Blaine in a Box

[Manson]

I watched Mr. David Blaine being put into his box on Monday night, but so far of the people I've talked to i'm the only one who is impressed by him. To be honest i thought his last few stunts were kind of lame (not that they weren't impressive, just didnt really excite exactly) but this one is kind of cool. Just think all the way through Freshers week and the first 3 weeks of tuition he's going to be up there. By the time he gets out we'll be planning the reading week trip home. Well almost.
Mostly i'm excited to watch him slowly going mad (not that he isnt already) and pacing around in his little box, literally bouncing off the walls. It's going to be a real disappointment if he just meditates through the whole thing. I want suffering.

IMAGE:www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/D/david_blaine/images/news/story5.jpg

[hr]"Brunelleschi is magic"
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~sauras

[Prophet Tenebrae]

This is just another trick - call be a sceptic but I'm willing to bet that he's getting plenty of help to make it through the 44 days.

[Nick Mitchell]

I'm wondering how he can survive on just water. According to an ancient episode of Duncan Dares you can only live for about three weeks without food, although Bobby Sands survived on hunger strike for 66 days before his death.

So, even though he's noticably been piling on the pies beforehand, I reckon he's got sugar in his water or possibly in his towel, hitch-hiker's guide stylee.

I've not been watching too closely, but can you watch him take a shit? If so, Avid Merrion should be outside the box every day.

[Al]

[s]Prophet Tenebrae wrote on 02:16, 10th Sep 2003:
This is just another trick - call be a sceptic but I'm willing to bet that he's getting plenty of help to make it through the 44 days.


I agree. To be allowed to do something like that, in a public place, you would need huge amounts of insurance. And what insurance company would cover someone deliberately starving himself? I think there's more than water in his water tube.

[hr]
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time".

[benedict]

i'd choose to believe it. makes it more interesting if you think he's doing it properly. if some guy has done the same thing for 66 days then it's clearly possible, also other reports that some other bloke did something similar for 72 days for charity.

also this guy has a load of folk checking on him so that he doesn't get too close to the edge. there are some that think the stunt is perhaps a little too lame & that he should be pushing himself a little further.

on the psychological side of things it's good to know that the London folk are at least egging him on & helping him to get stoned.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face on them as it's always time to be happy

[kensson]

I reckon it's just a vegetarian Atkins diet.

[Thackary]

The water pipe supplies only water. It's true. One of his mates said so on telly.

I'd like to know what he writes in his diary...

Day 1
Got up, made my bed.
Looked out over London.
The neighbours seem pretty friendly - waving and calling my name

Day 2
Got up, made my bed.
Cleaned the windows, enjoyed the view of the Thames.

Day 3
Got up, made my bed. Noticed a small mark on the outside of the window. It seems like a fingerprint. Wonder how I'll clean that?

Day 4
Got up, made my bed. Cleaned the windows again, but that mark still isn't going. Perhaps it's a message?

Day 5
Got up, made my bed. Mark seems to be staring at me. The neighbours have dispersed. Thames looks a bit shitty.

Day 6
Getting a bit fed up of being woken by the sun - it's like a greenhouse in here.
Mark is doing my head in. He won't answer my questions, and continues to jeer at me.
I could really do with a shower and some clean pants.
I mi ht not be ble to con inue writ ng thi jou na , as m pen se ms to b o t of i k...

[Manson]

I read on the channel 4 site (so not the most reliable source of information) that if he did have sugar in his water it would be worse for him because it would speed up his metabolism.
And also he has a blanket which he hides under when hes doing his business. but if hes passing solid waste he has to drop it out of a small trapdoor in the bottom of his box. Into the Thames.
And he has been piling on the pies, he's supposed to have weighed more than 200 pounds when he went in which even by my porky standards is pretty heavy.
I just think he's going to do some kind of Tibetan monk meditation the whole time and come out of the box ok.

[hr]"Brunelleschi is magic"
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~sauras

[Nick Mitchell]

[s]Manson wrote on 13:32, 10th Sep 2003:
And also he has a blanket which he hides under when hes doing his business. but if hes passing solid waste he has to drop it out of a small trapdoor in the bottom of his box. Into the Thames.

Does that mean that on a windy day if you're standing on Tower Bridge you're at risk of being hit by flying magic shits?

[mossop]

Doesn't he have to be eating stuff to pass solid poo? Or was I not listening in biology that day?

[hr]Mmmm Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems....

[Nick Mitchell]

[s]mossop wrote on 14:32, 10th Sep 2003:
Doesn't he have to be eating stuff to pass solid poo? Or was I not listening in biology that day?

Guess so, but that doesn't mean he'll not be passing runny poo, 'cause I think that there's other stuff that shitting removes from your system, like old blood cells or something. Is there a medic in the house?

Anyway, I think all in all the solid stuff would be more preferable, from the recipient's point of view. Less likely to drip down your shirt collar.

[Nick Mitchell]

Have now posted three times today concerning shit. Clearly need a distraction, so may adopt David's own techniques:

'But Blaine says he doesn't expect to get bored. Instead he'll "start to focus on the smallest things, like breathing." One technique he'll use to keep himself occupied is to imagine he's building a house, piece by piece.'

Who needs TV, music, the internet or books?

[camel club]

Look.. there's no way he's going to get bored.

He's going to be fine, sitting there, sipping premiere cru through his little straw.

If he gets bored then he can listen to music on his little in ear implant things you can get nowadays.

And whilst he's 'medatating' he's really watching tv on his LCD contact lenses (the millitary have been looking into them for years now for troops and pilots).

Because of his deal with channel 4 and sky he'll have an amazing selection of channels to watch, trisha in the afternoons, simpsons in the evenings maybe a film on filmfour at night. And if he tunes into sky one and presses his little red button (I'll leave you to imagine where on his person that's discreeted) then he can watch himself live on tv. Hence negating the need for a mirror.

But i'm sure its not as easy as all that. I'm sure we all know that watching tele for a living can get tough.. Good luck david.. you're at the mercy of Rupert Murdoch now..

[Thackary]

After a couple of weeks, his body will start digesting its own tissue, probably resulting in diarrhoea.

The box isn't actually above the Thames. Not even above water. They've gone for the really tame option, so if he falls, he won't drown, as he'd land on concrete.

[James Baster]

Oh you sad cynics. I completly belive in the authenticity of what hes doing. Blaine seems a very dedicated guy who really belives in his tricks and wouldn't even think of cheating.

Althought I do hope he publishes that book he's writing in afterwards. I'll be fasintaing to see his mind slowly unravel.

By the rules of three I have heard (no air- three minutes, no water-three days, no food-three weeks) doing six weeks doesnt seem to impossible a strech for someone whos worked on his endurance. (Damned If I would try it tho, on so many levels)

Al, why would he need insurance - it may be in a public place but the only person who could get injured is him. And he always has a full support team who moniter him and have the power to stop things if they think its going to far.

[Pussycat]

Apparently some guy locked himself in a barrel in the desert for 70 odd days with only water to drink, so Blaine's stunt is impressive because...?

Besides he's an illusionist* so who's gonna believe he actually did it?

*or the son of Satan.

[Paranoid]

According to my dad(the knowledge of the world), he's just using an old style of yoga to survive 44 days, nothing more...cant say I've checked this up, but me dads never failed me before (apart from the santa affair and the tooth fairy!)

[hr]..I've got this pain down all the diodes on my left side...

[The_Farwall]

[s]Pussycat wrote on 21:21, 10th Sep 2003:
Besides he's an illusionist* so who's gonna believe he actually did it?

Umm, no he's not. Originally his stuff would have been described as 'Street Magic', slight of hand and misdirrection and such. Good knows why he keeps doing this stupid (and dull) indurance stunts but they're still built on him being able to control his own body to a massive extent, just like his card tricks and other close-up stuff.
I can't believe anyone could think this is a 'trick'. I mean, why? Why would anyone ever do that? If it was just a trick it would have to be the most pointless endevour in the history of man, a guy sitting. For a long time. Even given it's a real test of endurance it's pretty pointless and dull so why you would think he'd find a trick way to sit in a box for a couple of months I just don't get.

[hr]
[s]Apathy isn't just an attitude,
it's a disbelief system.[/s]

[Pussycat]

Because the whole thing is completely pointless. It's all been done better and bigger before.

All magic is illusion. Magician = illusion.

[raxenl]

here are some thising i found at http://www.living-action-research.net/w ... iamond.htm
I won't copy and paste it all out here, but the section you are looking for is 'Section five. Portfolio of 100 DAY Fast GYO'.

'In the ensuing hours my mind visited events which had led up to my being on route to Japan for what could possibly be a life threatening 100 day fast.'

'In the previous two years I have managed to pass many tests based in the teaching of Gyo. My then Sensei said that I had received permission to attempt a 100 day fast.'

'The first week was a week of detoxification and adjustment, the rice water created havoc on my digestive system, severe wind and bouts of diahorrea became the norm, pain of many sorts was to a constant companion. There was the pain of hunger, the pain from sitting in the lotus meditation position, the perceived pain of an overactive mind being irritated by a grumbling body.'

'the evidence ... could be used ... for my PhD.'


'My task was between 1 and 50 days to paint two Mandalas, one Mandala being called Kongoki (wisdom) and Tizoki (love). From 50 to 71 days I would be doing a sacred form of meditation called Ah Je Kan . For nourishment the rule was one bowl of rice water, two salt plums and green tea each day. And so the Gyo commenced.'

'I lit some paper to drop into the toilet but I forgot my basic science, there was a sudden bang as the methane gas that was in the hole exploded and I had my first christening!'

Okay, so this guy got to eat a little, and it wasn't pure water either, but this event is not uncommon - a rite of passage in Buddhism.

This is the reason I don't think what he is doing is amazing, but I do trust that is all above board. He'll probably have a few ephianies, and the like in there. I'd do it myself, but , at 6foo1 and 9.5 stone, I look like I've already done it once. I wouldn't survive the real thing.

[hr]Never buy a dwarf with learning difficulties. It's not big and it's not clever.