# Dead man sitting on motorcycle. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201 "2010-05-03T20:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/21 "2010-05-04T13:15:16Z")
Suppose your late Uncle Al wanted to hang around? Could you send him to the local taxidermist for mounting? I have heard about people who don’t want to go into a grave-I recall reading about some English nobleman, who was placed in his tomb, sitting in his favorite char, with a bottle of whiskey nearby. Seems like a nice way to spend eternity. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/22 "2010-05-04T14:00:03Z")
I wonder if he was related to Willie the Wimp? _Willie the Wimp was buried today, They laid him to rest in a special way. Sent him off in the finest style That casket-mobile really drove ‘em wild Southside Chicago will think of him often Talkin’ 'bout Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin, Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin_ ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/23 "2010-05-04T16:32:34Z")
I’ve never been to a service with an open casket, but have heard more than once from those who have that the deceased didn’t look like him/herself. Were we to have an open casket for my mom\*, seeing her in a dress with some pearls and makeup would be weird. Since she retired she wears sweatshirts almost exclusively. It would be more apropriate to send her off in one of those with her gardening hat and gloves. I kind of like the idea of honoring something the deceased loved as part of the service. The action pose though, would freak me right out. I think that’s a step that didn’t need to be taken. \*Purely speculation, she’s only 64 and in pretty decent health. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/24 "2010-05-04T17:08:20Z")
It’s a little creepy. I don’t know if I’d call it “cool”. They could have just put up a photo of him on his bike when he was alive, but they just _had_ to go the extra mile eh? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/25 "2010-05-04T19:41:17Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > My personal dream (likely to never come true) is to be buried at the base of some fruit-bearing plant. I would hopefully be absorbed by the plant over a period of weeks (months?) and then people could eat the fruit and be, in a sense, eating me. [Tree Root That Ate Roger Williams](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2210) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/26 "2010-05-04T19:46:51Z")
I guess this guy was all about the cycle of life. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/27 "2010-05-04T19:59:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And by way of another reference, [see this thread about a guy whose remains remained standing at his own wake.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480316) Sup? ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/28 "2010-05-04T20:22:48Z")
If that was something tht was important to the deceased I think it’s a pretty cool idea. My dad wanted to be cremated when he died so we didn’t need to buy a casket. Instead we rented one from the funeral home. At a cost of $600 for two days. :eek: Looking at the bill I thought it would be a lot cheaper, and I think he would have liked it, if we had just rented a really nice caddy and posed him in it for two days. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/29 "2010-05-04T21:20:30Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I guess this guy was all about the cycle of life. Let’s hope he’s not on a highway to hell. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/30 "2010-05-04T22:43:24Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Ooh, I can answer that one too! In fact my daughter’s placenta is sitting in a pot under a dwarf magnolia about 7 feet from where I’m sitting right now… It’s a Maori thing which has pervaded into the Pakeha traditions as well - helps form a connection with the land and tree which is planted over it. I take it you have Maori heritage, then? > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > That’s all kinds of cool. I guess its easier to pose a body than I thought. I assumed rigor mortis would make this difficult. I wonder if they had to break any of his bones to make him more…malleable? I might be wrong, but rigor mortis only lasts for a certain amount of time. Eventually the body unstiffens. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/31 "2010-05-04T23:17:33Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I take it you have Maori heritage, then? Nope - Pakeha. But I like the symbolism, and it felt wrong just to chuck it out! (Not wrong enough to consider eating it thought…) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/32 "2010-05-04T23:42:37Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Nope - Pakeha. But I like the symbolism, and it felt wrong just to chuck it out! (Not wrong enough to consider eating it thought…) Oh, OK. I think it’s nuts, then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/33 "2010-05-05T01:43:19Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Ooh, I can answer that one too! In fact my daughter’s placenta is sitting in a pot under a dwarf magnolia about 7 feet from where I’m sitting right now… It’s a Maori thing which has pervaded into the Pakeha traditions as well - helps form a connection with the land and tree which is planted over it. > > Re the cemetary, Ithink you need to apply for council permission to have human remains on your property. I know in NZ some members of Maori tribes who live on tribal land have successfully done this. That sounds about right - I don’t have first hand knowledge but a vague feeling that you can apply to be buried on your own property and that its not that hard… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/34 "2010-05-05T01:47:39Z")
What in the hell do you have to do in America if you want to bury a placenta, though? “Scuse me doc, can you fish that out of the afterbirth bucket and put it into a biohazard baggie for me…to go?” ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/35 "2010-05-05T01:51:39Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I take it you have Maori heritage, then? > . I can’t speak for all New Zealanders, but from my perspective the divide between “maori” culture and “pakeha” culture is not that stark in NZ. As Girl from Mars says, many “Maori” things have pervaded popular culture - so it may be more accurate to say its “New Zealand Culture” ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/36 "2010-05-05T03:09:20Z")
> [@justrob](#): > > My dad wanted to be cremated when he died so we didn’t need to buy a casket. Instead we rented one from the funeral home. At a cost of $600 for two days. :eek: Looking at the bill I thought it would be a lot cheaper, and I think he would have liked it, if we had just rented a really nice caddy and posed him in it for two days. We buried my mother back in January and she had specific instructions about her funeral already written up (long illness) including a detailed description of the casket. When we went into the showroom to look at the caskets, we immediately saw the one she was describing, which turned out to be the least expensive coffin they had (basically particleboard covered in fancy looking blue fabric…it didn’t look cheap…it’s going into the ground, what difference does it make). It cost $600.00. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/37 "2010-05-05T04:50:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > What in the hell do you have to do in America if you want to bury a placenta, though? > > “Scuse me doc, can you fish that out of the afterbirth bucket and put it into a biohazard baggie for me…to go?” Sorry to continue the hijack, but I had my baby in Australia, and I simply put it in my birthplan that we wanted to take the placenta home. Mentioned it again to my Ob during its delivery, and it was given to Boy From Mars to take home, double bagged in biohazard bags. There it sat in the fridge for 4 days until Baby From Mars and I got home to plant it. I wouldn’t think you’d have any issue doing the same in any other country but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/38 "2010-05-05T05:22:11Z")
\*Dead man sittin’ on a motorbike His heart, it did not flutter He’s just dead meat Sittin’ on the seat Lookin’ like he’s out for a putter Oh, It ain’t gonna rain no more It ain’t gonna rain no more Motorbike revvin’ Ridin’ up to Heaven Where it ain’t gonna rain no more\* ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/39 "2010-05-05T07:53:59Z")
[http://www.ifmurdered.com/](http://www.ifmurdered.com/) is a great place for funeral ideas. My favorite is the guy who wants to be cremated and mixed into chili… so he can tear up that ass one last time. Personally, I think it’d be hilarious to have a closed casket, but actually prop my corpse up in a random chair and put a hat over my face as if I were trying to sleep. Perhaps put a recording of faint, random snores on my person. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201/40 "2010-05-05T09:03:57Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > [http://www.ifmurdered.com/](http://www.ifmurdered.com/) is a great place for funeral ideas. My favorite is the guy who wants to be cremated and mixed into chili… > > so he can tear up that ass one last time. > > Personally, I think it’d be hilarious to have a closed casket, but actually prop my corpse up in a random chair and put a hat over my face as if I were trying to sleep. Perhaps put a recording of faint, random snores on my person. This site is awesome, thanks for linking it. My favorite- and one I seriously want for myself- at the funeral, all my friends gather around the casket and chant “His name was Robert Paulson.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-man-sitting-on-motorcycle/538201.md?page=3)