An Fear Beag

I'd say that anyone who gets capped by their country could reasonably be described as "notable".

It's all heating up around here now, with the Update Enema striking again! It has managed to flush out another significant pick in the from of the seemingly immortal Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. November 8th: Rachid Mekhloufi November 15th: Eileen Kramer November 15th: Yuriko, Princess Mikasa And with that hit, @diegohas struck for home, taking the lead and becoming the first player to cross the 2000 point threshold. He has also taken @gcreptileout of the equation for a 1-hit lead, taken back control of a potential Steve McMichael hit from @tracy and taken Jimmy Carter and Marita Quiros off @Wormfarmer's list of potential winners. All in all, a nice days work. So does @arghtonhave anything left in the tank, after leading for so long? Can @Wormfarmerland a blow with one of their remaining centenarians? Or could @MariNisiamake a sneaky move for the top with their Elaine May Joker? Stay tuned! Diego (2067 points) 10 hits [Alberto Fujimori*, Alexandre do Nascimento, Alice Munro, Glynis Johns, Janis Paige, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Vic Seixas, Yuriko Princess Mikasa] Arghton (1921 points) 13 hits [Abdul Taib Mahmud, Alfredo Karam, Beverly Lahaye, Chalong Pakdeevijit, Clio Maria Bittoni, Jaako Valtanen, Ma Shitu, Paul Vachon, Salem Al-Ali Al Sabah*, Solihin GP, Swami Smaranananda, Tin Oo, Zhang Lixiong] Wormfarmer (1830 points) 10 hits [Ella Jenkins, Frank Field, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Kris Kristofferson, Phillipe De Gaulle, Ruth Johnson Colvin, Shannen Doherty, Simon Cowell] Tracey (1529 points) 8 hits [Alvin Rakoff, Bob Newhart, Dabney Coleman, Dub Jones, Glynis Johns, James Earl Jones, Shannen Doherty, William Russell] John Key (1473 points) 10 hits [Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, Derek Draper, Frank Field, Joe Shannon, Jonnie Irwin, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Rob Burrow, Shannen Doherty*, William Russell] Buffalo Phil (1461 points) 9 hits [Dario G*, Francoise Hardy, Frank Field, Iris Apfel, Jonnie Irwin, Juan Vincent Perez, June Spencer, Shannen Doherty, Simon Cowell] MariNisia (1442 points) 10 hits [Alice Munro, David Graham, Glynis Johns, Gudrun Ure, Jack Burke Jr., June Spencer, Thomas Stafford, Tony Lo Bianco, Vic Seixas, William Russell] Death By Arsenic (1343 points) 7 hits [Glynis Johns, Luis Ayala, Maryse Conde, Mirta Diaz Balart, Toby Keith, Parnelli Jones, Rachid Mekhloufi*] Gcreptile (1325 points) 12 hits [Corey Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, Frank Field, Franz Beckenbauer, Jason Smith, Jonnie Irwin, Josip Manolic, Manel The Island Man, Paul Vachon, Simon Cowell, Thomas Stafford, Zhang Lixiong]

For me, Christmas officially begins when @Spade_Cooleyposts about some Venezualan regional tiddlywinks champion who is terminally ill and is absolutely 100% guaranteed to get a QO, in the hope that some gullible DDP player will take the bait.

Diamonds are code for vaginas? I never knew that - everyday is a learning day I guess. Games of gin rummy with my old Mum will never be quite the same again

I think you are being a touch generous to Bono there with "singing".

That's Life host is toast Using the principle that it's a whole year since it was used, and if it was shit enough to use then, it's shit enough to re-use now.

Thanks for that. I obviously has Marinisia's potential winner in my head when I was writing it. Changed now. I've just looked at my post on my phone, and see that the list of names does not format properly on the phone (looks ok on my laptop). Anyone know how I can change it so that it looks right when viewed on a phone?

In case any of you were awake and eagle-eyed and spotted that I had made a mistake in the update above , it has now been changed to acknowledge that @tracywould take the lead with a Steve McMichael Joker hit.

A weekend is a long time in dead-pooling, and things have certainly shaken up a bit in the past few days. Only two hits that I am aware of, but both of significance in this game November 8th: June Spencer November 9th: Ella Jenkins First up was the popular pick of June Spencer. 14 picks in total and a place on the ZZZ team of most popular picks. The biggest beneficiary was @diego who overtook @tracyin 2nd place, and moved within a hit of the long time leader @arghton. With 14 potential picks to overtake the leader, they were in great position to make a late run for the title. Two other players moved within a hit of the lead: @Wormfarmerneeding a Joker hit with Arnold Yarrow, and @MariNisianeeding a Joker hit with Elaine May. However, there was another twist 24 hours later with the death of Ella Jenkins, a pick for 2 players. Most importantly it was a hit for Wormfarmer, lifting them into second place. It also took away 2 more of Diego's potential winners (Carter and Quiros). Wormfarmer now has 14 potential names that could give them the lead, 11 of whom are centenarians, with Jimmy Carter the youngster of the bunch! It's fair to say that we have a proper game on our hands! Points on the board are better than potential picks in hand, so Arghton still remains favourite. However, you would have to think that they will need at least 1 more hit to take the title with so many names lining up behind them. The top 10 is down below, and the full scoreboard is on page 1. For those who follow the ebb and flow of the game, here are the potential game-changers - Arghton's remaining picks and the challengers' potential winners. ARGHTON WORMFARMER DIEGO MARINISIA GCREPTILE TRACY Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi Agnes Kelati Denis Law Elaine May* Alan Greenspan* Steve McMichael* Ben Cayetano Arnold Yarrow* Edward, Duke of Kent Colin Jeavons Iris Cummings Esther Rantzen James Woolsey James Clayton-Flowers Eve Marie Saint Jim Lovell James Whale Jean Marie Le Pen Kwong Siu-Hing Jimmy Carter Mel Brooks Moses Ali John Cruickshank Nigel Starmer-Smith Moshe Sternbuch Khaleda Zia Pope Francis Sen Soshitsu XV Linda Nolan Sandy Gall V.S. Achutanandan Lloyd Geering Yuriko, Princess Mikasa Violetta Chamorro Marita Camach Quiros Wang Xiji Paul Ignatius Virginia Halas McCaskey Whang Od Oggay Arghton (1921 points) 13 hits [Abdul Taib Mahmud, Alfredo Karam, Beverly Lahaye, Chalong Pakdeevijit, Clio Maria Bittoni, Jaako Valtanen, Ma Shitu, Paul Vachon, Salem Al-Ali Al Sabah*, Solihin GP, Swami Smaranananda, Tin Oo, Zhang Lixiong] Wormfarmer (1830 points) 10 hits [Ella Jenkins, Frank Field, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Kris Kristofferson, Phillipe De Gaulle, Ruth Johnson Colvin, Shannen Doherty, Simon Cowell] Diego (1748 points) 9 hits [Alberto Fujimori*, Alexandre do Nascimento, Alice Munro, Glynis Johns, Janis Paige, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Vic Seixas] Tracey (1529 points) 8 hits [Alvin Rakoff, Bob Newhart, Dabney Coleman, Dub Jones, Glynis Johns, James Earl Jones, Shannen Doherty, William Russell] John Key (1473 points) 10 hits [Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, Derek Draper, Frank Field, Joe Shannon, Jonnie Irwin, Josip Manolic, June Spencer, Rob Burrow, Shannen Doherty*, William Russell] Buffalo Phil (1461 points) 9 hits [Dario G*, Francoise Hardy, Frank Field, Iris Apfel, Jonnie Irwin, Juan Vincent Perez, June Spencer, Shannen Doherty, Simon Cowell] MariNisia (1442 points) 10 hits [Alice Munro, David Graham, Glynis Johns, Gudrun Ure, Jack Burke Jr., June Spencer, Thomas Stafford, Tony Lo Bianco, Vic Seixas, William Russell] Gcreptile (1325 points) 12 hits [Corey Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, Frank Field, Franz Beckenbauer, Jason Smith, Jonnie Irwin, Josip Manolic, Manel The Island Man, Paul Vachon, Simon Cowell, Thomas Stafford, Zhang Lixiong] RadGuy (1274 points) 11 hits [Brian Barczyk, Charlie Bird, Christoph Daum, Francoise Hardy, Franz Beckenbauer, Joe Shannon, Jonnie Irwin*, Rob Burrow, Shannen Doherty, Toby Keith] Etushispushingupdaisies (1216 points) 9 hits [Derek Draper*, Francoise Hardy, Frank Field, Franz Beckenbauer, Janey Godley, Jonnie Irwin, Rob Burrow, Simon Cowell, Toby Keith]

The good old Update Enema. Not quite as powerful as the @Gooseberry Crumbleenema, but still capable of flushing out a hit or two. That definitely shakes up the top of the leaderboard - update to follow shortly ....

STOP THE PRESS! We have had some action! Some actual, proper, real-life action! Not a "change of leader" action, but we have something. My ennui has now passed, and I'm ready for a proper update. These are the folks who have left us since the last update. October 10th: Sammy Basso October 7th: Cissy Houston October 10th: Ethel Kennedy October 12th: Alvin Rakoff October 29th: Terri Garr November 2nd: Dub Jones November 2nd: Janey Godley November 3rd: Quincy Jones A whopping total of 8 hits in 5 weeks, with Ethel Kennedy and Janey Godley being the only ones who were not solo hits (3 picks each). And none of them picked by anyone in the top 10. So what is the cause of my excitement. Well 15th-placed @tracyhas managed to bag a double with the hits of Alvin Rakoff and Dub Jones. At this time of the year, a quick-fire double can make a huge difference, and so it proves with Tracy becoming @arghton's closest challenger in 2nd place. They are now within 2 hits of our long-term leader, or of course a Joker hit. Their Joker is Deathlist favourite Steve McMichael, who has been on first-name terms with the Reaper for years now, so it is definitely game on at this stage. The other player who is one potential death away from the top is @gcreptilein 4th, who needs Alan Greenspan to oblige. Other than that, @diegowould need 2 hits to catch the leader. The rest of the top 7 below could get there with 2 hits (or an Arnold Yarrow Joker hit for @Wormfarmer), provided they wait a bit longer to get them. Maybe, just maybe, we could actually have a race on our hands! Arghton (1921 points) 13 hits [Abdul Taib Mahmud, Alfredo Karam, Beverly Lahaye, Chalong Pakdeevijit, Clio Maria Bittoni, Jaako Valtanen, Ma Shitu, Paul Vachon, Salem Al-Ali Al Sabah*, Solihin GP, Swami Smaranananda, Tin Oo, Zhang Lixiong] Tracey (1529 points) 8 hits [Alvin Rakoff, Bob Newhart, Dabney Coleman, Dub Jones, Glynis Johns, James Earl Jones, Shannen Doherty, William Russell] Diego (1436 points) 8 hits [Alberto Fujimori*, Alexandre do Nascimento, Alice Munro, Glynis Johns, Janis Paige, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, Vic Seixas] Gcreptile (1325 points) 12 hits [Corey Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, Frank Field, Franz Beckenbauer, Jason Smith, Jonnie Irwin, Josip Manolic, Manel The Island Man, Paul Vachon, Simon Cowell, Thomas Stafford, Zhang Lixiong] RadGuy (1274 points) 11 hits [Brian Barczyk, Charlie Bird, Christoph Daum, Francoise Hardy, Franz Beckenbauer, Joe Shannon, Jonnie Irwin*, Rob Burrow, Shannen Doherty, Toby Keith] Etushispushingupdaisies (1216 points) 9hits [Derek Draper*, Francoise Hardy, Frank Field, Franz Beckenbauer, Janey Godley, Jonnie Irwin, Rob Burrow, Simon Cowell, Toby Keith] Wormfarmer (1205 points) 8 hits [Frank Field, Iris Apfel, Josip Manolic, Kris Kristofferson, Phillipe De Gaulle, Ruth Johnson Colvin, Shannen Doherty, Simon Cowell]

Sad news from the world of Irish sport with the death of one of the greats of Irish show-jumping, Captain Con Power. Three-time Aga Khan winner Capt Con Power dies aged 71 (rte.ie) Appropriately for the title of this thread, he was also the father of jockey Robbie Power who won the Grand National on Silver Birch, and the Gold Cup on Sizing John. I met Con once when my car slid off a snowy road into a ditch opposite his farm a good few years ago. Nice man, shit tractor. He wasn't able to pull the car out, so I had to pay a small fortune for a recovery vehicle to come out and extract the car from the ditch. RIP

Wishing you all the best with the surgery. Hopefully your neurologist is just being precautionary and trying to deal with it early rather than wait until it has done some serious damage. Out of curiosity, when you say "on the head", is it on the brain itself? I'm guessing so, given that its a neurologist involved. Have they diagnosed what type of a tumour it is?

A word of advice - you might want to play it just a little bit cooler than mango does on the Jimmy Carter thread. Otherwise he might think you are a psychotic lunatic and run a mile in the opposite direction! (But best of luck with the date- hope it works out)

I had intended to do an update as we are approaching the end of the month, but what's the bloody point. Nothing much has happened since the last one. So here's your update: A few people died None of them had a material effect on the top of the leaderboard @arghtonis still leading. Come back to me next month when hopefully we might actually have a bit of action.