URI
(ER-ee)
One
of the 26 cantons of Switzerland Uri Geller: an
Israeli-British performer and magician Common
clues: Mentalist Geller; Swiss canton; Spoon-bender Geller;
Altdorf's canton; Tell’s
home canton; Self-proclaimed psychic Geller Crossword
puzzle frequency:
7 times a year Frequency
in English language:
43869 / 86800 Video: Uri
Geller fails on the Tonight Show
I've
seen lights in the sky, I've seen UFOs, I've even seen something
on the ground that I can't explain, but I've never actually seen
a being. I wish I had.
– Uri Geller
Uri
is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It is located in Central
Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the
Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass.
German is the primary language spoken in Uri. The population is
about 35,000. The legendary William Tell is said to have hailed
from Uri.
The
canton is located in the centre of the country on the north side
of the Swiss Alps. The lands of the canton are that of the Reuss
valley and those of the main river's tributaries. The total area
of the canton is 1,077 km². About half of this is considered
productive land. Forests cover a significant part of the
territory, and glaciers make up 20% of the unproductive land.
The
highest elevation in the canton, and in the Urner Alps as a
whole, is the Dammastock, at 3,630 m, north of the Furka Pass.
The Glarus and Lepontine Alps ranges are also partially situated
in the canton of Uri.
***
Uri
Geller (December 20, 1946) is an Israeli-British performer and
magician who once claimed "to be able to bend spoons with
the power of his mind" and to have psychic powers, although
he currently prefers to the designation of "mystifier"
rather than "psychic."
Geller
rose to fame after performing a series of televised performances
which he said were paranormal demonstrations of psychokinesis,
dowsing, and telepathy. His performance included bending spoons,
describing hidden drawings, and making watches appear to stop or
run faster. Geller said he performs these feats through willpower
and the strength of his mind.
Geller
was unable to bend any tableware during a 1973 appearance on The
Tonight Show in which the spoons he was to bend had been
preselected by Johnny Carson. Earlier in his career, Carson had
been an amateur stage magician, and consulted James Randi for
advice on how to thwart potential trickery. Randi explained in a
1993 "Secrets of the Psychics" for the NOVA television
series: "I was asked to prevent any trickery. I told them to
provide their own props and not to let Geller or his people
anywhere near them." A clip of this incident was televised
on the NBC show Phenomenon. This two-minute clip, which has been
widely circulated on the Internet since James Randi acquired
permission to use it from NBC (videotape transfer paid for by
Carson) in his television special Secrets of the Psychics only
shows Geller failing at psychic "hand dowsing," not
metal bending. However, in the television special Randi
demonstrates how to bend spoons with seemingly mental powers.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Canton
of Uri"
and “Uri
Geller”.
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