Theme Park Crap

If you thought the last couple of posts were scandalous (or at least pretty juicy and revealing), just wait till you see what's coming up!

In the meanwhile, I will answer a very important question that has surely plagued magicians minds for centuries:

If Six Flags Great Adventure contains the ride, Houdini's Great Escape, then why is the Six Flags in Los Angeles
called Magic Mountain?

ANSWER:





Actually, I see two pairs of "magic mountains" in that photo.

[By the way, there have been no complaints about the nudity yet, so I guess I'm going to insert it into my posts whenever I see fit. However, if it really offends you or you'd like the blog to be more safe for viewing at work, send me an e-mail at i_am_pagliacci@hotmail.com and I'll see what I can do. Or just e-mail me and say hi.]

Rant Crap Update

Swing back over to Magic Rants. It seems Steve has removed the phrase "COMMENTS OFF" and just left a blank space where the words used to be.

Wait a second, Steve, I thought you didn't read anonymous blogs?

Blogging Crap

So, I've just passed the limit of 5,000 hits. What do you think I'll do to celebrate?

Well, according to Magician X, I'll probably just upload some "crotch shots." Actually, I've never had a crotch shot on my blog - the most nudity I've ever featured involved that which is above the waist (except for one picture in my D'Lite post, but even that picture obscures the view of anything "down there"). Still, I don't want this to sound like I'm attacking Magician X because I'm not. In fact, the post I'm referring to defended my right to post such pics, so this is more of a shout-out to a fellow blogger.

However, I am curious about one thing: do these pictures offend anyone or turn anybody off to my blog? I want this blog to be accesible to anyone who wants to read my opinions about magic and if the occassional naked pic disturbs or disrupts that, I have no problem stopping that or going the Magic Mafia route and providing links to the pictures without actually posting them on the blog proper.

So, e-mail me (i_am_pagliacci@hotmail.com) or comment to this post and tell me what you think.

Oh yeah - back to celebrating the 5,000 visitor mark. How 'bout with 5,000 naked people (and what may be the last naked picture on Pagliacci ever)?

Psychic Crap

Was your card a spade?


Now let me reveal the value...



Wait, you didn't pick a card? Oh. Never mind.

TV Crap

From tonight's episode of The O.C., "The Rager":

[Seth notices a girl approaching him and Summer that he hasn't told Summer about]

Seth: Yeah, you know what? I think I see someone doing magic by the pool. Let's go check that out.
Summer: Magic tricks. Definitely someone you invited.

For those that don't watch the show, Seth is the geeky, awkward one. While he may be "geek chic" (in other words, he's so quirky and sarcastic that he's actually cool), this dialogue is far from complementary for magic. It's basically saying that the guy doing magic tricks at a party is a total geek. (That's right, guys - whipping out a deck of cards at a party is not cool - it's rather awkward and bizarre and indicates, at least to the girl, that you need some kind of social crutch in order to participate in social interactions.) Yup, magic isn't even cool on The O.C, a show where two of the main characters are writing a comic book (or, as Seth would correct me, a "graphic novel") and the nerdy, awkward white boy has become a teen heartthrob. In other words, a show that made being a geek cool can't even make magic seem hip.

There must still be hope somewhere though...right?

DeKrap

Check out the DeKram deck from Magic Masters. You have to admire people who give away the secret to their trick ON THE PACKAGING.

Don't believe me? Check out the author of the instruction manual: Dr. A. C. DeKram. Dr. A. C. DeKram? Have you ever heard of him? Oh wait, it's "Marked Card" backwards!

[Thanks to Doug Stewart and the M&M Magic Product Review for the tip.]

Real Magic, No Crap

The magic blogging community is, to put it mildly, very interesting and very eccentric. It's not very difficult to set off a veritable blogging war by mentioning anything that in someway criticizes someone or something in the magic community.

Take Steve Pellegrino and his match with Magic Whack, for example. By the end of this battle, it was like East Coast vs. West Coast, anonymous bloggers vs. public bloggers. Much (dare I say, too much?) digital ink was spilled over the issue across countless blogs.

There does, however, exist some a few bloggers who know how to write constructive criticism and ever fewer who know how to respond to it. There was a post on this blog concerning Real Magic Reviews that addressed some of its flaws and an invitation for the blogger to respond in kind.

He (or she?) did. And he did it in a positive and respectable fashion.

Hold on. Read that again.

Someone in the magic community responded to criticism by maintaining his cool and fixing his errors. Better start developing popsicles for demons because Hell just friggin' froze over.

The blogger behind Real Magic Reviews publicly addressed the criticism, acknowledged it himself, and strove to better his blog for it. I applaud him for it.

Here's the e-mail he sent me:

Hello Pagliacci, this is the blogger behind Real Magic Reviews. Thanks for bringing attention regarding my posts. There are a few points I wish to make. Feel free to post them on your blog:

1. The term "if-I'm-....-done" yes, I agree it sounds wrong. Further rereading it makes it sound kind-a-stupid and uneducated on my part. A wrong choice of words on second thoughts. If any of the guys who read that thinks I am a bastard that disrespects magical creativity and likes thrashing people's idea let me apologise first. That is not the case. I love magic and I respect individuals who spent labour and time inventing new concepts. Why did I wrote that phrase then in the first place? At that time I guess I was really sick with some of the stuff I got - dealer hype, overspent, etc. But I am sure most will agree; sometimes you get so worked up getting junk out of your hard earned money you feel like doing a favor telling all the magicians you know not to get conned.

2. Yes, my blogs are biased and will be biased. Maybe biased is a strong word. My intention is to bring out the negative (not weakness) aspects of items out there. Those who want to read the good stuff can go somewhere else or read the effect out of the dealers' ad. A negative or positive opinion is individual. While some or rather most would agree that Kenton Knepper's stuff sucks he has his loyal supporters too. In this particular example don't expect to see good reviews on Kenton's stuff, because personally I dislike them, not that I have anything personal against him.

3. You're right again. Maybe the term "Real Magic Reviews" is not that appropriate for the reviews I made so far. It should be something like "Bad Reviews" or "Bad Points of It" etc. Something to consider - maybe readers of my blog will benefit more if I highlight some positive side of the effects as well as to reach an informed decision (but as I said they can read the good stuff from full script on a dealers ad so don't expect too much).

Verdict: I'll continue to post my reviews as it is, and yes I'll take up your suggestion to incorporate the good side of it (if there is and if I think it deserves it). Coincidentally I posted Midori by Phil Goldstein (before I read your post) and I did mention some good stuff about it. As to an ocaasional 'real' good review,...hmmm why not.

Thanks again.

Cheers

See guys? There are people out there who realize that criticism, when framed constructively, is a useful tool. Too many people in the magic community don't recognize that not all criticsm represents a personal attack.





Jeez, I sound like fucking Escamoteurettes. My bad. Here are some boobies:



Ah... much better. By the way, swing over to Real Magic Reviews - it's worth your attention (that is, if your attention is still not on those breasts).

[NOTE: Hey, that naked woman is Shawnee Cates - another star of Little Magicians. In fact, she's the one with the wizard's hat on the video and DVD covers. What a coinky-dink!]