Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing writes:

James Randi, the guru of anti-woowoo, has released the full text of his Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural online for free. Randi hopes the move will boost sales of the print edition.

When I decided to place the entire text (…) on the Internet, it was suggested to me that this could cut into the sales of the printed version. However, experience has shown that, in the publishing business, making a book available on the Internet only stimulates sales of the actual book! Another mystery.

Years ago it worked for BoardWatch Magazine. It’s worked for years for Wired Magazine. Why not for this?

Here’s the online version. It’s great to have a searchable online version, but I’ll still keep my old fashioned version.

It was just a year ago that I read of the nice ceremony when James Doohan received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He wasn’t well then.

From WCVB’s online site:

The publicist for James Doohan says the actor who played Scotty on “Star Trek” has died at his home in Redmond, Wash. He was 85. The cause of his death was pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Times Online had a very nice obituary, which included:

James Montgomery Doohan was born in 1920 in Vancouver, the youngest of four children of William Doohan, a veterinarian, pharmacist and dentist. He displayed an early interest in acting, playing Robin Hood in a school production, but the outbreak of war took him to the Royal Canadian Artillery, with which he served gallantly on D-Day.

On June 6, 1944, Lieutenant Doohan of the Winnipeg Rifles, 13th Field Regiment, took part in D Company’s landing on Juno beach. The company disembarked from landing craft at 7.30am, and dashed through rifle and machinegun fire to reach the shelter of the sand dunes. Doohan silenced a German machinegun post with a few shots but was wounded later that day. He was hit eight times, four times in his left leg, and one round hit him in the chest — only the cigarette case in his breast pocket saved him from a mortal wound.

Otherwise, his company came off fairly lightly. The middle finger from his right hand had to be amputated, and whenever there were close-up shots of Scotty operating the transporter in Star Trek, a “stunt hand” was employed.

The man lived a long and interesting life.

The New York Times ran this obituary. And WCVB also has this nice slideshow of a few pictures.

Star Trek and the character Doohan played was part of my childhood. This is akin to losing an old friend.

Early in 1999, one of my clients introduced me to a wonderful world I didn’t know existed, and I’m glad she did. She handed me a thick book and told me she thought I’d enjoy it. While it was written for children, news reports had adults walking the streets with a copy tucked under their arm. Her daughter introduced it to her, now she was introducing it to me — as she did to any adult who’d listen.

I devoured the book in a couple of days. Over the years there were few authors capable of keeping me up well past my bedtime. That short list included Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Crichton, (early) John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, Sue Grafton, (very early) Tom Clancy, and one of my all time favorite writers, Patricia Cornwell. Within one chapter, I’d added another name to the list.

On her offer, I quickly and happily traded the first book for the second in the series, which only cemented my appreciation for the new wizarding world I’d discovered. Months later, the third book in that series — “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” — would be released and I was one of the people waiting in line for a copy. I was a fan of JK Rowling and her creation, Harry Potter.

In November 2001, when the first motion picture — “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone“ — hit the theaters, my wife and I managed a pair of tickets for the first showing on the first day. We sat in the middle of a theater filled with kids accompanied by moms (and occasionally dads) all having skipped school, work, or both. Most of the kids were wearing some piece of clothing or carrying some relic associated with the Harry Potter novels. I’d never seen anything like it. Magic.

For the thirty or so minutes prior to the lights going down, the excitement inside that theater was as close to electricity in the air as I’d ever experienced. One of my fondest memories I’ll ever carry with me of ever seeing a movie was when the opening scene came up on the screen. The collective gasp by every kid — and some adults — in the theater was incredible. Throughout the motion picture, director Chris Columbus nailed one scene after another. It was amazing to hear the comments afterwards: it was exactly as we’d “seen” it in our minds. That’s magic.

Over the years, as each new installment was released, I’ve purchased both the hardcover novels as well as the unabridged audio book versions (voiced by the excellent Jim Dale.) Driving long hours was made a lot less tedious immersed in the world of Harry Potter. And with each motion picture released, we happily sat in the theater on opening day surrounded by the most appreciative film fans I’ve ever witnessed in my life. Those are some of the few really magical film experiences I’ve had.

As you are well aware, the latest Harry Potter novel was released at midnight this past Friday night. No, I didn’t stand in line for my copy, but I did pick one up the next morning. I’ve read through it once, and now I’m reading a few chapters of it each evening to my wife, another devoted Potter fan. Book six is great and certainly deserves its position next to the other five volumes.

Interestingly enough, the Harry Potter world doesn’t seem to be impacting our little world very much. Oh, sure, lots of magicians have attempted to cash in on Potter Mania (and the only mystery performer I know personally who actually obtained the rights to perform a Harry Potter show is San Francisco’s Walt Anthony, who jumped on the Potter bandwagon long, long before most of us even knew there was a “Harry Potter” — let alone a wagon.) But kids largely haven’t tied the Potter world in with the world we call magic.

You may want to consider the reasons why that is.

On a related note, back when I was a member of the Ring 2100 email list (which list I gave up on when I tired of having to constantly tell the listserve software that the email address I’ve used for almost fifteen years really is a valid email address so stop cancelling my emails) every once in a while some performer would ask for advice on putting together a Harry Potter-themed kidshow. I always considered doing that a bad idea.

Aside from the question of whether or not one should theme an entire performance based on a pop culture phenomenon (as opposed to the occasional nod within a performance) I usually pointed out that kids who are interested in the world of Harry Potter live in the world of Harry Potter. If you think Trekkers hate being called Trekkies try screwing up a Potter reference in front of a room full of Harry Potter fanatics. It’d make the scenes in Kindergarten Cop look like, well, kindergarten.

A few years ago a performer asked advice on doing a Harry Potter themed trick. He admitted he hadn’t read any of the books, only the reviews. He was a nice fellow and, for all I knew, a great kidshow performer. But he was out of his element in this case. In part, my response included this:

I won’t speak to the licensing and copyright issues involved in doing a “Harry Potter” themed anything, but I will say this: kids who are interested in the Harry Potter series know details and I think it’s a bad idea to consider even a “Cliff Notes” knowledge of HP to even begin to approach anything resembling adequate knowledge required to pull off an acceptable performance.

Among the reasons there is such a pull from consumers for HP-themed stuff is that the series is wildly important to those people who have become fans. Keeping that in mind, skipping or twisting a seemingly little detail can easily disappoint a HP audience, whose expectations rival those of Star Trek fans or Tolkein fans. That’s really not fair to the audience, the client, JK Rowling and everyone else associated with the HP franchise.

Maybe I’m going a little overboard for the tastes of some, but experience is mean taskmaster. Any kidshow performer who is worth his salt will probably understand the following:

I would just as soon cut my toes off with a rusty old knife than I would enter the realm of kids + Harry Potter without having read the books a few times. (FWIW, I am a “Harry Potter” fan in a really big way.) The results could very well be worse than accidentally exposing the workings of a Princess Flying Carpet in front of 100 11 year-old boys.

That was four years ago and my opinion hasn’t changed.

I’ve often noted that we can’t just use the word magic to describe what we do. We necessarily have to qualify it. Close-up? Stage Illuuuuuuuusion? Bizarre? Kidshow? Three-meter? Card? Running-through-the-woods-nekkid-banging-on-a-drum magic(k)?

What is magic anyway?

One definition of magic might be 265 million copies sold of the first five books in the Harry Potter series, read mostly by kids who might not otherwise be all that interested in reading any book at all. How about over 9 million copies of book six sold over the weekend in just the US and UK alone.

A few more Potter-related numbers from Friday’s BBC Online:

Book retailer Waterstone’s collected facts about the franchise in The Harry Potter Report, which aimed to assess the scale of the phenomenon:

– The first five books in the series have sold more than 17 million copies in the UK alone, with a value of over £100m.

– Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has been the UK’s best-selling fiction author between 1998 and 2005.

– The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, sold 1.8 million copies in the UK within 24 hours of publication in June 2003, making it Britain’s fastest-selling book.

– More than 265 million Harry Potter books have been sold in 200 countries, written in 62 languages.

– In France the English version of Order of the Phoenix became the only English-language book to top the country’s best-seller list.

– JK Rowling won Spain’s Prince of Asturias Concord Prize “for having helped children of all races and cultures to discover the joys of reading”.

– More than 1.1 million cassette and CD recordings of the Harry Potter series of novels have been sold.

– The three Harry Potter movies have taken a combined income of £1.35bn at the worldwide box office.

– Movie versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban broke all UK box office records.

– Released in May 2004, The Prisoner of Azkaban movie made more than £408.2m at the global box office.

– The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie is due to hit UK cinemas in November, with plans already in place for the fifth and sixth films.

– Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the UK’s fastest-selling DVD, selling more than one million copies in two days.

– Harry Potter tales have inspired a vast number of merchandising spin-offs, from computer games to board games, sweets, toys and clothing.

– Harry Potter merchandise worth an estimated £1bn has been sold to date.

– JK Rowling has become the world’s richest author and the richest woman in the UK.

– The 2005 Sunday Times Rich List estimated her fortune at £500m.

Keep in mind this brand of magic revolves around a world that only really exists between your ears. If that isn’t magic I don’t know what is. It’s a heavy dose of perspective with respect to what we call magic, isn’t it?

Bob and Eugene have been beating the drum for years and years reminding us where magic really happens. It may be time to dust off Magic and Meaning and give it a fresh read, don’t you think?

To say that I am a fan of Anders Moden would be understating things quite a bit.

A few years ago, in a private email list for magicians, Anders gave to us a wonderful little routine whereby an opened soda can is crushed and then restores itself to its former uncrushed, full, and unopened glory. The performer then opens the can and pours out the contents.

Fast-forward to the network television special, wherein one David Blaine performs it. Thanks to some unscrupulous individuals (otherwise referred to as “bastard or bastards who should rot in hell”) abusing the miracle of commerce that is eBay, Anders felt he had no choice other than releasing the trick in PDF format, titled “Healed & Sealed.” I was one of the folks who had the original version and also later purchased the PDF of the “finished product.” It was — and is — a great trick.

It also promptly joined the “Self-Folding Bill” as one of the most ripped off tricks. The Internet giveth; the Internet taketh away, as they say.

One of the few members of that private email list who saw the potential of that trick as it was originally described for us was Australian and otherwise fine human being Tim Ellis. Tim worked on his version of what became known as “Healed & Sealed” and added some very lovely touches.

Tim Ellis recently noted that Anders has developed a wicked clever card marking system called The Binary Sensory System. Do yourself a favor and download a copy now. Work on it.

And send Anders a note to let him know you appreciate his work and his sense of…humor. He’s a good guy.

There is a surprising crossover between magicians and musicians so I feel confident that this isn’t as off topic as it might seem on the surface.

Bob Moog is a name many of you will recognize. The extent to which his work on music and, specifically, his synths, has impacted the world of popular music is hard to calculate. He’s also just a wonderfully kind man.

A few months ago Bob Moog was diagnosed with having brain cancer.

I have seen first hand what brain cancer does to the body and the spirit and the family involved. If you’ve experienced it yourself, there’s no need for me to go further. If you haven’t experienced it, there’s little — if anything — I could say that can adequately convey what the Moog family is going through right now.

If you are so led, please visit this site, read about Bob and his condition. Please, also, take a moment to leave a note in the guestbook or, better yet, send an email to let the family know you are thinking about them. You probably have no idea how much of a difference it will make to them.

(It only seems fair.)

Teller speaks.

For many of us, this is not much of a revelation. But whether you have or have not heard the eloquence that is The Voice of Teller, I have a surprise for you.

Via TV Squad via TV Barn via NPR via the Internet via Al Gore thanks to Declan McCullagh:

All Things Considered, July 12, 2005 · Teller, the usually silent half of the magician duo Penn and Teller, reviews the book, The Glorious Deception, by Jim Steinmeyer. It’s a biography of the magician known to audiences as Chung Ling Soo, who Teller says was a genuine enigma.

Listen to it here.

Given the subjects of this and the last two posts, I’m thinking of changing the subtitle of Escamoteurettes to “All Penn & Teller, all the time!”

Or maybe not. I haven’t really decided.

Gizmodo points to an article touting a “new radio-controlled watch” by Epson.

From the Epson news release:

Epson, in collaboration with Junghans Uhren GmbH of Germany, has succeeded in developing the world’s first(1) analog radio-controlled watch movement that is capable of receiving signals from three different locations across the globe.

The solar-charged radio-controlled analog watches available in Japan at present are only capable of receiving standard radio signals from two transmitters in Japan (Fukushima and Kyushu). These watches are unable to handle different radio frequencies and time codes2 from other countries, so they cannot receive radio signals from other areas including those outside Japan. The new radio-controlled watch movement developed jointly with Junghans is capable of receiving radio signals transmitted from Frankfurt, Germany, and Colorado, U.S.A., in addition to the two locations in Japan. By selecting the preferred time zone using the world time function and receiving radio signals from Japan, Europe, or the United States, users can enjoy using a watch that boasts superior accuracy of approximately 1 second in 100,000 years.

Well, it’s not the first radio-controlled watch, but it is a lot thinner than the three or four I have here at Casa Escamoteurettes.

I love technology.

While doing my best to figure out how to wrap up any number of mostly-done posts for Escamoteurettes, I get a notice that Penn Jillette has commented on the State of the World. It’s not that I planned to pen two Penn posts back to back, but that’s the way the world works sometimes. I just stopped asking “why.”

I don’t know Penn. I spoke with him for maybe five seconds at MAGIC Live! in Vegas last year (in between shoving David Blaine out of the way so I could talk to Michael Close, and lusting over some exceptional posters for sale.) We do share a couple of things in common, one of which is an enthusiasm for free speech rights.

So when he calls “an absolute hellhole” every country outside the good old U S of A, I can only say, “God bless the right to free speech and God bless the USA.”

According to one of my favorite web sites, the Internet Movie Database, the plot to the motion picture, The Aristocrats, is described as:

One hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, VERY dirty, filthy joke–one shared privately by comics since Vaudeville.

An article in today’s New York Times puts it this way:

How do you sell a movie about the dirtiest joke ever told?

Note to reader: None of the good parts of the joke will be told during the course of this article. Or in any of the ads. Or in the trailer. In fact, much of the content of the movie, a documentary called “The Aristocrats,” is basically unrepeatable in just about any mainstream public forum.

Which is the essence of the problem.

In the Times article, Penn is quotes as saying,

“There is no violence or hostility of any kind” in “The Aristocrats,” explained Penn Jillette, an executive producer of the film, who is better known as half of the magic act Penn and Teller. “We want to say: ‘We have 150 really funny human beings in the back of a room making each other laugh, but they’re going to be swearing, and if you don’t want to hear swearing, you better not come in.’ “

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

And this should put to bed the question of how one can outdo a Showtime series called, Bullshit.

ADDED 7/11/2005: It is becoming readily apparent to me that “The Aristocrats” is not going to suffer the same fate as did “The Blair Witch Project” — which is to say, it appears to me many people still aren’t getting the joke. Which, naturally, makes the joke even funnier. This may become the Mobius Strip movie of the decade.

Yes, I know, old news. But I’ll bet you didn’t know he bends bicycles, too. (Thanks to Red Ferret.)

As an aside — and I’m not sure I should even mention this — but don’t you find more than a passing resemblance between Uri and Gerry McCambridge? Hey, I’m just asking.