“That’s All Folks!” The Man of a Thousand Voices Mel Blanc (Hollywood Memorial Park; Hollywood, California)

So how was the weekend. I managed trying a new Italian Restaurant http://www.milanitalian.com/ in Longwood and a return to another Italian one that I’ve eaten at before http://www.scottjosephorlando.com/index.php/reviews/61-italian/1640-armandos over the two days (the third Sunday was being lazy and watching old movies and repeat wedding episode instead of the Emmys) . Also got nails and toes done, wandered about Winter Park http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/cities/winter-park.html a bit and actually got some work done and during all this I managed to meet with old friend both expected and un-meetings. All in all it was a fun adventure and now it’s back to work and what ever. Honorable mention today is the Student Museum in Sanford: http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/studentmuseum/Home.aspx

Truth and History.
21 Men.
The Boy Bandit King —
He Died As He Lived.
William H. Bonney “Billy the Kid”
(Fort Sumner Cemetery; Fort Sumner New Mexico

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HOW’S THAT FOR A HEAVENLY VIEW?

Check out this heaven named offering as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZlAkRlNAa0

So did you watch the Emmys or the Wedding Episode http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3627460/ —One of my two (other is 109) favs so I skipped the Es and watched the AHHHHHHS.

Jamie’s Father’s final resting place.

My Jesus Mercy
Alphonse Capone
(Mt. Carmel Cemetery; Chicago, Illinois)

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THIS WEEK WE’RE LOOKING AT FIRST (KINDA GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN EARLY?) CEMETERIES AND DEALING WITH THE RICH AND FAMOUS THEIR ENDS AND FINAL PLACES.

The ancient common peoples buried their dead in jumbled heaps with no respect for the individual….this was not uncommon…the average man being less than stellar in his place and importance until relatively recently. In fact the bones were in some societies left for the birds to pick clean before they were jumbled with the rest.

In the South Pacific common people were thrown into the sea in ancient time…while the more important ones were put on wooden platforms until they rotted (or were picked?) away. But during these early (around 3000 BC) the individual identity was dissolved in death for the majority.

As time rolled on little changed for the common man but we see more for the ruler and conqueror: the pyramids in Egypt, the underground palace complex at Mount Li, for the deceased First Emperor of China. But then there’s less concrete items: like the sacrifice of 360 horses (provide mares milk forever) for an Iron Age chieftain at Ulski Aul (north of the Black Sea).

I could go on and on but I think you probably have the idea by now the rich and famous don’ t want us to forget that they were and we weren’t

A star on earth – a star in heaven
Karen Carpenter
(Forest Lawn; Cypress, California)

A cemetery or graveyard is a place where the remains of deceased people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον, “sleeping place”) implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground. The older term graveyard is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but primarily referred to a burial ground within a churchyard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery

Before the beginning of the Garden cemetery, the dead were buried strictly in the churchyards of Europe. For the rich, burial within the church itself was preferred. For those who could not be buried inside of the church, the churchyard became the next best thing. Even here, one’s social status depended on the section of the ground where you were buried. The most favored sites were those to the east, as close as possible to the church. In such a location, the dead would be assured the best view of the rising sun on the Day of Judgment. People of lesser distinction were buried on the south side, while the north corner of the graveyard was considered the Devil’s domain. It was reserved for stillborns, bastards and strangers unfortunate enough to die while passing through the local parish. http://www.prairieghosts.com/grave_history.html

IN THE 1820S, AMERICA’S CITIES HAD A PROBLEM: People kept dying, and church burial grounds were filling up. Fortunately, a group of horticulturists in Massachusetts had a solution and, in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge became the first modern cemetery. Other cities began to follow suit, dedicating rolling, scenic tracts of land on the outskirts of town to honor the deceased. This “rural cemetery,” or “garden cemetery,” movement not only temporarily solved the problem of where to put the dead, but it also gave us the nation’s very first parks. http://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/in-the-garden-cemetery-the-revival-of-americas-first-urban-parks/

She did it the hard way.
Bette Davis
(Forest Lawn; Hollywood Hills, California)

Even Benjamin Franklin wrote an epitaph for Skugg—a squirrel which he gave to Bishop Shipley’s daughters. Seems that it wandered off and was done in by a dog. Not only did he write a long and flowery prose about the squirrel who had traveled far (Franklin had brought him from Philadelphia) and was lamented with “trifling sorrow” but he completed it with

Here Skugg

Lies snug

As a bug

In a rug

a epitaph that made Skugg if not by name, then at least by phrase immortal.

Bay Leaves (used by Romans to adorn their homes for good luck) were carried at many Christian funerals as a sign of the promised resurrection of those that were interred in the faith.

Zombies that are so popular in movies and TV were originally a dead person brought back to life by a magician, they basically were like a modern day robot carrying out orders from the person who raised them. The word is from the African Congo and was believed by some to be a means of punishment beyond the grave for the deceased.

At Rest
An American Soldier
And Defender of the Constitution
Jefferson Davis
(Hollywood Cemetery; Richmond, Virginia)

In Mexico the dead are celebrated (El Dia de los Muertos) beginning on the Eve of October 31—Day of the Dead. Some scholars believe it is a conglomeration of Celtic, Catholic and Aztec mythology. It includes beliefs that the soul of the dead migrates with the monarch butterfly.

Cemeteries aren’t just for humans. Bide-a-Wee Pet Memorial Park http://www.bideawee.org/Pet-Memorial-Parks (Wantagh, Long Island, New York) is one of many and has been said to b e one of the busiest Pet Cemeteries in the country. Richard Nixon’s dog Checkers as well as many others including a grasshopper named Gary are buried here.

With our growing population and declining room for other than the living, cremation (which has been a fact for years) has become increasingly popular:

Kurt Cobain was cremated and his ashes reportedly scattered everywhere.

River Phoenix after a lethal combination of drugs ended his partying forever was cremated and his ashes scattered on family land in Gainesville, FL.

John Lennon is another matter with Yoko’s story changing (as is not unusual for her) as to exactly what happened to the body and where it or the ashes ended.

“The Entertainer”
He did it all
Sammy Davis, Jr.
(Forest Lawn; Glendale, California)

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Steel True, Blade Straight
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(Windlesham Estate; Crowborough, Sussex, England)
[In 1955, Doyle’s family sold Windlesham, which was turned into a hotel. The bodies of Conan Doyle and his wife, Jean, were moved to a grave at Minstead Churchyard, Hampshire.]