David Blaine | Gone Hollywood

Prophets make me think of the past, while museums make me plan for the future. I entered a museum yesterday, and I left with a clear vision for my next challenge.

Winter we huddle together, we keep warm. Summer, is all we can do for space, for freedom. Next summer will be for all of you, and a personal mission for me. Next summer will be ZOMBIE…Happy holidays, everyone.”

Yeah… I have no clue either. I’m sure it will be quite exciting… just like the last two were. [yawn]

source: davidblaine.com

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David Blaine… The New Stunt

Allie @ Gone Hollywood | Tuesday, November 21, 2006

David Blaine was put into a spinning gyroscope today in Times Square, New York City. They will shackle his arms and hands in on Thursday and then he will have until Friday to make his escape. If he makes it then 100 needy children will get a $500 spree from Target. The gyroscope will spin David around 24-hours a day.

He said: “This is more difficult than anything I’ve ever done,” Blaine said before he was loaded into the gyroscope, which was then hoisted 40 feet into the air. I’ve not tested it much. I will be learning how to do this as I’m doing it.” source

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WeSmirch

David Blaine Suffers Liver Damage from Underwater Stunt

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Tuesday, May 9, 2006

David Blaine has suffered liver failure and other permanent damage after attempting to break the world record for holding one’s breath underwater.

Magician David Blaine left the hospital Tuesday where he had been admitted for observation after being submerged in an 8-foot fish bowl with an oxygen mask for a week followed by a 7-minute breath-holding stunt.

Rescue divers jumped into the 2,000-gallon saltwater tank Monday night and hauled up the magician as he struggled to break a breath-holding record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. Blaine, who had spent some 177 hours under water, went without air for 7 minutes, 8 seconds as a finale to his endurance stunt.

After being given oxygen, Blaine, 33, looking weak and wrinkly, addressed the large crowd that had gathered around the tank on the plaza of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “I am humbled so much by the support of everyone from New York City and from all over the world,” Blaine said. “This was a very difficult week, but you all made it fly by with your strong support and your energy.”

The challenge had taken a toll on the magician’s body, including liver damage, pins and needles in his feet and hands, some loss of sensation and rashes, said Dr. Murat Gunel, who heads Blaine’s medical team and is associate professor of neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine. His medical team and trainer said they would talk in detail about his condition at a news conference later Tuesday.

Blaine started training in December, with some help from Navy SEALS. He lost 50 pounds so his body would require less oxygen. The water temperature was regulated to help keep his core temperature near 98.6 degrees, and he ate and relieved himself by tubes. He remained tethered to an oxygen tube.

As early as on the second day of his challenge, Gunel said, there was evidence that Blaine was suffering liver failure; the medical team consulted with medical experts at NASA before stabilizing his condition. Blaine’s underwater environment was similar to the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in outer space, he said. “I told him he needed to get out of the water, and he refused me,” said Gunel. “He said he did not want to let the people down.” The doctor said Blaine had agreed to allow researchers at Yale to examine him after the stunt to see what they can learn about how the body responds to the environment underwater.