Cowboy Ronnie

Good. Given some of the victims may have been alive for some time following Pan Am 103's explosion, when they finally decide he's on death's doorstep he should be strapped to a seat and pushed out of a plane from 30,000 feet. That would end the cancer. Unless he didn't do it, in which case he should be released immediately. But if Qaddafi said he's guilty, it must be true.

Big deal, so they don't get communion. As far as I can tell, it's just a bit of styrofoam wafer and a tenth of a thimble of $3 wine you drink out of the same filthy cup as a bunch of religious loonies, while some teenage boy fondling weirdo pats you on the head.

At a pub quiz the other week, one of the questions was "What is the eighth rule of Fight Club?" Without Googling, any guesses? (And yes this could have gone in "Quiz Time", but how often do we get Honduran posts, so I want to keep this thread alive for a bit.)

The British weather. Specifically, today's. On the back of the delightful summer we never had. And yet you know there'll be a hosepipe ban soon enough. Why don't they try keeping some of the water when it rains.

Can't we all just be pleased that a smart, worldly guy has been elected US president?

What a very brave thing to admit to, HCW.

According to the London Liar Lite newspaper, Paddy Power is offering odds of 12-1 (down from 16's) that Obama will be assassinated during his first term. It doesn't appear to be on their website a 12-1 shot, but they do offer a tasty 50-1 that the new Prez will declare the moon landings were faked.

At a recent quiz attended by no less than three DL members, the questions included the following: 1. What are the five English football teams whose names begin with a vowel who have played in the Premier League? 2. Name the five independent states in mainland Europe which are bordered by only one other country (For the record, the three player DL-packed squad crushed the pub oppo and stormed to a clear four point win.)

and don't forget #8, being one of the robotic crew of Red Dwarf. I had to look up Honez' reference. Red Dwarf, what a show. Looks like the budget was about 2 pence per episode. Plus whatever bail was due for Craig Charles that week.

A few interesting facts about Michael Crichton (with thanks to wiki. Remember when people on the DL used to make fun of wikipedia? Tools): 1. He was a doctor, author, film director, movie/TV producer, computer game developer and bit part actor. Perhaps the only person ever to combine these skills, on a major level anyway. 2. He wrote The Great Train Robbery and Rising Sun, both of which became films starring Sean Connery. The Great Train Robbery also starred Donald Sutherland, who later turned up in Disclosure, based on a novel written by Crichton. 3. He created the Jurassic Park and ER franchises. Jurassic Park featured director/actor/producer Richard Attenborough, while ER kick-started the career of actor/director/producer/screenwriter George Clooney. Jurassic Park and its first sequel were directed by Steven Spielberg, while ER was originally intended to be a motion picture to be directed by Spielberg. 4. He wrote a book under the pseudonym "Michael Douglas". He later directed the film Coma, which featured actor Michael Douglas, who was also in Disclosure. 5. In December 1994, he achieved the unique distinction of having the #1 movie (Jurassic Park), #1 TV show (ER), and #1 book (Disclosure, atop the paperback list) at the same time in the US. 6. He wrote Congo, which when turned into a movie was one of the biggest loads of loveable rubbish I've ever seen. Just a notch below Anaconda. 7. He publically refuted the probable existence of UFO's and ET's (for which he deserves a posthumous honorary knighthood), as well as doubting the effects of second-hand smoke. Which is ironic as it sounds like he died of lung cancer or some similar smoking-related disease.

I thought the drugs arrest of the O'Neal boys was, like, two months ago.The cat's in the cradle, where's my silver spoon?

That was indeed hilarious. I thought bear-baiting had been outlawed.

Damnit, I had a fiver on him being in Bolivia. But he could still be alive, on Taffy's theory above but in a wilderness-ready, motorised wheel chair.

Uh, for the first time ever a major Western nation is about to elect a non-white person as its leader. More importantly, Obama gets it. He's intelligent, and understands America's place in the world - both what it (ideally) should be, and what is actually is at the moment. I doubt very much he will just appoint his cronies and make major decisions based on self-interest and those of his financial backers. He will have a credibility with the likes of the Palestinians and the Iraqis that no white person could have. He's probably already odds-on to be in the White House eight years. The damage has indeed been done, Windsor, and Obama will do a hell of a lot to repair it. But this is one of the biggest moments in the history of the United States, hence all the hype. Of course, if he loses, I'll look like even more of an idiot than usual. But he won't. mark it down.

Windsor's on to something here. He probably arranged for a visitor to bake a plutonium file into one of the cakes they brought him, so he'd catch cancer and be let out early.

I haven't seen it lately, although it will no doubt pop up on one of Sky's innumerable channels tomorrow evening, but John Carpenter's Halloween remains one of the great horror films. Awesomely evil theme tune.

Well, not dead yet, apparently. But not sounding too good. Kim Jong (Quite)-il

Pirate outfits seem to be all the rage these days. There were fans at Wembley for the American football wearing them, and I am most ashamed to confess having been to the Tiger Tiger bars in Cardiff and London the past few weeks, I saw people in pirate costumes at both.

So, did they picket at his funeral? Given that Heath was only playing the role of a gay cowboy, and wasn't actually gay, the whole thing sounds like so much b-s, and little more than a desperate plea for publicity.

I agree that people who drag themselves to work and ignore the fact that they have "sick days" are an example of selfish behavior. I also agree that playing Justin Timberlink or anyone from Americon Idol inside a public environment is in a way, very uncivilized. (Or at least in my view) It's crucial to keep in mind that inconsiderate people are also usually incognizant. The solution is to ignore them like they ignore you. Buy an I - pod! It's either that or listen to ringtones for the rest of your life. My last thought on this topic is that maybe Windsor is on the wrong bus. It's almost like the Twlight Zone. (It's a special needs bus! Everybody on it is partially deaf!) The final scene would be that even as he isn't aware of this, regular public transporation services are not all so bad. OK, I think we're into double digits of Banshees' personality shifts on the DL. Good times! And Banshees, dear boy, your solution to noisy iPods on public transport is more noisy iPods on public transport? I would have thought people who are annoyed by other people's iPods are sensitive enough to other passengers not to make the problem worse. I try giving the offenders a dirty look, and have on occasion asked them to spare us their musical backwash and turn their iPods down. Most look amazed that anyone would dare make such a request, but generally comply. One day I'll get stabbed over it, but at least the principle will have been upheld.

Their government putting minimal taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and petrol making it all dirt cheap and giving them a very healthy GDP. I saw The Grand Duke etc. and The King of the Belgians when they visited where I was working (175th anniversary). We were not part of the (very few) flag waving public, it was purely by coincidence as we made our way towards the hall serving free booze. edit - almost forgot Radio Luxembourg! Thanks Mono, I sort of figured we'd get a Beneluxurious response from you sticking up for the Duchy. I'm not sure that setting low taxes for its citizens is much of a benefit for the rest of the world, but you're right, the locals must love it. Any idea how many tourists make it to Luxembourg every year? I'm guessing single digits. Radio Luxembourg's website is reporting that Robert Plant is not going to tour or record a new album with Led Zeppelin. Because his solo career and that weirdness with Alison Kraus is just such a triumph. Maybe he should be a candidate for DL 2009, although it would break the wishful thinking rule. Miserable cnut.

It's why Luxembourg never does anything. They take too long saying everyone's name. Can anyone name a single contribution to mankind made by anyone from Luxembourg? It's not as though it's that small - half a million people, according to wiki. Of a list of famous Luxembourgeoise, I have heard of exactly two - Jacques Santer, who was EC president (not a token appointment or anything, I'm sure they really merited it), and the skier Marc Girardelli. Maybe if Belgium gets sucked into the vortex that the Super Hard-on Collider is supposed to create (if they ever get that sucker working again), Luxembourg will go too. No one would miss it.

They should just run him through a wood chipper. Would anyone object?

Barack Obama to visit his ailing grandmother Taking a Barack from campaigning He must be pretty confident of winning the election, his grandma must be pretty ill, or both.