Leaderboard

Cool. Four lists in already, within...12 hours or so. Good start, this early on. For those who like my annual "after X lists" teaser, our current leader is, by a fair distance imo, the most famous person to have ever topped the list at any point. 2nd is someone connected to him, I believe they went to the same parties. And 3rd is a sports star. Of course this is early doors, and who was in the top 3 at this stage last year? Gina Lollobrigida and Sheila Mercier. Exactly.

Used recent ill health to continue on my quest to read the memoirs of folk who appear often in deadpooling circles. Denis Norden - Clips from a Life: Was alright, full of lightly amusing anecdotes (Tynan realising he was in trouble for swearing on live TV when he got a congratulatory telegraph from George Melly, for example) but much of life is glossed over. One might suggest that's the perfect description of Norden himself, casually directing the viewer away from the grim and the in-depth analysis in favour of a few silly moments. So we get the war in brushstrokes and lots on silly things people did on radio/etc. Diana Athill - A Florence Diary: To be honest, each new Athill book that comes out, I expect to be the last. She as much as admits it herself in the introductions. We're now five books on since the wonderful Somewhere Towards the End (written when she were a mere 90), and six books of memoirs on since she wrote her actual memoirs themselves! I do suspect this one might actually be the last Athill, till proven wrong, however. For one, it has scarcely any new material. 17 pages in slighter larger font than normal are the sole interlude by the 99 year old Athill, the rest of the slim book being a reprint of her diaries from a trip to Italy in the 1940s. The book itself barely reaches 64 pages with that conceit, a third at best of one of her normal books. It is striking in its sparsity. Oh well. As a result, it is one of the lesser Diana Athill books, but its descriptions of post-war Italian (for lack of a better term) "English yuppy" holidays as they were is of some interest. And for something entirely different: Neil Nixon - Beatles Myths and Legends: As recommended on this very forum! Great book, which goes into depth on the history and origins of many of the (insane) myths which follow each of the Beatles. For example, that Lennon got shot by the CIA. Then essentially debunks or shows why they were highly unlikely. For those who can't stomach more Lennon (although in fact, the writer does the rare feat of making John come across sympathetic imo), there's a wonderful rant in defense of Ringo Starr, and some good research on Harrison. I'm not a big Beatles fan (I appreciate their spot in music history, however) but I found this musical history tour damn near hypnotic and amusing in turns. Highly recommended!

Ok I'll pop a team together and await the opening for entries/deadline post. Cheers RA.

Leo Sharp, "world's oldest drug mule", died off the media radar in December 2016, according to this July report I just found. DDP pick but, of course, no points since he died last year. Incidentally, funny thing I just noticed: he was picked by Predictor, and even though Predictor had crossed him off in his signature, he never posted about Sharp's death. In fact, he hasn't posted at all since August. His post count is 750 so it looks like he's trying really hard to keep up the 150 posts a year gimmick...

On this day in 1963, JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby while being escorted to another jail. He died less than 2 hours later. Probably the most interesting thing about this picture is that one of his escorts is still alive. He is the man to Oswald's right, Jim Leavelle, who is 97 years old.

He deserves life sentence. By the way he is a good candidate for the next year deathlist ( death probably by suicide ).

Agriculture expert Derek Barber finally gets his Telegraph Obit and Captain Chorizo ploughs up the leaderboard.

Cunt's costing me a fortune in fruit baskets.

Ouch. Straight off the top of my head, Grammy award winners (or nominees)?

John Rawls met a new concept of justice on this day 15 years ago, aged 81.

Tom has made a video about the Doctor Who anniversary!

I'm still in shock Julian May didn't get a QO Joey - so best of luck with your pick.

Jon Venables recalled back to prison.........again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-42095074

Breaking news saying that Mugabe has mixed emotions upon realizing that his $100 Million pension will be paid in Zimbabwe dollars.

I think Shirley Jones would be a good pick, just a hunch

I think I got inoculated for that.

Doo doo do do doo!

I came home from work to a note the wife left on the fridge saying "This isn't working, " I opened the fridge, the light went on and my beer was cold, it's working just fine.

The world's leading expert on European wasps walks into a record shop. He asks the assistant “Do you have ‘European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2? I believe it was released this week.” “Certainly,” replies the assistant. “Would you like to listen before you buy it?” "That would be wonderful," says the expert, and puts on a pair of headphones. He listens for a few moments and says to the assistant, “I'm terribly sorry, but I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and this is not accurate at all. I don't recognize any of those sounds. Are you sure this is the correct recording?” The assistant checks the turntable, and replies that it is indeed European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2. The assistant apologizes and lifts the needle onto the next track. Again the expert listens for a few moments and then says to the assistant, "No, this just can't be right! I've been an expert in this field for 43 years and I still don't recognize any of these sounds." The assistant apologizes again and lifts the needle to the next track. The expert throws off the headphones as soon as it starts playing and is fuming with rage. "This is outrageous false advertising! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and no European wasp has ever made a sound like the ones on this record!" The manager of the shop overhears the commotion and walks over. "What seems to be the problem, sir?" "This is an outrage! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps. Nobody knows more about them than I do. There is no way in hell that the sounds on that record were made by European wasps!" The manager glances down and notices the problem instantly. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. It appears we've been playing you the bee side."

I can tell which people are judgemental just by looking at them.

Delightful naivety from ZZL here in thinking Kylie Jenner is actually pregnant, and won't just be wearing a fat suit for nine months while some poor schmuck carries the baby for her.