MaGiC!

Journal 4-5

MaGiC!

I. In last week's journal I said I wanted to know more about outsourcing. When I was doing research I stumbled upon this video that I found to be extremely interesting. It talks about how individual Ameican employees are beginning to outsource their own jobs to people of developing nations because it allows them to spend more time on their personal desires. It also helps the people of the developing nations to support their families and themselves. Here's the video:

source:

AmericanMale1953. " YouTube - More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas ." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYaZ57Bn4pQ.

II. Last week we watched the third of our "30 Days" episodes which was on immigration. I wasn't here to see that due to a death in the family but I talked to some classmates to get the general gist of it. It seems like the legal process of obtaining citizenship is rather tedious. The director of the film seemed to believe that illegal immigration was unacceptable because he himself was an immigrant who had to go through the taxing citizenship process himself. Later in the week we started the magic unit. We watched a bunch of short clips from Penn and Teller. Then we watched a TED Talk from a Swedish magician.

" Google Image Result for http://www.jaha.org/edu/discovery_center/push-pull/img/Ellis01.jpg." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jaha.org/edu/discovery_center/push-pull/img/Ellis01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.jaha.org/edu/discovery_center/push-pull/index.html&usg=__ON9uXDz2nfPXmu5H_ahnvv6AgF8=&h=407&w=500&sz=96&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&itbs=1>.

I don't have much of an opinion on the immigration video since I didn't get to see it, but from what I've heard it was pretty interesting. I think I'm in agreement with the director in feeling that there shouldn't be illegal immigration and as tedious as the citizenship process may be, it is entirely necessary. I loved Penn and Teller's magic. I think it's a cool touch that Teller never talks. It adds something interesting to their show. It was also pretty neat to learn that there are seven principles of magic: palm, ditch, steal, load, simulation, misdirection, and switch. I had never heard of these before now.

 

" Google Image Result for http://www.magicbob2000.com/resources/Hocus%20plate%20small0003_edited-5.jpg." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2011. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.magicbob2000.com/resources/Hocus%2520plate%2520small0003_edited-5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.magicbob2000.com/&usg=__t4R9N_dATjoAePmIr7Q3vHU4ldc=&h=399&w=395&sz=99&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ONGXMdLxo_Tf.

I have to wonder when we watch all this magic stuff...what kind of training goes into a show like that? I mean, how much time do magicians like Penn and Teller have to spend mastering those tricks? That's seriously some mind blowing stuff. Even when they took the time to explain their tricks, I couldn't even begin to understand how they did it. Even once it's clear that there is logical planning behind each magic trick, it still must take a ton of skill to be able to carry it out. I would love to know how much time is spent training for those things.


III. For next week's blog I want to research magic schools so that I can get a better understanding for the training that comes with magic tricks. There must be some kind of classes the magicians take in order to learn what they know.