Saturday Night Contest - Something Special

Jan 2, 2014
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My little wolf

This is my little cuddle wolf. It was a present from my grandmother before she died and it always helped my through rough times. It means alot to me because it is pretty much the only thing that I have left from her.
 
May 19, 2012
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38
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When I first started magic, this is the first book on coin magic that I purchased. It was awesome reading this book as there are a lot of great information and I started practising the moves. This is the book that inspired me to work on all of my sleights and I would go out and perform them. I would go back to read this book as it inspires me to practise more and make my sleights better.
 
Jan 26, 2014
2
1
When I was six, I got a present of a hot water bottle with a lion cover. Not very much, is it? Well, it still means a lot to me because my friend picked it out. Unfortunately, he immigrated to Australia, the other side of the world from me. I'm still only in my early teens, so maybe I'll see him soon. It's not very much, but it means a lot to me. I still use it to this day!
http://instagram.com/p/lCWRIgMAgE/
 

TheStelmer

Elite Member
Nov 13, 2012
38
2
bilde.jpg


This is my 9/11 MEMORIAL wrist band.
I got this just over a year ago when my family visited New York.
To this day I haven't removed this wrist band ONCE!
I wear it to show my respect to ALL the heroes of those days, and to show my condolences to all the innocent people that died.
My name is Elmer and I'm 17 years old now, I was so lucky that I got to visit the World Trade Center in 2001, 4 weeks before the attacks. We had been traveling the United States for 2 and a half week already, and the last stop was New York.
13 years later(I was only 4 years old when I visited) I still remember it as though it happened last week.
So this is why that wrist band means so much to me, because it happened only 3 weeks after we got home.
I'll wear this wristband everyday for the rest of my life to show respect to the american people, and I'll keep visiting every time I'm in New York to support all the volunteers and the people that has worked every single day and night for 13 years.
Thats what I call dedicating your life to something!
 
Aug 8, 2013
15
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[img=http://s28.postimg.org/49au17m6h/IMG_4810.jpg]

In this picture you can see not one but many important things for me. The first one you might see it's the book, "Cartomagia fundamental", by Vicente Canuto. It's the first serious magic book I had, and got me to start practicing magic. I always have it on my table, and I re-read it about once a month, most of the times remembering something I had forgot or creating a new trick.

Another thing you may quickly notice are the photos. There is a glass panel over the table where we (me and my family) place the important photos. I should highlight the first time I went to the sea, a joker from my first bycicle deck (that's a quite important object in itself) and a jumbo virtuoso card (actually, it's out of frame :( ) Each photo has it's own story behind, and I always try to take a look at them and remember things from my childhood.

The third thing the big yellow paper at the middle. Has a quote from Bertolt Bretch:

There are men who fight one day and are good.
There are men who fight one year and are better.
There are some who fight many years and they are better still.
But there are some that fight their whole lives,
these are the ones that are indespensable.


Below, it has a personal message from one of my teachers:

Fight all your life for the things you wish and believe

I find it quite inspiring and motivational for practicing every day and don't let anyone get me down.

The fourth thing it's something you may not notice at first, as it seems too obvious. It's the table itself. I do my homework here. I play online with my friends here. I chat with other magicians here. I practice my tablework and gambling here. I learn magic here. Might sound weird, but I love that table.

So that's it. Sorry for no melodramatic story, but everyone I love it's still alive, and in my short existence of 14 years I haven't met the love yet. So there you have it. A normal, common, sintetic-wood table. :)
 
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Alright, so my story goes like this.
Why would a playing card with a poorly written name on it and creases all over it be my most treasured possession? Two reasons:
1. It was the first time where I realised just how powerful magic can be in creating memorable moment in someone's life that they will never, ever forget.
2. The person it was signed by said yes to the question that was asked to them.
So basically, the "Alex" who signed the card signed it a year ago yesterday. I was a 15 year old boy and the school prom was coming up. Now, there's no obligation in our school to have a date for the prom and no one loses there 'popularity' if they turn up without one. But I'd been talking to Alex for several months now and really liked her. Also, I'd learnt from one of her friends (who was also my friend) that she'd like to go to prom with me.
I was absolutely delighted to here that but also far, far too nervous to ask her normally as that would require asking a girl something that she could still potentially decline and would leave me rather disappointed to say the least. Since I was of a relatively nervous disposition in asking a girl I liked to the prom I thought of a way to ask her that I'd be able to do without completely losing the ability to speak. That way was a magic trick. I'd been doing magic for just under a year and at this point magic tricks were still just magic 'tricks'. A slightly gimmicky way of allowing me to impress people for a few minutes but then they'd just forget about it later.
But I was determined that this would not just be something forgettable, I'd actually try and make a moment memorable for once. So I went and got a duplicate card and wrote the words "will you go to prom with me?" on it. Then a couple of days later I managed to get Alex alone with me just outside the music department in my school. I asked her if I could show her something. She says yes, fully expecting me to try a magic trick on her, as I had done to many people in my year anyway. So, I went into a two card transposition routine. But with a twist ;)
So I got her to pick a card, sign it and then I folded it up and told her to hold it in her hand. Then I took the 'next' card down, signed it, and put it in my hand. Did a bit of magical stuff and slowly opened the card in my hand to show her it was the card she had signed. It was all going well, she was amazed. So then I told her to look at the card in her hand. So she did, expecting it to be the card with my name on it. But no, it was the card with the message on it asking her to prom with me. She looked at the card, then at me, then back at the card, and then ran up to me and hugged me saying "yes" :) So, I'm very happy, she's very happy. Then two weeks later I asked her out, normally this time though and she said yes again. We're still going out now and are very happy :)

But the whole point of this was to say why said item is significant or meaningful to us. And this wonderfully basic playing card is meaningful to me because it taught me that magic can be used in far greater ways than just to impress people, it can be used to create a moment of wonder, a moment so memorable that it is unlikely that the person will forget it for a long time to come. I look at this card for my inspiration to work up the courage to go and perform to people and try and improve their lives, if for a short time, and leave them with a lasting impression.
Alex still talks to me about that moment when she unfolded the card in her hand, and says she'll never forget it, partly because she really wasn't expecting it, but mostly because she still has that card taped to her bathroom mirror so she can see it every day.

Since then I've done far more magic, and been far happier doing it than I did before.
So in short, that one card reminds me of why I do magic and also how it can help me be more happy and make other people happy as well.

P.S Yes I know, soppy and melodramatic and all that, especially for a 16 year old. But meh, it's nice to be like that sometimes :)
 

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Addison

Elite Member
Jan 19, 2013
14
0
Lucena City, Philippines
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This is my home made wooden card clip, this is very significant to me because the original cardclip is very expensive that's why I made this, I work hard for this awesome wooden cardclip because it's very eco-friendly, useful, and very easy to do.

~Cheers!
 
Apr 13, 2011
23
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http://imgur.com/MWlIcYp

This might seem a normal bracelet but for me is what gives me inspirations to move on and help me. This was the first shoe lace I broke in skateboarding and since that day I wear it in my wrist to keep stand up from the floor in every fall. I think it helps in all the things I do in general so also helps me in magic ... helps me to keep improving and practise hours and hours :p
 
Oct 15, 2012
12
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This is a true story, and I really mean it!

When I was 1-2 weeks old, my father, he left me and I have never met him.
The first 2 years of my life, I lived with my grandmother in Russia, while my mother was working for about 17 hours a day, with no breaks for 6 months. She was working on a ship in Iceland where she was almost doing everything, and she had almost no time to sit and relax. And she only got paid 300$ a month for that.

I know, we people say that we do not remember the times when we were just kids, but I remember most of it, sometimes I even get these flashbacks from the past. I even remember I used to cry almost every night, cause I missed my mom most of the time. And then in 10th september 1999 was my two year old birthday, and I got a little Spiderman figure as a present from my mom, she was still working in Iceland, just with something else then on a ship. I got that Spiderman figure, I loved it, and then after 4 weeks, I lost it. I remember it was one of the saddest moments in my life, it may seem like its nothing, but I was 2 years old, and when your a kid, you need to see your mother. So I was so happy I had a memory from her, but then I lost the figure, and I was crying even more and started tearing like everyday, it was so confusing.

When I was three or four years old, my mom picked me up and we moved to Iceland. When I got little older , I used to get kicked, bullied, laughed at, tortured to do something I didn't like. I changed schools, I changed more then seven schools in Iceland. We moved allot from one place to another, and it was so difficult. It was difficult because we were really poor! I was getting beaten up and tortured, and my mom was always working with cleaning toilets, and offices or schools.

From the age of 8-10 I was always thinking that I did something wrong, I was always thinking I was placed on this planet as a experiment from the gods cause I was so different, but I liked to play with words, man I used to sit in my room and play with words and rhyming so much.

When I was 10-11 we moved to Denmark, and it was that age that was important to me! Actually the age of 11-12 was even more important, cause I found a very good way to use all the stuff I have been through to express myself.
I started rapping, I was listening to Eminem all day long, and it was so powerful. Everything that Eminem said was just so powerful to me. I was like ''wow.. This is what I wanna do! This is it'' I was so amazed, so at the age of 12. I got the Blue Yeti microphone from my mom as a christmas present and I started rapping, rapping was the way to express myself and get all the pain out of my chest.

Now Im 16 and that has really helped me, without rap and this microphone, I would probably just committed a suicide. Rap means the world to me, god Im happy I picked it up now.

I and my mom we live in a better place now, we live with her boyfriend her boyfriend as helped us so much in the past 5 years, and I have a little sister at the age of 3 and she just had her birthday today! and I love her really much!

This HELPED me through everything!

http://imgur.com/jys4LbQ


There is a whole different story to how I started in magic, but rap means the world to me.

There are more details to this story, but I didn't want to add more, it would of been to much.
 
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Dec 22, 2013
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http://t.co/X7c899aapT
Hopefully this link works. This is/was my grandmother's guitar. She has always been a huge
inspiration to me both musically and life in general. It was at her house that I first got the
hang of the riffle shuffle and bridge as well as the double lift. When she passed I played a couple
of her (and my) favorite songs at her funeral on her guitar. To this day it still has the last set of
strings that she put on it.

It is important to me because it reminds me of the constant need to improve and to keep going,
this all too brief and beautiful fleeting thing we call existence, and keeps my grandmother's
memory alive. It still smells like her house and whenever I open it I'm transported back to happy
childhood memories of the love we shared.
 
Nov 24, 2013
7
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Personally i don't have any special things which mean a lot for me. The only thing that i would like to mention is Magic. Magic changed my life completely. My personality became stronger and now i am more comfortable talking with strangers because i know that if something goes wrong i have something to get me through an awkward situation. In addition i am able to entertain people and show them something that they have never seen before. For me there is nothing more important than making someone else's life better.
 
Jul 19, 2013
40
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http://imgur.com/BD5y9OE
The item I have decided to tell you about, is my soccer shoes. Apart from magic, one of my greatest interests is soccer. These shoes are as you can see very well used by now, and also too small, so I have to buy new ones. But it's not the shoes themselves that I love so much, but soccer. They are a symbol for the sport and the scratches and scent of sweat symbolize my passion for the sport.

I played a match today, with these shoes. It didn't go well. The weather was rough and cold and in fact, we lost pretty damn hard, but after all I had a great time. Because I did what I love doing, and that feels good.
I know I will never be able to play soccer professionally, because I will never be that good, but soccer will always be a great part of me, and the shoes are the symbol for that part of me.
 
Aug 27, 2013
26
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http://i.imgur.com/2cHbHQJ.jpg
When I read this weeks Saturday night contest I knew exactly what I was going to submit. What I submitted is a photo of my grandfather with his US Army medals around him. He fought in WW2. He was under age, but still has the courage to break the law in order to fight for the world. He fought in the battle of the bulge and a hand full more, and his company freed a concentration camp. Unfortunatly I never met him. He died a few days before I was born. Although I never met him I know just about everything about my grandfather. I know he was a tall man from Massachusetts, who was very shy about his time fighting in Germany. He was a man that would often do anything for his family. He was never wealthy, but from the storys, he was always happy. He had the love of his life by his side, and 2 kids he loved to death. Everyday I keep on of his medals with me, pinned to backpack. It's a way for me to keep him with me. I look up to him as inspiration. My mother tells me she misses her father. He risked his life, before it even began, he was the happiest father and husband, even when he wasn't wealthy. I wish one day I could be just as a man as he was. I am going to leave this post with a quote from his journal," mother keeps sending me letters, saying why risk your life? Why make me worry? When I think of this question I can see the bigger picture. I am not risking my life, but giving it to the greater cause. Wether I live or die, I will be the happiest man in the end." Donald Webber 1924-1995

-Brad W Funaki
 
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Dean Magic

Elite Member
Jun 13, 2013
452
480
Florida
WP_20140302_002.jpg
This is a 3D puzzle sphere of New York City. I have always wanted to visit there for as long as I can remember. Just as this puzzle took time and effort to put together, it reminds me that all my goals are possible as long as I am willing to put the effort in and make it happen.
 
Jan 23, 2014
3
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Here is the picture: pic.twitter.com/NBEk6pT5vl or here : https://twitter.com/Teamgeist07/status/440150996711260160/photo/1

What you are looking at is the watch that my Great Uncle Kurt had when he died in WW2. Like many others his age, he was forced to fight in this conflict for Hitler and lost his life as they were pushing into Ukraine and Russia. Like JJ Abrams, I recieved this watch from my grandfather who recieved this watch from his brother. My grandfather gave it to me before he died. He told me that the watch is broken and is stopped at the time his brother died in the war. I never attempted to see if were true by opening the case and winding up the watch. I felt like the legacy of the great uncle I never got to meet was more important than that. Had it not been for the war, I could have been able to meet my great Uncle Kurt and know him and hear his stories. The watch represents the mysteries of who he was. Where did he get the watch? What did he think about while he was a soldier? What skills did he have? What were his thoughts when he looked at that watch? I don't know any of those answers, but I will always hold onto the one and only clue I have left of him, his watch. If only I could start from where the watched stopped and keep going back to learn those answers. The unanswered questions and the family ties is what makes this watch so meaningful to me.
 
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theSunnyG

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2012
386
315
A Tale of Excitement:

image (1).jpg

Kinder Egg/Kinder Surprise.

Okay, the Kinder Egg itself isn't meaningful, but the meaning I've come to attribute to it is what excites me, as stupid as that may sound. (I heard these are illegal in America? That's madness, you guys are missing out!)

For me this little egg shaped chocolate drop of heaven holds a meaning, as it literally takes me back to my childhood, and gives me that same excitement.

There are a infinite amount of things that excite us as people and many things that bring excitement to me; travelling to new countries, trying new foods, extreme sports, getting ready to learn a new magic effect that you were blown away by; these things are all exciting to me and I'm sure a lot of us here - but there is nothing that brings that same level excitement for me as this little Kinder Surprise. The best way I can describe it, is a childlike sense of excitement and from an object that is so small, simple and, to many, arbitrary. Maybe some of you can relate with something like playing with Lego again, finding an old toy you used to love, but it's more than just nostalgia.

We all attach emotions and experiences to various objects, I think the reason this holds such significance for me is because as a child this was a very rare treat for me given to me only by my parents, and only one was ever allowed at a time. So already the excitement was there for me as a child of when I may receive the next one. However, there was on one occasion ,when I was around 5 years old in school when I got knocked over and I hit my lip on the concrete and I can say I have never bled so much since in my life. My mom was sent to come pick me up from school as I was bleeding so much and in tears. I remember clearly returning home and sitting on the edge of the sofa just holding my bloodied lip really upset for ages, with my mom kneeling in front of me trying to cheer me up for the longest time, but then she seemed to just give up, got up and left the room.
But when she returned, she came back with a Kinder Egg in hand, which immediately flipped the switch on my mood - if you look up bipolar in the dictionary you will see a picture of that moment; I totally forgot the pain, tears just disappeared and I was excited again.

It doesn't end there though; my mom then brought her other hand from behind her back, and what was in that hand too? Yep. Another Kinder Egg! Two Kinder Eggs? TWO?! I still remember that feeling in the moment perfectly.

Ecstatic is an understatement.

I remember just sitting there holding the two eggs of chocolate and being wide eyed looking down at them frozen in a mixture of happiness, state of shock and speechlessness.
Was my mom trying to kill me? Making a 5 year old experience such a rollercoaster of emotions within a minute - from pain and tears, to excitement and happiness then finally to a euphoric existential crisis - I had TWO Kinder Eggs. As far as I was concerned that was the keys to the universe. (Pretty sure that it still is.)

No, this Kinder Egg is not something that's always on my desk, or displayed on my shelf or even in my house. But when I go to the supermarket at the checkout they sometimes have a bunch of Kinder Eggs by the till, and if I see them, I always pick one up just to feel that little burst of excitement again.

When we become adults, many things that used to hold meaning just lose its' magic, but for me this hasn't. In a day and age where we have all grown to become more cynical and jaded, this little ball of chocolate still reminds me what childlike excitement feels like and how simple the world could be.

As magicians, we try and induce a sense of wonder and excitement, but how often can we do that for ourselves? This is something that for me, can, and by doing so inspires me more to try to recreate this emotion for someone else.

TL;DR, Time travel has been invented and it's in the form of a Kinder Egg, because every time I hold one, it takes me back to the moment I sat on the sofa when I was 5.

By the way, did I mention that the eponymous Surprise inside of the Kinder Egg is a little toy that you can build? Yeah, you bet that that added to the excitement as a kid! (Obviously the excitement I attribute to the Kinder Egg is for a different reason now - but side note, the toy that came with the one I just bought is freaking awesome! So I guess maybe it's not that different.)

If anyone took the time to read all that, thanks! I hope I managed to let you take a peek into my favourite memory and hope you could feel the same EGG-citement(!) Okay, I'll grab my jacket.


image.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/69uXk0J.jpg (click to see the large version)

(I was just going to find a picture of a Kinder Egg online, but this gave me an excuse to deliberately go out and get one.)
 
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Aug 30, 2013
6
0
The best inspiration for me are the things I always carry on myself. The things I achive every goal of mine with. If I ever have any doubt in myself I just look at them and say: "Oh my God, I have everything right here to be the best and to be able to do anything". My best inspiration are my own hands. My palms, all of my fingers, and the long hours, days, weeks, months and years of practice I've been through and reminds me I can never give up! http://instagram.com/p/lDFnWdFvfY/#
 
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