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John Warnock, the other co-founder of Adobe, dead at 82. He was also the leader of the team that created the PDF file format.

Isabel Crook dead at 107.

Ray Hildebrand, who topped the pop charts in the 1960s as half of the duo Paul & Paula, died Friday in Kansas City at age 82. No cause of death has been given. https://variety.com/2023/music/news/ray-hildebrand-dead-paul-paula-pop-duo-1235700560/

Here's a death that I found out about today that honestly now that I think about it, is a bit surprising went almost completely under the radar even within the media. That of Italian car mechanic, engineer and businessman Claudio Zampolli, who died in 2021 at the age of 82. Zampolli is one of those people who themselves were rather obscure, but managed to find himself associated with multiple completely different notable people for different reasons. So he had formed a joint venture with Italian music composer Giorgio Moroder of all people to create the car company Cizeta-Moroder which created arguably one of the most outrageous products in sports car history, the Cizeta-Moroder V16T. However the company however quickly crashed and fell apart, primarily due to Moroder deciding to leave the company after a dispute on the car's production process. And then there's the Van Halen story of how he ended up starting the Sammy Hagar era back in the 80s, after Eddie Van Halen had stopped by Zampolli's Los Angeles shop to admire a Ferrari that happened to be owned by Sammy Hagar, which lead to Zampolli recommending Van Halen that he should call Hagar and tell him to join the band.

I don't understand this belief in the media that only a horse race election would interest viewers/voters. A lot of folk are expecting a landslide in the next UK election. If that happens I intend to enjoy the fuck out of every televised second of it.

Let lots of other sources be your friend instead. It's really not difficult to find information on the origin of the gris-gris (or gri-gri) as an amulet or charm originally from Islamic healers, then absorbed into African culture, and from there via slaves to the south of America. It's quite interesting to read about it, if actually reading about stuff is your thing. Apparently it is not all about cursing someone, although that it is what it came to be used at in voodoo. It is also widely used as a protective charm and is (or at least was) used in parts of Africa as a contraceptive. American Heritage Dictionary Entry: grigri (ahdictionary.com) Gris-Gris Little Known Black History Fact (blackamericaweb.com) Gris-Gris – OCCULT WORLD (occult-world.com) Voodoo In The Modern World: A Gris-Gris Love Story - The Traveling Witch Out of this World: An Ethnographic Study of Mystics, Spirits, and Animist Practices in Senegal (sit.edu) Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black ... - Matthew Francis Rarey - Google Books

American comedian, actor, writer, singer, stage, film, radio, television star and vaudeville performer Groucho Marx died on this day 46 years ago, aged 86. He made 13 feature films as a team with his siblings the Marx Brothers. He also had a successful solo career primarily on radio and television, most notably as the host of the game show You Bet Your Life. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit and one of America's greatest comedians.

20.08.2023 77 Britney Spears - Toxic +4 64 Gorillaz - Dare 57 Stereophonics - Dakota 55 Sugababes - Push the Button 55 James Blunt - You’re Beautiful 49 Madonna - Hung Up 44 Natasha Bedingfield - These Words 43 Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 38 Tony Christie ft Peter Kay — (Is This The Way To) Amarillo 30 U2 - Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own 25 Mario Winans ft. Enya & P. Diddy - i Don’t Wanna Know 24 Usher ft. Lil’ Jon & Ludacris - Yeah! -6 23 The Shapeshifters - Lola’s Theme 19 Nizlopi — JCB Song 16 Oasis - Lyla  15 Britney Spears - Everytime 14 LMC vs U2 - Take Me to the Clouds Above 08 Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle

Chess has always had a rather chequered history.

20/Aug/2023 44 Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) +1 44 Heaven 17 — Temptation 43 David Bowie — Modern Love 41 Soft Cell — Torch +3 40 Madness — Wings Of A Dove 40 Eddy Grant — Electric Avenue 35 Yazoo — Only You 34 Duran Duran — Save A Prayer 27 The Human League — (Keep Feeling) Fascination 24 Dionne Warwick — Heartbreaker 24 The Stranglers — Golden Brown 24 Spandau Ballet — Gold 24 The Jam — The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) -5 21 Tracey Ullman — They Don't Know 20 The Human League — Mirror Man 19 Lionel Richie — All Night Long (All Night) 18 Dire Straits — Private Investigations 16 Paul Young — Love Of The Common People 13 David Bowie — China Girl 10 Steve Miller Band — Abracadabra 06 Imagination — Just An Illusion -1

19-8-23 40 Heaven 17 — Temptation 40 Eddy Grant — Electric Avenue 38 Soft Cell — Torch 37 Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) 35 David Bowie — Modern Love +4 34 Yazoo — Only You 32 Madness — Wings Of A Dove 31 The Jam — The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) 30 Spandau Ballet — Gold 30 Duran Duran — Save A Prayer 29 Dionne Warwick — Heartbreaker 28 Lionel Richie — All Night Long (All Night) 24 Dire Straits — Private Investigations 23 The Human League — (Keep Feeling) Fascination 23 Paul Young — Love Of The Common People 21 The Stranglers — Golden Brown 20 Imagination — Just An Illusion 20 The Human League — Mirror Man 19 David Bowie — China Girl 19 Tracey Ullman — They Don't Know 15 Steve Miller Band — Abracadabra 11 Chas & Dave — Ain't No Pleasing You 00 F. R. David — Words -6

I can't let this pass. This is quite an extraordinary statement. There is no doubt that he admired many of his guests and to a certain extent respected their boundaries. But he was the last superb chat show host for many reasons. He was a journalist rather than a comedian or personality. He did his research and knew more than he asked questions about of his guests. Back in the day, he was not averse to either deliberately or inadvertently provoking his guests - something that rarely happens now because the guests' PR team tell the host what they cannot ask. On many occasions he had people on who had nothing to promote or sell. He gave inordinate amounts of time to the guests to tell their stories. And when they stepped out of line, they looked like idiots against an interested but objective questioner. Kenneth Williams went off on one about striking workers once - Parkinson told him his opinion was utter crap. Ali really went off on one when challenged rightly I thought about the belief system - and he allowed him to do it. People queued up to be interviewed by Parkinson. With other chat shows it's a treadmill to sell their latest product with vetted questions. He wasn't perfect, lord no. But incomparable. I'd say so.

Quite surprised Bird has outlived Parkinson. They were childhood friends apparently and their fathers worked together down the pit. Bird sounds very upset in the interviews he has done today.

Similarly, Reach publications are the low bar for 'journalism'; just about every headline is clickbait.

Maria Fux is an unique hit for @ladyfiona CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Missed Jane Birkin’s funeral despite invitation; still released tribute to the press

He sounds decent in the video. It seems like he was lucky to survive what he went through as he said he wasn't sure if would make it. I'm still thinking it's a stroke. Glad he isn't blind or paralyzed and hopefully he fully recovers soon.

They're still African in origin though.

Never mind, I made a mistake.

I hope she's been fired.

Honestly, Delon has been a drama queen for years, always saying he has not much long to live despite being completely fine : when Belmondo died last year, he said that he has just days left and that he would follow his friend. Then he showed up for Belmondo’s funeral and looked quite good, gave interview etc… it’s been at least 10 years since he first said he would die soon, I’ll be completely shocked if ever he tries to resort to euthanasia

The first female president of Kentucky State University has passed away. Dr. Mary L. Smith was the 14th president in KSU history, and served in that role from 1991 to 1998. SC

5 years since Whitney stopped waiting to exhale, aged 48.

Billy Graham was mentioned in another obit today, that's a sign. SC