#The War Magician

[scottwellsmagic]

803: John McLaughlin -The Intersection Between Spy Craft and the Craft of Magic

It was a hot and muggy night in Warsaw, unusual for this time of the year. Sitting at the bar was a man nursing a beer. No one noticed his unkempt appearance or the bulge in his jacket pocket. As the bartender rang up another transaction, a young man wearing a ball cap swung open the door. A quick sideways glance was given to the stranger who strode over to take a seat at the bar. The young man ordered a beer then turned and quietly said, “Erdnase.” After a few uneasy moments that seemed like an eternity, the man reached into his pocket. He pulled out a deck of cards and suddenly…it was magic time.

That could have gone in a completely different direction and oftentimes it does in the world of spy craft. This week we chat with the former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.), John McLaughlin. There is an overlap and kinship in the keeping of secrets both as spies and as magicians, though one doesn’t control the balance of life and death in their hands. John is an American Intelligence Officer who served as Deputy Director of the C.I.A. under President Bill Clinton and then briefly as the Acting Director of the C.I.A. under President G.W. Bush then retired in 2004. McLaughlin currently serves as a Senior Fellow and Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C

While attending the 2023 S.A.M. convention in New Orleans, John and I had a chance to have a long conversation about some of the declassified operations in the C.I.A., “Project Mincemeat”, the “War Magician” (Jasper Maskelyne), the similarities between spies and magicians, and the local magic scene in Washington, D.C.

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[galaxyofthoughts99]

@omaano back at it AGAIN. 😭

The dedication and time they take to bringing my group’s TTRPG campaign characters to life is unbelievable. We’re nearing the end of our campaign and seeing them all in a picture together like this enjoying their precious time together is so bittersweet before the inevitable Order arrives.

Order from Thosea (female bottom left corner) and going right around the circle: Thosea, Alpha, Doxx, Junghar, Kyrk, Shrap, Chip.

[himbohaggins]

jsamn being a fantastical alternate history really is wildin, itll be like yeah the magician rolled up to the magic function to do magic things. oh yeah and sir walter scott was there

[starboysbrainrot]

the sound of myself - disasterpeace.

[vertigoartgore]

Doctor Doom by the talented comic book artist Tom Reilly (2024).

[thefuriousmagician]

Part 3 of SM33 ref photos!

Ref photos to you hearts content: 1, 2, 3, 4,

[menlove]

meeting best friends/partners/etc from fandom is the funniest thing imaginable bc the typical well how do you know each other comes up and the answer has to be. well. we were both A Little Crazy About Some Guy.

[glitterywastelandobject]

Broken pieces of the night

Sing like hollow lullabies.

You and I, always in disguises—

Lover, hunter, friend, and enemy.

You will always be every one of these.

If this isn't the Doctor and the Master, I don't know what is.

[darklinaforever]

In the worst endings ever, my little ranking :

Star Wars 9. (Hands down the worst thing I've seen in terms of ending !)

Game of thrones. (With the hope that GRRM will one day finish the books to free us from this shitty ending ?)

The Umbrella Academy. (The writers smoked carpet for season 4 damn, already season 3 was not great...)

The Magicians. (Killing Quentin was a monumental mistake with a nauseating message...)

Killing Eve. (Thanks to the books that offer a different ending than the crap we had !)

[scottwellsmagic]

789: Harry Maurer - Life on the Deep Blue Sea

From Houston, Texas, to Tokyo, Japan, Harry Maurer has done it all. It is hard to say if he is best known as a cruise ship magician as he does (or has done) so many things and done them all to perfection. When he is not at sea, he is busy booking himself and his lovely wife, Carol Anne, in clubs, casinos, banquet rooms and theaters across the U.S. It is rare to find him at home where we caught him for this special episode.

Although this week’s episode is entitled, “Life on the Deep Blue Sea,” where Harry talks at length about his cruising experiences over the years, he also talks about performing in Las Vegas with Joey Bishop (one of the original members of the Rat Pack), entertaining at the Playboy Club, experiences on and off stage with notable celebrities and celebrated magicians. He also gives us a sneak preview of his talk he often presents to group about the War Magician. If you would like to order a copy of the book, then you can order through Amazon by clicking on the link below in this blog.

Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

Order your copy of "The War Magician" by David Fisher from Amazon and help The Magic Word Podcast by clicking on this link. As an affiliate of Amazon, each purchase you make using our link helps the podcast.

[notyoujamie]

[eliotqueliot]

Ted Coldwater's airplanes

This might not matter to anyone but me (art purposes), but I'm identifying some of Quentin's father's model planes. The one in the foreground left here is a P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the workhorses of World War II, flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces. This one flew with the 56th Fighter Group, 61st Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force (stationed at the RAF air bases in this order: RAF Kings Cliffe, then moved to RAF Horsham St Faith, then RAF Halesworth, and finally RAF Boxted--most likely flying out of Boxted). I can't see the serial number on the tail, so I can't be certain, but one of the most popular model planes of this type is the P-47D (serial number 42-26418) flown by Lt. Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski out of Boxted. If you have more info, please let me know.

By the way--Quentin's mom was wrong on so many levels. So many. Including the fact that these planes aren't a worthless waste of time, or something to quickly dispose of--not just for sentimental reasons. Q's dad's collection would indeed have been worth quite a lot. Most of all I wish Q had been able to keep at least one plane to remember his dad--no matter how much catharsis Jennifer helped him achieve that day.

[pensivegladiola]

Magic 101:

Still waiting on your letter? Check out these schools in the meantime…

[charrrbroiledmoa]

More of my sweet boy Kallix while I remember it (fuck Isgarren, all my homies the Isgarren) original under cut

[chrizecat]

uh. hi. I Don't know how to use Tumblr since i made this account when i was in high school to talk about waluigi but im chrizecat and i like Super robots and Touhou and a bunch of other stuff i tend to hyperfixate on. i also draw and im trying to improve so any critiques on how i can improve my art in any ways are really appreciated!

[strangeruponclouds]

I've got at least one character from every show I watch or game i play that I want them to break down in front of someone. full on ugly sob. screaming and crying type stuff.