Kind of amusing, given that here in Amurrika, people expect to be buried and stay in the same spot forever (or until Jesus comes back and calls them up for army service).

Not only are bodies pumped full of preservatives, but they're also usually sealed up in leak-proof coffins and then placed in reinforced concrete vaults (so the soil over the grave doesn't settle if the coffin ever does rot).

Scary stuff....

From what I gather, placing a body in an airtight coffin merely prevents it from becoming desiccated and eaten by maggots; instead, anaerobic bacteria get at it, turning it into nasty toxic sludge. The only way to be preserved is to either have the good sense to cark it in an extremely dry and cold climate (like those Arctic mummies), or to have a Leninesque personality cult, with the resources to match, around your earthly incarnation.

I understand that some of the tribes of american indians (dont ask me which) had a practice of "burying" or interring the human remains in a tree, wrapped in some skin or such. The principle was that to raise the dead in this fashion placed them closer to heaven (the sky) and at least gave them a great view. I dont wish to trivialise the belief of a culture I have very little knowledge of, rather that to point out that in some circumstances it has a practical value. Particularly in regards to the problem outlined in the article quoted.

Well, in the words of a dear and great friend and drinking partner, "I've imbibed enough alcohol to keep me whole until Jesus comes"

But I wonder if after a few times of the graves being redug and re-interred he might not come back like a cartoon caricature flattened like the cat run over by a steamroller? Thats always funny, I suppose, until you stop to think that it might just be you too, who rises only in a 2-D world. At least the cat had another few lives left in which to be blown up like a balloon? RE: FAT FREDDY's comics & stories - no. 1 (collectors item) edited by Frederick P. Freekowtski, esq.

Mihaly: it's called "air burial" and practiced in the Himalayas; it involves the deceased being left on high platforms to be eaten by vultures (possibly cut into bite-sized morsels beforehand).