826LA Good Times Vol. 7 Issue 5

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MAY 14, 2016 VOLUME VII, ISSUE IV

CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2016

GOOD TIMES FREE

The History of the Magic Castle and Its Magicians Makayla Carpinteyro The Magic Castle was founded by Milt Larson and his brother Bill Larson in the early 1960s. The building used to be a house and an apartment before it became the Magic Castle. The building is over 100 years old and is a famous place in Los Angeles.

A Hidden Jewel Katherine Torres When talking about the landmarks in Los Angeles, people usually think of places like Disneyland, Universal Studios, the Hollywood sign, Dodger Stadium, maybe even UCLA. But they rarely think of a jewel hidden somewhere near the mountains in Pasadena, CA. It is a place where future scientists and engineers study math, computer sciences, and astrophysics get ready for earth-observing missions, planetary exploration, and protecting our country. This place where amazing things happen is called California Institute of Technology, or CalTech. CalTech is one of the smallest and best colleges in the world. With only 2,000 students a year, Caltech has won 34 nobel prizes and 71 United States National Medals of Science and Technology, according to its website. You might think a school, which raises geniuses like that is boring, but you would be surprised. CalTech has interesting traditions, some of which are like in the Harry Potter books. Peggy Otsubo graduated from CalTech in 1975 in the second class of women and currently has a daughter in CalTech.

into eight houses, kind of like the sorting hat.” When you join a house, you become a member of that community. The houses have sit-down dinners served with waiters. “When somebody would not show up for dinner, and we would all go, ‘Oh is this person OK? We better go check on him.’ So it is like a nice community. This is unique to the undergrads.” Peggy explained what some competitions are like between the houses.“So they have athletic competitions but you kind of make up your rules. When I was in Page we had a couple of athletic girls so we would say, ‘Ok, we want to play some volleyball,’ which required girls so we would challenge another house and the house that has the most points at the end of the year would be able to have the trophy in their house. You don’t really get anything for it. You don’t get any money, the trophy isn’t really that big of a deal, but it was fun. It was fun to let off some steam a little bit, and play sports. There is also other informal challenges between the houses and there are a couple more houses that have even more rivalry. A couple houses are connected and I remember they used to throw water balloons a quarter past the way. It is just fun games.”

“I worked as a computer programmer. I worked in the aerospace defense industry and I worked at several different companies increasing my computer programming skills and eventually went into more of a management position. So from a direct map you would be surprised at the number of places who really like a math major,” Otsubo said.

There is one important tradition that Otsubo mentioned. “One that I will mention is the honor system. It’s very, very important to CalTech students and what it means is that the exams are given to you, and you take it back to your dorm and you do it in your room whenever you want to. So, it’s a one-hour test. You take it back and when you’re ready to take the test, you time yourself for one hour and you take the test. If the test is closed book, you don’t open any books: you take

“When students first join CalTech, they are separated

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home to the 2,000 works of art in the Broad collection, which is among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide.” Some of the artist featured are Jeff Koons, Ellsworth Kelly , Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, Kara Walker, Christopher Wool, Joseph Beuys, Jasper Johns, Cindy Sherman, Robert Rauschenberg, and many more.

Da Bomb Broad: 2,000 Works of Art in One Building… Dylan Hong The Broad is an art museum in downtown Los Angeles. It opened on September 26,2015 and had about 3,000 visitors. It was the idea of Eli and Edythe Broad. The museum cost 140 million dollars to build. It was designed by Diller Scofidio, Renfro, and Gensler. The Broad’s art collection is from artists around the world and the artwork was donated from Eli and Edythe Broad’s personal collection. According to the the Broad’s website “The museum is

According to Ed Patuto, Director of Audience Engagement, at the Broad it took 40 years for Eli and Edythe Broad to collect the art and for the Broad to be built. Eli Broad collected art because he enjoyed talking to the artists and he enjoyed collecting art. There are currently 25 people working at the Broad full time. The Broad is a wonderful place with lots of art pieces that were collected from artist around the world. It has an awesome entrance and nice docents. If you enjoy art this is the place to go. Dylan Hong is a 10 year old in the fourth grade. He likes snakes and has a pet corn snake named Motley. He is named that because he’s an albino motley.

On January 2,1962, the Magic Castle opened its door to members of the Academy of Magical Arts. The Academy is a group of magicians and people who love magic. These members are allowed into the Magic Castle to see the shows. Members are allowed to invite friends or family to be a guest. Adults must be over 21 years old to go inside the Magic Castle during the week. Kids are allowed to go to the Magic Castle on certain days. They can go with member on Saturdays and Sundays. To become an associate member, members would have to pay $1,500 first to be a part of the club and then need to pay $750 once a year. Members have to be older than 21 years old. The Magic Castle has three theaters. They are Close Up, Parlor, and Stage. The Close Up theater is small and can only seat about 20 people. Magicians that work in this room do card tricks, coin tricks, and other up close tricks. The Parlor Room is a little bit bigger than the Close Up room. The room can only seat about 100 people. The types of magic that audience can see are tricks that use balls and ropes. The stage is medium sized. It is called the Parlor of Prestidigitation. The largest room at the Magic Castle seats more than 100 people. This is where the big magic acts perform. The room is called Palace of Mystery and opened in 1976. Magicians who perform on this stage perform big illusions like disappearing people or making doves appear. Magicians usually have assistants helping them because it is a big show. Greg Wilson performed on this stage during the opening week in 1976. Wilson has been a professional magician since he was six years old. Wilson’s mom and dad, Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell Wilson, are founding members of the Magic Castle. In the late 1970s, Time magazine printed a photo of Mark Wilson making Nani Darnell Wilson float in front of the Magic Castle. The Magic Castle is filled with magic. It is also a very fancy place to go. The reason it is fancy is you need to wear dress up clothes. The shows are always different because magicians from around the world come to perform. Makayla Carpinteyro is a second grader at Micheltorena Elementary School. She enjoys performing magic for her family, going on vacation and reading.


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