Timothy Leary is DEAD * A TOM TIDBIT!

Timothy Leary’s dead
by Thomas Brennan



Last night, I received an email from one of my favorite relatives about a company that has offered to implant your cremated ashes in coral reefs that extend from Massachusetts all the way down to Florida. The link to the information about the company, and the location of the reefs, is attached below:

Eternal Reefs

ETERNAL REEFS THE VIDEO

Being a “child of the ‘60’s”, the first thought that came into my head was
“reefers”.



When I was in college, a “reefer” was another name for a marijuana cigarette. They also were called “joints”, which is why marijuana itself was sometimes simply called “j”.

For those of us who are familiar with the trucking industry, a “reefer” is also the name for a refrigerated trailer unit. In other words, it’s a container whose contents are cold and stiff.

What I discovered this evening, much to my surprise, was that “reefer madness” occurred a WHOLE LOT earlier than the psychedelic ‘60’s.

As a matter of fact, a film called “Reefer Madness” was produced way back in 1936!!

Naturally, it discussed the evils of marijuana.

Reefer Madness

Although Chicago is home to a basketball player (Michael Jordan) who “floated through the air”, the player who actually introduced the style of play that involved leaping and playing above the rim was a man named Julius Erving. Although he played for several professional basketball teams, he is best known for his exploits with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Julius Erving

His nickname?

Dr. J


The article about coral reefs highlights the fact that “traditional” burial plots aren’t for everyone.

The most extreme example of “alternative burial sites” was the method used by the late Timothy Leary. His story is described in more detail below:


In January of 1968, (28 years before he passed to his eternal reward) the British rock band Moody Blues released a song about Timothy Leary, a former California gubernatorial candidate and college professor (he taught at both Berkley and Harvard). The song was titled “Legend of a Mind”.

Legend of a Mind

It’s a GREAT song, and you can watch it below:



As you read through Mr. Leary’s life story (see below), you’ll quickly come to the realization that he led a very wild life style, although there ARE some people who would say that he was just a NORML guy.

Although the opening lines of the song are “Timothy Leary’s dead”,
he actually didn’t die until 1996. Upon his death, some of his cremated remains were shot into space in 1997, along with the remains of 24 other people, including Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek.

Timothy Leary

My initial thought, on reading about the coral reefs, was “why would any one want to do that?”

Actually, there are a NUMBER of reasons why you might consider it.

Apart from the fact that there ARE people (like Timothy Leary) who shudder in horror at the thought of a “traditional” funeral service for themselves, having your body planted in a coral reef can also be significantly cheaper than the cost of a “normal” funeral. At least one website estimates the average cost of a funeral today is $7100, but they can easily cost much more that than.

Caskets Today




I am currently working my way through a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The author, Ada Louise Huxtable, mentions that Wright was heavily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote a book called “Nature” in 1836, In that book, Emerson describes “ .. a transfiguring experience of finding oneness with the universe through nature .. “

Although no one had thought of “reef planting” in the 1800’s, Mr. Emerson would likely approve of them.

Even “traditional” burials can be anything but.

Alphonse Capone, and his entire family, is buried in Mt Carmel Cemetery, in Hillside, Illinois, roughly 100 feet from the crypt that contains the remains of most of the Archbishops of the Diocese of Chicago.

Talk about mixing saints with sinners!

Since I’ve seriously given thought to having at least some of my ashes scattered in Ireland, (home of my ancestors) as well as in the various states that I’ve lived in, it may actually make sense to have the remains of Tom Brennan imbedded in a coral reef off the coast of Florida.

However, I’d still like to have a traditional (Irish) wake.

Would you prefer Bushmills or Jameson?






Tom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks TOM!!

I am a Jameson fan myself, bottoms up!

~ House