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Too many smoked sau-sa-ges? (If you don't get this, you are probably under 45).

Here's also a photo from a couple of days ago of Ken Rosewall (88), Rod Laver (84), Neale Fraser (89) and Frank Sedgman (95) at the Australian Open. It would be hard to find another sport (apart from possibly Golf) where so many leading players make it into such advanced years in relatively decent health.

Well seeing as January is nearly over, I thought I'd mark your homework. "Don January (born November 20, 1929)" "Charles Peters (born December 22, 1926)" "Three individuals born in 1924" "An individual born in 1933 who just turned 90"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/29/frank-field-politics-poverty-belief-cancer-labour-interview Frank Field gives an interview and says its strange taking so long to die.

Zahawi’s letter to Sunak. He tells the story of him coming over here without knowing English. Decades later, it appears he still hasn’t learned how to say “I’m sorry”. Cunt.

Update on the 'Traitors' discourse - I tried watching it (the UK version) on catch-up, got about 10 minutes into the contestants' introductions and lost the will to live.

64 George Michael – Careless Whisper -6 63 Nena – 99 Red Balloons 61 Madonna – Into the Groove 40 Eurythmics – There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)  31 Duran Duran — The Reflex 28 Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax 26 Philip Bailey & Phil Collins – Easy Lover 24 Dead or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) 13 Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes 10 Feargal Sharkey — A Good Heart +4 (methinks I’m fighting a losing battle)

Sandalwood guy Mandeep Roy dead at 73.

Jillie Mack. I remember seeing her in an episode of "ER". And, if I remember correctly, she was a dancer, too. Good taste, @Gooseberry Crumble.

Katharine Ross, the stupendous American film, stage and television actress, probably remembered for her notable work in two of the most popular films of the 1960s: "The Graduate", and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", is 83 today. Tom Selleck, American film and television actor, one of the best-loved television actors of the 1980s, who started his acting career with small roles in TV shows, whose film debut came in 1970 in "Myra Breckinridge", the adaptation of the famed novel by Gore Vidal, and widely known for his first major role as private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television show "Magnum, P.I.", is 78 today. The role of Thomas Magnum was a blessing and a curse for Tom Selleck. The producers of "Magnum, P.I.", would not release Tom Selleck from his contract to appear in other projects, so he was forced to pass on the role of Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy celebrates his 68th birthday today. BAFTA winning British actor Will Poulter celebrates his 30th birthday today.

Esther Rantzen will be on the list unless she (and this is the most likely outcome) dies before then.

Alice Wolf, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1996 to 2013, has died aged 89. Xavier Rubert de Ventós, former Spanish member of Parliament and MEP has died aged 83. Gundars Bērziņš, Latvia’s Minister of Finance from 2000 to 2002 and Minister of Healthcare from 2004 to 2007 has died aged 63.:

King George III died on this day 203 years ago, aged 81. George was the grandson of King George II and became heir apparent at the age of 12, when his father Frederick died. George ascended to the throne in 1760 at the age of 22- during the midst of the Seven Years' War. After defeating the French in the North American front, the empire was now in massive debt, and so George and the legislature began imposing taxes on basic items such as sugar, paper, and tea on American colonists. George also restricted settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains as part of an agreement with the native tribes. These factors, along with the fact that they were not represented in Parliament, led to worsening relations, and the American Revolution began in 1775, leading to the end of the monarchy there. Another major war George would oversee during his reign were the Napoleonic Wars- closer to home. George likely suffered from bipolar disorder throughout his life. The deaths of three of his children affected him deeply- Alfred in 1782, Octavius in 1783, and Amelia in 1810, with the latter's death causing him to fall into a deep depression. George may have also developed schizophrenia, as he was said to have had imaginary conversations with his deceased sons. In 1811, his son George was made his regent. By 1814, he had dementia, and was unable to understand that he had been declared the King of Hanover in 1814. This progressed to the point where he did not know that his wife, Queen Consort Charlotte, died in 1818. By Christmas 1819, he was unable to form coherent sentences, and was bedridden for the last few weeks of his life. (a portrait of George from 1817) George reigned for 59 years, and was the longest-reigning British monarch until his granddaughter Victoria surpassed this record in 1896.

Polls belong in Extracurricular not Deadpools. This isn’t a Deadpool. We have a thread specifically for polls, in fact.

70 George Michael – Careless Whisper 62 Madonna – Into the Groove 55 Nena – 99 Red Balloons -6 36 Eurythmics — There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart) 29 Feargal Sharkey - A Good Heart +4 28 Duran Duran – The Reflex -6 27 Frankie Goes to Hollywood — Relax 24 Dead or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) 24 Philip Bailey & Phil Collins – Easy Lover 19 Frankie Goes to Hollywood — Two Tribes 8 Chaka Khan – I Feel for You 2 Wham! – Go-Go Again, Reflex is a good song. But I’m here to save Feargal.

This song is truly a masterpiece. Rip to one of the underrated guitar greats:

First of all, many thanks to @Death Impends @gcreptile @Banana for the hard work in getting this year's DDP up and running. And to @Grim Up North for stepping up - I hear retirement is boring too. My two teams are in order and I'm looking forward to not winning again. I keep my expectations low. Onto the heart of the matter... DDP Substitutions Like many punters, I watched in December for any hints and whispers (and managed to miss Jeanette Lee's updates...). The month saw Whale, Vialli, Pele and Benny all have hospitalizations - and two not make the 2023 starting line. I entered my team ~17:15 GMT 30 December which had Benny on it. So my first sub was called up: Subs Shannen Doherty - called up Frankie Valli Barbara Walters died 30 December (I did not know at time of submission) As well, 2023 had a 1st Jan hit with Frank McGarvey and Vialli soon on the 6th. There have been two recent 1st Jan hits of D40 picks - 2022 Gary Burgess and 2021 Floyd Little. With this said, I would say that an increase in the numbers of subs is acceptable, provided it doesn't cause more work for the Cmme. If increased to say 4 or 5 in total, that's only one or two extra lines on the Excel sheet that may not be used. The Cmme would know more the number of shorthanded teams with less than 20 too. The Cmme also knows the efforts of subbing in picks, so ultimately it is their call. D40 vs Unique Points In my main team, I was shocked to see that I have 18 (!!) D40 picks. Yes, I knew of few would be there (Whale, Vialli, Carter, Barker, Harris, etc.) but others I did not expect. So I have the potential of 54 extra points for doing nothing but following the crowd. Currently at D40 is +3 points and a Unique is +4 points. My proposal is to give a 2 point differential: D40 remains at +3 but Unique increases to +5 or D40 decreases to +2 and Unique remains at +4. My preference is for 2/4 as it reduces the reward of being part of the herd and justifies the research into that Unique hit. It does not inflate scores either. So that my thoughts on those subjects. I'll let the Cmme ruminate on them and I'm curious to hear what others have to add on these subjects (my thanks to @drunkasaskunk for starting these discussions).

The population of Japan in 1922 was 57,390,000 but only 90,000+ people from that figure still alive today. Despite of this, it still a remarkable achievement if we compared it to other countries.

58 Soft Cell — Tainted Love 43 David Bowie — Ashes to Ashes 38 The Human League — Don't You Want Me +4 36 The Specials — Ghost Town -6 28 The Pretenders — Brass in Pocket 27 Blondie — Atomic  16 Blondie — Call Me

57 The Pretenders — Brass in Pocket 55 Blondie — Atomic 45 Soft Cell — Tainted Love -6 42 Blondie — Call Me 38 David Bowie — Ashes to Ashes 31 The Specials — Ghost Town +4 28 The Human League — Don't You Want Me 16 ABBA - The Winner Takes it All 8 The Police — Don't Stand So Close to Me

National team Cricketer Chetan Chauhan, who played 40 matches for India then played domestically for Maharashtra and Delhi, and was an Arjuna Award winner in 1981, died at 73 years:. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/breaking-news-live-updates-aug-16/amp_liveblog/77569152.cms

I woke up this morning and went to the TV Guide channel so I could find out what time it was. Somehow I came across Tiger Woods reading a written apology. It sounded very rehearsed, very artificial. I'm not saying that it wasn't his voice, but it's as if he hired somebody to write it with him. .......and what has his "Sex addiction" got to do with you, or me or anybody else outside of his family and sponsors? He knocks a ball around a course, does it better than 99% of all other Golfers and earns a fortune doing it. The end.