HUMOR - Halloween humor

SOCIETY/CULTURE - Touching farewell

http://ubertoolcomic.com/?comic=no-97

MY LIFE - Of memory, my daughter, and death...

MY LIFE - My funeral and Star Trek...

ENTERTAINMENT - And Vinyly Presses Your Ashes Into Vinyl When You Die

by Olivia Solon/Wired UK

Music lovers can now be immortalised when they die by having their ashes baked into vinyl records to leave behind for loved ones.

A UK company called And Vinyly is offering people the chance to press their ashes in a vinyl recording of their own voice, their favourite tunes or their last will and testament. Minimalist audiophiles might want to go for the simple option of having no tunes or voiceover, and simply pressing the ashes into the vinyl to result in pops and crackles.

How does it work? The process of setting human ashes into vinyl involves a very understanding pressing plant. Basically the ashes must be sprinkled onto the raw piece of vinyl (known as a “biscuit” or “puck”) before it is pressed by the plates. This means that when the plates exert their pressure on the vinyl in order to create the grooves, the ashes are pressed into the record.

And Vinyly also offers personalised RIV (Rest In Vinyl) artwork — the simple version just carries your name and your life span, or you can have your portrait painted by artist James Hague, using your ashes mixed into the paint.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/08/vinyl-ashes/

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Everything You Know About St. Patrick's Day Is Wrong

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/brutally-honest-st-patricks-day-facts_n_4957861.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

By christine-dalton

St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us! Typically, we associate the holiday with drinking, drinking, and drinking. Oh, and being Irish.

But there's a lot more to St. Patrick's Day than most people know. Truthfully, you've probably been living a lie. When you learn all the facts, this holiday actually kind of... sucks.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but here are 10 brutally honest facts about St. Patrick's Day.

• 8
  St. Patrick's Day was invented in America.
  Imgur
  Really?! Catholic University's Irish American expert, Timothy Meagher, explains that St. Patrick's Day celebrations began in the 18th century in American cities with large Irish immigrant populations."It becomes a way to honor the saint but also to confirm ethnic identity and to create bonds of solidarity," Meagher explained. Really.
  • 4
    St. Patrick's Day used to be a dry holiday.
    Imgur
    Today's booze-bags look to the holiday as a great excuse to start drinking Guinness at 9 AM. Until 1970, however, all pubs in Ireland were closed inobservance of the religious feast day.
    • 2
      There are more Irish people living in the U.S. than Ireland.
      Imgur
      The population of Ireland is about 4.2. million. In contrast, there are around 34 MILLION people of Irish descent living in America.
      Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/brutally-honest-st-patricks-day-facts_n_4957861.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION - Radiolab: After Life

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eioua/3068749696/

This hour: Radiolab stares down the very moment of passing, and speculates about what may lie beyond.

What happens at the moment when we slip from life...to the other side? Is it a moment? If it is, when exactly does it happen? And what happens afterward? It's a show of questions that don't have easy answers. So, in a slight departure from our regular format, we bring you eleven meditations on how, when, and even if we die.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/91680-after-life/

HUMOR - Sacrifice and The War On Christmas

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Some of my favorite Mandela memorial pics..