Doug Henning Blue

That's right I am talking about Doug Henning Blue today.
I was looking at the photos I took when I was over at Thom Rubino, the illusion builder, as we are going to be restoring an old Doug Henning "Things that go bump in the night." Those props were beautiful with the Henning blue, clouds, and rainbows. It's funny because it became a standard blue for a lot of magic props in the 80's.  I have such great memories of going to the warehouse in Santa Monica and hanging out. They had a stage set up in the back with all the crates. The cast would rehearse facing the back of the stage which was a wall of mirrors, when the routine was perfected, they would then turn around and rehearse like they were on stage. I found him to be a delightful person who truly loved magic.

Top to a Doug Henning Cutting in Half

Sigh! Well back to the Bump... Thom has one at his house. It was used on a Henning tour, and later used in Siegfried & Roy's show with the production of a cat at the end. The prop is in great condition considering it's age, use, and travel abuse.  It has been Siegfried & Roy'ed and will need some love and attention. Now I am just like the next magician and loved S&R's show. They took magic to a completely different place and it will be a long time before we see anything like them again. I loved their show and saw it several times both at radio city music hall and in Las Vegas. BUT I loved Doug Henning. When I saw him for the first time on television I realized that I to could be a magician. He was so different from the standard men in tuxedos. He made magic... magical, he brought wonder, and a child like excitement to his performances, and at that moment I wanted to be a professional magician. Suddenly all those people who said I could not be a magician because I was a woman, they lost their voices because magic had a new face and it was Doug Henning. So if I have to pick and choose between performing this routine like S&R or Doug Henning then there is no choose, it is Henning all the way.

The Bump props current appearance as used in Siegfried & Roy's show. 

The photo above is what the prop looks like currently. you can see it is very much in theme with Siegfried and Roy's show.  The photo below is a still taken from "The Magic Show," with Doug Henning sitting on top. I get so excited when I look at this photo and think about having this in my show. It would not be possible without Thom and Vinny. The two of them have kept the prop since it left the S&R show, and it has just been waiting for several years.This Bump has an amazing lineage and I hope to continue it with my show. S&R have panels on the outside, so I have already talked to Thom about saving some of the panels. I know I want to keep a panel at my house on the wall in my magic room as a piece of magic history, and so does Thom.

The Bump prop as it appeared in Doug Hennings "The Magic Show."

Once those panels are removed the prop will see a little bit of a face lift before heading off to the artist to be restored to its former Doug Henning Blue and the original Henning design. I am so excited. This man stirred my imagination when I was young. 30 years ago he made me realize I could do more than just dream, and he is still making my dreams possible today.

Thank-you Doug Henning, and your Doug Henning Dare to Dream BLUE!

Below is a link to watch Doug Henning performing "Things That Go Bump In The Night."

Food Glorious Food

I might not look like it, but I love food. Love making it, cooking it, and LOVE eating food. But I am fanatical about what kind of food I put in my body. I have not eaten red meat for over twenty years. It's not because I don't like the idea of killing animals for food, it's because I don't like the taste. I will kill it and wear it, I just don't want to eat it. I love fish and fowl, but even that I only eat a couple times a week. I truly enjoy eating fruit and veggies of almost all kinds. The more colorful the salad the better. They are discovering that all the different colored veggies are good for you in various ways. Why? Because the different colors have different vitamin, fiber, minerals, and protein in them. RED: contains Things like lycopene, ellagic acid, Quercetin, and Hesperidin. These foods reduce the risk of prostate cancer, lower blood pressure, reduce tumor growth and LDL cholesterol levels, scavenge harmful free-radicals, and support join tissue in arthritis. ORANGE & YELLOW: contains beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, flavonoids, lycopene, potassium, and vitamin C. These foods reduce age-related macula degeneration and the risk of prostate cancer, lower LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, support retinal health and vision, promote collagen formation and healthy joints, fight free radicals, encourage alkaline balance, and work with magnesium and calcium to build healthy bones. GREEN: contains chlorophyll, fiber, lutein, zeaxanthin, calcium, folate, vitamin C, calcium, and Beta-carotene. These vegetables reduce cancer risks, lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels, normalize digestion time, support retinal health and vision, fight free-radicals, and boost immune system activity. BLUE & PURPLE: Contains lutein, zeaxanthin, resveratrol, vitamin C, fiber, flavonoids, ellagic acid, and quercetin. These nutrients support retinal health, lower LDL cholesterol, boost immune system activity, support healthy digestion, improve calcium and other mineral absorption, fight inflammation, reduce tumor growth, act as an anticarcinogens in the digestive tract, and limit the activity of cancer cells. WHITE: contain beta-glucans, EGCG, SDG, and lignans that provide powerful immune boosting activity. These foods also activate natural killer B and T cells, reduce the risk of colon, breast, and prostate cancers, and balance hormone levels, reducing the risk of hormone-related cancers. All of these different colors mix together to keep you healthy, so eat a rainbow! And try to eat fresh fruit and veggies as the processed food are NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Yes, processed foods are easy, but look at the ingredients and if you can't pronounce them or have know idea what it is, then it is generally not good for you and you should not eat it. I don't eat fake sugars or foods with them in it. I would rather buy original Greek yogurt and add a little fresh fruit with a drizzle of honey, than eat the fake flavored and sweetened yogurts. It might take 5 more minutes to prepare but it is so much better for you. BUT..... I do worry about genetically altered foods as they don't know what it will do to out bodies years later. The genetically modified corn is amazing as it grows faster and fends off bugs and has the ability to feed the world. This corn is in so many foods we all consume like corn starch and the questionable "modified corn syrup." But really how is it affecting our bodies? Truth is we don't know, and we will not really know for another 10-20 years. I hope that these genetically engineered foods work out for mankind, as it is the future of feeding this world. Either way I hope you enjoy your food as much as I enjoy mine. I am off to eat a bowl of homemade soup, I made enough for everyone. For more information about the food color wheel (it's where I got my facts) go to: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/fruits-vegetables.shtml

Wondering about WONDERGROUND.

I went to WONDERGROUND tonight to see a couple of friends and I got to thinking....why did Jeff McBride pick the third Thursday of every month? Maybe he based it on a children's poem about the days of the week? Monday's child is fair of face Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child has far to go, Friday's child is loving and giving, Saturday's child works hard for a living, But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day Is bonny and blithe and good and gay. Fair of face ....does nothing for magic, although it is suggested if you are a performer. Full of grace... Have you seen magicians off stage? Grace does not describe most of us. Full of woe. ...Well that just refers to the spouses who put up with us magicians. Loving and giving... Well this is better as WONDERGROUND is an environment that is very caring about performers. Works hard for a living.... Really! We do magic, we love what we do for a living. Bonny, blithe, good and gay.... Hummmmm! Nope I can't think of a magician having all of those qualities. This leaves Thursday's child has far to go. And I think it fits because WONDERGROUND will go far. It already travels around the world on Jeff's web channel. People are starting to come to WONDERGROUND from all over. So I think it has already come far and will go even farther. Besides WONDERGROUND is Jeff's child. Or maybe its much simpler and the Olive (which is the restaurant) that is taken over every third Thursday only had that day free for the magicians to invade it. Either way when you are in Las Vegas on that third thursday come to WONDERGROUND it will never cease to amaze you every month.

Welcome

Hello It has been suggested that I have a blog, so this is my blog site. I will be trying to figure out how o use it in the next couple weeks, so bear with me. See you at the computer. :)