Hey there everyone. Glad to see that you're all doing well. Today I began working on a little thank-you gift for Mr. Mighells (hope he doesn't see this thread!). I have it all drawn out on a piece of wood and began using a cut-off wheel on my Dremel to go around the drawing some. It's going to be a cross with a ribbon around it that says 'Bust Loose'. I have the week off, so I'll be working on that for now so I can get it out ASAP.

My 'magic room' is slowly becoming organized thank God (glad to finally get rid of those boxes). I have this wooden trunk that my uncle made for me and my brother when we were wee lads (I've always wanted to say that ) for our toys, and now it's empty and I have it. I'm debating on whether or not I should risk trying to turn it into something or just leave it as is to store my magic props...most likely won't work for a sub-trunk because of the way it's made and all (a tad bit too small as well). A couple of slots at the bottom, some large pieces of plywood, and I'm all set with a tip-over trunk.

As far as learning new tricks, getting new 'toys', etc., I've been able to successfully pull off a 50 foot rope (bound to chair) escape a couple of times. I'm going to be working on that one a lot for the W.E.A.R. event this October. I'm expecting my electric violin to come in within the next couple of weeks. Won one on Ebay (assuming I can trust the seller...). My father gave me an old hat...it's a black leather hat with fake hair attached to it (a little more than a foot). Bond Live at the Royal Albert Hall; awesome DVD. I'm a big fan of Bond. Haylie is like Yngwie Malmsteen except with a violin. Eos is right behind her. Bought a telephone for myself too, touch screen...has speaker phone...a night light....music on hold....calculator...a couple of other things. LOL I'm SOOOOOO mad now! I started out with a little over 210 bucks. I spent some of it, wanting to buy some cuffs and a straitjacket. I figured my parents would just say something along the lines of me having too much magic stuff (pft! Yeah right! I just spend a lot of money on what I like ) so I decided I can spend more and save money for the straitjacket only (would've been the highlight of my W.E.A.R. act!). I was doing so well at saving 150 dollars to purchase one from Clyde's Ebay store but I ended up spending it all yesterday! How to make this money back is the question... I'm usually VERY good at saving my money, but when you have some and you're out almost ALL DAY, yeah, you're going to want to spend it on the things you like! Oh yes, not only did I spend all my cash but almost everything on my mall gift cards (glad to get rid of those, though! Can't use them at the mall up here...). I bought three jackets; one (faux) leather, one sports coat with the British flag, and a casual men's coat (one of those fuzzy ones...lol). They were 6 bucks each, WOOHOO! Now how to make the money back...maybe I should consider busking... .

So yeah...that's pretty much an update of my life lol.



Daniel

Daniel,

I've been making the money back all my life. By age 450-480 I should be OK! It sounds like you enjoyed your self. GOOD!

Tabby,

There are a lot of the old guys getting back into it around Atlanta. Maybe we'll start have June Jams again one day. A few of us may try it in May for an alumni thing. I ruined a hand in 1987 in an automobile/truck accident that makes the guitar a real challenge for me now. But I still have four, just in case a miracle happens! My neighbor tells me his son stills plinks around with The Atlanta Rhythm Section at times. If I can get up with Tommy Culp and Sammy Brock in time, we may embarrass ourselves this summer trying to perform old stuff from our Ricky Nelson days. I'm sure the market for hearing aid batteries will drop! It would be a lot of fun. (It's odd that both our drummers were killed. One drown and the other died in a motorcycle accident. One had left us earlier for Bobby Vee. Remember him?)

You should run across some of the old Webs or The Candymen near your mom's place. There is also the James Gang (Georgia Pines?). There may even be some of the Gentries around. Do you remember any of these guys? You and I would be the youngsters!

Bob

:hysteric:

Stuck in his own little world, the Thing in the Basement speaks...

"Set for another day in the shop. Little by little, several projects are being pushed toward the finish line."

Narrator voice over: "What will be the first project to reach a state of completion and total bliss? Will our crew survived the attacks from the evil empire, Global Deceptions...and what will become of PMZZ?"

"For answers to these and other questions, stay tuned for another exciting episode of, "The Adventures of Michael Baker - the cantankerous-goofy-eccentric sleight of hand master".

*moves seat forward and grabs some popcorn*

Sir No, our old road manager guy ended up working for the atlanta rhythm section as road mgr. I knew several of those guys. They were basically the Candymen. I admired them (The Candymen) big time. Do you remember The Romans?? That was an unbelievable band.

Yesterday I got bit by a chain saw still cleaning up after the storm hit here like a small hurricane. I was trying to get out of the way when it caught me on the left knee and chewed through my new levis and my longjons into my knee cap and side of my leg. I grabbed my leg to squeeze the wound back together and put the saw down. I had already shut the motor off as it was hitting me and came in on the back porch. I pulled my pants down and sat down and got my wife to get me a fruit jar of some corn whiskey I had. I poured corn whiskey all over the cut. It was nasty too, ripped up. I sent her for those scissors you gave me the other night and got her to trim the wound up and put me a couple of stitches in. I took a big slug on the jar, she took a big slug too and she set to it. It's healing up fine. Wanted to say thanks for the scissors!!!

Anybody can get bit so you boys be careful out there playing with those power tools!!!

-=tabman

PS: Sir No, by the 16th is fine. Send me email to tabman@questx.com

Wow Tabman, sorry to hear about that accident. Hope your doing well. Sounds like you performed some pretty nice "Prairie Surgery" there. Good work. Take care of that leg.

Vandy

Thanks Vandy.

-=tabman

Shucks Tabman,

I called Lucy when I read this and read it again to her. She was really glad you had some corn whiskey to work with there. She told me that at the clinic all they had was Betadine and a big swig of that would have hurt you for sure. You must be in real good hands.

Glad you had the scissors but sorry you had to use them on yourself. They worked fine on the cow. (She died anyhow. You ain’t scared of anthrax are you? Just don’t cough. Her horns fell off.)

Were you talking about Tommy Roe and The Romans? At one point in time we all had the same manager: Cotton Carrier at Bill Lowery’s. (So did Ray Stevens, Felton Jarvis, Joe South, Billy Joe Royal, the Tams, and a lot more.) Folks are going to know that you’re an old man that knew music before 8-tracks.

Do you go around singing:
“I Knew You When …”,
“Oh The Games People Play Now…”,
“What Kind Of Fool, Do You Think I Am…”,
“Got Dimples in Your…”,
“Sweet Little Shella…”, or
“Everything Is Beautiful, In Its Own Way…”

We must have worked every National Guard Armory and Skating Rink in the world!

Hang in there. Don’t touch anything sharper than a rubber band.

Bob

Wow Tabby, glad things are OK.. yeah, I've had a few close calls with the Bandsaw, amd Syd will slap me back before I do.

I'm finally crawling out the tunnel and back into the light. Meetings with Mayors and such all week. Tonight is magic night for me. Back to what I love and not what I have to do to live.

We could always bring the German food up to your house and have it there, while you recover. Scissors and thread included too.

Rick

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I'm moving full speed today and am running behind now due to circumstances the past few days. Those scissors really did come in handy and worked great.

Yes, Tommy Roe and The Romans and then just The Romans. I loved that band.

Rick, glad you're getting some magic time. It's like that for all of us even when we do magic related work much of the time. Getting a few minutes to read or learn a new trick comes few and far between. I bet Michael is laboring in the shop right now. You got to work hard and a lot of hours to make a few bucks doing this.

The best part is the people you get to meet. At least that's it for me.

-=tabman

Sir Tabman, I'm relieved to hear of your gradual recovery.

How about Little Caesar and the Romans? I just remember downloading one of their songs awhile back...

THOOOSE OLDIES, BUT GOODIES...REMINDS ME, OF YOOOUUUU!


:lol:



Daniel

Geez, Mr. Tab!

Sorry to hear about the chain saw incident. I know the corn "likker" is helpful, but there's that nasty little tetanus bug. Won't tell anyone in the holler you spilt some shine on purpose. Hope ya' get to feelin' better quick.

Reminds me about a good ol' boy that went to the store to buy an axe. Said he needed to clear some land of trees. The clerk recommended a chainsaw saying he could cut down 10-20 trees a day. Good ol' boy comes back in and wants his money back. Said he could only cut down one tree a day. Clerk says there must be something wrong with the saw, so he cranks it up. Good ol' boy says, "Hey, what's that noise?" (An oldie, but goodie.)

Have a good 'un.

Tom

LOL Sir Tom!

:hysteric:

That was a good un, Tom!!! Like I said, its a good thing that chain saw wasnt running!!! And thanks Daniel, you're a good lad!!

-=tabman

I can't turn my back on this group for even half a day and just look at what happens! Chainsaw juggling... what next?!?!

... and I thought I had a full day.

(Glad it wasn't any worse, Tabby.)

~michael

Michael,

How close am I to growing rabbit ears? I'd like to show off around Easter.

Mean while I'll get Daniel to teach me how to force two cards. (Can you do that with just one gun?)

Maybe that blooming rabbit is so smart that I won't have to force cards! I know he's awfully fancy. I thought about having a kid routine with him using Old Maid cards that turn out to match. The magician will end up with the Old Maid! Would that ruin your reputation?

I did tell you folks that I did make contact with Pete. He's in Vegas.

Tom, you promised that you weren't going to tell on me! Now I'm going to tell them that you thought that Spell Checkers was a game that old people played when their medications failed.

How did we get from (PMZZ) Professional Magicians Sawing Logs to a thread about scissors? Rick, it does not compute.

I need special ed with the TV Card Frame. I bought one years ago and lost it so I bought another. Now, a decade later, I've decided I have time to learn it and have no instructions. Back then I was going to substitute baseball cards for playing cards. Would that have worked?

Behave (in theory)

Bob

topic drift, Topic drift, Topic Drift, TOPIC drift, TOPIC DRIFT.

Sir No Bob,

Ricardo Rabbit is in the queue. He's dressed in his tux, waiting for his shoes and that little something that makes him 'spring' to life! If I don't get it to you by the March meeting, I'll ship it to you soon thereafter. Rumor has it, he loves to play Old Maid, Authors, and Uno... not just Blackjack! May the force be with you! (...or be like all those pros who are paid too much to fail... use a force deck).

Baseball cards may work in the TV Card Frame... if they fit. Mine will only take Bridge-size cards. Might be worth a shot to make a pile of fake ones that would fit. It would give you a routine no one else has.

All else in the shop is coming along. I've done more sanding here than the road crews do when the bridges ice over. (cough... cough...) Sand, sand ,sand... and not a beach in sight.

FYI: Always had trouble locating sandpaper with a grit finer than 400. Had that woodworker frame of mind. The other day, I was in an auto parts store buying wiper blades, and what to my wondering eyes should appear... 800 and 1000 grit, hanging real near!

~michael

Hmmm. I bet you might have to split those bb cards. Maybe split the face off em and attach to a playing card back??? I have an old tv card frame in the shop I got somewhere down the line. Can you ID it if I post a pic???

Fine sanding is the key. I like the 0000 steel wool when I oil. Bondo and 800 grit sandpaper. Quite a fit.

-=tabman