-- thelumberjack, May 29 2002 The Forever Network http://www.forevernetwork.com/Part of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery - "Thousands of families from all over the world have created unique multimedia scrapbooks to be permanently stored in the FOREVER Archive." [phoenix, Oct 17 2004] Vidstone Serenity Panel http://www.vidstone.com/The latest re-incarnation of the video headstone idea, complete with solar power and vandal-proof security. [jurist, Sep 09 2005] The Final Cut http://us.imdb.com/.../tt0364343/combinedCreepy excellent Robin Williams sci-fi-ish film about an editor of video life stories. [land, Sep 09 2005] Hmm. I would prefer a more low-tech ver. of this. perhaps with the writing getting smaller, the further down the headstone you read.-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002 Excerpt from Ulysses by James Joyce (the main character is in a graveyard):
"Who passed away. Who departed this life. As if they did it of their own accord. Got the shove, all of them. Who kicked the bucket. More interesting if they told you what they were. So and So, wheelwright. I travelled for cork lino. I paid five shillings in the pound. Or a woman's with her saucepan. I cooked good Irish stew."-- stupop, May 29 2002 Headstones with video messages from the deceased (pre-taped, duh) are baked. Not sure about the life story bit, though.-- beauxeault, May 29 2002 Baked in real life (link) and SciFi (but I can't remember the name of the story so I'll have to get back to you on that).-- phoenix, May 29 2002 Fishbone. Brevity is the soul of epitaphs.
There's a headstone, nearly obscured by long grass, on a neglected hillside part of the cemetery near my apartment. The stone simply lists the birth and death dates of two people -- a mother and son -- who died on the same day: July 4, 1906.
Being the type who likes to imagine the stories around the facts, I much prefer this format to the CD biography, or videography, or whatever. There is beauty and dignity in allowing a life to speak for itself.
On the other hand, I do see the value in building a video/audio/interactive cemetery, for the simple purpose of scaring the bejesus out of flashlight-bearing night visitors. Motion sensors catch you passing my grave, and my holographic image looms up like a wraith, complete with sound: "Why didst thou not visit me in life?"
That would be COOL.-- 1percent, May 29 2002 Oh, that's riiight ... bejesus juice. Damn you, Michael Keaton!
As for the flashlight-bearing night visitors, I was thinking more along the lines of those teenagers who partake of the liquid courage of wine coolers, and end up creeping through graveyards with their designated honeys, looking for edgy places to make out.
Not that I've ever been one of those teenagers, myself. I really don't know anything about it. Don't let anyone from the Sierra Madre department of law enforcement, patrol division, 1983, tell you any different ...-- 1percent, May 29 2002 No thank you... All I see is a field of sun-baked burnt-out video screens that nobody has looked at in 50 years.-- land, Sep 09 2005 Graveyards are eerie enough.-- disbomber, Sep 09 2005 random, halfbakery