Cowboy Ronnie

according to the always fact-filled Evening Standard, Monaco's Prince Rainier's getting old and trying to decide which of his kids is least likely to f*%$ things up in the principality when he goes. He was recently in hospital for a recurrence of heart problems. That family's due to have something bad happen to 'em - it's been a good few years since anyone died or got cheated on by their bodyguard/husband nailing a stripper

It's too bad we can't have "any resident of a town Jessica Fletcher is due to visit" as a selection for the DL, because of one thing you could be certain. Whenever that meddling old busybody appeared you knew it was just a matter of time before one of the neighbours turned up dead. I reckon she committed about half of them herself, and hoodwinked the kindly but bumbling local law enforcement.

I think you'll find Grim Reaper's history is as extensive as anyone's

Actually, on further review it was Jeffrey Bernard, who died on Sep 4, 1997, one day before Mother T. But predicting him was a bit simple as there was a play called "Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell" which had run sometime before that, so if all the silly lovies knew he was on his way it was low-hanging fruit for the DL experts.

Is that true? Do you not end up with a never ending sensation of deja vu? didn't someone just say that?

A "lightening rod for feminism", according to her bio. No kidding - check out the photo. And I was struggling to figure out how some guy lived with her for 30 years before finally marrying her, until I got to the end of the article where it pointed out they were both homosexual. Makes perfect sense then......

Best ever for us long-time DL'ers was probably that wild and wacky week back in late summer '97, when Princess Di lived up to her name and then Mother Theresa kicked it a few days later. Not that Diana was on the list, but in terms of interesting deaths, that one remains hard to top. Mother T had been a long-term favourite, and was in at number 2 that year. I think someone else on the list might have died right around the same time, because I remember being a bit overwhelmed by it all. In a good way.

Now that he's appeared on Jimmy Kimmell we know his career's well and truly dead. Will the man himself follow? I still contend he falls short (ahem) of the fame test

Nice defence of the site there GreenFranz, although to be honest, we do celebrate a bit when someone on the list goes. I suppose we're celebrating the fact that we accurately picked them, rather than that they died, but when, for example, the Pope finally went I did exchange high fives with another DL follower.

and then there's this old favourite.... http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/turkish_colleague.htm

Neoconservative intellectual? Is that an oxymoron? Or just a moron....

Pope given last rites

I've been to Belgium a couple of times. Boring. Best thing, by far, was Waterloo, and all that's there is a big lion which supposedly was made from melting down the French cannons. Everywhere else I went there were fifty freakin' lace shops on every street. Brussels has to be the dullest European capital going. The fact that they actually claim the Mannekin Pis as a tourist attraction tells you all you need to know about the place. VB - suggest you change the title of your presentation to "Reasons to invest in Poland", which is leading the charge of the new Eastern European members of the EU. The chicks are hotter, too.

Hmmm.. I'd say some belgians are more famous than others... Senne Rouffaer, actor who is better known as "Kapitein Zeppos" (Captain Zeppos) Audrey Hepburn, actress and special ambassador to UNICEF Lynn Wesenbeek, first presenter on the TV station "VTM" and Miss Belgium in 1987 Jean-Claude Van Damme, action-film hero Dora van der Groen, actress best known for her role in "De Heren van Zichem" (The Men from Zichem) Terry van Ginderen, TV presenter better known as "Tante Terry" (Auntie Terry) from "Tip Top" Bob Davidse, TV presenter better known as "Nonkel Bob" (Uncle Bob) from "Tip Top" Samson, famous Belgian TV-dog Thanks, Anubis, for some (local?) insight into the relative fame of various Belgians. Here's a take on your list from a US/UK perspective: Senne Rouffaer/Captain Zeppos - never heard of him or his character; Audrey Hepburn - well, we've all heard of her, and in fact she was a Death List fave in her day. Only problem is that although she was born in Belgium her mother was Dutch and her father English; Lynn Wesenbeek - sorry, again, never heard of her. Had she been Miss World or Miss Universe (anyone know what's the difference? I heard somewhere Miss Universe is supposed to be a little sluttier) then you might have been on to something; Van Damme - yeah, the Muscles from Brussles. 10 points Dora ven der Groen - sorry, not a clue; Terry ven Ginderen - sounds like a man's name, but apparently a woman? Doesn't matter, never heard of this person either way; Bob Davidse - who? It's a hunch, but I'm wondering if his on-screen character has it off with Tante Terry. Nul points Samson - famous Belgian TV-dog. You're kidding right? For everyone out there who feels this site has a UK and/or US bias, my own rule of thumb is whether or not the average person in the world (ok, the parts of the world where people have TV's, newspapers, radios, internet) would reasonably have heard of the "celeb" in question. One would expect, for example, the cast of Friends, to be known around the world (I'm not saying this is a good thing, just a fact). I would estimate only about 50% of this year's DL pass this test, although I conceded the point years ago that as a UK oriented site it would have a preponderance of Brits, many of whom would not be widely known outside of the UK.

shouldn't we be looking to the Prime Minister of Luxembourg for confirmation of either death? http://www.xak.com/main/newsshow.asp?id=38439 Poor Luxembourg. The only way it can get into the news is when its leader makes a fool of himself, and the next time it will is when Real Madrid fire their manager

such a television company already exists - it's called Fox, the US arm of Murdoch's empire

hell, the US issued a death sentence against Bin Liner 3 1/2 years ago, and they're still nowhere near catching him. I was thinking a great new reality TV show would be to send say 10 teams of two out to Pakafistan with the US-offered $25 million bounty the grand prize for the team that catches or kills Osama. The teams would be a mixed bag: a couple of special forces guys on one team, some "Dogs of War" style mercenaries (Mark Thatcher could consult, or maybe even be on one of the teams. Except he'd almost certainly lose the first week), SAS and Mossad squads for an international flavour, but also a couple of fun celebs like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Each team would get $1,000,000 to use on provisions, arms, transport, bribes for local warlords, etc. They could hardly do worse than what the CIA and US military has come up with so far. If people will watch Paul Burrell crying like a little girl when he had to touch a bug, or Rebecca Loos jacking off a cow, surely they'd watch "Hunting Osama".

To answer 4H's enquiry, it's simply a life spent in front of the television (supplemented now by the interweb) has rendered me satiated with an abundance of useless and/or obscure popular culture references. I have dim recollections of seeing a bit of Mahogany on US TV sometime in the early 80's. Back to the topic which is the title of this thread, the pontiff's health is apparently improving, although he's still in hospital. Clearly divine intervention at play.

maybe it was a reference to a life-long love affair with the film Mahogany, starring Diana Ross and Billie Dee Williams, and featuring the timeless classic "Do You Know Where You're Going To?"

hey, I live in London City, so I'm not sure about the win-win thing. But if Mr. Bomber is going ahead, perhaps he would be kind enough to let us know when so we can head to the country for a couple of days, and focus his attacks on those parts of the city which would probably benefit from a good flattening. I can post a map with targets if that would help (watch out Dalston).......

I used to live in the RSA during the dark days of apartheid, and while life may be more inconvenient today for the average white person living there, I'd have thought for the typical South African (i.e. black) citizen, life is far better today now that they can do things like vote, go to any beach they want, take any bus they want, etc. You know, things white volk everywhere pretty much take for granted. This is not to overlook the tragic Aids epidemic or the terrible crime statistics which currently plague the country, and I'm sure all South Africans hope the next President is more pragmatic and effective than Mbeki (Xhosa for "clueless"). As for PW, that old racist, I don't believe the DL site contends he was corrupt, although as FF notes he was the head of a regime which denied the vote as well as many of the most basic human rights to 3/4 of the population. How that crew could live with themselves is beyond me. Personally I think FW de Klerk gets a little bit of the short end of the stick, as he was as instrumental in setting SA on the right path as Nelson Mandela, but he never gets visits from Bono telling him how jolly super he is. Anyway, as and when Botha does go I'm sure there will be far more people celebrating his passing than mourning it.

Hmmm, is Michael Jackson's dad famous enough? I suppose he would be, if only for the fact that besides siring the various Jackson kids, he also beat them with some degree of regularity, thereby ensuring his own level of fame independent of merely being their parent. By the way, my take on the trial is that Jacko won't go down (insert smutty joke or sN-word), at least not on the main charges. The DA has an old vendetta from the allegations 10+ years ago (criminal case dropped, civil case settled out of court), and the kid's parents have a track record of using allegations of improper behavior to extort money. He's weird, to say the least, lacks any kind of boundaries in what is and is not appropriate behavior, but methinks he's got a pretty shrewd defense counsel who will punch enough holes in the prosecution's case. I could see them settling for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, suspended sentence probation, etc. but no jail time. In case anyone cares.....

Let me save you the effort. The rabbits did it better, but in a nutshell, the Brits are all bad, fat Kate gets her kit off, the boat and Leo sink.

with you there IYG. We may have differing views on Titanic, but Grace Kelly in, amongst others, Rear Window, was mesmerizing. Although he was a Prince and fabulously wealthy, I actually think she sold herself a bit short with Ranier. The only actress who could compete was Sophia Loren in Houseboat. Mama Mia, that was a spicy meatball.....

and to this list we could add Reggie White and Ken Caminiti (cue all the non-Yanks, "Who?"), who both died under mysterious circumstances at age 43. Caminiti was a confirmed steroid user, and few would be surprised if Reggie White was a cream and clear man too. Barry Bonds and Jose for 2006?