Post: #26

Shamanic practices.

Post: #27

Black and White photography. I have my own darkroom (currently posting from it), with a classic home made wood and fiberglass sink.

I mix my own chemistry from scratch, and shoot and print mostly with 4x5 negatives.

Post: #28

Here is a quick look around Teller's (from 'Penn And Teller') house.

He has the magic illusion in the corridor I was talking about earlier.

Post: #29

@hzuwhere - if you are looking for unusual glass bottles. You should out Klein bottles - and these impossible objects as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Anything-Possible-...B004QQK2UM

Post: #30

Urban Exploring. I have only started this year and I have been to amazing places, even once in a place where we were the last ones to be there before it was demolished.

Amazing, not very safe, not very widely known, yet it's raw adventure.

Post: #31

Opie from the 'Opie and Anthony' radio show got into urban exploring awhile ago.

Here are some videos he did with Moses Gates who writes books on the subject:

Post: #32

(05-18-2014 10:51 AM)runsonmagic Wrote:  Shamanic practices.

Interesting. Can you elaborate?

(05-18-2014 11:32 AM)Volk Wrote:  Urban Exploring. I have only started this year and I have been to amazing places, even once in a place where we were the last ones to be there before it was demolished.

Amazing, not very safe, not very widely known, yet it's raw adventure.

I didn't even realize there was a term for this, but I've always been fascinated by this type of thing.

I'm Here.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #33

Slap-bass

Nothing more fun than busting out old Incubus/Chili Peppers bass lines

Post: #34

Beating the hell out of my drumkit!
Good as pre workout btw!

Post: #35

I'm a classically trained musician; I've been playing strings for 25 years.

Long range shooting/hunting. I do my own gunsmithing as much as possible.

Brewing mead, cheesemaking, and similar things that aren't much of a time sink.

Biathlon, though I'm just easing into it. I can shoot alright but I'm not much of a skier yet.

My whole life is pretty "unusual" by most standards.

Post: #36

(05-17-2014 06:56 PM)cardguy Wrote:  Mine would be magic tricks. I have spent my whole life studying the field.

Interesting. Cardguy, can you tell us some more on how magic or performing as a guy doing tricks (in the club, coffee shop, etc) ties into your game, or how it possibly could be useful (I know you don't like to approach on a daily basis as I understand from your posts)?

Also, I started a thread on this topic a long time ago:
/thread-19074....t=magician

Post: #37

I explain here why my lack of interest in 'gaming' and my very very deep interest in magic means that it is not something I ever do just for the sake of impressing chicks:

/thread-33889-...#pid674219

As for using magic to impress chicks. This definitely works. I have zero interest in using magic to impress people (and especially chicks) - which is ironic since it is a very powerful tool for doing such things. But I will give you some tips nonetheless...

ONE - Magic has two components. The ability to fool the mind and the ability to please the eye. A lot of the best magic tricks just look cool - irregardless of anything else. For example setting fire to a 1 dollar note and seeing it explode into a 100 dollar note.

TWO - There are a lot of easy tricks which will fool people - but none of them will be visually impressive. Since the tricks that impress the eye usually involve sleight-of-hand, or (more commonly) a secret gimmick of some sort.

THREE - Mind reading can be an effective branch of magic (since chicks often believe it is 'real' magic) but it lacks any visual fireworks or dazzle. Nevertheless - if you are looking for a simple trick to impress chicks - this is often an effective route to go down.

FOUR - In magic less is more. The most effective ways I have found of presenting it - is to pretend that your grandfather was a magician and that he taught you a single trick. And then you show it. The best performances in magic come about when a friend tells another friend that you are about to perform a trick. You then just do one killer trick and leave it at that.

FIVE - As such. It is quite effective in magic just learning a single killer trick. Since it stops you from becoming 'the dancing monkey.'

SIX - The most effective tricks in magic tend to involve money changing into other shit - and fire. As such - you would need to find a magic shop online and buy a trick like this. They are usually sold for about 30 dollars. You then stick it in your pocket and keep it in there for the moment when it will be most effective.

SEVEN - For an effective magic trick. You sit secretly prepared all night. And then slowly introduce the idea that you might know a little bit of magic. You then have to pretend that you are too tired and not sure if the other people will be interested. This builds the idea that you do not have anything secretly prepared. And shows you as a cool James Bond figure (and the opposite of a 'dancing monkey') who can do cool shit but doesn't feel the need to brag about it.

You then do your awesome trick and walk away from the table to get a drink. After 5 minutes of everyone at the table talking about how cool you are - you will come back looking like a rock star.

EIGHT - Never repeat a trick (a lot of tricks can be figured out the second time you watch them). Also repeating a trick (or even doing another - different - trick) makes you start to become a 'dancing monkey'. You have to be disciplined here. Since people will cry and beg you to repeat the trick you just did.

Less is more...

NINE - If you have a card trick where you know which card a woman has chosen. What I would do is scatter the cards on the table - and hold the woman's hand (kino attraction). And task her to concentrate intently on the card she is thinking of (even though she picked a card by hand - you start referring to it as the 'thought of card' - since she is remembering the card she chose. Eventually she will forget she chose a card and will be sure she just freely thought of one. A much better trick.)

You then hold her hand and slowly move it other the table - before bringing her hand to rest on the card she chose.

Simple trick - but very effective if you take it seriously and use your body language to convey that this is the best trick in the world.

TEN - There are a million ways of finding a freely chosen card (or of forcing a particular one on a spectator). Here is a fun method that I like. Have a card you have remembered on the bottom of the deck (eg the ACE OF SPADES). Now spread the cards on the table and have her choose one. You then return the card to the top of your deck and give it a cut.

This places the ACE OF SPADES and her card next to each other. You then ask the chick to shuffle the cards. If she gives the cards an overhand shuffle - there is a 95% chance that your ACE OF SPADES and her card will not be separated in the shuffle.

You then spread the cards - face up - on the table and see which card is above the ACE OF SPADES. This is her card. Remember it.

You then spread the cards - face up - all over the table in as random a fashion as possible.

You then grab her hand and ask her to think of her card.

Eventually you guide her hand and drop it on top of her thought of card.

And at the same time you announced the name of her card.

If the trick doesn't work - blame her for not concentrating properly. And do the trick again - but this time by holding her other hand.

This trick will not fail two times in a row - and is even more effective if you only hit it on the second attempt. Since it suggests you are using very arcane skills to do with body language and psychology/psychic abilities.

IF YOU LEARN THIS TRICK - YOU MUST PRACTICE IT BY YOURSELF QUITE A FEW TIMES. IT IS VERY EASY TO BECOME CONFUSED AS TO WHETHER THE SELECTED CARD IS ABOVE OR BELOW YOUR KEY CARD (THE ACE OF SPADES). YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION - DOES THE SELECTED CARD APPEAR ABOVE OR BELOW THE KEY CARD DEPENDING ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU SPREAD THE CARDS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT - OR RIGHT TO LEFT? GET THIS VERY CLEAR IN YOUR MIND. I HAVEN'T DONE THIS TRICK IN YEARS - AND EVEN I STILL HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF OF THESE EXACT DETAILS - DESPITE HAVING STUDIED MAGIC FOR TWENTY YEARS

Anyway - the trick above is a nice one. And it appears very fair when all the cards are being mixed up and scattered all over the table. It suggests tot he spectator that this is no ordinary magic trick - and instead it suggests you are trying to achieve something very difficult.

ELEVEN - If you want single killer magic trick which is easy to do. Go to this magic shop and spend 30 dollars on this trick.

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/728

And promise me you will practice it a bunch of times by yourself before performing it. Magic is like giving a PowerPoint presentation. If you have not practiced it a few times by yourself - and are not sure exactly what you are doing - you will be surprised at how many simple things start to trip you up in the middle of a performance.

Also - have it clear in your mind exactly what you are going to say (even if it is simple shit) before doing a trick. A lot of good tricks are ruined by too much 'ummming' and 'ahhhing' as the magician stumbles over what he is saying since he is too busy thinking about the secret method required to do the trick.

TWELVE - If any of you ever become interested in seriously studying magic. I would recommend the Paul Harris 'Art of Astonishment' books. He has DVDs as well - but you will never become a serious magician if you do not develop the skills of learning magic from a book. There are three of them and are about 45 dollars each. They will not be that useful for a complete beginner. But these are the books you should get as soon as you are comfortable with a deck of cards and have already learned a few sleights already (eg The Elmsley Count, Double Undercut, Riffle Force and The Double Lift). These books are the Holy Grail for the sort of fun magic that is most effective.

And Paul Harris is a genius.

And if you want to become a master of sleight of hand and card tricks. I would recommend the first book in the 'Card College' series and take it from there. A lot of people in magic lose interest after the first few months as they realise how difficult it is at first. But once you break through that wall it will become very easy. Either way - you need to give yourself the time to see if you truly have the stamina for this sort of hobby.

Post: #38

Game

Post: #39

Yeah - I hate thinking about magic along these lines.

For the same reason I used to hate guys who formed bands to pick up chicks.

Music (and for me - magic) is too important to waste on just trying to pick up chicks.

Post: #40

I am absolutely fascinated with astronomy. Makes me realize how trivial we all are compared to the universe. I try to find documentaries comparable to Carl Sagan's Cosmos all the time on youtube. I learned a ton about the universe when I took an introductory astronomy class in college. Probably one class that I learned the most in although it didn't pertain at all to my major.

Maybe not unusual, but I'm also interested in international affairs, which is what I studied in university. I wish I spent more time focusing on it (in an academic sense). I want to make a career out of it eventually.

Post: #41

Astronomy is very strange.

As the expansion of the universe speeds up - soon our solar system will be the only thing we can observe. All the surrounding stars and galaxies in the sky will become impossible to see.

Which means eventually - science will go back to thinking the solar system is the only thing in the universe that exists. Since there will be no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Very strange. Although humanity won't be around by then.

Post: #42

(05-19-2014 02:09 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  I am absolutely fascinated with astronomy. Makes me realize how trivial we all are compared to the universe. I try to find documentaries comparable to Carl Sagan's Cosmos all the time on youtube. I learned a ton about the universe when I took an introductory astronomy class in college. Probably one class that I learned the most in although it didn't pertain at all to my major.

Maybe not unusual, but I'm also interested in international affairs, which is what I studied in university. I wish I spent more time focusing on it (in an academic sense). I want to make a career out of it eventually.

I was obsessed with it when I was a young. Galileo was my hereo I even build a simple telescope though it´s not difficult you only need 2 lenses.

I was so obsessed that I even dreamed having my dream telescope under my bed. As I woke up I was disappointed that there was none.

Anyway somehow other stuff came like computers, comics and chicks. I started do dream about naked dancing chicks. So nature was stronger than science.

Post: #43

(05-19-2014 02:09 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  I am absolutely fascinated with astronomy. Makes me realize how trivial we all are compared to the universe. I try to find documentaries comparable to Carl Sagan's Cosmos all the time on youtube.

Me too. I'm a total space nerd. This is the best youtube channel I've found for space-related content. They have 703 space-related videos up, many of them at least half an hour long.

I guess this reminds me of one of my other geeky interests, meteorology. I love reading about weather patterns and climate science and different cloud types, and how rain forms, that type of stuff. Amazing to me.

I also find insects fascinating. I don't like bugs, but I find them very interesting to observe.

Post: #44

(05-18-2014 11:57 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

(05-18-2014 10:51 AM)runsonmagic Wrote:  Shamanic practices.

Interesting. Can you elaborate?

Shamanic practices - using story and intention to change your beliefs and find intuitive answers. Joseph Campbell touches a lot on this with the hero's journey.

Get a book called Feeding Your Demons for a simple practice like this.

Post: #45

UFOs and space exploration, Norse and Celtic religions, esoteric traditions in general (Rumi and Sufism, meditation, comparative mythology), and the works of Joseph P. Farrell and similar authors.

Post: #46

I have posted a bit about my interest in magic in this thread.

Well - here is a nice example of how great magic can be used to pick up the wimminz!

Post: #47

(05-31-2014 10:53 AM)cardguy Wrote:  I have posted a bit about my interest in magic in this thread.

Well - here is a nice example of how great magic can be used to pick up the wimminz!

Balloon animals

Post: #48

I dunno' if I mentioned this before - but I actually hate doing magic.

I enjoy studying it, writing about it and inventing new tricks.

But performing it bores me. The ultimate point of magic is to fool somebody. And the ultimate point of fooling somebody is to impress them.

But impressing people doesn't interest me.

Shit - when I go out - you better impress me or I'm going home.

Post: #49

I do MMA but also tai chi and qigong which my MMA friends always give me shit about but it lets my old ass roll with them and keep my own. Also meditation, lucid dreaming and astral projection.

Post: #50

I collect books from the 70's that explain why Japan's economy is going to overtake the world. It's a humbling hobby.