sunday was a formal-wear day. in the afternoon i attended the los angeles doctors symphony orchestra's fundraiser performance. they played great, and a had a kick-ass flute player to boot. all of the ticket sale proceeds went to operation smile, and i was there as a volunteer to help beth out (i pressed play to start a video during intermission... that's about it). unfortunately i had to leave during intermission for...

... the magic castle! this hollywood building of wonder is sort of a central hub for magicians. it is invite-only (you have to know a magician), and always fully-formal (suit & tie). we were lucky to get a group of us out there through some nucleus connections and it was awesome! the architecture is pretty impressive - the castle itself feels like LA in it's glamorous youth, and the interior is an almagamation of relics, fixtures and trinkets from demolished hollywood mansions of a bygone era. in every corner was a small group of magicians showing each other tricks and talking the trade. the castle is 3 stories with a haunted wine cellar, and the evening was complete with (an excellent) dinner and a sawing-of-a-woman in half. i'd have to say the close-up magic and small showrooms were the most exciting and hilarious. all of the sleight-of-hand trickery was the most impressive (as opposed to the clever contraptions and props of the big shows), and a bunch of us were volunteers in the various acts. here's a quick collage of photos from their web site (no cameras were allowed inside):

by the way, apparently if i were a computer file, i'd be a .inf. maybe for even doing this, i should be a .nerd. yeah, i just typed that. i am even nerdier than that sentence just proved i was. what?