Seeing doppel
The toiling wretches at GFG Central were arrested in their labours the other day by the discovery of a doppelganger in New Zealand — Good Funeral Guide NZ. They uttered a heartwarming if parched cheer as the overseers, puzzled by the commotion, moved in with their whips. GFG NZ is the brainchild of Tamara Linnhof, […]
Life is never seen so brief as when we die
The Digital Cuttlefish is the online alias of a person who, in his/her own words, is a “skeptic and atheist versifier”. DC has self-pseudonymised as such because: The cuttlefish will use its ink To hide itself – and so, I think Will I… The Digital Cuttlefish is a very skilful versifier indeed — stunning rhymes; […]
The Dead – Billy Collins
The Dead The dead are always looking down on us, they say, while we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich, they are looking down through the glass-bottom boats of heaven as they row themselves slowly through eternity. They watch the tops of our heads moving below on earth, and buy discount cialis […]
Resurrecting Six Feet Under
I’m delighted to host a post by Brian Jenner. Brian is a words-for-hire person (I know how that feels) who does everything from gilding the tongues of politicians to writing terrifically good books. This summer he is holding a Six Feet Under convention in Bournemouth. As soon as I heard about this I fired off […]
Poem
Memoir It has been absolutely fascinating being me. A unique privilege. Now my whole life lies ahead of you. No thanks at all are called for, I assure you. The pleasure is all mine. Dennis O’Driscoll
The International Necronautical Society
MANIFESTO We, the First Committee of the International Necronautical Society, declare the following:- 1.That death is a type of space, which we intend to map, enter, colonise and, eventually, inhabit. 2. That there is no beauty without death, its immanence. We shall sing death’s beauty – that is, beauty. 3. That we shall take it […]
Somewhere between here and eternity
I enjoyed this piece over at Obit magazine: It’s good to be a dead leader. Not so for Ariel Sharon, the (arguably) most influential and the (certainly) most enduring politician in Israel. Sharon has never been memorialized, has never had a funeral, and is barely mentioned anymore in Israeli political conversations. He’s also not really dead. Into […]
The art of dying
There’s an interesting piece over in the New York Times about an artist, Tobi Kahn who, when his mother lay dying, filled her hospital room with his paintings of flowers. Out of that private, personal display for his mother, Mr. Kahn has built a body of work that aspires to bring solace, comfort, a kind […]
It takes two taboos
The connection between sex and death is well known. If you want to muse on it further, there’s a pretty good article in the Encyclopaedia of Death and Dying. If you don’t, please don’t read the rest of this post. It’s dirty, you’ll think. Offensive. Come back tomorrow. Which brings us, with a single bound, […]
Death is cruel and death is ugly
What happens to the human body when the last spark of life has gone? Most people would probably answer: it is cremated or laid in a coffin to decompose under the ground. However, a closer look reveals this to be a very limited view. For there is in fact a wide range of possibilities between […]
