The Family Plot Blog
Parting Shots Fires Ashes from Cannons
Go out with a bang and have a honorary military salute or your cremated remains fired from a cannon provided by Parting Shots! In this short video, co-owner Tomm Tomlinson shows off a six-foot cannon that can fire a four-pound ball. They manufacture their own guns and provide the personnel, in costume if desired, to do a big send-off salute. They've been shooting cannons at events up and down the east coast for years. With the personalization...
Overview of the ICCFA 2013 Expo in Tampa
Take a stroll with Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death, at the opening reception of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association's Expo and Convention. Lots of interesting exhibitor products and services to peruse and people to meet! Don't miss the moving statue guy. Interesting videos to come - cremation statuary, crystal-imbedded metal urns, gemstones made with cremated remains and/or hair, a NASCAR retired race car turned into...
Introducing A Good Goodbye Radio Show
An entertaining and educational online radio show, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, debuts online Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT / 4:00 p.m. MT / 3:00 p.m. PT. Host Gail Rubin brings a light touch to a serious subject and presents expert interviews on "everything you need to know before you go." The Internet radio program will cover a wide range of critical information most people don’t...
Mad Men New Season Opens with Death and Funeral Theme
Mortality seems to be on many key characters' minds in the two-hour opener of AMC-TV's Mad Men season six. The episode, titled "The Doorway," features death, funerals and even estate planning issues. Roger Sterling's secretary tearfully delivers the news that his 91-year-old mother died of a stroke in her bathroom. This sets in motion many of the reactions and relationship issues we so often see at funerals or memorial services: dazed or...
A Good Goodbye TV Starts Next Week in ABQ!
Exciting news! Episodes of the brand-new A Good Goodbye TV show will start airing on Albuquerque's Comcast cable system on the uPUBLIC.tv Channels 26 and 27 beginning next week on April 9, 2013. A Good Goodbye TV, an educational and entertaining 14-episode series of 30-minute programs, presents expert interviews on "everything you need to know before you go." Host Gail Rubin brings a light touch to a serious subject. Like her award-winning...
Jolly Elders Talk at St. Paul Methodist Church
Here's a fun-filled talk about funeral planning issues presented to senior citizens in the Jolly Elders group at St. Paul's Methodist Church. This speaking engagement was recorded on Tuesday, March 2, 2013. This is the text of a few paragraphs from the talk: As you can imagine, I’ve been to a lot of funerals. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and I have feared no evil, for God was with me. The 23rd Psalm is very popular...
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
A friend who bought a copy of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die gave me this framed artwork this morning. It's just too good not to share! The text reads: Announcing A New Customer Service WHY SUFFER? Why walk around feeling HALF-DEAD when we can bury you for ONLY $49.50 No Federal, State, County, City, Excise or Amusement Tax USE OUR LAY-AWAY-PLAN CROAKEM & PLANTEM, morticians
Twinkies Mourned in Peeps Diorama
Every year, The Washington Post holds an Easter-time contest for the most creative use of Peeps in a diorama. This year's top winner was a funeral scene mourning the demise of Twinkies. "Twinkie: Rest In Peeps" took two women 35 hours to construct. It features a Peeps Pope and mourners, a Twinkie in a casket, and a cemetery with headstones memorializing the demise of other snack cakes (Hostess cupcakes, Ho Ho's and fruit pies). Watch a short...
New Girl on FOX Episode Features Elvis-Themed Funeral
New Girl, a FOX TV sitcom, recently featured an Elvis-themed funeral for the father of one of the characters. A few things I noticed about the interactions of the characters: Stress about pulling everything together for a funeral on short notice - the father died of a heart attack. Stress about writing a eulogy. Stress about dealing with family dynamics. Stress about pricing Elvis impersonators (they don't come cheap). Stress, stress and more...
Tune in to ABQ’s The Morning Brew Tomorrow!
If you're in Albuquerque and have Comcast Cable, you might tune in to Channel 26/27 on Monday morning around 7:15 a.m. to see Gail Rubin on The Morning Brew with host Larry Ahrens. Each weekday morning, The Morning Brew serves up a fun take on local politics, business, sports and entertainment. Gail, host of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die, will talk about her new ground-breaking TV interview program coming to...
Walt Disney: Baked, Not Frozen
Urban legend set straight in Southwest Airline's Spirit Magazine March issue: Walt Disney was NOT cryogenically preserved, as some people seem to think. According to Albert Jack, author of Phantom Hitchhikers and Other Urban Legends: The Strange Stories Behind Tall Tales, Disney is not cryopreserved at Disneyland. Says Jack: "It's rumored that Walt Disney had himself frozen while awaiting a cure for lung cancer. In fact, he died without knowing...
End-of-Life Issues in VT and TX
I'm always monitoring news about end-of-life issues. Ironically, in Texas and Vermont, two states where I'm speaking soon, there are currently legislative actions on right-to-die questions. This recent story in the Austin American Statesman, "Legislators Struggle Again with End-of-Life Decisions," details an emotionally and politically delicate issue — how to resolve end-of-life disputes when doctors seek to let a patient die against the...
Let Your Light Shine Take Two!
Yesterday, I was speaking in the Division level competition of Toastmasters International Speech Contest. My speech, "Let Your Light Shine," which tells the story of how and why I became The Doyenne of Death, won second place. Congratulations to Eric Tonningsen, who won first place with his riveting speech, "My Radiant Heart." Here's how this version of "Let Your Light Shine" looked in the competition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhpuSNW1EXc...
Friday Funeral Film: The Way
The Way looks at the journey of life and making the most of this lifetime. The film also shows cremation scattering scenes.
Walking the Funeral Planning Talk
Jeff Harbeson has cheated death several times. After his latest brush with facing his mortality, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Funeral Finance LLC wrote this recent blog post about "walking the talk" when it comes to funeral planning. Even funeral directors can suffer the "cobbler's children have no shoes" syndrome. Here's what he wrote: In the funeral industry, we serve families by walking alongside them after the...
Author of Harry Stamps’ Obit Recognized
The remarkable obituary for Harry Stamps that exploded across the Internet last week was written by his daughter, Amanda Lewis. She was recently named ABC-TV's Person of the Week for her obituary, which wove humorous commentary in with the facts about her father's life, loves, and peculiar character. View the video at ABC's website. The story included home films and photos that beautifully illustrate his life and times. Amanda Lewis said she...
Harry Stamp’s Awesome Obituary
Here's a refreshing obituary! Harry Stamps must have been quite a guy who lived Mississippi near the Gulf Coast. This came from the Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home website. May the memory of Harry Stamps live on! Obituary for Harry Stamps Harry Weathersby Stamps, ladies’ man, foodie, natty dresser, and accomplished traveler, died on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Harry was locally sourcing his food years before chefs in California starting using...
Youngest Female Funeral Director in Colorado
At Frozen Dead Guy Days, I met the youngest licensed female funeral director in Colorado. Marika McMeans, at 22 years old, is a fresh face in the funeral business with wonderful insights. She went to mortuary school at Arapaho Community College in Littleton, Colorado. She started working with Carroll-Lewellen Funeral Home in Longmont last summer. One of Carroll-Lewellen's interesting community outreach activities is they've held scary funeral...
Frozen Out of Frozen Dead Guy Days
There was a big winter storm in Colorado today, and bad roads prevented me from getting to Nederland from Boulder for Frozen Dead Guy Days. But the movie went on, and I'll be there on Sunday with The Newly-Dead Game. The great folks at the Black Forest Restaurant did get the movie going, showing the hour-long "Grandpa's Still in the TUFF SHED" documentary. I had the original 25-minute "Grandpa's in the TUFF SHED" in my bag with me, stuck at a...
Grandpa’s Blue Ball at FDGD 2013
Grandpa's Blue Ball, the kick-off party at Frozen Dead Guy Days last night, filled the Black Forest Restaurant in Nederland, Colorado with ghostly freezing cowboys and cowgirls. The theme was "The Good, The Bad and The Frozen," hence the predominance of cowboy gear in the costumes. Here are some fun photos of the festivities!
Friday Funeral Film: Grandpa’s in the TUFF SHED
In honor of Frozen Dead Guy Days, today's funeral film is Grandpa's in the TUFF SHED. This is a documentary that traces how Norwegian Bredo Morstoel became the Frozen Dead Guy at the center of this wild and wacky winter festival. As a funeral film, Grandpa's in the TUFF SHED offers insights into what happens when you don't plan - like your grandson hijacking your body and putting it in a deep freeze for later reanimation. Who is/was the Frozen...