Thursday, December 27, 2012

Inspirational Reading

Life style reading for not only women, but everyone.
Available at Amazon

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Christmas Comic


Sunday, December 23, 2012

My First Magic Book


Thursday, December 20, 2012

They Walk By



My Houdini Cards


The cards I got, some as present additions, include one of Dorothy Dietrich who was the first woman to saw a man in half (lower left) and doing the dangerous bullet catch in her mouth, and Lady Burdell a sales woman of snake oil by doing snake handling (second from the top left).

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Proceed with caution: New Orleans police rap sheet and mug shot of Castro, clipping from the Sydney Bulletin and a photograph of the tupilac found by Professor Webb! The piecing together of message contained in dissociated knowledge in evidence with these objects will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Alexandra on Top Again


Saturday, December 15, 2012

Why Study H. P. Lovecraft, by S. T. Joshi 
(who else would you expect)

Click the Link Below

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Deadbeats Beat Me to Death!



A Little Christmas Tree
 
 

Monday, December 10, 2012

The Genii 75th Anniversary 

Birthday Bash Gift Bag 

 

 

Sunday, December 09, 2012

The United Jazzer Card Pack



Last summer, I got to fly back from San Francisco to Kainsai International Airport near home in Kobe Japan by United business class. Best flight I ever had. I was given the amenities pack above containing the usual goodies: sleeping mask, ear plugs, walk around socks, toothpaste, toothbrush and so forth. Arriving home I saw how fine the pack itself was and was loath to throw it away so I though of ways I could use it. I came up with the United Card Jazzer Pack.

Now the pack contains four decks of cards, a pack of Major Arcana Tarot cards and a deck of ESP cards (invisible behind the Tarot cards in the picture on the right), two packet tricks in a folder & a cue card with all the routines for each pack spelled out.

I take the pack everywhere with me. If asked to do a trick or two, I'm set to go. If asked for more, I can continue in a variety of ways. If asked to do a complete close up show, I am ready as well.

I use a Karnival as a quick opener and eye opener showing the amazing cards in the deck. Switch to an ordinary Bicycle deck to do a set that can be done impromptu, then do two packet tricks, then do an effect with a full pack special pack, switch to another regular looking pack (note the word "looking") and then conclude with tricks that include Tarot reading and a finale that tests the spectator and my own ESP

This is the epitome of packs small plays big, but only in a close up situation. It could work seated in a parlor setting but certainly not on stage.

Notice there are three switches to full packs, but all are motivated, go to ordinary cards cause the Karnival are too, creepy, after packets it is natural to go to a ordinary full deck though the cards are unusual in some way, return to an "ordinary" deck is then called for.

Effects come for the standard literature and marketable items, as well as from or via Richard Osterlind, Paul Harris, Michael Ammar, Aldo Colombini, Mike Mansfield, Gene Maze, Boris Wild, Daryl, Max Maven, and me.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

The End

That thing is out there,
It calls at once,
Out there it taps,
Your back.

It finds you prone,
You lay,
Out there,
Dead.

Stands at Narragansett Bay
That glow there,
Sees a rising,
Grabs the Casket.

Silver glows,
Doesn’t it,
There is a latch here,
Something inside.

Looks in the crystal,
It seem to shiver,
Does not move,
I’ll take this home.

Perhaps in the dark,
Dead dark,
The Glow I saw,
Will reappear.

-- Ronald St. Pierre

Walking

Scared at the wire I’ve run,
Cannot remember when my foot,
Touched the wire.

But it is not steady,

Persists in moving,
Side to side.

No last chances here,
Skidding, feet slipping
Sees no net below.

Takes a step.
-- Ron St. Pierre

Monday, December 03, 2012

H. P. Lovecraft's Shadow out of Time

 

Sunday, December 02, 2012

My Contribution to Brad Burts Magic Lessons



I thank my good friend Brad for allowing me to add to the magic lessons. I am living in Japan and have been doing mostly shows for the young ones – birthdays, fairs at schools and holiday shows, Easter, Christmas, at the international clubs here. I started doing real shows rather late in my career and never had any personal instruction or any magical friends to share ideas and techniques with. So, as self-taught, I learned a lot through experience in doing shows.
The most rewarding moments I ever had in doing magic was seeing the look on people’s faces when they were astounded. I remember doing a trick with changing color CDs, a sucker trick, and when this little girl called me on the method and I showed she was wrong and her face went into shock my work was rewarded more than any fee for the show. (A sucker tick is an effect that seems transparent to the audience. They all see that the magic was done in a simple way and they call the magician on it and he reveals that the method that seemed obvious was completely wrong. Fradie Cat Rabbit is a good example.)
But in the early years of doing shows, I was just doing this trick and then that and no good segue from one to the other. So I decided to make shows based on a single theme. I tried many. One theme was “Magic of Color.” In that show, there were lots of color changing effects. Another was “You are a Magician.” In this show, almost all the tricks involved the spectators actually doing the magic. One more was called, “The Forgetful Magician.” Obviously, each trick had something to do about forgetting.
As a magician, I am supposed to be perfect. But in this show, I was forgetting everything. I used the Lota Bowl and between tricks I asked the audience if I emptied it or not, I forgot. They said yes, and I emptied it again and again with lots of laughs. Not all tricks were about forgetting, but in one way or another I referred to forgetting. One trick I introduced with, “Here is something you will never forget.”
The point is a theme helps to keep a show coherent and memorable. Michael Ammar has a series of Easy to Master Card Magic DVDs, and he teaches a trick called “Further Than That.” An excellent trick and easy to do, but what makes it memorable is the repetition of “Further Than That” several times. This catch phrase makes the trick all the more memorable. As in advertisements, repeating a catch phrase makes people remember the product and they will buy it.
Do this with your shows. If your shows are a half-hour to forty-five minutes, have a single theme. If you have a longer show, divide your entertainment into two, three, or more parts each having a particular theme. I mentioned earlier my “Forgetful Magician” show. I did that once. Here in Japan, I have the same kids in the shows as audience again and again, so I have to make up a new show each time and cannot do the same show here and there at different schools, for instance.
Well, I did this show one year once for youngsters, seven to ten or twelve. Three years later I was setting up a birthday show. One boy came to me and asked if I was the Forgetful Magician. That floored me. Here is a little boy, maybe nine or ten when I did the Forgetful Magician show and three years later he saw my face and remembered I was the Forgetful Magician. He remembered me and the show because a theme made the show memorable. You should do the same in your shows. You will make an impression that will stay with your audience forever.

Saturday, December 01, 2012


New Hampshire Stone Circle
 
Lifted from frankness,
Trails away the road,
Past stumps, and rock,
The shapes of past thoughts.

Slept I did, soundly,
Before the stones,
Blocked my path,
That eldritch night.

Stones in a circle,
Or nearly,
But perfect in fit,
Forgotten truth.

The moon unseen,
In tune with the stones,
Forgot to shine,
New it was, too long.

Hovering in the darkness,
Over the halo of stone,
A deeper darkness,
Then the brightness of light.

Orbs hover in that abyss,
A place to bury memories,
Or forgotten tosses,
Of sleepless nights.

And sleepless then I was,
And am now,
My gaze forever lost,
In that inky chasm.

-- Ron St. Pierre

America's Stonehenge is an archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone structures scattered around roughly 30 acres (120,000 m2) within the town of Salem, New Hampshire in the northeast United States.

A number of hypotheses exist as to the origin and purpose of the structures. One viewpoint is a mixture of land-use practices of local farmers in the 18th and 19th centuries and construction of structures by owner William Goodwin in the 1930s. Other claims that the site has pre-Columbian origins are usually regarded as controversial, possibly pseudoarchaeological or the result of an early-20th century hoax. Among structures at the site are standing stones that may have been erected to align with astronomical events.

The site was first dubbed Mystery Hill by William Goodwin, an insurance executive who purchased the area in 1937. This was the official name of the site until 1982, when it was renamed "America's Stonehenge", a term coined in a news article in the early 1960s, in an effort to separate it from roadside oddity sites and reinforce the idea that it is an ancient archaeological site.


Where Does Love Go…

When found?
To the center
Of excitement and fear.

When returned?
To a voice speaking
“I love you.”

When in trouble?
To trembling confused
Desperation.

When renewed?
To branding
Of a heart.

When secure?
To a simple
Cuddle.

When fractured?
To glare words
Ripping memory.

When Lost?
To poverty regret
And…

Longing.

- Ron St. Pierre


 
 Lake St. Pierre


A Legend of Lac-St. Pierre

On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre,
De win' she blow, blow, blow,
An' de crew of de wood scow "Julie Plante"
Got scar't an' run below--
For de win' she blow lak hurricane
Bimeby she blow some more,
An' de scow bus' up on Lac St. Pierre
Wan arpent from de shore.

De captinne walk on de fronte deck,
An' walk de hin' deck too--
He call de crew from up de hole
He call de cook also.
De cook she's name was Rosie,
She come from Montreal,
Was chambre maid on lumber barge,
On de Grande Lachine Canal.

De win' she blow from nor'-eas'-wes,'--
De sout' win' she blow too,
W'en Rosie cry "Mon cher captinne,
Mon cher, w'at I shall do?"
Den de Captinne t'row de big ankerre,
But still the scow she dreef,
De crew he can't pass on de shore,
Becos' he los' hees skeef.

De night was dark lak' wan black cat,
De wave run high an' fas',
W'en de captinne tak' de Rosie girl
An' tie her to de mas'.
Den he also tak' de life preserve,
An' jomp off on de lak',
An' say, "Good-bye, ma Rosie dear,
I go drown for your sak'."

Nex' morning very early
'Bout ha'f-pas' two--t'ree--four--
De captinne--scow--an' de poor Rosie
Was corpses on de shore,
For de win' she blow lak' hurricane
Bimeby she blow some more,
An' de scow bus' up on Lac St. Pierre,
Wan arpent from de shore.


MORAL.

Now all good wood scow sailor man
Tak' warning by dat storm
An' go an' marry some nice French girl
An' leev on wan beeg farm.
De win' can blow lak' hurricane
An' s'pose she blow some more,
You can't get drown on Lac St. Pierre
So long you stay on shore.


Lake Saint Pierre (French: Lac Saint-Pierre) is a lake in Quebec, Canada, located on the Saint Lawrence River between Sorel-Tracy and Trois-Rivières, downstream and east of Montreal. Including its shoreline, islands, and wetlands, the lake is a nature reserve. The lake is located in the Regional County Municipalities of Nicolet-Yamaska, Maskinongé, D'Autray, and Pierre-De Saurel, in addition to the city of Trois-Rivières.
This seasonally-flooded area is an important stopping point for hundreds of thousands of migrating waterfowl. It is also an important nesting area for herons: more have been counted here than in any other place in North America. In 1998, it was recognized as a wetland of international significance under the Ramsar Convention.
Lac Saint-Pierre was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2000.


Milk Therapy
with Laura Thompson 7 Angel Harris
Expert commentary by me, Ronald St. Pierre
Every Tuesday (well almost) at 8pm EST

 
"A Season in Carcosa features all new tales in tribute to the creations of Robert W Chambers...."
From the Back Page
Edited by Joseph Pluver, Sr. and featuring - Joel Lane Simon Strantzas Don Webb Daniel Mills Gary McMahon Ann K. Schwader Cate Gardner Edward Morris Richard Gavin Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. Kristin Prevallet Richard A. Lupoff Anna Tambour Michael Kelly Cody Goodfellow John Langan Pearce Hansen Robin Spriggs Allyson Bird

Available from Chaosium Inc. or Amazon. 

 
Night View of Sannomia, Downtown Kobe, Japan
Click to Enlarge