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Friday was a great day. In just one day I was nominated for the Okanagan Arts Awards (article from the Capital News below), and also the KEY Business Awards in Young Entrepreneur and also Home Based Business! Wish me luck at the awards.

Not actual tape measure “tricks” but more of a stunt. The fake enthusiasm makes me think that this took a lot of takes.

I imagine these coin tossing videos took a lot of takes too

Oh Lance Burton, You’re so smooth with the ladies.

More and more I’m thinking about this blog and what its purpose will become over the next year, or two years, or five years. With the social media landscape being completely different now than it was a year ago. How will people continue to share information with each other?

I’m getting more and more of the viral videos and updates from Facebook , and more of my articles and research through RSS. For now I’m going to continue using both this blog and my facebook account to keep people updated.

Right now I’m using facebook to post things that don’t necessarily have a long ‘information lifespan’, and instead use the blog where I want to post content that I think should stick around for longer. Plus the blog acts like a personal diary rather than just a string of updates. Something I can look back on to see what things were like. There’s only a few of you who read this blog whenever I make updates, and most of the traffic comes from the long-tail of google search results.

For those of you who do read my blog, thank you for giving me the gift of your time! I will continue to blog in 2010, though its certainly going to take a back seat to all the other exciting things I have planned.

PS: Here’s a cool magic video I found on youtube last night. (Skip to 40 seconds in)

Here’s the segment for those who missed it on TV today.

Two years ago a woman accused David Copperfield of doing un-gentlemen like things to her while she visited David’s private island. The only problem is this woman had a history of claiming these things against famous and rich people. Well, after two years its being reported that the charges have been dropped. Its so sad that some sick woman is able to drag somebody’s name through the mud like that. Glad to hear that the whole thing is finally settled.

The comments on the article that I linked to have some pretty funny jokes. I wonder if this story will hit the late-night joke circuit? The jokes practically write themselves on this one.

My friend in magic Shawn Farquhar will be appearing on Ellen this Thursday (January 14th 2010). Check your local listings for the exact channel and time. Dodd over at TMNW has reported that its possible that Shawn will be making several appearances on the show, kind of like Justin Kredible on RachelRay’s TV show.

If a recording of the show makes its way online, I’ll be sure to post it here along with on my FB page.

Break a leg Shawn. I can’t wait to see what you decide to perform!

Chris Yuill will be putting on a lecture for magicians on January 17th, 2010 from 1:00-3:00 PM in Vancouver. For more info please visit the facebook group. I’ve never seen Chris perform before, but from the info on the facebook page it sounds like its going to be a nice mix of close-up magic, stand up, and parlor magic- Something for everybody.

If any of you see the lecture, let me know how it went.

This optical illusion is crazy! Follow the directions in the video.

If you do it properly you should be able to see an image of Jesus. Look at anything white after and just blink a few times and you’ll see it. It sticks around for a long time too. One of the best optical illusions I’ve seen in a long time.

In this video I talk about Newsletter Marketing for Magicians 101. I discuss:

-Various programs for sending emails
-Plaintext vs. html
-Building your list (Sign up boxes, draws, evaluation forms, permission marketing)
-Creating newsletter content

Links that appear in this video:

www.gmail.com
http://www.mailchimp.com/
http://www.constantcontact.com/
http://www.icontact.com/a.pl/270864

http://www.alikzam.com/newsletter.html
http://www.hasslefreebirthday.com/partytips.html
http://www.magicalweddingstory.com/

http://www.onlinemagicclub.com/
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Permission Marketing Book

Reasons to my Newsletter for Magicians:

1. I’ll update you with free video content as its created
2. You won’t need to check a website for updates
3. Access to ask me any questions you may have
4. Your personal information will never be sold or shared. I hate spam too.

Email Marketing You Can Trust

Please add your comments below!

When I was going to Okanagan College to get my diploma in Telecommunications and Networking Engineering I used to read the Schneier on Security blog daily. Its been like 3 years since then, and I don’t read it anymore… But its still a great blog, and he’s a brilliant man. A few days ago the world between security and magic crossed when he posted an article about how con artists exploit human behavior and a magician Paul Wilson was part of the project.

Read the full story on the Schneier Security blog.