Steve's Dead Rock Stars

Steve's Dead Rock Stars is a memorial to the many great musicians who have blessed us with their gift. Sadly, many left the party early. Fortunately, the music lives on! This is a nice up to date site for those of us who love the music and their creators. Lots of info and again... for a change "up to date!" Info on stars such as: Dan Fogelberg, Ike Turner, Frankie Lane, Freddie Fender (to name a few) and it goes back to the 1950's!

Ride Accidents. Straightforward Info ... Beware that Carnival Ride : (

RideAccidents.com is the world's single most comprehensive, detailed, updated, accurate, and complete source of amusement ride accident reports and related news. The site includes a record of fatal amusement ride accidents in the United States since 1972, and, for the past nine years, has recorded all types of accidents, including many from outside the United States. The number of injuries and fatalities recorded at this site does not reflect the total number of injuries and deaths that have occurred as a result of amusement ride accidents.

It's very comprehensive. Sections on Water Rides, Amusement Parks, Rollercoasters and even those cute inflatables you see everybody using. Worth reading! And, to be honest, I'm really surprised how many injuries and deaths there are. Quite mind boggling.

Mr. Krueger's Christmas...

Still lovin' Jimmy Stewart... Have to post this movie as well!



"A Real" Meaning of Christmas movie : )

Everybody I Shot is Dead

What a great title for a book "Everybody I Shot Is Dead"... dont'cha think? Sad thing is it is a true statement. Read about this book in today's Washington Post. think I will have to buy it. Seems like fascinating reading and looking ... great for the coffee table!

Forty-eight of the hundreds of musicians Deborah Chesher photographed from 1974-79 have since passed away. "Everybody I Shot Is Dead" is a high quality 208-page coffee-table book with over four hundred iconic never-before-published photographs, accompanied by biographies and Deborah Chesher's personal behind-the-scenes reflections of a time when music was the magic that drove a generation. Musicians honored in "Everybody I Shot Is Dead" include Ron Aspery (Back Door), Peter Bardens (Camel), Ronnie Barron (Paul Butterfield, John Mayall), Michael Bloomfield, Marc Bolan (T-Rex), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Tim Buckley, Paul Butterfield, Albert Collins, Papa John Creach (Jefferson Starship), Steve Currie (T-Rex), John Denver, Tom Evans (Badfinger), John Fahey, Tony Flaim (Downchild Blues Band), Rory Gallagher, Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), Lowell George (Little Feat), Maurice Gibb(BeeGees), Mike Gibbins (Badfinger), Keith Godchaux (Grateful Dead), Pete Ham (Badfinger), George Harrison, John Hartford, Alex Harvey, Donny Hathaway, Tony Hicks (Back Door), Hollywood Fats (Jimmy Witherspoon), John Lee Hooker, Waylon Jennings, Terry Kath (Chicago), Keith Knudsen (Doobie Bros.), Rick Nelson, Harry Nilsson, Gene Pitney, Billy Preston, Malcolm Roberts, Hank Snow, Darrell Anthony Sweet (Nazareth), Stanley Turrentine, Jane Vasey (Downchild Blues Band), Carl Wilson (The Beach Boys), Dennis Wilson (The Beach Boys), Jimmy Witherspoon, Peter Wood (Al Stewart, Pink Floyd), Tammy Wynette, Mighty Joe Young, Frank Zappa.

Avoid Death ... Wacky Label Contest

A warning on a small tractor that reads "Danger: Avoid Death" has been chosen as the nation's wackiest warning label by an anti-lawsuit group.

The Wacky Warning Label Contest, now in its 11th year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch as part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels.
Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, won the $500 grand prize for submitting the winning label.

The $250 second place was given to Carrianne, Jacob and Robby Turin of Greensburg, Pa., for a label they found on an iron-on T-shirt transfer that warns: "Do not iron while wearing shirt."

Richard Goodnow of Lancaster, Mass., earned the $100 third-place prize for a label on a baby stroller featuring a small storage pouch that warns: "Do not put child in bag." (source)

Jimmy Stewart Recounts "It's a Wonderful Life"

Appease me. It's Christmas. My favorite movie of all time is "It's a Wonderful Life," and I am a Jimmy Stewart Freak. So I just have to post this:

The following piece, written by Jimmy Stewart ..... from Guideposts Magazine, an inspirational magazine originally founded by Norman Vincent Peale ..... provides his thoughts and insights on this magical movie.

"A friend told me recently that seeing a movie I made over 50 years ago is a holiday tradition in his family "like putting up the Christmas tree." That movie is "It's a Wonderful Life," and out of all the 80 films I've made, it's my favorite. But it has an odd history.When the war was over in 1945, I came back home to California from three years' service in the AirForce. I had been away from the film business, my MGM contract had run out, and frankly, not knowing how to get started again, I was just a little bit scared. Hank Fonda was in the same boat, and we sort of wandered around together, talking, flying kites and stuff. But nothing much was happening. Then one day Frank Capra phoned me. The great director had also been away in service, making the "Why We Fight" documentary series for the military, and he admitted to being a little frightened too. But he had a movie in mind, so we met to talk about it.

He said the idea came from a Christmas story written by Philip Van Doren Stern. Stern couldn't sell the story anywhere, but he finally had 200 twenty-four-page pamphlets printed up at his own expense, and he gave them to his friends as a greeting card. "Now listen," Frank began hesitantly. He seemed a little embarrassed about what he was going to say. "The story starts in heaven, and it's sort of the Lord telling somebody to go down to earth because there's a fellow who's in trouble, and this heavenly being goes to a small town, and ..."Frank swallowed and took a deep breath. "Well, what it boils down to is, this fella who thinks he's a failure in life jumps off a bridge. The Lord sends down an angel named Clarence, who hasn't earned his wings yet, and Clarence jumps into the water to save the guy. But the angel can't swim, so the guy has to save him, and then ..."Frank stopped and took a deep breath. "This doesn't tell very well, does it?" I jumped up. "Frank, if you want to do a picture about a guy who jumps off a bridge and an angel named Clarence who hasn't won his wings yet coming down to save him, well, I'm your man!

The Production of "It's a Wonderful Life" started April 15, 1946, and from the beginning there was a certain something special about the film. Even the set was special. Two months had been spent creating the town of Bedford Falls, New York. For the winter scenes, the special-effects department invented a new kind of realistic snow instead of using the traditional white cornflakes. As one of the longest American movie sets ever made until then, Bedford Falls had 75 stores and buildings on four acres with a three-block main street lined with 20 full grown oak trees. As I walked down that shady street the morning we started work, it reminded me of my hometown, Indiana, Pennsylvania. I almost expected to hear the bells of the Presbyterian church, where Mother played the organ and Dad sang in the choir. I chuckled, remembering how the fire siren would go off, and Dad, a volunteer fireman, would slip out of the choir loft. If it was a false alarm, Dad would sneak back and sort of give a nod to everyone to assure them that none of their houses was in danger. I remembered how, after I got started in pictures, Dad, who'd come to California for a visit, asked, "Where do you go to church around here?" "Well, " I stammered, "I haven't been going... There's none around here." Dad disappeared and came back with four men. "You must not have looked very hard, Jim," he said,"because there's a Presbyterian church just three blocks from here, and these are the elders. They're building a new building now, and I told them you were a movie star and you would help them." And so Brentwood Presbyterian was the first church I belonged to out here. Later that church was the one in which Gloria and I were married. A few years after that it was the same church I'd slip into during the day when Gloria was near death after our twin girls were born. Then, after we moved, we attended Beverly Hills Presbyterian, a church we could walk to.

It wasn't the elaborate movie set, however,that made "It's a Wonderful Life" so different; much of it was the story. The character I played was George Bailey, an ordinary kind of fella who thinks he's never accomplished anything in life. His dreams of becoming a famous architect, of traveling the world and living adventurously, have not been fulfilled. Instead he feels trapped in a humdrum job in a small town. And when faced with a crisis in which he feels he has failed everyone, he breaks under the strain and flees to the bridge. That's when his guardian angel, Clarence,comes down on Christmas Eve to show him what his community would be like without him. The angel takes him back through his life to show how our ordinary everyday efforts are really big achievements. Clarence reveals how George Bailey's loyalty to his job at the building-and-loan office has saved families and homes, how his little kindnesses have changed the lives of others, and how the ripples of his love will spread through the world, helping make it a better place. Good as the script was, there was still something else about the movie that made it different. It's hard to explain. I, for one, had things happen to me during the filming that never happened in any other picture I've made. In one scene, for example George Bailey is faced with unjust criminal charges and, not knowing where to turn, ends up in a little roadside restaurant. He is unaware that most of the people in town are arduously praying for him. In this scene, at the lowest point in George Bailey's life, Frank Capra was shooting a long shot of me slumped indespair. In agony I raised my eyes and, following the script, pled, "God ... God ... Dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if You're up there and You can hear me, show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God ..."As I said those words, I felt the loneliness, the hopelessness of people who had nowhere to turn, and my eyes filled with tears. I broke down sobbing. This was not planned at all, but the power of that prayer, the realization that our Father in heaven is there to help the hopeless, had reduced me to tears. Frank, who loved spontaneity in his films, was ecstatic. He wanted a close-up of me saying that prayer, but was sensitive enough to know that my breaking down was real and that repeating it in another take was unlikely. But Frank got his close-up anyway. The following week he worked long hours in the film laboratory, again and again enlarging the frames of that scene so that eventually it would appear as a close-up on the screen. I believe nothing like this had ever been done before. It involved thousands of individual enlargements with extra time and money. But he felt it was worth it.

There was a growing excitement among all of us as we strove day and night through the early summer of 1946. We threw everything we had into our work. Finally, after three months, shooting some 68 miles of 35-millimeter film we completed the filming and had a big wrap-up party for everyone. It was an outdoor picnic with three-legged races and burlap-bag sprints, just like the picnics back home in Pennsylvania. At the outing, Frank talked enthusiastically about the picture. He felt that the film as well as the actors would be up for Academy Awards. Both of us wanted it to win, not only because we believed in its message, but also for the reassurance we needed in this time of starting over. But life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. The movie came out in December 1946, and from the beginning we could tell it was not going to be the success we'd hoped for. The critics had mixed reactions. Some liked it ("a human drama of essential truth"); others felt it "too sentimental ... a figment of simple Pollyanna platitudes."As more reviews came out, our hopes sank lower and lower.

During early February 1947, eight other current films including "Sinbad the Sailor" and Betty Grable's "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim," outranked it in box-office income. The postwar public seemed to prefer lighthearted fare. At the end of 1947,"It's a Wonderful Life" ranked 27th in earnings among the releases that season. And although it earned several Oscar nominations, despite our high hopes, it won nothing. "Bestpicture for 1946" went to "The Best Years o fOur Lives." By the end of 1947 the film was quietly puton the shelf. But a curious thing happened. The movie simply refused to stay on the shelf. Those who loved it loved it a lot, and they must have told others. They wouldn't let it die any more than the angel Clarence would let George Bailey die. When it began to be shown on television, a whole new audience fell in love with it. Today, after some 50 years, I've heard the film called "an American cultural phenomenon." Well, maybe so, but it seems to me there is nothing phenomenal about the movie itself. It's simply about an ordinary man who discovers that living each ordinary day honorably, with faith in God and a selfless concern for others, can make for a truly wonderful life. "

(Source)

Wikipedia's List of Unusual Deaths . . . Interesting Reading

Wikipedia's List of Unusual Deaths

In 458 B.C., an eagle clutching a tortoise mistook "a bald head for a stone" and dropped its catch on the shiny cranium—which, unfortunately, topped the body of the Greek playwright Aeschylus. Thus did the great bird bring to a close the life of the legendary philosopher-scribe. But what an ending! This tale and others like it may, just may, "be apocryphal." But that doesn't diminish the enjoyment to be found in reading through Wikipedia's list of outlandish historical deaths (or the rumors thereof). From burial by book to drowning by wine, the famous fatalities recounted here are sure to amaze you. We all know Isadora Duncan departed this life thanks to her overreaching scarf, but how many culturally literate folk know of Frank Hayes, the jockey who suffered a heart attack, but still won the race? Or that Henry I loved lampreys that much? Read, enjoy, and keep an eye out for large birds of prey toting reptiles and winging overhead.

The "Drake Cabin" - Log Cabin Tomb Stone... Interesting

Fabulous workmanship and interesting story. First found it on Neataorama, but then had to dig to get more info. Quite fascinating. Ole Rustard built it, and in the end, it also killed him.

According to Neatorama reader Eric Purkalitis, who wrote:

"I love the clothespin tombstone you wrote of recently. I live in Denver and there is a really strange cemetery tucked away in the industrial part of town. The link is to a photo of my favorite grave marker, a reproduction of a log cabin. There are many interesting graves at Riverside Cemetery, but the interesting part is the story behind it.

Riverside Cemetery was created to relocate the graves from Denver City Cemetery, which had become dilapidated. Go figure City Cemetery contained the graves of Denver’s elite and was smack in the middle of the wealthiest part of town.E.F. McGovern was hired to move the graves, but was caused a scandal by piling up multiple bodies together in the new graves. It’s unclear whether he actually matched all of the bodies with their markers.

Denver City Cemetery went on to become Cheesman Park. Adjacent to the park the city erected the Denver Botanical Gardens. Every once in a while the Gardens still dig up old caskets. If the people in the park only knew."

My question is, "Whose under it?" (The Neatorama Picture didn't show the name) So of course I had to Dig, Dig, Dig.... And here is the answer -- it is called the "Drake Cabin."

The Denver Public Library Western History Department has some great pictures of the cemetery archived. The art in the park is beautiful and much of it is in need of proper attention.
The Drake Cabin is very cool and was made, I believe, in a stone studio at 36th and Blake. The caption of the photo posted here reads:“In the older part of Riverside Cemetery is a small replica of a log cabin complete with the needs of that day, shovel, pick-axe, etc. It was carved by a well-known early Denver sculptor, Norwegian born Ole Rustad. His niece, Bertha L. Baerresen, says she remembers when it was delivered to Riverside on a flat-bed wagon. It was cut from a large rock and very heavy, of course, and as it was being unloaded, one of the men who was helping stumbled, throwing much of the weight onto her uncle injuring his back. As a result of the accident, her uncle (her mother’s brother) died a short time later. Miss Baerresen, standing beside the cabin in the upper left picture gives an idea of the size of the cabin. The other photo shows the chimney at the back.”

Interesting Tidbit ... Do you know how Allan PInkerton Died?

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) was the world's first private detective. Emigrating to Chicago from Glasgow, Scotland, he discovered a gang of counterfeiters and assisted in their capture. He became deputy sheriff of Kane County, then Cook County, resigning from the police to form the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1852. The Pinkerton logo, the All-Seeing Eye, inspired the phrase "Private Eye". Allan Pinkerton died of an infection after biting his tongue when he slipped on a sidewalk!

"Funeral Fight" The Greaseman's Deviant Report

Anyone remember the Greaseman on DC 101? He now has an online show now called "Get a Life."

At any rate... has a commentary on a Funeral Fight in Orlando, Fla, with a deceased participant. I wonder who won?

http://getalife.tv/DesktopModules/UltraVideoGallery/UltraVideoGallery.swf?vId=22&portalId=5

Beam Me Up Scottie .... The Star Trek Coffin and Urn

Space ... the final frontier . . .

For the millions of fans on our planet and beyond, the new line of STAR TREK urns, caskets, monuments and vaults will be an important discovery indeed. After ten movies and five television series, phrases like “Live long and prosper,” “Resistance is futile” and “Space: the final frontier” have become part of our global vocabulary.

Monuments and vaults will also debut next year. The Eternal Image STAR TREK line is licensed for sale in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Korea and Japan.

The first two products to debut will be the STAR TREK urns and caskets.

STAR TREK ™ Urn - The new STAR TREK Urn will feature a bold design reminiscent of the 24th century styling of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet. Urns will be available beginning in mid-2008.

STAR TREK™ Casket - The STAR TREK Casket styling has been inspired by the popular “Photon Torpedo” design seen in STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Kahn. Caskets will be available beginning late 2008.

The 2008 Men of Mortuaries Calendar is Available

Who says these men are just a pretty face? The men of the 2008 calendar are all funeral directors and morticians from across the U.S. In 2007, McKenzie Mortuary of Long Beach, California held its second contest and casting call for the 2008 “Men of Mortuaries” Calendar. These men were selected and volunteered their time to raise money for Kamm Cares. To learn more, visit http://www.kammcares.org/. These men are not professional models. If you want to see the guys and get their bio -- just click on their site!

Want a sneak peek ... Here is Mr. March ....

Travis Barton
Yeehaw, Travis is hot. When this 22-year old funeral director apprentice is not helping families cope with the loss of their loved ones, he’s enjoying life on the farm – working with cows, hauling hay, building fences and riding horses. Travis was more than happy to help KAMM since his grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

"Don't Lie on my Grave and Weep For Me" ....at least that's what comes to mind : )

Beautiful ...

When he died, his wife commissioned a sculpture, an expression of love-NSFW .read more digg story

omnia says:
it is a really different headstone the story told to me is that this guy had a mistress and died overseas in her country - there was a dispute over claiming the body between the wife and the mistress, and the wife finally buried him hereshe commissioned an italian artist to sculpt a life size naked woman on top of his grave for some reason known to herthere is other bits to the story but I don't know what is true

Top 20 Most Bizaare Experiments of All Time

The Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time They're not kidding. The experiments detailed here are really and truly bizarre. The faint of heart may want to drift off to less peculiar realms. But those interested in traversing the wild side of science should step right up. In this list from The Museum of Hoaxes, drugged elephants are on parade, bulls are manipulated by remote control, and more than one housewife unintentionally subjects herself to "beneficial brainwashing": "People like you and need you. You have confidence in yourself." Such notorious psychological trials as the Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram's tests of the limits of human obedience both surface. (The limits rarely come.) And a duo representing the Cold War's little-known "surgical arms race" makes the top 20. The Russians produced two-headed dogs, the Americans retaliated by transplanting a monkey's head, and Dr. Frankenstein felt right at home.

Man Dies Trying Rescue Pet Cockatoo

Man Dies During Cockatoo Rescue
Mario XuerebNovember 13, 2007 - 9:06AM

A Bendigo man trying to retrieve a neighbour's pet cockatoo from a tree plunged to his death in front of his wife yesterday.

The man, 58, died after climbing 12 metres up a gum tree to save the bird last night, before losing his grip and falling. Police said he died instantly. The man's death came after the bird's owner fell from the same tree in an earlier failed attempt to capture the bird, which had escaped from its cage.

The owner, a 72-year-old man from Epsom, north-east of Bendigo, was taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries. Sergeant Mark Holloway from Bendigo Police said the owner's bird, a sulfur-crested cockatoo, became stuck in a 20-metre tree in a vacant lot near railway lines about 10pm last night. The owner climbed a ladder to catch the bird but slipped and fell to the ground. He was taken to Bendigo Hospital. Sergeant Holloway said the dead man, the pet owner's neighbour, then tried to catch the cockatoo about 10.30pm. "[He] became quite upset that his neighbour was injured trying to save his pet bird, so he made the same attempt up the ladder," he said. "He climbed the ladder up into the tree and while his wife was under the tree watching and calling for him to get down, climbed out on a limb around 12 metres off the ground.
"He lost his grip and fell to the ground in front of his wife and died instantly." Sergeant Holloway said the man may have died due to head injuries received during the fall. Family have rallied around the dead man's wife as police prepare a report for the coroner. The cockatoo has not been caught.

Where the Stars Died ... A Map

Interesting site . . . "Where the Stars Died." Over the years, Hollywood stars have often made the headlines by being involved in a wide variety of scandals, murders, suicides, accidents and controversial deaths - even occasional acts of celebrity heroism.

From Del Shannon to George Reeves, these incidents have gripped the imagination of the American public. And many of them happened in Los Angeles.Where did Marilyn Monroe die? How about Janis Joplin and John Belushi? Where was Phil Hartman murdered? Where did Freddie Prinze commit suicide? Where did "Superman" die?

Where can you find the scene of the crimes for such infamous L.A. cases as The Menendez Brothers, the Black Dahlia, Patty Hearst, the Manson Family, the Robert Blake case, and the Nicole Simpson murders? It's all at this site . They list the actual locations of the Hollywood stories which made the news. The locales are listed by decade, and include street addresses and links to interactive online maps for your convenience.

Bacon and Turkey ... Serious as a heart attack!!! : )

HMMMMM, this may just put you in the grave. A little too much fat for me. But, if you like bacon ... you may just think you went to heaven : )



Why roast a turkey not wrapped in bacon when you can roast a turkey...wrapped in bacon? The prevalence of bacon-wrapped turkey photos shows that it is quite popular. Try out Chow's Bacon-Wrapped Turkey with Pear Cider Gravy recipe and watch the accompanying video to create porky turkey goodness in your own kitchen. (Source: Serious Eats)

Where Vehicles are Left to Diec

Here are some examples of vehicle cemeteries around the world, areas on earth that have unwittingly become the home to rusting, unused machines - remember, this is just a selection of the many boneyards on earth and while they often look stunning and make for a great photo, the environmental costs far outweigh the view. Check out this guys blog "Where Vehicles are Left to Die." Interesting blog post. He has planes, trains, automobiles and even nuclear subs that are dead in the water! It's a little sad to look like even if they are inanimate objects.

Apocalypse 2012 ... What do YOU think?

Can't help it . . . I am a Montel Williams show freak. Mainly because I love Sylvia Brown -- and from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every Wednesday, I HAVE TO WATCH SYLVIA BROWN WEDNESDAY.

This week however, there were more shows about the un-natural and the author of Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization's End was on. Haven't read it, but it's on my list. Not sure what I think -- but would sure love to hear from anyone out there who has read the book!

According to Publishers Weekly the book is about as follows:
In New Age circles, the idea that some sort of world-spanning cataclysmic event will take place in December 2012 has been gaining traction for years, thanks largely to the calculations of ancient Mayan astronomers who pegged that moment as the end of a cycle of eons. Joseph uses that prophecy as a starting point, but claims that his interest lies in more substantial scientific threats to the planet—including cracks in Earth's magnetic field, the eruption of supervolcanoes and flareups of sunspot radiation. On the other hand, he also gives credence to planetary alignments and The Bible Code before veering into a rant about how the real problem is Christian fundamentalists who want to manipulate the Middle East into Armageddon. When he sticks to science journalism, Joseph is a lively tour guide, introducing readers to Mayan shamans and Russian scientists with equal aplomb. But when he encourages readers to start praying they survive the coming apocalypse, he comes off as exactly the sort of crackpot he claims to eschew. Still, there's less kookery than in other 2012 books, making Joseph a reasonably straightforward guide to the theory. (Jan. 23)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WWII Ghosts Still Making Noise

It’s not your imagination — maybe that sound in the night really was a moan.

Stories of spirits and unexplained phenomena have persisted on U.S. military bases in the Pacific for years. Doors slam, shadows creep and voices shout in the night. Could it be spirits of the dead reaching out? As costumed ghosts and ghouls hit the streets for Halloween, Stars and Stripes has compiled some accounts of allegedly real ghosts and ghouls to keep the holiday creepy.

Creepy crematorium tale:

Many of the buildings on Yongsan Garrison in South Korea have been there longer than the U.S. military. Some date back to Japan’s occupation of Korea before and during World War II. One of those buildings, near the gas station on the garrison’s South Post, has been surrounded by rumors for years.

“I hate being here at night. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up just talking about it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Riviere Cools, 52nd Medical Battalion as he eyed the squat, red-brick building in the center of his unit’s complex of offices. “I don’t believe in that kind of stuff, but in the back of my mind, there are souls here.”

The entire compound, surrounded by a thick, crumbling, brick wall, was a prison during the occupation. For years, said U.S. Army Garrison spokesman David McNally, soldiers working there have passed along stories claiming that the area, especially the small building in the center, was haunted.

McNally said the building was most likely the prison’s administrative office, but those working around it have a more sinister theory. “Everybody that’s worked in that building right there has either seen something or heard something,” said Staff Sgt. Sae Kim, 52nd Medical Battalion. “Because that’s where they burned people.” McNally was quick to point out there was no evidence to suggest that the building was a crematorium, but that doesn’t stop the stories from spreading. “I haven’t seen any ghosts,” said Sgt. 1st Class Freeman Witherspoon. “But I definitely have heard the rumors. People say they see shadows when they have duty at night.”

The unexplained voice

Stories of strange happenings abound at the base chapel at Camp Zama in Japan. Strange presences in rooms and doors that mysteriously open and close are part of chapel lore, employees say. Some tell stories of strange figures passing by and then disappearing.
“My predecessor said that she used to hear footsteps through the halls late at night,” said Staff Sgt. Desmond West, the Unit Ministry Team noncommissioned officer in charge. Last year, Spc. Jennifer Villagomez, a funds clerk, said she was working late when a voice emanated from her unplugged computer speakers. It sounded like a Japanese man, “like a drill sergeant yelling at a private,” she said. At first, Villagomez said she thought the sounds were a practical joke and called for a sergeant who was the only other person in the building at the time. “And as I heard him come closer to my office, the voice on the speaker went lower and lower until it went away, just before he walked in the room,” Villagomez said. She said that since that incident, she tries not to be the last person to in the office at night. Sgt. Joshua Lee, who works at the chapel with Villagomez, said he didn’t hear the voice that night but has witnessed other strange occurrences. Chapel lights switch on and doors open seemingly on their own, Lee said. West, who has worked in the chapel for four years, said he has never seen or heard anything peculiar. “But the day I start hearing things, I’m running out of here,” he said.

Ghosts crowd Okinawa

Reportedly haunted sites can be found around almost any corner on and off Okinawa bases. So many ghost stories abound that Marine Corps Community Services and 18th Services Squadron on Kadena Air Base both run special Halloween spooky sites tours that sell out weeks in advance. Web sites and a book on the subject — Jayne A. Hitchcock’s “The Ghosts of Okinawa” — celebrate the local haunts.

A World War II soldier is said to roam Gate 3 on Camp Hansen in blood-splattered fatigues asking sentries to light his cigarette. Marines refused to stand guard due to the haunting, and the gate was eventually closed, according to Hitchcock.

Camp Foster is said to be the home of a ghostly samurai warrior who eternally travels from Stillwell Drive uphill toward Futenma Housing.

Kadena Air Base also has its ghost stories.

A small house behind the Kadena United Services Organization, numbered 2283, is now used for storage because, it is said, no one willingly lives in it for long. Some say the house remains haunted after a man murdered his family there. Others say the house rests on an ancient burial site, and the souls of the dead beneath are restless.

Kadena’s golf course might be the site where in 1945 a group of high-school girls pressed into service in the Japanese Imperial Army committed suicide, according to another yarn. The spirits of the dead girls are said to still haunt the land.

Off-base, half-finished buildings are abandoned due to reports of ghostly visitors.

Construction of the Royal Hotel off Route 329, near the Nakagusuku Castle ruins, was begun some three decades ago — possibly on a sacred site. Mysterious accidents and deaths drove workers to abandon construction.

Meanwhile, at Maeda Point, there is rumored to be a prophet-of-death ghost.

The elderly Okinawan apparition is said to appear at a tomb that can be seen only from the water, and within days of a sighting, a body is found on a nearby beach.



Christopher B. Stoltz / S&S
A Japanese bunker long rumored to be haunted lies inground at Camp Zama. Military personel claim to have heard a ghost at Camp Zama where haunted base stories are told around Halloween. (Source Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Wednesday, October 31, 2007 )

John Astin Reads "The Raven" By Edgar Allen Poe --- As Poe

What's Halloween Without a little Edgar Allen Poe

"This place gives me the creeps!" Vincent Price, 1977

Poe and Baltimore

"He pointed to my garments;-they were muddy and clotted with gore. I spoke not, and he took me gently by the hand:-it was indented with the impress of human nails." Berenice, 1835.
Edgar Allan Poe has been dead since October 7, 1849 and yet his ghost continues to haunt us. Poe was one of Baltimore's greatest writers. He was a poet, short story writer, literary critic, editor, publisher and lecturer. His life was filled with tragedy, poverty, and illness. Writers in his time could hardly make a living from writing and had to turn to other employment that could afford them some leisure time to write. If they were lucky enough to have a patron or an inheritance, their prolificacy was assured. Poe was not that fortunate.

Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, he was the grandson of Baltimore Revolutionary War patriot, David Poe Sr., he was orphaned at age 3 and, though never legally adopted, made his home with Mr. and Mrs. John Allan in Richmond. Poe, was never really accepted by Allan as his son. Tension grew as he got older, and, after many unfortunate incidents, he left Allan's household and enlisted in the Army.

In 1829, after his discharge, Poe arrived in Baltimore and lived with his widowed aunt, Maria Poe Clemm. At that time, Maria Clemm's home was located in what is now called Little Italy, just east of the Inner Harbor. After a brief stint at West Point, he returned to Baltimore in 1832 to live with Maria Clemm again. By this time, Maria Clemm was living at No. 3 Amity Street in west Baltimore. The tiny household consisted of Maria, her daughter Virginia Eliza, her son Henry Clemm, and Elizabeth Poe, Edgar's grandmother. It was during this time period that Poe decided to write short stories instead of poetry. Poe won a $50 prize offered by a Baltimore newspaper for best short story. The winning story was called, "MS Found in a Bottle."
It was probable that the following stories were composed at this time: "Berenice," "Morella," "King Pest," "Shadow," "Mystification," and "Hans Pfall." Other tales that date from this time period are: "Metzengerstein," "Duc de L'Omelette," "A Tale of Jerusalem," "Loss of Breath," "BonBon," "Siope," "Lionizing," "The Visionary," and "A Decent into the Maelstrom."
One tale in particular, "Berenice", created a sensation for Poe. Many editors received complaints the story was too gruesome. Poe censored his own story by deleting several offending paragraphs. He defended writing this story by claiming he was giving the public what they wanted. He promised not to err again by writing such sensational stories.

In 1835, Elizabeth Poe died. Poe moved to Richmond where in 1836 he sent for Maria and Virginia Clemm, Henry Clemm vanished and was never heard from again. Poe never returned to Baltimore to live for any extended period of time.

In 1836, Poe married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia, in Richmond. Poe was devoted to his wife. When she finally died a tragic death from consumption in 1847, Poe outlived her by only two years. The cause of his death remains a mystery. Despite many theories surrounding his death, no exact cause has ever been proven. He rests with his wife and aunt under the monument erected to him in Westminster Graveyard in downtown Baltimore.

(Source)

EWWWWWWWW! Truckload of Embalmed Heads Found in Traffic Stop Near Fort Worth

But it's no Halloween joke. Investigators say the human heads had been used for medical training in the Fort Worth area and were being returned to Little Rock, Arkansas. Hunt County Justice of the Peace Aaron Williams was summoned during a traffic stop Sunday in Royse City after a trucker was suspected of speeding.

The wrapped-in-plastic heads were found in the trailer. The driver couldn't immediately locate the documentation.

The trucker and his cargo were later allowed to proceed after the paperwork was faxed to him. The name of the company wasn't immediately released. (Source http://www.dallasnews.com/)

Halloween Hangman . . .

Have A little Halloween fun.

http://www.dedge.com/flash/hangman/hangman.swf

Zombie Wedding Cake Topper : )

In the spirit of Halloween I have to post this!

Someone on Craftster.com made this adorable custom zombie wedding cake topper: "A zombie portrait wedding cake topper I did for my friend Rebecca's wedding cake. She wanted a topper of her and her groom with her eating his brains,so I did just that."

Way to go girl!!!! : )

See You Later Alligator ... This bride is not a croc!

Well, isn't that just precious. A dried-out, long-dead alligator, all dressed up like a bridesmaid or bride. She's all set to offer her hand in marriage to a dashing suitor. That is, if she had hands, and not just stumps.

I hope there's an afterlife, so that this alligator can have a long discussion with whoever did this to her mortal remains. (Found on Disturbing Auctions Daily)

Catacumbas Capuchinas . . . Beautiful

Lucille Ball . . . Don't Embalm Me!

"I Love Lucy" -- Don't Embalm Me!

Things I never knew. I thought this was interesting. Evidently TMZ has a small blurb about an EBay auction where an eBay seller listed copies of the wills and death certificates of the four "I Love Lucy" stars. Lucille Ball's will reveals an explicit instruction: No embalming! These creepy documents detail the dead cast members' last wishes and other details of their demise. (I believe the bid is over); however, someone in a post states:

"When Lucille Ball died in April, 1989, she was immediately taken from the hospital and cremated, is what I understand. There were memorial services only after her death. I have read many times that she didn't want her death/funeral/burial to be a public spectacle like Marilyn Monroe's was. Lucy's ashes were interred next to her Mother Dee-Dee's in one of the Forest Lawn cemetaries in Los Angeles/Hollywood area. I had been there and seen the simple plaque: Morton---Lucille Ball (1911-1989).......The ashes were later moved, both Dee-Dee's and Lucy's, to the family plot in Jamestown, NY in 2002, where they will forever remain. I have also heard that Lucy was scared to death of needles/being cut, ect., and that is why she never had plastic surgery. This might also explain her fear of being embalmed, also. "

(Source) Posted May 13th 2007 3:01AM by TMZ Staff Filed under: Celebrity Auctions

The History of Coffins... Interesting.

This clip is about the history of caskets from the first coffins to today's modern caskets.

Australian Cemetery ... Training Grave Diggers to be Life Savers!

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian cemetery is training gravediggers as lifesavers and has installed a defibrillator to jumpstart the hearts of grief-stricken mourners who regularly collapse at funerals.

"A lot of people who die are old, so the people who come to the services are frail and they are vulnerable anyway, and the additional stress of a funeral tips them over the edge," Vicki Pridmore, chief executive of Melbourne's Cheltenham cemeteries, told local newspapers on Friday.

Pridmore said a family or friend collapsed at a funeral every two months on average, so now gravediggers were being trained to use the new defibrillator. "We have had a couple recently with strokes and we call the ambulance four or five times a year. Everybody is doing their training," she said. An ambulance spokesman said defibrillators, which deliver an electric pulse to an affected heart to restore regular rhythm, not only treated heart attacks, but could also help assess illness for arriving paramedics.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKSYD2061720071019

The Pink Ribbon Dorothy Apron

Have to post our new addition to the site: The Pink Ribbon Dorothy Apron. It's nice. What more can I say? And, 15% of the price will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Organization. Makes a great gift for someone else or even yourself! the dishwashing gloves are cute too : )

Halloween Cuteness ... Having a party?

Monty Python "Bring Out Your Dead" . . .

Sometimes you just need to take a minute to smile . . .

A very provocative advert from a funeral service business . . .

Gotta give credit where credit is due... found this at FrostFireZoo.com; and sorry, but I cracked up ... sick humor, but funny nonetheless!

The Hello Kitty Exhaust Pipe..... A cat with more than 9 lives!

Okay gotta say it. A normal cat has nine lives ... if this is (which I am sure it is) made out of stainless....this cat's got forever! The Hello Ktty exhaust pipe . . . someone's making money on this really cool idea : ) And boy does she purr.... (especially if you have a mustang (sorry -- one of my fav cars)) and roar she does at times.

(Source BoingBoing) (photos from fickr)

Bud Ekins Has Made "The Great Escape" . . . Dead at 77!

One of my favorite movies. I searched high and low for The Great Escape last year.

Bud Ekins, a renowned off-road racer and stuntman who performed the famous motorcycle jump over barbed wire in the film "The Great Escape" and bounced a Mustang up and down the hills of San Francisco in "Bullitt," has died. He was 77. Ekins died of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, family spokesman Paul Bloch said. Ekins, a friend and mentor of fellow biker
Steve McQueen, had a stunt career that lasted for 30 years, and appeared in dozens of movies, including "Diamonds Are Forever," "Earthquake" and "The Blues Brothers."

Born in 1930 to a working class family in Hollywood, Ekins fell in love with motorcycles at an early age and in the 1950s he was one of the first U.S. competitors in world-class motocross events in Europe. His friendship with McQueen grew out of their love of motorcycles. Ekins owned a Triumph dealership in the 1960s. McQueen hung out there and Ekins taught him about off-road racing. Ekins, his brother, David, and McQueen raced as a team in the 1964 International Six Day Trials in Germany, although McQueen crashed and Ekins broke his leg, Bloch said. Overall, Ekins won four gold medals and a silver medal at the international trials in the 1960s. Ekins got into stunt work when McQueen asked him to work on "The Great Escape" in 1962 in Germany. While McQueen did some of the motorcycle stunts, it was Ekins, uncredited, who doubled in the scene in which McQueen's prisoner-of-war character jumps a motorcycle over a barbed-wire fence. It is considered one of the most famous motorcycle movie stunts ever performed. Ekins later worked with McQueen in "The Cincinnati Kid" and "Bullitt,"
(The Essential Steve McQueen Collection (Bullitt Two-Disc Special Edition / The Getaway Deluxe Edition / The Cincinnati Kid / Papillon / Tom Horn / Never So Few)) where he performed much of the driving of McQueen's Mustang in that film's landmark chase in and around San Francisco, where he hit speeds of more than 110 mph. (AP/Courtesy of Susan Ekins)

Ekins' other credits (some anonymous) include the films "Bullitt," "Electra Glide in Blue," Diamonds Are Forever (James Bond Novels)," "Earthquake," "Race With the Devil," "National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition)" and "The Blues Brothers (Collector's Edition)," and the TV series "Then Came Bronson." Ekins also appeared as bit player in several films, including "The Love Bug (Special Edition)" and "Pacific Heights." Ekins continued his stunt work into his 60s. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. Ekins also owned one of the best vintage motorcycle collections in the world, with 150 rare bikes, although in recent years he had trimmed it down. (Source)

Umbrellas With A Deadly Flair : )

Umbrellas with a ghoulish flair! These make a great gift! It falls under the category of something everybody needs but hates to buy themselves. These are unique! They make a great accessory and conversation piece! They have the Coffin pattern, skulls , safety pins, flames; you name it! Available at Get Go Retro! And for your information, here is Umbretiquette!

UMBRETIQUETTE

1. Never unfurl your umbrella indoors. (It's bad luck)
2. The taller person should raise their umbrella when passing in tight quarters. (DUH)
3. Never open your umbrella at sporting events.
4. If your umbrella has blown inside out more than 6 times, replace it.
5. Be very cautious when changing direction with an open umbrella - accidents happen!
6. Keep the point down.
7. Leave it someplace? It's gone!!!!!

A House Made of Embalming Fluid Bottles : )

You won't find this house in the story of "The Three Little Pigs!" I don't think the big bad wolf could huff and puff enough to blow this house down!

This unusual roadside attraction was built from over half a million discarded embalming fluid bottles. In 1952, David H. Brown retired from 35 years in the funeral business. It occurred to Mr. Brown that there should be some practical use to put the bottles to. And, it was all started, to quote Mr. Brown, "to indulge a whim of a peculiar nature".Mr. Brown travelled western Canada collecting bottles from many of his friends in the funeral profession, until he had acquired 500,000 of the square shaped bottles, weighing 250 tons in all.The house itself sits upon solid rock. Built in a cloverleaf pattern with three main rooms, circular shape, 48 feet in length, 24 feet wide and with the upstairs room, it contains 1,200 sq ft of floor space.

Entering the grounds, the visitors are welcomed by a mountain stream trickling over a moss-covered water wheel which brings to life the dwarf inhabitants nestled around the wishing well.
Over 320 dozen flowers border pathways and entice visitors from the terrace over a bridge also built of glass bottles. A winding path beneath the bridge leads to the rocky lakeshore and a lookout called the lighthouse which offers a spectacular view of beautiful Kootenay Lake.
Tours of the estate are available seven days a week, May to October. Gift shop also located on property just 25 miles north of Creston on the shores of Kootenay Lake.

The Glass HouseBox 64Boswell, BCVOB 1AOPhone: 250-223-8372Fax: 250-223-8332Email: glasshouse@kootenay.com

Being Left Handed is Not the Kiss of Death .... (Thank goodness : ) )

One of the myths of modern times - that left-handed people die young - has been challenged by a study of films from Victorian England.

In 1992, a survey of more than a million people between the ages of 10 and 86 established that the proportion of left-handedness was lower in the elderly than in the young. The study painted a grim long-term picture for left-handers, but only if rates of left-handedness have remained constant down the decades. So has it changed?

Chris McManus and Alex Hartigan of University College London tackled the question using documentary films made in northern England between 1897 and 1913. When people waved an arm in the films, the pair took that as a sign of their dominant hand. After judging the ages of the people in the films, they discovered that those born within a decade of 1900 actually showed a lower proportion of left-handedness than that found in a modern control group (Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.008).

McManus suggests that industrialisation - with factories designed for the right-handed majority - and the advent of universal schooling, may have emphasised the stigmatisation of left-handers, piling pressure on them to switch dominant hands.

From issue 2623 of New Scientist magazine, 02 October 2007, page 17

The Cadillac Graveyard ....

From what I have read, a rich oil tycoon in Bushland Texas , years back, bought a brand new cadillac. Within a short time after his purchase, it died. The tycoon tried to return it, but wasn't allowed to. He decided to make a statement by buying a new cadillac every year and burying it halfway into the ground on his property, close to the highway. Guess there was no lemon law back then : )

Hannah Wickham .... Funeral to be treated as a Wedding

This is sad; courageous, brave and beautiful. And, I can't even imagine what the parents and husband are going through . . . and, it's beautiful that everyone knows that love lives on and death is not the end.

Australian swimming legend Tracey Wickham will farewell her teenage daughter Hannah who died of cancer, just hours after she married her "soul mate".

The funeral service for Hannah, 19, will be held at 2pm (AEST) Sunday in the chapel of All Hallows School in Brisbane where she was a student until two years ago.

Hannah, who died on Tuesday, was to marry 20-year-old Tom O'Driscoll, whom she met in hospital while he too was being treated for cancer, on the Sunshine Coast later this month.
Both went into remission, but the cancer returned for Hannah, who was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer which attacks the body's tissue.

When it became clear Hannah would not make it through Monday night, a priest was called to Brisbane's Wesley Hospital and the two married in front of 20 close friends and family.
Tracey Wickham, dual swimming world champion and former holder of the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle world records, said she took comfort her daughter had her dying wish.
The funeral would be treated as the wedding her daughter wanted so much.

"And other than walking back down the aisle as Mr and Mrs O'Driscoll, we'll be carrying her in her wedding dress to her resting place and I think she'll be wanting to know that the wedding will still go ahead, it's just that she'll be there in spirit," Wickham said.

Hannah will be farewelled as a wedding celebration that will include bridesmaids, groomsmen and a dog carrying wedding rings. "She's going to be buried in her wedding dress and there will be six bridesmaids and groomsmen, including my son."Their little dog is going to be carrying the rings up in the chapel." She also wanted to be married barefoot and will be buried barefoot.

Wickham has vowed to dedicate the rest of her life to finding a cure for the rare cancer Hannah died from, which is suffered mostly by teenagers, through her daughter's The Hannah's Chance Foundation.

"I know I was given a gift to swim fast and I know it wasn't now to win gold medals or for pats on the back," she said.

The Wesley Research Institute has established the foundation in Hannah's memory to fund future research projects into her rare cancer.

ONE of Hannah Ciobo's closest friends has revealed the full story of her engagement to Tom O'Driscoll, whom she married on her deathbed on Monday night.

Megan O'Dowd, who was due to visit the 19-year-old in hospital on the day she died, told NEWS.com.au that Hannah, the most beautiful girl also had the most romantic of engagements.
The daughter of record-breaking swimmer Tracey Wickham, Hannah died early on Tuesday morning, having married Mr O'Driscoll to fulfil her dying wish.

Ms O'Dowd said that when Mr O'Driscoll proposed to Hannah on a quiet beach, they had no idea that someone was watching them.

''Her little brother was hiding in the bushes videotaping it,'' Ms O'Dowd said. She said that only a few friends knew about the engagement before a small get-together at Hannah's house one night.

''We were all at her house, and they put on the video. ''Hannah wasn't wearing her ring before that she was so happy. ''I think she wanted to surprise everyone.'' Ms O'Dowd said that Hannah was an inspiration to everyone who would put others ahead of herself. ''She was just the bravest person she would put everyone else first,'' she said. ''Everyone just loved her shell be missed forever.'' Ms O'Dowd said that Mr O'Driscoll was the perfect match for Hannah, but the two didnt start going out straight away.

''There was a bit of mucking around. ''I saw Tom last night he's being very brave.
''He was asking how are you, how are you.'' She also said that Hannahs funeral, scheduled for Sunday, would be more like a wedding.

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Lois Maxwell AKA/ Miss Moneypenny the flirtatious and dignified British Secret Service secretary to James Bond died on October 1, 2007 of Cancer. What an endearing legacy she left behind.

Ms. Maxwell played Bond's secretary in 14 movies spanning 23 years, starting in 1962 with "Dr. No," until 1985 "A View To A Kill." The character Moneypenny was always remembered because of the flirtatious nature she had with a smile, a glance or brief word; and she was an efficient secretary.

Bond's (That's James Bond) secretary also traded suggestive banter with Agent 007 who would occasionally perch himself on the edge of her desk. Believe it or not she uttered no more than 200 words in all of her Bond films and her total on time screen time amounted to no more than an hour or two.

According to the Washington Post (10/2/07), her lines were limited ... but the impact of delivery was huge: "James you're late." or "When are we going to have that dinner?" And once when he left for a mission, Bond asked Moneypenny: "What can I bring your from Amsterdam?" "A diamond ... in a ring," she responded. They agreed to settle on a tulip. Always suggestive with an undercurrent, and always coy : )

The real Ms. Maxwell was born 2/14/1927 in Kitchner Ontario and perfomed during WWII when she joined a Canaidan Military unit sent to Britain to entertain the troops. In England she received a scholarship into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where she actually went to school with Roger Moore (who would later become one of the James Bonds).

Maxwell made a few movies, married Peter Marriott and had 2 children. Her husband became ill, and with 2 small children and no money, she called producers she had worked with and asked for help. Terence Young who directed her in a 1948 drama "Corridor of Mirrors," gave her a choice of two roles in the first Bond Film. She chose Moneypenny.

In 1986 she returned to Canada where she operated a business and wrote a three-times-a-week column for the Toronto Sun.

Her orignal names was Lois Hooker. Considered a ihindrance to an acting career her last name was changed.