The Laughing Academy

I just* had a great meal with china_shop, who was every bit as bright and funny as her LJ had led me to expect. One of the topics we discussed over our salmon steaks and veg was the experience of falling out of love with a TV show — which happens to be the subject of an article that apocalypsos linked in her journal.

[*realizes she needs some kind of general TV-related icon*]



* For “just” read “an hour ago” — I’ve been ostentatiously productive since returning from lunch, the better to conceal my illict LJ-ing. Shhhhhhhh...

Houdini Kin Wants Body Exhumed, Tested

Interesting details:

A 2006 biography, ''The Secret Life of Houdini,'' raised the issue again and convinced some that he might have been poisoned, including [Houdini’s great-grandsonnephew] George Hardeen, who lives in Arizona and is the chief spokesman for the president of the Navajo Nation. (Italics mine)

...and...

The exhumation plan received support from a surprising source: Anna Thurlow, the great-granddaughter of "medium" Margery, whose husband Dr. Le Roi Crandon was one of the Spiritualist movement's biggest proponents -- and one of Houdini's most virulent enemies.

During a 1924 seance, Margery "channeled" a "spirit" named Walter who greeted Houdini with a threat: "I put a curse on you now that will follow you every day for the rest of your short life."

The prediction of a short life was all too real, and Thurlow believes there may be a connection.

"With people that delusional, you have to question what they're capable of,"' she said. "If there's any circumstantial evidence that Houdini was poisoned, we have to explore that."