MetaFilter posts tagged with death

Girl, Interrupted

ocherdraco — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:12:28 -0800

Girl, Interrupted: The Life and Death of Brittany Murphy "Part of the shock surrounding Murphy's death is clearly related to her age, though it may also be attributed to the fact that Murphy has been in the public eye for over 15 years, starting out in Hollywood when she was 14... It's something we've watched progress this entire decade: young women who are held up as the next big thing (Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears) and then brushed aside or openly mocked after they no longer fit an expected mold. It is both a story of self-destruction and mass-destruction, the business of creating and destroying a star; sometimes it's caused by internal forces, and sometimes it's fed by the rest of the world."

Dan O'Bannon, gone to the great outerspace oil refinery in the sky

Artw — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:26:12 -0800

Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, probably best known for his work on Alien, as well numerous other science fiction films, has passed away age 63.

No Country For Old Men

msalt — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:52:26 -0800

On January 1st, the U.S. estate tax will disappear. For exactly one year. Then it will come back higher on Jan. 1, 2011. Will lots of old rich people die? Bush's 2001 tax reform law gradually reduced the estate tax to what is now 45%, with an exemption of the first $3.5 million. During 2010, there is no tax at all. In 2011, the pre-Bush tax resumes (55%, $675,000 exemption.) Dem. Senator Max Baucus expects to pass a retroactive tax next year. Republicans, while calling for total repeal, have offered 35% and $5 million. Estate tax previously: 1 2 3 4

A bodhisatva in dog form

scalefree — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:46:57 -0800

A tribute to Kobe, the dog in FireDogLake.

CSI affiliated cemetery accused of desecrating in excess of 500 graves.

es_de_bah — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:35:38 -0800

This has not been a good year for SCI, the worlds largest funeral services corporation. Now allegations have surfaced that groundskeepers for Eden Memorial Park were secretly instructed to desecrate graves (possibly in excess of 500 individual bodies) in order to make room. A class-action lawsuit alleges that Eden Memorial Park and its management Service Corporation International (SCI), instructed groundskeepers to secretly break concrete blocks with a backhoe and then remove, dump and/or discard the remains to make room for new internments. "The upper management of SCI through acts of intimidation and threatening employees with their jobs and their livelihoods, made significant efforts to keep the public in the dark," said Michael Avenatti, attorney who is handling the class-action lawsuit. This may just be par for the course.

Wisconsin Death Trip

Kattullus — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:22:36 -0800

Charles Van Schaick was a photographer in Black River Falls, Wisconsin in the late 19th and early 20th Century. His work was made famous by Michael Lesy in the book Wisconsin Death Trip in which the photographs were juxtaposed with local newsreports of murder, suicide, disease, insanity, animal mutilation and other calamities plus the occasional non-morbid event. Flickr set of photos used in Wisconsin Death Trip. Some of the texts from Wisconsin Death Trip. Robert Birnbaum interviews Michael Lesy about Wisconsin Death Trip and other things. Over 2500 photographs by Charles Van Schaick owned by The Wisconsin Historical Society. [Warning: Some of the photographs are of deceased infants]

Colin Douthwaite Logs Off

mkb — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:04:19 -0800

A posting last month to RISKS on the topic of posthumous emails brings to mind the story of Colin Douthwaite. Mr. Douthwaite, an active USENET user, passed away in March of 1999 after some prolonged medical difficulties. His son Ian's farewell message to alt.ascii-art inspired a small flood of original memorial works and a much larger flood from members' personal archives in his memory. Relatedly, Facebook and LiveJournal now allow profiles of deceased users to be frozen in time as a memorial, and numerous services now exist for preparing your own final words for your net.friends.

Animal Grief

Joe Beese — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:16:14 -0800

Grief among gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and magpies.

Without using the words “man” or “good,” can you please define what it means to be a good man?

Non Prosequitur — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:36:10 -0800

War Dances: “I wanted to call my father and tell him that a white man thought my brain was beautiful”. Sherman Alexie doing his thing in The New Yorker, excerpted from his upcoming book (early review; interview 1, 2.)

Henry Rollins - The Death of Joe Cole

WCityMike — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:43:31 -0800

Henry Rollins: The Death of Joe Cole: Part 1, Part 2. About 17 minutes total, but, God, worth it.

Time of his life.

MaryDellamorte — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:41:54 -0800

After a short battle with pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze has died. Having starred in numerous movies throughout his career, he's probably best known for his Roles in The Outsiders, Dirty Dancing and Ghost. Final dance scene from Dirty Dancing. Rumble scene from The Outsiders. Pottery scene from Ghost. SNL Chippendales skit. Scene from To Wong Foo.

Death's Blog

Joe Beese — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:40:39 -0800

Death's Blog

Death Risk Rankings

OmieWise — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:57:19 -0800

"Death Risk Rankings calculates your risk of dying in the next year and allows you to compare that risk to others in the world." Fun with mortality data and statistics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant involved in death of Toronto cyclist

maudlin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:54:06 -0800

Late last night, a cyclist was killed in Toronto. "Ontario's former attorney general Michael Bryant ... will be charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death, a police source tells the Globe, after a collision left a 33-year-old cyclist dead." Accounts vary, but the sequence appears to be 1) Some collision and argument between the cyclist and the driver; 2) The cyclist grabs the driver's door and hangs on (or he may have been caught on the car accidentally) while the Saab convertible drives on; 3) The car drives into the opposite lane, across a construction zone, and the cyclist is battered against mailboxes and light posts; 4) The cyclist falls under the car's back wheels and is killed. This map shows the path of the accident and includes links to picture and video. (What it doesn't show is how torn up by construction the area is, like much of downtown and midtown Toronto.) Witnesses describe what they saw at the scene. The cyclist has not yet been identified to the public. Feelings have already been running high in Toronto about the Toronto Bike Plan and what many motorists consider a War on Cars. A few weeks ago, a woman was killed by a teenager cycling on the sidewalk, but the cyclist was not charged. Coincidentally, a study based on Toronto accident statistics was recently released, showing that 90% of bicycle-car accidents are caused by clumsy or inattentive drivers, although these results have been disputed. And while traffic services has been cracking down on both driver and cyclist infractions this summer (and some Critical Massers seem to agree that sidewalk cycling should be cracked down on), some people think cyclists are getting treated with kid gloves, that they shouldn't be on anything but residential roads, and that no more money should be spent on cycling infrastructure. Catch a taste of non-CBC Canadian talk radio here (live streaming here.) Meanwhile, I suspect another ghost bike is being prepared.

DeathPanels.org: The Disturbing Details Behind Health Care Reform!!1!!

tylerfulltilt — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:25:40 -0800

People are starting to get a little worn out on Healthcare coverage, or at least, a little worn out on the way it's been covered. Thank god our own grrarrgh00 isn't listening. Because someone has to spread the truth about Obama's nazi socialist communist granny killing satanist witchcraft healthcare reform.

"What a comfort it is to possess the image of those who are removed from our sight..."

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:47:33 -0800

Victorian mourning photography, featuring the recently departed in realistic poses.

Goodbye, Teddy

ocherdraco — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:40:58 -0800

Edward M. Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts, has died at age 77. After a rocky youth (including scandals of cheating and reckless driving), Kennedy followed his brothers into politics, making health care his cause, and eventually went on to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Anticipating his own death, he had been trying to create a quick transition for his replacement as a vote on health care reform rapidly approached.

The Prince is dead

T.D. Strange — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:15:47 -0800

Robert Novak, "The Prince of Darkness," died at his home early Tuesday. He was 78. Novak was suffering from a brain tumor announced last summer. Human Events has an obituary column.

"I live in hope I can jump before I am pushed."

Artw — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:44:40 -0800

Terry Pratchett: I'll die before the endgame

"Let people live in your heart"

madamjujujive — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:21:59 -0800

Children Full of Life - grade 4 students in Kanazawa, Japan learn deep life lessons from their incredible teacher and from each other. I strongly recommend this as awesome, but one caveat: keep tissues handy. (5 parts, 40 minutes total, English)

Yasmin Ahmad (1958 - 2009)

divabat — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:22:21 -0800

Acclaimed Malaysian film and advertising director Yasmin Ahmad has passed away at 11:52pm Saturday night at the age of 51, after collapsing from a stroke at a media presentation the day before. She leaves behind a legacy of film that captures the modern multicultural spirit of Malaysia, winning international festival awards and local hearts while at the mercy of conservative censors. Some examples of her work: Tan Hong Ming Family Funeral Sepet (Trailer) Talentime (Trailer) Muallaf (Trailer)

Congratulations on your recent death

dortmunder — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:08:50 -0800

Video footage of death for your amusement. Space Quest Deaths. Quest for Glory Deaths. King's Quest Deaths. Laura Bow 2 Deaths. Conquests of Camelot deaths. Conquests of the Longbow Deaths. Police Quest Deaths.

Lo Siento, Taco Bell.

Lutoslawski — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:33:46 -0800

Gidget, controversial pop-icon who only wanted some Taco Bell, has died at the age of 15.

Thomas Ley, Hanging Minister

Fiasco da Gama — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:32:41 -0800

In 1947, Thomas Ley, a virulently sectarian, pro-hanging Australian politician, died in Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, where he had been sent after being sentenced to death for murder. It was probably not his first.

Mollie Sugden dies at 86

dnash — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:04:48 -0800

Mrs. Slocombe is no longer free. Actress Mollie Sugden has died at 86, after a long illness. Best known as the irascible Mrs. Slocombe in the long running British sitcom "Are You Being Served?" who famous cared a great deal about her pussy.