Ashes to ashes, funk to funky.

[Suzanne]

Company Plans Video-Playing Tombstones

A new company plans to unveil new high-tech tombstones with embedded flat screen monitors that would allow visitors to play memorial videos of the deceased, according to a report.

Joe Joachim, who says he wants to be the Walt Disney of the funeral business, plans to show the Vidstone this year at the annual funeral directors convention.

  Read on

[Suzanne]

Sweden's new funeral rite - bodies freeze-dried, powdered and made into tree mulch

A town in Sweden plans to become the first place in the world where corpses will be disposed of by freeze-drying, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial. Jonkoping, in southern Sweden, is to turn its crematorium into a so-called promatorium next year.

Swedes will then have the chance to bury their dead according to the pioneering method, which involves freezing the body, dipping it in liquid nitrogen and gently vibrating it to shatter it into powder. This is put into a small box made of potato or corn starch and placed in a shallow grave, where it will disintegrate within six to 12 months.

Read on

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005

[Feed Da Wizard]

The Cannibal Flesh Donor Program is a grassroots organization modelled after the organ donor program, which we hope will eventually grow to the same size. This program is designed to reduce the number of animals raised and slaughtered for human consumption, for a number of reasons. We seek to limit the suffering of our fellow living beings, and to conserve wilderness space which would otherwise be cleared for farmland to support the meat industry (the ratio of kilos of grain needed to produce 1 kilo of meat is anywhere from 5:1 to 16:1 depending on the type of meat and farming methods). Here’s how it works: You fill out some forms and sign a donor card which you keep in your wallet at all times. Then, if you’re killed in a car accident, for example, your body is donated to a restaurant or grocery store to be served in lieu of animal flesh.

 
http://www.fleshdonor.org/

[Suzanne]

Why not bury your loved ones in a cardboard box... err.. in a "Patented Cremation
Container"?

Our all inclusive cremation container kit contains all the needed tools to make your task quick, efficient, and secure. Enclosed with each kit: body bag, straps, easy-to-use secure clips. Also included, simple instructions for your first assembly. No glue, or staples needed. Preprinted top panel for easy identification.

Read on

[Suzanne]

Why not bury your loved ones in a cardboard box... err.. in a "Patented Cremation
Container"?

However, the positive side about cardboard box burials is that you can keep all the spiffy wooden coffins to decorate your kitchen. Yay!

[Suzanne]

I guess this won't make much sense to non-German speaking forumistos/-as, but this is actually the funniest and most uplifting obituary notice I've ever seen in my whole life:


(Found in: Tages Anzeiger, 4th January 2006, by Stefan Rothenbühler. Thanks, Stefan!)

[Suzanne]

BBC has a photo stream about Fantasy Coffins.

[Suzanne]

Handsets get taken to the grave

More people than ever are asking to be buried or cremated with their mobile phones when they die, say researchers.

Read on

[Suzanne]

China acts on funeral strippers

Five people have been detained in China for running striptease send-offs at funerals, state media say.
The once-common events are held to boost the number of mourners, as large crowds are seen as a mark of honour.

But the arrests, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, could signal the end of the rural tradition.

Local officials have since ordered a halt to "obscene performances" and say funeral plans have to be submitted in advance, Xinhua news agency said.

Read on

[Suzanne]

Churches may modernise funerals with fireworks and videos on headstones

[Suzanne]

Mission Eternity - A new etoy.corporation project

[Suzanne]

Carbon Copies Project

Pencils made from the carbon of human cremains. 240 pencils can be made from an average body of ash - a lifetime supply of pencils for those left behind.

Visit website

[Suzanne]

Recycled Paper Coffin

Ecopod is a revolutionary design in coffins made from naturally hardened, 100% recycled paper. The time and consideration gone into the concept and design of the Ecopod we feel has culminated in a product with much to offer.

Made from 100% ecologically sound materials the Ecopod is the ideal product for a non toxic burial or cremation. Perfect for use in greenfield sites.  

View site

[Suzanne]

Kurt Cobain's stolen ashes to be smoked in a spliff?

Yes, you did just read that. A German artist claims to have acquired the Nirvana frontman's cremated remains and will smoke them in a joint as part of her exhibition

Read on