frleon

Christ, that really puts Mme Calment's – for lack of a better word: – achievement in perspective. Thanks for that, it's just numbers, but nevertheless feels like an insight to me.

Oh wow, I was commenting on her apparent well-being in the Oldest People thread only days ago

Charlotte Kretschmann is active on Insta (there’s no info whether she or eg a relative takes care of the account, fwiw, her terse messages do sound like what my 80-something grandparents would write), though silent since march. If on her birthday in December there’s no activity that’d be a very bad sign. However, there’s a reassuring article on that factory visit mentioned by arghton (https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.aelteste-deutsche-aus-kirchheim-unter-teck-114-jaehrige-besucht-dettinger-schokoladenfabrik.bebc5d4b-50bc-4e5e-8c77-08476d81dbb1.html, paywalled). It’s very much on-brand, given her documented love of rich food and the old drink: She says the milk chocolate looks nice but she’d prefer something with alcohol in it. In a wheelchair, but with (at least!) some sight and hearing left, and unlike eg Lucile Randon, enjoying life very much.

Here in Germany (mixed-member proportional voting), no matter how much I’d complain about politics of the day, I’m pretty happy with the voting system at least. The relation between what government people would like and what they get is pretty small and when the government’s problematic it’s because enough people voted them in, not because someone gamed the system.

Kasper König dead at 80. Curator and museum director of international fame, co-founder of the Skulptur.Projekte Münster. Living members of an artsy family include brother Walter (art book dealer) and two gallerist sons Leo and Johann.

The fact remains that the Queen's death was announced by Huw Edwards – it was a historic moment, and the fact she's been found to have done some very perverse things does not mean that that significant piece of history should be erased. 

Wow. There it is, the rare and elusive „Good News“ that I had almost forgotten existed!

Same – wrong age and location, probably. From the reactions I can appreciate that the bloke was better-known than Gates Sr., for instance.

Or he’ll die the 76th time he’s on the list.

Drop him altogether, it’ll be a much-needed bold move either way. If he survives 2024, the committee shall be praised for their nuance and foresight; if he dies, it’ll still have been worth the gamble, especially as I don’t see anyone of note seriously betting on a quick demise now.

Wow, what a day. I’m putting my money on Jimmy passing tomorrow, though till just a moment ago I would have given him till a few days after Christmas.

In my book that’s the very opposite of sad. Sharp and sprightly well into one’s nineties, what more do you want?

Aw, now this, just as I saw some activity in the main Monty Python thread

Yes, hit! That's been a rather long break for me.

They had lots of family functions (not this wedding though) at Notre-Dame-du-Chardonnet around Paris' Quartier Latin. This church has been taken over by the Society of St. Pius X, a traditionalist fraternity of priests who opposed teh Second Vatican Council and eventually got excommunicated for ordinating bishops of their choosing. There's plenty of unsavoury stuff like Holocaust denialism in their ranks, abuse allegations go without saying, and generally they're close to parties like the Front National in France. The church has been occupied by them since the 80s and remains so till today; French authorities haven't intervened so far on grounds on best keeping the peace that way (?). I happen to know a family close to the Pius brothers, preferring to attend the old-style Tridentine mass. It seems though that over the last one or two years they've come to the conclusion that they're indeed a bit icky and now have sought out priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter, essentially Pius defectors who eventually submitted to Rome in exchange for privileges such as the right to hold mass in Latin.

My money’s on a record year – however, with JC dying only in January 2024.

Hit for my list, end of an era. She's not just any old Picasso ex, but the only one who left him (instead of he leaving her), shaking his machismo like none other. Accomplished painter in her own right, too.

Queen Dowager of most of the world and last Empress of India...the most dangerous woman in Europe according the Hitler...not famous outside the UK? Get a grip. I'm aware of Queen Mum, but in spite of her illustrous biography, she's still a whole level below Kissinger in terms of historical significance, and, by extension, (international) fame.

Should have had him on my general list, I wonder what I was thinking there. There's been a bunch of German candidates that I cut because of their lacking international notability, but surely that wouldn't have concerned me with Modrow.

First hit of the year for me!

I feel Artemev's death at this time of the year calls for posting the Mirror opening theme: his arrangement of Bach's The Old Year Has Passed Away.

He's been on the record that he's ready to go for years now.

Could use another random tell-all book or lurid interview or such, but I suppose it'd be too late for Christmas business anyway. How else are we going to hit 200 pages this year still?

Just learnt that Pierre Soulages has died yesterday, aged 102. There’s someone whose work I really admire! https://amp.france24.com/en/culture/20221026-pierre-soulages-france-s-beyond-black-painter-dies-at-102

Had a look at the scan of the certificate, it's a bit ominous how the most visible bit of the background ornament are these DEATH swirls repeating all across the page.