Who is going to verify the clear fluid in the tube being delivered to him is pure water vs some high energy carbohydrate etc . concoction.
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I have fasted on more than one occasion. The majority of them were done for ‘religious’ purposes (though I no longer can be considered ‘religious’ by any stretch of the imagination). A couple were done as a sort of mental ‘resets’. I have found that the best way to make a huge change in my life is to fast for 3 or 4 days as I go through the process. It has a tendency to reset the way you think.
I have only fasted for more than a couple of weeks on one occasion though, which I described above (40 days/nights). During that time I drank only water. I had no nutrition at all either, though after the second week when the hunger pains got especially bad, I would have a pinch of baking soda (or powder, I always get the two confused) to help alleviate the pain in my stomach. This is an old trick I was tought by a preist, and he reported that most long term fasts are done that way, including the famous ones done by prophets and sages in the past. Not being an archo-anthro-theologist, I have no way to back that up. Considering the effect, and the fact that there is no nutrition in the baking soda to affect the effects of the fast other than the most intense cramps, I chose to believe him.
There are other ways to perform the fasting ritual though. Many will allow you to drink fruit juice, some will let you eat after dark (though you are supposed to eat modestly), and others will let you take vitamin suppliments. The point of the fast, usually, is to forcefully take control of your body. It is a way to prove to your conscious mind that it is in control of the body and not the other way around. Many people have reported heightened senses of being during fasts. While I will definately say that I fealt more ‘connected’ and ‘aware’ during the experience, I cannot honestly attribute that feeling to anything more than my brain crying out for glucose.
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I have fasted on more than one occasion. The majority of them were done for ‘religious’ purposes (though I no longer can be considered ‘religious’ by any stretch of the imagination). A couple were done as a sort of mental ‘resets’. I have found that the best way to make a huge change in my life is to fast for 3 or 4 days as I go through the process. It has a tendency to reset the way you think.
I have only fasted for more than a couple of weeks on one occasion though, which I described above (40 days/nights). During that time I drank only water. I had no nutrition at all either, though after the second week when the hunger pains got especially bad, I would have a pinch of baking soda (or powder, I always get the two confused) to help alleviate the pain in my stomach. This is an old trick I was tought by a preist, and he reported that most long term fasts are done that way, including the famous ones done by prophets and sages in the past. Not being an archo-anthro-theologist, I have no way to back that up. Considering the effect, and the fact that there is no nutrition in the baking soda to affect the effects of the fast other than the most intense cramps, I chose to believe him.
There are other ways to perform the fasting ritual though. Many will allow you to drink fruit juice, some will let you eat after dark (though you are supposed to eat modestly), and others will let you take vitamin suppliments. The point of the fast, usually, is to forcefully take control of your body. It is a way to prove to your conscious mind that it is in control of the body and not the other way around. Many people have reported heightened senses of being during fasts. While I will definately say that I fealt more ‘connected’ and ‘aware’ during the experience, I cannot honestly attribute that feeling to anything more than my brain crying out for glucose.
grrrr…damn fritzy hamsters
Thanks for your answer. And - just wow! 40 days & 40 nights. That’s some dedication.
According to the OP, “he will be suspended in a clear plexi-glass case.” Do you really think he’s going to change his diapers before an awestruck crowd?
“” Do you really think he’s going to change his diapers before an awestruck crowd?"
Naw, I bet they cover him one way or another then switch him with someone.
The point is, we haven’t any reason to believe that Blaine did any of those things, either. We know first of all that he’s an illusionist, and secondly that he’s not above using camera editing and similar “cheating” tricks to perform his illusions (witness his sidewalk levitations). When there’s a simple and obvious method to cheat, which can’t be verified or ruled out by any of the “audience”, I think it would be illogical to suppose that he won’t be using it. With the ice, for instance, there’s no reason at all for assistants to have to cool off the ice, since a sufficently-large block of ice will last for months. Therefore, we must conclude that his assistants were concealing something. Similarly, with this plexiglass cage thing, we have no way of knowing what’s in the tube he’s sipping from: For all we know, it’s chicken noodle soup. (There will probably be a camera in the cage recording that it’s definitely, absolutely water, but who trusts his camera feed?) If he’s even in the cage at all (he might not be), he’s gonna be eating. And as for it ruining his reputation if he’s exposed, being exposed has never ruined his reputation before; why should it now?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3200559.stm
He’s stabbed himself in the head with a penknife
[Homer]
Or has he?
[/Homer?]
According to newspaper reports he grabbed a Swiss Army knife from a cameraman and sliced off his left ear whilst screaming and cursing in front of a live audience…well you would wouldn’t you
According to newspaper reports he grabbed a Swiss Army knife from a cameraman and sliced off his left ear whilst screaming and cursing in front of a live audience…well you would wouldn’t you
Anyway on with the point, I believe that David Blaine is genuinely doing this stunt, 44 for days living on nothing but water is hard, both physically and mentally. When your body has used up all your fat reserves it will start to eat away at your muscles, casuing your skin to open up in certain places.
He may very well be, but I lean that he isn’t. Chronos already has pointed out a very logical way of how it could be done, by supplying more than just water through the tube. There are many products, that can be ground down, that would supply him with his basic food needs that could go through the tube. What is going to be going to that tube is what I would take the most interest in. Even if it was straight water, I still wouldn’t be that impressed, since people have been documented as doing such even though it has risks. If the one poster that cited he had a 10% chance of brain damage by actually carrying out such a stunt is correct, I seriously doubt Blaine would be taking that kind of risk, since he is a magician and illusionist. They have easier routes to take.
And as for all these people that say his previous stunts are not very good,i would like to try and see all of you stand in a block of ice, without sitting down for three days, and i would like to see u standing on a pole with no sleep or anything. David is an illusionist, his art is to amaze and entertain people, his street magic is obviously very clever but not real, his spectacular stunts however are real, he is prepared to die for his art, so he says, his stunts are not like convential illusions, no smoke and mirrors, he does them in plain view for everyone to see, they are endurance tests, not tricks.
I enjoy a good show as much as the next guy, not so much these latest stunts of Blaine’s, but I especially enjoy the skill and art of sleight of hand, even if I know how to do it. Up on a pole was probably legit. I’d be more than happy to break his record for the same pay he is getting, and I’m not even a magician. As far as his igloo stunt, no, he didn’t do that in plain view for everyone to see. Again, he’s an illusionist and a magician; they deceive people. That’s what they do, as I’m sure you know since you‘ve taken an interest in it. It’s perfectly alright to create the illusion that he was in there. But he didn’t do this in plain view in front of people any more than David Copperfield caused the “Statue of Liberty” to disappear in front of a legit audience. Copperfield’s is a simple stunt, and the few audience members that were there were in on it. Back to Blaine’s igloo. Chronos makes a very good point about smoking up the ice. There was no need for that. If he truly wanted to do this thing legit, there are plenty of scientific teams (CSICOP), and qualified magicians (Randi Foundation) standing by that would be happy to make this something out, other than a stunt, or magic trick, but I really don’t think they would be all that impressed with it unless it’s something that would basically qualify as humanely impossible.
JZ
I have made no qualms about David and his street magic in the past. IMHO, he is a ‘ok’ with a lot of hype behind him but definitely not near the top in close up magic (for that I point you to one Rickey Jay…the guy is an absolute master). But I think he realizes that hence the new ‘death defying’ stunt angle he is going on.
Personally though, I think they are too glorified and have never really considered them in the realm of ‘magic’. Nor do I consider them “Houdini-esqe” because all he is doing is standing about really not escaping from something.
I mean no one expects him to die from it…or have danger at every second, so really I dont figure they are magician tricks.
As far as the ear slicing bit, its a old trick. Penn and Teller have been using it in one form or another for years and horrifying Dave Letterman with it as well.
Originally posted by astro:
Not sure about it being a high energy carbohydrate concoction, but judging by this article it’s not just plain old water.
From the above linked article in The Observer (UK paper):
Interesting. So being in a transparent room, suspended above one of the largest cities on the planet, and watched by millions of people, is “completely isolated from everything”?
No, but he’s one ill-conceived stunt away from a Darwin Award. His smug arrogance will do him in eventually.
Sorry, nothing to add to this post. friedo is todays (9/2/03) guest answerer in Cecils Straight Dope column. CONGRATULATIONS! 
This cracks me up. Plus, after 44 days, won’t his box be covered in bird shit?