Category:
Death
Death
Do-It-Yourself Coffin Kits
If the cost of funerals has you down, consider building your own coffin. CoffinKits.com sells a simple pine coffin kit for $795. Though that seems like a lot to me. Surely it wouldn't cost more than $50 to get some plywood from Home Depot and make something entirely from scratch. For the furry and feathered members of your family, there are options as well, such as the Farewell Burial Coffin Kit. Just the right size for your hamster, budgie or gerbil.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 13, 2009 -
Comments (7)
Category: Death
Embalming Service
There are a few things I find strange about the choices Snyder's Embalming Service made in the design of its website. For a start, the dancing skeleton at the top. Does it really set an appropriate tone? Referring to themselves as "the embalminator". Again, oddly wacky humor for an embalming service. But the weirdest thing is the decision to also advertise their Mangosteen fruit juice on the site. They say the fruit juice will "promote joint flexibility", but coming from an embalmer, I'm not sure that's a good thing.However, I do find their "tricks of the trade" section very informative. For instance, I'm dying to try out their cradle cap remedy:
Cradle cap is a term to describe the dead skin and oil mixed in the hair and clinging to the scalp of a person. Oftentimes, when someone has been in the hospital or a convalescent home for a long time, there is a chance of their hygiene being neglected, resulting in a case of cradle cap. Shampooing usually doesn't work to remove this stubborn substance. However, there is a very good remedy for this condition. Using a co-injection chemical to rinse the scalp usually melts the problem away without damaging the hair or scalp. A co-injection chemical such as Pierce Chemical's "One-Point" (which is the best for this) or Dodge Chemical's "Metaflow" works very well to dissolve the build-up on the scalp. After one or two applications, shampoo and rinse as normal.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 27, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death
Online Mummification
Learn the ancient Egyptian art of mummification at the University of Chicago's interactive mummification tutorial. Use a hook to remove the brain through the nose. Extract the internal organs and place them in canopic jars. Wrap the body in linen, etc.This would make a nice companion to the Interactive Autopsy site I posted about a few weeks ago.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 26, 2009 -
Comments (7)
Category: Death, Religion
The Camisards
Well, not all the time.
Consider the French Protestant dissenters known as the Camisards.
I learned about this historical incident from reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey. (You can find the entire text of the book here.) Stevenson traveled through the region once ruled by the Camisards, and evoked the romance of their rebellion.
There, a hundred and eighty years ago, was the chivalrous Roland, "Count and Lord Roland, generalissimo of the Protestants in France," grave, silent, imperious, pock-marked ex-dragoon, whom a lady followed in his wanderings out of love. There was Cavalier, a baker's apprentice with a genius for war, elected brigadier of Camisards at seventeen, to die at fifty-five the English governor of Jersey. There again was Castanet, a partisan in a voluminous peruke and with a taste for divinity. Strange generals who moved apart to take counsel with the God of Hosts, and fled or offered battle, set sentinels or slept in an unguarded camp, as the Spirit whispered to their hearts! And to follow these and other leaders was the rank file of prophets and disciples, bold, patient, hardy to run upon the mountains, cheering their rough life with psalms, eager to fight, eager to pray, listening devoutly to the oracles of brainsick children, and mystically putting a grain of wheat among the pewter balls with which they charged their muskets.
Pretty weird, huh? And right in Europe, not all that long ago.
The last sentence from Stevenson is particularly intriguing, since it conjures up comparisons to the Mai-Mai rebels in the Congo today, who believe that certain magical charms protect them against bullets; that their own bullets are invulnerable to counter charms; and that ritual cannibalism of their enemies is still a grand idea.
Once Europe had its own Mai-Mai's. Perhaps someday Africa will be rid of theirs.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 22, 2009 -
Comments (10)
Category: Cannibalism, Death, Frauds, Cons and Scams, History, Historical Figure, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Paranormal, Religion, War, Weapons, Foreign Customs, Africa, Europe, Eighteenth Century
Exploding Casket Syndrome
From Grave Matters by Mark Harris:Various microbes are involved in the breakdown of the human body. In the airless environment of the sealer casket, it's the anaerobic bacteria that thrive. Unlike their oxygen-fueled aerobic counterparts, these agents attack the body's organic matter by putrefying it, turning soft body parts to mush and bloating the corpse with foul-smelling gas. In entombment in the aboveground mausoleum, the buildup of methane gas has been sufficient in some cases to blow the lid off caskets and marble door panels off crypts. To address what became known in the industry as the "exploding casket syndrome," manufacturers added "burpers" to their sealer caskets, gaskets that release — or "burp" out — accumulated gases.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 21, 2009 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death
Repo Chick
Remember one of the weirdest films ever made, REPO MAN? This month marks the start of filming for a sequel titled REPO CHICK. Let's hope it can live up to its predecessor.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 20, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Aliens, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Business, Death, Movies, Paranormal, Pop Culture, Unsolved Mysteries, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1980s, Cars
Life Imitates Jules Feiffer
Well, it appears that Feiffer did not create such a character, but merely drew from life. Or perhaps the gal whom you see in mid-air, next to the Feiffer panel, was inspired by Feiffer.
For in this BOSTON GLOBE obituary we learn how "Gabrielle Orcha of Cambridge, a choreographer and playwright," intends to mark her grandmother's passing.
"As a tribute to her grandmother, Orcha has choreographed a dance, commissioned by the Citi Performing Arts Center, that she will perform at the Shubert Theatre in May."
"Dance to Departed Nana." I can't wait.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 16, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Obituaries, Comics, Performance Art, Dance
Decomposition of a Pig
A time-lapse movie of a decomposing pig, taken by Dr. Jerry Payne in the 1960s as part of his graduate studies. It's four days compressed into six minutes. Not much happens at first, but around the 3 minute mark things get pretty interesting. There's a nasty little surprise at the end as well. (Note: the pig died of natural causes.)The purple dots that appear around 2:40 are beads to show the movement of soil by insects.
You may not want to watch this while you're eating a meal.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 08, 2009 -
Comments (13)
Category: Death, Science, Experiments
Interactive Autopsy
Learn how to perform an autopsy at the Interactive Autopsy site. First, make the Y-incision. Saw off the ribs to expose the internal organs. You may remove all the organs at once (which is known as the Rokitansky method). etc., etc.My favorite part was weighing the organs.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 07, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Medicine
The Surprise Question
In medicine the "surprise question" has a specific meaning. It refers to when a doctor asks himself this question: "Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year?"
A recent study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that the surprise question has high predictive value. Doctors classified 147 dialysis patients into "yes" and "no" groups on the basis of the surprise question. (i.e. No, I wouldn't be surprised if they died.) Sure enough, the No group died within the next year at a rate 3.5 times higher than the Yes group.
Conclusion: "The 'surprise' question is effective in identifying sicker dialysis patients who have a high risk for early mortality and should receive priority for palliative care interventions."
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 30, 2008 -
Comments (9)
Category: Death, Medicine
| Who We Are |
|---|
| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |