Never Rob a Magician...

"Look, my pockets are empty."

Copperfield Robbed at Gunpoint

Magician David Copperfield and two female assistants were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday night after a performance in West Palm Beach, Fla.

At 11:15 pm, the illusionist and his assistants, Cathy Daly and Mia Volmut, were walking back to their tour bus when a black car pulled up beside them.

According to a statement issued by Copperfield's representative, "At first we thought they were just more people wanting autographs.

"They told us to give them money and our stuff. At that point we realized that there were guns in our face."

His assistants handed over money, plane tickets and other items.

Copperfield turned his pockets inside out to show he had nothing on him -- a sleight of hand by the illusionist, who later showed police he was carrying a passport, wallet and cellphone.

As the assailants drove away, Copperfield and Daly took down the car's license plate numbers and called the police.

Officers quickly arrived on the scene and captured the suspects, who were later positively identified by the victims.

Police say four teenagers were arrested, charged with armed robbery and held without bond and all stolen property was recovered.

Copperfield's statement added, "I look forward to coming back to Palm Beach in the future, knowing that crime can happen anywhere, but from what I witnessed from the officers that night, we were lucky to be in Palm Beach when it did happen."

My God Wanted Me to Have a 350Z

Amazing how some people can justify their excesses, isn't it?

Soul star Mary J. Blige isn't shy about flaunting her flashy lifestyle and insists God wants her to have nice things.

The singer is a born-again Christian and makes no apologies about her luxurious tastes.

She explains, "My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling.

"He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.

"I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'all are serving, but the God I serve says, 'Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'm gonna make sure you're doing that.'"

Noooooooo!!!!!!

First, there was the book. Homeschooled Christopher Paolini wrote Eregon between the ages of 15 and 19. His parents had it published through their publishing company. Through contacts of theirs, it was later re-edited, re-packaged, and re-released on the Knopf label. It is an utter travesty of literature. Although borderline plagiaristic and excrutiatingly amaturish, the most offensive thing about this work is how the marketing of it puts Paolini up on a pedestal of precocity, as if the mere fact of the book's existence should provide a shield from any criticism. "Well, it was written by a 17-year old, and it got published, so it must be great." It makes J.K. Rowling look like J.R.R. Tolkien. But don't take my word for it (I haven't read it after all. Don't have the stomach for it), read an intelligent review of it. Or just go to Amazon.com. And laugh.

Then, the movie was announced. For god's sake, Jeremy Irons, didn't you learn your lesson with Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie? John Malkovich, you are dead to me.

Now, a video game? Ok, Christopher, you've had your fun. But now you've gone too far!

Home Sick

No, not homesick; I am back from Texas. And I think the two are mutually exclusive. In fact, I came down with a nasty cold yesterday and so am blogging from home. Not much to say today, really. Here's what I've been up to:

• Playing Boggle

Seriously, this is like the most addictive game ever. Now I understand how people can play round after round of Counterstrike for hours on end. Just... one... more... game. At least it keeps my mind active.

If you'll excuse me, I hear a game calling...

Beer Update

Since I'm sure all of you (both of you?) who visit this site regularly want to know how the brewing is going, I thought I'd give y'all (yes, I'm still in Texas) an update on the exploits of the DS Brewing Company, in lieu of an actual beer blog per se. Wow, that was overwritten. Anyway:

• Batch 1 -- Lit Candle IPA -- A nice, crisp IPA, not overly hoppy. A success on our first batch! (Dan supervised). A San Francisco Brewcraft house recipe. Only one bottle left in existence, currently being archived in Sherwin's fridge.


• Batch 2 -- Are You Serious? Amber Ale -- A well-balanced ale. A San Francisco Brewcraft house recipe. Sherwin brewed this one solo. Major flaw was excessive carbonation causing spillage and a long wait for the foam to settle. One bottle had some type of chlorophenol taint. Guess I shouldn't have licked the cap before bottling. Only one bottle left in existence, currently being archived in Sherwin's fridge.


• Batch 3 -- Twenty-Fizzle Pale Ale -- To celebrate Sherwin's 25th. A light pale ale with a touch of apricot essence added to enhance the hop aroma. This recipe was a clone of Magic Hat #9 from the book Microbrewed Adventures (thanks, Megan and Giles). Very popular with the ladies (the beer, not the book). Two bottles still exist.


• Batch 4 -- D's Nut Brown Ale -- A dark brown ale, almost a porter. Excellent roasty coffe and nut flavors. This beer had a disgusting plastic/sock taste up until about 30 days in the bottle, but is now quite nicely balanced. Roughly 30 bottles remain. Get 'em while they last.


• Batch 5 -- currently unnamed (I Love Gold...en Ale?) -- A golden ale, should be light in color and flavor. Another San Francisco Brewcraft house recipe. Just bottled last weekend, should be ready for tasting in 2-3 weeks. All bottles still exist.


• Batch 6 -- currently unnamed (Raspberry Wheat Supremacy? Finger Wagging Wheat?)-- Intended to be a raspberry wheat beer. Currently in secondary fermenter. Still have to add raspberry extract at some point. But when, and how much? Who knows....

Got any name suggestions for our beers? Want to weigh in on what our next batch should be? Do so... now.

Howdy, Y'all

Yes, I'm back in Austin this week. Had to fly out on Sunday. At least I was able to catch a nonstop flight, and managed to get an "Economy Plus" seat. I actually had enough room to cross my legs!

God I'm tired. My alarm woke me up at 8:00am this morning, which wouldn't be bad except for the fact that my body thought it was 5:00am (time zone change + daylight savings time ending = crazy delicious). ZZZ.

In further news, in order to preempt a possible meat overload, I have instituted a no-consecutive-days-of-barbecue rule.

I'm essentially just here to babysit an engineer and an artist, and to make sure Things Get Done Properly. But as it seems that everyone is fully motivated and already knows what to do, I'm bored. In Austin. Where the tap water smells (and tastes!) like dirt. Bonus. Drop me a line. I'm bored.