Monday, October 31, 2011

The Annual Halloween Event - HOUDINI

 Every Halloween I make sure to watch the one movie that got me interested in magic to start with, HOUDINI starring Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh. It's a highly fictionalized version of his life, but it's a fun movie and for whatever reason gets me re-energized. So in a few minutes, I'll be watching it on DVD.

But for those Houdini fans that would like one last dose of the real Houdini before Halloween is over for another year, here is a treat. The Master Mystery starring Houdini! I found it on Youtube and it's broken up into 20 parts, so you can watch it all at once or watch an episode a night if you prefer. Any way you decide to do it, enjoy!


Hollywood Magic Castle FIRE

News travels so fast on the internet. Reports started coming in about 30 minutes ago that the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood was on fire. The fire/smoke was coming from the attic it was reported. The video below was shot from someones cell phone camera of the fireman working on the fire. There is certainly a lot of smoke, and let's hope not much fire. The link below is a report that the blaze is contained and hopefully by now the fire is out.

Let's also hope that no one was injured and there is no damage to the rest of the building. My hope and prayers go out to the folks at the Castle. I hope everything is ok.


http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/10/31/29644/magic-castle-fire/

Houdini Dies

I posted this at exactly 1:26 p.m. on Halloween, October 31. It's 85 years since Houdini passed away.  He was famous in his day as an escape artist, magician, illusionist, movie star, scientific investigator, spirit debunker, author, President of the SAM and much more. But even with all these titles under his belt, he was missing one, legend.

His death and the years followed gave him that title. He has become such a legendary figure that often lay people don't realize that Houdini was a real person. There have been numerous movies about him, but usually they are highly fictionalized which is a shame because his real life story is so fantastic it doesn't really need beefing up.

Houdini was only 52 when he died, but by then he had already accomplished more than most people do in a life time. In his day he inspired people with his feats of escape and marvelous wonders, and 85 years later, he still serves as an inspiration. Though he may be gone physically, the Spirit of Houdini will live on forever!

More on Houdini's death: