Ace and the Naked Cowgirl

There is an old saying, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." We in the cut throat world of magic say something more like, "the SOB stole my damn trick, routine and all."

But, I'm always glad to see when someone takes something and makes it work for them, with their own unique style. Thus we have "THE NAKED COWGIRL." For years we have had some guy playing guitar wearing a cowboy hat and a pair of underwear in Times Square calling himself "THE NAKED COWBOY." Even though he was never "naked" and I doubt very much he is really a "cowboy" (in the sense that he has probably never been within a hundred yards of a cow) still he makes a few bucks with his trademark "naked" gimmick.

Now some enterprising young girl has taken up the call of being, neither naked nor a cowgirl. Yet she has people take pictures of her with her rhinestone pasties covering her nipples and her guitar with her web page proudly displayed. I'm sure if the Naked Cowboy were to decide to sue her for a case of derivative works, he'd have a good case, even though, I doubt very much they are playing to the same audience.

Here's to you, Naked Cowgirl. Keep living a naked magic life.

Live Earth a Magic Day for Al Gore

Seven, seven, seven will go down as a magical day for me. It was the day that I met and shook the hand of Al Gore - twice.

Over the years I've strongly supported Al Gore and his green and progressive politics. I've also been somewhat of a Bon Jovi and Sting (Police) fan. So when Al Gore sends me an email telling me about his upcoming Live Earth Concert, of course I was interested to say the least.

We started off by tail gating in Giant Stadium around 12:30. The sun was really beating down, but we came well stocked with a lot of sunscreen and cold beer. Since we were going in two cars, (yes, gas guzzling SUV's) we had just a little hassle finding two parking spaces next to each other. The parking lot was packed with old school concert goers and green freaks. Mostly it looked like any other concert event with the presence of both old time and new rock and roll.

I had been misinformed that cameras were not allowed, so when I went inside I decided to leave my camera in the car. Unfortunately I didn't learn until I had already had my ticket scanned that I could have brought my Canon 30D with the 300 mil lens, if I hadn't just had my ticket scanned (you can't go out once you've entered.) I was really upset, because I really thought I'd get some good shots. Like the one I got of my friend Tia when she got to shake Al's hand above. I wish that she had a camera when I took my turn.

Oh let me tell you how we got the camera. My magic life intervened on my behalf.My buddy Mike is an English teacher in New Jersey and when he was walking to our seats in the second level, he meets a former student(now a big dog at Giant Stadium)who just so happens to have two floor tickets. Can you believe that FLOOR TICKETS TO LIVE EARTH. Mike being the great guy that he is, decided that we would all take turns watching our favorite performers. Being the nice guy that I am, I gave up watching Jon Bon Jovi to my wife. But I did stick the camera in her hand. She took some amazing pics.

For those of you who are fans, here is one of the pictures of Bon Jovi. If you are interested in more, contact me at ace@starry.com. I've got a few for sale.