Executioner's Notebook - ProfilesArchive

About Me

My name is Shiva Rodriguez, and I'm one of the artists behind HEADLESS HISTORICALS , a project that makes commemorative dolls of famous people throughout history in the manner by which they died.
Since this project first started, many people have been wondering why on earth we'd make dolls like that and who would possibly be interested in such nasty things as executions and cruel history. Other people have expressed interest in wanting to know even more about the characters and modes of death that we've commemorated.
So I've created this blog for that purpose.
I've studied execution devices and the people associated with them for more years than is probably healthy. Even back in fourth grade when the assignment was to build a contraption demonstrating a simple machine, I presented a guillotine. There was just something about how cruel man can be to his fellow man that really grabbed my interest.
Of course, as I started learning more about the history of man-made death, I began to realise that the real cruelty was often in the reasoning behind the condemnation in the first place rather than the mode used to execute the sentence. Studying the tragic lives of men and women who faced the ultimate punishment has given me a rich (if morbid) sense of history and insight into how unreasonable people can act when in large groups.

My Interests

History, execution methods, forensics, true crime, special effects, horror, and things of that nature.

I'd like to meet:

People with an interest in history, people with a morbid sense of humor, and people who can appreciate the idea of historical education by unusual and unorthodox means.

Heroes:

Charles-Henri Sanson, Edwin F. Davis, William Marwood, James Berry, Albert Pierrepoint, Gregory Brandon, George Maledon.

My Blog

Gallows Humor

Ever since childhood, it seems I've been blessed with a very dry and often morbid sense of humor. I know... imagine that!In any event, I did go ahead and add a gallows humor page to the Headless...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:07:00 PST

New Additions to Headless Historicals website

I've been working on the new look for the Headless Historicals site, and in the spirit of educating the curious and sharing the love, I've added some more sections to the fun pages.Headless Historical...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:55:00 PST

Execution Fetishes

When I started this blog, my goal was to compile tidbits on the subject of legal execution, as in the modes of carrying out the death penalty, and things relating to that.However, within a week of thi...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:03:00 PST

Beautifully Executed in the Cinema

For most people, witnessing an execution is something that can only be done on the silver screen (or the comfort of their homes thanks to the magic of modern technology) in countries where public scaf...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Sun, 29 Jul 2007 11:49:00 PST

Book review: Lord High Executioner

"Lord High Executioner: An Unashamed Look at Hangmen, Headsmen, and Their Kind."Written by Howard EngelRobson Books1998I found this book to be a very good overview on hangmen around the world in parti...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:32:00 PST

Book Review: Until You Are Dead

"Until You Are Dead... The Book of Executions in America"Written by Frederick DrimmerPinnacle Books1990This is the first book that got me interested in the more modern forms of execution that are empl...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:15:00 PST

Albert Pierrepoint

I wasn't planning on doing detailed write-ups on famous historical executioners until I'd gotten through all of the major methods used by them, but I recently saw a film that has been released in Nort...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:10:00 PST

Let's Go Waterboarding!

Since the issue of waterboarding has come up a lot in recent times as being a tool used in controversial interrogation, I thought it was about time to explore this torture technique. Don't let the fun...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Sun, 10 Jun 2007 06:11:00 PST

Pro-Death In Theory, but the Practice Needs Some Work! ( Part 5)

With the recent "botched" execution that took place on May 24, 2007, I figured now was a good time to address another commonly-heard argument against the death penalty because it is cried a bit louder...
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Mon, 28 May 2007 03:07:00 PST

Pro-Death In Theory, but the Practice Needs Some Work! ( Part 4)

In part four of my series of essays on this issue, I'm going to address another common argument against capital punishment that is so obviously faulty that I almost didn't bother to include it at all....
Posted by Executioner's Notebook on Sun, 27 May 2007 10:37:00 PST