John Hughes (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009)

John Hughes made a ton of films. Some were good, some were bad, and some achieved timeless greatness. In my opinion, the short cut to finding the best of his work is to look for those he was most involved with. To wit: John hughes Wrote, Directed and Produced:

Sixteen Candles
Breakfast Club
Weird Science
Ferris Beuller's Day Off
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
She’s Having a Baby
UncleBuck
Curly Sue

OK, OK.. I never actually saw Curly Sue. I hardly remember seeing She’s Having A Baby. And I only remember a few bits from Uncle Buck. But to think that one man wrote, directed and produced Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Planes Trains and Automobiles?!? Pardon my french, but that’s fucking incredible! Five of my favorite movies written directed and produced by one man. Nobody else even comes close!

Well, actually, Harold Ramis got close, writing all or part of Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day and directing National Lampoon’s Vacation (though John Hughes wrote it) ,Caddyshack and Groundhog Day and also producing Groundhog Day. But - Ok, so that’s better than close. I’ll call that a draw. But somehow I’m more emotionally connected with Hughes’ movies. The guy knew how to tug a heartstring. Film Literature? No. Probably not. But the man really knew what he was doing. And even though I haven’t seen any genius level work from him since, say 1987, I’m sad to know that there’s no chance of another genius John Hughes film being created.

(NOTE to whoever owns the rights to JH’s films. NO! Don’t do it. We don’t need to see sequels to any of his films. There’s no need for 46 Candles, Lunch Club, Ferris Bueller’s Weekend in the Hamptons, or Wheelchairs, Walkers and Canes. The movies are great, but that’s it. No more, OK?)

The Body Farm

You've probably heard of the 'Body Farm', maybe in one of Patricia Cornwell's books. It's the place where researchers place dead people, and expose them to the elements in order to study the process of human decomposition for forensic purposes. It's horribly gruesome, but undoubtedly provides loads of useful information.

Click on the title, if you'd like to donate your body to them. The site claims that they get 30-50 bodies donated each year. Which is kind of amazing, when you realize that you are responsible to pay for shipping the body to Knoxville, yourself. Although I'll be visiting Knoxville in the near future, I won't be visiting the Center. Sadly, it's not open to the public.

Cemetery Visit

I've recently been 'temporarily' relocated to a different lab at a site about 15 minutes away from my 'permanent' lab and desk. It's kind of a pain, because no matter which site I'm at, whatever I need is invariably at the other site. But that's not the point of this post.

The new site I'm at is bordered by a pair of cemeteries on one side. I visited during my lunch hour today, and let me tell you - these are not just any cemeteries. These are old ones. Probably opened about 1850. Many headstones stained with coal dust, others have sunk into the ground until only the top is visible. There's a weird industrial vibe to the area, too, with old railroad tracks and wooded areas which have gone wild. But there are other oddities, too. I'll talk about two of them today.

The first oddity is shown in this picture:

Sorry about the quality. My camera phone is more than 6 hours old and is, thus, seriously out of date. But you can still make out the image, I think. Resting atop a gravestone is a pair of black men's dress shoes, with a pair of white socks tucked haphazardly into them. Certainly a strange thing to come upon in a cemetery. Cemeteries aren't the kind of place where most people feel moved to remove their shoes. In fact, the very idea gives me the creeps! I'm still trying to imagine the scenario that led to this little scene. I imagine it involved alcohol, but I can't get much further than that.

The second oddity is shown in this picture:

Yes, it's a jar. Filled with formless black blobs... And resting near the base of a family monument. Now, upon discovering this oddity, some people might have picked up the jar. Not me. I'm no dummy. I still remember ghost in a jar (cached page here). I know that if you pick up a jar filled with and radiating evil, you will drop it and be forever haunted by a vaporous black cloud possessing a dark intelligence. No thank you. On the other hand, if anyone is interested in picking up the jar themselves, I can give directions... for a nominal fee. Like I said, I'm no dummy.

In Memoriam

The stand and supplies have made their way downstairs. The tank sits empty, drying on the deck, hoses draining, plastic plants drying. A small area of disturbed earth marks the spot in the backyard where Lisa was buried. The world's largest fantail goldfish (over 7" nose to tail) is no more.

We had a short memorial service for him/her/it on Thursday, as a thunderstorm approached. The burial was completed only a few minutes before the storm broke. We were... sad, certainly, but also relieved. That fish has been sick and then recovered so many times that I can't even count them. At last, it is over. We'll miss you Lisa.

Fischer Family Member
Dec 2002 - July 2007
Rest in Peace.

Eternal Ascent

Another wacky thing to do with your mortal remains. Have yourself cremated. Then, this company will transfer a portion of your cremains* into a weather balloon and launch you into the stratosphere. At some point, the balloon will burst, showering the earth with your ashes. I have to say - ick. When someone has their ashes scattered onto a lake, or over a field, that's one thing. They've symbolically joined with some place that is special to them. But to have them blowing all over the damn place from miles up, and raining down on unsuspecting individuals... that strikes me as a bit too far. But then that's just my humble opinion. YMMV.

(BTW, the photo above is the launch of a pet's ashes. I just couldn't post one of the people pics, though the website does have them.)

* is it just me, or do the words cremains and craisins just have too much in common for comfort? I think I may lay off of the sweetened, dehydrated cranberries for a while.

Recycled Paper Coffin :: Ecopod Environmentally friendly Coffin

As part of my continuing series on the trappings of death, allow me to present the Ecopod - the environmentally friendly compressed paper coffin. Looks like they're still ramping up for production, but what a neat idea. Even if you go with a traditional vault burial, this should be much less expensive. And you get a choice of designs to boot! (I'd recommend against the gold leaf version shown on the website... seems a bit too Cleopatra, somehow).

More cutting edge options

More cutting edge options for your remains - these from Nadine Jarvis. My favorite? Using the carbon in your cremains (heh, love that word... it's so silly) to make pencil leads. Possibly the only way to keep me from chewing on a pencil. The gruesome bit is that she puts the name of the deceased on the pencils.

These are just art pieces, I don't think they'll be commercialized. They're even too weird for me!

Eternal Reefs

I heard someone going on about this on the radio this morning. It's another in a long line of alternative deceased loved one disposal techniques. Actually, though, this one does some good. The person is cremated, then the ashes are mixed with concret and used to create one of these -->

It's a Reef Ball - a single module that, when combined with other, similar modules, creates a sort artificial concrete reef. Each Memorial Reef Ball also gets a bronze plaque memorializing the deceased. Current reef locations include Ocean City, NJ; Charleston, SC, Sarasota, FL, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, and Ft. Meyers.

OK, it sounds a little weird at first, but it certainly beats a lot of the alternatives I've seen. And instead of spending a ton of money for poisons that will leach into the environment, your funeral dollars will do some good. I'm going to think about it!

For previously discussed body disposal schemes, see here.

Disposing of your body

I think a part of what has attracted me to genealogy is a deep morbid streak of as yet undetermined size. I've always been fascinated by what is left behind. When you're not personally involved in the death at hand, there's a peculiar, but not unpleasant vibe at cemeteries, estate sales, monuments, archaelogical sites, and the like. Perhaps my sensing of this strange energy explains my fascination with the many different options for disposing of one's body after death.

Anyone who has known me long enough knows that I was promoting the idea of converting bodies into gemstones long before it became an actual commercial option. And I'm fascinated with the potential of a gravestone as a place for recording a final message, whether as a traditional stone engraving(my choice, here), or as audio or video media builtinto the stone. Stories of ashes being sprinkled, or shot into orbit, or placed into fireworks (a particularly spectacular concept, which a former co-worker claims to have done for a deceased friend), fire my imagination. In Larry Niven's book, Destiny's Road, he speaks of a potassium-starved world where bodies are planted with fruit tree saplings, in an interesting twist on the old story of indians planting their crops with a decaying fish.

But I'd never before come upon the idea of green burials. It seems to be catching on in Britain, but is only showing up in a few pockets in The States. The idea is to bury our unembalmed remains in biodegradable caskets or shrouds, in the midst of a wooded area. We therefore remain a part of natural cycles, even after death. Some expect these areas to eventually take on the characteristics of sacred woodlands.

The policy on grave markers vary at these sites. At theSouth Downs Natural Burial Site, for instance they allow no permanent gravestones or markers. Coordinates of burials are maintained in a central location, along with a "Book of Remembrance". Since the site is a woodland restoration, memorial plantings designed to support that process are also allowed. This is the major drawback for me. I'm still kinda hung up on the idea of a durable gravestone marking the site of my burial. But I _do_ like the idea of not being embalmed, and just becoming a part of the soil. I wonder how the potentials for water supply contamination and the like are handles? Or is the fear of contamination by the dead just another superstitious dread with only minimal grounding in reality?