A man hires strippers to dance at his father’s funeral.

A MAN hired a stripper to perform at the funeral of his father - who happened to have a fondness for gentlemen’s clubs, according to reports from Taiwan.

Taiwanese newspaper the United Daily News reported that Cai Jinlai had been promised a stripper for his funeral if he lived to 100.

Jinlai was 103 when he died – reportedly leaving behind more than 100 “descendants”.

He had died after walking about 5km to a town in Taichung County to vote in an election in the Taichung.

His son, Cai Ruigong, told the newspaper that he had paid more than $170 for the stripper to dance around the coffin at the funeral.

“He would travel around the island with his friends to see these (strip) shows,” Mr Ruigong said.

According to reports, the exotic dancer performance at the funeral lasted 10 minutes.

A recent edition of Horizon on the BBC reported how, properly prepared, a body might fetch up to $250k if sold for medical science (i.e. surgical training, cartilage and tendon grafts, etc.). As the programme ended, the continuity announcer came in with the usual plug for the website, where - he said - I’d find a link to a form where I can sign up to donate my body to medicine.

Donate nothing, if I’m handing my body over for dissection, I want a decent cut of the action! If someone offers a 50-50 deal they’ll get my business in a heartbeat (and my body without one); I’d also stipulate in my will that the money be used to pay for one hell of a send-off!

I’d want the whole thing, bible reading, eulogies and all, performed at Spearmint Rhino for a start!

I once did a juggling show at a funeral.

David, I’m signed up to give my corpse to one of those for-profit places.  My parents donated theirs to a medical school, but they have to pay for transportation (which is absurdly high).  The one I’m signed up for allows me to donate any organs for transplant first, then they take the rest at no expense to me or my family. 

It’s the only option I’ve found that costs me and my family absolutely nothing.

That’s actually because it is illegal here (and in the US, I believe) to sell your, or anyone else’s, body. The anyone else’s I can understand. But why I’m not allowed to sell my body when it’s dead is beyond me.

The for-profit places charge not for the ‘bodies’ but for the storage, preparation and transportation services they provide on top. I suspect the whole business is conducted on a nod and a wink. The temptation is to find one of the dodgier body merchants and do a deal, but I’d always be suspicious that they’d get tired of waiting.

David B. - 25 March 2008 03:32 AM

Donate nothing, if I’m handing my body over for dissection, I want a decent cut of the action! If someone offers a 50-50 deal they’ll get my business in a heartbeat (and my body without one); I’d also stipulate in my will that the money be used to pay for one hell of a send-off!

Man, I smell cheesy B Horror Movie written all over this! People sign up for a cut of the action to donate their body after they die and scientists at the research center start to kill them off one by one.

A young 18 year old college co-ed figures out what’s going on (she works at the university that pays for the program). She’s gotten her cut of the money to pay for school. Now, she has to put a stop to the killings before they kill her!

That totally sounds like a film we’d watch at one of our Movie Nights.

Isn’t that basically the plot of Coma but with co-eds?

*puts Coma on her list of Movie Night movies*

There were only two noteworth things about that movie, and they were both on Genevieve Bujold.

Oh, and watch for a dead Tom Selleck in one of his earliest roles, if not his first.

I saw the movie but don’t remember much about it. I did read the book, though, and it was actually pretty good. And my dad, who was an anesthetist and did not suffer fools gladly, said that Robin Cook (who is/was a licensed anesthesiologist, if I remember correctly) was very good at the technical aspects of anesthesia. And believe me, Dad would have noticed if there was anything wrong.

Actually, I could swear that I have the book somewhere.
I haven’t read it since I was about 15, but I’m sure I own it.
Aha! I checked Amazon. I do own it.