Memorial Decoration Day 2012 - Veteran Suicides

I was going to talk about the history of Memorial Day as having started as Decoration Day in the 1800s.  A more formal Decoration Day started during the Civil War when women decorated the graves of soldiers.  No one seems to know exactly where it started or when, though several locations claim that distinction.  The "celebration" of Memorial Day became Federal law in 1967.

But unfortunately what's caught my attention in the last couple of days is the coverage (Doonesbury, TV news) of veteran suicides.  Apparently the VA does not keep track of the number of suicides.  It appears to be a silent national epidemic.  Hundreds of thousands of vets at a minimum have allegedly committed suicide.  The current claims are that at least 120 vets commit suicide each week.  Some counter sources are saying that the above numbers are baloney.  Regardless the numbers are eye opening, and sad.

The Dance of Death (Dansa de La Mort) - Verges, Spain

130 kilometres north of Barcelona lies the small town of Verges.  Every Maundy Thursday Verges still “celebrates” the medieval European tradition of the Dansa de La Mort or “Dance of Death”. The macabre nocturnal display features five agile dancers who dance around the crowds in luminescent skeleton costumes. This is the last vestige of a once common spectacle throughout Europe. Above image by dantzen on flickr.

The origin of the dances of death lie in:

The deathly horrors of the 14th century—such as recurring famines; the Hundred Years’ War in France; and, most of all, the Black Death—were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for penitence, but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible; a last dance as cold comfort. Wikipedia

Francis Barrett elsewhere on iberianature notes:

Verges, with remains of medieval walls and towers, is famous for its macabre Holy Week procession of very distinctive pagan origin, la Dansa del Mort, the dance of the dead. This is performed each Easter Thursday at the end of a long and rather tedious Passion Play, but, as the village bars remain impiously open all evening, is nevertheless well worth seeing.

Francis also notes:

The murmuring crowds lining the unilluminated medieval laneways fall silent at the approach of the torchlit crucifixion procession, led by skeletal figures advancing in a series of jerky stacatto rotations roughly choreographed to a hair-raising semi-irregular single drumbeat – by far the most disturbing aspect of the event.

Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, RIP, 1948-2012

Do Fingernails and Hair Grow After Death? (Shave Magazine)

Deathternity is always looking to talk about all things death.  One idea that people believe is that fingernails and hair continue to grow after death.  True or false?  Per Shave Magazine it is false and a myth:

5 Absurd Scientific Myths People Believe

X-Ray Delta One/Flickr        Article By: James Evans

Shave Magazine Correspondent

  

Page 1

Even the most unscientific of us have a repository of common-knowledge, scientific facts accumulated from media, friends, peers and colleagues. Unfortunately, however, some of these scientific “facts” are not actually true. Many of these myths are so widespread and persistent in popular culture that despite being consistently dispelled they continue to be passed on with completely convinced sincerity. Here are some of the most common scientific myths that you, or someone you know, may have helped spread at one time or another.

“Fingernails and hair continue to grow after death”

There is something morbidly fascinating about death. As terrified as many of us are of death, we find that we still like to talk about it. This is probably one of the biggest factors that have helped this myth spread. However, it is entirely false. Fingernails and hair do not continue to grow after death. Nevertheless, it is easy to see why some people would think it is true. When we die, our bodies dehydrate thus making the skin and tissue around the nails and the hair line shrink away and recede. As a result, the hair and nails may seem slightly longer.  And because we are more accustomed to hair and nail growing rather than skin receding, we are more likely to attribute this change to the hair and nails continuing to grow rather than the hands, feet and head shrinking. This recession creates the illusion of the hair and nails continuing to grow on a corpse when in fact the only thing that’s moving is the skin…and even then, it’s shrinking.

Read more: http://www.shavemagazine.com/misc/5-Ridiculous-Scientific-Myths-People-Believe#ixzz1vBHLNTy1

Maurice Sendak RIP("I Cry . . . More.")

Maurice Sendak  (1928 - 2012):

"I cry a lot because I miss people.  They die and I can't stop them.  They leave me and I love them more."

A life that mattered.

Life Passes Us By O So Quickly, per The Comics (Pearls Before Swine)

Life's over before we know it.  Treasure every day!  Preplan your death so your survivor's don't have to!!


Pearls Before Swine, by Stephan Pastis:

Reincarnation In 2101, Per Lio - (Death Humor)

Outlaw Death / Death Will Die

Read slowly and closely, and appreciate (perhaps):

John Donne (c. 1572 - 1631), British divine, metaphysical poet:

"One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
  And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die!"


Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), French-Algerian philosopher, author:

"There will be no lasting peace either in the heart of individuals or in social customs until death is outlawed."

Dick Clark, 1929-2012, Cremated

Dick Clark was cremated.  His ashes have been scattered over the Pacific Ocean.  Why I don't know.  I'm not sure if there will be any sort of memorial service.  There is talk that his fans will be able to write messages on confetti and that that collected confetti will be dropped on Times Square in Manhattan at midnight on December 31 when the ball drops for Happy New Year 2013.