The High Cost of Death

Last night I watched Penn & Teller’s Bull%&$#. They were talking about the high cost of being buried and how at the height of grief, funeral directors will try to get as much money out of you as possible. How they steer you to more expensive caskets and lots of extras that make no difference to the dead. A spring air mattress in a coffin? Even how they hike up cremation and there is a good chance you won’t really get your loved one back but it could be a mix of ashes of several people since most funeral homes use minimum wage labor for the ovens since they don’t need any sort of certification by the state. Even when you are going to be cremated, they try to get your family to buy you a really nice coffin to be burned in. Personally I want to be cremated. For some reason being buried in the ground has freaked me out since I was very little. Stick me in a cheap cardboard coffin and toast me. Spend any money saved on one kick ass party for the living. It just annoys the heck out of me that people are so taken advantage of at a time of great grief. Penn and Teller suggest that you tell you family what you want done and if there is a coffin you like, find it on the internet since it will be cheaper than the funeral home and bookmark it. Also if you are having to deal with a funeral of a loved one, take a level headed friend with you to help you with the decisions. Peter and I have discussed the fact that if we were buried we would be hard pressed to find a cemetery that would take the both of us since we are different religions.

BUY FALLEN ANGEL! I’m serious. The graphic novel is out with the first 6 issues and I think it is some of Peter’s best work. I have seen it at major bookstores as well as your local comic book store. If your local comic book store doesn’t have it, ask them why they don’t and tell me the reason.