The GFG Blog
2009Sep
Dulce et decorum est?
Charles
Sep
07
No Comments
I don’t suppose anyone is left unmoved by news coverage of the repatriation of dead soldiers from Afghanistan and their subsequent solemn processions through Wootton Bassett. Everyone has an opinion, as is their entitlement. These soldiers are members of that group of people who have both a public role and
Jonathan Taylor’s funeral preferences
Charles
Sep
01
No Comments
Jonathan Taylor is an independent funeral celebrant in Totnes, and an occasional funeral arranger and conductor for green fuse. That’s not all he is, of course. There’s a lot more to Jonathan. He’s got a literary side, for example, and refers to one of his short stories in what follows.
I’m the guy who puts a smile on your face. Other places you just look dead.
Charles
Sep
01
No Comments
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
2009Aug
Dead letters
Charles
Aug
26
No Comments
I’m not an expert in grief therapy—or therapy of any kind. I was sent to boarding school when I was six. Sounds privileged, I know, but think upmarket orphanage. Boarding schools pride themselves on teaching children to be independent. Don’t children become independent anyway? Whatever, a good British boarding school
Getting over it
Charles
Aug
25
No Comments
For the Victorians, sex was the great taboo. Nowadays, it’s death. Every time I hear someone begin to say that I jam my fingers in my ears. I may even moan softly. Gibber a bit, even. I’m, I can’t tell you, I’m just so sick of it. Talk about cliché,
Funeralcare screwupdate
Charles
Aug
21
No Comments
Margaret Miller, of Dundas Road, North Berwick, passed away last Monday, aged 88, having paid her local Co-operative Funeralcare branch two-and-half years ago to be buried in the same grave plot as her parents, Andrew and Margaret Miller, in council-owned North Berwick Cemetery. However, following her death, her relatives were
The truth, the half-truth and nothing of the truth
Charles
Aug
19
1 comment
Der Letzte Weg 2001 from chris caliman on Vimeo. Good word, embalm. Its vowels and its consonants are gentle, emollient, reposeful. Balm. Calm. Serene. Peace, perfect peace. It definitely sounds like a nice thing to do to a dead body, yes? Undertakers hold the view that there are things we
That Tom Lynch libel case
Charles
Aug
17
2 comments
There are times when we feel acutely that the UK and the US are ‘two countries separated by a common language’. When our common language is voiced by the monstrous Republican right, the gulf looks unbridgeable. But where funerals are concerned we have much talk about and much to learn
Business opp, anyone?
Charles
Aug
04
No Comments
I love it. Just in time to give those old baby boomers a final ride. It’s a 1989 Daimler DS420 with a Jag XK engine. It’s got all it needs inside except for a bloody good sound system. And it’s for sale. I’ve thought about it, I can tell you.
2009Jul
Bodies to bling
Charles
Jul
30
No Comments
A diamond made from cremated remains I’m on holiday. I don’t want to court controversy for a couple of weeks (the weather will stop me getting hot under the collar.) But it never did any harm to be a little provocative in the interest of animated debate. So, I say,
