On impulse, I just happened to be wandering through Mac's PHB "Triptych 15" comments (see sidebar "memorial" section) tonight when I came upon a most curious thing... a comment I somehow had completely overlooked at the time it was written (somewhere in November, 2009).
The comment was from "Falafel Kid", who wrote:
"Hello everyone. I am a German television journalist and stumbled across this blog after Mac's death. I am deeply moved by the community that is still active here. I was also researching what happens to your online data when you die.
So I included this page in my report.
I chose the Blade Runner Blues as a mark of respect to Mac. Since I no longer was able to ask him and used images from his website as a matter of public record, I at least wanted to show the site in a way that he would have appreciated."
FK provides a link to a German site, but, alas, I could not embed that video. I did find a version on YouTube, however, which appears below. Mac's segment ends with one of his shadow shot's (one that appears in this blog as well...).
***
(Update, 2016: Sorry, but both the Youtube video that was featured here, and the link to the streaming video - below - are now obsolete. I'm going to try to find the link to the website in which the video originally appeared... but, in the interim, I've uploaded a Blade Runner Blues video below...)
***
I'm afraid I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to language though, so, I don't speak German... but the graphics speak volumes. Very eerie. And, suffice to say, the Germans addressed the topic of "death and the internet" first: the news spot hit German television November 29, 2009.
For the larger, original streaming video, (minus the broadcaster) click here (broken link).
I'm a bit unnerved by all of this... and regret it took me so long to find it... but, Falafel Kid, if you're out there - many thanks!
________________________
Well, I did try... I roamed over to Triptych #15 again (after avoiding it for years) and found the original comment by Falafel Kid, which I am posting here with the links. Sadly, unless some German-speaking person comes to our rescue, the video in question is no longer accessible.
The comment reads as follows:
Falafelkid said...
Hello everyone. I am a German television journalist and stumbled across this blog after Mac's death. I am deeply moved by the community that is still active here. I was also researching what happens to your online data when you die.
So I included this page in my report. You can have a look at it if you click on this link. If you would like to see the video, just click on the link entitled ´Mediathek´ or click right here. Of course, it's all in German. But you can concentrate on the visuals.
I chose the Blade Runner Blues as a mark of respect to Mac. Since I no longer was able to ask him and used images from his website as a matter of public record, I at least wanted to show the site in a way that he would have appreciated.