VEDALAND FOR SALE... AGAIN

If you are shopping for 450 acres near Disney World, the land originally purchased as the site for a theme park mixing magic and Transcendental Meditation is for sale... again.  According to the Orlando Sentinel, "Vedaland," which translates to "Land of Knowledge," included plans for "a building seemingly suspended above water without supports, a "magic flying chariot" that took riders inside the molecular structure of a rose, and robots that would fly through the air, performing magic tricks." The project was the brain child of magician Doug Henning and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. "Henning died of cancer in 2000, and the Maharishi died at his home in the Dutch town of Vlodrop this year." Over the years, the property which was originally purchased in 1989 for $20 Million, has been offered for sale then removed from the market. The most recent asking price is $150 million.

THE WARTIME CONJUROR

The Times online has published an article stating, "From bamboozling the Nazis in the war to fooling the Taleban this week, nobody lies better than those famous stiff upper lips." Of particular interest to this editor was the section on "The Wartime Conjuror" of WWII "The most remarkable wartime conjuror was, in fact, a conjuror, Jasper Maskelyne, a magician and inventor who founded the “Magic Gang” with the aim of baffling the enemy by artifice. Maskelyne's gang built fake submarines, trucks and planes, concealed part of the Suez Canal from the air with giant mirrors and, most famously, deployed 2,000 dummy tanks in the North African desert before the Battle of El Alamein."

CONMAN WORKS CORPORATE EVENTS

The star of BBC 5's successful "Real Hustle", Alex Conran, is the focus of an article from LondonLaunch.com. On the show, Conran (assisted by co-hosts Paul Wilson and Jessica Clement,) perpetrate various cons and swindles on the unsuspecting public. Alex was recently asked to speak at the Crimestoppers Fundraising Lunch and was part of the Office of Fair Trading’s Scamnesty campaign. In addition, he has given countless interviews regarding cons and scams for BBC News, BBC Breakfast, This Morning, Richard & Judy and LBC. 

INFANTINO PLEADS "NOT GUILTY" TO 78 COUNT INDICTMENT

From FoxNews.com: A man dubbed "Long Island's Favorite Magician" has pleaded not guilty to a 78-count indictment accusing him of possessing child porn and secretly videotaping a mother and her daughters. Robert Infantino was ordered held on $150,000 bail Tuesday. He was arrested last month. The woman, and her 10- and 14-year-old daughters, said they went to Infantino's home-office for a photo shoot and found a camera hidden in the dressing room. Prosecutors said they later found child pornography on a computer seized from Infantino's house. His attorney said cameras were deployed for security purposes

PRE-ORDER MINDFREAK!

Amazon.com today posted a pre-order link for the Deluxe DVD Edition of Criss Angel MindFreak! Weighing in at 10 Discs and 1350 minutes, the set includes Mindfreak Season 1, Mindfreak Season 2 and the Halloween Special all packaged in a lenticular outer slipcase. As the box is rotated, Criss slowly disappears from the package, and the Mindfreak logo moves up and down on the spine of the box. The list price is $99.99 but it current shows at $69.99. CLICK HERE FOR THE AMAZON.COM PRE-ORDER DETAILS.

BROKEN WAND :: BARRY PRICE

From the Los Angeles Times we learn that Barry Price, 64, an international award-winning master sleight-of-hand artist who was a prominent performer for many years at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, died Aug. 24 at West Anaheim Medical Center from complications of a stroke.  David Regal commented on Barry in the Genii Forums saying, "Barry was a serious card guy and a fascinating man to talk with. He had strong opinions and a bountiful sense of humor matched with a wry side to his personality that made itself known via a phenomenal, dazzling vocabulary. He graciously allowed me to publish his lovely "Stealth Switch" some years ago. Barry was the only guy I've ever seen drop three or four doubles to the tabletop in one fluid motion, in the context of an effect - and he did this as part of his act!"

UK WIZARDS AT WAR?

Trouble is brewing in the UK after two Brit magicians decide to offer an alternative gathering for magicians to compete with the 56 year old Blackpool Magicians' Convention. According to the UK Daily Mail, Collin Richardson and Geoff Pescud are attempting to establish a magic gathering in the South to take place three weeks before the Blackpool convention. This appears to have infuriated the 70-year-old Blackpool organiser Derek Lever, who has fired off a letter to regular exhibitors pointing out a 'barring clause' which forbids dealers exhibiting at any other British convention in the five weeks before Blackpool. Colin responds saying, '"We are two small people who are doing what we felt was something good for magic. All we want to do is break even. We are 400 miles from Blackpool and we can only take 1,400 people. A lot of the people coming to ours would never go to Blackpool. Now it seems there is a war of the wizards going on. As far as we are concerned, one man is terrifying the magic world."

BROKEN WAND :: LOU LANCASTER

BROKEN WAND :: ROGER KLAUSE

After a long battle with Lung and bone cancer, "The Leader of the Underground," magician Roger Klause has passed away from complications of the disease which has afflicted him for the past year. Please visit Project FORK to show your support for Roger and his family.  REMEMBER ROGER AT WORK:

NEW CRISS ANGEL BELIEVE TRAILER POSTED