Last of May

We had a delightful time at The Magic Collector's Convention in Montreal. Overall, the presentations were unusually well done, in my opinion. The museum tour was fabulous, and we got a special look behind the scenes, especially in the museum's vault.

The way the exhibit was laid out was clever and attractive, and I'm sure the donor was very happy with it. We're not supposed to know who that is, but of course we do. He's getting on in age, as are many of these (mostly) men, and he didn't want to stick his children with a complicated inheritance. Speaking of aging, it's good that we made it to this convention, because the future of MCCs is very much up in the air...they are a lot of work for the organizers and the audience is dwindling.

Of course, one of the highlights of the trip was eating out, and I wish we'd had more time to just sit and enjoy the Resto House of Jazz...the convention had us very scheduled in a way that I found strangely tiring.

I need to learn how to put the pictures on my cell phone onto the pc...actually, I need to learn how to use my cell phone camera. The above picture was taken by a friend--she got a much better shot. And about half of my photos are a tad blurry.

We walked miles...all over the historic part of Montreal, over cobblestones and through streets that looked very European and where the predominant language was French.  We found a microbrasserie--I think the place was called Les 3 Brasseurs, on Sainte-Catherine Ouest. If there's a microbrewery, we'll find it! Mike mentioned that we collect beer coasters, so the waiter gave us several, and they are really cool, as is everything about this place.

We, the conventioneers, also received a special surprise gift: a large hardback book called The Art of Magic from the McCord Museum, a wonderful book of prints. There are two versions, English and French, so of course we got one of each, so that Mike has both for his collection. We are tickled pink with these.

It was fun catching up with people we don't see often, and perhaps we'll eventually make arrangements to get together, convention or no. We've gotten to know a couple from Texas who own one of the largest Houdini collections in the world...it would be mighty interesting to see it.

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In other news, I'm trying to learn how to knit by watching YouTube videos. It's driving me crazy, but I will keep trying.

Whatchaupto?