Explaining one of Dynamo’s card tricks, possibly

An interesting video from our friends at ITN, featuring magician Dynamo, who releases the third season of his Magician Impossible series on DVD.    Other than the sleight of hand, I’m guessing that there are two jacks with his signature, because he can duplicate that. The journalist is never given her own card to bite: […]

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Wellington isn’t ‘dying’, but we’re going to have to prove our mettle

That didn’t take long, John.    I know, the economic statistics aren’t pleasant.    Wellington’s economy is stagnant and our population growth lags behind Auckland’s and Christchurch’s. I did predict this in 2010.    The difference is that I don’t give up on us quite so quickly.    I don’t think political leaders should.   […]

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The Saint goes on

I belatedly came across the YouTube preview of The Saint, a reimagining of the Leslie Charteris character, which was shopped at Cannes this month. It had been posted by Ian Dickerson, who at my last contact was the honorary secretary of the Saint Club. (A quick glance at the website reveals he still is.)   […]

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A look back at 2012: from an Italian Job remake to a royal pregnancy

Last year, it was quite humorous looking back on 2011 and what appeared on my Tumblr. And since my decade summary in December 2009 was a bit of a hit for some of you, I thought it might be worth a review of the year. In case you thought you missed out on much from […]

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Thinking to the future as Lucire turns 15

I’ve written so many editorials about Lucire’s history for our various anniversaries that now we’ve turned 15, I feel like I’d just be going over old ground. Again. I’d do it maybe for the 20th or 21st, but the story has been told online and in print many times.    But 15 is a bit […]

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The UK doesn’t look good as it pursues Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy

I missed Julian Assange’s statement on the day (catching up on work after being out) but who would have thought we would see a situation where Ecuador would be seen to be upholding a foreign national’s press freedoms (never mind what it does at home) and the Vienna Convention, while Britain would be making diplomatic […]

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It’s Miller time on the Sherlock bandwagon

Elementary is an modern-day, American TV version of Sherlock Holmes. It’s not an American remake of the Steven Moffat–Mark Gatiss update, which I love, and some might say it has taken too many liberties with the original. Watson is now female.    I’ll leave you to comment, but I don’t make my thoughts of remakes […]

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The social web is not divided by race

Above: A snapshot of my Tweetdeck: people of different walks of life, avatars where race is barely determinable, and logos which are not racial at all. Does the BBC expect us to take it seriously when it says we cluster by race on social networks? I came across this piece via Twitter, which instantly struck […]

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In the MG world, the Chinese understand Britishness better

Take a car range that’s not selling too well, and try to pull the patriotic heart-strings to see if you can move a few.    Trouble is, this ad for the MG 6 Magnette, which is running on some of our sites, is pretty awful.    It’s not convincing, for starters. Brand Germany has its […]

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Private I

Here’s a quick post for Easter, from my friend Wayne Thompson of Australian Type Foundry. If you want decent typographic puns, you need a typeface designer—not some of those groan-worthy ones that get circulated by those outside the industry. Private I from Wayne Thompson on Vimeo. You may also like The revenge of Arial Remarks […]

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