Reveal

I'm a sucker for magic. I've never seen a live show, but I have caught a number of David Copperfield, David Blaine and Criss Angel shows on tv over the years... as well as the four-part "Breaking the Magician's Code" series featuring the "Masked Magician".

But, for me, nobody does it better than Penn & Teller... especially when they'll go so far as showing you how the trick is done, and it still doesn't seem possible. In a recent pair of articles for Smithsonian.com, the silent half of the duo, Teller, talks about how magic is done in a way I haven't seen expressed so neatly before.

In the article, Teller Speaks on the Enduring Appeal of Magic, he talks about how he got into doing magic and the intellengence of magic, both on the part of the performer and the audience. In Teller Reveals His Secrets, he lays out seven principals of magic, and then shows how they're all used in a common trick. Again, as is always their strong suit, even after walking me through the trick, it still somehow seems magical to me.

For an example of this, here is a 2010 YouTube clip of the pair doing the classic "cup & balls" illusion: first with red plastic cups... and then with clear plastic cups. And, even though everything is spelled out for you the second time around, the skill with which they do it is incredible.

» Found at: Smithsonian.com – "Appeal" / "Reveal"

Terraria

Tomorrow is a big day for Terraria fans... version 1.1 will be released.  This new update includes over 200 new items, almost 40 new enemies, four new bosses, new biomes, new armors, new ores... in a word, it's epic.  And, last Friday, the official preview teaser trailer for 1.1 was released:

If you've never heard of this game, let me try to explain: it's an exploration game, similar to the more popular/well-known game, Minecraft. You can mine ores in the ground, use them to craft new tools, weapons, buildings and such. There are enemies in the world, from simple slimes to massive bosses, to interact with along the way.

The fun of the game comes from the random exploration aspect of it; the advancement of your tools and the discovery of new biomes (from the desert, to the jungle... the caverns to the underworld... and even oceans and floating islands in the sky). As you grow and explore deeper and further into the world, you can improve your stats and gear, meet new NPCs who will help you out on your adventure, find new cosmetic items or accessories, learn new crafting plans. And now (well, tomorrow...) there will be much, much more of this to go around.

At $10 on STEAM, this game is a steal.  On sale (the recently concluded "Autumn Sale" or the upcoming "Winter/Holiday Sale"), you can find it for as little as $5, which makes it an absolute must-own in my books. Getting started can seem a little daunting and perhaps a bit un-structured, however, the official Terraria Online Wiki is an excellent resource.

» Found at: Terraria Online (DevBlog)

Alive

Wow, it doesn't get much better than this: Jonathan Coulton's masterpiece, the closing song Still Alive from Portal, the video game plus Canadian indie artist, Sara Quinn, of Tegan & Sara.

Just in case this video isn't enough, the link below takes you to a post Jonathan made recently which features links to other new videos from his latest album, Artificial Heart. Oh, and did I mention that this version includes an intro done on a theremin?

» Found at: Jonathan Coulton's website

Style

So, here we are... another mid-week post, filled with content pulled from Jason Kottke's incredible site where he always seems to find the most interesting stuff (and so generously shares it with the rest of us). I guess that's why I visit it every day!

Now, it's no secret that I've never been into fashion... but this is a typical 'too cool not to share' video you can find on YouTube. It's incredibly well done (I think) and a lot of fun to watch. Sure, it looks like it's some sort of promo for an event coming up in mid-September, but it's one of those super-vague viral promotions, so it doesn't take anything away from the clip.

If you enjoyed this sort of 'history' clip, be sure to also search out the classic Evolution of Dance comedy routine on YouTube and/or the soon-to-be-classic History of Rap clip featuring Justin Timberlake on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show... which seems to have been pulled down from the inter-webs! What's up with that?!

» Found at: kottke.org (of course)

Control

I don't know what to really say about these other than they are awesome examples of strength and control. These people who can do this stuff on a skateboard or bike impress me.  I don't know a lot about these sorts of feats, or if there are better guys (or girls) out there doing cooler things, but these two are top-notch in my books.  It helps that these videos, produced for a Channel 4 special/series it would seem, are of superb quality; the slo-mo shots, the music, the general feel and length of the video are all perfect.

Kilian Martin: A Skate Illustration

Danny Macaskill - Industrial Revolutions

(This is the first time I've embeded YouTube videos on the blog... let me know in the comments if they don't work for you.)

» Found at: kottke.org (of course...)

Plumber

Wow. This is pretty freakin' amazing.  As someone who was/is a big fan of the classic NES game Super Mario Brothers, this video (see link below) is a real trip.  Someone, namely Freddie Wong, created this vision of what it would have looked like for Mario to actually run World 1-1.

Very cool to watch. He's got a whole bunch of other stuff up on his YouTube page as well including a bunch of live-action SFX-filled videos. Certainly someone to keep an eye on!

» Found at: First Person Super Mario, World 1-1 (YouTube video)