The Workers are IN!!

[Richard Kaufman]

People independently use older names all the time. It's always unwise to assume that everyone has heard of, or remembers, the names of everyone else's tricks.

[Jon Allen]

But it's easy to spend 10 seconds on a search engine:

http://www.google.com/search?q=infinity ... GGLJ_en-GB

Surely people would want to come up with a brand new title for their book/DVD/trick and a little time searching would be in order. Maybe before the Internet it's easy to say you had never heard fo it or had no way of finding out. Not now.

[Brad Henderson]

We haven't run out of names. We have run out of people who are versed in the history of their art and therefor have no idea what has come before and what it was called.

(This of course is an overstatement. There are still plenty of people who know and care, but the vast majority of "creators" and "visual artists" have little knowledge of their history or even the foundations of their craft.)

Magic, as we all know now, began in the dark ages with Paul Harris and was brought into modern times by David Blaine. Anything before then is irrelevant. Anything since is AWESOME!!!! BADAZZZ!!! and, dare I say, KEWL!!!!

Besides, if it doesn't have a one word title or a video demo that begins with a ripped-jean wearing teen (or teen wannabee) walking through an abandoned street or warehouse area, it clearly can't be worthwhile.

[Pete McCabe]

They can sell fifteen types of beer, one hundred wines, fifty spirits but my beveridge of choice only warrents _one_ choice?

I believe that the standard restaurant's agreement with Coke gives them a discount if they do not carry any other cola drinks. Pepsi's has the same clause. So it's not the establishment's fault.

[Ian Kendall]

Pete, I know that. It's the ignorant bar staff who say 'it's the same thing' that gets to me. Just say it's Pepsi and I'll go somewhere else.

It's when you ask for one, and they bring another without realising that it matters to some people, and then get snooty when you point out the difference. If they asked for a vintage cabernet and I turned up with some supermarket plonk I imagine they would get quite miffed. But to me, wine is wine and it all tastes pish. There's a huge double standard going on.

Take care, Ian

[Pete McCabe]

Ah. I misunderstood.

One thing that happens all the timeat restaurants here in the States, at leastis I ask for a coke and they say "is Pepsi okay?" I was under the impression that they have to ask you. I can't remember anybody ever just giving me a Pepsi. But maybe they gave me a Pepsi and I didn't notice.

I had a friend once who lived in upstate New York, and when he was buying a can or bottle of soda would first look to see where it had been canned or bottled. If the Coke was from Rochester he would get that; otherwise he got Pepsi.

At the Magic Castle from time to time I will see Damien Nieman (director of Shade and a serious card mechanic) with four or five different decks of cards, working with one for a while and then switching to a different brand.

[Dustin Stinett]

"No Coke; Pepsi...Cheese burger!"
--John Belushi

[Ian Kendall]

Look what happened to Belushi...

My father could do a blind taste test on coke that was bottled in a 330ml glass bottle, 330ml can, 1 litre bottle and draught. My grandfather was high up in Beecham's, who did all the bottling for Coke before they had their own plant in the YooKay, and was able to get hold of the different types. The throng were surprised, to say the least, when Mike pulled it off.

Blackpool Winter Gardens is a Pepsi house, so I have to go outside to get anything to drink...

Take care, Ian

[Pete McCabe]

Belushi should have stuck with Pepsi.





(too soon?)

[David Alexander]

Ian,

Your father could probably discern the difference between Coke made with high fructose corn syrup instead of the "old way" with cane sugar. Aficionados claim the taste is different.

Costco brings in large quantities of Coke made in Mexico with cane sugar and people claim it's "The Real Thing."

[John M. Dale]

David,

There's a company in Dublin Texas, that is the first company that Dr. Pepper licensed to bottle Dr. Pepper, that still uses cane sugar as sweetener. I stumbled into it by accident and bought them primarily because they come in the old-style small 8 oz. bottles & I thought the looked quaint. When I tasted one, it took me back to my childhood. I realized why I had almost stopped drinking Dr. Pepper over the years. The taste difference is significent.

Side note - Dr. Pepper sued Dublin Dr. Pepper to force them to change to high fructose corn syrup, arguing that Dublin Dr. Pepper had to change because the parent company required all of its bottler's to follow the same formula. The parent company LOST the case when Dublin Dr. Pepper submitted the original hand-written contract in court. The contract stated the the product had to be made up accourding the "original recipe" and the original recipe called for cane sugar. Dublin Dr. Pepper would have been in breach of their original contract if they followed the parent company's instructions. The final resolution was that Dublin Dr. Pepper has to include the word "Dublin" next to the Dr. Pepper logo on all of their packaging.

If anyone is interested they have a website & will ship.

JMD

[Joe Pecore]

Pepsi has just release Pepsi Throwback http://www.pepsithrowbackhub.com/ which uses real sugar.

[Ian Kendall]

Nope, this was in the early 70s.

The difference in flavour is down to something called the 'effervescence' - and not in the traditional sense of the word. It's to do with the different pressures in different containers, and this affects the size of the CO2 bubbles. I'm told it's the same thing with sparkling wine, but I wouldn't know. For example, a plastic 1.5 litre bottle is not as pressurised as a 330ml glass bottle, and the taste is noticably different.

I noticed a very slight flavour change when I lived in the States, which I attributed to the US cans being 350ml, and the UK cans being 330ml. Many years ago we used to have the 'Supercan' which was a 500ml can (now in plastic bottles) which was also different.

The best flavour these days (in a completely subjective test) is the 330ml glass bottles, but the best ever was the 1 litre glass bottle which is no longer available (at least over here).

Take care, Ian

Great Grand Pooh Par of Geeks, Coke division.

[Dustin Stinett]

Perhaps that explains why I prefer Diet Coke from a fountain machine over cans or bottles; I just find it "better."

And how did we get off on this tangent anyway? (He says trying to avert guilt...)

Dustin

[Bob Gerdes]

I read somewhere that Diet Coke from a fountain machine still uses saccharin as the sweetener, which is why it tastes different than Diet Coke in cans and bottles.

And I agree that Coke made with cane sugar tastes better than that made with high fructose corn syrup. Try them side by side to see for yourself.

[Richard Kaufman]

Coke Zero and Cherry Zero taste much better than Diet Coke (spoken by a person losing weight).

It's true that regular coke made with cane sugar is much better than when it has high fructose corn syrup as the sweetener. If you feel that way, too, then you can get it with cane sugar during the Jewish holidays since that's the only way they can make it kosher.

There's a pretty good thriving black market in Coke made with cane sugar, which I think people bring over the border from Mexico.

[Joe Mckay]

Can I take a tangent from this tangent? How comes American chocolate tastes worst than British chocolate? Is it because they use corn syrup instead of sugar in American chocolate (due to some kind of subsidy on corn syrup?). Also - Do Americans realise their chocolate tastes so bad? Or are they used to it? I haven't tried much American chocolate - but Hershey's bars are a good example of this kind of awfulness. I have heard many others say similar things as well...

Don't mean to start a fight by the way. I may be British - but I love America!

All the best,

Joe

PS I am genuinely curious. Do Americans realise they have very poor chocolate?

PPS RIP Cadbury!

[mrgoat]

Can I take a tangent from this tangent? How comes American chocolate tastes worst than British chocolate? Is it because they use corn syrup instead of sugar in American chocolate (due to some kind of subsidy on corn syrup?). Also - Do Americans realise their chocolate tastes so bad? Or are they used to it? I haven't tried much American chocolate - but Hershey's bars are a good example of this kind of awfulness. I have heard many others say similar things as well...

Don't mean to start a fight by the way. I may be British - but I love America!

All the best,

Joe

PS I am genuinely curious. Do Americans realise they have very poor chocolate?

PPS RIP Cadbury!

It's a mixture of the fact they use corn syrup and the fact that the large popular bars, Hershey's etc have almost no cocoa solids.

There are some great "gourmet" chocolates in Americanland though.

[mrgoat]

Mmm, brown sugary water.

[Ian Kendall]

_fizzy_ brown sugary water. Get your priorities right.

[mrgoat]

_fizzy_ brown sugary water. Get your priorities right.

Jebers I feel stupid. :)

"So do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come and change the world?"

I love that...

[Richard Kaufman]

Mass produced milk chocolate in the US does taste icky. Smarties just kick the ass out of little old M&Ms.

[Ian Kendall]

I was told that the American chocolate had a high wax content to stop it melting in the hotter temperatures.

Not something we have to deal with on a regular basis. Apart from the wussies who live on the south coast, that is.

Take care, Ian

[Pete McCabe]

Tootsie Rolls were created to provide soldiers with a chocolate treat that wouldn't melt in hotter temperatures.

Meanwhile they now have Smarties that are actually gum. They use Razzles technology.

[Bill Mullins]

Speaking of bad chocolate and bad soft drinks, which do you like better: Yoo-Hoos or Chocolate Soldiers?

[Richard Kaufman]

Yoo-Hoo!
What the heck is a Chocolate Soldier?

[Dustin Stinett]

Yoo-hoo is to chocolate as Sunny-D is to orange.

[Pete McCabe]

We don't need Mark Lewis to derail a threadwe can do it ourselves.

[Mark Paulson]

These guys make some awesome chocolate!

http://www.boehmscandies.com/catalog/aboutchocolate.php

http://www.boehmscandies.com/catalog/

http://www.boehmscandies.com/catalog/in ... 0cf4837d58

[Jon Allen]

Over at www.confectionary.com they're debating the merits of Coins Across vs 3 Fly.

[Jonathan Townsend]

? what sort of site is that?

and besides the basic discussion has been with us since the three ball transposition and billiard ball routines with that passe phase were shown around early last century.

[Richard Kaufman]

It's a joke, Jonathan! There is no website there.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Guess conjuring with chocolate coins has yet to catch on. :)

[Joe Pecore]

Guess conjuring with chocolate coins has yet to catch on. :)

Paul Harris tried to start it in the 80s http://www.geniimagazine.com/wiki/index ... olate_Coin ;)

[Jon Allen]

All this talk of food and drink reminds me that I did once visit the USPCC factory. I looked up at the ceiling and there were plates of food there.

[Jonathan Townsend]

They had plates of food on the ceiling?

[Terry]

They had plates of food on the ceiling?

They used dough balls instead of wax.

[KHC]

Getting back on track here, I will have to agree with Dr. Rubenstein. As people have pointed out here, the term "workers" were mere subtitles. This, in my opinion does not infringe upon Mr. Close's titled series (which I do own). The definition of a "worker", in the realm of magic (at least in my eyes, that of a hobbyist for 40 years) means tricks that are well worn, commercial, performed day in day out by the professional magician, and more importantly, tricks that consistently entertain the lay, paying, audience. Granted, the term may have been coined by Mr. Close (because of his seminal series), but I believe has now become part of the magic lexicon.

[Todd Lassen]

I had to laugh when I saw what Close is getting all arrogant and rude about. Yeah, we're all good at something. It's better though, sans the huge ego and never present personal charm.

It seems obvious to me that Close is saying that the word which he has redefined to show a certain brand or quality of magic...is not good enough to be used by the likes of these coin gods to describe their material. Get over it.

Tsunami this, whatever that means.

[Brandon Hall]

Hershey's bars are a good example of this kind of awfulness.

The process that goes into making Hershey's chocolate involves letting the milk sour slightly, hence the differrent taste. Compare Nestle's to Hershey's and it really stands out.