Naquada

It’s been an absolutely mad few weeks, hence having quite a few posts queued up to go..

In the last few weeks we’ve be up to Scotland for a break..

We managed to get a small cabin on the shore of Loch Awe near Dalmally about 2 hours north of Glasgow and about 45 minutes from the nearest bit of civilisation, a small village shop.

It was a fantastic week, even with the midges, and please if anyone says ‘mind the midges’ if you go to the western side of Scotland, don’t think they are joking.. The place is full of them.. Not rain, shine, wind or flame thrower will send them packing!

We did spend a lot of our time in the lodge as the weather wasn’t wonderful, but it was a good time to get on with some magic books, kick back, and relax.

We did wander out to Loch Ness about another 2 hours north. The scenery on the way up was just breath takingly dynamic. It was, between the rain, a great chance for photos, especially some good sky and cloud shots at Loch Ness.

Loch ness itself I guess needs no introduction, except we saw no monsters, no midges either strangley. Loch ness itself I knew was big, however I didn’t quite realise exactly how big.. If Loch Ness was emptied, it would cover the UK in 6 inches of water from end to end, there is also not enough water in the uk to refill it..

The last day we spent in Glasgow and I took the opportunity to visit Tam Shepards magic shop on Queen Street, owned by the legendary Roy Walton, we had a great chat, and he was kind enough to sign two copies of the complete Walton (volumes one an two)

We returned home to our ‘under construction’ bathroom and a comfy bed..

Jack Parker passed away a year ago, on the 30th June 2007. It is no exaggeration to say that Jack was one of the best card magic creators of our time. He was an inspiration to many card magicians and showed just what it takes to develop a great magic trick. A lot is owed to Jack Parker.

His good friend Andi Gladwin, published a book on his card magic last year; 52 Memories, with contained 52 pieces of Jack’s best work, and you known when people like Richard Kaufman, David Acer, J C Wagner, and Paul Harris and David Regal sing his praise, it was a huge loss when Jack died long before his time, and we should remember his life.

To celebrate his magic, Andi Gladwin will be sharing a video of his magic every day for the next week. If you’ve never seen Jack Parker perform before this is a perfect opportunity to experience him performing some of his best creations. The video marathon will have a new video posted each night at 12am (GMT) each day this week at http://www.andigladwin.co.uk/jack-parker/

You can also get the book 52 Memories directly from Andi, which without doubt is one of the best books on cards I have read from some time.

So its been a little quiet on the blog the last month, mainly due to wedding planning commitments (invites, information sheets, websites and so on), but also due to some of the other projects I’ve been working on.

The Magic Convention Guide is now up and running well and attracting a lot of visitors, especially now that you can search for and book hotels for conventions through our partners on the site. The Home Counties Magical Society Website is also going great, with literally thousands of visits now per month!! I’ve also now joined the management team at what I think is one of the best Magic forums on the internet, The Magic Woods.

I’m very proud to have been asked me to come on board to The Magic Woods Team and help further the forum. There are some exciting things that I hope to do with conjunction with The Magic Woods Forum over the next year.

Recently The Magic Woods completed a Q&A session with Teller from Penn and Teller that ran for over a month, and other names that have frequented and openly discussed magic with the members have been Ben Hart, Simon Drake, James Randi, Jeff McBride, Jason Palter, Dynamo, Angelo Carbone, Justin Miller, Michael Paul, Jay Sankey, Whit Haydn, Eugene Burger, Cardone, Zenneth Kok, Paul Zenon, Keith Pascal, Nathan Kranzo, Banachek, Paul Daniels, Daniel Garcia, Steve Dela, Luke Jermay, and Daryl.

It’s also always been my goal to join The Magic Circle, in fact I actually joined as an associate member when I was much younger, but neglected to really pull my finger out and do my exam. The Magic Circle don’t run associate memberships anymore, so it’s all or nothing now!!

Our Society now has in it’s midsts The Regional Representative of the Magic Circle for the Home Counties, Keith Churcher who is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star. This of course means that if your in the ‘Home Counties’ area, which includes Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, arranging your Magic Circle entry has never been easier. and you can contact him for more information.

This morning Keith kindly delivered my welcome pack, which is a bit daunting when you see it in black and white (and a splash of colour!).. It looks like our regional exams might be around September, just in time for the wedding!!

So I just need to work out, and polish my routine, practice, relax and practice a bit more!!!

Fingers crossed, and sorry to everyone over the next few months who will have magic forced on them whilst I’m practicing…