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[ by Charles Cameron — I suppose this could be seen as my version of “kids these days just have no clue..” ]
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Since I mistakenly posted this week’s intended Sunday surprise, Afterlife this side of everlasting, on Saturday, I’m continuing my depthful exploration of the burial practices of warlords, gangsters and the like with this post.

When the daimyo Takeda Shingen dies in Kurosawa‘s great movie, Kagemusha, his followers are obliged to keep his death a secret for three years, to ensure clan Takeda’s continuing security. Their daimyo has, however, also instructed them that he wishes to be buried in full armor in Lake Suwa, and his corpse is therefore placed in a large urn covered in rich cloth, and taken out by boat into the mist that hovers over the lake (upper image, above).. the boat then returning to shore minus its precious cargo. The explanation is given that a offering of sake has been made to the god of the lake, and the kagemusha or daimyo’s double continues the pretence that his lord is still alive…

In the TV series Magic City, by contrast, the body of a minor gangster is first cut in pieces, then stuffed in an empty and rusty oil barrel which is welded shut, then dumped unceremoniously at sea (lower image); the oil drum is then shot repeatedly so it will sink, and left to do so — no offering to the gods, no requiem, and no luck, as the corpse and its barrel later turn up inauspiciously somewhere along Miami Beach.

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If we are to endure mobsters and warlords, need I say how much I would prefer them to work within the classical Japanese esthetic?

[ by Charles Cameron — in hindsight it looks like what — foresight? prediction? prophecy? predestination? ]
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Use-case: confirming that intel was available ahead of time.

@20committee it's not as if ISIS fanboys claimed Denmark was the next target on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attack: pic.twitter.com/QPRjc3nSpa

— Henry VIIII (@Henry_VIIII) February 15, 2015

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It should be noted, though, that the intel may have been scatter-shot, from a source of questionable reliability, lacking in precision as to date & place, methodology, etc.

Arguably this is too little, too late.

[ by Charles Cameron — old enough to appreciate this beauty ]
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I don’t usually like comparing people to animals, it’s all too often a means of demonizing them so they can be killed without compunction — but hey, IMO this exception proves the rule!

Source:

Daily Mail: The granny who stood up to ISIS

[ by Charles Cameron — on turning the other cheek once, or even twice, perhaps ]
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The Wall Street Journal has the story:

In a preview trailer for a new action movie, famed Indian spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan takes on sabre-wielding villains, splinters a log with his fist and rides a monster-wheeled motorcycle in a high-speed chase.

“Some call me a saint, some call me an angel, some call me guru and some call me God,” Mr. Insan intones in a voice-over. “If it is a sin to serve the country and the universe, then I will keep committing this sin until my last breath.”

Sample wisdom:

In another musical number, Mr. Insan, wearing tightfitting gold pants, red boots and an oversize red top riveted with gold stars, performs a patriotic song that he says he wrote himself, dedicated to his followers in the armed forces.

“We’ll live and die for the country,” Mr. Insan croons to a jubilant crowd in an amphitheater with a band playing behind him. “First, we’ll stop them with love, weapons of humanity. If they don’t stop, we will shoot them!”

That, btw, is Plan B: if love doesn’t work, try deadly force.

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Coming soon to a shrine-room near you!

[by Charles Cameron — the Michelangelos of mob mortality? ]
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Russian mafia memorials are more personal, yes, but far less palatial, than their Mexican narcocultura counterparts.

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Sources — so you can see bigger images, more of the same ghastly:

Guardian, Mob deep: Russian mafia gravestones

Financial Times, Deadly splendour