The Daily Undertaker

Only just found this really rather profound and po...

2012-05-10T05:36:50.517-05:00

Only just found this really rather profound and poetic posting, Patrick - thought-provoking and beautiful, thank you. It resonated so strongly with a certain way of thinking that I want to encourage amidst bereavement and funeral ceremonies. What and how do we take forward, how does grief enrich our lives, can bereavement add to us as well as shrinking our lives? I hope you don't mind if I use a reworked version of one of your thoughts here. Especially when bereaved people do not have a religious faith or a belief in the afterlife, I want funerals to help them carry away and forward what they can.

Ach, it's impossible! The cultural defence all...

2012-05-03T04:02:28.862-05:00

Ach, it's impossible! The cultural defence allied to the free speech defence (not to mention mutterings about racism) completely skewer any liberal democracy. Taste cannot be expected to hold the ring - whose taste? Is it right to practise cultural apartheid by putting them all together in their own section?

An excruciatingly difficult problem - if a problem at all.

In time, these cultural artefacts will be prized, of course...

Why wait until I kick the bucket? I'd take tha...

2012-04-19T00:49:41.683-05:00

Why wait until I kick the bucket? I'd take that out for a spin everyday if I could get my hands on it.

Wow. I haven't known of this. Proudly to be Hu...

2012-04-13T14:24:16.201-05:00

Wow. I haven't known of this. Proudly to be Hungarian too:)

Thank you for sharing this picture! This is one of...

2012-04-10T14:22:21.896-05:00

Thank you for sharing this picture! This is one of the most visually arresting monuments at the Cemetery. Let us know next time you're here - we'd love to show you around!

What a beauty! Well found! I hope this post will h...

2012-03-23T18:42:44.574-05:00

What a beauty! Well found! I hope this post will help it find a good home.

I will take the bike riders over the dog walkers.....

2012-03-17T21:17:51.264-05:00

I will take the bike riders over the dog walkers...sad but I have seen it in many places along the East Coast from the Common Burying Ground in Newport RI to the Catholic Cemetery in Alexandria VA. (people ignore the signs, if they exist, beyond that they are simply not thinking beyond themselves and their dogs toilet time) There is also a group of dog walkers that pays to use one of the major Historic DC Cemeteries...I cannot find a way to make this acceptable in any context. It speaks volumes about modern attitudes and the disconnect from death, funerals, cemeteries and showing respect for those past and present.

There is the downside of sending yet more debris i...

2012-03-11T19:40:03.574-05:00

There is the downside of sending yet more debris into the ocean after the millions of tons that washed out after the Tsunami....

Pity they used lanterns. Those damn things kill li...

2012-03-11T19:32:41.458-05:00

Pity they used lanterns. Those damn things kill livestock and wildlife.

Pat, I'm looking for the opinion piece article...

2012-03-10T08:39:25.370-06:00

Pat, I'm looking for the opinion piece article you posted on homegoing service. Please email me the link. You always inspire me, thanks!

These are incredibly touching photos.

2012-03-07T15:41:43.426-06:00

These are incredibly touching photos.

Sadly, I learned of Phil's passing just today....

2012-02-14T10:31:04.543-06:00

Sadly, I learned of Phil's passing just today. I have remembered him often over the years because he was both a friend and an important professional influence on my life path in several ways. We first met at Ohio University during the early ‘70s where I studied towards the M.A. in scientific photography. Phil had a gift for aesthetics even in the often dull world of scientific documentation. He also had a gift for humor and story-telling that were woven through his life and his work. He had high hopes to share his artistic gifts with the academic world from his endowed chair, but soon experienced grave disappointment with the lack of imagination and creativity he found in the hallowed university halls and the confinement of small town life. I moved back to New York while Phil joined the Cincinnati Enquirer, but all the while New York beckoned for his return. I am honored to have enjoyed Phil’s friendship.

It’s true that Ted Prior is the most popular imper...

2012-02-13T03:18:53.837-06:00

It’s true that Ted Prior is the most popular impersonator of the legend Elvis Presley. He got the moves, the voice and the talent in guitar; he was a complete package too bad he already passed away.

guitar tabs

Fascinating. Someone at the Digital Death Conferen...

2012-02-07T19:52:39.544-06:00

Fascinating. Someone at the Digital Death Conference in Palo Alto last year pointed out that someday on Facebook, the Dead with outnumber the Living.

I wonder how we'll deal with this segregation between the living and the dead online.

Bravo, Patrick. Great article.

2012-02-04T15:04:39.751-06:00

Bravo, Patrick. Great article.

Death is the new nudity- I like that!

2012-02-03T10:29:03.153-06:00

Death is the new nudity- I like that!

I agree that there's a hypocrisy here that mak...

2012-02-03T10:26:05.819-06:00

I agree that there's a hypocrisy here that makes me uneasy. As a culture we're fine with looking at dead bodies as long as they've been shot, stabbed or maimed and presented under the guise of "entertainment".

But when it comes to natural death, we suddenly find ourselves needing to censor the body. Death must be the new nudity.

Wise words, Patrick. Perhaps we will always be con...

2012-02-03T02:36:14.783-06:00

Wise words, Patrick. Perhaps we will always be conflicted about such thingsuntil more of us can accept the fact of human mortality in our lives, rather than, as you say, feasting on romanticised death images.

I haven't seen the people's comments, but ...

2012-02-02T17:52:51.832-06:00

I haven't seen the people's comments, but I'm not surprised. People are so scared of death in our culture, it is a shame and almost funny to me at times.

First Dickens, then David Bowie, and now this. Wil...

2012-01-22T13:14:08.591-06:00

First Dickens, then David Bowie, and now this. Will my envy of England ever end?

I truly wish I could attend this conference, and hope that similar events begin to flourish in the US.

How come the British are so advant guard with deat...

2012-01-13T14:58:25.230-06:00

How come the British are so advant guard with death?

Patrick, this isn't a comment on these extraor...

2012-01-11T02:30:37.083-06:00

Patrick, this isn't a comment on these extraordinary and beautiful rings, it's a little thank you for a post of yours way back in 2008. I've just come across it on this excellently well-organised blog. It's to help family memebers who will be giving the euology at a family funeral. I've adapted it and shall use it as notes for me to help people I talk to at family meetings, it's so useful and sensible. Thanks.

Hi Patrick, I only recently ran across your blog,...

2012-01-09T15:11:15.410-06:00

Hi Patrick,

I only recently ran across your blog, and let me congratulate you on one of the best, if not the best, cemetery blogs I've seen. Well, death blog, not just cemeteries. Regardless, great blog.

I write a blog (http://bloggingadeadhorse-dmt.blogspot.com/), as well, and we seem to share similar philosophies. My blog is an extension of a project I began in 2004 to photograph the cemeteries of Oregon. I'm still doing it; some 650 to date, available on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadmantalking/).

My interest is the intersection between the quick and the dead. Especially as it concerns cemeteries. I'm one of those guys who, when they see a pile of plastic flowers, head right over, because that's where the activity is; that's where someone cares. We follow the dictum that we all have two deaths: the corporal death and that when the last person who knew us dies, as well. In between, there's a lot of living and remembering to do.

My favorite cemetery is a wild and wooly one in central Oregon, Camp Polk, that is laced with homemade memorials and the occasional campfire ring and crude, hand-fashioned benches. The place is kept clean (orderly doesn't come into play here) but it's obvious that people come here occasionally to party down. Like in any good cemetery, right?

I forever emphasize the history of cemeteries, how they preceded parks, and how they should bring back their park-like use. I'm currently writing a guide to the local cemetery where my wife and I have plots, Lone Fir, in Portland, OR. It had the good fortune of being listed in National Geographic as one of the ten best cemeteries to visit in the world. We don't do grandiose very well out here, but we're not bad on quirky.

Anyway, come visit. Thanks for doing what you're doing.

I linked to this post on my blog about 2011 posts ...

2012-01-03T16:34:14.599-06:00

I linked to this post on my blog about 2011 posts that moved me... FYI. Hope that everyone at the Daily Undertaker has a good 2012.

Just caught this, Patrick - thank you. As well as ...

2012-01-01T04:36:18.329-06:00

Just caught this, Patrick - thank you. As well as you recording daily circumstances of your work - valuable, for sure - I wish we had more people taking photos at funerals. If a funeral works well, is a good funeral, then why would a family not want a record?