Posts Tagged ‘CEC’

RIGA, LATVIA

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

I’ve been back from Southeast Asia for a few days, trying to drop back into the time zone.  I haven’t quite landed there yet and I guess that’s a good thing.  I leave in the morning for Riga, Latvia.  I wasn’t exactly sure where Latvia was so I had to check it out on the map.  To give you an idea, it’s located close to Estonia and Belarus.  Does that help?

Actually, it’s one of the Baltic states located next to the Baltic Sea in Eastern Europe.  Riga – the city where I’ll be staying – is the largest city in the Baltic region.  Alan and I will be heading over to attend the international conference on special education.

I’m schedule to speak on Monday morning on the Hocus Focus Project, a program that integrates simple magic tricks into functional curriculum for all students (though there is an emphasis on those with Autism, ADHD, and Special Learning Disabilities).

It’s another long trip, about 17 hours from door to door.  And it’s Alan’s first international flight as well.  It think it’s going to be an exciting time.  I’ll be posting pictures and video on the blog and facebook, so follow along!

IT’S MONDAY

Monday, May 10th, 2010

My day started early but, wow, I feel like I actually accomplished a few things today.  We are home this entire week and I have a To Do List that’s full. If you’ve checked out the Tour Schedule, you’ll see a few dates for the summer up there but we will officially announce the tour on June 1.  Keith has been working hard to get that ready.  I’m excited about next season – lots of great venues and I’ll be conducting a number of workshops for teachers and therapists too.

I’ve reserved most of my time this week to working on HOCUS FOCUS.  I have the rough draft of my Riga presentation together – just a little tweaking and the addition of some video clips and I think I’m done.  I have a meeting on Tuesday with the coordinator of the Special Education program at the School of Education/Liberty University.  We’ll be talking about the possibilities of having some Seniors conduct some further research on the effectiveness of integrating magic tricks into an integrated classroom environment.

I’ve also been getting lots of email from magicians and occupational therapists in Australia.  In April, David Copperfield did a presentation on the therapeutic use of magic in rehabilitation while he was in Sydney.  David has always been generous with his time when it comes to this project.  And he has been a big supporter of the way we’ve developed this concept of “magic therapy.”  I’m exploring the possibilities of putting together a “teaching tour” in Australia for the end of this year.

And last, but certainly not least, work has begun on two new illusions that we are incorporating into the show next season.  I’m incredibly enthused about them and know they will be a great addition to what we are currently bringing to the stage!  I’ll keep you posted!