Bone Daddy has often said…..”Memories are made when magic happens….whether it be on the field of play….or on the stage….it’s still magic!!!” ….and that saying has a great deal of truth when it comes to the story I am about to tell of the band of brothers known as Los Tres Amigos…..which consisted of the Prince of Pleasure, Sky Pilot and Bone Daddy…..who arrived at LAX Airport in the City of Angels (Los Angeles) around 7pm on Friday, July 27, 1984. While BD and Prince gathered their bags….Sky went to pick up the rent car….meeting the boys out front of LAX…where they loaded up the car and headed directly to The Magic Castle Hotel to get checked into their rooms…..while arriving at around 8:30 pm….just as the Western skies were turning shades of orange and fuchsia with streaks and splashes of blue running across the horizon….you know….during that peaceful time of each day when twilight turns to dusk.
Oh what a sight it must have been….just hearing BD describe how they turned the corner in the middle of Hollywood….and there it was….The Magic Castle. BD says that when you first see this place….you cannot believe that it sits right in the middle of the City of Hollywood….where it has resided since it was built in 1909. The Magic Castle is the showplace for some of the greatest magicians from around the globe….but it becomes obvious at first sight that The Magic Castle also takes great pride in showcasing its magnificent edifice. This storied mansion has watched Hollywood grow and change for over 100 years….while never losing its original charm. Bone Daddy, Prince of Pleasure and Sky Pilot had no idea of what true magic lay in store for these three Olympic visitors as their historic trip would begin to unfold….and simply put, they just knew from the first time they gazed upon their place of residence for the next few weeks….that this was a really cool place to be….which would become the source of many a tale to be told.
Magic – 2015 – Special – An Inside Look At Hollywood’s Magic Castle – The Academy Of Magical Arts In The World
When you first walk into The Magic Castle….the front door opens up into a small….maybe 8’ X 10’ room that has nothing but beautiful polished hardwood shelves from floor to ceiling. There are no chairs….no sofas….no paintings….no tables….no desks….I mean none of the typical things you see in any other hotel foyer….just beautiful floor to ceiling shelves on all four walls. The shelves are all tastefully stocked with books….figurines…..pieces of cut glass crystal….along with some other tastefully chosen pieces of décor….and nothing else. Top that off with the fact that there is no HUMAN person in the room….no intercom system to communicate with any other HUMAN….or any other obvious indication of communication….in any shape or form with The Magic Castle.
So I ask you this…..cuz every Chiweenie that I know….has the answer to this question… so….if you are standing in a room with only a door that leads outside….and you see no other means of access into the inner sanctum….while knowing that you are in a house of magic….what do you do next? You say “OPEN SEEZ ME” you dummy. Even a Chiweenie’s knows that. When you say “OPEN SEEZ ME” at The Magic Castle….and then you make a half turn of the golden owl sitting on a shelf….and low and behold….a truly magical kingdom opens up to those who wish to enter.
Magic – 2019 – Special – Inside The Magic Castle – Hollywood’s Most Secret Club Bone Daddy remembers The Magic Castle as a maze of stairways lined with framed pictures of members of The Academy of Magical Arts filling the vertical walls of the stairwells. There was Harry Houdini, Criss Angel, David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, Doug Henning, David Blaine, Herbert L. Becker, Siegfried and Roy, Johnny Carson, The Pendragons, Lance Burton, Mark Wilson, Cardini: Willard the Wizard, Dai Vernon, Shimada, W. C. Fields, Jeff McBride, Johnathan Winters, and many many more….to include Sky Pilot’s long time good friend….and now BD and Prince’s newest best friend….ole Turk Pipkin himself….a fine Austin magician in his own right….whose picture hangs at the Academy of Magical Arts with all the other great magicians of all time.
Another really cool aspect of this kingdom of magic…was that just about every HUMAN in the place was an member magician of the Academy….so everybody in the place had tricks of all kinds….slight of hand…illusions….prestidigitation….card tricks…..you name it….any type of magic you can image….was being performed by virtually every person who occupied a seat at any bar or restaurant….”cuz in The Magic Castle….everyone was a magician”. ….and all you had to do was ask for a trick.
Magic – 2017 – The Magic Castle Presents Jeki Yoo – Master Of The Rings
DOG ASIDE: Simply put….we dogs can do so much better than you HUMANS at keeping things simple….so here ya go….it is my opinion that some of the best work of HUMANS is achieved when a little magic is applied….. whether it be the magic of sight….the magic of sound….the magic of laughter….the magic of the mind…. or the magic of sports….it is the part where magic happens that shows off a HUMANS best work….and remains forever in the minds of those who got to see real magic happen.
Magic – 2015 – The Magic Castle Presents Dan Trommater Pays Tribute To The Magic Of Dean Dill
Bone Daddy is a tad bit hazy about their first night in Los Angeles….probably cuz he and Prince had been “partaking of toddies” throughout their flight from Austin to LAX….so he was already somewhere past tipsy by the time the Tres Amigos arrived at The Castle of Magic….which means that the exact details of the first night’s events tend to vary somewhat depending on who is telling the story. Apparently the boys spent most of the evening at “The Hat and The Hare Bar”….which was one of four different décor and theme bars throughout The Castle. I’m sure the reason that the boys lit like three magpies at The Hat and Hare is because it featured a grand piano that was played by The Magic Castle’s resident ghost….Irma ….who would take requests….and then play whatever the request might be. BD says that Irma never missed a request in the whole 15 night stay. Playing requested songs was Irma’s way to communicate with the world of the living in a positive way.
Magic – 2019 – The Magic Castle Presents Irma The Ghost Playing Requests On The Piano
Apparently, Bone Daddy became quite a hit that first night at The Castle….for BD is a music man….he has music in his soul….it is a part of his being….just like a rib, an arm or a kidney. He knows a lot of music…. and the words to a lot of songs….and as the story goes….from what transpired that first night was an obvious out of body experience for BD. First….he made a request of Irma to play Gershwin’s“Rhapsody in Blue” ….which she did in three (3) completely different ways….to which BD would toast her for each rendition. Then he requested the Ole Blue Eyes song “My Way” to which he began to sing along with Irma’s playing….and she let him do so….cuz my boy has a really nice voice.
Let me tell you a little secret about our Bone Daddy, which is that he plays the piano and sings at home almost every day….and I love his music as I like to lay under his baby grand while he plays….cuz it gives me the full body and resonance of his playing. Bone Daddy was blessed with the gift of the talent to play by ear….and if he hears the song….he can generally play it…..for he doesn’t read music….or even know the notes he plays….but let this lil ole Chiweenie tell you simply…..that boy can play the piano….heck, just the other day he heard the song “I Will Always Love You”…..a old 1950’s song by Dolly Parton…..and he liked it so much, he came home and picked it out on the piano, while singing the entire song over and over and over…..however, “he NEVER performs in public”….or at least never had until a heavy dose of magic was added to the equation.
Magic – 2018 – Live At The Magic Castle – The Card Master Jason Ladanye
As a matter of fact….Prince got up to sing a song while Irma played….and after a few bars by the Prince….Irma quit playing…..as it was her way of saying that his voice was not worthy of her piano playing. By this time of the evening….BD was as drunk as an ole hoot owl….as he and the boys sat at The Hat and The Hare Bar with Lola the bartender….a stunning red head who swore to a more than slightly inebriated BD that her cuffs and her collars truly did match (that’s old dog lingo for those of you who don’t know any old dogs).What BD didn’t realize was that Lola had coaxed him into sitting on the bar stool that could be mechanically manipulated by her in a very unsuspecting way…. especially to someone who was three sheets to the wind of inebriation. When BD would slow down on his drinking…. Lola would buy him a drink on the house….just to keep him engaged in friendly bantering with her….all the while that she was oh so gradually lowering his bar stool….and as the story goes….she was able to get the stool lowered as far down as it could go….without BD realizing anything was wrong….even when his arms were fully extended above his head with his hands resting on the bar countertop while he was nearly sitting on the floor…..and as it has been told….he apparently never broke stride in telling Lola whatever tall tale Texan story he was telling her….cuz he was the original raconteur in my HUMAN family. All I can say is that a picture is worth a thousand words….and even though that particular picture of BD did exist….cuz I saw it live and in color….it will never reach this blog….as BD has seen to that. I must tell you though….the boy did look the fool with his arms fully extended over his head with his hands holding firmly onto the bar….while his butt was dang near on the ground….as everyone and anyone who came into the bar during the process of lowering the level of this unsuspecting drunk’s seat….was treated to a down right good ole belly laugh for everyone who entered the bar area….as their chuckles remained totally oblivious to Bone Daddy….that is until the “gig was up”….when everyone broke out into glorious laughter.
Magic – 2017 – Magician RMax Provides A Cook’s Tour Of The Magic Castle I will tell you something about Bone Daddy that is endearing about him….for he has no problem laughing at himself. This is evidenced by the fact is his older brother Lil Wally always has said of him that he loves to hear him tell a joke….cuz he always laughs at his jokes and himself. It seems to me that more HUMANS should laugh at themselves….and not take themselves so serious.
Los Tres Amigos had just finished their first night of their Olympic journey….and the tall tale of Olympic proportions was just beginning….for like the boys on their Rocket Run to L A….evidenced by the first night at The Magic Castle….and they had no idea what was in store for them in the coming two weeks.
TV Ads – 2010 – Video Tour Of The Magic Castle Hotel & Suites Where Los Tres Amigos Stayed During Their Historic 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Journey
