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** Updated April 2, 2010 **

Wrestling, and more specifically, wrestlers dying, are obviously getting a lot of press this week. The bizarre tragedy that unfolded at the Benoit household this past weekend has undoubtedly captured the attention of millions of people – wrestling fans and wrestling haters.

Wrestlers dying early is not a new phenomenon. It’s an accepted fact in the industry that many, many people have, and likely will, die young. Here’s a list of the young dead:  Read more... (1270 words, estimated 5:05 mins reading time)

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I’m absolutely in a quandary about how to feel about Chris Benoit’s tragic death, and that of his family.

On one hand, growing up as a huge wrestling fan and never missing the Monday Night wars between WWF and WCW, Chris Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers in the ring. Not because of his theatrics (minimal), his outlandishness (he had none), or even his story lines (nothiing over the top), I was a huge fan of his actual wrestling ability and athleticism. As a high school wrestler myself, I was always very interested in seeing how these bigger-than-life performers used the actual art of wresting in their career. Very few of them could pull it off, and Benoit was probably the best there was to make the top tier of that profession. I am saddened by his death in that I will no longer be able to watch that stocky sonuvabitch spin, twist, and turn his way to a victory, staged or not. His skill was worth the watch.  Read more... (520 words, 2 images, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

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Lady Bird Johnson is in the hospital. And Brooke Astor’s will became public knowledge yesterday.

Lady Bird Johnson is 94 years old, and has survived her husband by 34 years. Brooke Astor is a nightmare for Ghoulpool players by making it to 105 years old. And her only son, Anthony Marshall, is 83 years old and still living. He is the major beneficiary of her fortune.  Read more... (404 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

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Somehow, someway, this restaurateur lived to be 89 years old. 89 years old is, well, old. I would have suspected that a guy owning a bazillion restaurants that specialize in tasty treats such as Sunshine Skillet (A fluffy, open-faced omelet filled with crumbled Bob Evans Sausage® and home fries, topped with creamy country gravy and shredded cheddar cheese. Served with two freshly baked buttermilk biscuits), Country Biscuit Breakfast (One buttermilk biscuit split and topped with one egg cooked-to-order, crumbled Bob Evans Sausage, creamy country gravy and shredded cheddar cheese. Served with our fresh home fries) and the Double Sausage Sandwich (self-explanatory) never would have had a chance to live past 60… 65 at the latest.  Read more... (275 words, 1 image, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

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So, science says that sand is more deadly than sharks. I don’t care how much science there is behind this study, I’m not buying it.

– More than two dozen young people have been killed over the last decade when sand holes collapsed on them
– Since 1985, at least 20 children and young adults in the United States have died in beach or backyard sand submersions
– There have been 16 sand hole or tunnel deaths in the U.S. from 1990-2006 compared with 12 fatal shark for the same period  Read more... (454 words, 6 images, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

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With the recent death of Sensational Sherri Martel I thought I’d write about Deaths in Pro-Wrastlin’. I have not watched wrestling since the 80′s when Sunday meant Wrestling at the Chase in my hometown of St. Louis on Channel 11. Hulk Hogan was in his prime and didn’t know best, Jake the Snake Roberts was not a drugged out Crack Head, MachoMan Savage was not pimpin’ Slim Jims. There was no WWE, WCE, UFC. Jesse “the body” Ventura was not a Governor. Let’s look at some deaths of Pro Wrestlers from back in the day. Compliments of Wrestleview.  Read more... (1503 words, estimated 6:01 mins reading time)

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I have been reading with (not so great) interest the story of all the honey bees dying, which will give us less honey. Less honey is a bad thing, because those little bear containers that honey comes in are really cute, and it will be a damn shame when we can’t buy them anymore. But I’m not sure if that would be better or worse than not having Huggy Bear around anymore, because cool trumps cute every time. And, Huggy Bear is stylin.  Read more... (325 words, 5 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

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Huang Ju, the inventor of the Fu Man Ju mustache craze that rocketed Charles Bronson to stardom, died back on June 2nd. This most likely wouldn’t have been news worthy, except our resident death-picker-expert had him listed on his list at number 14.

This death puts Scott 215 points ahead of the second place person. The Ghoulpool Secret Society is investigating Scott’s whereabouts in relation to the dates his people have died.

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So where the hell do we go when we die? Wars have been fought over these types of questions. There’s the not so interesting theory that we are just gone. There’s nothing. Nada. You GET BUPKIS! Well that’s not all that interesting is it? Maybe that’s why radical Atheists bore me almost as much as religious freaks. Before I start my own theory lets look at the Afterlife through the ages.

Around 1500 BC in Egypt you needed incantations from the ‘Book of the Dead“>Book of the Dead’ to get into the afterlife. Of course there was also that small matter of being judged worthy. Bad and unworthy folks were devoured by Ammit the God of retribution.  Read more... (837 words, 2 images, estimated 3:21 mins reading time)

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Everyone remembers the scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, when the science teacher takes his class to a morgue to see what a naked, friendly, street person looks like when he dies? As they lift the chest plate out of his body, the reactions are mixed between “WHOOAA!!”, nervous giggling, and squeamishness.

Well, never having actually scene an autopsy (although I have seen literally hundreds of dead bodies since my grandfather was a mortician and funeral home owner), I decided to do a little research on them.

An autopsy, also called a post-mortem examination, is a very thorough and detailed exam by a medical-type person of the body of a (usually) recently deseased person. The body and internal organs are examined after death to help determine the cause of death. The word autopsy is derived from a Greek word autopsia meaning ‘seeing for oneself’. A pathologist (who is also a physician) specializes in the study of human diseases, and he is the autopsy official. Surgical techniques are used to remove and examine each organ, and some tissue samples are selected for microscopic examination or other special tests as necessary.

An autopsy is usually carried out within 48 hours after death. An autopsy can be either based in a hospital, known as (non-coronial) or coronial. Coronial autopsies are ordered by the state coroner, whereas hospital based autopsies may be performed at the request of the family of the deceased.

There are three levels of autopsy

1. Complete – in which all body cavities are examined (including the head)
2. Limited – which may exclude the head
3. Selective- where specific organs only are examined.

Autopsies will usually include testing for any infections (microbiology), changes in body tissue and organs (anatomical histology), and chemicals, such as medication, drugs or poisons (toxicology and pharmacology).

In certain circumstances an autopsy might not be carried out if the coroner and a forensic pathologist can decide the cause of death from medical history and a police report. However, often when the cause of death is obvious (say a horrific car crash scene), autopsies may be ordered to determine the presence of alcohol or other drugs.

Autopsies are completely different from the embalming process (which is what I learned about thanks to Pop-Pop). Embalming is the process used by many countries and cultures around the world to temporarily preserve the body’s condition for the funeral process. It is not performed by a physician, but rather an embalmer (who may also be a mortician). If the body is to be preserved more than a day or so, embalming is required. For those recently deceased that wish to be cremated, embalming will not occur.  Read more... (447 words, 2 images, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

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