My Funky Funeral

It is now possible to have ones ashes packed into bullets.

The widow of a fan of vintage shotguns had her husband’s ashes loaded into cartridges and used by friends for the last shoot of the season.

The widow, Joanna Booth, organized the shoot for 20 close friends on an estate in Aberdeenshire, after asking a cartridge company to mix the ashes of her husband James with traditional shot.

A total of 275 12-bore cartridges were produced from the mix and were blessed by a minister before they were used to kill pheasants, partridges, ducks and a fox.

Being huge animal lovers, we at MFF are not completely amored with this idea. It’s bad enough man is able to kill in life but in death too?

But hey if it trips ya trigger!

Who needs fertility drugs when you have a death shroud?

In Madagascar, people dig up their dead relatives for a ceremony called famadihana. They parade the bones around the village, fill them in on all the latest gossip, drink, dance and basically party up a storm in celebration of their loved one’s life.

Once these joyful occasions are over, the family bury the remains in a new shroud. Pieces of the old shroud are given to childless newlyweds who place them under their mattresses to induce fertility.

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The Austrian village of Hallstatt is located between a mountain and lake, so therefore has very limited burial space.

To solve this problem they would allow for the remains of their dead to lie in the cemetery for 12 years only.

When the time was up the bones would be exhumed and moved to a charnel, but the skull would be kept. It would be tastefully decorated with the name of the deceased, a cross and plants. It would then be displayed in a chapel.

Although cremation has now been allowed in the village this custom still takes place.

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Antoine Wiertz’s painting of a man who was buried alive.

Ever heard the so-called urban legend where scratch marks and other signs of desperate escape have been found on the lids of coffins? Well lower that skeptical eyebrow because incidents of ‘premature burials’ have been alarmingly high in the past.

Back in the day people were so paranoid about being buried a little earlier than necessary that ‘Safety Coffins’ were invented. These coffins allowed the poor soul to ring a bell or wave a flag from 6 feet under, to let people know that they were not yet ready for that dirt nap.

George Washington who was terrified of premature burial, had the right idea, he made his staff promise not to bury him until he’d been dead for 3 days or more.

Obviously 21st century medical technology has moved on from these terrifying incidences, but refrain from being lulled into too much of a false sense of security. Only last month it was reported that a Venezuelan man woke up in excruciating pain as examiners began cutting into his face during his own autopsy.

Happy Halloween Folks!

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Man’s best friend be it dog, cat, hamster, rabbit or even horse are also being given the opportunity to go out in the style that best reflects the way they lived their lives.

Moscow’s first pet cemetery is not only giving owners the opportunity to cremate their beloved pets but also offering extra’s.

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A company called Resomation Ltd in Glasgow Scotland has come up with another green alternative to burial and cremation. They have managed to speed up a naturally occurring process know as Alkaline Hydrolysis by placing the body in a water mixture that reaches 170 Celcius.

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On Thursday, June 21st, Larry “Moe” Riddle, 61, rounded the bases of the Elizabethton Twins baseball field for the last time. A lifelong fan of the team, Moe was considered to be the Twins’ unofficial mascot. His dying wish was to be fitted in the team’s uniform and, after being laid in his casket, hit a homer in his favourite baseball stadium.

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The funeral industry racks in around 10 billion dollars a year in the United States, and Vegas certainly doesn’t want to be left out of the fray. A company called Palm Mortuary has developed different backdrops that can be rented for a themed funeral (at a cost of $1000-$3000). Giant playing cards, an enormous slot machine, large dice, oversized casino chips, as well as a “Fabulous Las Vegas” sign help give gamblers a glittering send-off.

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Just when we thought it couldn’t get any stranger, we at My Funky Funeral came across a website offering 4 new and exciting things to do with your ashes when you bite the dust. We were quite excited, and yes, maybe even a bit dumbfounded by some of these options, however, after carefully scrutinizing the site we realized that it was a hoax (see the disclaimer at the bottom of the page). The ideas were so interesting though, that we decided to post them on our blog anyway:

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