I.B.M. Ring 362
Dr. James William Elliott Ring
Bangor, Maine

Ring Report
January 21, 2007

The theme of the Jaunary meeting was The Four Elements.

Danny Baker opened the performance segment by showing four small vessels holding the elements: water, air, earth, and some partially burned tinder representing fire. He offered Kim Hawkins a box with four stones, each bearing the name of an element; she picked one and held it without looking. Following Danny's instructions, she held a curious wand over each of the four vessels in turn, feeling nothing for the first three. When she held the wand over the vessel representing fire, the tinder burst into flames, and she discovered that she had chosen the fire stone.

Dr. Wilson embraced the Japanese fifth element of void. Kevin Roberge felt Dr. Wilson's pulse slow, then stop. Kevin could find no heartbeat in Dr. Wilson's chest. Dr. Wilson then released the element of void and returned. Professor Miller conjured the elements of earth and water: he stirred handfuls of white, black, and rust-colored sand into a bowl of water, then removed the different colors separate and dry.

Dayton Salisbury conjured air, attempting to divine which of two vessels contained a single feather. Bryan-Keith Taylor burned and restored a bit of paper, then extracted a lump of base metal from a coin, leaving a clear ghostly coin behind. Wes Booth used two borrowed twenty-dollar bills to manipulate the element of water. He rolled one into a tube while a volunteer rolled the other into a ball. He plugged the bottom of the tube with the ball, demonstrating that the seal was watertight by pouring a small amount of water into the tube. The water stayed in the tube even when the ball was removed. He poured out the water, then showed both bills dry.

Conjuring Carroll displayed his command of the elements with an inexhaustible vessel of water and a candle providing atmosphere as he had an earth-colored card selected and returned to the deck. He used the element of air to remove a single card from the deck, which proved to be the selected card. Kim Hawkins manipulated the element of water, attempting to remove the water from a can of tuna fish. She turned it upside down on a piece of cardboard, then removed the cardboard. We could see the water in the can, but it didn't come out. When she held it directly over her head for a better look, the laws of nature were restored.

Brother Don Paul showed his ability to manipulate the elements using two sets of cards representing the elements. He paired randomly selected cards with his face-down predictions, revealing a perfect match for each. He then placed a CD with a weather prediction in a player. He asked three volunteers to pick an outdoor sport, one of three sealed paper bags, and weather conditions and wind speeds. When he played the CD, the recording named the sport, the weather conditions, and the wind speed. The selected paper bag held proper weather gear, while the other two contained bad choices. Stan Davis closed the performance segment with a masterful rope routine from his school program against bullying. Brother Don did a dazzling encore with his Magic Square routine. Full details of the business meeting and photos are available on the Ring's web site (www.ibmring362.org).