Hi There!
 
Well, it is certainly high time that I wrote another journal entry.
 
I hope that all of you and your loved ones are doing well. These are certainly still strained economic times for many. But with the warmer weather upon us and spring coming soon I hope that better times are just around the corner.  And we should be grateful for what we have as there are others in Canada and most certainly at different parts of the world who do with a lot less of life’s rewards and comforts.
 
Still much happening in the magic scene these days in and around Toronto. Four weeks ago we had United States trade show magician Chad Long at the shop to give a lecture.
 
We had a very nice turnout for the lecture. And all in attendance were treated to some excellent close-up magic with cards and coins. I especially enjoyed his coin magic. Mr. Longs’ ideas with flash paper and coins were great.  I was also surprised and pleased to see a routine with the Okito Box; a prop that is rarely seen used in professional situations.
 
In between Mr. Longs pieces were some just wonderful bits of magic. That is, fun quick tricks. One that really hit a home run with those in attendance was his version of the ‘Swallowing the Needles Trick’.  Instead of needles Chad took a stick of spaghetti. He broke up the stick into several small pieces. He chewed and swallowed the pieces. And then to our amazement he slowly removed from his mouth the piece of spaghetti back to its original state and put it back into the spaghetti box! Just fantastic! The method was just terrific and insanely easy and original with him.
I would love to share it with you but I am afraid that would not be fair to Chad Long nor to those who paid to learn how the feat was accomplished.
 
The Tenyo Day we had at the shop was also a success and a lot of fun. Much thanks to Jason and Peter of Tenyo Elite for coming and demonstrating their two first effects, ‘Moonspinner’ and ‘Fortune Sticks’. Other big thanks to wonderful customers Patrick Lee and Eric S. They have been coming to the shop for many years. Both Patrick and Eric brought part of their large Tenyo collection to the shop to share with others.
 
We were all so happy to see our great friend John Cardella visit the shop on Tenyo Day. John has always been a big fan of the Tenyo tricks. John loved demonstrating and he sold many Tenyo tricks during his six year stay at the shop.
 
During this time we had another get-together of the ‘Erdnase Group’. Its leader and excellent cardician Ben Train has done a splendid job going slowly through the book with those in attendance.  The next meeting is Saturday, March 27 at the shop; full details on the homepage of our site.
 
Our new website will be launched very shortly. Gerry our webmaster has worked long and hard to make the new site better in so many ways. I cannot thank him enough for his dedication to our business. I do not know what I would do without him.
 
About 80% of Canadian households watched the men’s hockey team win gold at the Olympics this past Sunday. Eighty percent is a staggering high number. It really proves that hockey is Canada’s number one sport…by far!! Eh?
Watching the Olympics I think most of us who love magic and want to improve are reminded that in order to become good at anything requires very hard work and dedication. In order to become really good requires all types of sacrifice. Nevertheless watching the Olympics should inspire us all to become better at whatever is our passion; hopefully ‘magic’!!
 
Yours Very Truly,
Jeff Pinsky