Leaderboard

Just in case the auditors pick up on it?

Let Me Hear Your Body Cark Call her "Oia", because she won't be needing that second syllable anymore – Olivia Newton-John, British-Australian-Xanadian pop icon, isn't feeling very well-a well-a well-a, uh, anymore, anymore, as she has died at the age of 73, after a 146-year battle with cancer. Now when one is asked "did she put up a fight?", one can simply answer "yes", without it being a tacit admission of sexual assault. She's our biggest landmine yet – insofar as every unsuspecting modern pop fan who dares to explore her discography on the strength of 'Physical' is horrified to find it full of Hot AC country ballads. But yes, she's also a landmine in this contest, as this year's 15th most popular Inverse pick. It's bad news for 35 of you, but amongst the lowlights are former Inverse Dead Pool champions @Bibliogryphon, @Spade_Cooley, @TQR, and @BabyBlue all slumming it in the bottom 13, and five evictions from the Zero Points Club, including a devastating 20 points for @Death Impends, and an even more devastating 7 points for your poor host @machotrouts – can you blame me for dragging my feet on this update? But congratulations to last remaining 0-pointers Seany Zuko and thepinklady, who go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong and are now flying their car into space to crash into the Sun or whatever it is that's happening at the end of Grease. Tell me more! Tell me more! Yes, I know I've got three more of these to write, but I need a nap or two, so hopefully this was the one that you wanted (the one that you wanted) ooh ooh ooh. GAINED TOTAL 1. Sean 0 1. theoldlady 0 3. YoungWillz 1 4. Nick 2 5. Pedro67 +1 3 6. BuffaloPhil +2 6 6. Newjack +2 6 8. machotrouts +7 7 9. Sideik +9 9 10. YorkshireBanker +10 10 10. Grim Up North +10 10 12. Sir Creep 11 13. msc 12 14. Funeralopolis +11 14 14. GuyFromFuture 14 14. An Fear Beag 14 17. CaptainChorizo +7 15 17. gcreptile 15 19. drol +9 17 19. Book 17 21. wannamaker +11 18 21. Joey Russ +3 18 21. Philip 18 24. The Unknown Man 19 25. Death Impends +20 20 26. LizLemon +16 21 27. MariNisia +16 22 27. Predictor +15 22 27. Banana +10 22 30. Toast +12 23 30. Pedro67's wife +2 23 32. Perhaps +17 24 32. deadsox +5 24 34. ThereWillBeDeaths7 25 35. MortalCaso +19 26 36. Bibliogryphon +16 27 37. CastAway +17 29 38. Annami +17 30 39. The Old Crem +8 31 40. Spade_Cooley +19 32 41. TQR +16 33 42. Great Uncle Bulgaria +19 38 43. BabyBlue +15 39 44. Doulton +8 50 45. chilean way +23 54 46. Neobrakeon +1 56 47. machotrouts' mum +23 58 48. Hell +19 64

80% survival rate, meaning one in five die. My mother had it, she lasted about four months after diagnosis. Only got halfway through her course of chemo.

He's smart enough to wind you up every time his fingers hit the keypad

who?

Mickey Dolenz sues the FBI to reveal what information they held about The Monkees on their files

I actually did have a delicious chicken curry a few days ago but it was a divine plate of homemade spaghetti bolognese last night that really put satisfied my appetite!

Jimmy Connors, the brilliant American tennis player remembered for an aggressive and intensity style of play who won five US Opens (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983), two Wimbledons (1974, 1982), and one Australian Open (1974), is 70 today. He was in the top 3 ranked players for 12 years consecutively. During his career, Jimmy Connors dated tennis superstar Chris Evert. Keanu Reeves, Canadian actor widely known for his roles in films such as "Point Break", "The Devil's Advocate", the sci-fi blockbusters "The Matrix" and its sequels, "Chain Reaction", "Speed" and many others, is 58 today.

Just realised I never posted anything for yesterday! Totally forgot with having a mad busy day and snatches of sleep. So here it is belatedly.. On September 1st (yesterday) in 1997 Hungarian International footballer Zoltan Czibor died aged 68. He played for Hungarys national team from 1949-1956. A death that most likely received. much less news coverage and media attention than it would have usually got because of the death of Princess Diana the day before in a car crash.

No idea where to put this so Diane Berberian has apparently died:

Google is not my friend. Every time I search for Liz Truss, it comes up with a gentleman's support with the Queen's face on it.

Moved with her family to outskirts of Glasgow when she was 4, and attended West Primary School in Paisley Visited Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Peterhead, September 2018 Visited Moray, March 2021 Visited Glasgow, July 2021 Visited Rosyth, September 2021 Agree with you she's a bit of an airhead, but seriously, Google is your friend.

Bill Turnbull is a hit for a few of us here.

She claims childhood experience of Paisley, which Paisley is horrified by. (Two references to Paisley in one day. They'll want to be a city, now!)

They can have a fireside chat in the great hereafter now.

Yes, I have been sitting on that godawful Gorbachev pun headline for 7 years, and yes, I am glad the Cmme didn't nab it for the front page first!

PERISH-STROIKA! 15/50 30th August 2022 One of the most noteworthy statesmen of the 20th Century, Mikhail Gorbachev has died after a long illness. In the modern world, after 20 plus years of Vladimir Putin, it is perhaps strange to look back on a time when a Russian leader was praised, worldwide, as a diplomat and peacemaker. Even Putin himself felt compelled to give tribute to his predecessor and long time rival. Rumours the Russian leader was last spotted in the vicinity of a Moscow hospital clutching a pillow cannot be confirmed, however. A committed Communist from an early age, Gorbachev belonged to the generation of politicians in Russian who felt they would have to wait until the old guard died before they were given any opportunities. This proved entirely accurate, but in a stroke of luck for Mikhail (and the world), just as the Cold War got to its coldest in decades, the entire old guard snuffed it in a matter of a few years. The world had gone from "Only Nixon can go to China" to watching Threads and fearing nuclear Armageddon. Over in America, they had the softer and friendlier The Day After, which terrified the shit out of elderly President Ronald Reagan. Gorbachev was elected to the Politburo in 1979, but by then, through his involvement in Russian agriculture (which had suffered three bad harvests in a row through mismanagement) he had already had his Damascus moment on reform. He was also to prove a canny political operator, not revealing to the old men who controlled his career that he disagreed with their invasion of Afghanistan. He became close with Yuri Andropov, who replaced the brutal Brezhnev in 1982, and when Andropov died in 1984, he named Gorbachev as his successor, only for the older Politburo members to say that, aged 53, Mikhail was too young and inexperienced to be leader. So he would have to wait his time. He would have to wait...13 months. In those 13 months, he became chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in which he travelled the world as an official representative, and made friendly contacts in America and with Margaret Thatcher herself. He also built up friendships and allies in Russian political circles, as everyone knew the ailing Chernenko would barely last as leader. When the man died, Gorbachev was made the new General Secretary, as he was now a mature and experienced 54 years old. He spent his first year in charge smiling at crowds, and encouraging the older Politburo members to retire or take honorary alumni positions, at which point they were replaced with younger allies. Ironically, Gorbachev managed to gain a majority on the Politburo through bribery and persuasion faster than Stalin had by just killing people. And then he brought in Perestroika and Glasnost. Under the former, market reforming and decentralisation occurred. Under the latter, greater degrees of political freedom and freedom of speech, which directly led to the other countries in the USSR announcing their political freedom. Dissidents were freed and private enterprise encouraged. Talks were held on nuclear limits with Reagan, and the cold war thawed out, despite both men' distrust of the other. Gorbachev had hoped his reforms would lead to a democratic USSR, but the union cracked up instead, and in his defining moment as leader, he agreed to the reunification of Germany. He had gone the typical Russian route of sending in the tanks earlier on when states declared independence, but once the Baltic countries declared independence, he announced it was an internal matter instead. And so went the entire bloc, one by one. In 1991, a coup of hardliners attempted to party like it was 1917, but the popular drunk Russian, Boris Yeltsin, lead a popular uprising against it to protect Gorbachev. Gorbachev and Yeltsin were rivals, but everyone saw where this was heading, by the end of the year, Boris Yeltsin was in charge. Of the country, as well as the vodka cabinet. Gorbachev's legacy is complicated. He was not a flawless liberal and if we had more space we could brush on his multi-faceted achievements - but we've already written quite a bit! Through most of the world, he is acclaimed as the Soviet leader who ended the dreadful Cold War and brought independence, however unintentionally, to the former USSR. In the former Iron Curtain countries, his legacy is more mixed, though the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza paid tribute, noting Gorbachev as the right man in history at the right time. (Yes, Rad, a Polish newspaper quoted on Deathlist, who'd have thought it?) His popularity in Ukraine was not great after muddled comments post-Invasion of Crimea in 2014, although Gorbachev's last public statements were against the 2022 invasion. In Russia, however, there was a strong wind of media opinion that he brought their whole house of cards crashing down, a view promoted by his strongman successor Putin. In 2017, he had an approval rating in Russia of -31, which is worse than Donald Trump and Boris Johnsons in their respective countries. Gorbachev was not easily forgiven. In 1996, he ran to be the democratically elected President of Russia, and won 0.5% of the popular vote. Not a typo. While many of his predecessors and successor would cry foul and harm people, Gorbachev instead became the star of a surprisingly successful Pizza Hut advert campaign! It had Russians arguing his legacy before all agreeing that at least he brought pizza. It was banned in Russia, and the money was used to fund The Gorbachev Foundation, which promotes Russian history and democracy. In summary, Gorbachev's legacy can be summed up thusly. As General Secretary, he could have strengthened his own position and wealth, and been leader for life, like so many before him. Instead, through acting in what he felt was the best interests of the country, he wound up dismantling his own position. In terms of the people who successfully climb the Greasy Pole, that attribute is, indeed, rare. Gorbachev was an ever-present since the first Crowdsourced Deathlist, and was 91 years old.

BIG SKY GUY DIES 14/50 20th August 2022 American golfer Tom Weiskopf has died after suffering from the dreaded pancreatic cancer. Admired for his talents and especially his swing, Weiskopf was unfortunate to be around in the time of Jack Nicklaus's prime. As a result, he was a frequent contender, but his only major triumph was at the 1973 Open in Scotland, where he beat Nicklaus to the victory. He was a member of the US's Ryder Cup teams of both 1973 and 1975, and won both of them, despite the point scoring excellence of Pete Oosterhuis (who now suffers from dementia). His reputation for flare ups on the course gave him the nickname The Towering Inferno, and after retirement he became a CBS sports analyst and designed golf courses. Tom Weiskopf was 79 years old, and this was his debut on The Crowdsourced Deathlist.

LET'S GET METAPHYSICAL 13/50 8th August 2022 Beloved singer and actress Olivia Newton John has died after a long battle with cancer to give The Crowdsourced Deathlist another success. Newton-John was a celebrity while still in her teens, appearing on Australian TV and signing for Decca Records. She toured Europe and in the early 1970s, had a number of UK top 20 hits under her belt. In 1974, she represented Britain at the pinnacle of international relations, The Eurovision Song Contest, but not even a neutron bomb could stop the rise of ABBA that year. By the mid-70s she had even delved into country music, to the ire of country music purists, and then won a Grammy for her efforts, which probably riled them even more! And then, came Grease, the film that turned this well known young woman into an international icon. As Sandy, she sent pulses (of not just her co-stars, and not just the men, so I reliably hear) racing, and the songs became hits on every continent, including Summer Nights and the annoyingly catch You're The One That I Want. Olivia originally didn't want the role, viewing herself, at 28, as two old for the part. At which point the producers no doubt said: "Yes, and John Travolta could pass for 40 instead but that's not going to stop the royalties for the next gazillion years!" After Grease, she released Physical, a song banned by radio stations and then later called the most popular song ever written about shagging by readers of Billboard! In the 1990s she successfully battled breast cancer, but it returned in a more malignant state in 2017. In the 30 years between first diagnosis and eventual demise, Newton-John raised millions for charity, and promoted cancer awareness for young women, helping in her path to save countless other lives. She was 73, and was making her fourth appearance on the list. Australia, still reeling from the double loss of Newton-John and Judith Durham in the same week, plans to give her a state funeral.

Johnny Ruffo vows to be alive for Christmas: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11162463/Home-Away-star-Johnny-Ruffo-vows-alive-emotional-Christmas-milestone.html Seems there is some uncertainty?

Looked awful. Barely opened his eyes from what I saw, but I only caught the last couple of minutes.

Johnny Ruffo update: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11156575/Johnny-Ruffo-fears-girlfriend-Tahnee-Sims-react-death.html He wonders how his girlfriend would react to his death... Lots of updates currently because he has a documentary airing right now. He has exceeded the life expectancy of people with his tumour by 2 years now. It was three years initially... so he does not have glioblastoma, it seems, but it's still terminal.

Yes. It's true. There's the taste of each one. Maybe... I have a great admiration for an actor or a singer and you know, you might think, for example,... Please there are a lot of celebrities with more talent.

Swiss national soccer player Florijana Ismaili dead after swimming accident on Lake Como, she was only 24 years https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9421479/florijana-ismaili-confirmed-dead-lake-como/

Australian Minig legend Sir Arvi Parbo dead at 93 years: https://thewest.com.au/business/mining-legend-and-former-head-of-western-mining-corporation-bhp-and-alcoa-sir-arvi-parbo-dies-at-93-ng-b881185045z He was head of companys like Western Mining, BHP and Alcoa.