Magic / Turmoil

it's a little bit like watching a storm roll across a lake from the safety of a cottage view.

except it seems like everything is happening on a bigger scale these days, and the proverbial cottage is my distance from all of it happening. the storms are bigger; the clouds more conspicuous, gathering suspiciously when they lurk. in japan, we are at the onset of the typhoon season of september, when regular typhoons whip across japan's resilient shorelines and its urban stretchmarks. i was forewarned repeatedly while in canada of the risk of going to a country laden with disaster from below and above, and yet the country has not turned into a terrifying place. right now, global concern rests appropriately on hurricane victims and men and women younger than myself dying for white men in offices. i haven't felt and earthquake here since valentine's day earlier this year. i am told i sleep through the other ones, including the recent sendai one i mentioned already. i received an email from my friend phil today with photographs of a skymonster in calgary. while the earth is certainly trying to tell us something, i think some of us are listening to different translators.

when i was in shizuoka, i learned a card trick and have been practicing it with my students. you'd be surprised at how effective an icebreaker magic can be. i have also discovered that in social situations, alcohol is an effective conductor of awe. intoxicated people are more cynical before a trick and more surprised after it happens, giving (even) the (most amateur) magician an increased sense of accomplishment. more important than anything else, it's a great way to get people to communicate around a language barrier because it is so interactive.

being shy is about losing confidence in our ability to pilot our ongoing situational performance. language is a very real part of our ongoing theatre act of self. the breakdown of a language barrier can be accomplished in using alternate acts of performance to communicate. i think that this even goes as far as entertainment that is cross cultural. my limited japanese and my limited card trick ability prove to be strong allies.

also, last week i attended an open-jam night at a bar in akashi with my friends kelley and scott. it was apparently only for real musicians though, as everyone on-stage was incredibly gifted. sample visuals above.