Flood of 2008

The Flood of 2008

I'm setting magic aside for a few moments to record my recollections of the Flood of 2008. You see, I live in the heart of the midwestern United States about 1 hour away from the Mississippi River in a small city called Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Many towns across in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri have been washed away by prolific flooding.

Cedar Rapids is located on the Cedar River but I've never thought of it as a "river town." Those "river towns" are typically towns that line the Mississippi that seem to flood every few years. This year that perception changed in a blink of the eye.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

We were on our way home from a vacation in Orlando when We had heard of the flooding of Waterloo Iowa on CNN and Fox News. Waterloo is another small city north of Cedar Rapids. Because of the emerging disaster in Waterloo, Barak Obama canceled plans to fly into Cedar Rapids for a campaign stop. That seemed to be pretty big news for our little town of 125,000.

Flying into Cedar Rapids, you could see that little streams that meandered through farmer's fields looked like churning, raging rivers. A week of intense spring rains, combined with a winter of record snowfalls had saturated the rich, black farmland and swollen the creeks and rivers.

We quickly learned that of the five bridges spanning the Cedar River, only one remained open. The bridge of Interstate 380 was the sole link between the east and west sides of an Iowa county that held a quarter of a million people. Water was threatening to engulf the remaining bridges. Two railroad bridges were parked with boxcars loaded with rocks in hopes that the added weight would hold the bridges in place. One bridge finally collapsed under the pressure of the raging river.

Traffic was backed up for miles in all directions as the transportation matrix of the city was funneled down to three lanes in both directions. All other bridges were completely submerged. The sight was staggering to behold as we slowly crawled across town on I-380.

Cedar Rapids and Paris, France have something in common; they are the only cities in the world to have their municipal government located on an island in the middle of a river. Driving through Cedar Rapids and seeing the island that contains the city government, county court house and city jail under water was shocking. This is a sight that is unlikely to occur again in my or my children's children's lifetime.

We learned that the previous record high waters crested at around 22 feet. The river would finally crest at 32 feet; smashing the old record. 20,000 people were evacuated. Unlike during Katrina, residents had a little more time to clear out of their homes although many didn't flee immediately because few believe the river would leave it's banks and breach it's levees. By the time the water hit 32 feet, over 420 city blocks would be flooded.

Three of the four city wells were flooded with murky flood water. The city's water supply was in danger of running dry. A water emergency was declared. You could only use water to drink. No showers, no hand washing, no running dishwashers, no washing machines and no flushing toilets. We collected rain water from the brief but intense rain showers that still threatened the area. We could flush the toilets with a couple gallons of rainwater.

Still, the city official angrily denounced any non-essential use of water. Reports of people washing their cars had shown that some people did not fully comprehend the gravity of the disaster. We had stocked the home with bottled water and Diet Coke so we were in good shape for several days. It was quite an adventure for the kids and I think they learned a little about the scarcity of resources and what conservation was all about.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

By Saturday evening, we wanted a brake from the non-stop flood coverage on the television. We decides to see if our favorite Mexican, Villa's Patio, restaurant was open. Sure enough. The restaurant really adapted to the emergency. All food was served on disposable plates and with plastic utensils. Soda pop was served from cans instead of from the fountain dispensers. Hand sanitizer replaced hand washing.

By Sunday morning, the water emergency was slightly downgraded. Homes with even house numbers could use water for limited purposes on even days. And odd homes on odd days.

As the water slowly receded, the depth and breadth of the damage was starting to become clear. Hundreds of families were in shelters. Hundreds of homes were feared destroyed. Hundreds of business were shutdown. The entire downtown area without power. River water containing, sand, silt, fish, dead animals, bacteria, farm chemicals and raw sewage covered hundreds of city blocks.

DVD Review: Ultimate Aces

DVD Review: Ultimate Aces

Living in a smaller Midwestern city, my opportunities to visit a brick and mortar magic shop is few and far between. Currently, I'm on vacation in Florida, visiting the mouse mecca known as Disney World. So I had to locate any magic shops close to our resort. Luckily, I found at least two shops with a few miles.

One shop is in Downtown Disney under a giant top hat called Magic Masters. Wow what an enormous disappointment. This is an absolutely beautiful magic shop that sells almost nothing. Perhaps 20-30 generic, overpriced magic items with such imaginative names such as "cups and balls." Magic Masters is clearly oriented towards selling tricks to tourists and not people interested in the art of magic.

The second shop was Magic Max in what's know as Old Town or the Fun Spot. This was also a bit of a disappointment however they did have a reasonable inventory of magic and novelty items (gags). The sales dude was a young but capable magician. He rattled off a dozen tricks and gags within the first few minutes in the store. After sizing me up by quizzing me on a few magical topics, he pointed me to a DVD called Ultimate Aces by Magic Makers. I really wasn't all that interested but it was pouring rain outside so I was stuck in the shop, and finally, the $25 slipped out of my billfold.

Here is an example of a trick learned from this DVD:




Marketing Fluff

Amaze people with seven stunning card tricks! These are all tricks with Aces. As Kings become Aces, Aces become Jokers, and Jokers vanish, it is no wonder why this small collection generates big impact. Each trick is performed and explained, plus a bonus section includes three spectator performances.
Special cards needed are included with this DVD.

Degree of Difficulty

Intermediate. You could probably take these on with a little experience in the basics. Ben Salinas teaches all of the sleights so you could attempt all of these tricks with no experience. However, if you are a beginner I would look elsewhere for some instruction in the basics first.

It is a great intermediate DVD though. You'll get an opportunity to work on your TLs and Elmsley Counts. Plus you'll learn the Ascanio Spread which is a brilliant and fun move.

Teaching

Ultimate Aces is my first encounter with Ben Salinas. Ben is a smooth magician and a reasonably good instructor. He appears to be left handed which is a bit confusing on his Elmsley Count explanation. If you have not learned the Elmsley Count you may want to reference additional instructional DVDs on this often used sleight such as the Born To Perform Card Magic DVD.

His patter is good and provides some little jokes to add a humorous flair. The only downside is that his pace is a little fast and he only shows you the moves once so be prepared to rewind a lot. Ben credits the creators of most of the sleights and the routines themselves.

The downside is that the performance videos are just for the studio camera. I'm getting used to the real, on-the-street or in-the-Castle demos on other DVDs. I would rather see real performances for real people as you get a sense of the reactions and how that affects the patter and timing during a routine.

There is also a "bonus" section on the DVD that has Salinas performing three of the tricks for "Ashley" in the studio. Ashley doesn't provide much reaction so this is not all too useful.

Quantity of Effects

Pretty good considering I paid well over retail price, I'm still satisfied with my purchase due to the number of good tricks on the DVD. I've learned a few new sleights including the wonderful Ascanio Spread. All in all, there are seven great tricks on this DVD and you can easily find it for $15 on the internet. That's a pretty good buy if you don't already have these seven dandy tricks.

Plus you get a packet of cards including one gaffed card. The cards are blue-backed Bicycles.

There is also a good variety of effects on here. Half of the routines are pure sleight of hand. The other half employs gimmicks or gaffs.

Quality of Effects

Solid, solid, solid. I've mastered two great tricks in just a couple days (I already am comfortable with the Elmsley Count so your mileage may vary).

Ultimate Ace Assembly (Mc Donalds Aces) - the aces vanish from three piles of cards only to join the ace of spades in a four pile of cards. This is a very visual trick in that one moment the aces is amoung three cards and the next second it is gone. I already have a version of the Ultimate Ace Assembly I purchased as an instant download from Penguin Magic. This is a killer trick but one that requires a good deal of set-up and a dedicated deck of cards, just for this trick. This version is a little different that the Oz Perlman version. Oz adds a few more magical moves in his version but Salinas' version is pretty good as well.

Mo Money Monte - yet another "follow the ace" routine. A good routine, but we'll have to see if it is good enough to replace my Color Monte.

Impossible (gimmicked) - Four Jokers are shown. One at a time the jokers turn face down. The four face down cards are turned to reveal that they were never jokers but the four aces. Really a brilliant trick but it does require some set-up and it is not instantly resettable.

Impossible (ungimmicked) - Virtually the same trick except that it is completely ungimmicked, the handling is a bit different and Salinas uses kings instead of jokers. This might be a great impromptu effect but it is a bit more risky to pull off as you might imagine.

Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces - I've seen other magicians do this trick but I've never learned it myself. Show four aces and turn them face down. One by one, each ace turns face-up in the packet. Brilliant piece of ungimmicked card magic.

Easy Aces - Taking the 4 Aces from the deck, you give a magical twist and spread the aces in a fancy flourish. One of the aces has turned face down. Each time the move is repeated, a different aces appears face down. This trick teaches you the pretty Ascanio Spread created by Arturo de Ascanio.

Spectator Cuts to the Aces - This is a straight forward, yet completely beguiling trick where the spectator is asked to cut the deck into 4 piles. Taking the top card from each pile, the spectator has unwittingly cut to the four aces. There are other versions of this trick - this is a very good version using a gimmick. I hadn't seen this simple gimmick before and I'll be using it for other situations. I'm still inclined to use the version of Spectator Cuts to the Aces I learned from Greg Wilson's Pyrotechnic Pasteboards DVD.

Production Quality

The overall production is good. The video quality is very good. There is very little editing as each segment is taken in one shot. The menus are sparse but functional. The sound track is okay but a little overly dramatic and repetitive.

Overall: 7/10

This isn't going to tear up the magic community but it is a nice collection of ace tricks. The false counts and Ascanio Spread are great additions to your toolbox if you do not already have them. Plus you get a packet of cards including a nice gaff. A solid value for $15 that will give you some classic effects to add to you repertoire.

DVD Review: Greg Wilson's Double Take

The Double Lift (DL) is arguably the most widely used sleight in all of card magic. Poorly executed, you'll look like a complete dufus. Perfectly executed and you look like a wizard. Seemingly a simple move, the DL is a tough move to polish to perfection and difficult to nail 100% of the time. For century's, the classic pass was thought to be the most indispensable move but move over pass; the DL is now the king of cards.

Here's a little sample of me performing the Knock-Out DL. Not that I perform it perfectly but it's the one that works best for me. I can hit the double 100% of the time and then handle the double as a single with confidence.



This DVD is a timeless masterpiece.

Marketing Fluff

Gregory Wilson's Double Take puts the world's greatest double lifts at your fingertips. ..even if you're all thumbs. This step-by-step instructional video is packed with more than 90 minutes of dynamic material you can perform anytime, anywhere, with any deck. For nearly two decades Gregory has been teaching his unique style of magic, as well as performing for many Fortune 500 companies. And as your personal coach, Gregory will teach you the nuances of more than 25 different double lifts ~ choose your favorites: from the top of the deck, from the bottom, from the middle, from a fan, from the table, to the table, and even doubles that flip through the air from hand-to-hand! If you're a beginner, or have never even picked up a deck of cards, you can easily perform miracles in minutes with Greg's Quick Start-Up Section. The more advanced will enjoy studying the techniques of the masters, including Dai Vernon, Ed Mario, Martin Nash, and many others.

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner to Expert. Wilson puts puts things in order. He assumes you don't even know what a "mechanics grip" is. He ties the introductory material up with a "quick start" segment providing three easy to learn miracles. The material gets harder from here on out. You'll find that some moves and routines have an steep learning curve.

The cool thing is, I really think a beginner could get this DVD as a starting point. There is no more important move than the DL in card magic. This will give the beginner an arsenal of hard hitting close-up magic. Then, as the novice advances, they can work on the more advanced material. Literally, this DVD will take you a long, long time to learn and perfect all of the material.

And the advanced card mage will love the Brittanica-like index of DL knowledge as well.

Teaching

Greg Wilson is like a tenured Harvard professor - only a lot more fun and a lot less boring! Each routine is performed in front of a small audience of attractive ladies donned in vintage 80s attire. He is constantly cracking jokes and flirting with the pretty ladies in his audience. During the instructional sections, Gregory moves slowly through all moves, usually several times in both slow-mo and in tempo.

Wilson has a gift for teaching. He really speaks to the physics of each move; where the pressure is applied, what direction the pressure is taking, what are the opposing pressure points, where the pivot points are located, what the sound of a card should sound like.

Wilson is also good at crediting the creators of the moves. He gives a little lecture on reading books. He downplays his own video as "supplemental" to the real material; the classic books of magic. I actually disagree with him on this one. I think magic DVDs have surpassed books as the primary source of magical instruction with books now as the supplemental resources. But that's a debate for another time and place. Wilson is obviously a very gracious and humble man - sometimes a seemingly rare trait in today's world.

Quantity of Effects

Wow! Like Wilson's Ring Leader DVD is to "ring and string" magic, this is THE encyclopedia of the Double Lift. As if the sleights weren't enough, there are a bunch of great tricks in this gem. It took me well over an hour to document the sleights and tricks that contained with this vast grimoire. So here they are:

Introduction - Greg telling you what he's about to teach you.

Basic DL - Greg does a good job explaining basic DL beginning with the mechanics of the mechanics grip and the thumb count from the biddle grip. It's a littler different from the basic DL I learned.
Strike DL - a very popular DL because of the natural moption and no get ready. Personally, I don't like it because I occasionally get a triple (Yeah, I know...lack of practice!)
Grip Strike DL - enhanced version of the Strike that adds a push over move.
Knock-Out DL - Greg's favorite and my fav as well. A litle flashy and always works for me.
The Basic Replacement - perhaps I wasn't giving this part of the DL enough attention!
Quick Start-up - three tricks to get your feet wet. These are really good tricks so don't overlook them. Includes a very nice in-the-spectators-hand transposition.

• Simple Location Trick
• Simple Reverse Trick
• Simple Switch Trick

More replacements...

Maintaining a break after the replacement
Bernard Bilis Replacement - a flourishy replacement.
Revolve Replacement - flourishy & emphasizes the singularity of of the double (that's an oxymoron!)
Juan Tameriz Replacement - cool out jogged replacement.
Racherbaumer Replacement - another cool out jogged replacement.
Vernon Offset Replacement - Yet another reason why Vernon was a genius. Pick up a double and display it away from the deck in the air for the crowd. Table it and place the cardbox on top of the tabled card. Guess what? It's already back in the deck!

Get Readys...

No Brainer DL
Auto DL
Pinky Count DL
Thumb Count DL

More doubles...

Double from a Fan
DL from a Dribble
Dai Vernon's DL
Color Changes
DL without a Pack
Tabled DLs

Tricks...

Phoenix Aces - pluck 4 Aces from the air, one at a time. This is not a back palm production. It uses some sleights that I was not familiar with.

Weighted Aces - Wilson's version of Doc Daley's Last Trick. Using 4 aces, demonstrate your ability to tell which ace is which by weight alone. Follow up with some amazing"in the spectator's hand" transpositions. Very good trick I use all the time.

Two Wrongs Make A Right - Starts out as a pick a card trick. Only problem is that you guess wrong twice. Take the two wrong cards place face up on the deck. Snap your fingers over the deck and the correct card appears from thin air, face up on the top of the deck.

Jumping Gemini (Darwin Ortiz) - Reminds me of the Color Monte on steroids. This is a difficult trick to master. Not because of the sleights but because there are so many sequences to remember. Miss one sequence and you're fricked. As a little bonus, Wilson does a great job teaching the Elmsley count.

Ambitious Card Routine

Greg performs his ACR but does provide the explanation. It's a pretty good routine that ends in a card to card box. If you don't know the ACR I would recommend the Worlds Greatest Magic by the Worlds Greatest Magicians: The Ambitious Card DVD from L&L Publishing.

Bonus Tricks...

Bizarre Twist (Paul Harris) - I loved this trick. You start with 3 red backed cards. You slide a black seven face down between two face down red aces. Twist the cards apart and the seven is now face up. Do the sequence again and this time when you flip the seven over it is a blue backed card.

Stop Trick - Drop a face down on the table. To the side, deal the remaining cards onto the table and ask the spectator to say stop. Drop the stop card onto the first tabled card. Flip them over and they are both red aces.

Double Monte - Two red aces and a black queen. You show the black queen and table it face down. You then show that you have two red aces in your hand. A quick spin and the two red aces become one black queen. You flip the tabled card over and it is the two red aces.


Quality of Effects

Even the simple introductory tricks are keepers. The people in the audience audibly gasp in each and every trick.

Production Quality

This is the only weak point in my review. This is Wilson's first video back from the days of VHS tapes and when Wilson had more hair! This DVD was obviously recorded from tape and it shows. That being said, the tape quality is pretty good throughout most of the DVD. The sub titles and transitions are were pretty good for it's time. I've seen much worse on DVDs produced in the last couple years.

The DVD menus are pretty complete. Not all of the break points are in the menu but most are and can can skip through to the ones that are not given menu selections.

Overall: 9.5/10

My highest rating so far. This is a resource that you will use for years to come. The tricks alone would make a solid DVD. If you need a resource to determine the best DL for you, this is going to fit the bill. Sure, there may be some lessor known DLs that are not covered here but there is sure to be a few that you'll come to cherish.

Penguin Magic sells this DVD for a paltry $26. That's what you call a no-brainer purchase.