Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Live Like You are Dying


He said: "I was in my early forties,
With a lot of life before me,
An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days,
Looking at the x-rays,
An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man whatcha do?

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'."

He said "I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn’t.
An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
Wasn’t such an imposition,
And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
Well, I finally read the Good Book,
And I took a good long hard look,
At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
And then:”

“I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?

"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Beautiful Death Scene


This is a beautiful death scene. I love the shared dialogue. Spock is trapped inside an engine room. He and Kirk are separated by thick plastic walls.

Kirk, “Spock.”
Spock, “Ship... out of danger?”
Kirk, “Yes.”
Spock, “Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh...”
Kirk, “...the needs of the few.”
Spock, “...Or the one. I never took the Kobayashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?”
Kirk, “Spock...“
Spock, “I have been and always shall be your friend.
[Holds up his hand in the Vulcan salute] Live long and prosper.”
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Kobayashi Maru Test is a role-playing game that Captains in Starfleet need to go through in order to achieve their rank. The test presents a no-win situation and is meant to show captains that difficult decisions need to be made and sometimes life gives you a no-win situation.

Only one person in the entire history of Starfleet has ever beaten the odds and passed the test. Kirk reprogrammed the computers so that he would be able to make a decision where the ship did not get obliterated during the demonstration. When asked about cheating, Kirk simply states that he doesn’t believe in the no-win situation. Neither do I. This back-story makes the above exchange even more meaningful.