Things you shouldn't laugh at, but do

OK, expect a nice long post on my adventures at HorrorFind Weekend sometime soon. Just not tonight.

Tonight, I want to post something a little shorter, since I'm a bit busy playing catch-up on all the stuff I didn't do while drinking and spending myself stupid at HF. After all, one of the things I'm way behind on is writing in my blog.

So here's the post:

You know how you shouldn't laugh at certain things, but do anyway? You know, like videos of guys accidentally getting hit in the crotch?

The great thing about reading about the Civil War is the little, incongruous moments authors highlight because they're just plain strange - and inevitably, I laugh, even though it was probably very tragic and traumatic at the time.

Now, I've never been to war, but I've seen enough war movies touted as "realistic" to figure that not only is there a lot of danger, but in modern times, your chances of being blown to bits by something are pretty good - possibly to the point that it's almost commonplace in major engagements. Land mines, RPGs, hand grenades, and so on, are probably more than capable of making mincemeat out of some poor soldier just trying to do his duty for God and country.

But when it comes to the sheer ridiculousness of military death, I think Civil War solid shot takes the cake. Imagine, basically, getting hit with a bowling ball going 100 miles per hour. Ow.

So tonight, reading my latest opus (the military history of the Civil War, battle by battle), I found myself laughing out loud because, for the second time since I became addicted to the 1860s, a guy got knocked silly by a flying decapitated head.

A head.

Smack!

On the ground wondering what the hell happened.

Tell me you're not laughing, too. It just sounds so damn ridiculous. Not the decapitation, that sounds painful. The fact that not only did the head go flying, it hit someone in the face and knocked them out.

Sounds like something that would happen to Eric Lindros. ("Tonight, at the Air Canada Centre, it's Eric Lindros Bobblehead Night!" A dozen years in the NHL and he still crosses the blue line with his head down. Some people never learn. But I digress.)

Links:
• Civil War artillery; and if you can catch the artillery tour at Antietam, do - it's excellent!
• Yes, a link about decapitation
• And the Leafs sign Lindros

Completely off topic, my dog got sick over the weekend, my parents tell me, and wound up with congestive heart failure. This is apparently something they can fix, and did. Poor puppy. But he must be fine, because he apparently wagged his tail through the whole thing. Still, I worry. I told my folks they should get him a get-well card and let him eat it. He'd like that.

Bonus link: Congestive heart failure in dogs; and you wonder why I worry...