Close-up Magician of the Year 2009
The theatre was standing room only at The Magic Circle’s HQ in London to watch some of the leading close-up magicians in the country compete with each other. Always a popular event the two audiences enjoyed a high standard of performance throughout. Congratulations go to Pete Wardell whose assured performance of coins to glass and his acclaimed cups and balls routine won him 1st place in this year’s competition. (Pete has now 100% record in winning competitions he has entered).
John van der Put came in second place whose act featured a clever and entertaining “card in laptop screen” along with his signature VDP card transformation. Paul Brown came third with a beautiful set piece featuring a theme of alchemy that resulted in him being awarded the Ali Bongo Originality Prize as well. Many favourable comments were made afterwards about the quality of all the competitors.
Indian dad avoids washing for 35 years
NEW DELHI – An Indian man who fathered seven daughters has not washed for 35 years in an apparent attempt to ensure his next child is a boy. Kailash “Kalau” Singh replaces bathing and brushing his teeth with a “fire bath” every evening when he stands on one leg beside a bonfire, smokes marijuana and says prayers to Lord Shiva, according to the Hindustan Times.
The grocery store that he used to own closed when customers stopped shopping there due to his “unhealthy personality” and he now tills fields near Varanasi airport. Kalau, who wears two pullovers all through the Indian summer, said his pledge not to wash was a commitment to the “national interest.”
“I’ll end this vow only when all problems confronting the nation end,” he said. But his neighbours in the village of Chatav said there was another reason for Kalau’s washing boycott. ”A seer once told Kalau that if he does not take a bath, he would be blessed with a male child,” a man called Madhusudan told the paper.
Most Indians prefer sons, who are typically regarded as breadwinners, while girls are seen as a burden because of the matrimonial dowry demanded by a groom’s family and the fact that their earnings go to their husband’s family.
Missing link in human evolution found
Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.
Psychedelic Healing
Mind-altering psychedelics are back—but this time they are being explored in labs for their therapeutic applications rather than being used illegally. Studies are looking at these hallucinogens to treat a number of otherwise intractable psychiatric disorders, including chronic depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug or alcohol dependency.
The past 15 years have seen a quiet resurgence of psychedelic drug research as scientists have come to recognize the long-underappreciated potential of these drugs. In the past few years, a growing number of studies using human volunteers have begun to explore the possible therapeutic benefits of drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT, MDMA, ibogaine and ketamine.
Neuroweapons
A new generation of military technology interfaces directly with the brain to target and trigger weapons before our conscious mind is fully engaged.
In a new article in the Cornell International Law Journal, lawyer Stephen White asks whether the concept of a ‘war crime’ becomes irrelevant if the unconscious mind is pulling the trigger.
Winners of the 2009 Best visual Illusion of the year contest
The Best Visual illusion of the Year Contest is a celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of the world’s premier visual illusion research community. Contestants from all around the world have submitted novel visual illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2008), and an international panel of judges has rated them and narrowed them to the TOP TEN
Derren Brown Interview – News Of The World
I’m at my best when I’m on my own and reading. It takes me back to my 20s when I was living in Bristol, doing magic shows. I spent the rest of my time drinking tea with my nose in a book.
Those closest to me would describe me as very different from the guy on TV. I’m a lot sillier and more friendly. I enjoy making others laugh. The telly guy is really controlling, but that’s because of my job.
One thing about my past I don’t admit easily is I had a bit of a kleptomaniac phase in the ’80s. I’d steal CDs, toys and gadgets from shops. I remember looking round my bedroom as a kid and thinking: “God, I’ve stolen pretty much everything in here.” I never got caught and stopped as I got older.
The three things I’d want on a desert island are my Mac, a router and a very long cable to plug them in. I get frustrated if I can’t keep in touch with people, plus I imagine the appeal of pornography would be strong if I was alone!
One thing I’d like to do before I die is travel more. My job takes me to Europe and America, but they’re obvious places. I’ve never been off the beaten track.
If I advertised myself on a dating site, it would read “Nice guy wants to meet nice guy.” So much these days is about being goal-driven, but being kind is the greatest asset you can have.
The thing I like least about myself is my shape. I was skinny until I was 30 so never did any sport. But now my metabolism’s changed, I have to make an effort to keep trim.
My fantasy dinner date would be my friend Joe, who lives in Sweden. I’ve met a few of my idols and they’re always a disappointment. I usually clam up and come away feeling like I’ve been boring.
The thing I value most is the quality of loveliness. It’s undervalued.
My biggest regret is not sleeping with more people when I was younger – I was a bit of a loner.
If I wasn’t a magician I’d paint. It’s always been my first love – but I don’t know how much of a living I’d make.
Answer the following
I’m often overcome by strong emotions: Never
My friends think I’m very outgoing: Never
I love debating intellectual ideas and concepts: Always
I’m very energetic and live a fast-paced life: Never
I enjoy making people feel appreciated: Always
Truck Stop
We did a Truck Stop!
I put 50p in a fruit machine and won £5, THAT WAS BRILL!!! If only Derren paid me THAT much per week.
Much Love
Coops
Grimsby
Well again! New-found health and the spanking Portraits Book made Grimsby a very happy place for me. I like to think that the relief that I felt in finding my voice and energy again, was comparable to the relief felt by the group of girls Coops and Andy found urinating by our van in an open car park during the interval of the first night. Group, mind.
The shows were fine: the room has a tricky quality found in a few venues, where the front row of the audience is sat quite far away from the stage, and then the rows sweep back and back in a huge, high barn of a room. There are no balconies, so the 1300 seats just go back and back. The end result is that on stage, you barely hear any reaction from the audience, which can be a tiny bit demoralising. The lovely people are so far away, and the ceiling so high, that the sound just doesn’t reach me. Anyhow, they were all very polite at the end, cheered and stood in all the right places, so despite the acoustic setbacks, it was nice to know they enjoyed it. Thank you, Grimsbians.
We had dinner after the second show in a truck stop near our hotel. A truck stop! Imagine that. We were looked after royally by the lovely Natalie (and Dawn in the kitchen), and we had bacon and eggs and beans and a sausage and wine: a delicious Shiraz chosen by Coops from the shelves of said truck stop. The rozzers then came in and those of us driving had to decline the wine in case they nicked us. I also took the opportunity to buy myself a ‘fashion hat’, which I’m wearing in the photo Coops took, as well as a 3CD set of Power Ballads for Jennie. That was a fun episode in our fun tour.
We have been beset by other illnesses: Simon, our company manager, has managed to get proper ‘flu’, and today’s news is that Iain may be contracting the same nasty virus. I’m hoping it’s just the flimsy whoopsie-cold that I had and not the serious strain that has beset poor Simon, who has had to be replaced for a few days by a new man, Chris, whom we’re meeting soon. This feels like getting a new step-Dad (Simon Dodson = Dodders = Dadders = Dad, you see), so we hope that we like him. Simon, our real Dad, is quite wonderful.
Please send your fondest well-wishes and heartfelt prayers to our ailing crew. We could all literally die.
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