Cat Lover Gifts

Cat Lover Gifts

Among the most well known cat lover gifts are photo frames for the cat or cats in question. A majority of cat owners have more than one cat, and love to show off pictures of their "babies" to anyone willing to listen, gush over and admire the beauty of their feline friends.

Cat lover gifts might also take into consideration the type of cat the pet owner has. Cats come in an amazing variety; there are tabby cats, pure-breads, black cats, calico cats, Persians and even Siamese.

When buying a cat lover gift you might take into consideration whether the owner has an indoor or outdoor cat. Unlike dogs, cats are capable of living 100 percent of the time indoors. They have a natural tendency to use a litter box, so in a sense they come "potty trained" which makes them easy maintenance and very appealing to many owners.

Cats that live indoors generally suffer much fewer sicknesses and difficulties than those who are exposed to the outdoors. Cat lover gifts are generally designed with those that have indoor pets in mind.

"Catnip" is one of the most humorous and interesting cat lover gifts available. Catnip is a relatively benign, naturally occurring plant that affects cats much like an intoxicant. The aromatic oils given off by the plants cause cats to often act drunk and hyper, providing much entertainment for owners and guests alike. It is completely safe for kitty to use, and is often incorporated into cat lover gifts such as bouncy balls or chew toys.

Other cat lover gifts include:


decorative mats ot throws with picutres of cats. Make it even more special by personalizing it.

cat videos

cat shaped napkin rings

musical cat figurine

cat shaped mail box

Helpful Tips Before Getting A Cat

Helpful Tips Before Getting A Cat

Before you look for a new cat, know what you are getting into. Despite their reputation for being aloof, cats are not animals that you can ignore. Unless your are prepared to spend time with them, do not get one. If you have never owned cats, you may not realize that they do certain cat things and need certain cat things. New and unsuspecting cat owners may be surprised when they find their cats regularly do the following:

1. Jump. Cats like to be in high places such as on top of your desk, bookcase, filing cabinet, sofa to watch people and events and gain information about people behavior.

2. Play. Cats need interaction with humans. Be prepared to spend time playing with and talking to your cat.

3. Scratch. Cats have to scratch. Rather than trying to prevent them, train them to use a scratching post and trim their claws regularly.

4. Vomit. While this may seem a bit something on the “ill” side – it is not. Many cats constantly vomit or cough up hair balls and fur balls to clear their throat of them.

Where you live plays an important role in the feasibility of owning a cat, especially if you do not own your own home. Obviously, some landlords do not allow cats so look for apartments that do. One way to find out is to access the internet. You can do searches online for apartments that do allow cats. When you do find a place you want to live, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Does your apartment complex require declawing or require that cats are kept indoors only? If so, you could face unresolvable litter box problems that could eat up your security deposit and living options.

2. Is your apartment or house big enough for one or more scratching posts or litter boxes? Can it handle more litter boxes if a problem develops?

3. Are you on a quiet or a busy street? If you live in a congested area, your cat will face increased risks if he goes outdoors.

Shelters are the best place to find a cat. With thousands of cats being euthanized in your local cat shelters due to lack of homes, adoption is a responsible choice. Shelters put cats through adoption tests so your chance of finding a smart, loyal and appreciative cat is extremely high in practically any reputable shelter in the country.

Kittens less than eight weeks old are often cared for in a volunteer foster home until they are old enough to adopt. In these cases, the shelter may be able to give you an idea of the kitten's personality and behavior. Try to locate a small, nonprofit cat shelter. Smaller shelters often do not cage or euthanize their cats. Many small shelters are run by people who will sacrifice everything to find homes for the cats they rescue.

At the shelter, you will find strays and unwanted adults and kittens that have been put up for adoption. Even after the stress of being captured, relocated and caged, stray cats can be trained to be well-behaved. If you are thinking of owning only one cat, try to find a cat who is used to being alone. This will probably be an adult. If you want a kitten, it is best to adopt at least two kittens so each will have a friend.

There are advantages to adopting an adult cat. While it is hard to know what sort of cat a kitten will become, you will know the size and personality of the grown cat in relation to your home or apartment. If you do adopt kittens, try to get them over 10 to 12 weeks old. The longer a kitten stays with her mother, the better your chances of having a healthy, stress-tolerant cat.

You may call different shelters to see if they have older kittens and at what age the kittens were taken from the mother. Find out if the kittens were fostered in a household with children for several weeks. Children and frequent handling make for a more social and loving cat.

Learn Magic Card Tricks

Learn Magic Card Tricks

What would a magic show be without a few great card tricks? All magicians will incorporate card tricks into their shows. If you are starting out learning the ropes of magic, you should learn a few magic card tricks. Card tricks have the ability to amaze and they have a mystical feel about them.

When looking for good magic card tricks to learn, start at your local toy store or discount chain store. This may seem too elementary for you, but if you have never performed card tricks before, getting a basic child's magic kit is a great place to start. Learn the card trick in the kit and master it. Learning and mastering are two different things. To master a trick, you must be able to repeat it successfully hundreds of times with no mistakes.

Once you have the child's kit mastered, do a search online for good card magic tricks. A lot of sites will have tricks that you can learn for free. You may want to purchase some videos and books from these sites that show you the more advanced card tricks. But it is important to learn the basics first before trying the more advanced tricks.

Spend a lot of time practicing your card tricks in front of a mirror. If the tricks you use involve sleight of hand, as most card tricks do, you want your brain to actually memorize the hand movements needed to perform the trick. Repetition is the key. Once you have learned the card trick, practice, practice practice. Carefully study yourself in the mirror while performing the trick. Is there any movement that you are making that can give away the secret of the card trick?

Once you have practiced in front of a mirror and you feel that you have it right, get a video camera and tape your card trick. Have a friend run the camera and do closeups of your trick. Study this video to make sure that the card trick is being performed correctly and that you are doing the correct sleight of hand movements. Sometimes you will find that you need to animate your movements a little more to draw attention away from the cards. Study professional magicians and then study your video. Note the differences and do what you can to correct them.

Once you have mastered the card trick, work on your dialog. Maintain a running dialog while performing your card trick. This will keep people focused on what you are saying without giving them the opportunity to try to figure out the card trick. It is also more entertaining for the audience. After all, they came to your show to be entertained. Don't bore them with just a series of magic tricks. Perform your card magic tricks with flair. Put your passion into it and you will become a great magician.

The Art Of Magic

The Art Of Magic

What comes in to your mind when you hear the word "magic"? What is magic? What is the ART of magic? According to World Book Online Encyclopedia, "The word magic also refers to entertainment in which the performer does tricks of so-called magic. In such entertainment, neither the magicians nor the audience believes that the performer has supernatural powers."

On the other hand, Paul Harris who is the author of "The Art of Astonishment" defines magicians as "guides to astonishment". Thus, magic can be defined as "an application of guided astonishment."

The three main branches of magic are "stage magic", "parlor magic" and "close-up magic". Stage magic is any magic that can be done on a stage. Stage magic is used to depict the imagination. On the other hand, there's also "stand-up" magic. If you've ever seen the Amazing Johnathan or Paul Kozak perform, you've been witness to stand-up magic.

Magic can be categorized by the motivations and the performance styles, but it does not end there. Here are some of the types of magic according to motivation:

Parlor magic is performed right on the same floor level as the audience, as opposed to a raised stage. Gospel is a special type of parlor magic that is used to demonstrate religious (mostly Christian) concepts. With the replacement of intimate nightclubs by super-mega-nightclubs and comedy clubs, classic parlor magic is rarely seen today.

A distinctive branch of magic has developed quite recently, called "close-up". Close-up magic, like the other styles of magic, has developed its own individual genres. Other types of close-up magic are "table-hopping", "walk-around" and "street magic". All these magic happens in the magician's and/or spectator's hands. This form of magic has become increasingly popular due to its intimate nature.

After discussing the various ways and motivations of magic, it seems appropriate to talk about the various types of "magic". Eugene Burger, who co-authored the entitled "Magic and Meaning", he mentioned the divisions of magic. First, there is the "primary magic" which is the imagination.

Secondary magic, on the other hand, is drawn out of the imagination and into the physical world. These include "ritual" magic and "stage" magic. Ritual magic is directed to enhance some aspect of life. A good example of this is magic performed by an Indian shaman (i.e. the rain dance around a campfire). Unlike stage magic, ritual magic relies on the imagination itself.

Other types of magic are:

Detached magic, which is a form of ritual magic, wherein the symbols used do not have direct significance to the individual invoking the magic.

Reflexive or trickster magic uses deception. This differs from reduced deceptive magic as it focuses on reminding and telling audiences its deceptive nature. Such include gambling displays and "sucker tricks".

Magic Show Tips

Magic Show Tips

For magic enthusiasts, what could be more fun than being able to organize a magic show of their own, right? However, it might not be an easy task to prepare for one magic show that will bewilder your friends and other speculators. Don't fret. Here are some tips and suggestions that might help one in prepping for one fun magic show that will make all the audience spellbound:

Prepare the Stage

A magic show will not be as exciting if it is done in a place where there's no stage. One must set up a stage that could consist of either a piano bench or a small table with a blanket or table cloth.

Drapes help a lot in seeing to it that the audience don't get a glimpse of your activities before performing a trick. Have a certain spot where all your tricks can be done.

Prepare the Props

A magician will have a hard time amazing his or her audience without the help of various magic props. Gather all the paraphernalias that will make the magic show successful beforehand to avoid scrambling around at the eleventh hour.

The usual props used by magicians include playing cards, hats, animals, a handkerchief, etc.

Prepare for the Tricks

What's a magic show without magic tricks? Practicing the tricks well before the magic show will make one magician less doubtful on whether his or her magic show will be a hit or not. Here are some rules that a magician should follow when doing a magic show:

1. Don't kiss and tell a trick.

Magic is made to amaze the audience. Telling how to do a trick will spoil that purpose. A trick that is told how to do will lose its mystery.

2. Trick only once.

When a trick is done for the first time, the audience will be very amazed. Doing it twice will make the audience predict what will happen and the risk of figuring the trick out is not impossible.

3. Practice like there's no tomorrow.

When one is not that comfortable with a certain trick, it is not advisable to perform it. Practicing in front of friends or other people before the show in front of an audience will help a lot in making the magic show successful.

4. Be or look confident.

Acting nervous will make you a laughingstock. When you are going to be the man of the show, it won't help to be stammering and trembling whild performing the magic tricks. Practicing will help you in this arena.

Magic Tricks For Kids

Magic Tricks For Kids

Most kids are fascinated with magic tricks. Finding good magic trick kits for kids is pretty easy because most of the big discount stores carry them in the toy aisle. You can also find plenty of magic trick kits for kids online. But your child can also perform magic tricks by using items found around the house. These magic tricks are very easy to perform and can be set up at a moment's notice.

The first magic trick we will discuss is the empty matchbox trick. You need two matchboxes. one of them should be empty. Get a rubber band and attach the matchbox with the matches in it to the upper arm underneath a shirt sleeve. Now hold the empty matchbox in the same hand and shake it. Ask your friends to guess how many matches are in the matchbox and then when it is opened, the matchbox is empty. The matches that they hear rattling are the ones taped to your upper arm.

Another fairly easy magic trick for a child to perform is the disappearing coin trick. You will need a glass, two sheets of the same colored paper, a coin and a handkerchief. You place the glass upside down on one sheet of the colored paper. You then place a coin beside the glass. Put the handkerchief over the upturned glass and move it, glass and all, over the coin. Say the magic word and remove the handkerchief and presto the coin has disappeared!. The trick to this is to carefully cut a circle from the same colored paper the exact size of the rim of the glass. Tape this paper to the rim and when you move the glass over the coin the colored paper will conceal the coin.

Another good trick is the wine into water trick. For this you will need water, red food coloring and bleaching powder. This should only be performed with adult supervision! Pour some water into a glass and add red food coloring to make the water turn red like wine. Another glass will contain your "magic" powder. Now pour the red liquid into the other glass and it becomes clear water again!

A very easy trick is the rubber pencil trick. Hold the pencil loosely at the tip. Now shake your hand up and down. This will create the illusion of your pencil turning to rubber.

If your child wishes to become a magician or wants to perform magic tricks at his next party, let him practice some of these. Kids and magic tricks go together like peanut butter and jelly!

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Coin Magic Tricks

Coin tricks are probably some of the oldest magic tricks known to man. Ever since the coin has been in existence, magicians have been trying to make it disappear, reappear, change size and even multiply into many coins. The coin tricks are the favorite among many magicians and audience members. Street magicians use coin tricks a lot in their acts also.

Learning a coin trick takes a lot of practice and you have to be good at sleight of hand. You have to have excellent dexterity and a lot of flourish to make your coin trick believable. People are skeptical by nature and if you don't practice your coin tricks enough, they will be able to spot your mistakes or be able to figure out how you did the trick. It is best to engage your audience with witty conversations or tell a few jokes as you are performing. This will keep them focused on you and what you are doing.

Always practice your coin tricks before performing them live. Practice in front of a mirror to perfect your hand movements, your facial movements and even your body language. All of these things work together for a successful magic trick.

Work hard at misleading your audience. Don't tell them what you are going to do. Instead lead them in the other direction. Some magicians even prefer to turn their magic act into a comedy show by pretending to be a bumbling idiot. If you mislead your audience in the opposite direction, they will lose focus and be even more amazed by your coin tricks. They will come away feeling more entertained also. You want to please your audience and give them the most for their money.

Keep learning a variety of new coin tricks to use on your audience. A good magician is ever evolving and learning new things. It is not a good idea to use the same old tricks over and over again. Incorporate new tricks into your act to keep your audience happy and entertained.

The most important rule in magic is never, ever, disclose how you do a magic trick. If your friends are insistent on learning some of your tricks, show them a few simple ones but don't give away your best, most amazing tricks. Guard these well. You don't want your fans to lose interest in you and they will if they know how you do all of your best coin tricks.

Coin magic tricks are a very popular part of any magic show. Just remember to practice, practice, practice. When you have mastered the coin magic tricks, practice some more. Incorporate a few coin tricks throughout your magic show and you will keep your audience entertained and ready for more.