Lectures, Car Crashes, and Free Knock-Off Ipods

"It's easy to maintain your integrity when no one is offering to buy it out."

-Marc Maron

So the last couple of weeks have been full of all kinds of Magicfulness (In one way or another). Last Friday, I had the pleasure of lecturing at the Tricky Business Magic Shop in Hicksville, NY. It was a really great group of magicians that seemed to not be annoyed by what I had to say. I've only done a handful of lectures in the past, and hopefully this will be the beginning of many more to come.

Things got even more interesting post-lecture. I went to a local diner with John Reid (the owner of Tricky Business), one of his employees Brian and his lady Amanda. On our way out, we noticed this rather odd prize-vending machine game. I decided I had to give this odd looking creature a try and I ended up winning an Ipod Shuffle. (Okay, it was a Chinese Ripoff of a Shuffle, but a victory is a victory dammit. And it seems to work alright... don't take this moment from me!)

Anywho, on the way back from Hicksville, I noticed John's car on the side of the road next to a heinous crash where the demolished car was sitting without a front end in the farthest left lane. I stopped and realized John was just lending a hand so I also attempted to help. The crash occurred on a major highway just around a bend so needless to say, the demolished car almost got hit 5 more times in the 10 minutes we were there waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Is it impossible for people to slow down when they see a bunch of cars with their hazard lights on? Are people so mentally vacant while driving that they see people waving them to slow down on a highway that they figure "If I go REALLY fast, maybe I'll be invisible" (Although the thought does border on theoretical physics, I doubt the drivers are that deep).

I know it's always going to be a problem, but moronic drivers have been affecting the lives of those around me quite regularly lately. Between my roommate getting hit by a car as he crossed a LIT CROSSWALK, Losander (a phenomenal magician and creator) gets t-boned by a driver who goes right through a red light, my friend's son gets into a vicious accident... sweet fluffy monkeys people! Open yer friggin' eyes when you're driving! Sorry about the outburst. As someone always on the road, it's a personal buggery of mine.

In more pleasant news, with rehearsals for the Renaissance Banquet at the end of February in Stratford, CT (You need to login to Facebook to see the link) in full swing, I'm really getting into the spirit of collaborative play. I have peculiarly high standards when it comes to a performance I'm involved in, which sometimes makes me come across as nit-picky and controlling, but everyone else involved is aware of this and know when to listen to my thoughts and know when to tell me to stuff it. It's going to be a great show.

We are also inching close to Wicked Winter Renaissance Faire in NJ the 3rd weekend of February, I'm both excited and nervous. It's always a wondrous time and I have no doubt of that, but I'm going to be doing an effect I haven't done since last August. It's a rather involved escape which actually has some dangerous elements to it, and this time, I'm going to be using bondage experts to tie me up (It IS that kind of Faire). It's a little nerve-wracking to say the least. I'm spending the remaining weeks retraining my body to deal with the extra stress of holding my breath for longer than my big-ness wishes. I'm not quite back to where I was in August, but hopefully the next 3 weeks will fix that.

As some folks can tell, I'm trying to define where this blog is going to go. Part philosophy, part updates, part stories, part ramblings... are people liking what I'm putting up here? Is there something you want to see me write about? Let me know in the comments, folks.

And a quick shout out to Scooter, Losander, and Galen for a speedy and full recovery!

-Much love,
Daniel GreenWolf
www.GreenWolfMagic.com
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