MrWonderful

I missed Jonnie Irwin before; that would be another must-add for me. And Rob Burrow (just learned about him) might not be too far behind, sadly.

How the hell did I miss that? I try to keep up, but as a Yank, I guess I don't catch them all. Thanks.

Thinking about my top 50 List, and with 13 hits this year (a down year for sure), that means I'll have at least 13 new openings. 13 Must-Add's Randy Jackson (looks like a dying man) June Spencer (age alone) Glynis Johns (age alone) Linda Nolan (advanced cancer) Sonny Rollins (92, is well past the life expectancy for his pulmonary fibrosis) Song Ping (age alone) James Whale (stage 4 cancer, recently hospitalized) Frank Field (terminally ill since Oct. 2021) Rolf Harris (92 and very ill with cancer) Andy Taylor (just a 30% survival rate for stage 4 prostate cancer at the fifth year of diagnosis) Ryuichi Sakamoto (stage 4 cancer and just gave "last" concert) Gianluca Vialli (second battle with pancreatic cancer, hospitalized) Steve McMichael (seriously ill with ALS) Must-Keeps (24) Bob Newhart Pele Ayatollah Khamenei Jimmy Carter Rosalynn Carter Yoko Ono Harry Belafonte Joanne Woodward Tony Bennett Barbara Walters Eva Marie Saint Bob Barker Pope Benedict Fay Vincent Dick Cheney Steve Gleason Jacques Delors Robert Solow Don West James Lovelock Philippe de Gaulle George Alagiah Stanley Baxter Henry Kissinger So this leaves 13 spots for me. Of my remaining holdovers, I will probably drop Bob Cousy and David Crosby, with the others still a part of the discussion. I'll list some more names I have my eye on below, with comments included. Dikembe Mutombo (Receiving treatment for a brain tumor as of Oct. 2022; haven't been able to find further specifics. If it's a glioblastoma, there's a chance he may not see 2024, and he'd be a must for 2024 lists.) Mohamed al-Fayed (turns 94 next month, could be in failing health) Tim Curry (has been frail for quite a while now after his major 2012 stroke) Vladimir Putin (he's obviously ill to some degree; rumors that he's very ill continue) Norman Lear (looks good to me still, but he's 100, after all) Liza Minnelli (obviously extremely frail, as evidenced by her Oscars appearance) Robert Wagner (if law enforcement won't get him, perhaps The Reaper will) Katherine Jackson (failing health rumors for a while now) Norman Tebbit (going off comments in his thread that his body seems to be deteriorating) Milan Kundera (probably moves up on the DL if he makes it to '23) Nigel Starmer-Smith (a high-enough placing on the DL to make me think he is very likely to go in the next year or two) Bobby Charlton (another DL pick pretty high on the list) Ted Turner (late stages of Lewy Body dementia?) Stella Stevens (late stages of dementia) Mel Brooks (mentally still all there at 96) James Earl Jones (91 and in declining health) Roberta Flack (85 and just diagnosed with ALS) Jean-Marie Le Pen (looks like he's declined in the past year) Sandra Day O'Connor (at 92, has lasted a long while now with dementia/Alzheimer's) Ruth Buzzi (the 86-year-old suffered a series of strokes earlier this year) Pervez Musharraf (organs deteriorating as of June 2022) Of these above names, I think I'll be reserving spots for Musharraf, Starmer-Smith, Tebbit, and Minnelli. Some other strong candidates though, clearly.

Seeing that was why I added her to my list just before the new year. I was shocked at how gaunt she looked.

I see what you did there. I think.

He does really look like he's aged, wow. Still, he doesn't look frail, and though he had that cancer scare, doesn't appear to be in imminent danger.

This is completely unexpected, yes. He literally was doing interviews yesterday about the impending game and ceremony on Saturday. The Steelers are playing the Raiders on the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, and the Steelers are retiring his #32 jersey either before or during the game.

Yeah, this is sounding very bleak for Leach. If your brain goes without oxygen for that long, there's basically no way to recover. He's most likely on life support without brain function. Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder even mistakenly tweeted that Leach had passed away, then corrected himself and apologized shortly thereafter, and has since deleted both tweets. My guess is that some in the know are probably aware that nothing can be done and that it's just a matter of when the family takes him off life support.

It sucks to hear that this is a terminal condition, but for her sake, perhaps she still has a couple of decades left, who knows. I actually think she looks much better in the Instagram video than she did in pictures from January 2022 and in pictures from before that, even. She clearly looks less gaunt, and her face looks more "full." Perhaps after she got diagnosed, treatments have helped. She doesn't look like she's someone whose death could be imminent, and she kind of did look like that recently, at least to me.

Well then, how do I not put a 105-year-old on my 2023 List?

Would Song Ping get a QO in the British media?

Had him on my list because of drol.

Yes he's a gimme pick, as he's sadly very very sick. Low-hanging fruit, if the committee wants it.

Still nothing alarming from those photos imo. This doesn't look like a Queen Elizabeth situation from the end of last year, where she looked noticeably gaunt.

Yeah, as I remarked on his thread, it's incredibly sad. I think he's famous enough (performed with Journey, music producer, American Idol judge) that he should be added to the list. It would be a remarkable upset, unfortunately, if he's alive in 2024. Has to be a must-add to the '23 List.

Damn, yeah this is really sad. If he makes it to 2023, he'll be an auto-add to my list.

I will not be dropping him from my own list. That transplanted heart has a shelf life. Tick tock.

Joanne Woodward, dammit! Ha, I cast my vote for Phillips.

I get the jist of what you're saying, although it's worth pointing out that Trump only won because of the ass-backwards way that we elect presidents in my country. The dude received nearly 2.9 million FEWER votes than his opponent in his win. Then in 2020 he received 7 million fewer than Biden did. And yes, Harry and especially Meghan have a more favorable opinion here in the U.S., although it seems to be divided along racial lines, which is probably consistent with what you see worldwide. White people don't have a favorable opinion of Meghan for sure, and while there's no doubt in my mind that much of this is due to prejudice or outright racism, it does happen to be true that she's a deplorable human being. I don't have a high opinion of Harry either, but I think he's in a tough spot after marrying this witch.

"I didn't come all the way from Ireland to see my land pissed on by free grazers!" Ha, the way he delivered that line in Open Range made me a fan for life. Another actor that I'll be sad over when it's his time.

Dammit, I loved this dude. Of course, his Hagrid was great, but as Let It Ride is one of the most underrated comedies you'll ever find, I am partial to his role in that as the ticket seller. It's not a huge role, but he draws so much laughter with the way he delivers his dialogue and with his facial expressions and reactions. As has been said, he brought a lot of entertainment, laughter, and joy to the world with his great talent, and he will truly be missed.

Damn, I thought she was in pretty good health last year but I guess it just shows that it can go downhill quickly when you get to such an advanced age. RIP.

I thought he was the most impressive candidate the last time around, despite his lack of experience, but he will never win the nomination. You can't win the Democratic nomination with something like 0-1% black support. Just not going to happen.

Good stuff, thanks for those details. I don't think I'd worry about the cocaine thing too much, but the alcohol usage and the stent are things to consider for Bush, sure. I still think he's a good bet to see his 90's.

As a former president, Carter is a much bigger name than Kissinger is, at least here in the U.S. I share the worry that he won't see 100, but it's absolutely remarkable that this dude has lived as long as he has. The guy was a nonagenarian with brain cancer 7 years ago! George W. Bush does look very good for his age, and I thought his dad looked pretty good into old age until the effects of his form of Parkinson's really took hold. Of course both of Dubya's parents lived past 90 (92 for Barbara and 94 for HW), and given his appearance and genes, I'd say he is a good bet to see his 90's, possibly his late 90's. Clinton is already pretty frail at the age of 76; he has legitimate heart issues and I can't see him making it to 90. I'm not even sure if he'll make it for 5 more years, and I don't think he'll make it for 10 more. I'm not saying that I think he'll be DL-worthy in '23, but I think he will be a sneaky pick relatively soon, in my humble opinion. It will be interesting to see who makes it to an older age between Biden or Trump. Biden is a little over 3 and a half years older, so maybe he'll go first, but I'd give him the slight edge on living to an older age. They are both clearly in cognitive decline, if not in the same way. Biden does look like he's in better physical health, as Trump is overweight and has a horrible diet. Both had parents who made it to pretty advanced ages, so they both have that going for them. (Biden's dad died at 86 while his mother was 92; Trump's dad died at 93 while his mother was 88.) As for Obama, he seems like he's in pretty good health, but he did used to be a heavy smoker and even continued that as president for a while when he was under stress. He's quit smoking for long enough now (he apparently quit in 2010-ish) that his lungs have probably recovered, but his lung cancer risk will still be 3 times greater than that of a non-smoker. Neither of his parents made it past the age of 52, so he doesn't have that on his side, either. Still, he's had an active lifestyle and is in good shape for a man his age, so I think he'll see his 80's, at least. And with impeccable health care access, if he did come down with lung cancer, perhaps they'd catch it early.