For the Record

I think the dust has settled enough for me to address this now.

ON COPYING FROM THE CRIMP: 

I have the archive of all 512 posts ever published on the phantom notebooks and here is the list of the five which may be considered to be "hijacked" from the crimp:

•  magic fans
•  ethics in publishing
• recommending tricks from the past (different tricks by the way)
• recommending music (different music by the way)
• on the "kaufman style" big books

ON OPENING THE BLOG PRIVATELY: 

This blog has never been opened privately. Here's what happened: Mr Sadowitz began to post my personal details in the "un-moderated" comments section. Whether you agree with the concept of anonymity or not, i reserve the right to choose for myself what personal information of mine is published on the internet. Therefore, i immediately made the blog private (thus disabling further such comments) whilst considering what i wanted to do.

The only person to have access to the blog whilst in this state was me. 

(incidentally, in the short time between mr sadowitz making his feelings known to me, and starting to post my personal details, i had planned on taking the blog down anyway to reflect on what he said. when somebody like sadowitz says something, i listen.)

 I subsequently re-opened the blog, sadly having to moderate the comments. this is not because i wanted to censor opinions or avoid "being embarrassed", but because i'm no longer able to trust that personal information i have shared in good faith will not be made public against my will. I have not moderated a single comment.

 (it may also be worth noting that, upon sadowitz pointing out that my satirical post on the kaufman style books closely mirrored an article in the crimp, i immediately offered to remove it in exchange for a contribution to put in its place. mr sadowitz obliged with the "9/11" trick and my post was removed.)

There then followed a regrettable episode involving drunk e-mails and a silly little attempt to "take him on at his own game." the less said about that, the better... ;)

ON COPYING HIS WRITING STYLE: 

Well, i'll have to leave this one up to you to decide, if there is anybody still reading. As far as i'm concerned, the only similarity is that i'm fond of colouring my posts with a bit of bad language from time to time. Sadowitz has a notoriously vulgar style, yes, but it's ridiculous if he's trying to claim this as "his own." In any case, i think it's a little bit of an egotistical stretch to say that either of us has a "writing style". I certainly wouldn't claim to have one. Those who know me personally can confirm that i write on the blog in a conversational way that perfectly reflects how i am in "real life". I have been infinitely more influenced by someone like christopher hitchens in the way that i convey opinions.

Having said that, I do freely admit that i can not do anything but be influenced to a certain degree by someone i admire and respect as much as sadowitz. however, the specific accusations he is making are simply not true. so there :p

 p.s. sadowitz once told me that if i agree with his opinions then i should just tell people to buy the crimp - ha! good luck with that!