This week's obituaries are diverse. Today I read that James Randi, Canadian-born magician has died at age 92. He was known as the Amazing Randi. His daredevil tricks included escaping from a locked coffin submerged in water and from a straitjacket as he dangled over Niagara Falls. There's a picture of him dangling over the Horseshoe Falls. I would think a side-effect would be a person could go deaf from the vast sound of the Falls.
He was famous for his skepticism of the paranormal and supernatural. "Everything you have seen here is tricks," he would say. "There is nothing supernatural involved."
Starting in 1964, Randi offered cash — in the form of a “$1 Million Paranormal Challenge” — to anyone who could prove supernatural or paranormal abilities. He never had any takers.
He had much to say about God and Faith:
We amuse Him as we flail about vainly trying to appease Him. I vote that we dump Him.
I am probably right. But I'm always only probably right. Absolutes are very hard to find.
Sir, there is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out.
Magicians are the most honest people in the world; they tell you they're gonna fool you, and then they do it.
Today's picture is a composite - both taken at the Butterfly Conservatory quite a few years ago. The beautiful flowers are Clerodendron. Our butterfly is sitting on a Canary Island Lavender flower.
