Magician of Oz: September 2009

Magician of Oz Trilogy

Volume 1: Magician of Oz:

New characters and creatures abound in the old Land of Oz while many of the old characters we know and love make their own appearances in this newest tale of fantasy, adventure, truth and friendship in a familiar, yet not so familiar world of Oz.

There's the Leader of the Sycamores, the Gnarled Scrub Oak, the Flowering Plum Tree and the Council of Trees. All of these magical and strange characters prove quite the challenge for a young magician who finds himself in a strange and wonderful land.

Of course, we also get to meet Dorothy and Ozma, Glinda and the Tin Woodman, as well as Toto, Bungle the Glass Cat, Billina the Hen and numerous other beloved characters from L.Frank Baums' original tale of wonder and magic.

Volume 2: Shadow Demon of Oz

It was in the early month of Spring when the old humpback trunk of O.Z. Diggs, the original Wizard of Oz was opened by his great grandson, Jamie Diggs, revealing a magical heritage lurking within.
Following in the footsteps of his great grandfather, a young boy named Jamie pursued the ways of magic and soon found himself transported to the magical Land of Oz where, alongside Dorothy, he faced his greatest fears and the fearsome Army of Trees in defense of the Tin Woodman.
Now the young magician is called to return to the Land of Oz to take his place as the new Royal Magician of Princess Ozma; Ruler and Sovereign of Oz.
And for his first Royal Command, Princess Ozma sends her Royal Magician and his best friend Buddy off to battle the Evil Shadow Demon and save the Hyups of Mount Munch.

Volume 3: Family of Oz

It has been nearly 6 months since young Jamie Diggs returned from the Land of Oz with his best friend Buddy after defeating an ancient Evil while serving as Princess Ozma's new Royal Magician.
Now, he is called to return once more and take his rightful place alongside Her Majesty; Princess Ozma and Glinda; Good Witch and Ruler of the South Quadling Country, as well as Princess Dorothy.
Before the Royal Magician can return to Oz however, he finds himself on a fantastic journey down the Wabash River and a stop in Huntington, West Virginia for a taste of the legendary Stewart's Original Hot Dogs and Root Beer. Then it’s on to attend the annual gathering of their fellow magicians, known as the Magi-Fest and a tumultuous Close-Up Magic Competition. Soon, the Family Diggs, Hank and Buddy find themselves transported back to Oz by way of The Duke's Magic Box. The only problem they find is that each one of them now find themselves somewhere in Oz... but alone!
As the Family Diggs, Hank and Buddy journey along the roadways, riverways and even above the Land of Oz alone, each one struggles to discover what Love and family means to them and each learns along the way that Love and family have been with them all along. Aided by Her Majesty, the Queen of the Field Mice and Jamie's wayward, living decks of playing cards, as well as Buddy and the Cowardly Lion, the Royal Magician of Oz soon teaches Princess Ozma the true meaning of family and Love.
In a final and most fantastical battle alongside the Munchkin River, Jamie Diggs and his new army of friends battle Cobbler the Dog, a new and most mechanical pet of Tik-Tok, the Mechanical Army of Oz and an Unwilling Villain in an epic struggle of Good against Evil.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Wizard of Oz and Magician of Oz meet at the Dunes!

Magician of Oz found himself attending the annual Wizard of Oz Festival in Chesterton, Indiana this past weekend. For those not in the know, Chesterton, Indiana is located adjacent to Dunes State Park at the bottom end of Lake Michigan, hence the Meeting at the Dunes...

It was, by all accounts, a splendid and very successful event. Magician of Oz had a wonderful time as well and intends on attending every year from now on. Book sales exceeded expectations and many new friends were made.

As I understand it, this festival celebrates its 28th year of celebrating all things Oz. There was a gaggle of Glindas and a ton of Tin Mans!

A den of Dorothys and a warren of Witches! I love the Ruby Sandals!

A smattering of Winged Monkeys...

One lone Witches Guard...

... and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself!

Magician of Oz was very fortunate indeed to have been placed next to Dennis Anfuso and his wonderful wife, Linda.

She was most talented and created the winning Best Dressed Dog costume on Saturday morning right before my very eyes.

In case you're curious, the dog's name is Vito!

As for Dennis Anfuso, I was greatly impressed with his talent and humor. I felt as though I have made two new friends this weekend and look forward to seeing them at any opportunity. They done learnt' me some stuff over the two days we were there.

I was especially pleased and honored to have met Robert & Clare Baum and presented him a copy of Magician of Oz as both a personal and professional courtesy. The two of them were very kind and generous to me...

In addition, I also had the honor and pleasure of meeting Roger and Charlene Baum and likewise, presented him a copy of Magician of Oz. Like his brother, Roger and his wife were equally kind and generous to me and I am most grateful for the kind words of support offered by Roger and Charlene, Robert and Clare.

Although I missed the Saturday morning parade as it did not pass by our booths, I was lucky enough to catch the Oz look-alike contests and the winners were......

A fine looking group from Oz if ever I saw one!

Overall, Magician of Oz felt right at home and only now begins to understand the wisdom of Princess Ozma when she chose me as her Royal Liaison and charged me with spreading the word of Oz throughout the Great Outside.

I'll bet this one would make a great beehive!!!!

Porro Ago Oz!!!

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Snagglepuss & the Wizard Of Oz ???

Once more, I find the oddest things on the Internet machine while promoting Magician of Oz. This time, it was an ebay listing for a 33 1/3 LP vinyl record album entitled: Snagglepuss Tells The Story Of Wizard Of Oz

As you can see by the cover, it features one of my favorite cartoon characters, Snagglepuss escorting Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and Toto down the Yellow Brick Road towards Emerald City.

Ahh yes... Where to begin???

As we can see, Dorothy has black hair, contrary to conventional wisdom, which suggests Dorothy's hair is light brown in color. She's got a green turtle-neck sweater and Capri pants for an outfit. Not quite how it is in the book, or even the movie. No Silver Slippers either, just dark loafers. Maybe they were thinking of a Laura Petrie sequel? I can just see Dick Van Dyke as The Wizard!
She is accompanied by the Scarecrow, who seems to have vision problems and is wearing a suit and tie. Hmmm... A corporate Scarecrow... What a thought.
Now the Tin Woodman appears to be made out of an engine block of sorts, with brake pads for shoes, a piston head and some sort of weird spark plug for a nose.
As for the Cowardly Lion, that's where Snagglepuss comes into the story. He was kinda cowardly in nature. Oddly enough, all large cartoon cat characters from the 60's, such as Snagglepuss and Pete Puma (I loved that guy!!!) have a cowardly nature to them. Perhaps this is a direct influence from the Wizard of Oz stories? Or the movie...
Finally, Toto now comes in white and rides a skateboard. What a hoot!
If that wasn't enough, the Emerald City looks like something out of the Jetsons.

Now, in defense of Hanna-Barbera, one of the leading animators of the 60's, this type of cross-promotional schtick was fairly common, as shown by the back cover of the album.

As you can see, the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Magilla Gorilla, and even Top Cat got into the act. The one apparent reason behind this was probably due to the fact that there was only voice talent to deal with, without regards to the immense amount of time involved in frame-by-frame animation, unlike today's computer animation techniques. Take a popular story (Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, ect..) and combine it with a popular cartoon character and voila!!!

Hey, whatever it takes to make a buck I suppose...

Anyway, I found it amusing and only wish I had the 40 bucks to purchase it and add it to my Oz collection.

Who is the Royal Liaison of Oz

My name is James C. Wallace II and I am the Royal Liaison of Oz.

I was born one day short of the 41st anniversary of the passing of Lyman Frank Baum, the kind gentleman who wrote The Wizard of Oz over a hundred years ago.

I grew up in a loving household where my parents read to me on a daily basis and taught me the joy of reading. Many a night I recall sitting in our front room as my mother would read from the many books of Oz and my father would act out some of the odd scenes pictured within.

As I grew up, my love for reading never diminished and my parents support for my love of reading never wavered. In addition, I was fortunate enough to encounter a number of mentors who would shape my view of the world and how I would find my way in it.

In particular was Captain Kangaroo, otherwise known as Bob Keeshan. His unique program was instrumental in shaping my mind towards the joy of learning.

Another was Clyde Crashcup, an odd cartoon character who inspired me to become a scientist and educator. Despite what many psychologists would have you believe, television did not rot my brain. In fact, my fondest memories of childhood were of Saturday mornings in front of the TV machine watching the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour and eating Captain Crunch with Crunchberries cereal.

Another mentor was a NASA scientist; Gene Shoemaker, who, by correspondence inspired me to be an astronomer. This was during the late 60's and early 70's when NASA was king of the hill, so to speak.

The most important mentor was my father, who inspired me to try everything and learn from those experiences. He got me involved in Toastmasters International and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Those two organizations were directly responsible for much of my success as a public speaker and educator.

Fast forward to the mid-80's and my love of reading is now manifested in the lives of my 5 children as I read countless books to them, including the 14 books of Oz written by L. Frank Baum.

During this time, I am also completing my college education in Physics and running a public observatory teaching children about the night sky. This time is where the seeds of working for children's issues began for me.

Following my tenure at Indiana State University, I took a position as Planetarium Educator for The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned it before, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the finest children's museum anywhere in the world. If you've visited there, you'll certainly agree. If you haven't, please make the time to do so. You'll not be disappointed. Be sure to visit SpaceQuest Planetarium at the museum. It's the best part of the museum.

Anyway, during my time there, I made it a point to be a mentor to youth volunteers and thus found my calling. To impact the lives of children in a positive manner is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. It was during this period that I became involved with junior high school children in the inner city region of Indianapolis.

One day, while engaged in testing some educational software about Geography for 6th graders, I encountered quite a number of children who could not read, literally. It's one thing to suggest that there are kids in America who cannot read. It's quite another to come face-to-face with them.
I found myself at the end of the day sitting in my car in the parking lot shaking with remorse and resolving to do something about what I had just witnessed.
I then spent the next year in various teachers lounges having lunch with teachers and trying to understand how they could allow a child to go through school without mastering the art of reading.
Although some teachers cared deeply about their students, many cared only for their paycheck and thought little of the impact their negligence and disregard for the future of the next generation caused. This was reinforced by a school administration hamstrung by budget concerns and state-mandated test scores.

As a result, today's child has lost the art of reading. No longer do children sit down to read a book, to linger within the world of fiction and fantasy. Nowadays, kids are glued to the computer screen and read in snippets. In fact, with the advent of text messages, most kids now understand a truncated language that would have Daniel Webster spinning in his grave.

Only in the last few years has the Harry Potter effect taken hold and inspired kids to pick up the traditional book and immerse themselves in another world.
Despite this momentary reawakening, most kids still reach for the cel phone and communicate with their thumbs. Most kids would have trouble taking the time to sit down with a good book and giving themselves over to the realm of fantasy. They prefer the instant gratification that comes with a world overflowing with technology.

The book has become a lost art, and with that thought in mind, I chose to reinvigorate the original dream of L. Frank Baum.

In writing about young Jamie Diggs, the great grandson of O.Z. Diggs, the original Wizard of Oz, my most sincere desire is that children will pick up my book and rediscover the joy of reading.
If only a single child comes to understand and appreciate the joy of reading, then I have achieved my dream.
If, by writing about this wonderful land and all of its unique characters, I can inspire children and introduce them to the joy of reading, even if it be only a single child, I will have made an impact that reaches far beyond my own lifetime.

To this end, I have committed all my efforts towards creating an environment where kids will want to pick up that book and put aside that cel phone for a few moments. If I can serve as a mentor promoting Literacy to our youth, then I will have realized my dream.

The First Witches of Oz

Nomes of Oz

Even More Tails of Oz

Tails of Oz

The Emerald Slippers of Oz

Magician of Oz

Shadow Demon of Oz

Family of Oz

The Ozian Adventure of Pickleless & Blu

The Wonderful World of Oz

Followers

Magician of Oz Trilogy

The Royal Liaison of Oz

The Archives of Ozma's Royal Liaison

NanoWrimo 2014

NanoWrimo 2013

Nanowrimo 2012

Nanowrimo2011

Nanowrimo 2010

Nanowrimo 2009

Shadow of Oz 2015

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Wizard of Oz and Magician of Oz meet at the Dunes!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Snagglepuss & the Wizard Of Oz ???

Justice for Heavenlee!!!

Who is the Royal Liaison of Oz