>> Randomness…
A while back a couple of us were discussing some changes on how to run the place where I spend most of my time online. Being one of the world’s best managed forums, you can tell that it got pretty intense. I know almost all the top guys in there very well and have known them for quite a bit now. We’re like one big close knit family. We help each other out, talk among ourselves, enquire about life, talk about family, plans, etc, etc. Not just limited to magic. But you know, occasionally there are a few disagreements in this virtual world and you seem to be caught in the middle of it. Two parties getting on each other, both who you know extremely well, both really close to you. What do you do? Try to bring peace or wait till one shoots the other down? It’s a tough call really because I can see both sides of the issue, and I agree with both of them (most of the time, or atleast I understand why one doesn’t agree with the other). Sometimes it’s just best to agree to disagree. Once that’s done, it’s nearly settled.
Another thing I realize is that once the dust settles, once all is calm, when we try and analyze our relationship it seems to have been strengthened for some reason. A much stronger bond than what existed before. It’s like the misunderstanding actually brought us closer together. Gained some valuable experience from it, earned each other’s respect (oh, of course unless it was real messy but ya know, we conduct ourselves in a very professional manner.. hehe). True, there may have been a little name calling, maybe a bit more on the personal front, a mini battle of words as well. (They do say the pen is mightier than the sword). Looking back though, do we really want those fights? Do we want those hard feelings? Definitely not. But as long as we bring out any problem in a proper way and in a respectable manner, all is well. There have been a few similar incidents in the past. Where I’ve believed even saying such stuff would result in a horrible catastrophe, tensions, arguments, expelling. But it didn’t. And that’s because who ever was responsible for it brought it up in the right way. And that person earned immense respect from me for that. We’re now very open in various areas with each other. It may seem pretty surprising that all this happens on a regular basis – online. But it’s true. And it really is awesome. We run a huge house. A house filled with people from all over the world, all ages and types. It’s a place that I go to almost everyday. Even if I don’t do much on a particular day, I’ll be sure to pop in and maybe check if stuff is well. A private sanctuary, filled with people that you know you can talk with and know that there’ll always be someone to listen to you. Anytime of the day. That’s the kind of passion and love we have for this place. It all started out with a desire to amaze, but I got more than that. I moved up the ranks, learnt a lot, shared a lot and it happens every day over and over again. Over the years, I’ve made some of the best friends online. Some of these are even closer than people I’ve actually met and move around with. Maybe one day we’ll all be able to meet up. It’s an extraordinary world, filled with extraordinary people. For me, magic has brought me closer to people, allowed me to get smiles on people’s faces, help others, and on my side – have an amazing time!
I was talking to one person a few weeks back. He was asking me how things were. Well, it was cpc time then and the explanation of it continued with me telling him that it wasn’t really something that important. He replied to me, “It all matters. It is a way for you to test out yourself. Just like a rehearsal for a magic show. Magic is everywhere my friend and the principles you learn from magic will go a long way in the real world – even if you don’t perform magic.” That made so much sense to me and coming from a man who’s experienced it all, good in life, a great performer, a great friend, I know his words are 100% true. That’s just a small example. Another thing would be to look for flaws in things. Take a website. We have exceptionally high standards for our place and I’ve learnt that even tiny things like font inconsistencies and minor sizing differences make all the difference. Everything else on the site may look brilliant but that small thingamajig will stand out like an eyesore. It may not but why let it go? That’s a reason why sometimes it’s pretty upsetting for me to see and look around websites of top people/companies/anything on the web and start noticing defects. I am just a lay person, I don’t know much. But what’s the point in having such a large awesome place when simple words are mispelt or there are broken links or typos? (you’ll find a lot of these things on government websites). Isn’t the content of a website one of the most important things? Oh well, looks like I’ve ranted about randomness a bit too much today! But I don’t worry. Because writing is another thing I love doing. It’s what I do most of the time I am online. Post threads, replies, offer support, et al. And of course occasionally try to write something that makes sense, *grin*.
I’ll finish with something I was fooling around with recently. I was experimenting with a little effect with my cards. Trying to work out an interesting presentation for it. I worked off an idea from one of S-Y’s lecture notes. He called it something on the lines of “The effect without an explanation”. The effect is structured in such a way so as to resolve all doubt at all stages. There isn’t much ’suspense’ within the routine because at each and every stage you are told what is going to happen, what is happening and what you are doing! But I thought this throws open a new kind of entertainment element in performance. Is this still suspense? What causes us to still be amazed when everything concludes, even though we already know what is going to happen? Maybe it’s the amazement that comes from the magic being nearly perfect. Maybe it’s the entertaining presentation. I say ‘near’ perfect because nothing is perfect. Every effect has its flaw, it’s how we cover up these flaws that shows how good we are. But certainly some of the stuff out there does really look like real magic (read: Copperfield, Cyril). And you may think that such an effect may not actually get the reactions I described. But that’s not true because I performed this to someone last week and I am pretty sure that they found it interesting and intriguing. Maybe not the exact target reaction I was aiming for but nevertheless entertained, which was a primary goal as well. I shall stop here for now. The lab is cold, my nose is running, and my tummy is rumbling.
Peace.
