Dustings #30
/Due to a few requests, I’ve decided to make the Here Be Bunnies cover available as a shirt in the Dumb Houdini Store.
And, despite absolutely no requests, it’s also available there as a shower curtain.
You can just go to the shop, click the image and see the products there.
And, just as a heads up, the Dumb Houdini shop is run on the Threadless platform. Unlike the GLOMM stuff and anything else Jerx-related, where I (or someone I know) is handling the mailing, once you order from them, you’re dealing with that corporate entity, not me. So you will go to them if you have any issue. But if there’s anything particularly jacked up with your order, let me know too.
I feel like Josh is always doing stuff like this. But doesn’t it seem a little one-sided? I mean, there had to be a lot of Nazis who liked magic too. Whose going to tell their story? C’mon, Josh. Do better. Let’s not be so inequitable with the stories we tell. Would, “Close-up Pads of the Third Reich,” make a good coffee table book? I don’t know, I’m just spitballing some ideas here. I’m trying to point out there there are stories to be told on all sides.
Although, to be fair, it does look like Werner Reich has an incredible tale to tell. Look at that caption: “First there was a death march.” First!? Damn. You know your story is pretty harrowing when it starts with a death march.
When I was first trying to figure out how I could keep this site going as a reader-supported operation, I read a book with a title like, “Turn Your Blog Into A Business” or something like that. It had a bunch of suggestions in it that I completely ignored because it made running the site sound like a nightmare.
One thing you’re supposed to do when you monetize a blog is to “end every post with a question.” You do this to “encourage engagement.” So if I was writing about double lifts, then I would end the post by saying, “And what’s your favorite double lift? Tell me in the comments.” (I don’t write too much about double lifts, so it would be more like, “Who’s your favorite Nazi magician? Tell me in the comments.”)
I hate that kind of fake/forced interaction, which is why I never do it.
That being said, I do have questions from time to time about things I can’t answer on my own, or just things I’m curious about. I’ve decided to start putting those questions out in their own posts from time to time. It’s not to “increase engagement.” It’s because I actually am interested in the answers. Those questions are going to start popping up on the site on the occasional Tuesday or Thursday going forward.
Speaking of questions, let’s solve a mystery. I’ve been asked if I can help with tracking down a trick based on the way a deck is stacked. I can’t help with it, so I’m putting it out to the Jerx Hive Mind (the Jive Mind) to see if we can get an answer. Here’s the question:
I was going through old decks and found one arranged AAAA,2222,3333,4444, then a double backer and a blank card, then the 5-K by suits. Do you know what this is a set-up for?
Send me an email if you know.
And if you have a question about some gimmick you recently found that you don’t recognize, or some trick you’re trying to track down that you only half-remember, feel free to send it my way and I’ll pass it along.
Magical Transformations #3
My original sketches for the rabbits that appeared on the nautical maps in the endsheets of the last book. Followed by Stasia Burrington’s rendition. Then the full endsheets so you can see where these small details ended up.
