Witches Pitch Fit – School Board Says No Costumes
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| Pointing Not Pointy |
Puyallup, Washington’s school district has banned Halloween activities because they are offensive to witches. Please note this is not Magic Fiction but Magic News. In other words, if I’m lying, I’m dying and my momma’s home crying.
Because the Wiccan Religion ? the denomination under which you could categorize witches ? is a religion, the school district thought it best to apply the rules against discrimination uniformly to apply to witches and born-again Christians.
The district said the ruling was “final and irreversible.”
Karen Hansen, spokesperson for the school district, said witches have complained to schools about the manner in which Halloween is celebrated. Out of respect for the Wiccans’ discomfort, the district suspended all celebration and costumes.
Channel 13 of Birmingham, Alabama reported that “Hanson said members of the Wiccan religion did not ask the school district to cancel the Halloween events. But she said they have expressed displeasure with such images as witches with pointy noses and witches flying on broomsticks. She said that witches with pointy noses are not ‘respective symbols of the Wiccan religion’ and that their district wants to be respectful of that.”
Melissa Joan Hart who plays Sabrina the Teenaged Witch noted that she does not have a pointy nose.
You can read one of the many articles about this controversy here.
In a related story, hobos have protested the “stereotypical caricature of their group. We do not ride the rails, whistle through the spaces in our teeth, eat baked beans from a can, carry our worldly belongings in a red handkerchief tied to a stick, and steal warm apple pies from window sills.”
The school district disagreed with the hobos protest and said the portrayal was “accurate and certainly not a caricature. As long as a child does not dress up as a pointy-nose witch hobo, they will be allowed to come to school in…
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Elusive Siegfried and Roy Shooter’s Sad Story
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| Cole Ford in Better Days |
You wouldn?t think someone well-known from his days in the NFL would be so difficult to find. Then again, you wouldn?t suspect that someone who once had a promising career as a pro kicker would drive up to the Las Vegas home of Siegfried & Roy, fire shotgun blasts, and scream epithets.
On September 21st, Las Vegas Police say Cole Ford drove to the magic duo?s sanctuary, fired on the building, screamed “We need to get these … out of our country,? drove off and returned a few minutes later to show again.
Not surprisingly, authorities believe the former NFL place-kicker should be considered ?armed and dangerous.?
This new Cole Ford doesn?t match up with those who recall him from USC and later the Oakland Raiders. A former coach at USC told reporters, Mr. Ford was ?A bright kid, a good-looking kid … he had it all. This is not the Cole Ford we all remember.?
But work as a kicker is tough. Mr. Ford told sports writers before his senior year in 1994: ?A kicker can get lonely out there, especially if you missed a couple of field goals the last game, You’re more sensitive to what people think. You have the feeling that you let your teammates down.?
After a career-ending injury and a string of sub-par kicking accuracy, Mr. Ford was cut by the Oakland Raiders, spent a short time with the Buffalo Bills and then was cut again. He moved to Las Vegas, worked day jobs and lived in motels. He stopped talking with family and friends and became a loner.
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The New York Times Profile on Larry Hass and Muhlenberg College?s School of Magic
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| Larry Hass, Ph.D |
Dr. Hass is a philosophy professor by way of experience and education but a magician by way of avocation. He wanted to teach a course on the Finest Art at his Muhlenberg College in beautiful Allentown, Pennsylvania. Actually, he wanted a little bit more than that. He hoped to make the college a center for the study of theatrical magic.
Dr. Hass told the New York Times, “I was very, very nervous to bring it up to the deans. There was the concept and I was also asking for resources – about $20,000 – which would not be insignificant.” Dr. Hass is no fool: he waited until he was tenured before proposing his concept.
The idea was met not with hostility or doubt but acceptance and resources.
The curriculum began with two courses half a decade ago and is now a successful part of the unique college. World-class magician Juan Tamariz lectured students for about a week and there were few seats available for the course.
Mr. Tamariz not only discussed the best methods for entertaining, focusing and holding an audience, but also provided advice on innovating. According to the New York Times article, “By the way,” he advised at one point, “all the rules of art are made to be broken. You just have to come up with a really good reason for breaking them.”
The profile is great and the course is worthy of such a great story. You can read it …
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