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“My Girl“
“When your dad’s an undertaker, your mom’s in heaven, and your grandma’s got a screw loose… it’s good to have a friend who understands you.”After a more-than-twenty-year hiatus, I put on the movie My Girl this week, and I wasn’t prepared for how moved I would be by the end. My memories of the clips I’ve seen throughout my life promised a cheesy film about a cheeky young girl, a coming of age story about loss that happened to be set…
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“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.”
-George Bernard ShawImage credit: Top, Middle, Bottom (Creative Commons)
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Death’s Dynamism in Aztec Civilization
Where the manner of death was more important than the manner of lifeJust as nearly every civilization throughout time, religion played an extremely important role in Ancient Aztec civilization. With over 1,000 gods, 14 heavens, 9 hells, and the sheer ubiquity, intricacy and flamboyance (for lack of a better term) of countless rituals and practices, religion in 16th Century Central Mexico played a role in daily life…
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This American Life on School Violence and Student Deaths
The Harper High School story reminds us that death and violence still happen every day.In the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, the storytellers at This American Life brought us a show recently to remind us that student death and gun violence aren’t all that unfamiliar in many of America’s schools. The two-part TAL episode follows the team for five months behind-the-scenes at Harper High School in…
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“I will always love you”
Whitney Houston’s most famous love song played at her own funeralOriginally written and performed by Dolly Parton, “I will always love you” was shot into international fame in 1992 when performed by Whitney Houston in the blockbuster movie, ” The Bodyguard.” Crazy enough, twenty years later, “I will always love you” was played during Whitney’s own funeral as the world mourned her tragic, sudden death. Things do…
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“The Monks and Me” by Mary Paterson
Learning grace and gratitude in unexpected placesAfter her father passed away, Mary Paterson needed to find stability in her life again. As an experienced yoga instructor, she’d relied on yoga and meditation to keep her centered before, but this time it wasn’t enough. So she decides to go on a 40-day retreat to Plum Village where she’d learn from the Nobel…
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How Can We Preserve Memory with DNA? (Interview)
The benefits of preserving our loved one’s memory with DNAToday we talk with Ryan Lehto, one of the founders of DNA Memorial. Ryan Lehto graduated from Lakehead University with a Bachelor’s in Biology and a Master’s in Molecular Biology with a specialization in DNA. As an accredited DNA scientist, his background is in forensics and criminal casework. Lehto has also retrieved DNA from several archeological…
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How Do You Use Words to Describe Classical Music?
It’s a conundrum when reading (rather than listening to) “1,001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die”When asked to review “1,001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die” (Gereral Editor Matthew Rye, Universe Publishing) I groaned after paging through the nine centuries of western music that laid before me. As someone who studied classical music and is probably more familiar with it than the average person (50% of my Ipod…
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