Heef

It looks like this seat won't exist in the next general election, so it'll be a bit of a strange by-election. The area in the constituency at the moment will be split over 3 constituencies with perhaps the biggest share going to Bristol North-East, so I assume the winner will transition to that seat. As for Andrew Rosindell, I used to live near Romford and wouldn't be surprised to see a defunct greyhound wearing a blue rosette get up there. One of the bigger shocks in 1997 was that Labour won there with a 16% swing. He really is a contemptible little oik though, so hopefully good riddance.

No specific comment on Richard Osman as I've not read any of his books yet, but this growing trend of celebrities writing novels or books for children and using their profiles to achieve sales that writers can't hope to achieve without marketing support is quite annoying. I don't want to hear constant drones about what celebrity has managed to churn out a novel Hmm. That's a decent idea. When I think of something of interest when reading, I'm rarely near paper and pen. Most of my reading is done on the daily commute when I'm on the train.

One of my regrets in this process was in not making a few small notes as to what I liked or disliked about each book. I've been trying recently to reflect back on each year's shortlist to see what I can remember about each one and sadly some of the ones I read a fair while back I only have vague memories of (I started in 2016). With The Master, I'm not a fan of fictualising around real people and I'm not an expert in Henry James able to distill the complete fabrications from the fanciful from the reality or enhanced reality. The delivery of the novel conveys a real sense of the internal workings of the narrator's mind (whether it's a reasonable representation of Henry James or not). I recall some reasonably amusing moments - particularly with the narrator's aversion to conflict and his inability to fire his two house-staff who have become - shall we say - not fit for purpose due to alcohol consumption. I see on Goodreads, I give it a 3/5 score, but there's no finesse in that!

I know this is well out of date, but good luck finding a copy of The Conjunction anywhere. It's been out of print pretty much since publication and is a little bit... dated... shall we say? I read it at the British Library. Anyway, don't waste your time trying to track The Conjunction down. It's a bit poor.

Only 12 books left before I've read every shortlisted Booker Prize nominee from 1969-2009. 83 shortlisted books left to read in total. Currently reading Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland. According to Goodreads, I have given the following books 5 stars: The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard The Redundancy of Courage - Timothy Mo Troubles - JG Farrell English Passengers - Matthew Kneale Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry Disgrace - JM Coetzee Beside the Ocean of Time - George Mackay Brown The Life and Times of Michael K - JM Coetzee The True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood Morality Play - Barry Unsworth Good Behaviour - Molly Keane Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth A Month in the Country - JL Carr Rates of Exchange - Malcolm Bradbury The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrae Burnet Confederates - Thomas Keneally In hindsight, I might have also underrated Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson.

1. Vojislav Šešelj 2. Nikolai Ryzhkov 3. Mátyás Szűrös 4. Milan Panić 5. Josip Manolić 6. Lech Wałęsa 7. Alexander Bessmertnykh 8. Artur Rasizade 9. Biljana Plavšić 10. Raif Dizdarević Reserves 11. Philippe Morillon 12. Mart-Olav Niklus 13. Diego Arria And yes, I have recently watched the superb BBC documentary The Death of Yugoslavia. What of it?

Updated for Michael Hardie-Boys, Cardinal Tom Williams, Ken Douglas and Miles Warren. Can't adjust the Olympian table - I'll have to update this manually later.

Good to see someone resurrected the pool I started back in (I think) 2017. Bit more popular than the original run's 3 entrants.

Not long after John R Reid, another NZ stalwart - John F Reid - has passed away. Much younger and more unexpected of course. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/300194432/former-new-zealand-cricketer-john-f-reid-dies-aged-64

Anyway, now that's updated. If anyone would like to submit a list of potential starters for 2021, then just PM me. Chur.

Annoyingly, Ken Shadie is on the list twice and I can't currently find the original spreadsheet to replace him. Still, I make the score 9/50.

Updating this. It's been a while. Margaret Guilfoyle died: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7020589/pioneer-politician-margaret-guilfoyle-dies/?cs=14264 Jean Hurring: https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/swimming/otago-swimming-great-dies Cliff Green: https://www.smh.com.au/national/gifted-writer-behind-screenplay-for-picnic-at-hanging-rock-20201209-p56lxx.html As noted, so have: Bruce Reid: https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-icon-dr-bruce-reid-dead/news-story/a91e3bdb61877a5b80526238d6adf9bf Deane Sutherland: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/kiwi-musician-deane-sutherlands-family-kept-from-farewelling-him-due-to-lockdown/4ZXATHBTTBP2G7B5XWA66FNTEA/ Ken Shadie: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnewslocal%2Fken-shadie-crocodile-dundee-cowriter-and-brooklyn-identity-dies-at-84%2Fnews-story%2Ff0f7d38ed169a60f98bae5e9d45c07d5&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium John R Reid: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/cricket-new-zealand-great-john-r-reid-dies-at-92/JU63RUK4Z7CDKO2JGQNHFWT764/ Jeanne Little: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/legendary-australian-entertainer-jeanne-little-dies-20201107-p56cgs.html

Did anyone pick Mike Moore this year? If not, he should be on the List of the Missed. Pretty sure I picked him previously. Can't open the DDP website anymore. Seems to have been barred for some reason.

Roseberry can't be the most common name. Is he former Middlesex-opener (and County Durham born) Mike Roseberry's dad, I wonder?

The ANZAC List belatedly makes a return. Thanks to all those that contributed to the list. I put this together on Friday,, but have been out and only got round to posting today. In the meantime, Mike Moore died this morning so that's theoretically a first hit. If anyone is concerned about the fact I haven't posted the list before he's scuttled off this mortal coil, then I'll bring in a sub, but he was a returner from last year and I've picked him for DDP teams for a number of years. 25 people return from last year (last year's position in Brackets) and 25 newbies on the list. David Gulpilil takes the #1 slot, but the majority of the list was pretty volatile. 1. David Gulpilil (b. 1 Jul 1953, Arnhem Land) Australian 2. Elizabeth Chong (b. 27 May 1931, Canton) Australian 3. Levi Holley (b. ~1975) New Zealander 4. (18) Neale Daniher (b. 15 Feb 1961, West Wyalong) Australian 5. (47) Alan Davidson (b. 14 Jun 1929, Lisarow) Australian 6. Fred Nile (15 Sep 1934, Kings Cross) 7. (13) Graham Richardson (b. 27 Sep 1949, Sydney) Australian 8. (32) Margaret Guilfoyle (b. 15 May 1926, Belfast UK) Australian 9. (10) Barry du Bois (b. 4 Aug 1960, Sydney) Australian 10. Judith Durham (b. 3 Jul 1943, Essendon) Australian 11. (22) Neil Harvey (b. 8 Oct 1928, Fitzroy) Australian 12. (34) Mary Ward (b. 6 Mar 1915, Fremantle) Australian 13. Gavin Robertson (b. 28 May 1966, St Leonards) Australian 14. Bruce Reid (Aussie Rules bloke) (b. 4 Apr 1946, Melbourne) Australian 15. (30) Neale Fraser (b. 3 Oct 1933, Melbourne) Australian 16. Deane Sutherland (b. mid-late 1960s, ) New Zealander 17. (49) Loongkoonan (b. 1910, Kimberley) Australian 18. Bruce Beresford (b. 16 Aug 1940, Sydney) Australian 19. (24) Ken Shadie (b. 8 Dec 1935, Bondi) Australian 20. (11) Butch Miller (b. 21 Oct 1944, Auckland) New Zealander 21. (50) 'Superstar' Mick Dundee (b. 24 October 1943, Scotland) Australian 22. (25) John R Reid (b. 3 Jun 1928, Auckland) New Zealander 23. Jean Hurring (b. 23 Dec 1930, Dunedin) New Zealander 24. (1) Jeanne Little (b. 11 May 1938, Sydney) Australian 25. Neal Blewett (b. 3 Dec 1933) Australian 26. Dame Miriam Dell (b. 14 Jun 1924) New Zealander 27. Ray Lawler (b 23 May 1921, Footscray) Australian 28. (37) Sir Richard Hadlee (b. 3 Jul 1951, Christchurch) New Zealander 29. (4) Ken Rosewall (b. 2 Nov 1934, Sydney) Australian 30. Sir Murray Halberg (b. 7 Jul 1933, Eketahuna) New Zealander 31. (17) Roy Emerson (b. 3 Nov 1936, Blackbutt) Australian 32. (33) Clive Revill (b. 18 April 1930, Wellington) New Zealander 33. (27) Tony Garea (b. 20 Sep 1946, Auckland) New Zealander 34. (39) Fred Stolle (b. 8 Oct 1938, Hornsby) Australian 35. Marie Bashir (1 Dec 1930) Australian 36. Luciana Arrighi (b. 1940, Rio de Janeiro) Australian 37. (3) Olivia Newton-John (b. 26 Sep 1948, Cambridge UK) Australian 38. (14) Pauline Parker (b. 26 May 1938, Christchurch) New Zealander 39. Sir Roger Douglas (b. 5 Dec 1937, Auckland) New Zealander 40. Ken Archer (b. 17 Jan 1928, Yeerongpilly) Australian 41. (43) Mike Moore (b. 28 Jan 1949, Whakatane) New Zealander LINK 42. Molly Meldrum (b. 29 Jan 1943, Orbost) Australian 43. [DUPLICATE] 44. (21) Frank Sedgman (b. 29 Oct 1927, Mont Albert) Australian 45. Sir Michael Hardie Boys (b. 6 Oct 1931, Wellington) New Zealander 46. Peta Murphy (b. 1 Nov 1973, Goulburn) Australian 47. (6) Rod Laver (b. 9 Aug 1938, Rockhampton) Australian 48. Cliff Green (b. 6 Dec 1934, Melbourne) Australian 49. Donald McAlpine (b.13 Apr 1934, Quandialla) Australian 50. Howard Sattler (b. 1945, Cootamundra) Australian