There are a lot of things that can be said about the libel case against Simon Singh, and even more that can be said about the libel laws of England (and to some degree Wales if I am not misinformed.)
And a lot of things have been said, you can find it all over the Internet if you care to look. The important thing is that I believe that the libel laws of England need to be reformed and although I am not an Englishman I feel I can say this for three reasons.

1. English libel laws affect people outside of England. What is called libel tourism is increasing since anyone with a reputation to uphold in England can sue anyone else for libel if they published something that have reached an audience in England, which in the Internet age is not that hard to do.
2. I have friends in England who are in this struggle against an obviously flawed piece of legislature and I like to show them my support.
3. The freedom of speech is important, it is vital for all struggles toward a better society, and it is at the heart of the scientific process. Whenever and wherever the free scientific discussion is threatened rational people must stand up and make their voices heard.

The background to the Simon Singh trial can be read at this sight on this page. To learn about how English libel laws compare to the rest of Europe read this report. It is possible to sign a petition urging the English government to change its libel laws here. Go there, sign the petition, stand up for science!

A truth with modification

I don't do children parties, that is supposed to be a fact, but since there are few things that are certain in life it happens once in a while that I do.
I found that the nice people in Harbo that asked me to come and do a show put up some photos on their blog so I have no hesitation to share some of the photos with my readers.



The truth is that I really like children but they can be a tough crowd to please so I usually stay with what I know best, mentalism for an adult audience.




But of course if anyone really wants a show for children that is also enjoyable for adults they can always get in touch with me.

Mind over matter or just an illusion? My recent performance for UFO Sverige 25th October. Photo by Håkan Blomqvist.

I usually do not write about the performances and lectures that I do since I consider it to be something between me and the people that hire me.
About a week ago I did a lecture/show for UFO Sverige (a Swedish organization that studies UFO reports) and I have no problem quoting from what others have written about that event.
Unfortunately for international readers it is all in Swedish.

En av höjdpunkterna var när mentalisten/trollkarlen Per Johan Råsmark från Uppsala körde en nästan två timmar lång kombinerad show och föreläsning. Per Johan, som jag träffade på Missionskyrkan i Uppsala för en månad sedan då han bjudit in mig dit för att prata om ufo, visade sig kunna läsa tankar, böja skedar och få oss att välja de siffror och kuvert som han ville att vi skulle välja. Kul och lärorikt var det!

This was written by Clas Svahn in his report about the conference my lecture/show was a part of. Clas' blog for UFO Sverige can be found here.

Håkan Blomqvist also writes about the conference and my performance.

En fascinerande programpunkt var ett föreläsning/show av mentalisten/illusionisten Per Johan Råsmark. Han visade, med en kombination av psykologi och fingerfärdighet, att man kan lura vem som helst att man besitter magiska krafter, kan telepati, böja skedar med mera. Allt var förstås bluff men vi var många som undrade hur i alla världen det gick till. Onekligen mycket skickligt.

It is possible to read the entire blog entry from Håkan here.

Helping out

I have been away, I have been in Prague. And I choose to be emotional for a moment, I love that city. I feel very much alive among all the history and culture. My Czech still needs a lot of work but it is getting better. Perhaps I should start to look for a well paying job in Prague because that is probably one of the few ways that I could be motivated to get a proper job.

While I was in Prague I met some old friends and some new friends as well. Some of my magical friends are going to do a show in a theater in Prague and we discussed a few ideas about different effects. It will be interesting to see what they will do in the end.

Now I am back in Sweden. I have spent today helping a friend with shooting a tv-pilot with the working title "mentalisten" (the mentalist). I did most of my work in the background. Though it was not all carrying bags, I did do some consulting and had a hand in one very good effect. Unfortunately I am not able to go into details but I am sure no one who watches the show will be able to figure it out, the camera crew were not able to figure it out and they were all magicians.

I actually did more magic today than I have done in a very long time because we had people around us all the time. I even performed on the train back to Uppsala. This day was a good day.

FISM world championship of magic

I have been absent for quite some time but resent events are making it impossible not to write this entry.
Although a majority of the people in the world don't know and probably don't care the FISM world championship of magic is now finished and the results are interesting. Three years ago the competitions were held in Stockholm and this time it was Beijing. (The championships are held every third year.)
Here are the results:

Comedy Magic
- 1st place … not awarded
- 2nd place … Brynolf & Ljung - Sweden
- 3rd place … Cheff Magic - Denmark

Mentalism
- 1st place … not awarded
- 2nd place … tie - Nicolai Friedrich - Germany - and Rob & Emiel - Netherlands
- 3rd place … Tony Montana - Argentina

Stage Illusions
- 1st place … Julius Franck - Germany
- 2nd place … Magic Sky Group - China
- 3rd place … not awarded

General Magic
- 1st place … Soma - Hungary
- 2nd place … Ma Yanyan - China
- 3rd place … Siebensinn - Austria

Manipulation
- 1st place … tie - Yo Kato - Japan - and Han Seol-Hui - Korea
- 2nd place … Sebastian Nicolas - Germany
- 3rd place … An Ha Lim - Korea

Invention:
- Jorge Luengo - Spain

Most Original Act:
- Charming Choi - Korea

Micro Magic
- 1st place … not awarded
- 2nd place … Vittorio Belloni - Italy
- 3rd place … tie Simon Coronel - Australia and Johan Stahl - Sweden

Cards
- 1st place … Shawn Farquhar - Canada
- 2nd place … Kristian Nivala - Finland
- 3rd place … Olmac - France

Parlour Magic
- 1st place … Marc Oberon - UK
- 2nd place … Charlie Caper - Sweden
- 3rd place … Latko - Argentina

Why is this so interesting? Well it is not because Shawn Farquhar went on to win the Gran Prix in the close-up category or that Soma won the Grand Prix for stage, though congratulations to them both.
Let us see how well the different national teams did:
(Giving 3 points for a gold, 2 for a silver, and 1 for a bronze)

1st place Germany with 7 points
2nd place Sweden with 5 points
4th place Korea and China with 4 points
8th place Hungary, Canada, Japan, and the UK with 3 points
12th place Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, and Finland with 2 points
16th place Denmark, Austria, Australia and France with 1 point

The invention category (Spain) and most original act (Korea) not counted

Congratulations to Brynolf & Ljung, Johan Ståhl, and Charlie Caper