LA Cigar, Too Tragical (life imitates art?!)

[Aggie]

Tim Powers fans should get a shiver from this story about bottled ghosts:
'Bottled ghosts' sold in New Zealand auction

The closing bid went to a company called Safer Smoke NZ, which produces electronic cigarette substitutes - it paid NZ$2,830 for the two bottles.

Electronic cigarettes use a nebulizer device to convert liquids into mists for inhalation and absorption. 

_{seriously creeps me out...}

[Sibling DavidH]

So now we get smoky ghosts or ghostly smoke, whichever.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Sounds like an expensive joke/point to make.

Or the guy knows something we don't?

[Darlica]

Tim Powers fans should get a shiver from this story about bottled ghosts:
'Bottled ghosts' sold in New Zealand auction

The closing bid went to a company called Safer Smoke NZ, which produces electronic cigarette substitutes - it paid NZ$2,830 for the two bottles.

Electronic cigarettes use a nebulizer device to convert liquids into mists for inhalation and absorption. 

_{seriously creeps me out...}

mmhm. That was my reaction too...

If those cigarettes come in strawberry and chocolate versions I'm going to start making protective measurements in my daily life...



I would very much like to ask Mr Powers what he makes out the story about the then stolen now recovered corpse of the former Cypriot President. Why does a the body of a former president
go missing for over three months?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

If those cigarettes come in strawberry and chocolate versions I'm going to start making protective measurements in my daily life...

There has been some controversy about marketing those to kids IIRC.

I would very much like to ask Mr Powers what he makes out the story about the then stolen now recovered corpse of the former Cypriot President. Why does a the body of a former president
go missing for over three months?

Have you ever read spy novels? They were looking for hidden data in his corpse.

[Aggie]

I would declare an interest in spy novels, but that would just bring us back on the topic of Tim Powers.

[Darlica]

I've just finished rereading Last Call again and I'm now on Expiration Date again...

I think I need read some Lewis Carrol too as reference and perhaps some more TS Eliot and brush up my Shakespeare, one never know when it might come in handy.

Have you ever read spy novels? They were looking for hidden data in his corpse.

I've read more of them than I dare or care to count...

As for hidden data... Well that might be either the reason or what they want us to believe...

What is said is that it where held for ransom, now why kidnap a dead person? You can't very well threat to kill them if you don't get your money can you?


Still I'd really like to hear Tim Powers spin on that.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

What is said is that it where held for ransom, now why kidnap a dead person? You can't very well threat to kill them if you don't get your money can you?

I'm sad to inform that it is far more frequent than any sane person would like to admit. Kidnappings are intolerably high in places like Colombia or Brazil, and with some frequency the victim dies in captivity (usually due to health reasons). The kidnappers then ask ransom for the corpse and the families frequently pay just to bury their dead.

[Swatopluk]

Ruthless kidnappers also kill their victims after receiving the ransom in order not to leave witnesses (nothing new about that; quite common since somebody came up with the whole kidnap idea) .

[Aggie]

I think I need read some Lewis Carrol too as reference and perhaps some more TS Eliot and brush up my Shakespeare, one never know when it might come in handy.

Ayuh, Expiration Date re-sparked my interest in Alice. 

[Darlica]

I'm sad to inform that it is far more frequent than any sane person would like to admit. Kidnappings are intolerably high in places like Colombia or Brazil, and with some frequency the victim dies in captivity (usually due to health reasons). The kidnappers then ask ransom for the corpse and the families frequently pay just to bury their dead.

I do know about the sad scenario you described above as well as the one Swato described. What makes me wonder is that in this case we talk about someone stealing the body of a already dead man who happen to be a former president of a small nation.

Obviously somebody wanted to make some money.
But how did they think? Dead bodies decay, and that leaves a horrible smell, and to halt the decay and the smell (that will tell tales about you being up to something creepy and alert the neighbours), you'll need cold storage because Cyprus is a warm little island. It's also a small country and cold storage facilities are not as common as they might be in western Europe, far from every household even owns a freezer. It must have taken some planning...

[Swatopluk]

The cyprus issue could be political. It's not as if any side of the conflict were known for tact, fair play or basic decency (although I personally sympathize with the Cypriotic Turks and am prejudiced against the Greek).

[Sibling DavidH]

I personally sympathize with the Cypriotic Turks and am prejudiced against the Greek.

We have visited both halves several times and researched the conflict thoroughly, and I agree.  It has been said that the period of Cypriot history 1964-74 is something the Turks will never forget and the Greeks will never remember.


This is the Ledra Street crossing in Nicosia on 4/4/08, 24 hours after it first opened.  The blue curtains hide the devastation of no-man's land, deserted since 1964.  The lady with the hat is Mrs H.  We saw no kidnapped corpses on that occasion but there may have been some about, which would explain the Turkish cop threatening to take my camera away.