I just read the heartfelt thread about the fireman’s last call. I would definitely have lost it when that last klaxon sounded. What a nice tribute. Not a thread to veer off of at all. So here are a couple of cinema scenes that I find very moving on their own.
The final scene in “The Guns of Navarone.” As the giant cannons fall from their lair all the warships that would have been under fire from them begin whooping their sirens. Gets me every time.
The Ravager’s funeral for Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy II. The great visuals of the space ships firing their weapons (?) in orbit while Cat Steven’s “Father and Son” plays in the background is probably the best scene in the entire Marvel universe. I can even forgive the fact that you wouldn’t really have heard them so far away. In real time, yet.
And since I am the irreverent Mixdenny, one more. I had a friend who worked in a salvage yard. He ran the car crusher. He would pull the levers that operated the huge upper doors back and forth and slowly flatten the car in the crusher. Then he ran the ram that condensed the car into a solid block ala, “Goldfinger” and ejected it out the side to get picked up by the magnetic crane. So when he died…
I’m sure many people have experienced it, but a basic US military veteran’s funeral service is moving.
I actually don’t remember what exactly they did for my dad at his service in the funeral home, I was just a big mess and crying but I’m sure it was nice. At the cemetery an unseen bugler plays Taps, then they do a gun salute. They fold the flag that was draped over the coffin and then present it to the surviving spouse (or children, or whomever) and salute them.
I’ve atttended three of them in the past five years. The last one I attended was just two days ago, for my coworker. Three gun salute. Yes, very moving.
I visited a coin shop near me that has a small election of other things. I was surprised to see a folded flag in a nice wooden case. It was indeed from a fallen warrior. Who lets that get out of their family? I remember when the American Pickers found a Purple Heart. They went to some effort to track down the family (with the assistance of the Army) and had a small ceremony when they returned it to the family.
Sporting events have their strangely moving traditions. Cycling is a dangerous game; on those (mercifully rare) occasions where a rider dies it is the norm, in a stage race, for the next day’s stage to be neutralized - that it to say, ridden but not raced, giving the crowds the opportunity to pay their respects to the deceased. For example, when Wouter Weylandt died in a crash in the 2011 Giro D’Italia, per Wiki:
In tribute to Weylandt, the following day’s stage of the race was neutralized, with teams taking turns to ride in front, and all riders wearing black armbands. A Bersaglieri band performed “Il Silenzio” at the beginning of the stage, while supporters held up condolence messages and replicas of Weylandt’s race number, 108, as a token of respect along the route. Church bells tolled in mourning all along the stage. The Leopard Trek team [Weylandt’s team] was allowed to cross the finish line first, along with Weylandt’s training partner [and close friend, riding in Weylandt’s place] Tyler Farrar, riding for Garmin–Cervélo, who linked arms as they finished the race. Farrar withdrew completely from the race at the finish of the stage and the next day the whole Leopard Trek team also announced their withdrawal.
Here is the end of the neutralized stage*. You can hear church bells tolling at around the three minute mark.
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* - commentary in Dutch as I couldn’t find an equivalent in English. Not that it really matters.
When Jack Soo passed, the cast of Barney Miller stepped out of character and did an entire episode recounting their experiences of working with Soo. They ended by toasting his memory with raised coffee mugs.
A new hospital was built adjacent to the University of Iowa. It’s the tallest building in town, with the children’s cancer ward on the top floor, which overlooks the university’s football stadium.
At the halftime of every football game, all the players, the referees, and the entire stadium all stand up together, turn to face the hospital, and wave to the children watching from the windows above them.
That’s 70,000 hands, all waving together, to encourage the kids.
It’s called the “Hawkeye Wave”; watch it…you’ll be glad you did.
Saw the title and made a wrong assumption. First thought was “Pizza and Beer”, followed closely by denying you are available that day or your truck is broken.
My father-in-law’s Yahrzeit (memorial) was yesterday. The family - my wife, our son, my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, his wife, and I - went to his grave, talked about him a bit, I said Kaddish, we all placed some stones, and then we all went out for brunch.
What’s interesting is that my wife’s family, FiL included, have always been pretty hardcore atheists, but my wife’s mom still insists I say the prayer each year. Some of it’s for my sake, I think - my wife’s dad and I were very close - but some of it’s because we all think that there should be some sort of ceremony. Even if you don’t believe the words, someone still should say them.
At our Catholic church, after a new baby is baptized the priest holds it up high, like in the Lion King. He then keeps holding the baby up over his head, beaming with pride, as they walk up and down the aisles, so everyone can meet the newest church member, while everyone applauds. It’s really sweet.
