Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Magic

What do Valor and Flash of Defiance have in common?

256 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:50:55 -0800

What does the little tombstone on the title line of some Magic: The Gathering cards indicate? It has appeared in various sets and seems to stick with a card across editions if it is reprinted. I can't for the life of me see anything that ties together the cards so marked.

Here's one example: Valor
Here's another: Flash of Defiance

I know it's a silly little thing, but I've been curious since I first noticed it some time ago. Today it occurred to me to google it and I was surprised to turn up nothing.

MoTG Help!

HabeasCorpus — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:11:51 -0800

I've never been so addicted in my life... I think I'm addicted to Magic the Gathering: Online. I don't know what is wrong with me. Seriously. I feel pretty silly posting about this, but I'm moderately concerned. I've been playing this game for 3+ hours a day, on bad days 5+ hours for maybe a month now. It's interfering with my life, and I want it to stop. It interferes with my school work and my sleeping habits. It feels...out of control. I tried deleting the game. I re-installed it. I tried having my GF change the password. That worked for a week, until I retrieved it via email. Then I started playing regularly again. (isn't that objectively sketch-ball behavior?) I left my computer at my friends house by accident for a couple days, and didn't play. My GF came over for Thanksgiving, and I didn't play. During the periods where I don't play, I seem totally fine. I don't miss it, or crave it. But I inevitably come back to the game and start playing excessively.

Here's some relevant info about me. I smoke. Otherwise I don't have, nor have I ever experienced, any addictive habits. I've always been fine with drugs and alcohol, and can take them or leave them...and since college, I've really not bothered with them on a regular basis. I had one similar incident like this. In 10th grade I played Everquest excessively. Very excessively. I ended up deleting my character, which solved the problem.

I'm a 1L in law school, and I need to study more, and this issue is getting in my way. I definitely use this video game as a "break", or to relax. But I always say "Ok, a few rounds" and then end up losing my whole afternoon, or evening, or finding myself awake at 3AM. This type of behavior isn't relaxing: the resulting loss of time, the effect on my sleeping pattern, and the feeling of not being in control, just adds to the anxiety. To be fair, I moved away from my GF and my good friends to attend law school, and graduate school feels more isolating. I get enough of my work done. I'm not at the point where I don't do my work: I do a perfectly adequate job. But 1L year appears to be something like a nuclear arms-race, and I feel like I'm sitting around with some Hiroshima-era A-Bombs while other law students are busy building multiple re-entry ICBMS. These are probably relevant data points.

So: What should I do? Nothing? Evaluate and deal with the substantive issues in my life rather than worry about this? Worry about this? I would like Metafilter's opinion. I haven't often found myself in a position where I am (a) feeling out of control, or (b) retreating into a card game , something"relaxing", for so long it begins to negatively impact other areas of my life, or (c) unable to deal with the game in any form of moderation. It wouldn't be a problem if I felt like I could say "Hey, 45 minutes a day Max". I would like myself to set a reasonable goal and stick with it, though I am unable to. How do I deal with this generally, and how do I deal with this NOW, with finals approaching in a few weeks?

Simple Magic Tricks anyone?

AzzaMcKazza — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:02:59 -0800

I am in need of some new simple magic tricks capable of impressing young children and inebriated adults. So I've worked in childcare for around 8 years now and I've gathered a simple set of magic tricks that I've found win the attention and interest of the very young. I've been using these for awhile now and I've found that at least one of the tricks is capable of winning over even the toughest and most disinterested under-5. The problem is that I've done the shtick so much that I've grown bored of my own routine - regardless of how much I amaze a new audience.

My shtick consists of three classics...

The Old "Oooh look I can take my thumb off" Grandpa trick

The "Check it out I can stick a pencil up my nose, and out of my mouth and in my ear and out my mouth and in my eye " gag - Best used for over fives. Though in my history I've only had one kid try to copy me ( I stopped him in time). Nowadays I just tell the kids that they need to go to Hogwarts to learn how to do it and they must never, ever try the trick until they have.

and

The Amazing "Check it out I have a coin/rock/piece of lego in my hand, I've grabbed it with my other hand and "Wowee" it's disappeared" routine. - Very simple, but amazingly effective. Works on adults too.

So....Does anyone know of any other very simple prop (or not) based magic that is easy to learn and easy to impress? Surely there must be some cheeky Magical Mefites out there?

Can my chronomancer dodge bullets?

Caduceus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:11:46 -0800

I have some weird, tricky physics questions based on a fantastic (non-real) premise, involving bullet speed and potential injury. I'm toying with the writing of a fantasy-action story/novel set on the battlefields of the first World War. One of the characters is a wizard-type with the ability to control his own personal flow of time. The simplest explanation is that he can make it so that for every one second that passes for the rest of the world, ten seconds pass for him. I'm not sure how this would work if someone was able to do it in reality, but for purposes of the story, it means both that he moves ten times as fast as everyone else, in a fast-forward sort of way, and that anything that might be able to affect him moves 1/10th the speed.

My questions involve the effect of bullets shot at him. He's on the side of the Allies, so as his major concerns are German bullets, I've been referencing this, this, and this Wikipedia page, but I just plain don't know how to do the physics anymore.

Based on my premises, it seems that the effective muzzle velocity for a German rifleman shooting at him should be 87.8 m/s, instead of 878 m/s as the Gewehr 98 page places the real velocity. My first question is, would a bullet going that fast be visible or dodgeable?

Second, the ammunition page says that the weight of the 1905 version of the round (which is the one they used in the war) is 9.9 grams. If I'm doing my math right, that means the momentum of the bullet should be 0.86922 kg*m/s. However, I have no idea how to turn that into force, or what in general it means in terms of it actually hitting the protagonist. If he were hit in his time-shifted state, how much would it hurt him?

Third two-part question: if he could not dodge bullets at 1/10th speed, how much would he have to "slow time" to be able to dodge them. If 1/10th speed bullets would still be lethal, at what point would they not be lethal?

Finally, as a bonus question, what could he do to his enemies? If he were to throw a punch while time-shifted, what effect would that have on the punchee, given that he's effectively throwing his punch in 1/10th of the time as a normal punch is thrown? Would that be ten times the force? One hundred times the force? What would that do to someone in real world terms?

I would be happy to just be given a decent idea of the answers I'm looking for, but if anyone can show me how to do the physics despite the strange starting premise, I'd be really thrilled. Thanks!

How to tell a witch?

Nonce — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:17:34 -0800

After going to the library and conducting some research, you decide there's no two ways about it: Your next-door neighbor is a witch! What were the signs that tipped you off?

(Please Note:

1. Assume the witch is female.
2. I'm interested in silly stereotypical nonsense that is an insulting caricature of actual practices AND things that would indicate a practicing witch in real life. Regional or country variants would be of interest. Any place or moment in history will do.
3. Any wording in this question that was offensive to practicing witches was entirely unintentional.
4. It's for something I'm writing.)

Gift Ideas for my Super Girlfriend

moonroof — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:45:20 -0800

My girlfriend wants superpowers. What should I get her for Christmas? My girlfriend is pretty into Heroes. And X-Men. And Harry Potter, Piers Anthony novels, that superhero game on Facebook, and pretty much anything with people who have super or magical powers. I asked her want she wanted for Christmas several weeks back, and she said, "Superpowers."

Now, instead of taking a chance on some radioactive waste, I've decided to put together a little kit. I've already ordered a copy of this book and , and I want to put together a box of little things like a glove with magnets in it for magnetism power, a little handheld fan for wind power, etc., for her to "try out" different powers.

So, what other things can I put in this kit that will give my girlfriend super/magic powers? Budget-friendly a plus.

Paul Daniels baffles me

Fiery Jack — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:59:01 -0800

Years ago on his Magic Show (80s, UK TV) I watched Paul Daniels pour apparently hundreds of different drinks from a single magic kettle. It freaked me out a little at the time and even now I'd love to know - how does that trick work?

Did I see Harry Blackstone Cut a Womans' Head Off?

jefficator — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:47:20 -0800

Does anyone remember a Harry Blackstone Jr. television decapitation that traumatized me as a child in the later 80s early 90s? I distinctly recall a television special with Harry Blackstone in which he put his pretty blond assistant in a guillotine and cut off her head. Then he placed her head on a counter and started having a conversation with it. I believe this would have aired on broadcast television, as we did not have cable, but I could be mistaken.

I was mortified as a child, but now I'm downright curious.

Anyone remember?

Please name this seemingly ungooglable 80s cartoon

Dormant Gorilla — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:52 -0800

What is this 80s cartoon about some possibly magical woman who lived under the ocean? Ok, this one's a bit of a longshot. Asking for a friend- google has failed us. There was a cartoon in the 80s- this is my friend's description verbatim: "some magical young woman dressed in white lived under the sea and some guy escorted her around the world under the ocean and mostly they ran away from pirates. She might have been part computer sort of. And there was a song called something like Pirates Under the Sea." And it was on Saturday morning cartoons.

I am going to go right ahead and apologize for the ridiculousness of this question but this is one of those things where if we don't figure it out it might come to blows. If anyone knows this I will buy you a popsicle.

Please design help me design a functionally medieval bedroom

jalexc — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:30:47 -0800

Please help me find tasteful, grown-up fantasy-themed decorative and design ideas for a bedroom. Longer explanation inside. I have a large bedroom that I'm considering decorating with some kind of medieval/fantasy theme. It shouldn't be too cute, but I also don't want it to be too severe. I'm not looking to go overboard on this, and don't want to put dragons and suits of armor all over the place. I've tried searching MeFi, Google, and various home design sites (like apartment therapy), but I'm having trouble finding descriptive terms for what I'm looking for. "Fantasy" might not be it.

The end result I'm going for is something where these three pictures (Joanna Newsom's Ys, Mastodon's Blood Mountain, and the Arnolfini Portrait) could all hang on the walls. I especially like the geometric patterns in the background of the Blood Mountain picture, and was thinking I could try to find some fabric with a similar design to stretch over wood squares and put up. Runes might also be good (something like this).

About the room: it's long, with hardwood floors and dark brown wood furniture. One long wall is all windows, so there's plenty of light. There are curtain rods, but we're just using blinds for now. There isn't a lot of space for free standing stuff, but there is a lot of open wall space and a lot of surface space and empty shelves.

Do you have any suggestions for nature/fantasy/magic decoration that won't make my bedroom look like a Spinal Tap show?

Or, do you have any suggestions for how I should phrase this so I can have more successful searches? ("watered down elder scrolls" "middle earth lite" etc. aren't turning up much) Is there a term for that geometric design, for instance, that would let me find similar things?

Happy to provide more info or clarity if needed. Thanks in advance.

Recommend a good spellcasting simulation game

Elminster24 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:26:04 -0800

Recommend some PC games that have in-depth spell-casting/spell creation systems. I'm in love with the concept of a wizard piecing together the knowledge to create a spell and then doing the scientific testing to perfect it. I also love when you can tell what spell someone is casting by the words they say and the gestures they make.

That said, I'm really disappointed with the spell-casting systems in most video games and could use some recommendations for new ones...preference here would be for MMOs although single-player games are fine. I'm not looking for systems that are pure guessing games--but ones that have scientific logic applied, like, hey, sulfur might be useful for fire-based spells... Games where you simply customize the spell and click a button to cast it *cough*Morrowwind*cough* don't interest me that much.

Examples of things I liked in other games are...
- The spell creation system in Asheron's call where you literally had to test different combinations to create different spells. This was great until someone posted every combination online and then if you wanted to be competitive, you had to just grab it there versus waste time and money figuring it out yourself.

- Avencast was fun for its twitch-based casting but it felt more like making the guy run in circles than actually doing gestures that resembled what one typically things of spell casting.

- I currently have Magic Wars on my iPhone and while the concept is cool, the execution is piss poor with gestures not reading your hand movements properly and the mic not picking up your words properly. Plus, the actual spells and such don't really make any difference on duel outcomes.

Any great magic simulation games would be fantastic. I recently asked for recos on survival simulations and received some great results (which included Stranded II--my new addiction) and I'd be absolutely thrilled if I came away from this with something as good.

Help me remember this crazy card trick

jluce50 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:15:24 -0800

I was taught this amazing card trick as a youngster and I can't remember it to save my life! When I was around 12 or so we had a Japanese foreign exchange student that taught me the coolest card trick. All I remember is that you got the person to pick a card and put it back in the deck without you seeing what it was. Somehow you know where the card is and you spread the cards in the deck out on the table, remembering where the chosen card is. You would then ask the person to draw a line on the table with their finger, dividing the cards. You then take whichever group does not contain the card and move them away. You continue to do this until you are left only with the chosen card.

It was really an impressive trick and it kills me that I've forgotten it. Can anyone fill in the details or tell me where to find more info on this trick?

Potter, Norrell, and....?

Doctor Suarez — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:10:49 -0800

Suggest absorbing fiction about mysterious England. This is purely a mood-driven question. I want to read more books that combine ideally British or possibly Continental European settings, the past (anywhere from sword-and-board to the 1950s), and perhaps some element of the supernatural. To give you some idea what I mean, here are the books that are close, but already read:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Neil Stephenson's Baroque Cycle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Shelley's Frankenstein
The Harry Potter Books (which are really close, I suppose, but a bit too youthful for me. Actually, truth be told, I haven't read them, but I made the insane decision to experience the saga from the movies and have my wife fill in the gaps.)

Okay, so I'm making you all work as literary Pandora Radio. And yes, it's somewhat similar to this question, which is an excellent start, but my peccadilloes are a touch different. Think you're up to it, chaps?

When do UK mobile providers change their prices on newer phone models?

K.P. — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:08:22 -0800

When could I expect contract price for the new iPhone and HTC magic to come down (UK)? It's time to renew and upgrade (I'm on Vodafone) and I'm torn between a new iPhone and the HTC Magic. But they're both fairly new, and the minimum monthly charge (or monthly+ initial cost) is outside my range (I'm not a heavy phone user).

Presumably this will change: Vodafone will make the HTC available in progressively lower bands, and a few reviewers have said the prices for the new iPhone are surprisingly high and should come down fairly soon. But can one predict when either of these things would happen?

(I know as a customer considering leaving Voda, I can negotiate a better arrangement than what's on offer to the public or initially offered to me personally. But I hate having to play that game and don't want to, say, spend the time & effort doing it now only to have the same deal that's offered to everyone 4 weeks later. Especially if "everybody knows providers restructure their prices on the 1st of September" or something like that. That's the kind of answer I'm looking for.)

Bonus cookie to anyone that can accurately predict when Voda will have the HTC Magic in black.

Where to play M:TG in NYC?

cyrusdogstar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:56:08 -0800

Where can I find folks to play Magic: the Gathering with in NYC? Haven't touched the game in well over a decade, got on a serious nostalgia trip this past weekend, and am considering seeking out some games -- provided I can find people to play with who aren't random 14 year olds.

Here's the skinny:

* I'm aware of the online version, but prefer the physical cards.
* I know there used to be a big store/gaming area in Manhattan called Neutral Grounds which closed recently and seems to have splintered things a bit.
* Jim Hanley's on 33rd hosts the official Friday night events (will likely stop by there sometime.)
* The Compleat Strategist, also in the mid 30s, may also host games at times (ditto.)
* There's another one or two spots in the outer boroughs (Queens, Staten) that are too far out for me, given I live in Jersey.

Are there any decent groups or locations other than these? Has anyone participated in events at Jim Hanley's or the Strategist and can tell me if it's worthwhile?

Finally, while this is sort of MetaTalky - are there any other Mefites in the region who would be willing to get together sometime?

Help a friend find a book she loved as younger person.

Syntoad — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:38:42 -0800

Trying to find a friend find a book she remembers reading as a child, fantasy genre, wizards, kids with magic, and it was a trillogy! Better description (kinda) inside Ok, so I'm too lazy to retype it all, so I'm just cutting and pasting my chat history where she is describing the book so please excuse the scatterbrainedness. She remembers having the book in middle school so it's at least 90's old, but probably pre 80's.

============
OKAY
this book
its about a brother and sister
it a sort of fantasy world, knights, magic, temptresses, oceans, sea, sacrfice
anyways
the brother has an affinity with fire, and the girl has an affinity for dream seeing or something to that effect
anyways they dont know this in the beginning
like because they are orphaned i think they get shipped off across the sea?
and on board the ship, the brother meets this white/silver haired lady who is the main evil person(from what i recall)
and she convinces him to lose his virginity to her and thus became her slave
and then the sister, like.. either figures out what is happening or she gets in trouble?
and there is this storm
and the brother and sister wash ashore this island
where they meet this grizzled old mage
after they explore the island
like they find him sitting in a meadow on a stump
and he speaks to the sister in her mind
and the brother gets jealous that he doesnt have the ability to speak mind to mind
and gets across the notion that he wants the power to protect himself and his sister
and like. the mage begins to teach them
but halfway through the brother's training the brother is like "DUDE I got this I"M SO AWESOME"
well the brother is like "Yeah I can control my powers im amazing and soooo powerful!"
and he leaves the island to go to the white haired lady
and becomes evil
the series ends with him catching himself on fire and destroying this forest and himself in order to destroy and evil army and save the kingdom from descrutction
but the sister always has hope in him and keeps trying to break through the evil the temptress bespelled him into
but the old dude was very important to the story, and i think he died when he finished training the sister
and she ends up i think advising the king? or something like that
i think the brother and sister's uncle may have tried to sell them as slaves and that may have been why they were on the boat at sea
but there was a lightning storm and it threw them off the boat maybe

Stand-Alone Fantasy Novels?

Jaybo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:46:02 -0800

Stand-alone fantasy book recommendations? So many fantasy books are parts of series so I'm looking for suggestions of fantasy books that are engaging, stand-alone works.

Bonus points if they have medieval settings and characters who use magic.

Finally, although it *is* part of a series, the person I'm asking on behalf of cites "Ink Death" as an example of the type of book they're looking for.

A trick is something a whore does for money. Or CANDY!

disillusioned — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:40:56 -0800

MagicFilter: How best to shoot sparks from your hand? There's an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney shoots sparks out from his hand and catches them with his other hand, to reveal what he guesses the person he's showing's reaction will be.

This cracked me up. More importantly, I thought how dorkyawesome it'd be to shoot sparks like that.

I've found a Funken Ring online, but the Youtube videos make it look unwieldy and woefully underpowered. (Specifically because it shoots out sparks that Barney "catches" with his other hand.)

I can't find a YouTube clip of him doing so, but it looks real enough and I can't imagine that they're CGIing the sparks... so, ideas?

Buying D'Lites In Bulk

thelloydshow — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:15:08 -0800

Buying D'Lites In Bulk So I'm curious as to how I could buy a ton of D'Lite magic tricks in Bulk and then re-sell at Markets/Online etc?

Yet another Magic: The Gathering Question

JoeXIII007 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:35:22 -0800

SO... what good cards have been released for Magic: the Gathering since ~Ravnica Block? Have not really played in a while, nor kept track of the cards, need a sort of briefing on the state of magic. Basically looking for simple, cost effective cards that can spruce up any non-competitive casual deck (not at all restricted to Type 1-2, Extended, etc.) or some good decklists.

In particular, I have a liking for Red decks, white weenie, and Mirrodin Block Style affinity (avoid Ravager, I currently use Broodstar for better or worse). If there has been some really good stuff to come out in support of those, that is what I am looking for. I am however open to other deck types as well.

This may be either a copy or branch off of this post. I searched online last night for some good tips, and found a few. I have been to the pauper magic site, which was a REALLY good source.

Thanks!

Flavor Tripping Party

howgenerica — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:06:19 -0800

My friend is having a flavor tripping party (with the miracle-fruit berry), and has asked everyone to bring something to try. I am shot for ideas. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Something creative, or clever, or anything, really. Just not lemons. Thanks!

ssh sessions when port 22 is locked down?

namespan — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:05:35 -0800

I sometimes visit a network where port 22 is locked down. I'd like to be able to initiate ssh sessions from this site. Is there any tunneling or other magic I can invoke to reach this goal, or any other solution short of badgering the admins? (I'm also not sure now to find out what other ports are open. I know 21,80, and 443 are, because I can do normal web and ftp stuff, but other than manually trying each port with telnet, I'm not sure how to check...)

Help me be a fantastic Cabaret MC . . . I need jokes, tricks, filler lines, and so on . . . oh, and this Cabaret is also a wedding!

donovan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:22:44 -0800

Help me be a fantastic Cabaret MC . . . I need jokes, tricks, filler lines, and so on . . . oh, and this Cabaret is also a wedding! Two dear friends are not just having a wedding, they're holding "Marry Me! A Cabaret Spectacular!"

I'm MCing a Cabaret show that will include burlesque, live music, juggling, an aerial performance (and so much more!), culminating in the lovely couple being married on stage by yours truly.

I'm kicking off the show and will be filling time between introducing acts and I want to have stockpile of:
**Jokes
**One liners
**Dead simple (can be stupid) magic tricks
**Anything that might make the audience laugh and smile

The tone can be funny, campy, irreverant, whatever! I'm hoping the hivemind can help me with some material!

Please and thank you!

Why Is Football Messing with My Reality

Powerful Religious Baby — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:32:20 -0800

There must be a simple explanation for this, but I'm damned if I can figure it out: in televised football games, how do they get the digital line of scrimmage and digital arrows marking which down it is to appear as if they're underneath the players' feet and bodies? No one I've asked seems to know, and my limited football vocabulary is seriously impeding my search for an answer. Help?

How can I make Microsoft Word print a complete document wirelessly?

newfers — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:17:17 -0800

Why are we getting incomplete printouts when attempting to print wirelessly from a laptop? I have a Laserjet L7680 connected to my wireless router so that my wife can print wirelessly from her laptop, and I also so I can print from mine.

Oddly, though, when she attempts to print from Microsoft Word (2007), only parts of the printout are completed.

I can print fine from my MacBook Pro, and from my Dell desktop, and she can print from Firefox and from Notepad, it seems, but now MS Word 2007 is misbehaving, and it's driving me batty.

I have the network set up via the Network Magic Pro software (which greatly simplified the process), and there does not appear to be any problem with the network. As I said, this seems to be a problem linked to MS Word (I have the full Office 2007 suite), and though there are workarounds (ie. don't use Word!), I'd much rather get my money's worth with that expensive piece of software!!

I have looked at the printer settings within Word, but do not see anything that would cause this problem. Also, sometimes the printout will contain 10 lines of the document, other times 2 lines, other times nothing at all.

The ink heads are fine, and everything prints perfectly from the desktop.

She uninstalled Office and reinstalled it tonight, to no avail. She has printed from Word in the recent past with no problem, btw.

Help! I am baffled... please give me some clues on what to look for!