“Uncle Joe” once said: A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. I’m not entirely sure what he meant, and it’s possible that it lost something in translation. I take it to mean that we are more affected by one death we are personally involved in, than a [...]
I was just listening to The Sunday Format on Radio 4 when I heard a name I recognized in the credits: DA Barham.
I used to chat to Debbie Barham via IRC. She’d moved to London and gotten a regular gig writing for the Rory Bremner show, and would often while away time on IRC at [...]
Question from Dan
Do you believe in life/consciousness/existence/etc. after death? Whether you believe or not, do you find yourself with a clear picture of what “the afterlife is like”?
I don’t believe in life after death… but I wouldn’t say I believe it’s impossible either. I officially Don’t Know.
I will say that the “soul” model of [...]
Death rates for occupations
Scuba diver
0.002%
Car driver
0.022%
Logger
0.122%
High-altitude mountaineer
4.3%
Astronaut
7.5%
German U-boat sailor
63%
—RISKS digest
Number of Americans killed by cars last year, according to the NHTSA: 42,000
Number of Americans killed every day by health problems caused by smoking, according to the CDC: 1100
From smh.com.au:
Ed Headrick, father of the modern Frisbee and designer of Wham-O’s first “professional model” flying disc, has died. He was 78.
Headrick’s wish that his ashes be moulded into memorial flying discs to be given to a select few family and friends and others who make donations in his memory will be honoured by [...]
The following is a transcript of a conversation between Bob, a telemarketer for a cemetary outside Louisville Kentucky, and phone prankster comedian Tom Mabe. Name of cemetary changed to protect the guilty.
Mabe: Hello?
Bob: Is Mr. or Mrs. Maybe in please?
Mabe: This is Mr. Mabe. [Sounds of Mabe crying.]
Bob: Hi, Mr. Mabe. This is Bob, and [...]
Yesterday I watched Mr Death, Errol Morris’s documentary about Fred Leuchter Jr. The movie tells the story in Morris’s usual style: stay out of sight, and let the subject do the talking. Illustrate with interesting composition, archive footage, and re-enactments. Refrain from moralizing or pushing a particular agenda.
For those who don’t [...]
The personification of birthdays is Death, in a Hawaiian shirt.
He’s stalking me. Just a few more days and he’ll get to shake me by the hand again, and remind me of our upcoming appointment.
It occurs to me that I’d really like to spend my birthday in a drug-induced haze.
“Life no more ceases to be funny when people die than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.”
—George Bernard Shaw