New Cheney Jokes for the Day

My wife and I were out for Valentine's dinner last night and we were having a good laugh at the Vice President's expense. Since I was raised in a rural area (southern Idaho)I grew up around hunters and have gone bird hunting myself. I'm not an avid hunter, because I don't really get much opportunity to do so. However I have nothing against a youngster (not child) owning a gun and learning propper gun safety so that they can hunt. The so-called anti-gun liberal, I am not. I don't really think guns belong in the city and certainly don't see the necessity for hand guns, but that is for a different discussion.
Back to the "laugh." Of course when you go hunting, there are certain rules that you follow so that you don't end up shooting each other. Nothing made me madder at my fellow hunters than them bringing their guns across my path while they followed a bird. In fact it would infuriate me. The reason, I didn't want one of them pulling a Cheney.

Well, I of course hope that this was nothing more than a hunting accident, but when any hunter shoots his friend, accidently or not, he deserves a little ribbing. Hell, he deserves a good butt kicking. But since it is the VP, I'll have to resort to making up a joke.

So my wife and I came up with two jokes.

First her joke: Why did Cheney shoot his hunting partner? Because his dog was out of range.

Now my joke: What do you call a guy who shoots his hunting partner? Same thing you've always called 'em, ...a dick.

I hope that this turns out to be something that we can just have a good laugh over. That means that I'm hoping that Whittington, the guy he shot, comes out of this okay.

My Magic Video of the Day

This young Japanese-American magician, Cyril Takayama is really kicking it into high gear on the Internet. I've seen many of his illusions presented in short out takes. These small individual illusion segments are perfect for today's Internet audience. I'm including one here that I found recently.

Cyril is doing exacly what magician's have done for years. Using the same trick material with a different backdrop. It is what Blaine did, it is what Chris Angel does too. Don't get me wrong, I applaud this. There is nothing wrong with putting a new shine on an old trick, as a new audience is born with each new generation.

However, a true creative magical genius is the next person to come up with another "sawing a lady in two" or "rabit out of the hat." When you can create something that is new to magic and suddenly found as a classic that audiences and magician's alike can relate to, then you are creating real magic. A perfect example of this is when Channing Pollock decided to pull a white dove from a silk scarve. It is what Chuck Jones did when he invented the "mismade girl." Reach for this and you'll be the next FISM winner.

Live the magic!

Ace

My Magical Ambigram

Not too long ago I read Dan Brown's (author of the The Da Vinci Code) book entitled Angels and Demons. It was a fantastic page-turning read. I can tell you that I liked it just as much as I enjoyed his big hit that is soon to be a movie.

One thing that was new to me in this book was the author's use of "ambigrams" not to be confused with "anagrams." An "ambigram" is a word or words that are written graphically such that they can be read to say the same thing when turned a different direction. In the novel, the terms "EARTH" "AIR" "WIND" and "FIRE." Are all written such that you can read them when turned upside-down. They are really "cool." You'll have to get his book to see them. In fact the name on the cover "Angels and Demons" is an ambigram (something that I didn't even notice until I had finished half the book.)

I decided that being the dabbler in the graphical arts such that I am that I'd give a try at the word "Magic." It seemed a natural to me. It was a magical thing to do with a word. So it should be done to the word, "magic."

Well here is the result of my Magic Ambigram. It is an almost goth looking creation that causes people to turn their heads over to see if it really is readible from both directions. I was intrigued by this strange and interesting art form, so I decided to do a little research on it on the ol' Internet. I am reserving the copyright to these so please write me if you'd like any permission to use them.

I discovered that the most interesting use of this little graphic arts trick was to make the word or words say something entirely different when turned the other way.

I thought it might be interesting if I used my name and made it say "Ace Starry" when facing one way and "Illlusion" facing the opposite. This was not an easy task and took a month of different itterations to come up with something with which I was pleased. Here is the result of "Ace Starry - Illusion" after months of work.

So from there I progressed into a minor miracle. I decided that my new business cards would be made up like regular playing cards and would have an ambigram that says "Illusion and Magic of Ace Starry." One of the great things about a playing card is that most of them are sort of an ambigram to begin with because they can be read either way.

I've always wanted a magician's business card that had an "ace." Doesn't that make sense, since my name is "Ace." Well here it is the Coup de' grace.

They are really a beauty to behold. People hold them in their hands and turn them over and over. Then they say, "That's really cool." That my friends, is what comes out of the magic of a good book.

Here is My Video of the Day

I love this Google video stuff. This is one that should crack you up.


By the way, be sure to check out my new web page:

Right now it has a lot of dead links but I'm working on it every day filling out more and more.

Freaky, Strange, Weird - The Super Bowl XL Commercials

This Burger King guy gives me the creeps. I don't know about you but when I first saw this character show up staring at some dude, it gave me nightmares. I guess it's catching on, but how much money does a company need to spend on a poor choice just to get people to accept it? I guess the answer is millions. Here is the commercial for Burger King that was just aired during the Super Bowl.



Now for the just weird. And absolutely nuts.



Here is my vote for the worst.



Here is my favorite:

Arrested Over a T- Shirt?

Today, I'm not feeling magical. But I did watch an illusionist the other night. I've been watching the greatest vanishing act ever done by a President. Bush has almost managed to make free speech disappear.

What in the hell has this government become? When I read the story that Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that said "2,245 Dead. How many more?" to the president's SOTU address, I just wanted to puke. When did wearing a shirt with a slogan become illegal? Well I guess the answer is when you have an executive branch of the government that sits on the verge of fascism.

The whole story is not always apparent at first glance. Sheehan was an invited guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat. She was arrested around 8:30 p.m. ET on charges of unlawful conduct.

Another T-shirt slogan bering attendee was Beverly Young, the wife of long time Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young of Florida. She wore a shirt that read "Support the Troops." Young too was asked to leave, but not arrested.

Neither should have been asked to leave and now after the speech that truth is out. The only thing illegal in this whole mess was the "arrest."