Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Magic Man

Last night, I hosted my friends Wendy and Richard Pini at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. You all know them as the gifted folks who've given the world Elfquest and other fine creations. I've known Wendy forever — since before she met and married Richard, in fact, and I've taken her — sometimes with him, sometimes without — to the Magic Castle a number of times.

I don't have to tell any fans of her work how creative Wendy is...or tell anyone who's met her how lovely she is. But I'll tell you something you may not know about the lady. She's the world class champ at getting picked to be the magician's "volunteer" from the audience. Take her into any room where any magician is performing and inside of ninety seconds, she'll be up on stage picking a card. It's happened every time I've taken her to the Castle and it happened again last evening.

Before that, we had a fine dinner. I've been a member of the Magic Castle for 25+ years, which means I've endured 25+ years of squabbles, financial troubles, closure rumors, emergency dues assessments and the like. Some of that might have driven me away but the place is so much fun that I always ride out the current crisis. At the moment, things seem to be stable. The Magic Castle is not about to disappear or be sawed in half or anything. The land on which it resides has been sold but everyone seems confident that will not affect our club. An outside group which had been managing the restaurant part of the club was ejected on New Year's Day and I think the food is somewhat better for it.

Then we headed over to the big showroom for a "special event" magic performance — Mac King was in from Vegas for two nights to do much the same show he does at Harrah's on the strip. I've seen him there and he's quite amusing and quite amazing. Dressed in a suit that Spike Jones would have found garish, Mac strides out on stage and just takes over the place. He's one of those performers who's so personable and charming, you'll just follow him anywhere.

Showing uncommon restraint, Mr. King waited until his second trick before he got Wendy up on stage to pick a card and sign her name on it, whereupon he made it disappear and reappear and reappear and reappear. Sometimes, it was in his pocket. Sometimes, it was inside his fly. He only made Wendy fish it out when it was in his pocket. Eventually, it turned up sealed inside a box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. Later, not realizing Richard and Wendy were a couple, Mac picked Richard to come up assist him in another trick. I thought the same thing you'd have thought: "Boy, I'm glad it was them and not me."

Anyway, I just wanted to jot down a reminder of a lovely evening, for myself if not for you, and to tell you the following: If you're in Vegas, clear the time one afternoon to go see Mac King at Harrah's. He's really good.

• Posted at 2:29 AM · LINK

The Cat Nest

Click here to enlarge the above photo.

As I've mentioned here, I'm feeding an awful lot of feral cats in my backyard lately. Two of the most interesting — because they're so deeply in love — are Max and Sylvia. Max is also known as Max the Bulimic Cat because he spends most of the day binging and purging, binging and purging. Sylvia is also known as The Stranger Stranger Cat because she's stranger than (and apparently the daughter of) another cat who comes around who we call The Stranger Cat. The Stranger Cat is friendly and trusting. Sylvia spends most of her time scowling at those who give her food and staying far from them. For no visible reason, about once a month she makes herself available for petting. At all other times, she flees from people.

That's Sylvia scowling in the above photo...but the more interesting thing is where the two of them are. That's Max and Sylvia in their nest. They have a nest. Max found a little area between some bushes and he began sleeping in there...and soon, Sylvia began joining them. They sleep in there, one practically on top of the other. They nuzzle and cuddle and lick each other's faces. They seem very happy to be in there, and they're in there an awful lot.

I had to sneak up on them to get the above photo. When he knows I'm around, Max springs from the nest and hurries to demand food, while Sylvia often flees the yard. This time though, my camera and I were far enough away that I didn't disrupt the serenity of the cat nest. Max, by the way, will share his food with Sylvia but not with anyone else. He may be all stomach but he's also all heart.

• Posted at 1:42 AM · LINK