Limited edition Bicycle Karnival Midnight deck of playing cards

This purple and black deck of cards is absolutely lovely. I like to tell myself that decks with lovely and unexpected art work distract people from mistakes as I’m performing sleight of hand. Mostly, I just like fancy decks of cards. Limited Edition Karnival Midnight Purple Deck Playing Cards by Bicycle via Amazon

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Limited edition Bicycle Karnival Midnight deck of playing cards

Quickly add the Google Play store to your new Amazon Fire 10HD

Last time I bought an Amazon tablet adding the Google store was a real pain! It takes about 3 minutes and one reboot on the new Amazon Fire HD 10 . In order to get the most out of my new 7th generation Amazon Tablet, I needed the Google Play store. GMail, Chrome and a few other apps were not available via Amazon’s walled garden. Used to be Amazon made this hard. Now it is very easy! To add the Google Play store follow these steps: STEP THE FIRST Enable apps from UNKNOWN SOURCES! Settings > Security > Enable Apps from Unknown Sources This will trigger a warning. Read it, then ignore it. THE SECOND STEP Download and install four Google apps in this specific order: Google Account Manager Google Services Framework Google Play Services Google Play Store STEP THREE Reboot the device. FOURTH Open the Google Play app. Login and start installing apps. It was that easy. I’m just getting into playing with the new tablet, but thus far it is great. I’m pretty sure this’ll work for all 7th generation tablets regardless of screen size. All-New Fire HD 10 Tablet with Alexa Hands-Free, 10.1″ 1080p Full HD Display, 32 GB via Amazon

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Quickly add the Google Play store to your new Amazon Fire 10HD

Parisian canals now open to swimmers

Paris, France is making good on its promise to reopen long polluted waterways to bathers. Up to three hundred people at any time can use the lifeguard-protected pools, although the pools only have locker space for 80. Located in a part of Paris already popular as a place to stroll in fine weather, the new bathing spot is likely to prove a major hit in an already hotter-than-average summer. Early reports suggest that the water is indeed delightful, though a small residuum of green algae does make a post-bathe shower a good idea. How did Paris pull this off? The city’s been working on cleaning up the waters here for decades. Paris’s canals here were once unsurprisingly filthy, running as they do through a former industrial area once packed with cargo barges and polluted by sewage. Since the 1980s, however, regulations managing industrial run-off have tightened substantially, while Paris has invested heavily in wastewater treatment and in preventing sewage from being discharged into the canal during periods of high water. Two years ago, following a concerted clean-up, bacteria levels dropped below safe levels, and rogue bathers have been jumping in the water here for a while. Meanwhile, the Canal Saint Martin, which runs downstream from the basin down to the Seine, was entirely drained and cleaned in 2016, a process that sent a powerful visual message to Parisians that the area’s historic filth was being swept away. Via CityLab

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Parisian canals now open to swimmers

Fender custom shop re-uses Hollywood Bowl bench boards to make $12k guitars

$12k for a guitar made of the boards where people sat and listened to historic concerts. What kind of pick-up does this fantastically expensive beauty come with? Best I can tell: Black. I hope it sounds really, really good. This is especially the case with Fender’s new, limited edition Front Row Legend Esquire line. Made in Fender’s Custom Shop by Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov, these special Telecasters are built to order using 100–year–old Alaskan yellow cedar from the Hollywood Bowl’s original bench boards. Since its official opening in the summer of 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has spent almost 100 years hosting some of the biggest acts of every decade. Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, and Black Sabbath are just a smattering of the talent that has graced the Bowl’s stage, and now, you can own a functional piece of its history. Shishkov maintained the characteristics of each piece of bench board that he used, with all of its original scratches, cracks, and bolt holes. The top of each guitar will also feature the original seat number. Via Reverb ( Thanks, Jason Mancebo! )

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Fender custom shop re-uses Hollywood Bowl bench boards to make $12k guitars

The Conjuring Arts Research Center: Manhattan’s hidden library of magic

Atlas Obscura discloses a secret library, The Conjuring Arts Research Center , established to preserve the secrets of magic! The not-for-profit organization was established in 2003, “dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of magic and its allied arts.” It was started by William Kalush, who developed a love of magic from the card tricks shown to him by his father, a Marine wounded in World War II. This love of card magic turned to a love of collecting magic books, which now form a wondrous collection of over 15,000 books—some dating to over 600 years old—housed in this hidden location. “I like early books that no one else has ever seen”, Kalush says, sitting in a high-backed, ornately carved wooden chair that wouldn’t look out of place with a wizard sitting on it. “Books of performances pieces, card secrets, many that are unique.” Browsing through the shelves stacked with all things conjuring, you will find obscure books on sleight-of-hand techniques, mentalism, deceptive gambling, the history of magic, and the mysterious secrets of card tricks. One book is the seminal The Expert At the Card Table, which appeared in 1902, written by an S. W. Erdnase. It’s one of the most detailed collections of sleight-of-hand techniques and card sharping, a book so iconic and well-studied within magic circles it is known as “the Bible.” Appropriately enough, S. W. Erdnase was a pseudonym. The real identity of the writer has remained a century-old mystery.

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The Conjuring Arts Research Center: Manhattan’s hidden library of magic

These cards are for throwing

These Banshee playing cards are made for throwing! Made of plastic, heavier and stiffer than my normal US Playing Cards Bicycle 808 style decks, the Banshee cards sail through the air. The cards also have some cuts in their face to make them scream! Made of tougher stuff, these cards last a lot longer than a paper deck and are a bit easier to learn with. You will need to practice, however, these cards do not instantly imbue you with skill. Talk about useful skills to have at a party! Banshees: Cards for Throwing via Amazon

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These cards are for throwing

Authentic early American eyewear

I’ve had these beautiful antique glasses for well over a decade. Retrospecs & Co. , the folks who sold them to me, have also taken fantastic care of getting me lenses, and an upgrade, over the many years. (more…)

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Authentic early American eyewear

Anti-Vaxxers successfully bring back measles and whooping cough

Anti-Vaxxers are responsible for the rise in two infectious diseases we’d nearly eliminated from the United States. Researchers at Emory and Johns Hopkins Universities have determined, through a National Institute of Health review , that the rise in measles is directly attributable to vaccine refusal, and that it is certainly helping whooping cough out as well. From the NIH study’s abstract: Findings We identified 18 published measles studies (9 annual summaries and 9 outbreak reports), which described 1416 measles cases (individual age range, 2 weeks-84 years; 178 cases younger than 12 months) and more than half (56.8%) had no history of measles vaccination. Of the 970 measles cases with detailed vaccination data, 574 cases were unvaccinated despite being vaccine eligible and 405 (70.6%) of these had nonmedical exemptions (eg, exemptions for religious or philosophical reasons, as opposed to medical contraindications; 41.8% of total). Among 32 reports of pertussis outbreaks, which included 10 609 individuals for whom vaccination status was reported (age range, 10 days-87 years), the 5 largest statewide epidemics had substantial proportions (range, 24%-45%) of unvaccinated or undervaccinated individuals. However, several pertussis outbreaks also occurred in highly vaccinated populations, indicating waning immunity. Nine reports (describing 12 outbreaks) provided detailed vaccination data on unimmunized cases; among 8 of these outbreaks from 59% through 93% of unvaccinated individuals were intentionally unvaccinated. Conclusions and Relevance A substantial proportion of the US measles cases in the era after elimination were intentionally unvaccinated. The phenomenon of vaccine refusal was associated with an increased risk for measles among people who refuse vaccines and among fully vaccinated individuals. Although pertussis resurgence has been attributed to waning immunity and other factors, vaccine refusal was still associated with an increased risk for pertussis in some populations. We all pay for anti-vaxx ignorance.

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Anti-Vaxxers successfully bring back measles and whooping cough

Obama administratrion permits states to manage marijuana

Via Reuters “The Justice Department said it would refocus marijuana enforcement nationwide by bringing criminal charges only in eight defined areas – such as distribution to minors – and giving breathing room to users, growers and related businesses that have feared prosecution.”        

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Obama administratrion permits states to manage marijuana