A Morbid Fascination: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Mtatsminda Pantheon, Tbilisi, Georgia

Davit Eristavi, journalist and playwright.

Kakutsa Cholokashvili, military commander and national hero.

Vazha Pshavela, poet and writer.

Galaktion Tabidze, poet.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first president of Georgia.

Konstantine Marjanishvili, theater director

Ivane Paliashvili, music conductor.
(Photo Credit)

Samtavro Monastery, Mtskheta, Georgia

St. Peter's Church, Middelkerke, Belgium

(Photo Credit)

HERE'S an interesting item. It's been shown that microbes can deposit gold in the hair of corpses. Since that opens the possibility that they can do the same with other metals, that can present some interesting questions, not only for archaeologists, but for criminal investigators.

St. Mary's Cemetery, Assumption, Ohio

This is one of the nicest, and best maintained country churchyards I've ever seen. It's just west of Toledo and I hope to get back there when the weather's better.

Those are little pottery statues in the niches, with plexiglass over them. Never saw one like this before.

Hard Times for Funeral Profiteers

There's a good article in today's Toledo Blade ( A rare occurrence, I might add. ) about how the economic mess is causing trouble for the "funeral industry". No surprise there. Funerals have become everything Evelyn Waugh complained about in The Loved One. The whole "funeral home" experience is drastically overpriced and completely unnecessary. Let's go back to simple funerals, at home or in a church, and spend a bit more on a nice tombstone. Send the "funeral directors" to the unemployment line where they belong.