Worcester crematorium not for sale
Worcester City Council is, laudably, not inclined to sell its crematorium to one of those predatory sharks we all know and love so well. The council needs to spend up to £2 million to upgrade it. But read on and see what the jostling sharks are prepared to buy it for. Moral: when you’ve done […]
Screw says no
Many celebrants will have had the experience of welcoming a convict at a funeral, together with the prison officer to whom he/she is shackled. Do, please, share your experience in a comment. In Australia, belt-tightening has led to a review of the cost of this service to the banged-up bereaved: The Department of Corrective […]
Dove release inadvisable
Hawks have come to the rescue of mourners at a crematorium plagued by aggressive seagulls. The birds of prey were used to scare away gulls at Eastbourne crematorium after complaints that mourners were being dive-bombed as they left the chapel. Whole story here.
Abuses of assisted dying laws
From a comment piece by Terry Pratchett in today’s Times: Earlier this year a commission of the great and the good was set up by myself and another gentleman of means, to look at practices in other countries where assisted dying is commonplace and to report on how it could be evolved to suit Britain. […]
Did you?
Did you like it? I’d be inclined to give it 10 out of 10. Last night’s BBC2 programme Dead Good Job is well worth watching. If you missed it, it covers: a Muslim funeral company’s attempts to bury the dead as quickly as possible in accordance with Islamic tradition, a terminally ill mother of two […]
Crookback dug up?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson A skeleton, a skeleton, my kingdom for a skeleton! Might we soon discover if Richard III is the hunchbacked tyrant with a withered arm depicted in Shakespeare or if his physical disability was merely Tudor propaganda? The king was buried in the church of a Franciscan friary in Leicester after being slain at […]
Big Ted
Posted by Vale Seemed fitting to end a day of animals with a tribute to that intelligent and sensitive creature the pig. RIP Big Ted: Big Ted’s dead , he was a great old pig He’d eat most anything, never wore a wig Now he’s gone like snow on the water, good bye He was […]
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Posted by Vale THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF POOR COCK ROBIN Who killed Cock Robin? “I,” said the sparrow, “With my little bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin,” Who saw him die? “I,” said the fly, “With my little eye, I saw him die.” Who caught his blood? “I,” said the fish, “With my […]
Animal wakes and funerals
Posted by Vale When Dorothy the chimp died at the sanctuary in the Cameroons, other members of her troop looked on as she was buried, comforting each other with touches and caresses. Animals don’t just grieve; new studies suggest that they might mark a passing too. Mark Bekoff of Colorado University has written that: I […]
Grief in animals
Posted by Vale The photo shows a swallow grieving for its mate who had been killed in collision with a car. In a series of shots (see them here) we see him first try to feed his mate and then, when he realises that she is dead, seems to cry out. But how can an […]
