Comments on: Regurgitation http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/ The official blog of the Skeptologists Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:30:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mastriani http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3392 Mastriani Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:09:24 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3392 <i>Geez, a Muffinista AND a butt-kisser…. (lol, j/k)</i> WOW!!! If this medium allowed for it, that is most deserving of a standing ovation. Well played sir, well played. (Truly, such viciousness of wit nearly brings a tear to my eye.) Geez, a Muffinista AND a butt-kisser…. (lol, j/k)

WOW!!! If this medium allowed for it, that is most deserving of a standing ovation.

Well played sir, well played.

(Truly, such viciousness of wit nearly brings a tear to my eye.)

]]> By: Devil's Advocate http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3390 Devil's Advocate Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:41:51 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3390 Geez, a Muffinista AND a butt-kisser.... (lol, j/k) Geez, a Muffinista AND a butt-kisser…. (lol, j/k)

]]> By: Mastriani http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3389 Mastriani Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:31:35 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3389 <i>Dr. Dim. Sorry, I’m primarily a performer, not a writer. Maybe if we get a series up and running one day, we will have enough to be able to afford an editor. In the meantime, this is just a blog, not a novel competition.</i> Because there is admiration for the time and effort expended, I'd gladly and honestly offer my proof reading services, <b>free of charge</b>. For no other reason than to help keep the standards of this group's efforts above the margin. Let the offer stand, accepted or not. Dr. Dim. Sorry, I’m primarily a performer, not a writer. Maybe if we get a series up and running one day, we will have enough to be able to afford an editor. In the meantime, this is just a blog, not a novel competition.

Because there is admiration for the time and effort expended, I’d gladly and honestly offer my proof reading services, free of charge. For no other reason than to help keep the standards of this group’s efforts above the margin.

Let the offer stand, accepted or not.

]]> By: Devil's Advocate http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3386 Devil's Advocate Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:28:59 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3386 Suggestion: Don't read blogs out loud. There. Problem solved. Suggestion: Don’t read blogs out loud. There. Problem solved.

]]> By: Mark Edward http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3384 Mark Edward Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:24:25 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3384 Dr. Dim. Sorry, I'm primarily a performer, not a writer. Maybe if we get a series up and running one day, we will have enough to be able to afford an editor. In the meantime, this is just a blog, not a novel competition. Dr. Dim. Sorry, I’m primarily a performer, not a writer. Maybe if we get a series up and running one day, we will have enough to be able to afford an editor. In the meantime, this is just a blog, not a novel competition.

]]> By: Dr. Dim http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3330 Dr. Dim Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:21:37 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3330 I do enjoy these blogs and I am hopeful that 'The Skeptologists' makes the air and becomes a big hit. However, I have a suggestion for the blogs. Some of the contributors to this blog are not writers by trade or nature. So, you guys really could use an editor. The blogs are interesting and informative, it's just that some writers need a little help. I mean, the frequent run on sentences are incredible. Just try reading this segment of a sentence from the text above without pausing for a breath before coming to the first comma.... "...the preeminent sideshow worker on the scene today whose work I admire more than any 100 standard magicians put together and who remains one of the few truly talented exponents of an art form that had virtually died out as an entertainment but is seeing a healthy resurgence thanks to the Goth and residual punk scenesters who can’t seem to get enough of tattoos, piercings and pushing bodily functions to the limit, really does eat the light-bulb." It can be done if you take a big enough breath before reading, but I don't want to work that hard. Noted skeptic, George Hrab, on his very entertaining Geologic podcast, gave some advice to people who write anything: letters, emails, blogs, etc. His advice was simply to read it to yourself before sending or posting. I find reading out loud is especially helpful. That way you might be able to catch errors in grammar and make certain what you write makes sense. I know no one likes a grammar cop, but I'm trying to help. If you can't get an editor, at least read your piece before posting. I've read this, out loud, to myself five times before posting. I do enjoy these blogs and I am hopeful that ‘The Skeptologists’ makes the air and becomes a big hit.

However, I have a suggestion for the blogs. Some of the contributors to this blog are not writers by trade or nature. So, you guys really could use an editor. The blogs are interesting and informative, it’s just that some writers need a little help. I mean, the frequent run on sentences are incredible.

Just try reading this segment of a sentence from the text above without pausing for a breath before coming to the first comma….

“…the preeminent sideshow worker on the scene today whose work I admire more than any 100 standard magicians put together and who remains one of the few truly talented exponents of an art form that had virtually died out as an entertainment but is seeing a healthy resurgence thanks to the Goth and residual punk scenesters who can’t seem to get enough of tattoos, piercings and pushing bodily functions to the limit, really does eat the light-bulb.”

It can be done if you take a big enough breath before reading, but I don’t want to work that hard.

Noted skeptic, George Hrab, on his very entertaining Geologic podcast, gave some advice to people who write anything: letters, emails, blogs, etc. His advice was simply to read it to yourself before sending or posting. I find reading out loud is especially helpful. That way you might be able to catch errors in grammar and make certain what you write makes sense.

I know no one likes a grammar cop, but I’m trying to help. If you can’t get an editor, at least read your piece before posting.

I’ve read this, out loud, to myself five times before posting.

]]> By: Max http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3245 Max Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:53:48 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3245 What a bunch of Magic Circle jerks. What a bunch of Magic Circle jerks.

]]> By: Jim Shaver http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3242 Jim Shaver Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:31:33 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3242 Mark: Thanks very much for replying and giving the back story about your problems with the Magic Circle in the UK. I too was interested in knowing some more detail, and maybe telling the story to a generally like-minded audience has been a bit cathartic for you. Good luck to you, and especially good luck to the <em>Skeptologists</em> team! Mark:

Thanks very much for replying and giving the back story about your problems with the Magic Circle in the UK. I too was interested in knowing some more detail, and maybe telling the story to a generally like-minded audience has been a bit cathartic for you. Good luck to you, and especially good luck to the Skeptologists team!

]]> By: Mark Edward http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3239 Mark Edward Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:14:39 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3239 To Carl, Yes, it's somewhat uncomfortable to relate, but such is life and maybe here's the place to set the record straight if anyone out there cares: Back in 2002 when I did "NBC's Secrets of the Psychics," I had just come off the incredible high of success with my Penn & Teller "Speaking with the Dead" episode of "Bullshit!" I wanted to do more of the same sort of thing. All my training as a mentalist and psychic reader had actually helped expose a real crook and I felt I had finally reached a point in my life when I was doing some real good for a change. I was approached by NBC to do much the same sort of deal: show how psychics like John Edward, VanPraagh et. al. use pre-show techniques and other audience manipulation to create the illusion of accuracy. When it came time to shoot the show, about two days before, the producer told me he needed "a prediction," Or, ...how could I show how a psychic would make a prediction happen in front of an audience? By this time I had signed contracts and without too much elbow twisting, I consented to do a mentalist bit where numbers are randomly chosen by the audince, then secretly switched by using a very old dodge of a double-sided notepad: My "force" numbers were written in different handwriting styles to make it look random on one side of this pad and each spectator wrote their numbers on the other side. All I had to do was casually flip over this pad on my way back on stage and then have those numbers added up. When the math was checked, a sealed envelope that had been in plain sight all along was opened and voila; instant psychic accuracy. I had made a verbal agreement (my first mistake) with the show's producer that I would agree to do the bit "in character" and not showing the "gaff" or "turnover move." Two caveats to cover my ass from the ire I knew I would probably catch from magicians had to be in place: #1) the voice over narration had to say "One of the ways Mark Edward could have accomplished this feat would be ...." leaving it somewhat open and me a little more off the hook and #2) another person's set of hands would be shot doing the actual "turnover move" close-up not showing me. Well, lo and behold, on the fateful night as I'm watching the show, these two things didn't happen. Not only was the narration left totally out as well as the promised close-ups, but the camera zoomed in and a little bubble of light actually highlighted my hands doing the move. As soon as I saw that my heart sank and I knew I was screwed - and nationwide too. The phone began ringing immediately that night - and for weeks afterward. Meanwhile, I was booked to do a lecture tour of Scotland (my second one, the first being very well received.) Soon after this show aired in England and unfortunately two weeks before I was to leave,the show was repeated nightly in a week long back-to-back marathon of "Masked Magician" shows that were highly publicized on BBC. My goose was pretty well cooked. I was told by the promoter of the events scheduled that I was now banned from lecturing in the UK and that Britain's Magic Circle was up in arms against me and had put my name on their bad boy list. I ended up losing many "friends" and my airfare as well. I'm still treated with ill regard as a traitor to magic nearly ten years later at websites in the UK. Crazy really, because some of the Magic Circle's own members were apparently hosts of some of these shows. Go figure. This "exposure" also pretty much killed my Magic Castle career, which was odd because only two years before, I was ostracized by their members for doing a psychic infomercial. Seems you just can't win, unless you are in the middle of the road. A position I have a terrible time occupying. Funny thing is, the person who is largely credited for using this effect and who put into print this old chesnut (the double pad thing) back in the early 60's is a very good friend of mine who could care less about the whole thing! It only took one wag to produce a cyber flame-out that still continues today over this two second blunder. I have had no end of grief over this misadventure. Nonetheless, I will still stand by the rest of my part in the show (the psychic readings and "talking to the dead" bits) and feel that desptie how the show was ultimately edited and portrayed, (rather a sorry bang-up "show all" parade of mentalist effects)it's all been a tempest in a teapot. I had no part in the way the show was put together or edited, so to me, it's a hopeless no win situation. The worst of it is this: of all the television work I have done, this one show is the only one that keeps on running over and over all over the world. Figures doesn't it?I don't even get residuals anymore for some reason. You live and learn. As they say, verbal agreements in Hollywood aren't worth the paper they are written on. Now I hope you can see why I plan to be careful with what gets spilled. To Carl,
Yes, it’s somewhat uncomfortable to relate, but such is life and maybe here’s the place to set the record straight if anyone out there cares:
Back in 2002 when I did “NBC’s Secrets of the Psychics,” I had just come off the incredible high of success with my Penn & Teller “Speaking with the Dead” episode of “Bullshit!” I wanted to do more of the same sort of thing. All my training as a mentalist and psychic reader had actually helped expose a real crook and I felt I had finally reached a point in my life when I was doing some real good for a change.
I was approached by NBC to do much the same sort of deal: show how psychics like John Edward, VanPraagh et. al. use pre-show techniques and other audience manipulation to create the illusion of accuracy. When it came time to shoot the show, about two days before, the producer told me he needed “a prediction,” Or, …how could I show how a psychic would make a prediction happen in front of an audience? By this time I had signed contracts and without too much elbow twisting, I consented to do a mentalist bit where numbers are randomly chosen by the audince, then secretly switched by using a very old dodge of a double-sided notepad: My “force” numbers were written in different handwriting styles to make it look random on one side of this pad and each spectator wrote their numbers on the other side. All I had to do was casually flip over this pad on my way back on stage and then have those numbers added up. When the math was checked, a sealed envelope that had been in plain sight all along was opened and voila; instant psychic accuracy. I had made a verbal agreement (my first mistake) with the show’s producer that I would agree to do the bit “in character” and not showing the “gaff” or “turnover move.” Two caveats to cover my ass from the ire I knew I would probably catch from magicians had to be in place: #1) the voice over narration had to say “One of the ways Mark Edward could have accomplished this feat would be ….” leaving it somewhat open and me a little more off the hook and #2) another person’s set of hands would be shot doing the actual “turnover move” close-up not showing me. Well, lo and behold, on the fateful night as I’m watching the show, these two things didn’t happen. Not only was the narration left totally out as well as the promised close-ups, but the camera zoomed in and a little bubble of light actually highlighted my hands doing the move. As soon as I saw that my heart sank and I knew I was screwed – and nationwide too. The phone began ringing immediately that night – and for weeks afterward.
Meanwhile, I was booked to do a lecture tour of Scotland (my second one, the first being very well received.) Soon after this show aired in England and unfortunately two weeks before I was to leave,the show was repeated nightly in a week long back-to-back marathon of “Masked Magician” shows that were highly publicized on BBC. My goose was pretty well cooked. I was told by the promoter of the events scheduled that I was now banned from lecturing in the UK and that Britain’s Magic Circle was up in arms against me and had put my name on their bad boy list. I ended up losing many “friends” and my airfare as well. I’m still treated with ill regard as a traitor to magic nearly ten years later at websites in the UK. Crazy really, because some of the Magic Circle’s own members were apparently hosts of some of these shows. Go figure. This “exposure” also pretty much killed my Magic Castle career, which was odd because only two years before, I was ostracized by their members for doing a psychic infomercial. Seems you just can’t win, unless you are in the middle of the road. A position I have a terrible time occupying. Funny thing is, the person who is largely credited for using this effect and who put into print this old chesnut (the double pad thing) back in the early 60’s is a very good friend of mine who could care less about the whole thing! It only took one wag to produce a cyber flame-out that still continues today over this two second blunder. I have had no end of grief over this misadventure. Nonetheless, I will still stand by the rest of my part in the show (the psychic readings and “talking to the dead” bits) and feel that desptie how the show was ultimately edited and portrayed, (rather a sorry bang-up “show all” parade of mentalist effects)it’s all been a tempest in a teapot. I had no part in the way the show was put together or edited, so to me, it’s a hopeless no win situation. The worst of it is this: of all the television work I have done, this one show is the only one that keeps on running over and over all over the world. Figures doesn’t it?I don’t even get residuals anymore for some reason. You live and learn. As they say, verbal agreements in Hollywood aren’t worth the paper they are written on. Now I hope you can see why I plan to be careful with what gets spilled.

]]> By: Mastriani http://skepticblog.org/2009/01/31/regurgitating/#comment-3234 Mastriani Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:55:43 +0000 http://skepticblog.org/?p=1009#comment-3234 <i>I think now it’s up to 16%. The reason isn’t that the atheist movement hasn’t changed 15% of the population’s minds, but perhaps it’s made them realize that they are atheists, or hit those moderates of religion and after several years made them realize that they don’t need god.</i> Or it is highly probable that there is just an increased visibility of atheists/irreligious/non-believers. Much as with the latent social visibility of homosexuality; it's not that necessarily there are more, but the ones that have always been there feel it's safe to "come out". I think now it’s up to 16%. The reason isn’t that the atheist movement hasn’t changed 15% of the population’s minds, but perhaps it’s made them realize that they are atheists, or hit those moderates of religion and after several years made them realize that they don’t need god.

Or it is highly probable that there is just an increased visibility of atheists/irreligious/non-believers. Much as with the latent social visibility of homosexuality; it’s not that necessarily there are more, but the ones that have always been there feel it’s safe to “come out”.

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