When my papa left me in 2006, I was always afraid of death, because I was with him in hospital the last few days before he died...... all the terrible things around him, breathing facility, all the plastic pipes from his lungs, arms, mouth... all around his body....etc. I always think may be one day it will be my turn to be in the same situation like my papa was.......

Tonight, I watched a documentary, Billy Connolly's Big Send Off, I think it is a good documentary and it is worth to spend some time to have look at it........ for those who care for elderly parents or any other family member in that situation. It is inevitably that we are all going to die.

Billy Connolly embarks on a personal and enlightening journey where he looks at our attitudes towards death. He immerses himself in a range of experiences and talks about death with his pal Eric Idle.

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In the documentary, it did mention :

Drive-thru funeral parlor
Want fries with that? Not a likely question you’ll be asked at this drive-thru.
For nearly 40 years, a funeral home in southern Los Angeles county has been adding a dash of convenience to the business of death.
The mortuary, located in Compton, claims to offer an efficient way for prominent members of the community to be viewed en masse. Elderly who have a hard time walking don't have to leave their cars.
One possible reason for the drive-thru's success could stem back to the 1980s, when Compton was a hotbed for gang violence. The LA Times reported that cemetery shootouts made gang members reluctant to gather for graveside services. And since the glass partition of the Robert L. Adam's funeral parlor is bulletproof, it became a popular location for gang funerals.

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In the documentary, it did mention :

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish funeral.
I do have some questions :
1. Why are they swaying their heads non- stop during prayers, I wonder if it does not hurt their neck muscles, over the years? I think this shuckling must cause a disease and have a special name.
2. will they dig out the dead bodies several years later? otherwise they would run out of room in Jerusalem.
p.s. after searching with google, I found this article below, and I believed that they bury the dead bodies there forever, that is why Israeli people need to find more places for new cemeteries, and that's why they put their new cemeteries on Palestinian land!!

http://alt-arch.org/en/graveyard_metropolis

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In the documentary, it did mention :

Neptune Society Columbarium of San Francisco
This is a special place, because it tells a story about the AIDS epidemic that struck San Francisco, most AIDS sufferers died, ............and no funeral homes were taking the people for fear of AIDS infection.
I'm touched hearing Billy say " the whole story is in that wee box"........ " I love and I miss you"

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In the documentary, it did mention :

I wonder if it is a good idea making a tattoo for the memories of my loved one???!!!

http://www.allsaintstattoo.com/#!__menu

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In the documentary, it did mention :

The Chinese Traditional Funerals. they did introduce 陰司紙 in English, it is called a hell bank note, 路票 in English, they call it a spirit world traveller's cheques. But they did not mention 紙紮屋, 紙紮公仔...等等的祭品, I wonder what it would be called in English. So, I go to the google.... and I found a lot of funny things that I never knew before.

紙紮祭品 in English, it is called paper offerings or Joss paper goods 紙紮衫, 屋, 車.... in English, it is called papier-mâché clothes, houses, cars, toiletries, electronics and servants.

鬼都唔住啦! I don't think a ghost would like to live in such an ugly house :

I want to become a rich ghost :
紙紮豪宅 papier-mâché delux houses: NT$ 77,000
紙紮度假式行館 papier-mâché delux holiday villa NT$ 6,300
http://www.skea.com.tw/hot_house.htm

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And Finally, I told Edward that I would love to end up in a university autopsy room. Edward said, yes, my dear, if you don't end up in southern Indian ocean first.