Congrats!! You found the secret page ;)
This page is in the process of being updated to reflect on and celebrate the fact that this little site is 10 YEARS OLD! :D There's a lot for me to think about and try to write out :) If you found the page before the #10YearsOnline update, read the original debut content from Year 1, Day 1 below:
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Criss Angel took me by surprise.
I remember flipping through the channels one lazy Saturday afternoon. I don't watch a lot of TV, and I am not really devoted to any
popular TV shows (...except House. House is awesome). I don't watch A&E. As I was flipping through the channels, for some reason
I stopped on A&E and saw a preview about something that I - quite literally - couldn't believe. There was this guy claiming that he was going
to levitate -- float -- above something called the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had no idea what I had just seen. I've never been to Las
Vegas. I didn't know what the Luxor was. And I definitely had no idea who this "Criss Angel" guy was. But, being mildly
intrigued, I decided to tune into the Season 3 premiere on June 5, 2007 just to see what this was all about.
As soon as the beginning credits started to roll, I realized that my life was never going to be the same. Growing up, I had always enjoyed magic. I remember
getting a magic set for my birthday many years ago. But I was ignorant of how magic tricks were supposed to be performed. I didn't understand sleight of hand. When I
had a coin or a ball in my hand and it was supposed to disappear, I wanted it to disappear. After several failed attempts at performing magic tricks, I quickly decided that I was never going to be a good performer of
magic, although I loved watching other people do magic. I remembered seeing magic specials on TV: David Copperfield and Sigfreid and Roy. As much as I enjoyed magic, this was all that I thought that magic was. I didn't know that
there was anything else.
And then I saw Luxor Light.
Criss Angel completely changed everything that I thought magic was supposed to be. Before him, all I knew was the "hokey" magic -- and you may cringe at this, but I was happy with it! I had no idea that such things as street magic existed. The
Luxor Light episode changed all of that, the levitations especially. I was equally impressed with the levitation in the Atrium of the Luxor Hotel and the levitation above the Luxor Hotel. The stunt with Dog in the pool, the guitar string through
his neck, all of it, the entire episode was just an incredible thing to watch. I was so impressed with the episode that I went out the next day and bought Season 1 of Mindfreak and the Halloween special on DVD. I watched in all in less than 48 hours -
truth! - and then I bought Season 2 and watched it that weekend. I couldn't get enough!
I slowly started to find out more about Criss Angel, visited the official web site, bought his book, and joined the Fan Club, all within a month of finding out who he was.
That may sound dramatic to some people. All I can say to that is that I knew when I was watching Mindfreak for the very first time that Criss was someone that I wanted to invest my time in. He is someone that I wanted to learn more about. You can't really know a person based on what you see on TV or what
you read in magazines, but I think that Criss is a very inspirational person. He has this spark about him that I can't really describe. I have never met him, of course. I don't know if I ever will. I will be happy enough seeing the live show in Las Vegas on December 6, 2008, and maybe I will get lucky and will be able to see a future Mindfreak
demonstration for Season 5 or Season 6 (if he does a Season 5 or Season 6). That would be awesome. :)
I registered this domain -- www.loyallyyours.com -- in November of 2007. Almost a year ago. It takes me awhile to come up with a good idea for this web site, figuring out a layout, the kind of information that I want to present, that kind of thing. You should know that I am not a web designer.
I took one web design class in college. One. I learned how to code HTML in NotePad, and that is what I still do today. I don't have the time/money/resources to learn a fancy software package. Maybe in the future I can do that. But right now, I code everything in NotePad, by hand, which could account
for the length of time it took for this site to make its debut. I am happy with it! You may be wondering about the name. Why "Loyally Yours"? The name came to me when I received my Criss Angel Fan Club package in the fall of 2007. The Welcome letter was signed, "Loyally Yours, Criss Angel." I thought
that had a nice ring to it. Loyally yours. In the letter, Criss was essentially saying thank you for joining the Fan Club, and ending the letter with "Loyally Yours" told me that Criss was always going to be loyal to his fans. So, I took that theme and applied it to this web site. I like it a lot. It constantly reminds me not only of Criss' loyalty to me, but my loyalty to Criss and his work.
I am so thankful that I saw a commercial for Mindfreak that fateful Saturday. It is amazing how something so seemingly insignificant like a TV commercial can change a person's life. If you would have told me two years ago that I would be going to Las Vegas to see "Criss Angel", I would have told you that you were crazy. CRAZY! But look at me. That is exactly what I am doing. And I couldn't be happier. Thanks, Criss, for everything that
you have done and will continue to do.
Thanks for reading.