Sunday, March 2, 2008

Houdini

I have just finished watching a documentary on Houdini called "Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery". Unfortunately I missed the first hour and thirty minutes of this broadcast, although I've seen it before I just hate missing something I start out to watch.
Houdini has always been a person of great fascination to me. He's always been a bit of a real life super hero, right up there with Evel Knievel, Chaplin and Lord knows how many comic book artist and writers, etc. etc.
Houdini was one of those people that if you had a time machine and traveled back to stop that young collage fellow from hitting Houdini in the stomach and then tried to get him to a hospital..he would refuse, the show must go on!
Hell he was on stage with a high fever, collapsed after the first act, was revived and then did a little more for the crowd! Later that night he went to the hospital, underwent surgery, then died after a painful seven days.
So you'd have to kidnap him....eh...right...kidnap and hold the greatest escape artist of his, possibly our time.
Then there is the infection thing. Hospitals, medicine... they weren't as advanced as now. They didn't even have sulfa drugs for infection, a big deal for someone with an appendix that may or has ruptured.
There is such a long laundry list of things to worry about that, yes you could save him...but it would be damn difficult and he would not go quietly.
This is one of the endless things going on in my head at any given time. Historical "What ifs" and a great deal of the time they turn into books.
Cheers!
Jade Arcade