Eric's House Of Ego

I decided to take WSPA-3 to the magic show around the corner. I felt I had to see one train wreck when I was here.

Kirby VanBurch, drunk as a lord and botoxed out of his mind. I just can't take seriously a magician who can't take the time to get himself into the bag inside the box when he does Metamorphosis.

The funniest part of the evening was when they did a levitation with his wife. In this case it was done over fountains of water. From the angle I was at, it looked like there was steam coming up from her crotch ...

This is the sort of guy who Penn & Teller make fun of.

I was talking to born_to_me earlier, and I think that between us we came up with a question that is the perfect description of Branson's main strip.

What if Salvador Dali was a hillbilly? This place is surreal. But the trip there first.

The last 40 minutes or so of the drive are big rolling hills, a mild problem for someone who has a bit of a fear of heights. It's lovely.

As I said earlier, there are 100s of billboards, in some cases the same billboard every half mile or so. I am still uncertain what some of them are for. I noticed early on what is one of the great disappointments of the trip.

There are no ads for the Osmonds.

In a conversation today I was told that they have moved on. Damn, now I can't refuse to go see them.

The first show you see is right on the outskirts of town, and this amused me to no end. Apparently they will not allow Yakof Smirnoff in town. Yeah, the foreigner can do a show here, as long as it's not too close.

The town is ... interesting. It rolls over several large hills, and no road is in a straight line, which makes getting around a challenge. I think that every road connects with every other road in town in some sort of bizarre mobius strip nightmare.

And everything has a pool. Sometimes the pool is about the size of a Kia Sorento, but it's still a pool.

The pool at the hotel we are staying at is about the size of two Kia Sorento's, but we still managed to spend about 6 weeks in it last night.

I'll post more as the week goes along. I do have to say that right now I am not sure whether to be appalled or amused. I am having a great time. WPSA-2 is being very silly.

Speaking of which, I need to go fetch her from a dance thing. More as it occurs to me.