1969, A Good Year

Thanks to Mike for taking over last week's blog. It was very entertaining to read, and I'm sure many of you can identify with those gigs that don't quite pan out as expected.

1969 was a good year. 400,000 people attended Woodstock, Richard Nixon was in the White House, Jethro Tull played on the radio, Apollo 11 was up and running, I was only 14 years old, and gas was only 26 cents per gallon! Oh, and the 1969 Chevy Nova was created, and everything was groovy.

As I had mentioned weeks before, Max was getting his new 1969 Chevy Nova looked at by our mechanic. After a full day at the shop, the thumbs up were given and I guess I don't have to tell you that Max is now the proud owner. Last Friday, I took the day off and Max and I polished up the chrome rims and began detailing projects on the car. I have to say, this car has a lot of get up and go. We drove it around for several hours and had a great time. I want to say I'm very proud of Max as he has saved his own money over the past several years and purchased the car himself without any help from Mom and Dad. He still has quite a bit of money saved up and will continue to customize and accessorize his car. He's continually online finding parts and pieces to add to the car. Then he gets Betty to place the order for him. Every day, he waits for the UPS truck to arrive. He even came in with Betty to work the whole day at Hocus Pocus to earn some extra money and wait for UPS again. It will be another 9 months until he is legally able to drive, and he hopes to have a lot of the work completed before then.

The last couple of weeks, we've had many visitors here at Hocus Pocus, some of whom were either on their way to or coming back from the recent IBM Convention in Reno. We always enjoy visits from fellow magicians, especially those who haven't visited our new location yet. The longest trek was made by our good friend, Chris Kenworthy, all the way from Maryland. Believe it or not, Chris arrived Monday afternoon of this week at about 3:15 PM and left Tuesday at 11:30 AM! Now that's what I call dedication and loyalty. It's always great to see Chris, and I only wish his visit would have been longer.


Fukai

Monday night, we hosted Japan's Fukai, who did an outstanding lecture. We had a great turnout of over 50 people, some of whom came from as far away as Los Angeles and Sacramento! All those in attendance had a great time. One of the more popular items was Fukai's Funny Flying Flower, which we were fortunate enough to pry a few of them away from Fukai while he was here the next day. Because each one is handmade by Fukai personally, when we sell out, we'll have no more. If you are interested, check it out on the web site and order one now before it's too late.

Yesterday was my daughter Renee's 24th birthday. Boy, where has the time gone? Tonight, we're all going out to dinner and then back home for cake and ice cream for everyone but me. I have now lost a total of 205 pounds so that makes it easier to pass on the cake and ice cream...



The weather here has been slightly unbearable starting the Fourth of July. Starting at 105 degrees and working its way up since, we've finally seen a little bit of a break. Today is a very bearable 92 degrees and the next month will most definitely be the worst of the year. August in Central California is akin to weather on Venus, it feels like.

This weekend, we're hoping to catch the new Harry Potter movie, and I'm sure Max will want to take another drive in the car. Most of all, we'll all just try to stay cool. To bad we can't get gasoline for 26 cents per gallon...

Until next time,

Paul