The following is the transcript from the contest that Peter Loughran ran while conducting the above interview:

Peter: Ok since it is the holiday season I thought I would offer a couple of my products up for grabs (shipping included) in a couple of trivia questions, but no one can win twice. Cool?

1)The FIRST person who can tell me what my favorite NFL football team is wins a free copy of Meltdown ($15.00usd value) (Hint it has been mentioned around the magic community)

2)The FIRST person that can tell me the name of another magic shop that carries Meltdown wins one ($15.00usd value) (Hint there are only 3, all are in North America) 3)I performed on the Y.T.V. awards when I was 18 years old. The FIRST person to tell me what the initials Y.T.V. stands for wins a copy of Meltdown ($15.00usd value) (Hint its an award show that featured the musical group Bare Naked Ladies the year before) And Finally,

4)If some one can find the "hidden" optical illusion on my site and tell me what effect it is supposed to have on you, then I will send you one of my Ultimate Canes complete with a genuine Fantasio vanishing cane($42.00usd value) First person only wins. (no hint) Contest ends on Jan 5th. Products will be shipped to the winners on a timely fashion at my convenience, after the contest ends.

www.masterofillusions.ca/MELTDOWN.htm

www.masterofillusions.ca/ULT-CANE.htm

See the links above for descriptions of the 2 effects up for grabs, Have fun!

Mike: Hey! Thanks for this very kind offer, Peter. I'd say that I owe you a beer, but this looks like I owe you several cases!! You are just too kind. Thanks again!

Peter: No problem Mike, My pleasure, lets see if anyone joins in the fun, shall we...

Tora: Folks hurry up !!! Get the meltdown... It is easy to perform yet very baffling. Congratulations Peter once more again for such an invention.

Peter: Well that was fast I just received a private message from Lee Alex, who got question number 3 right. The correct answer was Youth Television. A Toronto based award show that airs nation wide celebrating Canada's newest upcoming performers. They have awards for musical, dance, acting, and other specialty performances. Congrats Lee! However if everyone else can simply post their answers under this topic so there is no repeated answers and no discrepancies that would be great, and that way everyone already knows what guesses have been made, as to not waste their time. It was my fault for not mentioning it. Now Lee you can simply email me your mailing address where you want Meltdown sent. Questions 1,2, and 4 are still up for grabs.

Dale: y.t.v = the yaa television achievement awards. I hope. Cheers.

Lee Alex: Peter there are three spinning spirals on your page that produce an optical illusion.  “Most people see their hand or the wall distorting in shape. Staring at the moving spiral tires some of your cells responsible for signaling motion. These cells are not in your eye, but in your brain. Your brain contains separate cells for noticing movement in different directions. By looking at the balance of activity from all of these cells, you can work out which way an object is moving. If you tire out the brain cells responsible for noticing clockwise movement, the ones that notice anti-clockwise movement are still sending signals – so this is what you see.”  And that is the effect that they are supposed to have! Right?

Peter: Lee you have already won and cannot be eligible for another prize, so you need not answer anymore, but thanks for the effort! Everyone please read my rules. However Lee you have the part of the 3 spirals correct, but your explanation as to what they are supposed to do on our site or the effect they are to have on someone is incorrect. So that question is still up for grabs.

Dale: Isn’t that called something like the Jerry Andrus Vortex? as far as I know, what it does is gives the viewer the illusion that solid surfaces move. A bit like tunnel vision in some ways, as the cones and rods at the back of the eye switch on and off, thanks in part to the strobing effect given by the black and white lines in the spirals, and retention of vision.

Huw: The illusion is formed from the two metal rings. It appears that the top ring is revolving on the edge of the bottom ring (that is, that each ring is revolving independently and that the top one is balanced on the bottom). In fact, the top ring is physically attached (welded?) to the bottom one. The entire assemblage of the two rings revolves as a single unit.... (I hope?) best wishes.

Admin: I just wanted to publicly thank you Peter for your generosity in offering these prizes to our membership. We are so luck on three counts: For your very kind offer of these excellent prizes, for the time and effort in taking the time out of your busy schedule to be our third "Special Guest" and, thirdly, for being a supportive member of these boards. Thank you so much Peter - this is extremely kind of you.

Joker: Meltdown is also available from Hank Lee's Magic Factory.