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Is there a thread for members passing?


pico

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Glenn Miller was boarding a single-engine plane, a UC-64 Norseman, USAAF serial 44-70285, departing from RAF Twinwood Farm in Clapham, bound from England to Paris, where he planned to perform concerts for troops on leave in Europe. His last recorded words as he boarded the plane "Where the hell are the parachutes?" were spoken to Colonel Norman Baesell, who replied: "What's the matter Miller, don't you want to live forever?"

The plane departed from RAF Twinwood Farm in Clapham was lost over the English Channel, December 15th, 1944.

 

All the best Pico and I wish many more years of enjoyment and health to all ..

Edited by colonel
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I have only just blogged about this new problem this afternoon.

See my thoughts below.

I wouldn't normally quote myself, but this evening, I visited the hospice where my friend was. He died last weekend. Which explains the lack of texts or emails.

 

We really ought to agree a protocol for this sort of thing. The internet is an ephemeral place. You're here today and gone tomorrow. And, if you're lucky, someone will know why you're gone tomorrow. If you're unlucky, you will need a friend to find out.

 

My pal died without any next of kin. I can't let him go out on his own, so I'm going to try to see him off properly.

 

What an absolute bitch cancer is.

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This is the first time I've used nitro shortly after awakening early. Followed with ibuprofen. Sh*t, because I have some heavy lifting to do. The good news is that the Saltzman 8x10 enlarger is finding a new home.

 

Andy Barton: So sorry to learn of your friend's demise, and so very kind of you to visit him.

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I suppose the ultimate question must be when we all get to see the light, is do we walk towards it, or stop and put a filter on first just in case!

 

There is no filter other than our rational mind to eliminate the false god, the so-called creator.

.

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... The internet is an ephemeral place. You're here today and gone tomorrow. And, if you're lucky, someone will know why you're gone tomorrow. If you're unlucky, you will need a friend to find out.

...

I'm not so sure. I appreciate it is comforting, but for me it's the impressions and influence we have while alive that counts. This may seem harsh, and it is very comforting to have a send off, or to send off those we love or respect, but the reality can be more prosaic.

 

My brother-in-law died last year of brain cancer (blastioma or some such). He had treatment for a year before he died - surgery, radio and chemo. Before he died, he said to my sister "we did everything I wanted us to do." He was 67. The Catholic Cathedral in Wellington was full to overflowing (over a 1,000 there to celebrate his life).

 

My father died the same year; he was 94. He and my mother (going stronger than she'd like at 95) were the GPs in our village for 44 years. When my father retired, the town hall was packed and he looked around and said that he had delivered three generations of some families. There were few at his funeral - family and a few remaining friends. They'd all died. My brother in law was half the man my father was.

 

I guess my point is, I enjoy the communion of my friends (real and virtual), and the love of my partner who I will almost certainly bury one day (she has Crohn's disease). Enjoy the people you love while you have them, be compassionate to others while they're with you, but we must let life and time go.

 

When my time comes, I will have influenced the lives of my children, friends and colleagues, and that will be enough. Here, a bit like Lars Berquist, one day someone might say "what happened to John"; then again maybe they won't. One day I'll just not be posting anymore, and that's okay.

 

GB Shaw (one of the greatest Irishmen to have lived) apparently asked for his headstone to read "haec jacit George Bernard Shaw, who the hell was he?", though the more famous one is "I knew if I stayed around long enough, something like this would happen."

 

Life and time is not for storing in a bottle, it's like a river - go with the flow, as you will never be going back that way again.

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Life & Death are part of Life, sadly some leave us long before we would wish. Illness and the such take great tolls on us. When I was 10 I had an uncle die, I remember my mother telling me there was no more "Uncle Harry" - my father died in 1995 and my mother 11years later to the day!! Sadness & grief pass and then better memories remain.. I deeply regret my actions within my first and failed attempt at marriage, my bucket list.. What's left? A Lap in the 2seater F1 racer, take off and land a small jet aircraft.. Leica's, Porsches, RollsRoyces, Rolex & other high end watches etc etc.. Do Not Offer "That Extra Breath"

"Be honest, caring and respectful" Then RIP..

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Consciousness and awareness of our own life as a phenomenon, is incredibly interesting, that it exists within the universe that seems to be otherwise be quite devoid of conscious life is remarkable. In essence consciousness shows a preference for existence rather than non existence. This fact is worthy of dwelling upon. The conclusion is that consciousness is a property of the universe, one of many but nevertheless it is so. If that is so, that the person who is I, was able to experience consciousness, well what is the meaning of that? In the absence of any proof whatsoever either for or against some continuance of consciousness after death, I would only say that the gambling house is rigged towards consciousness.

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Consciousness and awareness of our own life as a phenomenon, is incredibly interesting, that it exists within the universe that seems to be otherwise be quite devoid of conscious life is remarkable. In essence consciousness shows a preference for existence rather than non existence. This fact is worthy of dwelling upon. The conclusion is that consciousness is a property of the universe, one of many but nevertheless it is so. [...]

 

So far I find the later conclusion the most compelling, and I have for decades. One way I put it as a child was that our consciousness is the creator viewing his creation as the created. That did not bring a smile to my Roman Catholic teachers.

 

Perhaps the "I" of human consciousness has evolved as a survival mechanism, and the mechanism is consciousnesses way of pursuing its own realization.

 

My young step-daughter once asked if maybe the celestial bodies were conscious and communicate in ways we are incapable of knowing.  Well, it was before my morning coffee and I said, "Even giant gas clouds of methane? Interstellar farts?" It made her day. Her Mom was aghast.

 

Still on my first coffee at this moment.

 

For some serious studies I recommend Roger Penrose and his peers, as we have discussed before.

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In a discussion with an gaining friend/colleague I quotes the last verse of a song I heard Pete Seeger sing, called ​How do I know my youth is all spent:

 

I get up each morning and dust off my wits;

I open the paper and read the obits.

If I'm not there,

I know I'm not dead,

I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.

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  • 3 months later...

Its been a long time since the last post but I did re-read this thread today and found it depressing and uplifting at the same time

 

I am a person of faith, which I know is very varied here, but essentially I am not afraid of dying when my time comes, only the process.

 

I rarely quote Woody Allen but this sums it up for me

"I'm not afraid of dying, I just don't want to be there when it happens"

 

In terms of commemorating those that pass on. I do think this is appropriate and a nice thing to do in the right way

 

Happy new year all - and many more to come in happiness!

 

Lastly I will leave the Eulogy John Cleese gave to Graham Chapman to cheer everyone up

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjww-TnqcvRAhWkLsAKHe7nDC0QtwIIHzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCkxCHybM6Ek&usg=AFQjCNEbWoSX9VNJdYoTkdHS9Dg5Vmkqyw&sig2=Ukxr_X8_klOccN8ne5-uZg

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