Current location:	Cedar City, UT
Current mood:	exhausted

A Week to The Castle.
Here we are, faithful readers, as I am only a few days away from appearing--for the second time--at The Magic Castle.

Getting here has been a long adventure. I left home on Sunday, as I write this, have driven 2688 miles. Here's how it looks:



Along the way I've done three shows. First, Red Rock Central Elementary School in Jeffers, MN.

Here are some shots :







Then, it was a long drive to Darby, MT for a show at Trapper Creek Job Corps. I was there in April, but most of the kids were new. A Job Corps is like a boarding vocation school. These kids learn trades, like how to be a Chef:



This gang knew how to relax and have a good time:



Mr. Ferguson introducing me:



After the show I heard an amazing story I want to share with you. A 17 year-old named Christian came up while I was signing autographs and asked me if I would sign...HIS EYE. I immediately dismissed him as teasing me. Then I heard him say, "No...I'm serious.."

At that I looked over and saw this:



Now THAT'S something you don't see every day.

I, of course, said no. I mean, come on people, there is NO way I'm signing someone's glass eye.

Christian spoke with me for a while and told some funny stories about how he's punked people with his prosthetic eye. For instance, he purchased sunglasses at an expensive sunglass boutique, and asked them if he could buy them at half price. When they asked why, he showed them.

As I was just packing up and about to leave he said, "You haven't asked how I lost my eye."

"Well, no," I said, "I haven't because it's none of my business. If you want to tell me, though, I'd be honored to hear."

"It happened when I was 12," he said, "I was playing with a gun and accidentally shot myself."

I thought that I heard him wrong.

"What? You shot yourself...in the eye...?" I asked. It didn't make any sense. I mean, if you were shot in the eye, then that means that you were shot IN THE HEAD, right? People don't usually live to talk about that.

"Yes," he said, "the bullet went in my right eye and came out the top of my head."

I was speechless for several seconds. "The bullet went through your head?"

"Yep"

"You're telling me that a bullet went in your eye, through your head, and out the top of your skull...and 5 years later we're standing here talking about it?"

"That's right"

"You're neurosurgeons were extraordinary," I said.

"Oh, they were."

Folks, once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far, away...I worked as a medic for an ambulance. Too many times I've seen the outcome of a gunshot wound to the head. I've never heard anyone talk about it. Well, I thought, it must have been a very small caliber. A .22 maybe?

"What kind of a gun was it?" I asked.

"It was a .44 Magnum," he said.

At this point I had to sit down. A .44 Magnum is not a small caliber. It's a LONG way from that. It is, in fact, touted as the most powerful hand gun in the world...made famous by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies.

Once, in my two years at AID Ambulance, I saw a gentleman who was shot in--believe it or not--his right eye with a .44 Magnum. He wasn't as fortunate as Christian.

I told Christian that I believed his survival was nothing short of a miracle.

He agreed.

I had to get my pic with this amazing young man:



I then went to Trapper Creek's sister school, Anaconda Job Corps in Anaconda, MT for an evening show. These kids were ready to have fun too:





Bea introduced me:



And here I am with the balloon girl, the spectacular Janeane:



Tomorrow I have to drive to LAX to pick-up my buddy Dr. Wayne White, then we'll crash at his brother's house.

It'll be a long drive...so, if you'll excuse me...