* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MagicNZ e-zine * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #15 Date: Sunday 2nd April 2000 Editor: Alan Watson www.alan-watson.com ============================ Contents ============================ 1. Editors Message 2. Tony Griffith - England - lecture tour 3. Richard Webster - books for sale 4. Magic on TV this coming week - by Ed Hall 5. Boycott petrol price rises this week - 6th to 8th April 2000 6. MagicNZ Web Ring - www.magic.gen.nz 7. MagicNZ BBS - www.magic.gen.nz/magicnzbbs.html 8. Harry Anderson - bought magic shop in New Orleans 9. TV2 Laugh Festival 26th April - 14th May 10. Guy Cater back to Singapore 11. World Tour - two hundred cities 12. A cool site - tests your eye vision and perception 13. What is Elgregoe up to? 14. Trouble accessing e-mail 15. Pre -convention "Houdini" tour for early birds 16. I'm gonna be a daddy!! 17. News Items 18. Benefit of subscribing to the MagicNZ e-zine 19. Subscription Management 20. Contact Information ------------------------------------- 1. Editors Message ------------------------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Wayne Rogers was judged winner Very please to report that Wayne Rogers was judged winner of The Magic Circle's Millennium Magic Contest for his entry 'Signed Card on Blue Stake.' Along with this honour is registration for two at FISM 2000 or its cash equivalent. - AWESOME achievement Wayne. "Magicana Magazine. Michael Woolf reports that he is working flat out on Magicana. There is not only the next issue of the magazine to produce, but also all of the business side - subscription list, advertisers, printing production arrangements and all. Michael has had his computer upgraded to cope with these tasks (and reports that RAM is relatively cheap at the moment, but CD rom burners are not!) He's asked for all present subscribers, and those who intend to subscribe, to get their $NZ40 subscription in to Box 38046 Wellington as soon as possible. (Invoices will go out to present subscribers with the next Magicana.) Chris Parkinson (MagicNZ) has offered his skills in designing the new Magicana Website. The domain name magicana.co.nz has been registered and the site will be created within the next few weeks. The next issue of Magicana will be a boomer, with material from previous contributors plus many new ones, and many new advertisers as well as those from the past. You'll see David Taylor's familiar advertisement on the back cover as before - but now in full colour. Michael says he is working day and night, and is almost as busy as he was at this time last year convening the Convention!" ------------------------------------- 2. Tony Griffith - England - lecture tour ------------------------------------- Message from Tony Griffith Hi to all my friends in New Zealand. It seems ages since Judith and I visited the Land of The Long White Cloud. It is in fact just over 18 months, and we are looking forward to our fourth visit shortly. Will be helping Tony put his NZ tour together - Editor ------------------------------------- 3. Richard Webster - books for sale - esp@psychic.co.nz ------------------------------------- Thank you for the great response to last week's list. Obviously, there is great interest in children's magic. Here are some more: Children Laugh Louder by David Ginn. Good condition. $10.00. Professional Magic for Children by David Ginn. Good condition. $15.00. Kidbiz by David Ginn. Good condition. $15.00. Magic and Monsters by David Ginn. Good condition. $10.00. The Bunny Book for Magician by Frances Marshall. Good condition. $10.00. ------------------------------------- 4. Magic on TV this coming week - by Ed Hall ------------------------------------- Sunday 9 April, 3pm, TV4. TV Guide lists the weekly series 'Masters of Illusion'. -- Ed Hall email: edhall@ihug.co.nz http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~edhall/magic/ ------------------------------------- 5. Boycott petrol price rises this week - 6th to 8th April 2000 ------------------------------------ Message from Brian Head Sounds a bit like carless days ... Last year on April 30, across the USA the American people staged what they called a "Gas Out" across Canada and the USA to bring down the high price of petrol .........and it worked!!!! It's time we Australian's/New Zealanders took a leaf out of the old American protest book and did something similar, only this time let's make it for THREE DAYS instead of just one. Lets see how many Australians/Kiwis we can get to band together for a three day period in April, NOT TO BUY ANY PETROL, during those three days. It will take a little planning but with a small amount of self sacrifice (i.e. ride your bike to work!) and some solidarity with the Canadian and American people as well, we have an opportunity to send a real world message where it's going to hurt the most. If you're happy about seeing your hard earned dollars stolen by a Middle East Oil Cartel and seeing your own Government rub its hands together while we're ripped off by them as well....... then do nothing!! If you're fed up with the constant rip off by Cartels and your Government tell them directly. Tell them you've had enough and .......... JOIN AUSTRALIA'S/New Zealand's GAS OUT. Do not buy any petrol from APRIL 6,2000, to APRIL 8, 2000. Buy what you need before the dates listed above, or after, but practice some restraint and put off some things you were going to do and don't buy any petrol during the GAS OUT. If you want help, just ask!! And mark these dates in your diary-organiser NOW! SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND ASK THEM TO JOIN IN ... AND DO THE SAME. The Americans and the Canadians achieved a price cut once before and there's no reason why we can't achieve a similar result if we band together and fight against the people who profiteer from us. Come on Australia and New Zealand!! Let's stand together!! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!! Even if you receive this 100 times keep passing it around, this way you know everyone is being informed and no one will forget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------- 6. MagicNZ Web Ring - www.magic.gen.nz ---------------------------------- MagicNZ has created the MagicNZ web Ring, a new feature for New Zealand magic organisations and New Zealand resident and internationally based Kiwi magicians to enhance and increase visits to their web sites. FREE Membership to MagicNZ Web Ring ONLY to approved applications for more information e-mail Chris Parkinson - webmaster@netgate.co.nz MagicNZ wants to maintain high standards of presentation and we will not accept sites we consider of poor quality or have broken links. The HTML fragment [the "tag" that appears at the bottom of this and your web page] must not be altered and it must be visible in a 640 by 480 window without scrolling. ---------------------------------- 7. MagicNZ BBS - www.magic.gen.nz/magicnzbbs.html ---------------------------------- Any magicians with access to the Internet can connect to MagicNZ BBS - in fact 20 magicians at a time can be reading or posting messages in the many forums. In 1993 MagicNZ BBS was the first magic bulletin board in the world connected to the Internet. If you would like to join MagicNZ BBS log into their Web Site and follow the instructions on how to connect: www.magic.gen.nz/magicnzbbs.html Full membership to MagicNZ BBS is ONLY given to approved applications. ------------------------------------- 8. Harry Anderson - bought magic shop in New Orleans ------------------------------------- Message from Bev Bergeron Alan: When the write-up about Ron Watson hit our local paper, I thought it was you. My wife said - no, it's Ron not Alan. So be happy it was not you. Did you hear that Harry Anderson has bought a magic shop in New Orleans and plans to open a 35 seat theatre there. He has moved to the City. ------------------------------------- 9. TV2 Laugh Festival 26th April - 14th May ------------------------------------- Message from Guy Cater Just a note about the TV2 Laugh Festival 26th April - 14th May. I will be presenting my hypnotism show at the Powerstation on May 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th. Opening for me is Martin Crump .. son of Barry and NewstalkZB host. Martin is extremely funny and a bit naughty!! A real chip off the old block!! ------------------------------------- 10. Guy Cater back to Singapore ------------------------------------- Message from Guy Cater I'm back in Singapore in May and June (each one just one-night shows) then return at the end of September and will work through until the end of January. Can't wait. Paul R. has completed our agent's website which is http://www.westend.com.sg and you may like to have a glance at it. ------------------------------------- 11. World Tour - two hundred cities! ------------------------------------- Message from Daryl New Zealand will be the very last stop in a World Tour that has included more that two hundred cities! The lecture should be pretty well polished by then! http://www.Daryl.net Editor - Daryl will be performing and giving a lecture at the IBM Ring 160 Day of Magic on the Sunday 22nd October 2000. ------------------------------------- 12. A cool site - tests your eye vision and perception ------------------------------------- Message from Guy Cater I thought of you when I saw a cool site that tests your eye vision and perception. It is VERY accurate! Check it out! Click below to try it: http://my.smartbotpro.net/eyetest/?t=Alan&f=Guy ------------------------------------- 13. What is Elgregoe up to? ------------------------------------- Message from (Elgregoe) Greg Britt. I was phoned by Ed Hall Wellington last week and we arranged a time to meet on his visit to Christchurch. He asked me on the phone do you mind me asking what are you doing these days? I then realised many of the people I had come to know when I had the shop and did my lecture tours may have the same question. The answer is simple I'm doing what I enjoy most MAGIC! currently performing 5 nights a week here's some details for those who may visit Christchurch. Mon/Tues/ Weds Nights Outlaws Restaurant and Bar a wild west themed venue Table Magic 6 to 8pm a small stage performance at 7pm. YEHAAaaaaaaa! Friday 7 to 9pm Christchurch Casino Table Magic at the Grand Cafe. Saturday 6 to 8pm The Gateway Woodend which is approx 30 minutes out of town. And here's some stage shows coming up! The Magical Jungle Story 12th to 19th April Hornby Mall. 3rd to 8th July South City Centre. The Mad Scientist! 9th to 15th July South City Centre. Illusions display and theatre show September 25th to November 12th Science Alive. I am enjoying more time to work on my magic and spend time with Sue and the kids and my other hobby that is keeping birds we have approx 30 includes 3 parrots. Weren't the Hamners brilliant on the worlds greatest magic last week with those brilliant macaws and they are only 10 to $12.000 each here. Hope to see some of you at the Melbourne Convention Best Wishes to Magical Friends. ---------------------------------- 14. Trouble accessing e-mail ---------------------------------- Message from Bernard Reid Hi All,I have been having a lot of trouble accessing e-mail so decided the only way I could overcome the problem was to send an e-mail to everyone in my address book in the hope that they would read it and follow the instructions. This way, I am assured of getting your e-mails and responding. If I divide this into sections you will understand the background to the problem and how to overcome it. When I first went on line I signed up with Compuserve as my ISP (Internet Service Provider). This was not entirely my decision as the machine I had at that time had Compuserve built into it. As long as I was in the U.S. it worked perfectly. In the United States Compuserve is the second largest server after AOL (and is now owned by AOL). Travelling as much as I do, it didn't take long to find out that Compuserve is close to totally useless outside the U.S. There are two reasons for this. One, I have yet to find a Cyber cafe that has an icon for Compuserve, yet they all have icons for AOL. Secondly, because I signed on so long ago I am in the old system of Compuserve and using a handheld on the road cannot upgrade to Compuserve 2000. Thirdly, the only way I can get on to Compuserve is to use their proxy carriers by directly linking a phone line into my modem. Most Cyber cafes will not allow you to do this. So Compuserve is only accessible to me when I can get a phone line which is very rare. It is rare mainly because of ignorance about computer use in third world countries. It didn't take me long to find out that two systems are accessible worldwide;-"Yahoo" and "Hotmail" and I have been able to access them both instantly in China, Vietnam and even Burma plus many other places where people don't even believe there are computers! All of my stationary and business cards were printed with the Compuserve address which most of you have been using, but sometimes it is as long as two or three months before I am in a situation where I can access it. For this reason I took two other addresses which I access almost daily they are:- thaumaturge2@yahoo.com & thaumaturge3@hotmail.com That is problem #1 now here is problem #2. For weight and bulks sake, on the road I use a handheld which will not convert binary, so all e-mail transmissions to me must be in ASCII (Plain text) If you wish to send pictures etc. it can only be done through Compuserve which I will access when I get home. I am now in the Far East (In some very obscure places) until May 17th when I return to Las Vegas so please do as Gabrielle and Eph (My manager) do. 1. Send all e-mails to thaumaturge2@yahoo.com with a Cc: to my Compuserve address. 2. Send only in plain text. I am currently in a hotel in Singapore for three days awaiting the arrival of the Sky Princess and was finally able to download Compuserve. There were over 100 e-mails there going back to mid-January. Some of those deserved answers and I did not get them as I wasn't in a position anywhere to access. So to the following people I apologise profusely and please contact me on my Yahoo address (And yes a lot of the stuff on there was binary!!)...Piers Reid, Colin Underwood, Michael Woolfe, Wayne Rogers, David Kendall, Clive Court. I trust you all understand now why you havn't had responses and as long as everyone uses Yahoo you will hear from me. ------------------------------------- 15. Pre -convention "Houdini" tour for early birds ------------------------------------- Message from George Schindler Registered attendees for the S.A.M. National Convention in Milwaukee may participate in a special Tuesday (June 20) pre-convention trip to the Houdini Historical Centre in Appleton, Wisconsin. The trip includes a 9:AM departure from the convention hotel by bus* to the facility, tours of the long term, "Houdini" exhibit, plus the temporary "Houdini Among the Spirits" exhibit. A sandwich buffet lunch is included (Ham, turkey cheeses, bread or buns, potato salad and chips, condiments and soft drinks). The program will include speaker Sid Radner who will answer questions and accompany the group on the tour. Return trip to the Hyatt should bring you back by 4:30 PM. Bus space is limited. The price of $35.00 per person will include Transportation, lunch and admission costs. If you are interested, you must register in advance. Send payment to the registrars John or Virginia Apperson before June 8. (Credit cards accepted) Note that only convention registrants may participate. (Phone: 618-451-9749) (E Mail -hayraker@stlnet.com). * (If you wish to drive you may deduct $15.00 bus fee) Space is Limited.. Act now! ------------------------------------- 16. I'm gonna be a daddy!! ------------------------------------- Message from Shad Rutherford Hey There Yup it's true!! Suzanne and I are pleased to announce the impending arrival of a new addition to the family. Due date is Oct 20.......and at present the baby is a whole 4cm!!! I'm gonna be a daddy!! All the Best Shad -- Shad Rutherford - shad@entertainer.co.nz http://www.entertainer.co.nz ------------------------------------- 17. News Items ------------------------------------- If you have any news items that you feel the majority of our subscribers would be interested in please e-mail me so I can include them in the next e-zine. The magician who e-mails me a particular news item FIRST will receive full credit at the top of that item. If the news is of major importance I will send them out immediately as a Newsflash. ------------------------------------- 18. Benefit of subscribing to the MagicNZ e-zine ------------------------------------- You will now be informed well in advance of coming events and kept right up to date with the latest news. MagicNZ e-zine is published weekly, late on Sunday night. ------------------------------------- 19. Subscription Management ------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the MagicNZ e-zine: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html The opinions expressed in this e-zine are those of the individual contributors. Neither MagicNZ nor Alan Watson can vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via MagicNZ e-zine. We reserve the right to correct any errors or omissions as we see fit. >> This publication may be freely redistributed to other magicians if copied in its ENTIRETY << (c) Copyright 2000 Alan Watson ------------------------------------- 20. Contact Information ------------------------------------- Alan Watson Ph. (9) 483-9274 Fax. (09) 483-9274 Mobile 025 95-7070 e-mail alan@watson.co.nz www.magicianz.com www.awatson.com