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King Philip VI of France died on this day 673 years ago, aged 56. - Philip was the son of the Count of Valois, and was initially unexpected to take the French throne. This changed with his cousin Charles IV's heirless death in 1328, and Philip was chosen as his successor due to being the eldest living grandson of King Philip III. - The other claimant to the French throne was Philip's cousin King Edward III of England- though the two were on good terms upon Philip's accession. They had planned to have a crusade in 1332, which never came to fruition. Their relationship soured due to disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine, and the fact that Philip had granted asylum to King David II of Scotland. - In 1336, Edward granted refuge to Philip's ex-friend Robert III of Artois, who committed forgery to obtain Philip's inheritance. Philip demanded Edward to extradite him back to France, which he refused. In May of 1337, Philip declared that England had forfeited Aquitaine for their insolence, and Edward renewed his claim to the French throne in retaliation- thus initiating the Hundred Years' War. - Asides from the Hundred Years' War, Philip was also the king of France when the Black Death pandemic began, albeit he did not die from the disease. - Following Philip's death, he would be succeeded as king by his son John II.

Ken Richardson, former owner & chairman Doncaster Rovers, who oversaw their worst period in league history and was jailed for arson nafter conspiring to burn down Belle Vue, has died aged 86. Oversaw the bankruptcy of Bridlington Town too. He was also previously convicted for his role in the Flockton Grey scandal.

Sorry to disappoint you, but Clint did appear on Parkinson -

Post your favourite tipples here. I have recently got into the habit of mixing a nightly cocktail. Currently enjoying a Bakewell Tart Sour Brandy, amaretto, cherry syrup, fresh lemon juice, angostura bitters Awesome.

Fully agree with everything @msc has said. We are about as far away from a socialist utopia at the moment as we ever have been and there's no way Starmer can go full reverse even if he wanted to. Labour thought Milliband had a good chance of winning in 2015, and were almost certain Kinnock would win in 92. They're terrified of throwing this away, and unlike 97, there's no chance the Mail, Express and co. are going to support Labour, or even tone down their criticism. And these days, it's not just the papers, there's GB News and Talk TV and the endless poisonous talking heads on Twitter. Starmer is not keen to give them any fuel for criticism and is unbelievably cautious. He's also conscious that Labour has been painted as financially irresponsible since the banking crisis, a view that wasn't exactly eased by Corbyn's manifesto. So him and Rachel Reeves keep preaching balancing the books, living within our means, how the circumstances have changed, none of which is music to a socialist ear. But the reality is we're a centre left country at best (probably actually more centre right in reality) and left wing ideas tend to be introduced cautiously, even when there's widespread support (publicly owned railways anyone?). The mess the country's been put in recently is not an easy fix, meaning the first Labour government is going to be mainly about getting the country on a better footing, improving relations with the EU, etc. so we're probably looking to 2028/29 for a more ambitious Labour manifesto (if all goes well). And, yes, unfortunately, our votes are taken for granted. Are you going to risk letting the Tories sneak back in? No? Then Starmer can ignore you and try and tempt a few more from the centre. I can't say I feel overjoyed at Labour's current direction but I'd take them every day of the week if it gets Braverman, Cleverly and the rest of the brain dead bunch out of government.

Every Labour PM actually elected has tried to look tough on unions. Even Wilson and Attlee. That's just part of the "getting elected" game. On the other hand, the "5 voters in Uxbridge mean more than everyone else" take on green policy is shit. Everyone's scared to tackle immigration, but there are four truths to it politicians try to avoid. 1. The best way to avoid boat crossings is to produce safe travel routes into the UK. 2. The people on the stupid big barge and hotels are there because of governmental back log in assessing individual cases, which is deliberate to try and deter people. It doesn't work as a deterrence, it just fucks up the economy and people's patience. Speed up the assessment service, and get folk into the economy in paying jobs etc ASAP. 3. We need immigrants to take over those jobs no one wants. Various UK industries are running desperately understaff, and the Daily Mail "make the feckless Brits do it" campaigns never work because it would be electoral suicide. 4. Britain has spent the better part of 500 years promoting ourselves as a beacon of tolerance, democracy, empathy and general amazingness. You can't make that an important part of your PR on the world, and then be shocked when vulnerable folk across the world see you as a beacon of security to try and get to. It's the same in America. "We call it the American Dream, best country in the world... hey, why do all these people want to live in the land of the free and best country in the world?" But I expect Starmer to be as a cowardly on that as Blair, Major, the last 5 Tory PMs, even Gordon Brown (sadly). (The "ever had a socialist thought" is of course social media bollocks. Last I checked, Emily Thornberry and Red Ed were still in the Shadow Cabinet. Speaking as someone who did get chucked out of the Labour party once, I am sceptical about such sob stories online. Blame folk like that guy in the Guardian, bemoaning how he'd been banned for socialism when it turned out he'd been suspended for telling people to vote down the official Labour candidates in a seat.) Our vote will be taken for granted. Sorry, just the way it is. This is not a statement on how amazing it is, just... c'est la vie.

Best cocktail bar I've ever been to was Lucy's Flower Shop in Stockholm. The rye and apple with malt vinegar was truly godly:

Which particular bit now, or is this just in principle? Yeah, he's trying to win an election. Brexit's a vote loser in the marginals. It would be suicidal for Labour to take a more pro-EU stance. I voted to Remain. I still think Brexit, as it occurred, was a monumental piece of financial idiocy (and any passing Brexit voters, I'm talking about the government's role, not you) orchestrated by a government of charlatans interested in their own stock options over the welfare of the British public. But...it's done. Dead. We're out and unless you can change the minds of the people, and the political classes, and, most importantly, the fucking French (because they hold the veto now, its no longer a UK issue), we're not going back in, in any of our lifetimes. I know various polls point out that anti-Brexit support is now in the majority, but outside of polling, we live in a world where even the Lib Dems had to tone down their pro-EU stance in public to start winning seats again, and EU support has created wedges in other parties like the SNP. There's enough Labour voters who were pro-Brexit and still are, to make avoiding the elephant in the room pre-election sensible. There's certainly more than enough swing voters in key seats. Good way to keep the Tories in power tbh. They do well out of divided oppositions. This idea that Brexit can be overcome as easily as it happened is bollocks. It will take at the very least two decades of diplomacy and democracy. When Starmer says we need to live in the new arrangement and try to make it better, its one of the few times he's speaking honestly. Depends tbh. I doubt you're going to find a socialist in him. But your view will depend on if Tony Blair was just as bad as having Iain Duncan Smith or Michael Howard in charge. And we had full socialism on the menu last time. It got gubbed. Probably delayed the achievement of several of my political hobby horses within that manifesto by a decade. There is a lot to criticise Kier Starmer about who has had a mare of a month on PR and policy. His over cautious safety first approach means he's not doing a Corbyn, but it also means, well, this. Backtracking, fudging and being rather "the alternate" rather than the inspiring guy everyone wants. His messaging can often be terrible. But Brexit is just an indomitable fact now, no matter how little you or I would want them to be. (And we'll find out how underwhelming he is as leader soon enough, as the government are so abominably crap they just need to get sent to the vet to go to sleep...)

Tue 22 Aug 57 Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) 51 Soft Cell — Torch 48 David Bowie — Modern Love 46 Heaven 17 — Temptation 46 Yazoo — Only You 43 Eddy Grant — Electric Avenue 42 Duran Duran — Save A Prayer 29 The Stranglers — Golden Brown 27 The Human League — (Keep Feeling) Fascination 22 Madness — Wings Of A Dove +4 16 Spandau Ballet — Gold 14 The Human League — Mirror Man 12 David Bowie — China Girl 12 Tracey Ullman — They Don't Know -6

Andy Rankin former keeper for Everton, Watford & Huddershield. dead aged 79. Took part in first European Cup penalty shoot-out, and saved one.

Filipino politician Susan Ople died at 61 years: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/22/23/migrant-workers-secretary-toots-ople-passes-away

American actress Nancy Frangione (Wiki) dead at 70 She appeared in drama series like Another World, All My Children, Matlock and One Life to Live

22nd August 85 Britney Spears - Toxic 66 Gorillaz - Dare 61 Sugababes - Push the Button 58 Stereophonics - Dakota 55 James Blunt - You’re Beautiful 42 Tony Christie ft Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo +4 39 Natasha Bedingfield - These Words 37 Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 33 Madonna - Hung Up 32 Usher ft. Lil’ Jon & Ludacris - Yeah! 25 Mario Winans ft. Enya & P. Diddy - I Don’t Wanna Know 23 U2 - Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own 14 Oasis - Lyla 12 Britney Spears - Everytime 00 The Shapeshifters - Lola’s Theme -6

Icelandic actor and singer Stefán Karl Stefánsson died on this day 5 years ago, aged 43. He was best known for portraying Robbie Rotten, the antagonist of the children's television series LazyTown. Stefán Karl announced that he had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer in October 2016.

Bob Barker was a name I had never heard until I was on this website. Whilst in the UK we consume a lot of US comedy and drama we don't tend to import game shows (if we do it is the format and not the shows themselves) However if a name comes up in discussion that I do not know I normally assume that it is my ignorance not their lack of fame and will research accordingly

Alright, I shouldn't delay it any longer... I will be leaving the DDP committee after this year's competition. It's been four intensive, record-breaking years and the time for turnover has come. I have already said as much earlier this year, and received some interest in the position. If you can imagine yourself being part of the committee, write me, or Death Impends or Banana. We will come back to you. Earlier in the year, we asked so that you can express an interest. Now we're asking SERIOUSLY. You need to be able to handle Excel and a bit of Access. The requirements and tasks of the job haven't changed. You should be able to handle the database, to import/export files from Excel to Access and vice versa. A tiny bit of .html can't hurt. I will not be gone and can provide help if needed. I ...might... however, not be around during the change of year, it's still an open question right now. But if you write to us, we will reply. I will probably send some files in September so you can familiarize yourself with the structure of it all. There is some effort involved in getting the game running at the beginning of the year. It depends on how clean the data is. Once everything is set up, updating the database is actually a little trivial because there's a little helper program for that. Updating the scores only takes maybe 15 minutes every couple of days. Keeping the database up-to-date during the change of year is a little more time-intensive. But I hope to transfer something usable so that this process only takes a few hours (each year). I will leave for a week-long holiday on Tuesday. So please think about it and message me/us in the meantime.

Right up my straße, this thread. It's summer (apparently), so it's white wine season. One of my faves is this gorgeous crisp white from Naked Wines, complete with interesting Jules Verne inspired label:

He either knows more than he's letting on or he's making a lot of wrong assumptions, because for all he keeps saying about them entering their final days they do seem to be living quite a bit longer than they should be if they were...

He is now the oldest living ex-governor and is also older than all living ex-senators.

Not really to be honest. A grassroots/club sort of hero for many like, say, Ian Flux, Dave Brodie, Gerry Marshall but not in the top-league of touring car drivers etc. I had heard of him, but only peripherally.

Nobody ‘beats’ depression, but hopefully he’ll be able to deal with it. As people have said, it’s his private life (so come on baby, leave it out). And spare a thought for his colleagues Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb, whose team are a man down while Huw serves his suspension.

American supercentennarian Lilian Cox dead at 111, mentioned here and there I think: https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/08/13/indomitable-lillian-cox-dies-111/976481002/

Errol's nephew is Coventry City defender Cyrus Christie, a recent Instagram post says Errol was able to make one of his games "despite his tough time with cancer". Reckon he'll see most of the Euros but he won't be around for the clocks going back.

BBC have just announced Tom Graveney's death. I'll check for a link. There ya go. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/34716024 Grave news for that family.