Time to take down the Christmas lights …

I’m sitting here with a chilled glass of vodka and cranberry juice feeling a sense of accomplishment. You see many of you see me as guy always on the move with a multitude of projects on the go, always multitasking and never sleeping. For the most part this is accurate. However many of those projects I start never reach completion. It’s the cost of doing too many things at the same time. True the majority of the task do get done but often I leave behind ones that really deserved to be finished and some that demand to be completed.

A perfect example of a task that should have been completed months ago would be taking the Christmas lights off the front of the house. Heck, it’s just the night before April … there is still plenty of time. In fact, there is if you use the “Farquhar Calendar” which last year recorded the Christmas light removal on July 12th! Why July 12th you may ask? Well July 13th was a Friday and I suffer from Triskaidekaphobia. Although the definition is an “abnormal fear”, for me it’s not abnormal. It’s a a real fear, having lost my first apartment to a flood on September 13, 1985, my second apartment to a fire on May 13, 1988 and my current home having a car drive into the living room on June 13, 1997. For those of you who want to check, they are all Fridays. So don’t expect to see me doing anything particularly dangerous on a Friday the 13th. In fact it is quite rare to find me leaving the house … which apparently isn’t that safe anyways! This year there will be a Friday the 13th in June and I am scheduled to be completing the shooting of the ESPN, TSN and FOX Sports show Fins and Skins in the Dominican Republic. Yeah me in a boat in the open ocean on a Friday the 13th … that should make real good TV! Anyways I digress.

I have so many tasks I wish I had completed. As an example I have almost completed the construction of a really super deceptive “dove carousel” which I started building when I used doves in my show. For those of you not up on my history … I stopped using doves in January 1999! It’s a work of art and was so close to completion I began to slow down out of fear of ruining it in the final stages. I know that sounds odd but even as I write it … it makes sense to me!

I once thought of forming a Canadian Association of Procrastinators but never got past the logo stage. Ok I never really completed the logo but if I did I am sure I would have gotten around to getting a website and membership program, etc…

So why, you ask do I feel this sense of accomplishment? Well I have not only taken the Christmas lights down, but in the process felt compelled to paint the front door frame (needed since I put in the door in 1998 after the car hit the house), washed Murphy 14 (first car wash I have done manually in my adult life) and produced enough lecture material for my trip to Cape Cod for Hank Lee’s 20th Annual Conclave. If you read this blog and will be at Hank’s Conclave come up to me and say “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts” and I’ll give you a free prize!

On top of all that I successfully contracted an appearance at two magic conventions for September in the United States and did the initial steps to book a tour of Denmark, Sweden and Norway for the remainder of September.

So how was your day?

What’s in a name … two …

So I’ll sit back and tell you all about today but first I had to take a moment to show you this fun video I made today for my good friend Kieron Buffery. Kieron is an outstanding Cruise Director, comedian, vocalist and magician in training. I told you yesterday that a person name is so important … I guess I should have said “when used correctly”!

What’s in a name?

Dale Carnegie, in his best seller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, taught me that one’s own name is such a special thing. He used it as a tool in his course. In fact he said “Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

I have always used this tool, but not as a tool. I just genuinely like people and want to know them and have found that when you call someone by name they will respond more favorably. Just last night at the River Rock Casino I was approached by one of the techs who apologized because he could not remember my name. I told him it wasn’t an issue as he meets people far more important than me. In the last few months he has met Bill Cosby, Howie Mandel, Chris Rock and even Steven Segal … why would he remember me? His response was simple and honest. He said I should remember yours because you remember mine!

To that end, todays observation is that I think we should all take a moment to actually learn the name of that new person we meet. They could end up being a great friend, business partner or special someone. Best to learn and remember their name!

With that in mind I Google’d my last name and used the image search and found all these fine examples of Farquhar …

With a little help from my friends ….

It was pretty exciting day. I actually woke up and took Hannah to school for her first day back since Easter. For those of you who know me well, I don’t do mornings. I have trouble with early afternoon too!

After dropping Hannah off at school, I headed to get a 14″ U-Haul Truck to start loading the gear for the show. Since I bought Murphy 14 I don’t have the room to take my own show and now a truck is necessary. Driving the U-Haul is a whole new lesson in road safety. Seems everyone like to cut off big trucks to get in front. I was surprised by the amount of times a tiny little Geo or Honda would race to get in front of me, cut into my lane and then slam on their brakes so as to not hit the car in front. My thought is when you are driving something that small you could easily be a speed bump to something as big as my truck!

Loading the truck took a couple of hours and I was on the road to Richmond to the River Rock Casino to set for the show. The local crew at the theatre, Allen, Vlad, Ron, Patch and T, were super great and helpful. In the past I would generally just use the local crew but today was different. Today I wanted everything to go perfect so I asked for a little help from my friends. David Wilson, Trevor Watters and Lorena Paradon all came out to help me look good. Quite a task!

With their help I was able to be set up in with so much extra time I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Normally the Heart shaped screen I use for the Shape of My Heart routine can take an hour to set but last night it was up in under 20 minutes! Team Work. My Dad used to say “there is no ‘I’ in “TEAM” but there is in ‘Kiss my Ass’ … Don’t know why I wrote that but I think it’s funny.

Hannah and Lori arrived following Hannah day at school and we were ready to rehearse. David and Trevor seemed to like shoving me in the “stack of boxes” illusion and Lori expressed her dislike for the “cub zag” which is cool (if someone shoved me in a small box and jammed blades and tubes at me I wouldn’t be happy either). Trevor and Lorena even had a chance to play with my Origami. In fact that was one of may big laughs of the evening when i could hear the muffled voice of Lorena saying … “I’ve had a enough, let me out now … hey I’m really scared!”

The organizers of the evening were really organized. That’s something that is quite rare! The show started on time and I had just 30 minutes to perform. I did almost all my favorite bits which meant going at hyper speed. I guess I could have cut effects but I really wanted to do them all. Call me selfish but lately the shows I have been doing are on small makeshift stages with curtains held up by pipes. This was a real theatre with real curtains and lights and I need to do a great show to remind me of what I had until recently.

The show rocked and had just a couple of small technical problems. What kind of problems? Well the Shure E6 microphone I use decided to have “issues”. You see after I made Hannah appear she gave me a huge hugs and basically disengaged the mic cord behind my ear. There was a whole lot of crackle and then after that the sound was intermittent. I had only three routines left and the mic only dropped out a bit but I don’t think it ruined the audience’s enjoyment.

I closed the show with Lori using my new Sony HVR-Z1U video camera while I did Shape of My Heart. It was great ending and the camera was excellent!

Packing was even fun with all my friends to help. The evening passed so quickly. Before we all left we headed into a lounge with a huge fireplace and had a beverage. I can’t seem to get enough of Yellowtail Shiraz lately. If you haven’t tried it, you should. It’s a really dark purple wine with a kind of licorice and berry flavor. As we sat sipping wine and eating chicken Caesar salad I noticed the next show in the theatre was being advertised. None other than Sarah Silverman who recently got a lot of attention for a video she made with Matt Damon. I have added the video here but if you are easliy offended then don’t watch the video….

Driving home was even easy as I had “gypsy” my faithful GPS to guide me every turn of the way. I got home just past midnight and Lori and I unloaded the truck and when I crawled into bed I fell asleep in minutes … I was super exhausted, sore and the only thought I had was how it was so much easier with a little help from my friends ….

Put things in persective…

Today, while in the middle of a very hectic week, we took some time to travel to Abbottsford to vist Lori’s Dad, Fred, and his lovely wife Barbara. They moved here from Palm Springs, California a few years back. It’s odd that they are so close and we don’t find enough time to make it over to visit.

Barbara is dying. She has Cancer and is in the final stages and is surrounded by family and friends. You would think at this point in your life you would be focused on YOU, but Barbara has more concern for Fred and his future. Is that what love is all about? Not caring about you and your happiness, but rather what it takes to make your partner happy?

It is fun to watch and listen to Barbara as she recounts stories of the past. Telling her children the origins of their names, the places she dreamed of traveling and the accomplishments she is most proud of in her life.

I guess when you look at the big picture and the stuff and people around you it is a whole different image.

This entry is a whole lot deeper than I intended but I was insipired by Barbara to share my thoughts with the hope you will look around you and find someone to share with too …

In regards to magic I am thrilled about tomorrow as I have a show at the River Rock Casino. I have all day to tech and build the show and although it is only a thirty minute show I will be putting every ounce of energy into making this a show to remember …not just for the audience … but me too!

I’ll tell you how it goes….

Everybody out of the pool!

So I had one more day without filming here in Punta Cana. I spent the early part of the day eating, sunning and laying by the pool. It was really quite crowded as the beach was closed due to the high waves. I can’t recall the last time I saw so many sweaty bodies in such a small area. OK, it was when I watched a scene from Caligula on DVD. (lol) When I had enough of just laying around I headed inside my luxurious suite to check my email. NOT! The internet was down and remained so until I left the Dominican Republic. What to do? Well there was always the bar!

I’m not usually an early drinker and I don’t usually drink a lot, but I was bored and to be honest the day, evening and the early morning passed by quite rapidly. I’m not really clear on all the details (like how or when I got to bed) but I must have a had a great time and even danced! I have received a number of emails from people I met (and performed for) and they all seem very positive …

Then next morning Henry and Mary met me for breakfast at “first light” and I was on my way home. The first flight went rather fast. Probably because I was still feeling the full effects of the evening before! Upon arrival at the Philadelphia airport I had less than an hour to clear immigration, collect my baggage, clear customs, recheck my baggage and race to gate C29 from A24! Yup I did it with seconds to spare! In fact I was the second to last passenger to board. When they closed the door to the plane it appears they were missing lots of passengers and I had an entire row of seat empty for me to sleep! Yee Haw! This flight was so fast we arrived in Seattle an hour ahead of schedule! How much better could it become! OOOPS …. spoke too soon! I spent the next hour looking at the baggage carousel while technicians worked on it to get it operating. In the end I left the airport pretty much on schedule.

My trip was apparently much better than Henry, Mary and Jim’s return to Florida. Their plane circled Fort Lauderdale until it had almost run out of fuel. The it was redirected to the Bahamas’ where it sat on the tarmac for two hours to take on fuel. Then back over to Florida to circle for another long wait. They left the Dominican Republic at 2:30 PM and arrived home at 1:30AM!

Hannah, Lori, Grandma and I spent the night in Seattle and in the morning we are off to our friends, Ed and Kathy’s, Easter Egg hunt. It’s a whole lot different than any Easter Egg hunt you have ever attended … I guarantee!

Did you see that wave?

Today was a full day of shooting that began with a wake up call at 7:30AM… I don’t generally see 7:30 AM and when I do I am usually going to bed, not getting up! We had a quick bite to eat and headed over to Roko Ki to film a few specialty pieces. I did a floating golf club with a very special club called an E21, Henry and I made a golf cart appear in the middle of the fairway, I became a human ball washer and I also did a really cool effect with a pair of sunglasses that floated! Our biggest concern however was not the filming but the huge waves that were crashing into the golf course. Some of these waves were 50 feet in height!

The filming lasted for about seven hours and we got some great footage. We all headed back to the Majestic Colonial hotel where I found out there are hundreds of Canadians! I had a nice dinner of barbeque ribs and then headed off to see a magic show in the theatre here at the resort. His name was Jorge Rodrigious and he did an hour presentation of which I saw about ten minutes. The audience was huge and he seemed to be well liked by the folks in attendance. I then headed out to the disco for some fun. Did I mention I really love the internet? The ability to connect with a loved one and share a special moment is so cool. This Skype thing is the best! You can actually see who you are talking to and nothing is better than that! If you have yet to sign up for a FREE account do it today …

Due to the high winds, wicked waves and safety conditions we are finished filming for now. It appears I have a full day off tomorrow and I think I will spend it a the pool as the beach is closed! One more day here in paradise and then I m headed back to the rain and grey of Vancouver. I kind of lied there, as I am staying over the night in Seattle to attend an Easter Egg hunt sponsored by my good friends Ed and Kathy! Hannah and Lori are going to make the trip down to Seattle to join in the fun. Next stop for me is the Hank Lee’s 20th Annual Conclave in Cape Cod. that should be a blast!

Woke up in paradise …

Yesterday was quite a long day. It began with packing and sorting out the magic ideas I was going to be taking on the shoot in Punta Cana. Lori then drove me to Bellingham, Washington to catch a shuttle. Getting across the border was quite fun. I was in a line of cars that was to merge alternately with another line of vehicles. The seven before me all did it perfect, but when it came to my turn, the guy in the car that should allow me in raced up on my side and would not give way at all. I looked at the driver as he was three feet away and he avoided all eye contact like the big truck on his side was invisible. I tried three more tries to enter and finally lowered my window to ask him if he understood the concept that was being employed. His response was not so polite. I gave up my attempt to merge and slid in behind him, which was quite easy as the other two lines of vehicles had watched the entire episode and all were pointing at the guy and making their own varied comments.

Once across the border I sat at the Belligham airport for an hour or so until the BelAir shuttle arrived to take me to SeaTac airport in Seattle. Well I can easily say it was not a direct route to SeaTac. We arrived at 7:45PM and I had boarded the shuttle at 5:00PM. Check in was a breeze with US Airways and I was even treated to business class for the first leg of my journey. I flew into Charlotte, North Carolina at 6AM and laid over there for almost 6 hours. Yes, that’s right … six hours. It is quite a quiet airport at that hour of the morning and I had to fight to stay awake so as not to miss my next flight.

I met a sweet couple on the way to Punta Cana and had some fun doing magic tricks to calm the lady next to me who was a wee bit nervous of flying. I think she said it all when she said ” I don’t know what to do right now … laugh or cry..”. In the end she laughed while her husband held her hand and I spit cards from my mouth!

My evening was spent with a site tour of the golf course I will be playing. It is quite a difficult but gorgeous course. Some of the views will take your breath away and many of the holes will definitely be “ball eaters” to yours truly! We had an amazing dinner next to the course and I met the top folks with Roco Ki. They were a fun group to hang out with and to entertain.

We checked into the Majestic Colonial hotel and my suite is huge and beautiful. It’s a shame I am here alone. I have a huge king size, four post bed, giant shower and two … not one but two Jacuzzi tubs! One next to the bed and the other on my patio! It’s twenty three steps from my door to the pool and last night the band was playing right outside my door …. sweet!

I woke up today and could hear the running water from the hundreds of fountains that are throughout the property. Today is basically a day off as it was really windy yesterday and it is expected to be the same today. To make some use of the day, Jim and I are off to film “local color” for most of the day. This will be me doing some walk around style magic for the local population while Jim captures their expressions.

I am pretty excited for the day and just discovered there is a Sushi restaurant here at the all inclusive resort so I plan to check out their Kani tonight ….

An apple a day ….

It was a pretty normal Saturday. OK maybe no so normal. We started the day by taking Hannah to her first dentist appointment. Dr. Henry Tom of Third Street Dental is a super great dentist, an award winning magician and a great friend. Before our appointment we met Henry at his offices and headed off to have all you can eat sushi! Hannah loves masago (small fish eggs) and I can’t get enough kani (crab)! We had a huge meal and waddled over to the offices where Hannah had a full dental exam, x-rays and cleaning. It was a lot of fun for Hannah and she especially appreciated the balloon horse, super bouncing ball and purple toothbrush she was given for being a great patient.




I spent most of the afternoon on the internet which was really nice and eventually I bought a new HVR-Z1U 1/3″ 3-CCD HDV Professional Widescreen Mini Camcorder to replace the one that did not work so well the other evening on my corporate show in Whistler. It was a quite a moment when just as I was ending my show with Shape of my Heart the camera died. Truth be told, I was happy it worked at all as when I went to start, the camera shut down during the introduction of the routine. Here’s the really funny part, I have two camera’s and whatever happened to the first camera happened to the second when I took a moment to switch them, which was to insure the folks saw a great show. I can only thank the audience for being so patient and kind with their applause and time. In the end it was a great show with a great audience.

The evening ended with a conversation with one of the guests. His name was Graham and he is one of funniest people I have ever met! My favorite line from him was “the only reason I hate my children is I couldn’t find a babysitter for them and never saw the Terminator in a real cinema!”. If you’re not laughing maybe you had to be there, I was and it was funny!

Saturday ended with us heading out for some good old fish and chips. I may not have mentioned this but I never found a good dish of fish and chips while I was in London. In Coquitlam and New Westminster we have a dozen great restaurants that primarily serve fish and chips. My favorites are Cod Fathers and Cockney Kings. Odd thing we found out is that most fish and chip houses close at 8 PM. We did find one that was open until 9 PM and raced over in Murphy 14 to dine on a great meal. Well that’s was our normal Saturday … how was yours? Exciting, unique, different or just normal? I hope it wasn’t normal or ordinary …

Just when you think …

So I have always been a positive guy. I always see the bright in the dark and the good in the bad. If you have ever asked me how I feel I probably replied with “tikitiboo” or “just another day in Paradise”. That’s because I know just how crappy things can really be if I don’t have a positive outlook. I have lived through floods, hurricanes, tornados, the deaths of loved ones, a house fire, car crash, being hit by car, even having a car drive into my house … and every time I knew I was better off than someone else. Every time I was positive…

Tonight someone sent me a link to a video on YouTube that was filmed on Oprah. I don’t usually watch these video’s as I have better things to do with my day … but hey … today I was bored! I am so glad I watched this video. This guy makes everyone else look like a pessimist! Just when you think you are one of the most positive guys in the world … here comes Dr. Randy Pausch. He’s is so positive and has a message we should all take a moment to hear … really!

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