Is Spring Ever Gonna Spring?!?

It seems winter wishes to maintain its hold on Washington State. My wife mentioned that last year we were riding the Gold Wing at the beginning of April. There's no way she'd want to climb on the back of that thing yet! We just awakened to a blanket of snow on the ground last week. As if the cool (cold) temperatures weren't enough, we are just inundated with rain. Our rivers are running to capacity (and in some cases beyond) and after this long a time it just feels a bit demoralizing. Speaking of demoralizing, I am now officially the shortest male in my family. All three of our sons is taller than I. We have a son not yet 14 who has grown beyond my height! For goodness sakes, I am glad that I treated the kids well, I wouldn't want them to decide to mutiny '8) Magic has been wonderful of late. I've been like a sponge reading books, watching DVDs, attending lectures. Our last lecture was Roberto Giobbi, author of the Card College books. It was a top drawer lecture, and he had no personal product to sell. My guess is that his lecture was purely to improve the art of magic. Although the cost was greater than usual by fifteen or twenty bucks, it was well worth it. He is a charming citizen of the world and seems boyishly thrilled that he is actually being paid to perform and speak about magic. If anything, I am suffering from the sheer surfeit of available magic. With this ridiculous amount of product being squeezed out onto the market, how does one filter quality? People speak with near reverence for the way magic business used to be conducted. If it entered the market, it was new, a reintroduction or a really great new presentational idea. Now though, just 'idea' is all that is needed to enter the market. There was a set of SIX DVDS that were put on the market a few years back by a young magician, and they were full of his 'ideas.' Was there anything good on them? Well, there almost had to be, didn't there? But the vast majority was just crap. One day this young man will one day be fifty - three like yours truly and get to see the drivel that he released to the magic community. He'll (I hope) be ashamed that magic was just a way to cash in for him, and he didn't give it what it deserved. Hey - if you have some great ideas and want to get it on record that they came from your grey matter, by all means, put it on the record. But don't think the fact that you had an idea after eating some sketchy chicken wings means you should record them and sell them to unsuspecting magi. Hey - he is proof positive that the magic community is nothing if not forgiving. He is in good standing as far as I know and still releases product (for the good or ill of the art.) Look, I know this is a bit of a rant, but I'd rather have one good book a year than buy twenty bad ones. Thankfully there are a few names that will almost guarantee a good product when it comes to books, but as for packaged effects, you're on your own. I have seen crap from most of the makers and sellers. I'll close with this; I am still excited about magic, even though it is being watered down by junk.