates this dark episode in Italian history from the Red Brigade’s perspective. The Best of Youth’s Maya Sansa plays Chiara, a ministerial clerk who is also a cell member. Posing as a married couple with fellow soldier Ernesto (Bellochio’s son Pier Giorgio), they rent the apartment in which Moro (Roberto Herlitzka) spends his last days. Chiara is the group’s link with the outside world, bringing back food and newspapers as she commutes to her job. She witnesses Italy fraying at the edges once the police begin arresting conspirators and the workers go on strike.

The Red Brigade are dreaming of a revolution which never comes. The group’s leader Mariano (the birdlike Luigi Lo Cascio, also from The Best of Youth) debates Moro in a “tribunal” that indicts his government. The rest spend most of their time watching TV hoping for action. In spite of Moro’s letters demanding the release of political prisoners, the government doesn’t budge.

Bellocchio provides a powerful sense of historical agents watching the events they set in motion wheel out of their control. The fortress/cell is surrounded by prying eyes and helicopters. A frequent motif is a point-of-view shot through a spyhole, whether into Moro’s tiny cell, decorated with a Red Brigade flag, or outside into the apartment complex hallway. The terrorists keep a pair of caged canaries, a time-honored cinematic symbol for imprisonment. These revolutionaries, as far as Bellocchio is concerned, are under glass. Even their movements around the apartment—particularly when they hide from unexpected visitors—has a choreographed quality to it. The characters also spend an inordinate amount of time staring into the camera, as if wondering what might lie beyond it. Bellocchio provides a clue to what that might be in the film’s final shots during Moro’s funeral. The camera pans over the grim-faced politicians who, in spite of the Pope’s entreaties, left Moro out to dry. Only one of Chiara’s companions figures it out. “We’ll kill him for them …”

This lends a meta-edge to the movie, particularly when Chiara reads a friend’s script called Good Morning, Night, which is apparently about terrorists who kidnap the prime minister. Dismissing the script as garbage, she starts to share the heroine’s doubts of her mission. Dreams of old Soviet film footage of Stalin give way to Nazi executioners when Mariano finally insists on Moro’s death.

Bellocchio provides an additional twist by providing two different endings to his film. In the first, Chiara dopes her friends and allows Moro to flees—a forgotten man, he escapes from both the Red Brigade and the even deadlier politicians he must deal in. In the second, reality sinks in. The Moro funeral we see takes place on Italian television, frequent snippets of which imply that Bellochio believes TV is the most reality-warping medium of all.

The film is dedicated to Bellocchio’s father and has a healthy sense of generational conflict. One of its most memorable scenes is also one of the few to take place in the open air. Chiara takes her friend Enzo (Paolo Briguglia) to a family wedding. During the reception feast, the older members of the party sing “The Anthem,” indulging in nostalgia for their own partisan ways underneath a sun that never seems to penetrate Chiara’s dark green apartment.

It’s a reminder for an audience of outsiders that the demarcation between the left and right in Italy was as striking as the divide between North and South. The idealism of the Red Brigades cannot withstand the cynicism of the Christian Democrats—or, in another telling scene, the medieval nature of the Catholic Church. Once, though, that idealism meant something.

Bellocchio wrote the adaptation of the book Il prigioniero with Daniela Ceselli, who also collaborated with the director on his 2009 film Vincere. Cinematographer Pasquale Mari was nominated for a Silver Ribbon for this film and 2005’s La passione di Giosue l’Ebreo (2005). The magnetic Sansa has yet to find stardom outside of Europe, although she recently played the part of Agnes Wickfield for an Italian TV adaptation of David Copperfield. Lo Cascio was seen in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna. A vet of films like Wertmuller’s Seven Beauties (1975), Herlitzka won a Silver Ribbon, Donatello and a prize at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Mori.

It’s been crazy at work and amidst meetings, I’ve had to deal with a bit of weirdness… some strange pervert’s been bugging me with stupid text messages & a stranger who has been trying to mislead people that she’s a local magician working with us.

It was a perplexed & confused close contact who shared this yesterday, and she did the right thing by asking direct, instead of assuming the fibs for fact. Honestly, I’m very confused who this young woman is, because the girl’s not even on my Facebook list. And she makes it sound like we’re very close, which makes me quite uncomfortable.

Perhaps, it’s an unfortunate miscommunication of sorts so I won’t name her here on my blog, but just to set the record straight… the fact is, the only other girl I work very closely with, is Adeline Ng aka Kinetic Gal: Magic Juggler.

And Ade & I… we’ve been close friends for YEARS, to the point that our families know each other She’s like a sister to me. And she’s the only other gal who I’d allow to call me that, besides my two actual younger sisters… Hurhurhurhurhur…

Anyways, I’d like to share some good news with everybody *grin*

MagicSeen November 2009 is now available… finally! It was delayed a bit because of the recent USA postal strike. Click on the link above to purchase the PDF download online, or have the magazine shipped to your doorstep!

An enlargement of our magazine cover… which as you can see, the repeating image of an image inside an image inside an image inside an image, is a nod to one of my all-time favorite artists, the extremely talented Leonardo da Vinci!

The main feature is a 10-page exclusive cover story with J C & yours truly, with photos galore in UK’s premiere magic magazine. We’ve the very first Asians to grace the cover of MagicSeen as traditionally it’s always been featuring the top UK pros, with the exception of the prior issue… American illusionist, David Copperfield!

Here’s a sneak peak of our first 2 pages, courtesy of www.magicseen.co.uk… Mucho kudos to the wonderful lads

Our interview aside, J C also generously shared one of his illusion plans in the magazine’s MASTERCLASS section. For more information, check out his blog Backstage Business for details

Truly, it’s a great magazine for all magic performers and enthusiasts, so do check out MAGICSEEN magazine… they are on Facebook too!

Ta for now, more later…

Hmmmm…So I thought and I thought, I pondered by my bedside, I thought of it in my sleep and I reached something – at last! My top 10 Villains in Fictions. The ones that I would love to hate and love their writers for sketching them so brilliantly that they still manage to rouse goosebumps on my flesh when I re-read them..Brilliant I say…Here are my favourites:

1. Uriah Heep(David Copperfield): Well well well, he is the top of the tops. The wicked Uriah Heep of David Copperfield. The insincerity of this character is spread throughout the book. He is the epitome of sheer evil. Read this one!

2. Tom Ripley(The Talented Mr. Ripley): It is strange however I would love to go to bed with Tom Ripley. After all one doesn’t really know whether this villain is gay or straight. His crimes. His mind. The plots he schemes is beyond everyone. And yet somewhere down the line he is aware that he will get caught someday for what he has done.

3. Heathcliff(Wuthering Heights): I would not call this one a villain, but then again, what would you call a person who drives his loved one to madness? What would you call someone who loves with such a vengeance that he wants to destroy everything in his wake? You would but call him a villain, wouldn’t you?

4. Lord Voldermort (Harry Potter Series): Lord Voldermort is real. He is insecure. He wants to be liked by all. He wants to overpower. He is the trueblue villain of the times gone by and Rowling has managed just fine with him.

5. Count Dracula (Dracula): An entire book dedicated to the blood-sucking, enticing vampire. Before Twilight emerged, way before there was this Scandinavian imaginary being that was many a cause of people’s sleepless nights. Including mine – though mine came later as well with Keanu Reeve’s Dracula.

6. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs): The hissing. The good taste for flesh. The maneater Mr. Lecter is quite a monster created by Mr. Harris. Dark and brooding. He knows what to plan and what to do with his time. Chills the spine everytime!

7. The Devil (The Master and Margarita): The devil decides to take a walk in Russia and there is but after all, hell breaking loose. Literally. Moscow is the devil’s new abode.

8. Humbert (Lolita): No matter what anyone says, to me Humbert is a villain. Probably the greatest of them all. Yes he was a pedophile. May be he loved the child, however doing what he did!! Attrocious!

9. Sauron (The Lord of the Rings): White haired, withering, full of strength, Sauron will not stop at anything to get the ring to rule them all.

10. Sher Khan (The Jungle Books): And my personal favourite, the tiger himself..Sher Khan. The one who still manages to instill fear in kids! Brilliant I say!

Last but not the least. For every anti-hero or villain ever created, you made it possible for the concept of heroes to come alive.

The Nov 2009 Issue 29 of magicseen magazine is now out for sale! Ning & I are honoured to be the first Asian magicians to be featured on the cover of Europe’s largest magic magazine. We really love the cover and think it stands out from the previous covers of the magazine

The issue features a 10-page interview with us, photos and also an illusion Masterclass where I share the secrets/ design of one of my original illusions. The magazine is also filled with other interesting articles and news which might be an eye-opener for non-magicians.

You can buy a single issue or a pdf version of the magazine at www.magicseen.co.uk

In the previous issue, our “The Impossible Record” was covered as well as a feature on “Magic in Singapore. In you want, you can order that issue as well. That issue featured the first Americian magician on the cover in the form of David Copperfield.

Halloween week.  It is sure to be a scream! 

• Introduction to wine course w/ Peter Smit (Mon 26, Happinez Wine Bar, 7-9:30pm – $35+HST)  Register @ 634.7340
• Meet the Artist: Clyde A. Wray – poet & playwrite (Tue 27, Saint John Arts Centre, 12-1pm – BYOLunch)
• Opera 101 ‘Listen & Lunch’ (Wed 28, Saint John Arts Centre, 12:10-12:50pm – Free.)
• The Emperor – Symphony NB (Wed 28, Imperial Theatre, 8pm – $10-$40)
• Spook Trail (Thu 29, Kennebecasis Valley High School, 6:30pm – $2/trail fundraiser)
• Shakin (Thu 29, O’Leary’s Pub, 10pm – regular cover charge)
• CS High (Fri 30, Water Street Dinner Theatre – Steamers, 6:30pm – $39.95)
• David Copperfield Live (Fri 30, Harbour Station, 6pm and 9pm – $59.50-$75.50)
• Legends of Country Music (Fri 30, Imperial Theatre, 7:30pm – 20$)
• Animal Rescue League’s Halloween Howler Dance (Fri 30, Royal Canadian Legion West Branch #69, 8pm-12am – $10 fundraiser) 
• Stephanie Mainville (Fri 30, The Blue Olive, 9pm – $15, $18 at the door)
• PRIDE Halloween Dance (Fri 30, The Armories – 60 Broadview Ave – South End, 10pm-2am – $5)
• Tradition (Fri 30 & Sat 31, O’Leary’s Pub, 10pm – regular cover charge)
• Old Thomas & the Little Fairy (Sat 31, Imperial Theatre, 2pm – $14)
• Fiesta Latina! (Sat 31, Taco Pica – 96 Germain St., all evening)
• 2nd Annual Haunted Halloween Cruise (Sat 31, Voyager II – Saint John Marina, 9-11pm – $30)
• Halloween Party! (Sat 31, The Blue Olive, all night)
• Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon Classic Albums Live (Sun 1, Imperial Theatre, 8pm – $38)
• The Australian Pink Floyd Show (Sun 1, Harbour Station, 7:30pm – $49) 
• Chop Chop 7 Day Festival for Foodies (Sun 1 – Sat 7, www.uptownsj.com for all participating venues)

In media interviews, we often get asked who our favourite illusionists are. Naturally, due to limited space or time, we never get to go into any great details. So, I thought I would share my favourite illusionists to watch.

This list is confined to stage illusionists; not close-up magicians, stage magicians, mentalists or any other genre of magical entertainers. While all these performers naturally can and do perform other forms of magic, it is in the field of theatrical grand illusion that they made their mark.

This group of magicians is based on my personal preferences and what I like in an illusion performance. Well, I should start off by saying what I do not like in an illusion act. I do not like the cookie-cutter production show type illusion show with multiple dancers who do not add anything to the magic. I also do not like obligatory dancing before and after an illusion.

And finally, I hate seeing the same 12 illusions being performed the exact same way; Sub Trunk, Fire Cage, Twister, Interlude, Origami, Fire Spiker, Compressed, Modern Art, Bowl-a-Rama, Snowing, Suspended Animation and Mini Kube Zag. Distinct style and flair is very important to me and an illusionist must add their own touch to an illusion, even if it may be a stock illusion.

Enjoy!

David Copperfield (U.S.A.)

He is the the greatest illusionist of all time and is responsible for influencing the work of probably 90% of the top working illusionists today. He is in a league of his own and has set a standard that is unlikely to be achieved by an individual for stage illusions. His 1989 – 1993 years were awesome and his contributions to the field of illusions is also unlikely to be matched. I actually like the present-day Copperfield the best as he has less dancing and a more streamlined presentation to the magic. He has dozens of illusions that are performed to perfection and captured on video. However, a life-transforming experience for me was watching his “Flying” illusion in 1993 on VHS tape. The original version that was aired in his “Flying” TV special is still the best presentation because it includes the video montage of past attempts of people trying to fly.

Luis De Matos (Portugal)

While he bears physical similarities to Copperfield in terms of look and appearance, Luis is very much his own illusionist with a distinct style. He is Portugal’s top illusionist and I have an even greater respect for his work after reading his cover story in MAGIC magazine several months ago. He has a very classy and theatrical style to his presentation and illusion and the late-Gary Ouelett’s influence is evident in his work. Check out the first of 3 parts of highlights of a huge show he staged a couple of years ago.

Hans Klok (Holland)

Holland’s top illusionist and currently one of the hottest illusionists in the world. He is known for his fast performance style and has the best assistants in the world. Hans looks like a real life “Prince Charming” from “Shrek” and his performance style and presentations for illusions are copied by many around the world. He is the single reason we see so many “Suspended Animations”, “Fire Cages” and “Fire Spikers” being performed around the world… sadly, mostly pirated and unauthorized props. In 2007, he headlined his own Vegas show with Pamela Anderson as his special guest assistant. Here is an incredible performance from the World Magic Awards 2007.

Mark Kalin & Jinger (U.S.A.)

One of the best husband/ wife magic teams in the world. They have a distinctive style of illusion performance and I love their onstage chemistry. Their chemistry reminds me of Ning & myself although ‘Magic Babe’ is nothing like Jinger in terms of stage character/ style. Jinger is also more of lead assistant and dancer than a solo magician. Mark is a brilliant illusion designer and has given the magic world several notable illusions including the “Fire Spiker” (which Hans Klok modified quite significantly) and “Eclispe” illusion, which is getting a bit too common among top pros around the world. Jinger is also smoking hot! Kalin & Jinger perform the best presentation of the Alan Wakeling Sawing that is also copied by many performers around the world. See it below.

Franz Harary (U.S.A.)

Franz is probably the most underrated and unknown illusionist although he has one of the biggest shows on the planet. What makes him unique is also that he designs all of his own illusions and they are often “monsterous” in size with real cutting edge design. I had the good fortunate of having breakfast with him a couple of years ago and got an insight into his mind. He is an incredible businessman and knows how to create work and a market for himself. Among his original illusions, he gave the magic world “Slicer” or “Janet Box” (as it was originally designed for Janet Jackson for a concert tour). IMO, he has the best version of a burned alive stage illusion. Criss Angel has the best visual illusion made for TV but Franz’s is what a modern burned alive illusion should look like. Watch it below:

Steve Wyrick (U.S.A.)

Steve gets a lot of criticism from magicians because he has family wealth that has allowed him to build his own show and theatre in Las Vegas. Life is not fair…but at least his money is legal and ethical. Plus, he does put in a lot of effort to make his illusion presentations elaborate, spectacular and current – something I really appreciate. While he does not really have any wholly original illusions, he does have the largest illusions in the world in a single show. He has also got the best and hottest dancers in Vegas. (Even his harshest critics agree on this point). Check out the video below. While an educated audience will know that he liberally adopted the dramatic premise and plot of Copperfield’s “Snowing” illusion and “Grandpa Aces” routine, he applied it to another elaborate illusion sequence with a cool kicker.

Jan Rouven (Germany)

Jan reminds of the highly trained, well financed and slick European bad guys from the Die Hard movies. A cliched image but I guess there is no one like that in magic. He performs his illusions with a distinct style; showy yet cool and sophisticated in a way. I think he perfoms the best “Jet Turbine” illusion. Here is a clip of him performing Kalin’s “Eclispe” illusion. It is my favourite presentation of all performers. Ryan Joyce from Canada does an excellent presentation which is theatrically superior and has better sound design but Jan’s presentation has a cool urban feel which appeals to me more.

Michael Barron (U.S.A.) 

Michael’s name will be unfamiliar to most as he is an upcoming illusionist with lots of promise. I really like his approach and depth in his thinking of all to present classic illusions and effects. In my previous popular entry on “Why do illusionists perform the same illusions?”, I highlighted Michael’s presentation for the “Mini Kube Zag” illusion. It is current, cool and features a wicked looking original design. He also has a David Cook thing going.

‘Magic Babe’ Ning (Singapore)

There is really no female illusionist that I really like to watch… except ‘Magic Babe’. Her onstage character appeals to me and evidently others as well; as seen from this blogger. But, more specifically, she also adds her idiosyncratic touches, gestures and looks that just make the performance hers. It looks good, is captivating and helps makes my videos totally watchable. I love the choreography she brings to our “Crystal Metamorphosis” illusion and how she chains up the prop with attitude and control.

Esta segunda coleccion de CDs Interactivos con resumenes de novelas de nuestra historia sale todos los viernes en los kioskos de periodicos en todo el pais Peru, la primera entre fue el 4 de Setiembre 2009 pero a partir de la segunda entrega no entiendo porque demora en llegar y no llega el viernes sino el martes de la semana siguiente, esto en AQP, para los que no pueden esperar, aca les ire subiendo en MP3 las novelas que a continuacion se mencionan:

El Principe y el Mendigo
El Fantasma de la Ópera
La Isla del Tesoro
Huckleberry Finn
La Vuelta al Mundo en 80 días
Ana Karenina
Las Aventuras de Sherlock Holmes
Los Miserables
Los Tres Mosqueteros
La Dama de las Camelias
El Hombre Invisible
El Jugador
David Copperfield
Viaje al Centro de la Tierra
Sentido y Sensibilidad

Nota: Solo son archivos MP3 para escuchar la novela, no son los CDs Interactivos completos.

El Principe y el Mendigo

http://rapidshare.com/files/292545121/1.Mark_Twain_-_El_principe_y_el_mendigo.rar.html

El Fantasma de la Ópera

http://rapidshare.com/files/292572868/2.Gaston_Leroux_-_El_fantasma_de_la_opera.rar.html

La Isla del Tesoro

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0OBU710E

Huckleberry Finn

http://hotfile.com/dl/14804417/f1d237a/4.Mark_Twain_-_Huckleberry_Finn.rar.html

La Vuelta al Mundo en 80 días

 http://rapidshare.com/files/292622240/5.Julio_Verne_-_La_vuelta_al_mundo_en_80_dias.rar.html

NOTA IMPORTANTE: al subirlo a rapidshare me dice que solo puede ser descargado 10 veces, mil disculpas no tengo internet en casa, por tanto se me hace dificil resubir, si alguien que baje lo suba a otro servidor y comparta los enlaces los colocare en el post, mi e-mail es miguelbit@hotmail.com

p.d. los que desean obtener alguna info de la primera coleccion al igual que versiones completas de los cds de algunos de la primera y segunda coleccion visiten www.intercambiosvirtuales.org

I’ve been on a reading tear, which actually is pretty much par for the course.  There have been a few moments over the years where I haven’t been able to pick up a book (during pregnancy I wasn’t that keen on reading and slowed it down a bit), but mostly that is not the case.

Because I am working on a particular writing project right now, I am trying to choose my books in a way that will inspire me.  So last week I picked up a couple of books that I hadn’t read since high school and college:  The Bronte Sister’s Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.  Great nourishment.

Wuthering Heights had me a little depressed, I must admit, for all the fighting between the characters and the general unhappiness of pretty much everybody.  But I loved the way the characters contrasted with each other and though all the sparring was painful for me, it was also fun too, in that ‘good but it hurts’ kind of way.

Jane Eyre has such a wonderfully idealistic viewpoint and a ‘love conquers all’ theme, that it kept me going and I felt warm and fuzzy at the end, just like I felt a lot of the time when I was sixteen.  (Although, because I am also rereading Julien Sleigh’s book Friends and Lovers, about marriage and relationships, I felt a little concerned about certain aspects of Jane and Mr. Rochester’s relationship.  She’s only 18 after all, and he is well into middle age).  Luckily it all seems to turn out for the best and I was certainly rooting for them.  A recent article in the NY Times talks about the Roman Polanski scandal and about sex in the 70’s and middle aged men cavorting with teenagers.  It’s a good thing for everybody involved that Woody Allen and Edward Rochester are not at all alike and Jane Eyre herself would never be mistaken for Mariel Hemingway.  But the age difference itself does make a certain parallel between the two relationships.  Food for thought.

To Kill a Mockingbird was delightful and fabulous of course.  I loved it.  Scout is such an imaginative and humorous narrator, and especially having a child who is the same age, around 8, I particularly loved her truthful and original viewpoint.  And the theme hits home too.  Though racism maybe more hidden today in some parts of the States (and that is debatable), it is no less insidious and destructive.

Now it’s David Copperfield and wow, Dickens is spectacular — his characters, his ear for language, his eye for the poignant or revealing detail.  I have recently written a screenplay and am working on a novel, and reading Dickens really hits home the difference between the two:  writing a screenplay, one really has to stay on point, everything has to add up and be essential to the overall, there is a 120 page limit and you have to get it all in and make it all count, yada yada yada.  (The screenplay is called BORDERS, by the way).  With a novel, as Dickens so artfully teaches, there is a much more leisurely pace with which to explore the meandering quality of the human condition.

Another book which offers inspiration to writer’s is Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, some very good tips in there, and fun anecdotes about the writer’s life too.  And while I am on the subject, Huraki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.  Good reading and good writing advice.

Just out yesterday morning was my exclusive interview The Babe Behind the Magic with Channel News Asia, which is related to our news article last week, Touching the World with their Magic

This is all in context with our recent St James gig last week, which saw Mr Tony Hassini (CEO/ Chairman of the International Magicians Society) personally fly down to present J C & yours truly, our Merlin Awards.

Regional media covered the event as we’re the first Singaporean illusionists in history to receive this international recognition (Original Illusionist of the Year 2009 &  Original Female Illusionist of the Year 2009) for our milestones and track record.

I guess it’s a national pride thing, that our local home boy and home girl are recognized for their hard work, that we’re able to achieve the Merlins (which is to magic, what the Oscars are to film) which have been presented to other outstanding illusionists like David Copperfield and Criss Angel.

The gracious Mr Tony Hassini Chairman/ CEO of IMS. It’s his very first time personally presenting the Merlin Awards here in Singapore. He actually liked the humidity in Singapore *LOL*

Hopefully more local magicians in the near future will be able to get similar recognition. We all need to show the world that Singapore is much more than just a little red dot

The wonderful committee from the International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 115 came by to support our St James event. I’m truly very grateful for their encouraging support and unselfish love!

If you’re interested in joining Singapore’s oldest magic club, visit the IBM Ring 115 website @ www.ibm115.org

Mucho kudos to my awesome friends and loved ones who made time to swing by too The ever-sweet BFF actually gave up her expensive pair of STOMP 09 opening night tickets at the Esplanade to catch my gig! *muaks*

Besides the Channel News Asia interviews that talked about our local magic scene, do look out for I-Weekly magazine (issue 624) hitting the newstands later this morning.

Yep… J C’s exclusive on-on-one interview will be on their 专科达人 section (pages 28 & 29) and my on-stage partner shares about his very interesting job. You’ll see him on the cover, can’t miss it. There’s plenty of pictures too! Will blog more about that later.

Ta for now, more lata!

…was finished in two days. I suppose it wouldn’t have been too difficult to read in a day but I’d rented the Emmy-award winning Little Dorrit miniseries early last week and the pull of those first two discs was astonishingly strong. (My Nick Hornby fanaticism’s primary ingredient, it would seem, is weak sauce.) Andrew Davies is responsible for this incredible adaptation and after some light googling I discovered that he also adapted the Colin Firth, A&E version of Pride and Prejudice—which is, of course, the adaptation that all other Pride and Prejudice adaptations are measured against. Judging from the bit of Little Dorrit that I’ve just watched and the one other thing of his that I’ve seen, it would appear that Mr. Davies can do no wrong.

After watching the first half of the miniseries I turned back to Mr. Hornby’s book but all of those wonderful Dickens characters lingered in my mind. Although I was reading a decidedly modern novel wherein much of the conflict revolves around the internet(s), thoughts of all those soot covered Cockneys persisted.

Dickens appeals to my most primal entertainment needs, this very basic desire to experience a great story—one with twists, turns, romance, humor, and debtors’ prisons. Everything about his work takes me back to this really innocent place. For a start, my earliest contact with his world was via Oliver and Company and then in 9^th grade when we did Great Expectations, much of it was read aloud in class.

No one reads aloud anymore!

I don’t know but for me at least, there’s just something very wholesome about reading aloud (even when what’s being read aloud involves elderly shut-ins catching on fire).

As I made my way through Juliet, Naked, I was already plotting my next read. Dickens(!) My plans were only solidified when one of the characters in the Hornby book turned out to be a Dickens fan.

So I finished the Hornby quickly. It was good. Not mind-blowing or anything, and definitely not as enjoyable as High Fidelity, but it wasn’t a total disappointment—my (dubious) allegiance to Hornby remains unaltered (or something). (I will say this, though: Because one of the three protagonists is a self-doubting artist type there were some meta undertones and I couldn’t help but think that Hornby was using this book as a way of preemptively justifying any of its shortcomings.)

Anyway, that was on Thursday and my next move was to purchase David Copperfield or Bleak House or whatever. But Jesus, those books are thick. With no grade on the line I don’t know that I’d have the motivation to finish one. I’m going to need a little time for mental preparation, to build up my reading endurance before I tackle one of those bad boys. Or maybe I’ll just chuck the idea all together, finish the last two discs of Little Dorrit, and then go see the new Jim Carrey 3D version of A Christmas Carol next month.

Eh…

I’m currently reading Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem and I already like it more than The Fortress of Solitude. My initial impulse was to attribute this to its more traditional structure; it’s more straightforward and feels less ambitious than the other one, so it’s easier to get wrapped up in. But that’s not fair. I think it’s just as ambitious as Fortress but that ambition is less transparent.

Trigger Warning

There has always been individuals who believe they are above the law. Individuals who believed that they can commit crimes and either escape being captured, being charged, or will escape without a scratch because they are above it all. Above the victims, above the crime, above the legal system.

Most of these times, individuals such as these crash in a beautiful ball of fire in a dazzling display of arrogance and stupidity. It’s always entertaining to watch this happen. But this does not happen often enough.

With Roman Polanski recently being ’supported’ by a large number of “Hollywood Celebrities”, it dawns on me that individually these individuals can escape under the radar with their individual crimes. We cannot allow this to happen. A ‘Celebrity’ is not more important than their victim. A ‘Celebrity’ is not above the law, or above criminal prosecution.

Polanski himself has been skating freely for the past 30 years with no remorse for his crime, and no punishment for his acts. (http://wp.me/pBppk-1w)

This is not a unique pattern

Alex De Silva is a choreographer for the show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. Back in August he was arrested for assaulting four woman.

The alleged assaults took place between August 2002 and March 2009 and involved four victims, Robison said. The victims were either dancers or aspiring dancers who met Da Silva at his dance classes.

The charges include four counts of forcible rape, two counts of assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/dance-instructor-arrested-and-charged-with-sexual-assault.html)

Why is this news? Because he had been accused three times previous of  sexual assault and there was a refusal to file charges.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has declined to file sexual assault charges against salsa dance instructor Alex Da Silva, a choreographer on the FOX television show “So You Think You Can Dance,” who was expected to be released from custody Tuesday.

“We declined to file [Monday] . . . and asked Los Angeles police to do some further investigation,” Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney’s spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. “Once the additional investigation is complete and the case is resubmitted, we will evaluate it and make a filing decision.” (http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/08/local/me-silva8)

It was not until the fourth victim came forward and provided a story similar to the other three victims that charges were filed. It took four victims for him to get arrested. And his defense?

At the time of his original arrest, Silva’s attorney Harland Braun told The Times, the case was a misunderstanding of “the difference between seduction and rape.” On Tuesday, Braun had no immediate comment on the search warrant and was critical of the bail amount.

You see, he’s famous. So when he wants to have sex with you, you should be flattered. You should feel special. You should give in to his seduction. Because there is such a fine line between seduction and rape. In fact, it is common to confuse seduction and rape. Isn’t it crazy how not consenting to sex while being forcibly “seduced” can be confused with rape?

He is not the first, or the only person of course to be arrested in Hollywood recently.

There’s David Copperfield who has been accused of rape.

A Seattle woman alleges that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by David Copperfield after being lured in mid-2007 to the magician’s private island in the Bahamas. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0820092copperfield1.html)

There’s America’s “Next Top Model’ fashion designer who has been accused of rape.

A celebrity fashion designer who has appeared several times on “America’s Next Top Model” has been charged with sexual assault and rape involving two women and a 15-year-old girl, authorities said.

Anand Jon Alexander, 33, was charged with six felonies accusing him of a series of sexual assaults between October 2004 and March 5, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17608477/)

A series of sexual assault? Wait, this gets better, you see, it wasn’t just sexual assault, but sexual assaults with MINORS!

“Subsequently, additional evidence led us to other victims,” said Lt. Mitch McCann, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department, which is investigating the case.

The charges include forcible rape and lewd acts on a child. Prosecutors have also charged a special circumstance allegation of multiple victims. If convicted, he faces a maximum of life in prison.

Richards said his client met one of his accusers online after she expressed interest in working with him.

“When you have people desperate to be in fashion, they get upset when you don’t place them where they want to be,” he said, adding that his client was involved with many different women.

“When you deal with a large amount of women, you’re going to have potential false allegations made against you,” Richards said.

Of course! You see, these woman were all not talented enough to work with such an esteemed fashion designer and are all angry at him for not seeing the talent they have so they worked together to individually accuse him of sexually assaulting them. Especially the minors, they are the meanest in the bunch!

As if rape apologists are not good enough. We have a clear insight into the fear of talking about the assaults and accusing attackers.

Police will not investigate claims made by model Katie Price that she was raped by a celebrity.

Surrey Police’s decision not to look into the matter comes hours after she was interviewed by officers at her home. (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23745754-police-will-not-investigate-katie-price-celebrity-rape-claim.do%3Bjsessionid=207EAC7F9FFAFB2ACA866AD8C74F1E3E)

You see, she refuses to name the attacker. Only the victim knows the reasons why she refuses to name him. But one could easily guess the fear of naming your attacker who would have not only the money to escape such charges, but will also have the ability to accuse the victim, slander her name, and be victimized the the victim blaming media. Gosh, wonder why she wouldn’t want to drag herself into THAT mess!

It is not just here in the states that ‘celebrities’ and money have gotten victims perpetrators off with little to no sentences. Afghan woman are extreme victims of this mentality.

Nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from domestic abuse, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

90% of woman are victims of abuse. That is a ridiculous amount of woman who are at the mercy of males in a society that sees them as mere pieces of property. How can I equate their suffering with the suffering victims do here in the states? Simple. Despite the fact that they are tortured, abused, raped, their perpetrators have more rights then they do. They are victimized in the same way as victims are here.

Despite that, there are less than a dozen shelters like this one in Afghanistan, usually run by non-governmental organizations. Abusers are rarely prosecuted or convicted, and most women are afraid to say anything. “Their mothers are beaten by their fathers. They’re beaten by their fathers, by their brothers. It’s a way of life,” said Manizha Naderi, director of WAW.

Sound familiar? victims are to afraid to say something? Most abusers are rarely prosecuted? Shameen is one such victim who has suffered years of abuse from her husband and family. She is now stuck inside a safe house where she cannot step out for fear of being murdered by her own family for bringing shame upon them.

She was raped and nearly stabbed to death by her husband just seven days before we met her. Her lips are quivering and her eyes full of fear. “He forced himself on me,” she said. “All I could do was scream. “She was married off 15 years ago when she was a teenager. Throughout those years she was tortured and abused, suffering daily beatings with an electrical wire or the metal end of a hammer. This was her normal life. “He chased after me with a hammer. He said if I made any noise he would put holes through me,” Shameen said.

He forced himself on her, he subjected her to intense pain, humiliation. And yet she is the one in hiding. She is the only who has been forced to live a life of isolation. She is the one punished for HIS actions.

In Afghanistan, a woman is blamed for the injustices she must live through. Shameen says when her sister was killed, her parents turned a blind eye. She misses her parents and siblings but knows she can never see them again. “They’ll kill me,” she said without flinching. She now hides in a safe house, isolated and alone. Like most Afghan women, she has lost all hope. Afghanistan is a country where for centuries women have been considered property — not equals, like the constitution states. They are often beaten, raped and even sold to the highest bidder. There are very few places women can turn to.

It is not just adult woman who are victims of this victimization mentality. There is a child at this same shelter who was violently sexually assaulted and left to die. Her father found her floating in a river and brought her to the shelter to live out the remainder of her life in hiding and isolation for fear that she would be killed outside of the safe house.

According to WAW, her rapist was a young man from an affluent family and quickly released from jail because of bribes and family connections. The organization forced the authorities back on the case and he was then sentenced to six years in a Kabul juvenile prison. He has three years left in his sentence, and Hosnia’s parents fear for their daughter’s life. So the shelter is her home now and the women and children here, her family. “We will take care of her through adulthood,” Naderi said. Hosnia’s father, a poor farmer, knows the only chance for his girl to have a future in a country where rape victims are punished, is if she grows up here.

Just like perpetrators here, her rapist was released because he had fame, he had money, he had respect. If not for the safe house that the victim resides in, he would never have been brought to justice. And yet the victim still sits in a room, isolated from her family, blamed for being a female, a child, a victim.

So what about these perpetrators causes us to forgive them and defend them? Is it that they are men? Powerful men? Joseph Brooks, an Oscar winner, was arrested for assaulting ELEVEN woman between 2005 and 2008.

A 71-year-old Academy Award-winning songwriter who the authorities said used his Oscar to dazzle aspiring actresses was arrested Tuesday on charges of raping or sexually assaulting 11 women lured to his East Side apartment from 2005 to 2008. His female assistant was charged with helping him.

BOOOOOM! (That was my head exploding, in case you were wondering)

At a news conference announcing the charges in a 91-count indictment, Mr. Morgenthau said that in addition to the 11 charged assaults within the five-year statute of limitations, “we have information about one rape going back to 1970.” He said investigators were seeking other possible victims.

Gasp, possible victims? Really? Because we would be shocked to learn that he hasnt raped before right? Because it was an accident the first time in 1970, and it was an accident the other 11 times, just like Roman Polanski. I am sure he is a victim as well.

“He didn’t do any of these things,” said his lawyer, Jeffrey C. Hoffman, arguing for no bail.

Mr. Hoffman said Mr. Brooks was too frail to have committed the assaults. But Maxine Rosenthal, a prosecutor, said he was strong and fit at the time.

Yes, you see his stroke, which happened roughly in April would not have impeded his ability to commit these assaults until AFTER the stroke happened. I forget that sometimes.

Lt. Adam Lamboy, the commanding officer of the Police Department’s Manhattan Special Victims Squad, said that a search of Mr. Brooks’s apartment turned up an item some of the women have said Mr. Brooks used to bedazzle them: his Oscar.

“The Oscar was used as a prop,” Lieutenant Lamboy said. As the women told it, he said, Mr. Brooks would say: “This could be you, this could be you holding this Oscar. If you do what I say.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/nyregion/24brooks.html?_r=1&ref=arts)

I bet he is not guilty because his a brilliant Oscar winner! Yes! free him! let him go! screw the victims! He won an Oscar people!!!

These are not the first accusations of assault and mistreatment of woman for Joseph Brooks. Madam Kristin Davis, the so called “hooker queen” talks about his abuse towards her prostitutes.

The former hooker queen tells us that Brooks, who inflicted the song “You Light Up My Life” on us, was one of her most obnoxious clients.

“He used my service hundreds of times,” says Davis, whose other customers allegedly included Eliot Spitzer and Bernie Madoff. “He’d pay up to $1,500 an hour. He started out as a normal client. But, as his cocaine abuse progressed, he became abusive. He always wanted the youngest girls and often rejected the women I sent him. He’d also take their cell phones and refuse to let them call me. They’d come back from an appointment with him in tears.” (Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/08/09/2009-08-09_madam_kristin_davis.html#ixzz0SmpbHMMF)

While I do not condone the actions of Ms. Davis, I am amazed that this pattern of behavior was not seen before! Gasp, he victimized woman prior to his arrest? Prior to his stroke? How? He is so frail now!

Brooks’ lawyer, Jeff Hoffman, says his 71-year-old client suffered a severe stroke in April. “As a result, he doesn’t remember well enough to say whether Davis’ allegations are accurate. He does say he wasn’t an abuser of alcohol or narcotics – so far as he can remember.”

Sooo, his lawyer cannot remember if the allegations are accurate? If his client has abused drugs? He cannot remember?

Meanwhile Hoffman believes Brooks, who has pleaded not guilty to the rape charges, can’t get a fair trial in Manhattan. He says he’ll ask that the case be moved upstate because potential jurors could be influenced by publicity and “unethical” statements by prosecutors “who’ve said they wish some of the crimes carried higher jail time.”

It seems to me that Brooks should worry more about his lawyers ability to handle his case, since he cannot remember important things like, drug abuse, alcoholism, prostitution charges, or rape accusations.

Funny, Polanski can’t get a fair trial, Brooks can’t get a fair trial. When do the victims get a fair trial?!  I suppose that will only happen if you win an Oscar

Where is this mentality coming from? Is in innate in use to defend the accused and despise the victim? From where? There has been lots of speculation that having money is the key to freedom. I think it is even deeper than that. I think victimization is embedded in everything we see and do. Marketing campaigns showing females as objects or pieces of meat, comedians making rape jokes, petitions being signed by affluent “Celebrities” to free a rapist. The worst offense has been pretty recent in a movie that was just released of a book written by Tucker Max. He is by far the best example of rape apologism. His ‘career’, if you can all it that, is based on victimizing woman. His books are based on his sexual exploits where he gets woman so drunk they could not feasibly consent and then has sex with them. His defense?

[...] really kind of devaluing the seriousness of an actual crime . . . . Dude, I mean, the discussion about where consent lies and doesn’t lie is an important one, and should be had, but this is not the fucking forum. And, uh, and that’s never been an issue for me, so, I don’t know man, I feel like if that’s an issue to you, that’s great, and you should pursue it, but pursue it with the people who it needs to be pursued with. And not with me.” (http://abyss2hope.blogspot.com/2009/09/tucker-max-profiteer-of-pain-and-abuse.html)

Cuz, if your not to sure if your commiting a crime, you should go ahead and commit it anyway, and then claim you didnt know. Oh! that car’s yours? My bad, I didnt know it was a crime to borrow it without your permission. See its not stealing if your “borrowing it”. Its not rape if everyones drunk!

Just because Tucker Max believes his sexual actions don’t cross legal lines into sex crimes doesn’t mean he is correct. What he might view a cajoling could in fact be criminal coercion. What he believes to be consensual sex with a drunk woman might be rape through intoxication. Someone who never thinks about where consent lies and doesn’t lie is admitting to deliberate and dangerous ignorance.

Ignorance which he is marketing.

the blogger, abyss2hope makes an excellent point. He is marketing victimization. He is making money off of rape. HA! HA! Isn’t that funny?! Lets all run to the theature and watch him and his friends victimize woman because they are worth so little. He is obviously a better more important person than they are!

As long as we continue to allow woman to be displayed as inferior, woman will be inferior. As long as we permit victimization, victims will not come foward due to fear. As long as we continue to be rape apologists, perpetrators will not be held accountable for their actions.

Its time we stopped protecting the perpetrators, and start protecting the victims. I say we start a “FREE THE VICTIMS” petition in counter balance to the “FREE POLANSKI” petition that has been shamefully signed.

To the countless victims of abuse, I am sorry. No words can begin to take the pain away or ease the struggle to heal. But you are not alone, and you are not at fault. One day, you to shall find justice. I pray you find solace during your struggle.

Yours Truly,

Kate

almost as good as…

Sorry again not to have been around much – I’ve  just had a couple of days away from home and am still behind with reviews I want to write! But, anyway, here is a bit of costume drama news.

This week’s Radio Times in the UK carries the news that Andrew Davies’ new adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s great series of novels The Pallisers has been axed. Davies says the BBC is going downmarket and now only commissioning adaptations of big-name works – he has also been asked to adapt David Copperfield instead of Dombey and Son, which I’m a bit disappointed about as DC has been done so many times already.

I haven’t found the Radio Times article online, but here is a link to another
report quoting the same comments:
I’m mystified by the quote saying that Davies is now adapting Arnold Bennett’s South Riding.  Just editing (October 6) to say that today’s Radio Times has a correction pointing out that this novel is in fact by Winifred Holtby – and that it was the magazine’s mistake, not his!  This one has been adapted before, but not for a long time, and I will be interested to see it.

On a happier note, the BBC starts showing the new Sandy Welch adaptation of
Jane Austen’s Emma this weekend – I’m really looking forward to it and also hoping it gets brilliant ratings to give TV costume drama a badly-needed shot in the arm.

ITV’s recent mini-series of Wuthering Heights, which I thought was powerful
although flawed in places, did fairly well in terms of ratings (the Radio Times
claims 4.28 million was disappointing, but I would have thought it was pretty
good during the main summer holiday period) and has also sold to networks all over the world. Possibly on the back of that, ITV has now commissioned Downton Abbey, a major nine-part series scripted by Julian Fellowes about a country house in the Edwardian era and around the First World War, which will be about both the family and the servants, as with Upstairs Downstairs – so maybe costume drama is already starting to bounce back.