Real Talk!

Day 25 The reason you believe you’re still alive today.

Well... obviously, I haven't been paid a visit by the grim reaper, yet...

although, I have been on the edge...

Some days, I feel like I'm still alive, simply because my body isn't totally devastated yet... other times, I feel like I still have a mission or lesson to complete...

I remember, after dad passed away, thinking it would be nice if people came stamped with expiry dates...

although, in retrospect, I'm not sure about that...

In 1786, life expectancy was 24 years. A hundred years later it doubled to 48. Right now, it's 76.

"Over half the baby boomers here in America are going to see their hundredth birthday and beyond in excellent health," says Dr. Ronald Klatz of the American Academy of Anti-Aging. "We're looking at life spans for the baby boomers and the generation after the baby boomers of 120 to 150 years of age."

Scientists are saying that if you're alive in 20 years, you may be able to live forever.

I read somewhere that the Turritopsis nutricula, a species of jellyfish, has figured it all out. This jellyfish has developed a way to change itself from an adult back to the infant (polyp) stage, and back and forth, which in effect allows it to live forever.

almost sounds like a fate worse than death...

I mean, how long would your bucket list have to be???

How much would you have to save for retirement? Would there be retirement? Who would get to decide who gets to retire? My mother can remember a loaf of bread being two-cents... the modern keyboard doesn't even have a cent sign! I suppose if you went looking for some super-confusing code you could come up with one... and now, a loaf of bread? C'mon... I mean you have to have at least two twoonies in your wallet.

And then... what are you buying? Preservatives?

Hmmmmmm

In 1967 (incidentally, one year after Walt Disney’s death- he was cremated, not frozen!), James Bedford became the first person whose body was cryogenically "preserved". Baseball great Ted Williams was the most famous person to be cryogenically preserved. According to the Cryonics Institute, famous people who have publicly expressed an interest in cryogenic preservation have included talk show host Larry King, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke, and National Book Award-winning author Gore Vidal.

According to Alcor, the Life Extension Institute, as of 2002, more than a hundred people had been frozen since James Bedford in 1967. They also claim that 1,000 people worldwide have made financial and legal arrangements with Alcor to be cryogenically preserved. (As of February 28, 2011, Alcor has 932 members and 102 patients). Alcor offers two options (they suggest you purchase life insurance to cover the cost): for whole body preservation you would need a minimum policy of $200,000, and for neuropreservation (just your brain) you would need a minimum policy of $80,000...

When all of a deceased member’s living relatives are gone, continuing payment can be assured upfront through a “Patient Care Trust Fund.” This is a legal and financial investment arrangement with Alcor.

There's also Robert C.W. Ettinger’s Cryonics Institute, it has 718 members, 85 “Human Patients in Cryostasis”, and 52 “Pets in Cryostasis.” On their web site, they also advertise much lower prices than Alcor and other such services.

Reminds me of Woody Allen's "Sleeper"... 1973

EVERYTHING'S ON
FOR TONIGHT ?
YES.


I STILL THINK IT'S TOO SOON
TO BRING HIM UP.
WE HAVE NO CHOICE.

AGON THINKS THEY'RE ONTO US.
I PROGRAMMED THE C.L.C.
FOR TWO HOURS TONIGHT.

THERE'S NO TELLING
WHEN HE'LL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN.
WE'LL HAVE TO MOVE HIM...

IF HE COMES UP SUCCESSFULLY,
OTHERWISE, WE SHOULD BE PREPARED
TO DISPOSE OF HIM THE USUAL WAY.

PLEASE STATE REGISTRATION CODE.
CHECK.

WHERE WAS THE SUBJECT FOUND ?

WE CAME ACROSS IT THE LAST DAY
OF OUR FIELD TRIP INTO THE WOODS
A WEEK AGO.

THE CAPSULE
WAS PERFECTLY INTACT.
IS THERE A DATE ON THE CAPSULE ?

OH, YES. THE SUBJECT
WAS FROZEN IN


WHICH MEANS HE'S BEEN UNDER
FOR YEARS.

[ Machines Beeping ]

- BLOOD PRESSURE.
- OVER .

- ENCEPHALO-ACTIVITY ?
- JUST UNDER NORMAL.

GENERAL LIFE FUNCTIONS...
ACCEPTABLE.

HE SHOULD BE COMING
OUT OF IT ANY MOMENT.


DO WE HAVE ANY INFORMATION
ON HIM ?


JUST THE USUAL DATA CARD
INSIDE THE CAPSULE AND
THE PERSONAL ARTIFACTS HERE.


HMM. THE SUBJECT
WAS YEARS OLD AT TIME
OF INITIAL CRYOGENIC EMERGENT.

HIS NAME... MILES MONROE.
UNDER OCCUPATION IT SAYS
HE WAS PART OWNER...

OF THE HAPPY CARROT HEALTH FOOD
RESTAURANT ON BLEECKER STREET,
WHEREVER THAT WAS.


ALSO A CLARINET PLAYER
WITH SOMETHING CALLED
THE RAGTIME RASCALS.

WAS HIS EMERGENT VOLUNTARY ?

HMM. ACCORDING TO THIS,

"SUBJECT ENTERED HOSPITAL
FOR ROUTINE EXPLORATION
OF MINOR PEPTIC ULCER...

AND COMPLICATIONS SET IN."

THE PATIENT NEVER
REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS.


HE WAS ADMITTED FOR CRYOGENIC
EMERGENT BY HIS COUSIN,
A MRS. JOAN NEEDLEBAUM.


THE PHYSICAL DAMAGE
WAS REPAIRED.
YEAH. TOTALLY. ROUTINE.

WE'RE GETTING AN INITIAL
MOTOR RESPONSE OVER HERE.

THIS IS THE CRITICAL STAGE NOW.
IF HIS CONSCIOUSNESS ISN'T
HANDLED CAREFULLY,

THERE COULD BE DAMAGING TRAUMA.


REMEMBER, WE'RE DEALING
WITH AN INVOLUNTARY SUBJECT
WHO EXPECTS TO BE WAKING UP...

IN ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL
IN GREENWICH VILLAGE IN .

SWALLOW REFLEX IS ALMOST THERE.

[ Mutters ]

WE'VE GOT TO GET HIM OUT
OF HERE.
HE'S NOT READY.


WE'VE GOT TO GET HIM AMBULATORY
WHETHER HE'S READY OR NOT.

[ Grunts ]
CAREFUL, CAREFUL.
CAREFUL !

[ Chattering ]
NOW, JUST KEEP HIM
ON HIS FEET.

WE'VE GOT TO DISPOSE
OF THIS CAPSULE.

WHEN HE'S READY,
GET HIM TO THE FARM.
WE'LL MEET THERE TONIGHT.

YES.
THERE WE GO !

NOW, LET'S TRY TO TAKE A STEP.
LIKE THIS. ONE.


UP IT COMES. TAKE A STEP.
LOOK AT ME. UP, DOWN.

THAT'S IT.
THERE YOU ARE.

GOOD.
VERY GOOD, MR. MONROE !
GOOD, GOOD.

UP, DOWN.
NO, HE'S GOT IT IN REVERSE.


OH, YOU'RE GOING
THE WRONG WAY.
MR. MONROE !

NO, THE OTHER WAY !
THERE WE GO.
WHOA !

[ Alarm Sounding ]
SECURITY IS COMING !

OH, MR. MONROE !
PLEASE, MR. MONROE, WAKE UP !

This, also, brought up the concept of CLONING....

TEN MONTHS AGO,
OUR LEADER SUFFERED
A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT...


WHEN A BOMB, PLANTED
IN HIS HOME BY MEMBERS
OF THE UNDERGROUND, EXPLODED.

NATURALLY,
IT WAS KEPT QUIET.


BUT SINCE THEN,
WE HAVE VIRTUALLY BEEN
A LEADERLESS SOCIETY.

UNFORTUNATELY,
PREPARATIONS FOR A SUCCESSOR...

HAVE NEVER BEEN
ADEQUATELY CLEAR.

IN SHORT, WE HAVE
BEEN IN THE THROES
OF A MAJOR CRISIS.


AS FOR OUR LEADER,

THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
RUSHED TO THE SCENE
OF THE ACCIDENT IMMEDIATELY,

BUT ALL THAT REMAINED
OF HIM WAS THIS.

THIS IS OUR LEADER'S NOSE.


USING GREAT PRESENCE OF MIND,


WE RUSHED THE NOSE
TO OUR CLOSEST DELTA LABORATORY
WHICH IS HERE...

WHERE, THROUGH MASSIVE
BIOCHEMICAL EFFORT,

IT HAS BEEN KEPT ALIVE
FOR NEARLY A YEAR.

OUR DREAM HAS BEEN
THAT BY CLONING,


WE WOULD REDUPLICATE
THE ENTIRE LEADER AGAIN.


CLONING, FOR THOSE OF YOU
UNFAMILIAR WITH BIOLOGY,


IS A PROCESS BY WHICH
USING ONE SINGLE CELL,

A DUPLICATE OF THE PERSON
IT CAME FROM COULD BE FORMED.


TILL NOW WE'VE ONLY HAD
LIMITED EXPERIMENTAL SUCCESS.

BUT ALL EFFORTS
HAVE BEEN DIRECTED TO CLONING
OVER THE PAST TEN MONTHS.

AND NOW WE FEEL CONFIDENT
WE CAN REPRODUCE OUR LEADER...


IN PERFECT TACT
FROM HIS NOSE.


GENTLEMEN, WITH GOD'S HELP,
IN A COUPLE OF HOURS,


WE WILL HAVE
OUR LEADER BACK.

NOT SO FAST!

In 1997, Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult body cell, came into the world as innocent as a lamb; but caused panic and controversy, as well as a vast literature on the ethics and regulation of cloning.

One of the major concerns raised by cloning is that it could lead to eugenic practices.

GULP

I guess the truth is that I just don't like the idea of messing with nature.

OOPS... I almost rambled on