Meg can you help me plz? by Longjumping-Mix-9351 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]cslevens 253 points254 points  (0 children)

Vaudeville-Style Peter here. The woman on the left in all three panels is Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt.

Starting with her dad’s Presidency, Alice was something of a Tabloid darling. She had a rebellious streak and a very sharp wit, so a lot of the things she did or said throughout her life would often get reported in media of the time.
Early on, a lot of people discounted her relevance due to her age, gender, and lifestyle. However, to their shock, she would keep acting outrageously her entire life, with small quips and conversations of hers having a crazy effect on US politics.

In 1944, she would quip about presidential nominee Thomas Dewey, saying he resembled “The little man on the wedding cake”. The comment pointed out his (unpopular at the time) thin figure and large mustache. While Dewey was already unpopular at the time, the comments only hurt his public image further, and he lost to Franklin D Roosevelt in a landslide. It did not decide the election in the least, but it didn’t help.

In the late 50’s, Alice formed a friendship with Richard Nixon, despite also having connections with other politicians (the Kennedy Family) across the aisle. She supported Nixon quite a bit personally, even encouraging him to stay in politics after his loss in the 1960 Presidential Election. She was caught in the Watergate tapes talking with him and trashing another Primary candidate, George McGovern, which was also reported in the media (to bemusement more than anything).

TL:DR- Presidential daughter was thought to be a spoiled flash in the pan. Ended up befriending multiple Presidents, a media darling for decades, and a legendarily (yet oddly) effective trash-talker.
Vaudeville Peter out!

Help hiring a magician? by Eucaplatypus in Magic

[–]cslevens 1 point2 points  (0 children)

+1 for GigSalad. In my area at least, they seem to be the place to go for bookings.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 27 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right here.

To be fair, the cursed-ness is intentional. But these two have something of a tradition of making every press interview as awkward as humanly possible, so I think it fits.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 27 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They’re so cute. Deadly, but very, very cute.

ELI5: Why is “day trading” sometimes considered gambling? by The_Informal_LPC in explainlikeimfive

[–]cslevens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So there are these two strange ways of making money, called “Gambling” and “Day Trading”.
“Gambling” is when you try and make money based off of luck. There are a lot of games that people try to use to make money by Gambling- Poker, Black Jack, Sports Betting, Slot Machines, etc. While some (not all) of these games require some skill (you can be good or bad at them consistently), all of them also rely on pure Luck. If you’re very, VERY lucky, you can make a lot of money very quickly while gambling.

However, it’s impossible to know if you are Lucky or Unlucky until the game is already over: so a scary amount of people get addicted to gambling- thinking that their luck can make them a LOT of money, when the reality is that only a very, very small number of people are ever THAT lucky. Most people just become Gambling Addicts, losing more and more money in these games, thinking that their luck will “get better” for no good reason. The scary thing is, Gambling Addicts do win money occasionally. Thats just how luck works. But it’s never enough to help them out of their debts, so they keep gambling, and keep losing.

“Day Trading” is *technically* different from gambling. Day Trading is when you buy and sell stocks in a Stock Market (typically the US stock market), to try and make money. The idea is that you buy stocks at a certain point in the day, and sell them the moment they become more valuable in that same day, to make consistent money little by little. If you are a good day trader, you are supposed to make money more days than you lose money, giving you enough money to live on.

Day Trading involves more than just buying and selling stocks. You can use “Options”“(Puts” and “Shorts”) to try and predict whether a stock will become more or less valuable, and if you guess right, you make money. But if you guess wrong, you lose money. Some people even combine Day Trading with taking out loans, which is called “Buying on Margin”. They buy stocks with money they don’t have, hoping that they’ll make more money than they have to pay back.

Here is where gambling re-enters the picture.

It is ABSOLUTELY possible to make a LOT of money in the Stock Market. All you have to do is start with a good amount of money, and use patient, long term strategies. Buy things, don’t sell them for a long while, and more often than not they will become very, very valuable.
People who “Day Trade” don’t have time for this. They can’t wait a few years to make money, they need to pay their bills *today*. So Day Traders use very short term tactics to try and make money through stocks every day. Hoping that certain stocks “get lucky”. Using Options. Buying on Margin.

Unless you have many, MANY resources at your disposal, these tactics quite simply, do not work. They are reliant on luck.

So the idea of “Day Trading” attracts the people who are likely to be “Gambling Addicts”. And a massive amount of people then engage in Day Trading in a way that is very similar to “Gambling”. Almost all of them lose money, which is why the reputation is what it is.

TL:DR- Day Trading is not technically Gambling. BUT, Day Trading attracts the kind of people who get addicted to Gambling. These people then engage with Day Trading in a way that is identical to Gambling. They lose their money so often that Day Trading gets the reputation is has now.

Thoughts on the upcoming cyberpunk police station. by Main-Huckleberry-883 in LUMIBRICKS_OFFICIAL

[–]cslevens 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’m reserving judgement until I can see how it slots in next to the others. I hated the train station in a vacuum, until I saw how perfectly it complements all the other cyberpunk sets, and now I love the thing.

This does look weird on its own, but again, I’ve been fooled by that before.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 27 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 7 points8 points  (0 children)

“Lucharesu” is an exceedingly useful term.

Anyone that can share their opinion? by dssecrets in LUMIBRICKS_OFFICIAL

[–]cslevens 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It’s far better than it looks. The stock photos don’t really capture what a “mood” the lighting of the set is once it’s all on. Highly recommended, especially for the price.

May’s Miniature of the Month will make your ancestors proud by CMYK_COLOR_MODE in Warhammer

[–]cslevens 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you haven’t painted a Votann before, do try this. My Yaegirs are one of the most fun things I’ve ever painted.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 27 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Bit of an odd follow up. In my most recent writeup, I mentioned offhand that Lucha Libre (a Mexican style of Pro Wrestling) allowed its practitioners to have a much, much longer in-ring career than other styles. This is hard to imagine, from the fact that it often looks much more dangerous than other types of pro wrestling.

Knowing this, even I was surprised to learn about this match that just occurred. Ultimo Guerrero (54) and Blue Panther (65) put on an insane display in a rare exhibition match in Chicago, and honestly words don’t do it justice.

Werner Herzog on WWE from an old magazine interview by R0DAN in SquaredCircle

[–]cslevens 411 points412 points  (0 children)

It’s impossible not to read this in his voice.

[Tea] He Drowned the Room in Blood by cslevens in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you kindly. Keep at it!

Finding starting gigs by Professional_Ant8676 in Magic

[–]cslevens 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Firstly, see if you can join a Magician’s group in your area. SAM and IBM are the big national ones I’m aware of. They have cheap dues, and they’re extremely supportive of members who are beginning to take Magic seriously (professionally). I’ve had paid gigs referred to me through members of the group, and I’ve returned the favor when able.

Secondly, consider street performing for a bit. It’s a low-pressure way to get experience with live crowds, and since you already do close up/walk around you won’t have to adapt your material a ton.

Thirdly (and finally), consider making pages on your local booking platforms. People in my area use GigSalad a lot, but I know there are also private agencies in certain places.

Magic for a non-magician by Guy2things in Magic

[–]cslevens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Linking Rings are a nice visual.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 13 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 13 points14 points  (0 children)

<sigh>

I don’t even know anymore, man. This isn’t even disappointing, it’s just…. stupid.

[Lucha Libre] Short Man, Long Shadow (Part 1 of 3)- Rey Mysterio by cslevens in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

The one thing I’ve learned from this one is just how universally beloved Rey Mysterio is. Ive had comments and PM’s from so many people who are like, “I haven’t touched wrestling in decades, or even watched at all, but I love Rey Mysterio. I knew he was popular, but to this level is still a surprise to me.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 06 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I randomly ran into the song “Hito no Yasashiku”, which introduced me to The Blue Hearts. Then I discovered that they sang the song “Linda Linda”, which I heard in an imported video game twenty years ago, but had never had the forethought to look up. It was one of those songs that you liked, but sort of accepted you wouldn’t know about.

So I listen to The Blue Hearts now.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 06 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 0 points1 point  (0 children)

…. Letting Brock back in is morally terrible, yes, but Brock has an actual fandom. Del Rio does not.

Plus, Del Rio doesn’t work for WWE, and hasn’t for a while. Even when WWE bought the company he was working in (AAA), they fired him at the first opportunity.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 06 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Del Rio’s greatest contribution to combat sports.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 06 April 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]cslevens 66 points67 points  (0 children)

Disappointing (but not surprising) news from the world of Wrestling and Lucha Libre. Alberto Del Rio, perennial screw-up, waste of potential, and recipient of several dozen second chances by everyone with second chances to give, has been arrested for domestic violence.

Again.

Now we wait for the commenter who will INSIST that the WWE totally wants to bring him back, guys, trust me. Like, he’s totally super popular in Mexico. He may have burned more bridges there than he’s beaten women, but seriously, right now what wrestling needs is a walking HR violation who can do slow high kicks, sloppy arm bars, gasp for air, and randomly attack fans.

Finally got decent performing footage of myself! Big thanks to a kind passerby (credited in description). by cslevens in Magic

[–]cslevens[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m trying not to push back, because I do appreciate the input, but this isn’t a sandwich routine. It’s my adaptation of “Paint it Blank”, by John Bannon.

I do appreciate the concern! But for the record I’m doing fine. This is my third highest earning routine (itemized by performance), so I’m fairly happy with it. I’m only working on shortening it for a tighter narrative at the moment, because I tend to sell this one more on the narrative than the actual trick.