VSBfromH

Lord Elliott of Morpeth "Lord Elliott of Morpeth died on Friday, aged 90, Parliament was told yesterday. Lord Elliott was Conservative MP for Newcastle North from 1957 to 1983" Damn! I had him on my list of DDP possibles for this year (along with about 100 others!).

I was reading an obituary of Jim Casey, son of the comedian Jimmy James and a comedy performer in his own right, as well as a scriptwriter. It contains a quote from his cousin Jack Casey, better known as Eli Woods, whose trademark stutter and gormless delivery made him a familiar face on TV in the 60s and 70s. Eli is now 88 and some of his more recent appearances were on "Last of the Summer Wine" - which would explain why I wasn't aware he was still with us.

Xavier Tondo 32 year old pro rider killed by a freak accident when a garage door fell on him. Another minute's silence to be observed before the next stage of the Giro d'Italia .

Catherine Hurd Douglas Hurd's daughter in law, wife of his diplomat son Thomas, has plunged to her death from the roof of their New York apartment.

Harold Camping nowhere to be found 'Robert Fitzpatrick of New York had put his money where his faith is: The 60-year-old retiree spent $140,000 -- almost everything he had -- on hundreds of billboards proclaiming the Armagedon that Camping predicted. When it didn't come, he was standing in New York's Times Square, surrounded by jeering tourists in a drizzling rain. "I can't tell you what I feel right now," he said. "Obviously, I haven't understood it correctly because we're still here." '

It would have been just typical for Man City to have finally qualified for the Champions League only for the world to come to an end so that we never get to see them play in it. Maybe the almighty didn't reckon on them having a chance of 3rd spot, so he'e given it another day and is just waiting for the outcome of today's games so we'll be even more pissed off.

Gone

Bob Litherland The Labour MP for Manchester Central from 1979 to 1997 has died aged 80.

Ming Ming is now minging

Pam Gems The British playwright noted for the musical "Piaf" and twice nominated for a Tony Award has died aged 85.

And now from Norwich - it's the quiz of the week. What theme tune did Peter Fenn write? (not the bit at the beginning - that's the Anglian TV theme - the one with the really annoying, very 80s "booh-booh-booms" from the synth).

Mary Murphy The actress who co-starred alongside Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" has died aged 80.

Bernard Greenhouse The cellist and founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio has died aged 95, leaving pianist Menahem Pressler (b 1923) as the sole survivor. Greenhouse played with the Beaux Arts for 32 years before retiring in 1987.

Nice of you to visit him. Did you take some fruit?

Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt killed in crash during the Giro d'Italia.

Gunter Sachs dead The German playboy, a former husband of Brigitte Bardot, has shot himself. He was the grandson of Adam Opel, founder of Opel Motors.

Martin Webster The award winning TV producer has died aged 56 after a long battle against motor neurone disease. He was the BBC’s executive producer at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His last assignment was the 2010 London Marathon.

He'll be Scottish till he wins something, then he'll be British! But of course!

I know Mr Salmond's lot did very well last night, but I think Sky are jumping the gun a bit with this link 1. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 1:26.456, 2. Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 1:26.521, 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 1:27.033, 4. Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 1:27.063, 5. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 1:27.149, 6. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:27.340, 7. Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Lotus-Renault 1:27.517, 8. Paul di Resta (SCO) Force India 1:27.725, 9. Sergio Perez (MEX) Sauber 1:27.844, 10. Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 1:28.052, 11. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:28.069, 12. Sebastien Buemi (SWI) Toro Rosso 1:28.153, 13. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Lotus-Renault 1:28.475, 14. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 1:28.765, 15. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams F1 1:28.828, 16. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams F1 1:28.946, 17. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 1:29.409, 18. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Sauber 1:29.637, 19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 1:30.281, 20. Jaine d'Ambrosio (BEL) Virgin Racing 1:31.035, 21. Timo Glock (GER) Virgin Racing 1:31.221, 22. Narain Karthikeyan (IND) Hispania 1:31.320, 23. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Hispania 1:31.989, 24. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull.

He died for his art "Colombian art student John Jairo Villamil has died after covering his head with a rubbish bag during a performance piece. He suffocated during a performance about his perception of his hometown Bogota. It involved him covering his head with a bag and placing his feet inside a bucket of water while holding a chain with bills in one hand and a leaf in the other. The 25-year-old’s audience at the Universidad del Bosque, in Colombia, thought his heavy breathing and convulsions were part of the performance and did not react."

It's not going to kill her, but Stevie Nicks has pneumonia

Eddie Lewis One of the original "Busby Babes" has died aged 76 in South Africa. He didn't make it as a regular at Old Trafford, making just 24 appearances before going on to play for Preston, West Ham and Leyton Orient.

Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu Vietnam's former "first lady" (actually the sister-in-law of President Ngo Ding Diem who was a bachelor) has died in Rome aged 86. "Madame Nhu was often referred to as the Dragon Lady and was known for her harsh remarks about Buddhists. She went into exile in Italy after the death of the two brothers in a coup on November 1, 1963 supported by the United States".

Hubert Schlafly Jr The inventor of the teleprompter (or autocue) has died aged 91. "Schlafly was working at 20th Century Fox film studios in 1950 when he developed the teleprompter. He had been asked by the company to build a device that would help actors remember their lines".