Mystical Cruise Interview

I had a great talk this afternoon with host Robert Sharpe, on his Mystical Cruise radio program. Here's the interview for replay, in case you missed it:

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Interviews

I'm doing a couple interviews this week to promote my book, A Call to Magic, that you can check out if you like.  The first one is tomorrow at 3 PM central time, and the show is Mystical Cruise with host, Robert Sharpe.  You can use the link to listen live, or for the archived show afterwards.

On Thursday I'm recording an interview on a podcast, Total Mind Success--Interviews with Success Experts with Danek Kaus.  I'm not sure when the show will be posted, but I'll update that when I get the information.

I'm also in the process of booking some other interviews as well, and I'll post updates as I have them.

Updates

I'm back!  OK, I wasn't really "gone", but since I was off last weekend, so after working Tyroni's on Wednesday the 3rd, the next day we left for an awesome camping and hiking trip up to Apple River Canyon State Park in norther Illinois.  Really relaxing, really awesome time.  We even caught a great fireworks show in the small town of Stockton.  Anyway, I'm returning to Cherry Street in Galesburg tonight, and Monday evenings at Culver's in Morton are continuing as well.

Farewell, Old Friend

I just learned that a close friend and fellow magician, Amos Levkovitch, passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Amos was one of the most warm hearted and genuinely gracious people I've ever met--in addition to being a really talented performer.  He will be missed.

WEEK-TV Interview

I just came across an interview I did last January on the morning news program on TV-25 with Garry Moore from last January.  I was promoting a book signing event and my annual ART of Magic show at Cherry Street.  I didn't realize this one was posted online. Anyway, here it is:

Being the Hero

This past weekend Kathi's sister and her daughter came to visit, and we took a trip down to Springfield to see the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  That evening when we got home, we rented and watched the movie, Lincoln.  (I recommend both the museum and the movie highly, if you haven't experienced either of them—or even if you have!)  So for pretty much the entire day, we were immersed in the experience of Lincoln's life.  It all lead to some rather spirited and inspiring conversation and contemplation for all of us.

One of the major challenges of Lincoln's presidency, perhaps even more important than the Emancipation Proclamation or winning the war, was getting the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in Congress, officially ending slavery.  Lincoln had to pull out all the stops, in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition, from both those in favor of slavery, as well as the abolitionists, in order to influence enough Congressmen to vote for the bill to get it passed.  We now think of Lincoln as one of the greatest Presidents, but he wasn't seen that way until after his death!  During his Presidency, his was criticized and ridiculed, and opposed more harshly than perhaps any other person of his day.

In our conversations we were expressing our amazement at his achievement and acknowledging Lincoln as a true hero.  And we began to explore what it is that makes a hero.  Heroism isn't just about bravery or conquering an opponent.  It's about acting consistently on the highest sense of integrity and honesty.  This is what Lincoln was able to do with unwavering focus, even in the face of circumstances that were heart-wrenchingly overwhelming and even devastating.

Any time that we act with integrity and honesty for what we sense as in the best interests of all involved, rather than taking the easy way out, it is an act of heroism.  When we are willing to take this narrow path of what Joseph Campbell called "the hero's journey", all manner of circumstances often come to our aid.  Even though Lincoln faced powerful opposition, through his unwavering dedication to the pursuit of justice, the perfect set of circumstances eventually came together to help him achieve his goal.

Even though we're normally not faced with such overwhelming odds, it can nonetheless be difficult to consistently act on what we know is right rather than opting for the easy choice.  When we do, when we choose the heroism of service to others, there is real magic in play.  In that sense heroism is simple but not necessarily easy.  But we do always have this choice, and upon it we build our lives, for good or ill.

Planning Corporate Events

For my corporate clients, I just came across this helpful article on "How to Plan a Successful Corporate Event".  Interestingly, one of the points the article makes is that trends in corporate events have shifted to being more fun:  that companies have learned that "the most effective way to deliver a message or share information is experientially".  Which of course is something I've advocated for many years.

Culvers Mondays

I'm currently continuing my Monday evening appearances at Culver's Restaurant in Morton. Mondays are "Superhero and Princess Night" at Culvers.  Kids 12 and under that dress up as their favorite superhero or princess receive a $1.99 Kid’s Meal!  There's also a facepainter, and magic by yours truly.  I'm there from 5 to 7:00 pm, but the meal deal goes until 8:00.  Hope to see you there!

Sorry, No Cherry Street...

I have a private show this Saturday evening, and so won't be at Cherry Street this week.  See you all there next week!

Economic Cooperation

Here's another article on cooperation, this one on some rather interesting alternatives to our current financial system, that are based on local cooperation and "cooperatives" in contradistinction to our current debt based system.  Very interesting.  It's called: "Opting Out of Wall Street and Building Sustainable, Resilient Communities".