O-Bits: Hearse Looking At You, Kid Edition

Here’s a pro tip: before you drive your hearse, make sure the back door is locked. Sadly, Shelton’s Funeral Home in Decatur, Alabama didn’t follow that simple rule, and is being sued for forgetting it. The mortuary was transporting the body of Deedra Carol Ludvigson when the back door lock malfunctioned and the body fell out, hitting the road.  The funeral home told the family there had been an accident, but the box carrying Deedra remained intact, and there was only some “tossing around. In truth, the box holding the remains cracked open, and the body was sprawled on the road. It being 21st Century America, a body on the road not only attracts attention, but videos of the incident quickly showed up online. Shelton’s is being sued for “negligence, gross negligence, wantonness, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, training and supervision,” proving that, even in the funeral business, it’s not the crime, but the cover-up.

The Obit Deathly Tourist Bureau has alerted us to a attraction in we’re dying to check out: The San Francisco Dungeon. No, it’s not a west coast version of New York’s infamous Mineshaft club—although, now that we think of it, we’re surprised one didn’t open in the Bay Area—but an underground, interactive tourist attraction that showcases San Francisco’s bawdy Barbary Coast history. On April 2nd, as part of their new “Blackout” exhibit, they’re planning a “Banished to the Blackout” event, where you can nominate one of your friends to spend the night ensconced in a coffin, with no phone or other modern conveniences. You can find out more here, but whether they’ll still be your friend at the end of the evening is an open question.

They say that elephants never forget, but St. Louis’ Grant’s Farm are making sure that no one forgets Bud the Elephant, the 34-year-old pachyderm who died Saturday. He had been a feature at the park since 1984, and was a gentle, friendly attraction, so popular he even played a part in a wedding proposal, when he held up a sign reading “will you marry me.” The woman said yes…to her boyfriend, not the elephant.

Steven Mirkin

Steven Mirkin’s diverse career has taken him from politics to pop culture to high art, offering him a front row seat to some of the most fascinating events and personalities of our time: writing speeches, fundraising appeals and campaign materials for Ed Koch, John Heinz and independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson; chronicling the punk/new wave scenes in New York and London; interviewing musicians such as Elton John, John Lydon and Buck Owens; profiling modern masters Julian Schnabel, Paul Schrader and Jonathan Safran Foer; and writing for TV shows including 21, The Chamber, Let's Make A Deal, and Rock Star: INXS.