RoverAndOut

There was more than a little tongue in my cheek about that remark to be fair. And policy-wise, I agree they're both awful. But at least GWB gave a passing impression of a politician prepared to at least go through the motions of appearing interested in policy, Trump just treats the whole job as an unnecessary complication to him being able to do whatever he wants. Frankly, whether Biden wins or loses in November, I don't see the US healing any time soon. And if you think Trump goes away if he loses then that's a pipe dream. He'll either set up his own TV network (as was supposedly the plan once he lost in 2016) or I could see him buying Fox News (I'm sure Murdoch could be tempted, he's not getting any younger) and then we get non-stop bullshit about how Joe Biden really died and has been replaced by a Chinese agent or how Hillary Clinton was responsible for coronavirus, all while Ivanka prepares her ground game for 2028...

My apologies, I assumed you were interested in serious political discussion, not half-baked claptrap. At least I know for next time.

Just been perusing this thread, so apologies for being a few days old but after Earl Cameron's death, I was looking at the research I did for Round 1 of Biblio's Scavenger Hunt Bingo (Doctor Who actors). By my reckoning, since I compiled the list in 2016, we've lost the oldest 5 living Doctor Who actors (of which Cameron was the oldest): Earl Cameron, Richard Beale, Peter Sallis, Dudley Simpson and Nicolas Parsons, plus plenty more from the top 20 or 30. I believe (and I'm sure someone on here will correct me if I'm wrong) the oldest living Doctor Who actors now are: 1. Arnold Yarrow (100) - Bellal in Death to the Daleks (1974) 2. Donald Pelmear (96) - Professor Rubeish in The Time Warrior (1973/74) 3. Laurie Webb (96) - Mr Ollis in The Three Doctors (1973) 4. David Graham (96) - Professor Kerensky in City of Death (1979), plus other roles including voices of the Daleks (and Parker in Thunderbirds) 5. William Russell (95) - Ian Chesterton, companion of the First Doctor 6. Morris Perry (95) - Captain Dent in Colony in Space (1971) 7. Ysanne Churchman (95) - Alpha Centuari in The Curse of Peladon (1972) and The Monster of Peladon (1974) 8. Andre Maranne (94) - Benoit in The Moonbase (1967) 9. Gregg Palmer (94?) - Cyberman in The Tenth Planet (1966) 9. David de Keyser (93) - Voice of the Atraxi in The Eleventh Hour (2010) 10. June Brown (93) - Lady Eleanor in The Time Warrior (1973/74) 11. Geoffrey Palmer (93) - Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970), Administrator in The Mutants and Captain Hardaker in Voyage of the Damned (2007) 12. Graham Rigby (93) - Larry in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) 13. Derek Smith (93) - Doorman in Human Nature (2007) 14. Wendy Danvers (93?) - Amazonia in The Curse of Peladon (1972) - status unknown 15. Frank Windsor (92) - Ranulf in The King's Demons (1983) and Inspector Mackenzie in Ghost Light (1989) 16. Peter Cellier (92) - Andrews in Time-Flight (1982) 17. Michael Craig (92) - Commodore Travers in The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids (1986) 18. Mark Eden (92) - Marco Polo in Marco Polo (1964) 19. Georgine Anderson (92) - May in Gridlock (2007) 20. Bernard Cribbins (91) - Wilfrid Mott, companion of the Tenth Doctor (plus other Who roles) 21. Frank Mills (91) - Radio Telescope Director in Terror of the Autons (1971) 22. John Nettleton (91) - Reverend Ernest Matthews in Ghost Light (1989) 23. Damaris Hayman (91) - Miss Hawthorne in The Daemons (1971) 24. Thelma Barlow (91) - Lady Thaw in The Lazarus Experiment (2007) 25. Steve Machin (91) - Various parts in Old Who 26. Patricia Prior (91) - Mr Ollis in The Three Doctors (1973) 27. John Woodvine (90) - The Marshal in The Armageddon Factor (1979) 28. Colin Jeavons (90) - Damon in The Underwater Menace (1967) 29. Clifford Rose (90) - Rorvik in Warriors' Gate (1981) 30. Roy Evans (90) - Trantis in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965/66), Bert in The Green Death (1973) and Miner in The Monster of Peladon (1974) 31. Henry Woolf (90) - The Collector in The Sun Makers (1977) 32. Shirley Cooklin (90) - Kaftan in Tomb of the Cybermen (1968) 33. Gary Watson (90) - Arthur Terrall in The Evil of the Daleks (1967) 34. David Garfield (90) - Neeva in The Face of Evil (1977) and Von Weich in The War Games (1969) 35. Lilias Walker (90) - Sister Lamont in Terror of the Zygons (1975) 36. John Rolfe (90) - Soldier in The War Machines (1966) Sam in The Moonbase (1967) and Fell in The Green Death (1973) 37. Alan Curtis (89) - Major Green in The War Machines (1966) I think that's all the living Doctor Who actors who are over the age of 90. Hope this is useful. Special mention for Barbara Clegg (94) - writer of Enlightenment (1983) EDITED to include @msc's more *complete* research...

Don't necessarily disagree with your point, but the American electoral system really isn't designed for more than 2 parties. The Electoral College requires a 270-268 majority as a minimum to win and if nobody reaches the threshold then the House of Representatives chooses the president (which obviously ruins a third party's chances as the House will be either Democrat or Republican majority). It last happened in 1824, by the way. The last time there was a serious third party challenge was in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt re-entered the political frame as the 'Bull Moose' candidate to challenge his Republican successor William Howard Taft. Roosevelt finished second in the Electoral College but only received 88 votes (Woodrow Wilson won with over 400), but between them Roosevelt and Taft earned over 50% of the popular vote (Wilson's popular vote is the lowest percentage-wise since Lincoln's just before the Civil War). More recently, Ross Perot probably made the difference to Clinton beating Bush in 1992 and I'm sure you're familiar with the claims that a few thousand Nader votes in Flordia cost Gore the 2000 election, although neither of those won votes in the Electoral College. We live in a multi-party world but most political systems are built for two parties - government and opposition and until that changes, someone will lose out if there's more than 2 contenders.

You show very little understanding of US politics in that post if I may be so bold. Joe Biden has been a centrist throughout his career. He's always been popular among the unions that are vital to winning the rust belt in the Midwest that killed Hillary's chances 4 years ago. Sanders and Gabbard are vastly to the left of Biden - Sanders wants medicare for all and a green new deal. I don't know enough about Yang to comment. I think it's perfectly plausible that Trump wins again. I also don't think Biden was the strongest candidate this time around by a long way. But your argument seems to revolve around the Democrats being too left wing and out of touch with the American people, and then in the same breath suggest that Sanders and Gabbard are more in touch with the American people - seriously? This is a country that sees socialists in the same way as anarchists. There is also no way that Biden is more 'erratic, racist and stupid' than Trump. He was a longtime member of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, serving as Chairman of both and ranking member in between (when the Democrats didn't hold power). He was also Vice President for 8 years without serious incident. He has always had the ability to put his foot in it and has some very unhelpful views on race (as you'd expect from a nearly 78 year old white man) but his opponent promotes white supremacist content and has been recorded bragging about sexual assault. Compared to a competent politician, Biden comes some way down the list of desirable presidents (he barely got out of the starting gates on two previous runs for President) but compared to Trump, Biden is like manna from heaven, which is more a damning indictment of what Trump has done to the presidency than it is of what Biden brings to the table. Who'd have thought we'd look back on the days of Dubya with fondness?

More detail on the above proposals: plans to model his Presidency on Wakanda from the MCU, "still has to do research" on his foreign policy and tax plan (tiny areas really in the grand scheme of things). Will decide whether he's running in 2020 or 2024 this month. Definitely not doing it for album publicity though. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53332251

Big problem is if he gets over it quickly, it will only serve to prove himself correct in his eyes - nothing to worry about, why are you all moaning?!

Couldn't happen to a nicer despot.

Ask and ye shall receive: (deaths in bold, ineligible struck out, uniques asterisked *) (DW = Dr Who, HL = House of Lords, US = Presidents and spouses, TC = Test Cricket, #1 = Hit Artists) Switch: DW - Tom Baker, Sonny Caldinez*, Ysanne Churchman*, Richard Franklin, Hugh Futcher*, HL - Bertram Bowyer (2nd Baron Denham), Lord Carrington, Charles Lyell*, Malcolm Mitchell-Thompson, David Trefgarne*, US - John B. Anderson, Ed Clark*, Bob Dole, Lyndon LaRouche, Walter Mondale, TC - Roy Miller, Don Smith, Lindsay Tuckett, John Watkins (South Africa), Everton Weekes, #1 - Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Vera Lynn, Kay Starr, Jimmy Young YoungWillz: DW - Prentis Hancock*, Milton Johns, Leslie Schofield*, Gabriel Woolf*, Henry Woolf, HL - Lord Carrington, Patrick Jenkin, Colin Sharman*, Francis Tombs, Helen Warnock, US - George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, TC - Dennis Amiss*, Jimmy Binks*, Len Maddocks, Fred Rumsey*, Everton Weekes, #1 - Kiki Dee*, Ken Dodd, Chris Farlowe, Smokey Robinson*, Bill Wyman* RadGuy: DW – Tom Baker, Richard Franklin, Jean Marsh, Sylvester McCoy*, William Russell, HL – Bertram Bowyer (2nd Baron Denham), Lord Carrington, Alun Gwynne Jones (Baron Chalfont), Pamela Sharples, Viscount Slim, US - Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, TC – Roy Miller, Don Smith, Lindsay Tuckett, John Watkins (South Africa), Everton Weekes, #1 – Doris Day, Vera Lynn, Paul McCartney, Sinead O’Connor*, Kay Starr Time: DW – Tony Caunter*, Julian Glover, Frazer Hines*, Milton Johns, Jean Marsh, HL – Lord Carrington, Lydia Dunn*, Marcia Williams (Baroness Falkender), Malcolm Mitchell-Thompson, Viscount Slim, US – Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, Dick Cheney, Lyndon LaRouche, Walter Mondale, TC – Nari Contractor*, Doug Insole, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan*, Peter Pollock*, #1 – Pat Boone, Billy Connelly, Doris Day, Vera Lynn, Tommy Steele* ImNotHades: DW – Claire Bloom*, John Hurt, Katy Manning*, Jean Marsh, William Russell, HL - Bertram Bowyer (2nd Baron Denham), Lord Carrington, Earl of Crawford, John McCluskey, Pamela Sharples, US – Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, Walter Mondale, TC – Bob Barber*, Roy Miller, Don Smith, Lindsay Tuckett, John Watkins (South Africa), #1 – Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Barry Gibb*, Vera Lynn, George Michael* msc: DW – Geoffrey Bayldon, Honor Blackman*, David Gooderson*, Donald Pelmear*, Antony Webb*, HL – Betty Lockwood, Wendy Nicol, Gwilym Prys-Davies, John Sainsbury, Michael Sandberg, US – Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney*, Bob Dole, Tipper Gore*, Walter Mondale, TC – Imtiaz Ahmed, Somachandra de Silva, Don Smith, Lindsay Tuckett, Everton Weekes, #1 – Pat Boone, Vic Damone, Tab Hunter, Kay Starr, Jimmy Young Deathray: DW – Tom Baker, Bernard Cribbins*, Derek Jacobi*, Peter Purvis*, William Russell, HL – Baroness Trumpington*, Lord Carrington, Alun Gwynne Jones (Baron Chalfont), Pamela Sharples, Neville Wigram*, US – George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Ralph Nader*, Barack Obama*, Willie Mae Reid*, TC – Len Maddocks, John Richard Reid, James Taylor*, Lindsay Tuckett, Shane Warne*, #1 – Tony Bennett, Vera Lynn, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards*, Kay Starr Handrejka: DW - June Brown*, Ken Dodd, Bella Emberg, Richard Franklin, Henry Woolf, HL – Betty Boothroyd*, Basil Feldman*, Betty Lockwood, Donald Nicholls*, Randolph Quirk*, US – Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, TC – Graham Dowling*, John Edrich, Waqar Hassan*, Dick Richardson*, Ian Sinclair*, #1 – Marcia Barrett*, Billy Connelly, Dave Davies*, Windsor Davies*, Judith Durham* Rockhopper Penguin: DW – John Cleese*, Julian Glover, Nerys Hughes*, Catherine Schell*, Peter Wyngarde*, HL – Lord Carrington, John Eden, William Goodhart, Francis Tombs, Shirley Williams*, US – John B. Anderson, Barbara Bush, Pat Choate*, Michael Dukakis, Ross Perot, TC – Ian Botham*, Somachandra da Silva, Doug Insole, Lindsay Tuckett, Everton Weekes, #1 – Petula Clark*, Plas Johnson, Eden Kane*, John Leyton*, Mike Sarne* Death Impends: DW – Earl Cameron*, Mark Eden*, William Russell, Peter Sallis, Laurie Webb*, HL - Earl of Snowden, Lord Carrington, Douglas Hurd*, Jeremy Hutchinson, Wendy Nicol, US – John B. Anderson, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, Lyndon LaRouche, Bob Richards*, TC – Imtiaz Ahmed, Lance Gibbs*, John Richard Reid, Don Smith, Lindsay Tuckett, #1 – Tab Hunter, Jane Morgan*, Peter Sarstedt, Kay Starr, Jimmy Young Captain Chorizo: DW – Colin Baker*, Richard Franklin, John Moreno*, William Russell, Peter Thomas*, HL – David Barber, John Eden, William Lloyd-George (3rd Baron Tenby)*, Francis Tombs, Helen Mary Warnock, US – George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, Bo Gritz*, Mary Alice Herbert*, TC – Ronald Draper*, Garfield Sobers, Don Smith, John Watkins (South Africa), Everton Weekes, #1 – Ken Dodd, Chris Farlowe, Rolf Harris, Kay Starr, Ricky Valance* gcreptile: DW - Geoffrey Bayldon, Kenneth Cope*, Geoffrey Palmer*, Nicholas Parsons*, Frank Windsor*, HL – Earl of Snowdon, Lord Carrington, Lady Saltoun, John Habgood, David Nickson*, US – John B. Anderson, George H.W.Bush, La Donna Harris*, Lyndon LaRouche, Ross Perot, TC – Ken Archer*, Hubert Doggart*, Datta Gaekwad, C D Gopinath*, Arun Lal*, #1 – Ken Dodd, Don Everly*, Peter Sarstedt, Nobby Stiles*, Jimmy Young Rotten Ali: DW – Tom Baker, Keith Barron*, Brian Blessed*, John Hurt, William Russell, HL - Edwin Bramall*, Lord Carrington, Jeremy Hutchinson, Peter Jenkin, David Waddington, US – George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, TC – Imtiaz Ahmed, Donald Carr*, Datta Gaekwad, Rohan Kanhai, Garfield Sobers, #1 – Ken Dodd, Rolf Harris, John McVie*, Des O’Connor*, Cliff Richard* Rover and Out: DW – Windsor Davies*, Ken Dodd, Jean Marsh, William Russell, Peter Sallis, HL – Earl of Snowdon, Derek Barber, Lady Saltoun, John Habgood, Jeremy Hutchinson, US – John B. Anderson, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, Lyndon LaRouche, Ross Perot, TC – Imtiaz Ahmed, Doug Insole, Len Maddocks, Lindsay Tuckett, Everton Weekes, #1 – Harry Belafonte, Vic Damone, Plas Johnson, Vera Lynn, Kay Starr Toast: DW – Geoffrey Bayldon, George A. Cooper*, Damaris Hayman*, Jean Marsh, Peter Sallis, HL – Earl of Snowdon, Derek Barber, Jane Campbell*, Alun Gwynne Jones (Baron Chalfont), Jill Knight*, US – John B. Anderson, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, Bob Dole, TC – Ted Dexter*, John Edrich, Ray Illingworth*, Rohan Kanhai, Lindsay Tuckett, #1 – David Cassidy*, Vera Lynn, Peter Sarstedt, Kay Starr, Jimmy Young

Not that you're keen or anything...

I nearly put "month in, month out" too. Sod's law says if I said yes there'd be a bloodbath or, you know, a global pandemic say, and they'd be dropping like flies. But point taken, "maybe next time round when I win", he says confidently... I didn't miss your other post by the way, it'll just take a bit of time to write up the data of who picked who.

Yeah, when I was checking back you did seem pretty pessimistic of your chances of scoring a hit in that category. I do wonder how you reached the conclusion that an elderly President of the United States wasn't going to count in a round on US Presidents though.

Very kind of you to say so - it's a great game and I'm good at dipping in and out but I don't really have the time or focus to do it justice week in, week out (I'm a teacher - bit more free time during lockdown!). You can bet I'll take slightly greater interest as I'm picking the categories but Biblio's done a great job these first two rounds and if he's happy to continue I'm not going to rock the boat and let it all fall apart! I'll moderate the finished games that don't have the time pressure instead.

So, final bit of spam from me for now, but following the astonishing death of Sir Everton Weekes less than an hour after I posted he was the only man still batting from my cricketing line-up in Round 1, I thought I'd see how the first round of this has progressed since it ended nearly 3 years ago (in other words: just how rubbish were we all?) There have been a total of 41 deaths since Round 1 finished. Perhaps not surprisingly, the House of Lords leads the way with 16 deaths and there's been 8 deaths apiece for Actors in Doctor Who and UK #1 Hit Artists;. After no hits during gameplay in the US Presidential Candidates and spouses category, 5 have come since and, strangely, after the first 3 deaths ever in Scavenger Hunt Bingo were Test Match Cricketers, there have only been 3 since the game ended. Following @Rotten Ali's win in November 2017, just 3 weeks later the death of John B. Anderson in the US category put @Death Impends, Rover and Out and @Toast over the top with hits in all 5 categories (I forget who would win in a tie break and does it look like I have time to work it out? Actually, don't answer that...). @Switch now just needed a Doctor Who Actor to follow suit. The next two hits in December and January were Randolph Quirk (House of Lords) and Bella Emberg (Dr Who), both unique picks for @Handrejka (who scored no hits whatsoever in normal gameplay) - this put her 1 unique away from victory all of a sudden. Also in January, Peter Wyngarde (Dr Who) died, putting @rockhopper penguin 1 unique away too and in February, the death of Hubert Doggart (Cricketers) made @gcreptile the 5th person to the winning post with a hit in all 5 categories. Sometime in January (apparently - no date), Antony Webb (Dr Who) also died, giving @msc 3 uniques. The death of Barbara Bush (US) in April brought double success to @ImNotHades as both his 3rd unique pick and giving a hit in all 5 categories. This makes him the first person to win by more than one method. 7 months later, the death of her husband, George HW Bush (US) put @YoungWillz, @RadGuy and @Deathray 1 Doctor Who actor away and Captain Chorizo 1 Cricketer away, also putting Rotten Ali over the top again with a hit in all 5 categories. Windsor Davies's death in January 2019 was a unique hit for both me (Dr Who) and Handrejka (#1s), putting Handy over the top with 3 uniques. No more successes until August, when Ian Sinclair (Cricketers) put Handrejka over the top again with all 5 categories filled, then in November Edwin Bramall's death (House of Lords) made Rotten Ali the first person to win by all 3 methods with all 5 of his doddery lords croaking it - truly a worthy first champion. (Lord Bramall was actually one of the 6 unique picks he could have won with in the first place!) Coming right up to date now and Vera Lynn's death gave Toast a full house in her #1 Artists group and 2 weeks later (yesterday, in fact) Everton Weekes's demise (Cricketers) put Captain Chorizo over the top with a hit in all 5 categories, while also putting Rover over the top with all 5 cricketers gone. The leaderboard stands thus: 1. Rotten Ali - 3 uniques (won the game) - also All 5 Lords AND All 5 Categories (only person to complete all 3 methods to date) 2. Toast - All 5 Categories - also All 5 #1 Artists (1 unique away from the set) 2. Death Impends - All 5 categories (1 Lord and 1 #1 Artist still standing and no uniques as yet) 2. Rover and Out - All 5 categories - also All 5 Cricketers (cannot win by unique method - only 2 picked) 5. gcreptile - All 5 categories (1 US Candidate left and 1 unique needed) 6. msc - 3 uniques (1 Lord or 1 #1 Artist needed plus any US Candidate [seriously msc, neither Bush?!]) 7. ImNotHades - 3 uniques - also All 5 categories (still needs 3 Lords, US Candidates or #1 Artists) 8. Handrejka - 3 uniques - also All 5 categories (2 Lords still standing) 9. Captain Chorizo - All 5 categories (1 Lord left and 1 unique needed) 10. Rockhopper Penguin - (1 away in all 3 categories: needs 1 unique, 1 #1 Artist for All 5 categories and has 1 Lord still standing) 11. Switch, YoungWillz, RadGuy, @time and Deathray - I cannot really separate you as you're all 1 hit away and all need a Doctor Who actor for All 5 Categories. YoungWillz and Deathray also have 1 Lord left, Switch has 1 #1 Artist left and RadGuy needs 2 #1 Artists, while Time has 2 Lords left. None of you are close with the uniques though. In terms of most overall deaths (out of 25), I'm leading the way with 19 (making me think I'm strangely good at this *one* game ), Toast and msc have 14, Death Impends is on 13, Rotten Ali and gcreptile have 11, Handrejka, Switch, Rockhopper Penguin and Captain Chorizo have 10, Deathray has 9, RadGuy, ImNotHades and Young Willz have 8 and Time has 7 - only 7 hits but only 1 away from completion, now that's economical! One quirk of the game too - 3 years after it finished, I've discovered that one of the entrants was ineligible! Roy Miller, picked by Switch, RadGuy and ImNotHades for their Cricketers team apparently died on August 21st 2014 - just the 2 years before the game started! He's on my research list though, so clearly this wasn't known at the time. Unless anyone requests the full list of deaths, I'll leave that out (this is already too long) but it's interesting looking back, if only to see some names that don't seem to be around much anymore. And it turns out we're not totally useless after all!

I didn't even know this was a thing that's how close I've come before!

What are the odds?! I'm going to put the lottery on this weekend...

Basking in the afterglow of my victory, I was crunching some numbers as to whether this game really was much more of a slog than the first round. SHBDP I lasted for 18 months, with 24 deaths in total before Rotten Ali's third unique pick of Keith Barron (Actors in Dr Who) ended the game. After 17 months, SHBDP II had scored 25 deaths, one more than the same period in Round 1 (there were no deaths in Month 18 [August 2019]). After this, there were just 8 further deaths in the next 11 months until the death of Johnny Mandel (Grammy Award Winners) gave me a hit in every category yesterday, with a particular drought in the second half of 2019 of just 1 death between August and December (Jacques Chirac in September). So blame late 2019 for the slow progress of this one! In Round 1, deaths were distributed in the following categories: Doctor Who actors - 5 House of Lords members - 10 US Presidential Candidates (and spouses) - 0 Test Match Cricketers - 5 UK #1 Hit Artists - 4 In Round 2, deaths were distributed in the following categories: EU Leaders - 5 (3 at same end point at R1) World Title Winning Boxers - 3 (2) Stars of Dallas - 8 (7) Grammy Award Winners - 11 (10) Actors in Kevin Bacon Films - 6 (3) So, unlike in Round 1, it was possible to get one in each category to win - that was actually possible as early as February last year, when the first boxer (Rocky Longridge) dropped as a unique for Spade. Closest we came to all 5 dying in a category this time was 3/5 (Kevin Bacon for YoungWillz, Grammy Winners for Death Impends and Dallas Stars for Time, Sir Creep, Death Impends, Rover and Out and Grim Up North). This was about the same level as last time round (in shorter time) when Death Impends and Toast scored 3/5 #1 Hit Artists and Rover and Out scored 4/5 Test Cricketers (Everton Weekes is still going now!). As many will remember, Death Impends has been close to winning this since September 2018, when Otis Rush (Grammy Winners) gave him 2 Uniques, but his other 4 Uniques have remained stubbornly alive. Rotten Ali won by this method in Round 1, taking 9 months to get his first 2 Uniques and another 9 months to get his remaining Unique (out of 6 possible outs). So what can we learn? Probably not much. It's down to the luck of who you pick (duh). The categories this time were full of ripe possibilities so everyone went in slightly different directions, which widened the scope for hits but also made it much more of a stab in the dark. The spread of hits was very similar in both rounds (1 category in double figures, 2 more on 5+). But to give an idea of how easily things could have changed this time, both Death Impends and Spade Cooley scored the first hits of Round 2 with the death of Charles Neville. If either one of them hadn't chosen him, the other would have earned a Unique hit and the game would have been over after 6 months for Death Impends or 12 months for Spade! This game really is a beauty that in both rounds so far has thrown up no end of permutations and gave 7 people a realistic chance of victory this time and saw an outsider in April win it in June. Already cooking up my categories for Round 3 (which I'm leaving in Biblio's safe hands to administrate) and hopefully they can continue the intrigue. Anyway, ramblings over...

Literally just seen the news perusing the BBC website. Couldn't believe my eyes! Headed straight here to confirm my unlikely suspicions. Thanks for all the congratulations folks, very good of you for a modest outsider. My first deathpool victory, I'd like to think it was down to strong tactical nous but let's be honest it was sheer luck. It was on September 29th 2018 that Death Impends was one hit away from victory. Even then I was only 3 hits away but it took another 20 months to put me within 1 hit of victory, during which time 5 others had moved into contention before me! Hilariously, my 98 year-old Grammy winner is still going strong, but thank you Johnny Mandel. Can I also just say I'm glad it was decided decisively and not on a technicality or countback? The completist in me also like that I did it with a full house of one in every category. Thanks as always to @Bibliogryphon for running this, it's a great game and I'll be in touch regarding Round 3!!!

Late to the party again by 3 weeks but I completely missed my boxer's passing! It's exciting to be in contention (and slightly unbelievable given how long it's been since we first went down to one hit needed) but I don't really fancy my chances. Jimmy Carter is my best bet I reckon, and given the way they're dropping this year, it wouldn't really surprise me. I'm abit surprised only me and Spade picked Carter though, but maybe the Spoken Word Grammys passed others by. Anybody's game though - it is truly astonishing how long this has gone on!

Thanks for this Toast, been trying to find a copy somewhere to read as I'm not paying for one article. Pretty scathing stuff, especially from a Tory magazine, hard to see how they can go back to worshipping him in six months/a year's time. What a way to haemorrhage political capital.

Sir Frank Williams turned 78 today. I happened to catch a video about it on Facebook - I was shocked to see him. I'm sure he popped up on a documentary about the family last year or the year before but he looks to have put on a lot of weight. Obviously, being in a wheelchair isn't the healthiest lifestyle but he's always remained a very thin man for the past 30 years. Some underlying condition or just the effects of stepping back from the family business?

This is amazing. I don't check in as often as I should with you fine chaps and chapesses at the moment, but I happened to be on tonight and saw this thread trending. I thought 'has it finished?!' Of course not! Not fancying my chances though - my best bet is two rather sprightly-looking Dallas actors. I have got a 98-year old Grammy winner though, but that would put me in the seemingly never ending purgatory that is World Boxing Champions. Is there really nobody whose death would win it for two people simultaneously?

It's hard to maintain objective interest in something when it causes so much personal pain. I stayed up late into the night for things like Swinson because it's what you do on election night: the shocks, the moments, history happening before your eyes. But, really, I wanted to go to bed at 10.05 - John Curtice is never out by much. I'm glad someone's stepped up to run it in your stead. I can try to derive some pleasure by choosing 65 of them to get rid of over the next 5 years.

Don't give up! One of these parliaments has got to last the full 5 years...surely?

Now for the Cosmonauts: Two dead this year, including one today. 5 Soviets left from this era, including 2 involved in original cosmonaut training.