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Burns Night at the Magic Castle! Tomorrow Night!


Robert-Burns-001

Tomorrow night at the Magic Castle, 6:00 pm in the Hat and Hare–

Burns Night!

Haggis! Scotch! Taters! Neeps! Poetry! Bag Pipes!

Join me and the magicians of Scotland for music and poetry in celebration of Rantin’ Robbie! Bring your instrument, sing us a song! Recite your favorite Burns lines or poem!

BTW, can anyone tell me where the picture of Robert Burns is built into the The Magic Castle®?

“next to of course god america i love you…


I can’t seem to find my patriotic speech for this occasion, so I will crib this fine speech:

“next to of course god america i love you

land of the pilgrims’ and so forth

oh say can you see by the dawn’s early

my country ’tis of centuries come and go

and are no more what of it we should worry

in every language even deafanddumb

thy sons acclaim your glorious name

by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum

why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful

than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions

to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think

they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

— e e cummings

 

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

Robert Burns Night, Tomorrow Night!


Robert Burns Night, Tomorrow Night!

Robert Burns

We will be celebrating Robert Burns Night tomorrow evening from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the new Hat and Hare which is being first opened for this event–the first time opened since the fire.

The unexpected death of Mark Nelson, who seemed to put these things together effortlessly, and of course, the fire in October have complicated things quite a bit.

But we are set! There WILL be a Piper, AND yer Haggis! Neeps and Taters! Music and poetry! Scots Whiskey! Men in Kilts! Everyone is invited to wear Scottish costumes–they are good for the whole evening at the Castle.

Everyone is invited to participate! I have a limited number of spaces for non-member guests–please contact me at pop@pophaydn.com before 4:00 pm Monday (Feb 6) afternoon.

We would love you to bring something of Burns to sing or read or play. It is an easy-going, un-structured, single malt-centered kind of evening.

The photo of Burns you see here is a famous one. In our dining room, in the windows that line the outside of the Terrace, you will find the faint engraving of this portrait in the stained glass. These beautiful windows were taken from the Robert Burns Pub.

Great magicians have come from Scotland, including John Henry Anderson, the Wizard of the North, John Ramsay, Ron Wilson and many, many more.

This past week was Scots Week at the Castle, with magicians from Scotland performing. Burns Night tips a glass to them and to those that came before them, and to Ron Wilson who dedicated so much of his life to the Magic Castle.

A Bit of Sanity from T. S. Elliot:


To communicate with Mars, converse with spirits,
To report the behaviour of the sea monster,
Describe the horoscope, haruspicate or scry,
Observe disease in signatures, evoke
Biography from the wrinkles of the palm
And tragedy from fingers; release omens
By sortilege, or tea leaves, riddle the inevitable
With playing cards, fiddle with pentagrams
Or barbituric acids, or dissect
The recurrent image into pre-conscious terrors—
To explore the womb, or tomb, or dreams; all these are usual
Pastimes and drugs, and features of the press:
And always will be, some of them especially
When there is distress of nations and perplexity
Whether on the shores of Asia, or in the Edgware Road.
— T. S. Elliot “Dry Salvages,” Four Quartets

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