Death Watch Beatle

After the groans from the DL forum for not predicting Harold Shipman topping himself, my I put forward another murdering doctor (allegedly) for consideration. Although Dr Howard Martin is not as prolific as Shippers (it would seem), if convicted I could see this 70 year old trying to buy a one-way ticket. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4145231.stm The trial and jailing could take over a year, so I think we should see how this pans-out. DWB

Watt? DWB

I do like the following quote from the piece about Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: After reading earlier in the article that no Pope in 800 years has ever abdicated, the DeathList committee may do well to automically select Ratzinger if he gets promoted because he "will spend a just few years on the throne". Perhaps it was a printer's error perhaps it was meant to read: "will spend just a few years on the throne"? Conspiracy, what conspiracy? DWB

Sorry chaps, it looks like we were aiming at the wrong moving target. Baghdad governor Ali al-Haidri is the one we should have been looking towards: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4144511.stm DWB

The latest front-runner tipped to take the number 1 shirt from the Polish goalkeeper seems like an interesting character: http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/37675.htm A good sign for the DL is that the Vatican is taking thoughts of a replacement very seriously indeed! DWB

Of course. DWB

HCW - I agree, it is very early for this thread, but the problem was that the 2005 thread was still being used, so, what to do? Perhaps everyone can ignore this thread until after the summer? DWB

As the New Year is well past us now, we need to close this thread and open an Ideas and Possibilities for 2006 thread. So go here with more of your ideas: Ideas and Possibilities for 2006 DWB

Refering back to the comment from Notapotato regarding when Cyril actually popped-off. If it did turn out to be a couple of days ago and the family didn't break the news immediately do the points get taken away and a substitute employed in the DDP team? If so, how do you judge who is to be used as a substitute - Notapotato and RK would now have had more time to think about a replacement and have more information to work with than any of the other players. Just a thought. Well actually I just wanted to stir it up a bit, but I think it is a valid point, sort of. DWB

A few more facts about the 2005 list for you. The average age of the list is 87.8 years of age, helped in the main by Diego Maradona and Hamid Karzai being under 50. The split of ages on the list is as follows: 100+ = 2 90-99 = 26 80-89 = 14 70-79 = 5 60-69 = 1 50-59 = 0 40-49 = 2 No surprises really. DWB

Nice work Markusdragon. So, according to your calculations, when can the DL expect a full house of 50? DWB

It has been mentioned on numerous occassions that the DL can be very biased towards candidates from good ol' Blighty. Of course it is, the top dogs at DL HQ are British, and the website is British based. However, as an exercise I have listed below the nationalities of the latest 50 recruits. (I have assumed Peter O'Sullevan is Irish, although I haven't confirmed that he wasn't born in Northern Ireland - I'm sure he wasn't, but you never know): America = 20 Britain = 12 (although Olivia de Havilland was born in Japan apparently) Poland = 1 Germany = 1 Ukraine = 1 Switzerland = 1 Brazil = 1 Portugal = 1 France = 1 Russia = 1 India = 1 Afghanistan = 1 Argentina = 1 Canada = 1 Chile = 1 South Africa = 1 Czech Republic = 1 Austria = 1 Ireland = 1 Cuba = 1 So there you have it, the DL is not Brit biased - it has a definate American theme! Note for Honez (and any others from down-under): Sorry about the lack of representatives again this year! DWB

A couple of things about Pete to report. Before Christmas he said he was going to straighten himself out for his mum - 'cause he loves her, but this week was found jumping in front of taxis while not in full control of his senses. Alas the taxis managed to avoid Doherty. Perhaps we should have gone for him as an outside shot this year - just for fun! DWB

Congratulations on winning the DDP. Artie Shaw timed his time-out to perfection. I think it would have been rough justice if we had lost to Otis by one point, he only managed 6 picks while the DL managed 9 including Artie. Are we going to get a photo of the award ceremony posted up? DWB

If you want an unwell darts player, forget Fordham, Tony David is your man! http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/comm...5E14793,00.html I imagine he would have to win the title again if he was to pass the famousity test. WDYT? DWB

An overview of the the years hits and misses from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4056105.stm DWB

Latest post from the Beeb on Dick: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/t...dio/4118451.stm Very under the weather, but not critical is would seem. DWB

The 2005 list is being drawn-up by the admin. people at the moment and will be published on the 1st January. Any ideas and suggestions for inclusion need to be posted in the forum and people can then discuss the finer points of each candidate. There are no guarantees that your nominations will make it to the list, but if you feel strongly for an individual, make your point in the forum. Most importantly, if you know of a reason why they won't make it to next Christmas, let everyone know! Don't forget to use the search facility to find out if your suggested person already has a thread running. DWB

Harry, do you live in Britain? You sly old dog! DWB

That's right Yeti, you're not missing anything, nothing at all. Anyway, GUN worked and so did CHRISTMAS - very topical! DWB

Eat a Banana gets unexpected results. Wet Tee-shirt gets expected results! Can I also add that the Frenchman with the horn(s) is very good also! DWB

The vitural barmaid is a wonderous find. Being a bit slack (at work) I have found the following keywords most amusing! Kiss, Run and Magic - don't ask why we thought of magic, we just did OK! DWB

Pedro, if you look on the 2004 list, the number of appearances is the figure in the 3rd column. I suppose if you look at all the other year lists, whose links are below the list, you could work out who has had the most nominations. DWB

Weatherman received a ban because of his ill-thought out responses to postings on the forum. If he didn't agree with the content or views expressed by an individual he was prone to use offensive and derisory language in reply. It was felt by the Moderators that this sort of response did nothing to encourage new users of the forum and could actively discourage people from joining in and enjoying the site. Weatherman is welcome to participate in the forum again but if his behaviour has not improved since June then the Moderators will unfortunately have to step-in once more. DWB

... not only that, a drive-by who actually apologised to me for getting it wrong! A breath of fresh air indeed! DWB