Evil Grimace

With the recent news on Jimmy Carter, I thought I'd look at the numbers and see what could lie ahead - and saw that no one picked him as their joker! But it could be good news for four punters: LizLemon, Summer in Translyvania, DoorSlammer, Book - who would all get a third hit and resulting bonus point. It also occured to me that the full picks and jokers distribution had not been shared. It is below and will be added to the Stats section. Pink = unique pick and Green = (potential) Designated Survivor # picks # jokers Dick van Dyke 5 0 Henry Kissinger 25 1 Bob Barker 21 1 Alan Greenspan 6 0 Nigel Starmer-Smith 28 2 Jimmy Carter 27 0 Tony Bennett 11 1 Dick Cheney 2 0 Harry Belafonte 13 0 Mel Brooks 5 0 Jacques Delors 18 0 Sir Bobby Charlton 13 0 Robert Wagner 7 0 Norman Tebbit 15 1 Rosalynn Carter 11 0 Sandy Gall 4 0 Joanne Woodward 24 2 Ethel Kennedy 4 0 Desmond Morris 0 0 Stanley Baxter 10 0 Joss Ackland 10 1 Jean-Marie Le Pen 13 0 Milan Kundera 16 0 Cleo Laine 4 0 Alan Alda 1 0 Prunella Scales 2 0 Yoko Ono 12 0 Norman Lear 13 0 Burt Bacharach 7 0 Marianne Faithfull 3 0 Angie Dickinson 0 0 Robert Duvall 0 0 Imelda Marcos 5 0 Pervez Musharraf 16 0 Ali Khamenei 1 0 Pete Murray 9 0 Bob Newhart 1 0 Rolf Harris 28 11 Ryuichi Sakamoto 26 9 Willy Nelson 2 0 Dennis Skinner 11 0 Nigel Lawson 10 0 Michael Parkinson 0 0 Sonny Rollins 25 0 Mohamed Al-Fayed 7 0 Hal Linden 1 0 Linda Nolan 13 0 Tina Turner 1 0 Andy Taylor 24 0 Shane MacGowan 9 1 Totals 519 30

Note the 'velcro ring' on his finger. This is a treatment for trigger finger: https://www.orfit.com/blog/orthoses-for-trigger-finger/ It short, the likely cause is arthritis. As he's almost 90, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Update 9 February Second hit: Burt Bacharach Teams with hit:7 Teams with joker:0 Punters: LizLemon, gcreptile, The Duke of Deadinburgh, Book, DoorSlammer, Summer in Transylvania, Hell Second (consecutive) hit: LizLemon, Summer in Translyvania, DoorSlammer, Book, Hell Bacharach was picked by just under a quarter (7) of punters. I'm impressed that 5 of 7 now have their second consecutive hit, one hit shy of the 1 per 3 hit bonus. Random Bacharach fact: His second marriage was to Angie Dickinson, also at 2023 pick. Updated Score Bacharach Grimgrass -16 diego -16 Great Uncle Bulgaria -17 Joey Russ -18 Joltin Joe -18 Bibliogryphon -18 LizLemon -18 1 YoungWillz -19 Sean -19 theoldlady -19 wannamaker -19 Newjack -19 gcreptile -19 1 tracy -20 The Duke of Deadinburgh -20 1 Book -20 1 Etushispushingupdaisies -21 DoorSlammer -21 1 TQR -22 Torva Messor -22 Funeralopolis -22 Annami -22 Summer in Transylvania -22 1 WinterCake -23 Hell -23 1 chilean way -24 The Daredevil -24 Dying Probably -24 The Old Crem -25 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -26

Update 6 February First hit: Pervez Musharraf Teams with hit:16 Teams with joker:0 Punters: diego, Joltin Joe, Bibliogryphon, theoldlady, wannamaker, LizLemon, Newjack, tracy, Book, Funeralopolis, DoorSlammer, Annami, Summer in Transylvania, The Daredevil, Dying Probably, Hell Updated Score Musharraf Grimgrass -16 diego -16 1 Great Uncle Bulgaria -17 Joey Russ -18 Joltin Joe -18 1 Bibliogryphon -18 1 YoungWillz -19 Sean -19 theoldlady -19 1 wannamaker -19 1 LizLemon -19 1 Newjack -19 1 gcreptile -20 tracy -20 1 Etushispushingupdaisies -21 The Duke of Deadinburgh -21 Book -21 1 TQR -22 Torva Messor -22 Funeralopolis -22 1 DoorSlammer -22 1 Annami -22 1 WinterCake -23 Summer in Transylvania -23 1 chilean way -24 The Daredevil -24 1 Dying Probably -24 1 Hell -24 1 The Old Crem -25 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -26

Recently watched 'You People', which has Hal Linden in a brief cameo role in the opening scenes, with many other Jewish actors and comedians. I recognized him and was surprised to see him. The movie was released last month and two things stand out. Linden is clearly sticking to his 'what's retirement?' plan by acting in recent films. IMBD has one upcoming role listed too. However, it appears he's aged. Yes, he's 91 and yes it is a film, but he looked frail and every bit his age.

First of all, many thanks to @Death Impends @gcreptile @Banana for the hard work in getting this year's DDP up and running. And to @Grim Up North for stepping up - I hear retirement is boring too. My two teams are in order and I'm looking forward to not winning again. I keep my expectations low. Onto the heart of the matter... DDP Substitutions Like many punters, I watched in December for any hints and whispers (and managed to miss Jeanette Lee's updates...). The month saw Whale, Vialli, Pele and Benny all have hospitalizations - and two not make the 2023 starting line. I entered my team ~17:15 GMT 30 December which had Benny on it. So my first sub was called up: Subs Shannen Doherty - called up Frankie Valli Barbara Walters died 30 December (I did not know at time of submission) As well, 2023 had a 1st Jan hit with Frank McGarvey and Vialli soon on the 6th. There have been two recent 1st Jan hits of D40 picks - 2022 Gary Burgess and 2021 Floyd Little. With this said, I would say that an increase in the numbers of subs is acceptable, provided it doesn't cause more work for the Cmme. If increased to say 4 or 5 in total, that's only one or two extra lines on the Excel sheet that may not be used. The Cmme would know more the number of shorthanded teams with less than 20 too. The Cmme also knows the efforts of subbing in picks, so ultimately it is their call. D40 vs Unique Points In my main team, I was shocked to see that I have 18 (!!) D40 picks. Yes, I knew of few would be there (Whale, Vialli, Carter, Barker, Harris, etc.) but others I did not expect. So I have the potential of 54 extra points for doing nothing but following the crowd. Currently at D40 is +3 points and a Unique is +4 points. My proposal is to give a 2 point differential: D40 remains at +3 but Unique increases to +5 or D40 decreases to +2 and Unique remains at +4. My preference is for 2/4 as it reduces the reward of being part of the herd and justifies the research into that Unique hit. It does not inflate scores either. So that my thoughts on those subjects. I'll let the Cmme ruminate on them and I'm curious to hear what others have to add on these subjects (my thanks to @drunkasaskunk for starting these discussions).

Update 20 January Here is the Joker Distribution (now on Stats post too): Henry Kissinger 1 Bob Barker 1 Nigel Starmer-Smith 2 Tony Bennett 1 Norman Tebbit 1 Joanne Woodward 2 Joss Ackland 1 Rolf Harris 11 Ryuichi Sakamoto 9 Shane MacGowan 1 30 And here are the baseline points for all runners. The following penalties are in place: incorrectly predicted (-1 for each 'hit') + (-2 out by 5 on total hits; applies to all runners at this point) + (-2 for having joker incorrect; applies to all runners at this point) = current score. For example, @Grimgrass is at -16. Calculated = -1 * 12 hits + (-2) + (-2) = -12-2-2 = -16 Here's the starting ranks. Grimgrass -16 Great Uncle Bulgaria -17 diego -17 Joey Russ -18 Joltin Joe -19 YoungWillz -19 Bibliogryphon -19 Sean -19 theoldlady -20 gcreptile -20 wannamaker -20 LizLemon -20 Newjack -20 Etushispushingupdaisies -21 tracy -21 The Duke of Deadinburgh -21 TQR -22 Book -22 Torva Messor -22 Funeralopolis -23 DoorSlammer -23 WinterCake -23 Annami -23 chilean way -24 Summer in Transylvania -24 The Daredevil -25 Dying Probably -25 The Old Crem -25 Hell -25 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -26 Grab some popcorn and get comfortable, only 345 days to go!

Hello @WEP, here are my picks for the 23/24 season. Physics: Carlo Rubbia Chemistry: Ryoji Noyori Medicine: Bengt Samuelsson Literature: Bob Dylan Peace: Mohamed ElBaradei Economics: Robert B. Wilson

Alright, the tables have been populated and here's the first update on statistics for DL CL 23! I'll post these to the Stats section as well. Any comments or questions, let's hear them. ------- Number of entries: 30 Average number of picks: ~17 Range of picks: 12 to 22 Number of players with joker: 30 Top 5 picks: Nigel Starmer-Smith (28), Rolf Harris (28), Jimmy Carter (27), Ryuichi Sakamoto (26), Sonny Rollins (25) Bookies favourite: Rolf Harris with 28 picks, jokered 11 times (Host decision based on number of jokers; Nigel Starmer-Smith with 28 picks, jokered twice) Unique picks: Alan Alda (Chilean way), Ali Khamenei (Chilean way), Bob Newhart (Bibliogryphon), Hal Linden (WinterCake), Tina Turner (The Old Crem) Not Selected: Desmond Morris, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Michael Parkinson Designated survivor(s): TBD

Deadline has passed - with a nice round number of 30 runners. Time for some data entry! I'll update as soon as possible.

QO if he was picked Pell is LOTM - last picked in 2019. As 2019 doesn't have the nice alphabetical listing, the team that picked him was Dick Smith's OzEDeath List, '(THEME) Celebs and notables from Down Under.'

Any more for any more?? Deadline for team entry is just over 24 hours away...

Bump. A friendly reminder that the deadline for enteries is 10th January!

Here's his DDP history as a pick for teams: 2023 - ?? (I suspect D40 placement) 2022 - 19 2021 - 14 2020 - 25 2019 - 1 (premiere)

I started entering teams yesterday, but hadn't reached your team yet @gcreptile. I'll make the correction entry for 16 hits. Sure you don't want Kissinger as your joker?

This space for statistics. 14 January - First round of game stats and player picks Number of entries: 30 Average number of picks: ~17 Range of picks: 12 to 22 Number of players with joker: 30 Joker Distribution: Henry Kissinger 1 Bob Barker 1 Nigel Starmer-Smith 2 Tony Bennett 1 Norman Tebbit 1 Joanne Woodward 2 Joss Ackland 1 Rolf Harris 11 Ryuichi Sakamoto 9 Shane MacGowan 1 30 Top 5 picks: Nigel Starmer-Smith (28), Rolf Harris (28), Jimmy Carter (27), Ryuichi Sakamoto (26), Sonny Rollins (25) Bookies favourite: Rolf Harris with 28 picks, jokered 11 times (Host decision based on number of jokers; Nigel Starmer-Smith with 28 picks, jokered twice) Unique picks: Alan Alda (Chilean way), Ali Khamenei (Chilean way), Bob Newhart (Bibliogryphon), Hal Linden (WinterCake), Tina Turner (The Old Crem) Not Selected: Desmond Morris, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Michael Parkinson Designated survivor(s): TBD Update: 20 February Full list of picks and joker distributions. A shorter Joker only picks table can be found above. Pink = unique picks, Green = (potential) designated survivor(s) # picks # jokers Dick van Dyke 5 0 Henry Kissinger 25 1 Bob Barker 21 1 Alan Greenspan 6 0 Nigel Starmer-Smith 28 2 Jimmy Carter 27 0 Tony Bennett 11 1 Dick Cheney 2 0 Harry Belafonte 13 0 Mel Brooks 5 0 Jacques Delors 18 0 Sir Bobby Charlton 13 0 Robert Wagner 7 0 Norman Tebbit 15 1 Rosalynn Carter 11 0 Sandy Gall 4 0 Joanne Woodward 24 2 Ethel Kennedy 4 0 Desmond Morris 0 0 Stanley Baxter 10 0 Joss Ackland 10 1 Jean-Marie Le Pen 13 0 Milan Kundera 16 0 Cleo Laine 4 0 Alan Alda 1 0 Prunella Scales 2 0 Yoko Ono 12 0 Norman Lear 13 0 Burt Bacharach 7 0 Marianne Faithfull 3 0 Angie Dickinson 0 0 Robert Duvall 0 0 Imelda Marcos 5 0 Pervez Musharraf 16 0 Ali Khamenei 1 0 Pete Murray 9 0 Bob Newhart 1 0 Rolf Harris 28 11 Ryuichi Sakamoto 26 9 Willy Nelson 2 0 Dennis Skinner 11 0 Nigel Lawson 10 0 Michael Parkinson 0 0 Sonny Rollins 25 0 Mohamed Al-Fayed 7 0 Hal Linden 1 0 Linda Nolan 13 0 Tina Turner 1 0 Andy Taylor 24 0 Shane MacGowan 9 1 Totals 519 30 I swore I added this list format of ranking by number of picks with jokers listed, but the above is the ranking as they appear on the DL. Will also be updated for hits too. Hit Number # picks # jokers Nigel Starmer-Smith 28 2 6 Rolf Harris 28 11 Jimmy Carter 27 0 3 Ryuichi Sakamoto 26 9 16 Henry Kissinger 25 1 Sonny Rollins 25 0 Joanne Woodward 24 2 Andy Taylor 24 0 11 Bob Barker 21 1 19 Jacques Delors 18 0 8 Milan Kundera 16 0 1 Pervez Musharraf 16 0 Norman Tebbit 15 1 5 Harry Belafonte 13 0 13 Sir Bobby Charlton 13 0 Jean-Marie Le Pen 13 0 18 Norman Lear 13 0 Linda Nolan 13 0 Yoko Ono 12 0 9 Tony Bennett 11 1 14 Rosalynn Carter 11 0 Dennis Skinner 11 0 Stanley Baxter 10 0 15 Joss Ackland 10 1 4 Nigel Lawson 10 0 Pete Murray 9 0 17 Shane MacGowan 9 1 Robert Wagner 7 0 2 Burt Bacharach 7 0 12 Mohamed Al-Fayed 7 0 Alan Greenspan 6 0 Dick van Dyke 5 0 Mel Brooks 5 0 Imelda Marcos 5 0 Sandy Gall 4 0 Ethel Kennedy 4 0 Cleo Laine 4 0 Marianne Faithfull 3 0 Dick Cheney 2 0 Prunella Scales 2 0 Willy Nelson 2 0 Alan Alda 1 0 Ali Khamenei 1 0 Bob Newhart 1 0 Hal Linden 1 0 7 Tina Turner 1 0 Desmond Morris 0 0 Angie Dickinson 0 0 Robert Duvall 0 0 10 Michael Parkinson 0 0 Totals 519 30

This space for updates and colour commentary! 31/12/22 Thought I'd get an early start on this, as the past three days have seen the hits add up! Get your lists in asap is my recommendation! 14/01/23 Table populated and first round of stats up. Player ranking in progress. Thoughts on strategy to follow.

Nope, she's for List of the Missed, last picked in 2016. Edit - should have checked the Rag Traders thread first! @YoungWillz got there first.

Well, it is nearly 4 months later since the last post and during my research for the DDP, I can't figure if he's a worthy pick for 2023. Yes, he'll QO and he is said to have stage 4 cancer, but the type of cancer is unknown. I picked him in 2021 and with him reaching 80, he's dropped in points too. I can't find much from him in 2022, but here's a timeline of events. 22 Oct 2021 - Baroness Meacher announced his illness and stay in hospice during a debate on assisted dying; this thread created by @Ulitzer95 29 Oct 2021 - Last tweet on Twitter by the @frankfieldteam, thanking for the outpouring of support 1 Jan 2022 - Receives New Year's Honours 17 Feb 2022 - given "the Freedom of Wirral" 2 Sept 2022 - co-wrote an article on the cost of living & energy crisis, mentioned by @Sean above ** the only action directly attributed to Field in 2022 ** His personal webite (frankfield.co.uk) hasn't been updated since November 2019. The Frank Field Education Trust is active, but it is unlikely he has any part in the day-to-day works. I'll ask @Ulitzer95 - any insight you have?

This is probably the best place for this…. Recently finished watching “The Vault of Horror” (1973), a film only previously mentioned on the forum at the creation of the Tom Baker thread. Due to its age, it should not be a surprise that only four of the main cast are still alive*: Michael Craig (93) - many mentions on the forum in various threads- recently discussed for notability in the Ideas & Possibilities 2023, with connections to British Science Fiction series, British Character actors threads, etc. Tom Baker (88) - needs no introduction!; appears in the film to still have his Rasputin beard from ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’. Glynis Johns (99) - perennial darling of the forum and ‘why hasn’t she been on the main DL’ question. Geoffrey Davies (79) - the youngest living cast member, probably better known from ‘Doctor in the House’; only forum mention is a pick by @YoungWillz in a 2016 deadpool. With respect to the film itself, it was a decent watch, with the notable living cast above and having also included the siblings Daniel and Anna Massey, Terry-Thomas, Curd Jurgens and Denholm Elliott. To its credit beside the impressive cast, is the running time of 83 minutes. And yes, it is an Amicus Productions film, but don’t let that put you off, unless the horror genre isn’t for you. * With any luck it will be a long time until it can be mentioned in the ‘Films with entirely dead casts’ thread.

Alright, this post is probably 10 days overdue, but it was made possible due to a solid snow fall cancelling trains and a bout of insomnia! While @Death Impends has already mentioned that DQSP is nearly certainly the winner, I would like to be the first to congratulate him on the win and a successful drive for five. As of 12 December, with a 16 point lead, thanks to the recent hits of Phelan (14 November) and Reichert (1 December), the maths make it clear that his nearest contenders need two hits to make up the difference. And those hits have to be a high point D40/Unique plus another pick. It is not impossible, but unlikely. For those who want to read more than the TL:DR synopsis above and check their unlikely paths to victory, read below.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Ray Nelson in 2018. Our conversation focused on the process of writing and we continued our correspondance via smail mail as Ray stated, "No, I do not have an E-mail address. Snail mail is plenty fast enough for me." Looking over our correspondance it is worth saying he was a gifted artist too, and his caricatures are wonderful.

As discussed in the Queen Elizabeth II thread, six new members of the Order of Merit were created on 11 November. Two are Nobel Prize winners: Sir Paul Nurse, 73, 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Venki Ramakrishnan, 70*, 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry This greatly increases any chances of a QO, which most laurates rarely to obtain. *his birthday has been previous claimed at 1952 or 1953, but as of writing it is given on Wikipedia as 1 April 1952 (someone having fun?). A third laurate is Sir Roger Penrose, 91, 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, however he gained membership over twenty years (on 9 May 2000) before being awarded the Nobel Prize. Order of Merit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Merit Feel free to use this idea - the Order of Merit can have a maximum of 24 living members. Currently the age range is 56-96, with an average of ~79. Current and former (Attenborough, Boothroyd) DL picks are members. It has the makings of the easiest DDP Theme team, just order the twenty you favour and hey, four subs available!

And the QO from the Daily *ail for Jules Bass @Death Impends and @gcreptile https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11354309/Producer-Jules-Bass-died-84-following-five-decade-career-Hollywood.html

Agreed, 'pure and simple' and likely the most straightforward explanation. I saw this footage today too, and nothing is put forward to explain his condition. For an armchair diagnosis, I suggest that it is normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_pressure_hydrocephalus Two of his three presenting factors are a fit (I don't agree with the 'obsolete' claim on Wikipedia - these are key markers of the condition). Memory impairment - his confused manner, especially how he interacted with former colleagues and the issue of the file he grasped for Urinary frequency - cannot determine Balance problems & gait - he's been shown requiring aid for walking As for the potential surgery, if it is NPH a lumbar puncture to drain fluid would fit. Short sedation, 1-2 days in hospital. Would get him fit to be seen in public for the spectacle we've seen. The shunt to drain fluid doesn't seem to fit as usually there is a control device/monitor behind the ear to control flow of fluid - no sign of this in any footage. That's the best guess given what has been made public.