Water on
the brain - who needs a doctor? French magician Jessy shows Pattaya City
Expats members his quick & simple cure, aided by the lovely Suzanne.
Master of Ceremonies Roger Fox welcomed everyone to the
regular Sunday meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club on March 6, 2011 at
Amari Resort’s Tavern by the Sea. After the usual opening announcements,
Roger called on fellow member Harry “Sig” Sigworth to introduce Jessy, the
famous French Magician. Sig noted that Jessy began his career at the tender
age of 7 when his grandfather undertook to teach him some card tricks.
Within 2 years he had mastered them all; he was also hooked on the world of
magic and continued to improve his skills becoming a master in the art of
illusion.
Jessy then began his performance, which kept the audience
enthralled as they watched him perform. He demonstrated that he not only had
mastered the art of illusion, but also was a showman. He did several tricks
of pulling scarves out of empty containers, sometimes loose and sometimes
tied together. He also showed the audience a limp white rope, which he made
stiff and unbending (some in the audience were heard to mutter that he had
coated the rope with Viagra, but if that was the case, Jessy did not admit
it).
He also pulled a rabbit out of an empty bag - but the
audience was a bit disappointed as it was a “stuffed” brown rabbit - so, to
make everyone happy, he then pulled a live black and white rabbit out of the
same empty bag. He then did a bit of cooking with a covered pan - opened the
lid and the rabbit hopped out (no wonder, it was probably getting a bit
uncomfortable in that frying pan). He also did several different card
tricks; many with members of the audience picking a card (of course Jessy
was not allowed to see it) or describing a card after he had selected one
face down from the deck. The amazing Jessy continuously came up with the
correct card.
One of the more interesting illusions he performed
involved a volunteer from the audience. Jessy poured water from a bucket
into a funnel that was inserted into the volunteer’s right ear and displayed
the empty bucket when finished; no water was seen to have gone anyplace
else. He then placed the funnel’s large end next to the volunteer’s left ear
and had her tilt her head over the bucket; but, no water came out - however,
Jessy was up to this challenge, lifting her right arm, he began to pump it
up and down and lo and behold, water gushed out into the bucket.
MC Roger
prepares to hand over to Judith for the ‘Open Forum’ - your chance to air
your questions and concerns about life & living in the Land of Smiles.
Another was using a large glass of milk with several
empty glasses, each one smaller in size. Jessy had a member of the audience
examine the smallest glass before he began to confirm it was an ordinary
glass. Jessy then proceeded to pour the milk from the large glass into the
next largest glass and continued this until only the smallest glass
contained any milk - but, not a drop of milk from the original glass was
seen to have overflowed any of the smaller glasses - truly a great feat of
illusion.
And, of course, what is a good magic show without an
escape. With the aid of a couple members of the audience, Jessy had his
hands handcuffed behind his back and was blind folded. He then stepped into
a large bag and with the aid of his new found assistants; the bag was pulled
up over his head. The opening was then secured and locked. A cloth screen
was raised by the assistants in front of the bag. After several minutes,
Jessy emerged having escaped, to much applause from the audience.
For his final act, Jessy showed the audience a bound book
that was filled with blank pages. He closed the book, tapped it with his
magic wand, and wonder of wonders, all the pages now had colored pictures.
If you were not there, you can visit his website www.jessymagic.com to see
him in action.
Roger then updated everyone on upcoming events and called
on Judith Edmonds to conduct the always informative and sometimes humorous
Open Forum, where questions are asked and answered about living in Thailand,
Pattaya in particular.
Lewis Underwood
Our favorite PR tool of the New Year is our annual brochure
detailing where your donations are distributed. It is important to us that you
know exactly where your contributions go. We also encourage you to visit our
projects, especially those readily accessible in ‘our own backyard’ for a
first-hand perspective.
Erle and a
young boy happily participate in the School for the Blind’s Sports Day last
month.
In the meantime, we are busy planning the events for our 14th
Annual Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive, as well as actively seeking
donations. If you would like to join us, please visit our website at
www.care4kids.info and remember that this year’s Children’s Fair is on Sunday,
September 11th and Party Night 2 weeks after on Saturday, September 24th.
Below is a sneak preview of the text for our brochure before
we go to print.
Due to your generosity in 2010, as of March 1st 2011, we have
distributed 5,929,249 baht of the 6,147,421 baht in cash donations, or 96.5% of
the net raised.
Below are the needy children charities that you are
supporting on the Eastern Seaboard, as well as tsunami orphans in Krabi, and the
amounts given so far.
Our Target Charity (Registered
Charity No. Tor 460/2543)
The Fountain of Life Center (2,986,069 baht), under the
Good Shepherd Foundation, provides kids with documentation, education,
activities, meals, medical and dental care, and ultimately, scholarships for
entering gov’t schools. This past year 82 children received scholarships.
The Next Step Program (40,000 baht) provides
scholarships to young adults for high school, university and vocational college.
1. Tsunami orphans (40,000 baht) are being
provided with scholarships since 2005 via the Sriphong Khaoluan Foundation in
Krabi.
2. Ten university students at BA level, including 2
poised to graduate this month are being supported through funds given to
Fountain of Life Center.
Schools
(1,302,500 baht)
1. Ban Amphur Primary School (500,000 baht): Currently
constructing first aid station
2. Ban Amphur Primary School (622,000 baht): In a
joint project with The Herrod Foundation, we constructed a kindergarten and
renovated pre-existing toilets.
3. Nikom 3 School in Rayong Province (54,000 baht):
Installation of new water filter system and replace chemicals in primary
filters.
4. Nikom 4 School in Rayong Province (60,000 baht):
Construction of two ablution centers each with 6 stations fully tiled with and
ceramic hand basins.
5. Nikom 7 School in Rayong Province (66,500 baht):
Replacement of non-functioning reverse osmosis system with activated chemical
system and upgrade existing filters; installation of new water filter system.
Special Schools (264,970 baht)
1. Khao Baisri Home for Disabled Boys (74,970 baht):
Finishing touches for home/classroom we built last year with The Herrod
Foundation, as well as monthly shopping trips initiated since last November.
2. Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind (90,000
baht): We provided furnishings and air conditioners for the new office we
built last year.
3. Special Olympics (100,000 baht): Sponsorship for
the 4th Special Olympics Thailand Eastern Region Athletics Championship held at
School #7 in Pattaya last November. The 250 handicapped athletes competed in
field and track events and arena football.
Shelters:
(1,162,051 baht)
1. Camillian Social Center (763,051 baht): In a joint
venture with the Canadian Jackalope Open, we continue to sponsor two disabled
HIV-infected children. We also took 70 kids Christmas shopping and on a trip to
the Sriracha Tiger Zoo.
2. Ban Jing Jai (334,000 baht) an orphanage in Nong
Prue, now with 70 kids. We cover their monthly food and utilities’ cost.
3. Kate’s Project (15,000 baht): helps the poor in
Nong Prue. We assisted them by sponsoring a Christmas party for the families in
the area.
4. Kharma Foundation (50,000 baht): In a joint project
with Ray and Khirsly Matti, we supplied educational materials, agriculture
products, sports equipment and clothing for kids in Kanchanaburi.
Special Case:
(22,649 baht)
Nong Urn was an 8-year old suffering from congenital liver
problems; we were providing her with a clean apartment to help combat her
irritable skin syndrome up until August last year when she finally succumbed to
her illness.
Miscellaneous: Shirts (151,010 baht): Jesters T-shirts
were donated at cost to kids from our various projects
Thank you for your kindheartedness once again!
Cocktail
mixing shows are always popular draws.
Manoon Makpol
A Chonburi vocational college student may have a future
mixing cocktails after being named one of the three best student drink
mixers in Thailand at the Star Flair Bartender Competition held earlier this
month at Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
Ekachai Akradechruangsri of Chonburi Vocational College
placed third in the students bracket, taking home a 1,000 baht prize. Two
students from Saraburi Vocational College in Central Thailand placed first
and second. Three bartenders from Bangkok won all three of the professional
awards at the March 1 contest.
Eighteen teams participated in the contest staged by the
Bartender Association of Thailand. It was the second such competition and
was aimed at helping stoke tourism in Pattaya, as cocktail mixing shows are
always popular draws.
Association President Pongpan Sangthai said such contests
are not only entertaining, but exhibit the skills mixers use at top name
hotels and restaurants.
The Saraburi winners in the student bracket were Pinsuda
Tongprom and Thanwa Petchbungkerd, who took home 3,000 baht each. And the
professional-category winners were Jane Kaewyod of Cocktail Bar Mansion 7;
Suwan Saelee of the Aetas Hotel and Patrakruet Lainamngern of the Horse Bar.
First and second place took home 5,000 baht and third place 3,000 baht.
