Day 26 - Water pipe attacker fined

A businessman has been fined nearly £1000 after pleading guilty to charges of criminal damage and threatening behaviour at the site of David Blaine's endurance feat.

 

Stephen Field, of Godalming in Surrey, had scaled the tower that supports David Blaine's water supply pipe. He claimed afterwards that he wanted a better view of the illusionist.

 

Handing down the fine at Tower Bridge Magistrates Court, district judge Stewart Black said, "I can't understand why people like you can't leave Mr. Blaine in peace".

Day 26 - Fantasy dinner guests

David Blaine might be starving, but when planning his fantasy dinner party his interest is conversational rather than culinary.

 

The illusionist last night revealed his ultimate dinner party guest list, which included Jesus, Ghandi, Leonardo da Vinci, Hitler, Howard Hughes, Albert Einstein, Dostoevsky, PT Barnum, Orson Welles and Primo Levi. Blaine would also like to invite Bridget Bardot, so that he could watch other guests try to impress her. "But I think Jesus would win", he said.

 

Blaine's banter is further evidence that he is in good spirits despite steady physical decline. He has begun complaining of muscular pains and suffering from nosebleeds.

 

Blaine has also been buoyed by the unexpectedly temperate conditions since he began his feat. The illusionist has stated in recent days that the mild weather confirms London as the best location for Above The Below.

 

Meanwhile Pamela Anderson and Naomi Campbell are the latest celebrities to have visited David Blaine in his temporary home. The pair joins a growing list of famous faces seen at the box, including film star Edward Norton, Uri Gellar, comedian Frank Skinner and Sir Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle hit the headlines last week when his companions were involved in an altercation with a photographer.

i saw somewhere that he had a girlfriend or something before the stunt and that now she is revealing all their "secrets" - naughty naughty..

how baaddd.. so very bad.

i really feel bad for blaine. i don't think he ever thought the public would react the way they have been behaving..

:/

I like Blaine...poor him!

yeah i hope he's alright when he comes out!!!!

 

but he is an illusionist so i reckon he's cheating.........it's a robot in that box!!!! :rolleyes: :dozey:

Day 28 - Interview: Harmony Korine

Harmony Korine, David Blaine's best friend and collaborator on Above The Below, talks to our reporter about the reaction of the public, the inspiration for the project and what David is discovering as he endures starvation.

 

Sitting directly beneath David Blaine's Perspex box, I first asked Korine about the nature of the British public's response. Initially there was scepticism, especially in sections of the media. This now seems to be giving way to interest in and support for Blaine. How does he feel about this?

 

Korine is unmoved by either reaction, saying "there’s no right or wrong way to view this”. He agrees that this could be read as typical Brit cynicism giving way to our love of the underdog, but feels in the end that the feat is about creating a “discourse” or conversation rather than creating one particular effect.

 

Indeed, Korine is keen find out what happens next in this regard. “One of the things that makes this interesting to me is to see how, as [David] grows sicker, the people respond. Whether they grow sicker with him or whether they come and try to lift him up”.

 

Judging by the crowd’s mood today, the latter will be the case. The perimeter fence that protects the ground beneath Blaine’s box is heavy with homemade banners shouting ‘You’re amazing David’ and ‘Keep The Faith’ and each evening brings crowds of well wishers to witness the illusionist.

 

I asked Korine what inspired the feat. David seems to be moving away from straight magic towards performance art. Did the art and literature that Blaine has been talking of while inside the box play a part in its conception?

 

Korine mentions the American performance artist Chris Burden and Franz Kafka’s story The Hunger Artist as influences. Burden has performed extreme acts like locking himself in a luggage locker for five days; Kafka’s story is about an artist whose career performing endurance acts is waning.

 

But Korine hesitates to attribute Above The Below to a small number of influences and says the awareness of connections to art and literature came later. “There’s millions. It’s hard to really dissect. There are lots of influences and at the same time there are none… It was more a feeling, a general idea. The Hunger Artist or Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor, were things that seemed to coincide, to link with this project”.

 

I wondered whether Blaine’s mention of Metamorphosis, which charts the changing relationship between an individual and society following a dramatic physical transformation, might be significant.

 

Korine thinks it is, but again, that David is finding these links as he experiences life in the box, rather than having been inspired by them in the first place. “He’s up there going through something and finding some kind of correlation in things that he’s read, I imagine.”

 

So artistic suffering is part of the process for Blaine? “Sure, of course” Harmony says. “But it’s not just artistic suffering… it’s just suffering, I mean people suffer.”

 

But does this suffering lead us towards some sort of truth? “I think it makes a million statements and probably makes none at all”, says Korine cryptically.

 

So much for the project. What will Korine’s film about Above The Below be like? “It’s kind of like a little film or essay or visual poem. It’s kind of like my movies… a pastiche... there’s no linear narrative, there’s no street magic. It’s images and sounds and footage and insight.”

 

Finally I ask Korine about the risks posed by the project. He and Blaine are no strangers to danger in the pursuit of artistic insight – Korine once got himself deliberately beaten up in New York while Blaine filmed the action – but surely he’s worried about the risks the magician now faces?

 

“Without question: he’s my best friend. I am very frightened... now is when it really starts to get scary. I’m worried but also have faith in the divinity of it. I think whatever is, is. And I hope it comes out right and I hope that he’s not damaged, but for whatever reason he’s putting himself through this, he needs to be there. At a certain point I relinquish my ties and I have to have a certain objectivity to create what I’m creating.

 

“At the same time, on a personal level, it’s very hard. It’s hard for me to sit here and look up there, look at his face. I know he’s starving, but this is something that he needs to do and I understand that and in the end I think that’s most important.”

Day 31 - Blaine’s condition worsens

 

 

David Blaine is showing further signs of physical deterioration and mental disturbance as he enters his fifth week inside the box.

 

Psychologist Dr John Potter told Channel Four that Blaine has so far fared “remarkably well”, partly as a result of the stimulation and support of the crowds. But the physiological and psychological strain of starvation and isolation are starting to take their toll. Dr Potter noted that Blaine was yesterday noticeably in a “disturbed way”.

 

As well as mood swings, murmuring and confusion, Blaine last week began complaining that the walls of his box seemed to be closing in on him. “I feel like they are pushing into my head”, said Blaine, “I can feel my head being squeezed – like the walls squeeze in like a vice grip”.

 

Dr. Potter is unsurprised that these delusions have occurred, though he originally thought that Blaine would imagine the walls to be wriggling.

 

Blaine’s physical weakness has also become more marked. The magician last week complained of patchy skin colour. Uneven pigmentation is a symptom of starvation, caused by melanin deficiency. Blaine is also having more difficulty standing; dizziness caused him to fall against the walls of his box several times during the weekend.

 

Adding to the illusionist’s woes is the colder weather and he is complaining frequently of his inability to keep warm. Starvation undermines the body’s capacity to regulate its temperature, and Blaine has been forced to use all of his clothing and bedding to stay warm.

Day 31 - Blaine sets out his stall

 

David Blaine has made a bold statement outlining his beliefs and his intentions for Above The Below. At the end of last week he wrote the following on the side of his box:

 

“I do not consider myself as part of an individual race or country or religion, just simply a human being, and this is my exploration and new discovery of how strong we all are in mind, body and spirit. Peace.”

 

Despite the grandiose words Blaine spent some time during the weekend imagining the simple things he will enjoy after leaving the box. Food was first on the list, with the illusionist saying, “Soup is what I'm most excited about”. The thought of hamburgers, on the other hand, leaves him “repulsed”.

 

Blaine is also looking forward to a good wash, imagining the long showers and baths he will take and the chance to brush and floss his teeth. “It'll be nice to smell clean fresh air”, Blaine also said.

 

In a separate development, Blaine came under verbal fire on Saturday afternoon when a man with a megaphone began berating him. However, the man was eventually forced to leave when the rest of the crowd responded by booing and jeering him.

 

Blaine appeared amused during the incident and later said “I kind of feel bad for that guy… he seemed to be filled with bitterness”. Addressing one element of the man’s verbal onslaught, which asked how Blaine could be smiling while starving, Blaine said that his mother had remained positive throughout terminal illness, despite her suffering. This acted as inspiration, he said.

 

Blaine, now in his fifth week in the box, is physically weak and sometimes incoherent. The final two weeks of the feat are expected to be the most difficult and dangerous.

Pre-order the 'Above The Below' DVD

 

 

You can soon buy David Blaine's most challenging and outrageous feat yet on DVD and video and win a JVC home entertainment system worth £600.

 

Pre order 'David Blaine: Above The Below' (released on 24 November) from the Channel 4 online shop and you will be entered into our prize draw to win a JVC home entertainment system worth £600 or one of ten runners up prizes of 'David Blaine Showman' on DVD.

 

David Blaine: Above The Below, tells the full story of his time in the plexi-glass box suspended by Tower Bridge. 'Vertigo', Blaine's recent challenge standing on top of a 100 foot pole in New York, previously unseen on DVD in the UK will also feature on the DVD. Also featuring will be more of David's incredible street magic, both in London and New York.

http://www.c4shop.co.uk/indexdavid.cfm

Day 33 - "I'm learning in here"

David Blaine has been expressing his appreciation of life without food and human contact.

 

Last night the illusionist said, ‘I think being in this small glass box has been a pretty important learning experience. I learned a lot about myself that I would never come to [outside]… it’s a very valuable thing’.

 

Blaine went on to describe the value of solitude as a means of getting perspective. Last night, he said, ‘I often imagine that this is my cave and in this cave there is peace and solitude and I get to really think about what’s important to me’. Blaine returned to his theme this morning, commenting that, ‘I’ve learned more in this box than any books’.

 

The magician has also come to realise the power of the mind in overcoming suffering. Despite the physical pain he is experiencing while his body starves, last night he said, ‘I just send my mind elsewhere and the pain goes away… it’s all mental I think – your mind can overcome anything.’

 

Despite his enjoyment of isolation, Blaine has been appreciating the contributions of spectators. One woman unfurled a banner with an Oscar Wilde quotation – “The public is wonderfully tolerant – it forgives everything except genius”, which prompted much mirth from the magician. And a group of youths showed off their breakdancing skills, prompting Blaine to say later that they were ‘unbelievable… at a level I’ve never seen’.

 

Meanwhile, Shirley Bassey and Dan Ackroyd are the latest celebrities to visit the site of Blaine’s endurance feat. They follow Pamela Anderson and Naomi Campbell, who were there last week, plus Sir Paul McCartney and film star Edward Norton.

Day 34 - Blaine's charity work

David Blaine has been talking about the importance of charitable giving. In the second reference to his own unpaid work this week, he has been describing the time he spends visiting sick children in hospital.

 

The illusionist said, “I do a lot for people and kids. I also give a lot of money, but mostly I spend my time doing magic for kids that are sick in hospitals or reading to them… I believe in education more than money”.

 

Blaine’s comments seemed to be prompted by speculation over how much he will earn for his feat of endurance. Suggesting that he will earn less than is popularly thought, the magician said, “I’m not making a lot. I’m not greedy at all… I need a salary always to continue doing what I do… to continue to do these kind of things”.

 

Blaine has high hopes that Above The Below will demonstrate his own belief in the power of the spirit, which he says is “greater than the flesh”. His views appear to have been shaped by the death of his own mother from cancer when he was just nineteen.

 

“I watched my mother die a beautiful death as a kid”, said the magician. “She was starving, she had cancer, she had surgery all the time, but yet she managed to smile always, and find love through the worst of conditions and that’s what I think that this is for me, it’s my way of finding beauty in suffering”.

 

Blaine is now approaching the end of his fifth week inside the box. Despite increasing frailty and confusion, he appears to be in good spirits.

Day 35 -Blaine estimates weight loss

David Blaine yesterday estimated his own weight loss at 24lb which, if correct, would make his current weight 181lb. Looking increasingly gaunt and frail, the magician has also been talking about his reduced frame.

 

Blaine says he can now put his thumb and middle finger around his ankles and that both his hands fit around his upper thigh.

 

Weight loss is not the only side effect of starvation, however. The magician has also complained in the last twenty-four hours that his vision is becoming blurry. This latest symptom joins a list of ailments that includes muscle pains, uneven skin pigmentation and a throbbing head. Though Blaine is still able to stand, he is increasingly dizzy when he does so.

 

One unexpected problem experienced by the illusionist is balls of wool emanating from his sweater. "It's everywhere", said Blaine yesterday, "I feel like I'm sleeping with sheep. It's always in my mouth, on my beard... it gets in the back of my throat'.

 

Nonetheless, Blaine's own problems have not prevented him from considering issues relating to life outside the box. Yesterday he turned his attention to the evils of cigarettes. "I find cigarettes the most repulsive thing there is" Blaine said. "They smell bad, rot your teeth, your mouth smells like an ashtray at all times, your lungs rot, it annoys people... and you're assuring yourself death. I think it's the worst drug of all drugs".

 

Blaine is now approaching the final - and most dangerous - week of his endurance challenge.

“I do not consider myself as part of an individual race or country or religion, just simply a human being, and this is my exploration and new discovery of how strong we all are in mind, body and spirit. Peace.”

 

 

uh-huh yeah the cheque he gets at the end is pretty darn nice too isn't it?

Day 38 -Thousands throng David's box

 

 

An estimated 20,000 revelers gathered to support David Blaine during his penultimate weekend in his Perspex prison.

 

Despite the presence of less supportive elements during Friday night – revelers kept the illusionist awake with fog-horns – Blaine appeared to be heartened by the large numbers of people.

 

In addition to ordinary spectators, the scene was enlivened by the presence of an Elvis impersonator on Saturday. To the delight of the crowds he ran through classic tunes like ‘All Shook Up’, ‘You Are Always On My Mind’ and ‘Suspicious Minds’.

 

For his part, Blaine kept viewers at home occupied with an explanation of mass and gravity. The illusionist also appeared to contradict himself when he yesterday said, “Life doesn’t make any sense… so why try to figure any of it out. … I know nothing at all.” Later the same day he was heard to say, “it's amazing how much I've learned inside my little box. I've learnt a lot more than I expected”.

 

Despite the suffering caused by his deprivation Blaine has also been pondering a further endurance test: how long he can he survive without water. The illusionist says that he once went without H2O for two-and-a-half days and is now “really curious” to see how much further he can push this limit. “I don’t know, I'm guessing it's around seven or ten [days]”, he mused.

 

On Sunday Blaine enjoyed a performance by a group of Irish dancers. The illusionist was also moved to comment again about the temperate weather experienced during his feat. Though he is complaining more about his inability to stay warm as he starves, Blaine said yesterday that the weather had been “unbelievable”.

Day 38 - Medical update

 

 

David Blaine’s poor physical and psychological condition was exacerbated at the weekend by lack of sleep. The magician was kept awake most of Friday night by members of the public who shouted and sounded fog-horns at the site of his endurance feat.

 

Without nutrition the illusionist is especially dependent on sleep to maintain his energy levels. The result of the disturbance was discernible on Saturday, when Blaine was noticeably more lethargic and susceptible to mood swings, as well as suffering from migraine. At one point the illusionist was heard to say, “My head has just gone crazy. I don’t know what to do with myself”.

 

A member of Blaine’s team has said Blaine’s problems are partly a sign that he is now entering the toughest phase of the feat, during which his suffering will grow exponentially. On Saturday Blaine said, “This last week is the tough part… I can feel it getting really hard”.

 

For his part, Blaine seems to find his own odour the most unpleasant aspect of starvation and isolation. He says he smells strongly of sulphur and has repeatedly spoken about his planned personal hygiene regime after he emerges. He wants most of all to floss and brush his teeth, as well as take repeated showers and baths.

 

In addition to the physical ailments of he is experiencing, the illusionist is occasionally incoherent and has been exhibiting signs of delusion. This weekend he has complained again of some claustrophobia, saying the Perspex walls “feel like they’re crushing [his] skull apart”. Blaine has also described dreams in which he thinks worms are growing in his stomach.

 

Blaine is due to emerge from the box on Sunday 19 October

David Blaine charity auction

The Starcards David Blaine Special is a charity auction in aid of the world-famous Great Ormond Street Hospital. David Blaine fans can bid for two specially signed playing-cards professionally mounted with a colour photo of David and a unique signed Great Ormond Street Hospital T-shirt.

 

David spent some time at GOSH entertaining the children with his unique magic shortly before starting Above The Below.

 

The David Blaine auction starts at http://www.starcards.org from the evening of Wednesday 15th October until Wednesday 22nd October 2003.

 

All proceeds will go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The hospital provides world-class specialist paediatric care, research, training and education.

 

Visit the Starcards website here

http://www.starcards.org/

Day 40 - The hardest challenge

 

David Blaine has said that Above The Below is the hardest challenge he has ever faced. The illusionist has been using his time in the box to consider previous feats and revising his opinions about their level of difficulty.

 

Yesterday Blaine said, “I used to think that Buried Alive was so hard that I tattooed it on my arm - ‘7 days and 7 nights’ - to represent what I went through. Now in retrospect I could do that like nothing”.

 

Blaine went on to say that the recovery time for Buried Alive, in which he spent seven days and nights buried underground in a coffin-sized box, was two days. In stark contrast, when he emerges from the box on Sunday evening, Blaine is expected to spend up to a month in hospital, where he will be gradually reintroduced to food.

 

Despite the physical suffering Blaine endures, he appears to be in good spirits and has described the “the moments of pleasure” which have helped him stay positive. Blaine cited “the sunrise, the sunset, the rainbows, the smiles, the river, the view” as things that have sustained him. “So even though [Above The Below] is the hardest”, he said, “it’s also the most beautiful”.

 

Yesterday afternoon Blaine appeared so moved by his experience that he began to weep. But he assured viewers that his were “tears from happiness not sadness”.

 

Blaine is now in the final week of his endurance challenge. Despite his starvation he has been talking less about food than about showering and brushing his teeth.

Day 41 - Medical update

Blaine has talked repeatedly of the high acidity of his blood during the last few days. Nutrition expert Dr Adam Carey confirms that this is a side effect of starvation. Higher pH results from the body breaking down reserves of fat and protein in order to order to generate the glucose that is essential for brain function. Whether higher pH is related to the smell of sulphur that Blaine has repeatedly described is less certain.

 

Blaine has also said he is having difficulty breathing. Though it is difficult to pinpoint the cause without examining Blaine firsthand, Dr Carey believes this is most likely to be a side-effect of reduced muscle mass and strength. All muscles, including those in the body’s vital organs, reduce in size during starvation. In this condition, even something as simple as breathing may become more problematic as the diaphragm and lungs get weaker.

 

Blaine is due to emerge from the box on Sunday evening and will be taken directly to hospital where he will be gradually reintroduced to food. This could be the most dangerous phase, however. Damage may occur if re-feeding takes place before the bowel has recovered from the damage caused by starvation. There is also a possibility of electrolyte disturbance as the body struggles to adjust to food. In extreme cases such disturbance may even cause heart attack.

 

The first phase of recovery, during which the body is reintroduced to food usually takes 7-10 days. However, the process of building strength and fitness is much longer. Dr Carey believes that Blaine, who was in excellent physical condition before entering the box, will take up to six months to regain his former level of fitness.

:stunned:

:lol: its his own fault and has no sympathy from me.

Day 42 - heart palpitations

David Blaine’s medical team is seriously worried for the illusionist’s health, after it emerged that he is having heart palpitations.

 

The irregular heartbeat has been caused by a lack of potassium and by thinning of the heart’s walls.

 

Starvation causes all of the body’s organs to shrink as muscle tissue is broken down into glucose.

 

A shortage of electrolytes – including potassium – in the body may lead to problems with heart function as cells struggle to transmit the electrical signals which control their function. In extreme cases, this may lead to heart attack.

 

It is not know whether his condition is jeopardizing Blaine’s ability to stay in the box until Sunday evening, when he is scheduled to emerge.

Day 42 - Blaine's ailments in full

 

 

Earlier this week David Blaine described the physical pain and discomfort he has endured during his time in the box. In one of his longest speeches since entering his Perspex prison, the illusionist read aloud from his journal, giving a complete list of his ailments. A selection of his words follows.

 

“I wrote down the most difficulties I had.

 

“The first was the backache. The pad is only one inch thick – so when I lie down… my back is in continual pain which started on day two. Also when it gets cold this pad gets really hard so that’s another crazy discomfort.

 

“Number two is sharp shooting pains in my muscles… I can’t stretch arms or legs out ‘cause of this killing pains.

 

“Next – always cold at night – the walls are thin. The lights do nothing to provide heat. The two small, round heaters didn’t last – if I put my hands right against them I can feel that... In the day, the sun bakes.

 

“Number four. Headache.

 

“Number five. Strobe light effect in eyes.

 

“Number six. My heart is beating really fast, then slows down and stops – it’s irregular.

 

“My mouth is always dry which reminds me to drink which is good, and it tastes like sulphur – which almost tastes like s***. For the first days it tasted sweet, cos my body was breaking down sugars glucose.

 

“Dust balls all over everything – they even get in my nose and throat.

 

“When I stand up everything goes black and sometimes my hearing goes out.

 

“When I concentrate on something too much it hurts in my head.

 

“Fantasies about food – don’t usually hurt but once in a while I crave it.

 

“Cause of the taste in my mouth the water is often disgusting to drink.

 

“I’ve only taken a ‘number two’ once, so my body is holding it in and that hurts. Often I wish I was free.

 

“It doesn’t smell too great in here. I don’t smell too good. When I lean face down through that hole – that’s the only time I get fresh air. I wish I could shower and brush my teeth and have some fresh thin soup. This box is always dropping suddenly ‘cause the cables drop so that’s freaky – I’m used to it.

 

“And the last one is that I always want to vomit ‘cause my body is so acidic – and that is why I burp a lot. “

DoogieJ, i'm glad you're so happy about it!:/

 

I found some pictures...

 

 

Here is a link with more stuff.

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/en/082803magicianblaine&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=1&t=&prev=35

Great pic of David , also the link as some cool pics too . nice 1

 

HTDAVID BLAIN :sneaky:

Day 44

only a few hours till david finaly emerges from is plastic pad , he as survived the full 44 days with out eating but looks quite ill . yet he seems to be in high spirits.

you can watch the man completing is task live on sky one this evening at 9pm

( uk only ) . Well Done David

 

HTDAVID BLAIN :sneaky: