Ok, first and foremost, thank you so much to 21Ace! Today I recieved a gift from Eric, the site owner, with thanks for keeping up with my weblog. Ironically enough, it's been almost another two weeks since my last post. I just got my internet back last night, after the tornadoes knocked out WKY Rural Telephone/Electric. I was incredibly thrilled to recieve something from 21Ace, and am so appreciative of the gesture. Thanks again Eric and 21Ace, for supporting this weblog and this project of mine, and for helping me to make me a better card manipulator. In the short few months that I have been working with you guys, I have found a group of gentlemen that has an intense passion for the artform that they love. On top of it all, I discovered that magic was just that - an art. In my research, I have learned so much about the history of this absolutely infinite lifestyle - that of the magician. And I have discovered more: that I, too, want to indulge in that very lifestyle. Without you guys here at 21Ace, I would be sitting on my couch, sad and lonely, and wondering how David Blaine.php>Blaine bit that quarter in half. But instead, I get to sit in my computer chair at my desk - proud, excited, and enthralled by the breathtaking performances of young men that share common interests with me. So again, thank you for bringing to life in me the same passion that I see you all so brilliantly shining to the world in all that you say and do. You make this project, this hobby, and this art come to life.
And with that, I'd like to make an update.
Ok...last week was amazing for my practice, because we were on spring break, and I went absolutely no where, except on Tuesday, when I was at Georgetown college for a choir performance. Even then, I had two decks of cards with me, and got to practice for 4 hours on the way up, 4 hours on the way back down, and I got to play around a little while I was there. Very productive week. Since I got my Xtreme Beginnerz DVD, I've been learning a ton, and last week I got to put all that knowledge into play by practicing it so much. My hotshot cut variation looks really cool (I use a charlier cut to load up the chosen card instead of using the actual hot-shot cut...I find it fast and simpler. It's in my video.) and I've really improved my fans. So here's my practice log for last week, and keep in mind that this isn't at all exaggerated, I had nothing to do all day, so what do you think I did in that situation? I sat at my new card table, and practiced.
Practice Log
*Note: I keep a written journal of my practice time for each day at the end of the evenings. I am not making these numbers up off the top of my head, for the purpose of my senior project, we're required to journal the amount of time spent "studying" for our presentations. So luckily, I can put that information to use in this weblog.
-
Monday - 6.5 hours
-
Tuesday - 7 hours
-
Wednesday - 9 hours
-
Thursday - 8 hours
-
Friday - 5.5 hours
-
Saturday - 9 hours
Total amount of practice time for last week: a whopping 45 hours
yup, it's official. I have ABSOLUTELY no life. That's more than a full-time work week of practice.
I am really excited about my first video, which will makes its' debut sometime this week. I'm just getting started on the editing, by which I mean adding credits to the end, opening titles, super-imposed stills and text, and scene transitions. Also, I'd like a good choice of music. Maybe Collide by Skillet. I don't know yet. But as soon as the video is toTally complete, you'll get access to it. Don't worry!
It has been yet another full week of waiting, and I still have no David Blaine.php>Blaine Split Spades deck. I'm calling Ellusionist>Ellusionist tonight to see what the deal is. I really want them! I'm not angry, I'm just anxious because I want to see what they look like, feel like, et cetera. But that will call for an update in itself when the package is recieved.
In closing, I'd just like to say that this week, while on Spring Break, I spent my 500th dollar on Magic. w00t! Now I have no life, and no money too! Haha. Anyway, I bought 13 new decks of cards at Tower Records in Nashville over the weekend, which included three new decks of Tally-Ho-Playing-Cards.php>Tally-Ho Fan Backs, two new decks of Tally-Ho-Playing-Cards.php>Tally-Ho Circle Backs, two new Black Bicycle-Black-Tiger-Playing-Cards.php>Tiger decks, four new decks of Bicycle-Playing-Cards.php#top>Bikes (red and blue), a new deck of light-blue Bicycle-Playing-Cards.php#top>Bikes, and a Bees World Series of Poker deck. I was very excited about getting them all! I bought extras of each one because I wanted to be able to leave some un-opened for my collection. I have acquired over 50 decks of cards in the little more than 4 months I have been practicing card magic. Sweet huh?
Well, I will update very soon, no more than two or three days at the most, because I will be uploading my new video to the internet, which will kick off the ABJ video documentary. If any of you are still interested in helping me with it, please be my guest, and send material for me to learn, or if you have pics you would like included, I'll be more than willing to find a place for them. Anyone who helps out with the project will have their name on the videos, and if at all possible I'd like to get a little something special for those who make contributions. Thanks again to 21Ace for helping to support my new project, and I'll update again soon!
-An0n