Cibini Newsletter 1
Cibini’s Newsletter –
May 2018
Introduction
Welcome to my first newsletter! It’s intended for my past
clients and friends in magic. My goal is to spread more awareness of our wonderful
art. Or should I have said “wonder-full”?
I don’t intend to send it out regularly – it could be a
quarterly affair, but don’t hold me to it. I will send it out when I have
something interesting to share.
Many of you might suffer, like me, from email clutter. If
you are not interested in my newsletters, I apologize in advance for the
inconvenience this one time. If you received this via email, PLEASE REPLY TO MY EMAIL WITH “UNSUBSCRIBE” IN THE
SUBJECT LINE, and I will remove you from my list – you can include a
reason, but don’t need to.
Before you delete this, I suggest you scroll down, you might find
something of interest (such as my book or travel recommendations).
News about me
I recently set up a Facebook page – bear with me while I
learn the ropes of social media marketing. Please like/follow me at www.facebook.com/MagicianCibini.
I post on youtube as “Magician Cibini” – please subscribe to
my channel here:
I recently performed a few hours of “walk-around” or
“strolling” magic, mingling with event guests, for a client who unveiled a new residential
development in Frederick, Maryland. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony and we
had a wonderful time.
I even met an amateur magician who insisted to show me a
card trick. While he did not fool me, his presentation was spot-on, very
entertaining, and I was impressed with his enthusiasm. The beautiful lady who
hired me had this to say:
I cannot tell you how many guests at our
event came up to me with nothing but praise. All of his magic tricks were
perfect and he was an absolute pleasure to work with. Thanks again!
Spontaneous reaction
from a spectator.
I don’t perform for children often, but I make exceptions
for charities I support, as well as for children of friends (or friends of
friends). Performing for children is a different art altogether, and it
requires a certain understanding of psychology, coupled with nerves of steel
(we could learn a thing or two from lion tamers). A big misconception is that
children are easily fooled – they are not! – and they respond negatively to
condescending behavior from adults. I found the best strategy is to treat them
with respect, pretty much like adults.
Next Performance
Later this month, I am scheduled to perform “walk-around” magic
at a 30th anniversary celebration. I will do my best to make this
memorable for the happy couple. I am also working on an intimate
close-up show open to the public sometime this year. It will be suitable for a
small number of spectators (15-20) who will see magic right under their own
eyes.
Historical magic
The famed Indian Rope Trick is part of the lore of magic. It
captured the imaginations of Westerners for over a century, described as one of
the most magical feats of the Orient. Was it really performed as described?
Were eye witnesses reliable? I remember reading about it in various magic book
as a child, and it was always a subject which fascinated me greatly. One day I
hope to recreate it, whether it is feasible or not.
More details are here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_rope_trick
All I could muster is in my third video posted at www.gigmasters.com/magician/cibini
What to Watch
Speaking of exotic magic from foreign lands, Penn &
Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour features the famous magic duo’s travels in Egypt,
India, and China in search of skilled street magicians. I highly recommend the
series (each episode is about 50 minutes long).
Magic Trick
explained
Cracked had user entries, where some magic tricks were
explained. If you take the time to practice the move taught in the #1 entry
(coin through glass), you can make it look really eye-popping – and amaze your
friends at cocktail parties - especially if the objects are borrowed. (You
might have to practice a bit more to pull off David Copperfield’s penetration
through a wall).
Personal Revelations
I grew up in Communist Romania. In the 1980s we enjoyed one
party rule, with a dictator and his immediate family running things, and a
fully socialist economy. Private property was not allowed and everything
belonged to the government. There were a few exceptions (one could own an
apartment or house, with limitations based on family size, one car per
household, and personal possessions). Some peasants were allowed to sell the
produce they grew on their small personal plots. Most produce (if in season) could be found at the farmers’ markets, since the relatively free market provided a more
efficient way to allocate resources than the state-owned stores, where shelves
were frequently empty and the lines were very long.
Loitering in front of
the meat store, hoping for the arrival of a shipment
A typical food market
tolerated under Communism
A few villages at high altitudes were spared the process of
“collectivization” (the forced confiscation of land and livestock from the
peasants), since the government deemed it wasn’t worth the trouble. This
allowed the villages to flourish, and some of the wealthiest people were
shepherds up high in the mountains, whose sale of home-made cheese and lamb was tolerated
by the authorities.
On paper, there was no unemployment and free access to
education and healthcare, but in real life things were not so rosy. Every adult
was forced to have a job, but there was no entrepreneurship or innovation, and
many jobs were artificially created to keep people employed. Anyone caught in a
bar or restaurant (all government-owned) during regular work hours ran the risk
of having to explain to the police why they weren’t at work.
Healthcare was technically free, but fast access to the
better doctors was difficult without connections. In order to receive better
healthcare – especially for more tricky procedures, such as surgery – one had
to bribe doctors, staff, and the hospital’s administration. Bribes were often
in the form of hard-to-find Western cigarettes (Kent was a favored brand) and
whiskey, which many people didn’t consume but rather used as a form of currency
on the black market.
Education, however, was of very high quality but a lot more
selective than in the West. Communist regimes, insecure in their outcomes,
always wanted to pretend that they could compete with the West, and focused
their energies on the elites, whether in sports or academia.
The curriculum was much tougher than in the West, and with a
heavier emphasis on math and the hard sciences. There were BS courses as well,
such as Marxism-Leninism, which most people didn’t take seriously (even though
they often pretended they did). Acceptance to sought-after universities was
based on a single standardized test, with a very low percentage of acceptance. Grades or background did not matter at all –
only the ability to solve the very tough problems on that one test.
The
admissions process was more fair than in the West, but also excluded a large
part of the population from academic advancement – redirecting them to the skilled
trades (such as electricians or welders). In the US, many such people could
easily obtain Master’s Degrees and much higher salaries and prestige.
Since then, the educational system has adopted the Western
system, dumbing down the curriculum in order to allow a much larger percentage
of society to feel included and useful. However, there is a lot more focus on math
and IT than in the West, which has helped many young people find opportunities
to work abroad, or remotely, for relatively high wages.
I could fill an entire book describing the economic and
psychological hardships in communist systems, but this was a brief glimpse into
the realities I experienced.
Book Recommendation
I was an avid reader before working full-time in an office. Unfortunately staring at a computer screen for so many hours each day makes
it tough to read in the evening.
Some of my first readings were on Greek mythology, including
children’s versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Back in the day I could
name tens of Greek gods and heroes (those were half-god half-human offspring)
and their deeds off the top of my head. Much later did I understand what was
really happening when Zeus, usually transformed into some type of animal,
“embraced” a lady he fancied, and shortly thereafter she gave birth to a child.
Today, however, I would like to recommend a short book by
one of my favorite authors, George Orwell. It is
called Animal Farm and it follows a group of animals who take
over a farm from their human owner, and set up their utopia. I find it one of
the deepest, yet most concise pieces of writing on human nature, government,
and society. There are many free copies online, in PDF, html, or any other
format – a google search of “animal farm book online” or “animal farm pdf”
should render many results.
Its lessons are universal and you might recognize the quote
“Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others”.
This book was outlawed in communist countries (seen as
subversive propaganda) but it is very popular in the UK (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/george-orwells-animal-farm-tops-list-of-the-nations-favourite-books-from-school-a6994351.html).
The same author also portrayed how language influences real
life in his masterpiece 1984, which enriched the
English language with expressions such as “Big Brother”, “Who controls the past
controls the future”, and “War is peace”.
Vacation
Recommendation
One of my passions is traveling, and I will attempt to
showcase a different travel destination in each newsletter. I will try to veer
off the beaten path and perhaps inspire others to visit some interesting places.
Today I will focus on Georgia – not the state,
but the Republic of Georgia.
Gergeti Trinity Church
“Tsminda Sameba”
It is a Caucasian country (in a geographical sense, since it
is nested in the Caucasus Mountains – I never understood why this remote region
was associated with the white race). The scenery is varied – rolling hills,
snow-peaked mountains, arid steppe (locals call it the “desert”), and a
subtropical Black Sea coast with tall palm trees and fragrant orange groves.
The culture is ancient, and one of the earliest to produce wine.
This becomes obvious at first glance, since many families make their own wine,
and grape vines grow everywhere, even on apartment balconies!
Grapes, in Tbilisi
(the capital)
The language is in the Kartvelian family, and uses one of
the oldest alphabets in the world – which makes no distinction between uppercase
and lowercase letters, nor cursive and print. Each letter represents one sound,
and it reads from left to right, like our Latin alphabet.
Gori, the birthplace
of one of history's biggest monsters, Stalin
In antiquity, Jason and the Argonauts landed on Georgia’s
shores in search of the Golden Fleece – a famous Greek myth. It is one of the
earliest Christian civilizations, and there are monasteries and churches
everywhere – dating as far back as the 4th and 5th
centuries! The mountainous terrain helped Georgians repel repeated Islamic
incursions, and they remain proud of their Christian heritage.
Churchgoers, Holy
Trinity Cathedral “Sameba“ of Tbilisi
What makes Georgia so wonderful for tourism is the
hospitality – I have never experienced this level of warmth anywhere (except
some places in Brazil). I had complete strangers invite me into their homes,
shower me with gifts, make their own children sleep on the sofa so I could
claim the bed, and correspond with me for years after my visit. The vibe is so
welcoming that it’s hard to match anywhere else. Book your flight to Tbilisi!
David Gareja monastery complex, Kakheti
Black Sea coast vegetation, near
Batumi
Alpine scenery
Most hospitable,
friendly, warm-hearted Georgians
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