NDG & Scream Queen - Jeanne Carmen 1930-2007 RIP

New Dead Girl & Scream Queen

Jeanne Carmen

August 4, 1930 - December 20, 2007

RIP

Jeanne Carmen - imdb

Jeanne Carmen - wiki

Poe Forward Dead Girls

Poe Forward Scream Queens

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) - imdb

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) - wiki

Best & Worst Women of the Year 2007

Best: Comedian Kathy Griffin

Listen to Kathy Griffin Telling Jesus to Suck It!!! - LAist

Christian Thespians Scold "Vulgar" Comic - AOL News

Kathy Griffin's Jesus Remark Cut From Emmy Show - Reuters

Kathy Griffin Censorship Petition - SuckItJesus.com

"Dorothy Snarker" - Kathy Griffin's Love-Hate Relationship with Hollywood - New York Magazine

Kathy Griffin - wiki

Worst: Polemicist Ann Coulter

"I Love To Pick Fights With Liberals" - UK Telegraph

Ann Coulter Once Again Defines A New Low In America's Political Debate - Spinsanity

Coulter Called Gore a "total fag," while Matthews said "we'd love to have her back" - Media Matters

Coulter Under Fire For Anti-Gay Slur - CNN

Ann Coulter Uses Slur To Describe John Edwards @ CPAC - Metacafe

ADL Condemns Ann Coulter's Comment That Jews Need "To Be Perfected" - ADL

Jewish Groups Condemn, Boycott Ann Coulter: Conservative Pundit Draws Ire For Comment That Jews Need To Be "Perfected" - CBS News

Ann Coulter Wants Jews to Become Christian -- So What? - Dennis Prager

Ann Coulter - wiki

Missing Student/Model Found Dead

Emily Sander aka Zoey Zane

1989-2007

RIP

Eighteen year old Emily Sander attended community college in El Dorado, Kansas and worked as an Adult Internet model under the pseudonym Zoey Zane. She went missing on November 23, having been last seen exiting a bar with suspect 24 year old Isreal Mireles. According to police, blood was discovered in Mireles' motel room. A floral print bedsheet is missing. Sander's car was still parked at the bar. Mireles' rental car was found abandoned in Texas and he has not shown up for work at the restaurant next to the motel. Victoria's grandmother Sue reported that Mireles showed up and took Victoria with him. According to her, they left behind a knife, blood-stained clothing, and car keys in a trash can outside her house. The authorities believe Mireles and his 16 year old pregnant girlfriend Victoria Martens are headed to Mexico. On Thursday, a body matching Sander's description was found along U.S. 54 about 50 miles east of El Dorado.

Help Bring this Man in for Questioning - ZoeyZane.com

Missing 18-year-old teen model Zoey Zane murdered in Kansas - NNGalleries.com

The Latest on the Emily Sander Homicide Investigation - KWCH

Victoria Martens Speaks to Grandmother about Mireles - KWCH

Emily Sanders' Body May Have Been Found - The Loveshade Family Blog

Mary Rogers/Marie Roget, the Original Poe Forward Dead Girl - Poe Forward

Happy 45th Birthday Naomi Wolf!

Naomi Wolf, THE END OF AMERICA: A LETTER OF WARNING TO A YOUNG PATRIOT, Won't Back Down - FireDogLake

"It is clear from this inundation of personal stories of abuse and retribution against ordinary Americans that a network of criminal behavior and intention is catching up more and more mainstream citizens in its grasp. It is clear that this is not democracy as usual — or even the corruption of democracy as usual. It is clear that we will need more drastic action than emails to Congress."

THE END OF AMERICA: A LETTER OF WARNING TO A YOUNG PATRIOT - wiki

Naomi Wolf (born November 12, 1962) - wiki

NDG: Laraine Day 1917-2007 RIP

New Poe Forward Dead Girl:

Laraine Day

October 13, 1917 - November 11, 2007

RIP

Poe Forward Dead Girls 2007

Poe Forward Dead Girls

Laraine Day - imdb

Laraine Day - wiki

Rebecca Schaeffer - She'd Be 40 If She'd Lived

Rebecca Schaeffer

November 6, 1967 - July 18, 1989

RIP

About 10:15 a.m., Bardo returned to Rebecca's apartment building. Rebecca answered the doorbell once again. When she opened the front door, Bardo held out his gun and shot her in the chest.

"Why? Why?"
- Rebecca's last words

Bardo left. Thirty minutes later, Rebecca was declared dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Bardo boarded a bus and returned to Tucson.

"I have an obsession with the unattainable.
I have to eliminate what I cannot attain."
- Robert Bardo, letter to his sister

Rebecca Schaeffer - Poe Forward Dead Girls

Rebecca Schaeffer - wiki

Rebecca Schaeffer - imdb

Dominique Dunne - Dead 25 Years Today

Dominique Dunne

November 23, 1959 - November 4, 1982

RIP

"On the night of October 30, 1982, Sweeney arrived at their formerly shared residence and pleaded with her to take him back. When she refused, he strangled her for 4 to 5 minutes, until she lapsed into a coma. He thought she was dead and left her lying in her driveway. Five days later on November 4, 1982, Dominque was removed from life support and died. She was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California."
--- Poe Forward

Dominique Dunne - Poe Forward Dead Girls

Dominique Dunne - imdb

Dominique Dunne - wiki

Happy Birthday Poe Forward Scream Queen Elsa Lanchester!

Elsa Lanchester

October 28, 1902 - December 26, 1986

RIP

Elsa Lanchester Scream Queen - Poe Forward

Elsa Lanchester - imdb

Elsa Lanchester - wiki

Happy Birthday Mrs. President!

"That's what Americans have been doing for over 200 years. It wasn't by accident that the first meeting ever held in the world to talk about and write down what rights women were entitled to happened in America. We have to keep faith with the work, the struggle and the sacrifice of those who have come before. We have to be reminded from time to time that freedom isn't free and equality cannot be taken for granted. Every generation faces new challenges and every generation has to step up and be heard and exercise their constitutional rights to make a difference.

That's what we do when we're at our best in America. I want Americans to start acting like Americans again. We face a lot of challenges here at home and around the world. We need to set big goals, goals that will bring out the best in our country, goals that will unite us, goals that will respect each and every one of us and cherish the contribution that we can make to this great nation. I know that there's a lot of work to be done but I relish the opportunity to be part of making history with all of you because this country deserves the very best that each and every one of us can offer."

Hillary Clinton Website - HillaryClinton.com

Hillary Clinton - wiki

Hillary Clinton: My Life At 60 - Heidi Evans - NY Daily News

Edna St. Vincent Millay 57 Years Dead

Edna St. Vincent Millay

February 22, 1892 - October 19, 1950

RIP

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet and playwright and the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She was also known for her unconventional, bohemian lifestyle and her many love affairs with men and women. Her biography and some samples of her poetry appear in the Poe Forward Modern Poetry section.

Poe Forward's Edna St. Vincent Millay - biography page

Poe Forward's Edna St. Vincent Millay - poetry page

ELEGY BEFORE DEATH

Edna St. Vincent Millay

There will be rose and rhododendron
When you are dead and under ground;
Still will be heard from white syringas
Heavy with bees, a sunny sound;
Still will the tamaracks be raining
After the rain has ceased, and still
Will there be robins in the stubble,
Brown sheep upon the warm green hill.
Spring will not ail nor autumn falter;
Nothing will know that you are gone,
Saving alone some sullen plough-land
None but yourself sets foot upon;
Saving the may-weed and the pig-weed
Nothing will know that you are dead,--
These, and perhaps a useless wagon
Standing beside some tumbled shed.
Oh, there will pass with your great passing
Little of beauty not your own,--
Only the light from common water,
Only the grace from simple stone!

NDG: Deborah Kerr 1921-2007 RIP

New Poe Forward Dead Girl:

Deborah Kerr

September 30, 1921 - October 16, 2007

RIP

Deborah Kerr - wiki

Deborah Kerr - imdb

"Deborah Kerr has died aged 86." - Telegraph

Tribute to Deborah Kerr - Lasting Tribute

Deborah Kerr - TCM

Happy 81st Birthday Scream Queen Julie Adams!

If you would like to see what a well-lived life truly is, take a look at actress Julie Adams' credits on her imdb page. Then, realize she is still working at the age of 81 on the TV show LOST. What a human being! Of course, it helps doing what you love. There aren't many 81 year olds breaking rocks with a sledge hammer these days (unless it's in their backyards).

Julie Adams appears on a Poe Forward Scream Queens page. We added her to our group in recognition of her work in 1954's THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. But her long list of diverse credits and characters dwarf the accomplishment of this cult horror classic.

However, adding to her Scream Queen credentials (besides TCFBL) Julie Adams appeared in three ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS episodes and a NIGHT GALLERY with her husband RAY DANTON, "The Miracle at Camafeo". She also appeared in an episode of SLIDERS as the older version of Kari Wuhrer's character "Maggie Beckett." Then came LOST. Happy Birthday, Julie.

Julie Adams - wiki

Julie Adams - imdb

Poe Forward's Julie Adams Scream Queen page

Poe Forward's Scream Queens page

Two Gals Named Naomi

Naomi Klein's THE SHOCK DOCTRINE: THE RISE OF DISASTER CAPITALISM - NaomiKlein.org

"It's a brilliant dissection of what Naomi Klein calls 'disaster capitalism,' an economic philosophy born half a century ago at the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman. It holds that the best time to institute radical free-market policies is in the aftermath of a massive social crisis, such as a terrorist attack, a war, or a natural disaster like Katrina.

Klein shows how the crony capitalists running the Bush administration saw post-invasion Iraq as the perfect proving ground for all their pet free-market policies. The fantasy was that a privitazied and corporatized Iraq would become a free-market utopia that would spread the gospel of the market throughout the Middle East. Democracy would reign, and Halliburton and Bechtel would stand supreme.

And we know how well that turned out."

--- Ariana Huffington

Bleakonomics - The New York Times

THE SHOCK DOCTRINE - wiki

Naomi Klein - wiki

Naomi Wolf, THE END OF AMERICA: A LETTER OF WARNING TO A YOUNG PATRIOT, Won't Back Down - FireDogLake

"It is clear from this inundation of personal stories of abuse and retribution against ordinary Americans that a network of criminal behavior and intention is catching up more and more mainstream citizens in its grasp. It is clear that this is not democracy as usual — or even the corruption of democracy as usual. It is clear that we will need more drastic action than emails to Congress."

THE END OF AMERICA: A LETTER OF WARNING TO A YOUNG PATRIOT - wiki

Naomi Wolf - wiki

Happy 100th Birthday Fay Wray!

Fay Wray
September 15, 1907 - August 8, 2004

"My scream was a product of pure imagination. I had to imagine what was happening to me, and I imagined that the nearest help was far away. When I first saw the picture I thought the screams were overdone. But they were an important part of the picture and I was delighted with how it all looked. My scenes with King were exactly the way I imagined them." --- Fay Wray
Poe Forward's Fay Wray Scream Queen page

Affectations Can Be Dangerous - Isadora Duncan, Dead 80 Years

"If I could tell you what it meant,
there would be no point in dancing it."
--- Isadora Duncan
May 27, 1877 - September 14, 1927

An American, born in San Francisco, Isadora Duncan revolutionized dance. She's considered to be the mother of MODERN DANCE. She lost her husband to suicide and her two children were drowned in a car accident. Isadora died in a freak accident herself. She was known for wearing long flowing scarves. While a passenger in an automobile, her scarf became tangled in the wheels and she was strangled to death.

"Affectations can be dangerous."
--- Gertrude Stein

Isadora Duncan - wiki

Isadora: A Sensational Life - Peter Kurth

Isadora's Roses: Search for Isadora's Grave - Orato

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) Memorial - Find A Grave

Isadora Duncan 1877-1927 RIP 80 Years Dead

"If I could tell you what it meant,
there would be no point in dancing it."
--- Isadora Duncan
May 27, 1877 - September 14, 1927

An American, born in San Francisco, Isadora Duncan revolutionized dance. She's considered to be the mother of MODERN DANCE. She lost her husband to suicide and her two children were drowned in a car accident. Isadora died in a freak accident herself. She was known for wearing long flowing scarves. While a passenger in an automobile, her scarf became tangled in the wheels and she was strangled to death.

"Affectations can be dangerous."
--- Gertrude Stein

Isadora Duncan - wiki

Isadora: A Sensational Life - Peter Kurth

Isadora's Roses: Search for Isadora's Grave - Orato

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) Memorial - Find A Grave

NDG: Jane Wyman 1914-2007 RIP

Poe Forward's New Dead Girl Jane Wyman (January 5, 1914 - September 10, 2007) received an Academy Award for her role in JOHNNY BELINDA (1948), playing a deaf-mute rape victim forced to kill her assailant. When she accepted her statue, she said, "I won this by keeping my mouth shut, and that's what I'm going to do now."

Jane Wyman - wiki

Jane Wyman - imdb

Missing Persons: Camille Cleverley

Legal, Political & Religious News

Macho Catholic League President Bill Donohue asks Cocky Atheist Christopher Hitchens to Step Outside (with You Tube video) - Fresh Intelligence/Radar Online

ABC's Resident Conservative John "20/20" Stossel Gets Sued by Wealthy Pastor - Daily Breeze

Belgium Charges Scientologists with Extortion - The Sydney Morning Herald

Not Related: Tom Cruise Wins Extortion Case - SF Gate/Daily Dish

Read the Transcript from the Man who says He Had Sex with Senator Craig (with audio) - Idaho Statesman

Big Surprise #1: Britain's Own BIG BROTHER Spied on Orwell - Yahoo News

Big Surprise #2: FBI Spied on Coretta Scott King for Years - The Independent

Actress Geena Davis Suing Charity for Stealing Her Idea - E News

Latest Corporate Efforts to Depersonalize, Isolate, and Turn Workers into Cogs in the Machine - Firedoglake

Nuclear Weapons Flown by Air Force from North Dakota to Louisiana - CNN

Women in the U.S. Military Assaulted and Raped by Fellow Soldiers - Crooks and Liars

Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice, Anti-Free Speech, Anti-Evolution, Anti-Global Warming, "fiercely conservative" Megachurch Pastor Rev. D. James Kennedy Succumbs to the Human Condition - AOL News

Pro-war, Pro-Caesar, "throne and altar theology" Bibles Published For Military - Front Page Magazine

Research Shows Human Beings Prefer Myths to Truth - Scholars and Rogues

Crimes of Christianity: Suppression of Science - Nothing is Sacred

Princess Diana 1961-1997 RIP

Diana Frances Spencer (July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997) has been dead for 10 years today. Her fans continue to adore her. Many hold up her memory as an example for us all. However, the true tragedy of Diana's passing is not simply our loss of an enchanting humanitarian "peoples' princess," but her childrens' loss of their mother. Her sons, wealthy royals they may be, are living through the best years of their lives without their mother's support and guidance. How they must miss her. When we cry for Diana, we must relegate a few of those tears for her sons.

Princess Diana 1961-1997 RIP

Diana Frances Spencer (July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997) has been dead for 10 years today. Her fans continue to adore her. Many hold up her memory as an example for us all. However, the true tragedy of Diana's passing is not simply our loss of an enchanting humanitarian "peoples' princess," but her childrens' loss of their mother. Her sons, wealthy royals they may be, are living through the best years of their lives without their mother's support and guidance. How they must miss her. When we cry for Diana, we must relegate a few of those tears for her sons.

Maria "Muddy" Clemm - Poe's Aunt and Mother-in-Law

Maria "Muddy" Clemm (1790-1871) at PoeForward.com

Wackiness Not Just For Christians

Camp for Those Who See Dead People - CNN.com
Former Satanist Convicted of Human Sacrifice - WPLG Miami
Man Cuts Off Hand for Hindu Goddess Offering - Yahoo! News

NDG: Leona Helmsley 1920-2007 RIP

New Dead Girl: "The Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley (July 4, 1920 - August 20, 2007) has died. She had a reputation for tyranny. Apparently, she truly was the "boss from hell." Her name at birth was Leona Mindy Rosenthal and she was the daughter of a hatmaker, which I think is pretty cool. She was a model and appeared in billboard ads for Chesterfield cigarettes. She and her third husband, Harry, the multi-millionaire real estate investor, worked together to create an empire. Then, her arrogance as well as her greed led her to be convicted of federal income tax evasion and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Without a sympathetic President to provide special dispensation, she spent 19 months in prison and two more months on house arrest. Her community service time was extended when it was learned she was sending her employees to do her work. After Harry died in 1997, she spent the rest of her life alone with a dog. Her money couldn't buy her any more friends and she was estranged from her family. She died at 87 of congestive heart failure. What's happens to the dog?

Poe Toaster Revealed?

The mystery endured for decades. Whom was the cloaked figure in black that each January 19th slipped into the Baltimore cemetery and laid three roses and a bottle of cognac on Poe's grave? On August 15, 2007, the Baltimore Sun reported that 92 year old Sam Porpora confessed to being the "Poe Toaster."

Although the dates Porpora has offered as evidence have garnered some skepticism, he claims the tradition dates back to 1949 on the one hundredth anniversary of Poe's birth, but newspaper accounts differ. Sometime in the sixties, Porpora had been given the title of historian for the Westminister Church and cemetery. Porpora says he started the tradition "to reinvigorate the church and its congregation."

Due to the confusion regarding the dates of Porpora's story, Jeff Jerome and Jeff Savoye, both officers in the Edgar Allan Poe Society, refuse to believe Porpora is the "Poe Toaster." While Porpora's own daughter said she had never heard of her father's actions, she pointed out that it "fit in with his mischievous nature."

For more information regarding the dates controversy, go to:

"92-year-old man claims to be creator of mysterious 'Poe Toaster.'" - Canada East Online

"Who knows who started Poe toast?" - Baltimore Sun

"Poe Fan Says Tribute Began As Gimmick." - SF Gate

New Dead Girl: Boitumelo "Tumi" McCallum RIP

After neighbors reported smelling a foul odor, NYC police discovered the body of 20-year-old Boitumelo “Tumi” McCallum “wrapped in a sheet and wedged between the bed and the wall” at her mother’s Greenwich Village apartment on Sunday. Condom wrappers and empty malt liquor bottles were also found in the bedroom. Her bed was splattered with blood. While the official autopsy report hasn’t been concluded, the police suspect she died from blunt force trauma.

Both of her parents are NYU professors. McCallum moved to New York from her native South Africa with her parents when she was very young and grew up in Manhattan. Her mother, Teboho Moja, was overseas, traveling with a foreign study group. Her father, Robert McCallum, had gotten remarried last Wednesday and she had thrown a party after the wedding. Detectives turned their suspicions towards her boyfriend, Michael Cordero, 23, who was allegedly upset that he wasn’t invited to the party. Apparently, he is known to be jealous and possessive, and has a criminal record that includes assault. The Daily News reported a source who said, “Everyone is calling, asking for information about this young woman – except her boyfriend. The sense is that he’s not calling because he knows what happened.”

On Tuesday, Cordero tried to commit suicide. He was found bleeding with slits across his wrists, and was hospitalized at Roosevelt Hospital in stable condition. While being treated, Cordero made statements implicating himself in McCallum’s murder. On Wednesday, the NYPD arrested and charged Cordero with murder.

McCallum was a sophomore at Mills College in Oakland. She attended the Beacon School for high school and participated in the American Museum of Natural History’s after school program.

Hoax: Where is Amy Pressman?

A viral marketing hoax for an upcoming film.

Rumors Daily: Where is Amy Pressman"

LAist: Where is My Mom?

My Space: Where is Amy Pressman?

Fourth Floor Productions

Hoax: Where is Amy Pressman?

A viral marketing hoax for an upcoming film.

Rumors Daily: Where is Amy Pressman"

LAist: Where is My Mom?

My Space: Where is Amy Pressman?

Fourth Floor Productions

Cartoonist Dwane Powell - Raleigh News and Observer

"If we don't comply with subpoenas
Congress threatens to sic the Attorney General on us."

History Repeats Again and Again

"President Wilson Is Deceiving The World
When He Appears As The Prophet of Democracy
President Wilson Has Opposed Those Who
Demand Democracy For This Country
He Is Responsible For The Disfranchisement
Of Millions Of Americans
We In America Know This
The World Will Find Him Out."

New Dead Girl: Cheryl Kosewicz 1971-2007 RIP

Cheryl Kosewicz, Pirate Master Hopeful, Takes Own Life - News.com.au

Perhaps more tragic than the death of Mary Rogers (either the result of a homicide or a botched illegal abortion), the suicide of a young woman must be the ultimate in Poe's notions about the sublime in death. Although in his history, he was the only character in his real-life drama to attempt suicide for the sake of romance, the important women in his life died of tuberculosis. But Poe did not take enough poison, laudenum actually, which is the only recorded incident of Poe taking drugs. Some of his characters, Usher the most obvious, took opium, but Poe, nor any of his critics, save Griswold, his arch enemy who made veiled implications, mentioned Poe taking drugs. He was a drunk, a bad drunk, but not a druggie.

So, why did this young woman with everything to live for kill herself? Celebrity? Loss of celebrity? Shame? An unfulfilled meta-narrative? A fantasy lost forever and facing only reality to return to?

"Cheryl Kosewicz was born and raised on a 22-acre farm in Grand Couler, WA, where she and her family literally lived off the land-their only store purchases were paper products. Growing up, she would fish, hunt, garden, sew her own clothes, work with animals and make things for the farm. She began participating in rodeo at a young age, competing in barrel-racing, pole-bending, goat-tying, roping and calf-riding. Her father then turned her on to basketball and she discovered her true love. During high school, she played basketball, and ran in track and cross-country. She was also class president and graduated as a valedictorian. Cheryl received her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she was on the dean's list, on a basketball scholarship and continued on for her master's degree. She then attended law school at Northwestern School of Law in Portland, where she received her Doctorate of Law. She worked as a deputy district attorney in Las Vegas for six and a half years. She is currently a Deputy District Attorney in Reno, NV, focusing on the prosecution of sexual abuse cases. Cheryl regularly goes to the gym, runs, skis and swims. She also enjoys reading, horseback riding and athletic events. She describes herself as confident, athletic, competitive and loud. She currently resides in Sparks, NV. Her birth date is Nov. 11, 1971."

- from the Pirate Master on CBS - Cheryl Kosewicz page

Jabberwocky - the Bandersnatch and Nonsense Verse

Before the Addams Family and Green Acres, before Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live, before The Prisoner and Twin Peaks, before dada and surrealism, there were the works of Lewis Carroll. Nothing makes my heart soar more free than reading ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I suppose having the same first name tipped me off in the right direction early on, but I would've enjoyed Alice's adventures even if her name were different. I enjoy the absurdity of Lewis's work, obviously. Reading his work, his word experiments, the reader can imagine, if not feel the mental improvisations that worked within his mind to produce such prose and poetry. Just remember my friends, "nonsense" is not nothing and "absurdity" is not incomprehensible. Better than Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO, better than the verbal improvisations of a jazz soprano, better than the manic outbursts of Robin Williams, better only because it's more pure, the JABBERWOCKY is pure nonsense, "my son."

THE POEM

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

(I cannot read this poem without remembering the scene in INDIANA JONES when the swordsman approaches the hero and makes a big, threatening display of his prowess. However, Jones appears non-plussed and simply takes out his revolver and shoots him.)

Memorializing the My Space dead - a new website

CNN reported the birth of http://www.mydeathspace.com/, a website that archives the pages of deceased MySpace members. I've visited the site and found it as addictive as we all know celebrity magazines can be. But is the intoxication of "peering into" these "stranger's lives" any different from unearthing a mummy's tomb? I endorse cemetery archeology and, for the sake of history and knowledge, I have no problem with digging up our ancestors, even our more recent relatives.

I love cemeteries for their architecture and serenity, but a corpse is a piece of rotting flesh and the sacred tomb is a tool for the living to mourn their immediate dead. I'd love to dig up one of my Civil War ancestors and see what he wore to his grave. Maybe dig out the bullet that killed him (or pick it up from the bottom of the casket) and have it enshrined at the Library of Congress. I wouldn't mind if someone dug me up 150 years from now. Well, a girl can dream.

SHAMBO is dead

I thought it rather sweet that wikipedia acknowledged the death of "Shambo," the sacred Hindu bull in Wales, among its list of the dead for 7/26/07. Shambo's bovine tuberculosis had been diagnosed in April and, despite religious objections and despite the offer of a home for the bull from a sanctuary in India, the Welsh government decided the six year old had to be "destroyed."

After the slaughter of the bull, Skanda Vale community leader Brother Alex said that a "nightmare" was just beginning for the Welsh assembly. Secretary General Ramesh Kallidai said "Ignorant people have chosen to desecrate our temple and have chosen to destroy life unnecessarily," and he wanted "to check how agricultural law can cater to the needs of sacred animals in Hindu temples in Britain." - wikipedia

This is another situation where I can understand all sides of this situation including the bull. I understand the fears the government felt about infection spreading. I understand the people's love for the bull, for whatever reason. And I understand that "sentient beings" have their value besides food and even friendship. But I'm not a vegetarian and I'm certainly not going to worship a bull anymore than any other animal. So, what do we do? Do we do nothing? Do we just wait till the bull dies of natural causes even though its continued existence may lead to an epidemic? Do we ship the bull off to India to plague their country? Do we carve around the TB lesions the autopsy found and barbecue the rest? That sounds tasty.

SHAMBO at wikipedia

New Dead Girls - Connecticut Tragedy, another horror show

Doctor's Family Killed in Home Invasion

Poe Forward's Mission Statement

The primary mission of Poe Forward is to showcase the work of artists who have been influenced by the mind and work of Edgar Allan Poe. We believe that Edgar Poe, through his editorial criticism as well as his poetry and his multi-genre fiction, created the foundations of all American literature. In addition to performance, we interview contemporary artists, recording their mutual history with Poe. Poe Forward combines the past with the present--for tomorrow.  Our secondary mission, but just as important, is to present the true character of Edgar Poe, the uncompromising, hard-working, virulent critic and writer, instead of the melodramatic, "tortured artist" of 19th century romantic mythology. This falsehood has haunted Poe since his arch rival and chief enemy, the Reverend Rufus Griswold, lied about Poe and maligned his reputation in an libelous obituary subsequent to the poet’s death.  In the years since, his friends and associates, as well as scholars and historians through to today, have sought to clear his name.  Certainly, like each of us, Poe had his demons as well as his troubles with women and alcohol, but rather than dwell on his mortal shortcomings, we endeavor to illuminate his eternal genius.

- Brian Aldrich & David Delgado, Co-Founders of Poe Forward, October 31, 1999

Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) RIP

NEW DEAD GIRL: Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) RIP

wiki

Cartoonist Doug Marlette (1949-2007) RIP

Doug Marlette(December 6, 1949 - July 10, 2007) was an award-winning American editorial cartoonist and writer. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated from Florida State University. He and his wife, Melinda, maintained residences in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Hillsborough, North Carolina. He died in an automobile accident in Marshall County, Mississippi. (wiki)
Doug Marlette Website

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