Pop Culture Cuisinart

Striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells. Of course I was unaware they were en vogue now, I might have to write a will. (We're all here to say goodbye to our dear friend Brad, but before we do Peaches and Kaylee will jello wrestle.) Police swooped in last week after two groups of strippers gave "obscene performances" at a farmer's funeral in Donghai County, Jiangsu province, the Xinhua news agency said. Apparently in China it's not uncommon for performers to be used to entice guests to attend a funeral. Chinese tradition conveys that the more people who attend a person's funeral, the more honored they are considered, this led to wealthy families employing troupes of performers to attract a crowd. This has evolved now into having exotic entertainment now at many funerals. Two hundred showed up at last week's funeral. Five strippers were detained and local officials "issued notices concerning funeral management," The Chinese News agency reported. Now village officials must submit plans for funerals within 12 hours after a villager dies. And residents can report "funeral misdeeds" on a hotline, the report said.(I guess necrophilia is out too then.)