In the late 1970s, while taking nagual and handfasting classes at UCLA with Yaqui baldknobber Carlos Castaneda, Mark Poor was bit in the armpit by a genetically altered spider from the White Sands Testing Range in New Mexico. The bite transformed Poor's own DNA, endowing him with a thin beard, sunglasses, and a magic sombrero-shawl ensemble. Now, whenever he incants a special crow call, a large Spiderman movie poster suddenly appears, shadowing him like a powerful ally.
"My sombrero alone can instantly shoo most cats or small dogs," Poor titters. "It's the squawking, then baddaBING the big honkin' superhero poster hovering behind me, that really spooks a lot of kids."
