Throughout the ages, people have surrounded death with rites and rituals. They serve a purpose in that it helps those who are shocked, sad, confused, and devastated to 1. get things done without having to make decisions, and 2. face the finality of the  loss. The proscribed way of doing it also helps us to avoid deep thinking about death ahead of time. But why should we be too concerned about our own funeral, since we won’t be able to change anything once it’s a done deal? I saw a bumper sticker that said “Live so that the minister won’t have to lie at your funeral.” That’s a bit trite, but you get the idea. All we can change is our lives; we can’t do anything about death once our time comes, so we may as well laugh about it every now and then.  



Fun with video effects: The Grim Reaper.

Dante’s Inferno -A Virtual Tour of Hell is an interactive site explaining the  nine circles of hell, as described in The Divine Comedy. (via the Presurfer)

How to answer a child’s questions about death. It’s a lot easier than you may think.

Photos of people pretending to be dead. (Thanks, Jan!)

What kind of ghost are you? (via Exploding Aardvark)

I took the "if you were a ghost..." quiz on gURL.com
		I am a... crisis apparition Crisis apparitions are smart spirits that tend to appear before a critical moment. As a messenger, they like to impart important information. Just like these apparitions, something tells us that when you've heard some news, you can't help but spread the word. Read more... What kind of ghost are you?

Chuck Lamb wants to play a dead body in your next movie or TV show, so he posted an online resume and gallery.

Funny Tombstones. (via Bits and Pieces)

Strange Gravestones.

How to Write a Really, Really Good Obituary.

THE OBITUARY

(via Wulfweard the White)
A very popular Scotsman dies in Glasgow and his old widow wishes to tell all his friends at once so she goes to the newspaper and says

"I'd like tae place an obituary fur ma late husband" The man at the desk says "OK, how much money dae ye have?"

The old woman replies "£5" to which the man says "You wont get many words for that, fur tis a £1 a word" so the old woman writes something and hands it over the counter and the man reads "Peter Reid, fae Parkheid, deid"

He feels guilty at the abruptness of the statement and informs the old woman that she can have 4 more words for free. The old woman ponders and then adds a few more words and hand the paper over the counter again. The man then reads "Peter Reid, fae Parkheid deid. Ford Escort for sale"

BURIAL

(Thanks, Jan!)
A man called the undertaker one afternoon and sobbed, "Come and bury my wife."

"But I buried your wife ten years ago," replied the undertaker.

"I got married again," the man sobbed.

"Oh," said the undertaker. "Congratulations."

How to Cope with Death (via PAgent’s Video Picks)

Too much honesty at the funeral. (via Gorilla Mask)

Blog of the Day: The Blog of Death has obituaries of the more interesting people (and sometimes animals) who just died.

Another great blog: Greatest Movie Deaths of All Time.

Day of the Dead switchplates. (via Metafilter)

Houseguest

A guy goes to a girl's house for the first time, and she shows him into the living room.

She excuses herself to go to the kitchen to make them a few drinks, and as he's standing there alone, he notices a cute little vase on the mantel. He picks it up, and as he's looking at it, she walks back in.

He asks, "What's this?"

She says, "Oh, my father's ashes are in there."

He goes, "Oooh. Uh. Er. I didn't know. I uh . . ."

She says, "Yeah, he's too lazy to go to the kitchen to get an ashtray."

(OK, so that one’s not about death. But you thought it was for a minute!)

STRANGE TOMBSTONE

(via Big Shot Bob in Texas)
One day, a lawyer named Strange died, and his friend asked the tombstone maker to inscribe on the tombstone, ‘Here lies Strange, an honest man and a lawyer.’

The inscriber insisted that such an inscription would be confusing, for any passer-by would tend to think that three men were buried under the stone.

However he suggested an alternative: He would inscribe, ‘Here lies a man who was both honest and a lawyer.

‘That way, whenever anyone walked by the tombstone and read it, they would be certain to remark: ‘That’s Strange!’

Funeral Mishap (via Arbroath)

Previously at Miss Cellania: Death and Death Warmed Over

Thought for today: He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

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