Famous last words about
“When they told me they were going to induct my friend George Harrison into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame posthumously, my first thought was – I bet he won’t show up.” From Eric Idle’s eulogy to George Harrison
An Irish love story
An elderly man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favourite scones wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning on the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even […]
Caitlin Moran offers posthumous advice to her daughter
Here’s one we missed earlier: journalist Caitlin Moran’s draft last letter to her daughter published in The Times in July of last year (remember 2013?). You can find the entire article (£) here. My daughter is about to turn 13 and I’ve been smoking a lot recently, and so – in the wee small hours, […]
Who is mimicking who?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Two seasonal events coming up: the Nine Lessons and Carols is a traditional Christmas Eve ceremony, the most famous and widely broadcast being the service from King’s College, Cambridge; and Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, is showing for 10 nights in December at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre. A rationalist celebration of […]
A glass of Grim Reaper?
Posted by Vale The Urban Dictionary (strapline: The Dictionary you wrote) is great place for the gross, the ghastly and the newly minted. It’s for people who speak ‘urban’ and the definitions reflect their preferences and predilections. For example there is no definition of the word morning because: the type of people who speak ‘urban’ […]
The Gravedigger’s Wedding
THE GRAVEDIGGER’S WEDDING by Kevin Paul and Harold Arpthorp (1926) ‘Twas the day of the gravedigger’s wedding, The churchyard was shrouded in gloom, And the lads of the village sat silent, As they played tiddley winks on a tomb. The villagers trooped up the High Street, Trying their best not to grieve, They were losing […]
Judge throws dead man out of court
Two South Korean fisherfolk, Soon Ill Hwang and Dae Jun Lee, were accused in New Zealand of illegally dumping dead fish at sea. What happened next? Soon Ill Hwang was killed in a car crash. And then? A solicitor representing the fisheries ministry insisted to m’learned lud that the show must go on — Soon must be brought […]
In jest?
Lockwood woman’s colourful funeral request – including a jester to walk in front of hearse Funeral director Debbie Ingham dressed as a jester at the funeral of Margaret Harper IT WAS a fitting end to a colourful life. Lockwood grandmother Margaret Harper had only one dying wish – that no-one wore black to her funeral. […]
Not cricket
Upset by the sale of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to PSG, a group of AC Milan supporters expressed the widely held disappointment of their fellow football fans by leaving a small funeral arrangement outside the club’s via Turati offices. A funeral card, candles and flowers were set up near the building’s front door in the […]
You know my methods, Watson.
David Holmes, funeral director to the discerning folk of Surrey, recently got into a waterfight with the water board. Click on the photo to bring it up to full size.
