12/25/12

Christmas Day brought two Wiz Kids together for the first time. On the right is one of the "original" Wiz Kids who was in the group since the beginning, Brian Johnson. He had returned to East Orange visiting his family in the area, and stopped by for a quick visit before heading back down South.

At the same time, Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki had stopped by, so we got this portrait of the oldest and newest Wiz Kids together.

Here are some photos of Wiz Kid Brian from "back in Da Day."

Photo #2 - Brian performing as a "Mentalist."

Photo #30 - The original Wiz Kids at North Pole, NY

News Article from 1981 -

8/14/12
At Band Camp, on the left, Qua-Fiki takes a break from taking photos and playing his newest instrument, the baritone horn, to enjoy some sunflower seeds and water.

At Wizard Camp, on the right, Qua-Fiki finally finishes making a video demo of his latest magic trick- McFiki's Jumbo Aces.

Wiz Kid Jim assists Qua-Fiki with McFiki's Jumbo Aces.

08/02/12

Although Wizard Camp is "officially" over while Band Camp is in session, most days Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki finds time to ride his bicycle over to the Wizard Garden after Band Camp. He practices his trumpet for Band Camp, which requires hard thinking to read the music, as well as strenuous use of his facial muscles as he works on his trumpet embouchure. He then gets a change of pace by juggling, which requires him to turn off his brain and think of nothing as he lets his body take over and perform the way he taught it for the past five years. Even juggling the rings and making them change color in mid air takes little thought and juggling is as relaxing as meditation for him.

07/30/12 Day Nineteen of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna

Again, Wizard Camp mixes with Band Camp when Qua-Fiki takes advantage of having a ready-made audience so he can practice some of the magic skills he is working on.

Then he hurries back on his bicycle to Wizard Camp to practice his trumpet and work on his latest invention for The Magic Nook: McFiki's Jumbo Aces.

07/29/12 Day Eighteen of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna

Wizard Camp collides with Band Camp when trumpet section leader Shalal Adolphe, working upstairs with Mr. Goode for the Band Camp, hears Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki playing his trumpet downstairs at Wizard Camp and comes down to give him a lesson on improving his "embouchure." Al-Quadir, as he is known to the band members, will be attending the East Orange Unified Marching Band Summer Camp as a trumpeteer, so many of his band friends will take a hand in helping him this summer. Wizard Camp is almost over and ends when Band Camp begins full time on August 1st.

07/23/12 Day Fifteen of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna

It's beginning to get difficult for Qua-Fiki to continue Wizard Camp on a regular basis. The East Orange Band Camp is having Leadership Training sessions in which he is involved, as well as other family responsibilites that require his attention, so we will cram in whatever time he can give us. Today he works on a trick he invented in 2010 and has just decided to release to fill up his Wizards' Journal #23 for 2012. It is called "Snakey - the Living Rope."

We also spend time on weapons training, bicycle repair, and essay writing.

07/17/12 Day Fourteen of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna

After a day of rest and taking care of family business, Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki returns to Wizard Camp to find that the trip is not over until the last item has been unpacked, cleaned and put away for the beginning of the next trip. He and Director Fred finish the important task of drying out the tent and folding it up one more time to be ready for... whenever it is needed again.

We also spend some time reworking his Dye-Version, learning some new music for the trumpet and planning ahead for Band Camp and Qua-Fiki's senior year at high school in the fall.

07/15/12 Day Thirteen : Heading Back to New Jersey

The tent is down, all the camping gear is packed in the car and on the roof and it's time to head back to New Jersey.

We make a short stop in Lake Placid just to walk around, but the prices on everything are too high, so we get back in the car just as the rain begins. It rained all through the long trip back to New Jersey, but we sang and talked about the fun we had on our field trip to the Adirondacks and the Northern Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

07/14/12 Day Twelve : Climbing Mount Baker

Once again, we will be filling in with lots of pictures from today's events. It started with the photo on the left; Wiz Kids Qua-Fiki and Ee-Gee-Fiki standing in front of the mountain they are about to climb, Mount Baker (in the background).

Other activities of the day included helping to make a pancake breakfast, preparing a meat loaf for cooking in an outdoor campfire dutch oven, plus more swiming, boating, and fun at Rainbow Lake.

Click HERE to climb Baker Mountain	Click HERE for Rainbow Lake II

07/13/12 Day Eleven : Climbing Mount Jo

We will be filling in with lots of pictures from today's events. It started with the photo on the left; Wiz Kids Qua-Fiki and Ee-Gee-Fiki awakened Mike, their Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna Mountain Climbing Guide, by serenading him with their P-bones (Plastic Trombones). After a quick breakfast, they were off to climb Mount Jo in the heart of the high peaks of Adirondack Park. Click below to join them.

Afterwards, they cooled off at Camp Wakanda on Rainbow Lake with swimming activities, learning how to operate a stand-up waterboard, jumping on trampolines, and playing and singing around the evening campfire.

Click HERE to Climb Mount Jo	Click HERE for Rainbow Lake

07/12/12 Day Ten : Field Trip to the Adirondacks.

L-R: Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki, Wiz Kid Fred, Wiz Kid Ee-Gee Fiki are relaxing for a few moments at Glens Falls rest area, before proceeding to Adirondack Park in Northern New York on their educational and fun field trip.

The trip took six hours and we will continue with their adventures tomorrow.

07/11/12 Day Nine of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

That great big tent was difficult to put back in the bag, but Qua-Fiki squeezed every bit of air out of it and managed to get it all back into the tiny sack it came from, poles and all!

We just got word that he will be traveling to the Adirondacks tomorrow so we finished off Wizard Camp with a few more rehearsals of Dye-Version of which, if all goes well, he will make the video in the Adirondacks.

Then we went off shopping for lunch meat and foods that he can make and serve in the car on the trip up. Naturally, he will be the chef for providing lunches and snacks while traveling.

Lessons on the trip up will include geology and ecology, as well as geography and history. If the weather gets interesting, we may throw in some meterology as well.

Qua-Fiki will bring his camera so if Wizard Camp continues at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna in the Adirondacks, we can add his photos to this page.

07/10/12 Day Eight of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

After spending time doing administrative work and filling out forms to validate his many hours of community service, Qua-Fiki takes a break by setting up the Wizard Palace of the Forest (our Wiz Kid Tent). He marked all of the poles so the next time it is set up in the Adirondacks, it won't take as long to figure out which part goes where.

He also began rehearsals for performing his Dye-Version on video, which he plans to make later this week. Then we did some brainstorming on some future magic tricks he wants to write up for his Magic Nook e-Book collection.

07/09/12 Day Seven of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

Today Qua-Fiki started by learning to use the router to finish a Band Camp Project for Band Director Fred Goode (who is also known as Wiz Kid Fred). This is a special football replica on pegboard used for creating and learning marching band patterns on the field. Qua-Fiki routed the frame.

Then Qua-Fiki and Jim spent time making a video of one of Qua-Fiki's Mental Magic effects called "Thought Plucker." Time was also spent planning for a trip to the Adirondacks. Qua-Fiki wants to check out Paul Smith's College, since he is planning to study Culinary Arts when he graduates high school.

07/07/12 Day Six of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

Today Qua-Fiki begins with some time in the woodshop, building a stand needed for Qua-Fiki's Dye-Version.

The finished stand, just needing a coat of paint. We also learned how to use a hot glue gun... and how not to! Hot glue can hurt! So we learned some first aid for minor burns- cold running water.

In Meteorology class we learned why weathermen usually get temperatures right, but frequently can't predict rain with any accuracy. Even though today got up to 102, it wasn't climate change, just a hot day in July and historical weather records shows it happened many times before.

Music class was drumming while waiting for burgers to cook. Good day!

07/06/12 Day Five of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

Qua-Fiki took some days off to celebrate Independence Day with his family and friends, but today we are back at work, catching up for lost time by working on three of his latest effects for The Magic Nook. The photo at the left shows him all tied up for an escape from The Brooms of Doom. He makes his escape and sweeps up the floor or driveway all at the same time.

We also finished doing the sewing and taking the photos for his Dye-Version, pictured below, and worked on a new ultra secret effect called Thought Plucker which is only for magicians to even know about. Shhh!

Then there was time for the usual trumpet jam session, a lesson on plumbing: repairing a garden hose, learning some useful Latin expressions, and some basic electronics for beginners. In all it was a very busy day.

07/02/12 Day Four of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

Qua-Fiki shows Wiz Kid Jim his newest trick, Dye-Version. Jim is pretending to be three people from the audience, and when their red, yellow and green handkerchiefs disappear from the paper tubes, all the handkerchiefs appear merged together on a fifteen foot long streamer that comes from Qua-Fiki's paper tube.

They also made a Video of yesterday's Wild Reindeer Games trick.

This was followed by computer lessons, and getting the Wiz Kid Laptop ready to take to Band Camp this summer. Qua-Fiki will be the Band photographer and videographer again and needed to brush up on sending his photos and videos over the Internet.

Finally, Qua-Fiki studied the new Wiz Kid Toshiba Camcorder that was used to take the photo on the left by remote control. Jim is holding the remote control button behind the handkerchief and when Qua-Fiki decided the photo was what he wanted, he told Jim to take the photo. From now on he will be able to take both still photos like this and videos with the one camera, and from a distance.

07/01/12 Day Three of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

Qua-Fiki spent his birthday with friends and family. Sunday he came back to Wizard Camp and put the finishing touches on his next invention which is called "Wild Reindeer Games." Basically, he transforms eight Santa Helper cards into Santa's Eight regular reindeer, plus Rudolph as the final surprise.

We also had a brain-storming session with Rasheem Franklin, of the East Orange Unified Marching Band, who wanted to consult with us on adding some magic to his drumline performances with the band for next year.

Qua-Fiki brought his trumpet and we also worked on some trumpet pieces for Christmas, which helped with the mood created by working with Santa Claus and Reindeer cards. We will probably shoot the video of "Wild Reindeer Games" during our next Wizard Camp session.

06/28/12 Day Two of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna.

The Mesh ID Bag is finished and Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki and Camp Counselor Jim Gerrish spend an hour rehearsing and finally making the video for Qua-Fiki's latest magic trick. Once the magic work was complete, there was a final cherry picking to get the remaining berries off the backyard cherry tree, a jam session (music, not cherries) and music lessons on the keyboard, Keytar, and P-bone. Qua-Fiki's last project was to make himself a party hat for tomorrow's birthday party. Then no more camp for a few days while Qua-Fiki appreciates the wisdom of turning 17, and his camp counselor figures out how to keep one step ahead of him preparing lessons on magic and other important Wizard activities like cooking, science, and making music.

06/27/12 Today was the first day of Wizard Camp at Camp Do-wha-cha-wanna. The one and only Wizard Camper for the day was Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki, who wanted to A. Pick Cherries for a Cherry Pie (Done!); B. E-mail Band Camp friends photos from the recent North-South Game (Done!); C. Cook hamburgers and roast corn over an open fire for lunch (Done!); D. Learn to set up and use the sewing machine so he could finally show the one and only Camp Counselor what the heck he meant by a Mesh ID Bag (Done! See Photo!). His new magic invention will be sold at The Magic Nook to help pay his way to Band Camp in August. Meanwhile, this month, he celebrated his seventeenth birthday by taking over The Wizards' Journal #23 starting with a trick he calls "Matrix-Mix."

He finished the day by showing some neighbor children how to put air in their bicycle tires, and then headed home with our sump pump in his backsack so he can drain out and clean the family backyard swimming pool and then open it up for some evening splashing while it fills up on this fine summer night. Not your normal camp activities, but this is a typical Wizard Camp day.

01/14/12

Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki continues to come up with new magic ideas that he writes up and sells on The Magic Nook Web site. In the photo, he shows his latest invention- a cloth bag or tube made of mesh fabric you can see right through. He just finished pushing a red handkerchief and a white handkerchief into the top of the bag and out the bottom and as you can see they changed into a red and white almost American flag. Next he will take a blue handkerchief and push it through the same bag and it will change into the familiar red, white and blue American flag right in front of your eyes!

Qua-Fiki has more magic surprises on the way for 2012. He has also continued working on learning to play the trumpet, keeping up with his grades in high school, and is out looking for a part time job to start building up his car fund ( he will be 17 and eligible for a learner's permit soon!).