Keith Richards, swashbuckling guitarist and songwriter for the most iconic (and successful) rock 'n' roll band in World History, brain-bonked tree climber, dogged substance utilizer, and devilish raconteur extraordinaire, may have topped himself this time.

In an interview published today in Britain's NME, Richards — 63, but who's counting — admitted that he whiffed up a bit of dear old dad, Bert, after he died at 84 in 2002.

Inspired by wistful nostalgia, filial piety, and cackling perversity, the Rolling Stones ax-man said he "couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow," after Bert was cremated. "My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

True, dead men snort no dads. The psychological, not to mention hygienic, ramifications are daunting.

Keith also let it be known that he does not see himself as a role model, other than in the sense that he is not nearly as dead as he is supposed to be. "I did it because that was the way I did it. Now people think it's a way of life," he mused.

"I've no pretensions about immortality," he added sensibly. "I'm the same as everyone ... just kind of lucky," he said with winning modesty.

Richards will be appearing as Johnny Depp's piratical father in the much anticipated May 25 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the third installment in the vastly successful Pirates trilogy.

UPDATE