I've resisted knowing anything about Michael Jackson's final hours, death, will, or memorial service. He was a troubled entertainer, a man of great gifts and equal troubles. I wish his family well. But, I don't believe his life's work was important enough to merit the attention he's being given, which rivals, and may ultimately exceed, Princess Diana's. She is a less troubling icon for the age, at any rate. And yet, I have not been able to escape knowing something, and as usual, it's the odd bits that stick to my brain pan. Speaking of which...
Michael Jackson's body has been buried without a brain. The brain has been retained in order to "harden" for chemical testing. Thanks to the Guardian for this.
Michael Jackson's coffin is the same style and make as James Brown's -- gold-plated solid bronze with blue velvet lining. It's the Promethean from the Batesville Casket Company. And thanks to Hollywood Grind for this.
Looking to invest $25K? Here are the Promethan's details (
source):
PROMETHEAN By Batesville Custom Products
Z94-665-LH
Bronze/Custom Interior
Blue Onyx Velultra Velvet
(also available in white, red, and green)
48oz. Polished/Monoseal
Z94 Promethean Bronze/Custom Interior
48 Oz. Polished Bronze/Monoseal
FEATURES:
Semi-Precious Metal, Naturally Resistant to Rust and Corrosion
Interior Chemically Protected Against Rust and Corrosion
Batesville's 4 Point Protection Package
Locking mechanism plus a one piece rubber gasket to completely seal the top
Continuous weld to completely seal the bottom
Each casket factory tested for resistance to entry of outside elements
Fully insured warranty
Round Corner Design
Hand Polished Mirror Finish
14-Karat Gold Plated Hardware
Safety Seal, Swing Bar Hardware
Adjustable Bed and Mattress
Unique Family Memorial Portfolio
Memorial Record System
Living Memorial Program Batesville Casket, btw, sells a variety of high-end coffins, including the Dimensions series, which is the big and tall version. Here's their line of
basic bronze, prior to the gold.
It is strange to me that we still create such odd closed beds in which our loved ones are to find their final (and permanent) rest. It's such an outdated concept for a secular society, and, in my imagination, cold and lonely. I'm much more in favor of
green burials -- they make more sense. I got my first good introduction to the concept in
Stiff. Now if we could equal their consoling power, we would have something.
Thanatopsis, anyone?
When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;—
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around—
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air—
Comes a still voice—Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,
Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist
Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix forever with the elements;
To be a brother to the insensible rock,
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould.
Yet not to thine eternal resting-place
Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish
Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world,—with kings,
The powerful of the earth,—the wise, the good,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,
All in one mighty sepulchre. The hills
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun; the vales
Stretching in pensive quietness between;
The venerable woods—rivers that move
In majesty, and the complaining brooks
That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,
Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste,—
Are but the solemn decorations all
Of the great tomb of man!
--William Cullen Bryant (ll. 8-45) 
