Captain Oates

Here's what happened to Shergar 25 years ago.

Heavens! I should have had a lucky dip on the lottery tonight! Still, the dear lady was 97, bless her. I'm feeling quite smug looking at my sudden surge up the DDP table. I'm sure it won't last! Genuinely sad that she won't be around for the Hallé's 150th birthday celebrations next week. I'm sure she'll get a well-deserved mention. Congratulations VSBfH! You don't know how close you came to missing that Unique Pick status on this one! In the end I put her in my eicdp list instead so I'll get a few extra points there, probably. Sorry to see the old lady go, though. Not many left like her! [Dear Mod, This should really go in the DDP thread, so please move it if you feel inclined to do so.]

Wonderful, Godot!

And David Bowie (61) and William Hartnell (100)... That was always a bummer growing up....Jan 9th, nothing......Jan 8th, you've got the original TV DR Who, birth dates of both Elvis and Bowie. I've been unable to find any one/event of any vague significance (me, apart) that occurred on 9 January . Any suggestions? Suggest you put your birthdate in your profile so we can all have the opportuniy to celebrate your unique claim to the day. Anyway, happy birthday! And belated birthday greetings to you, BS!

Well said, HCW; they're all about as bad as each other, in the end.

Happy Birthday M'Lord !

Rev Billy Graham ...or Betty Ford, but I only had one vote.

That would be me then. Any name requests go to me as Admin, I press the OK button and that names comes up on the next youth talent offered to you. I have had a couple of good requests recently. Obviously they have got to be downright rude to get the 'no' treatment. HTH DWB Do I assume you've given me the ok then? The name I want isn't rude at all. Indeed. I think the requested name stays in the box you typed it in, kind of looking like nothing happened, but would disappear if I rejected it. It will be used for your next youth talent, then you can request another one, or the same one, if you rejected the talent offered last time around. Did that make any sense at all? DWB Erm......................... I think so Is this thread the DL version of Mornington Crescent?

Happy Birthday, CarolAnn ! Didn't someone say that 42 is the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything? I hope it goes well for you.

Just to keep you company, ATJ: If I buy a bear for £10, name it Mohammad, then sell it for £20, have I made a Prophet?

I always find battering more effective. But here's one for you If only he'd hung on for a few more weeks...... One hell of an obit mind, summat written that well does highlight the distance between people who've done summat with their lives and the flash in the pan specemins some us line up to knock down on the DDP. That obit packs loads of information and a real sense of the man. Might busy myself having a look at him online. One of that chap's (not uncontroversial from my point of view) achievements, which strangely is not mentioned in that article, was to have baptised me! I was a defenceless baby at the time. I have his autograph on my birth certificate.

Link - from China!

...not a medium but she is a firm believer in ghosts and just about everything else that could be called supernatural. I've never been persuaded by her theories and have never seen or otherwise experienced anything ghostly but neither has anyone positively proven to me that ghosts and supernatural things don't or can't exist. It probably wouldn't be in anyone's interest to do publish such a "disproof" even if it could possibly be constructed and the author would have to be someone who knows a lot more about the universe than anyone I have ever heard of! P.S. Captain's Mate tells me he saw some goats yesterday, but was unable to prove that they exist, when challenged.

Betty Ford - on an impulse. Probably as good a bet as one or two of them.

Only 8 names now! My choice has popped off early. If I had a second chance to vote, I'd keep Gore Vidal on the list.

Sorry to hear you sad news, LB. Let's hope for the best possible outcome.

Another vote for Ian Smith here! But I'm not sure that it isn't mainly a wish.

Didn't Nikita Kruschev keep a shoe handy for a similar effect?

The Most Rev Maurice Couve de Murville, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, has died aged 78.

H(B)B VT !

Ronnie Biggs

Keep strong BHB; my thoughts are with you and your family. All the best, Cap'n PS I agree with Godot's advice to get another dog quickly, as soon as your circumstances allow.

For somebody who is both respected and a long standing member here, im a little suprised at your naivety. Maybe you do find some of his critics much more tedious, some of his "victims" may question your priorities. Personal abuse and stalking are probably two of his best known attributes. Dealing with those matters seperately doesnt really cut the mustard. On any other forum the guy would have been out on hs arse, fortunately for him, this isnt like any other forum. All in all, he stays, not through his popularity but because people are loathed to ban anybody. If the problem is as serious as you contend, my priority would be to sort out the real problem i.e. the abuse. If I have understood it correctly, this takes place mainly in PMs and in chat. The solution therefore lies in those areas. If DL software isn't sufficiently sophisticated to work around those problems (remove the ability to PM, lock out of chat), then an unsophisticated ban would be in order - but for ABUSE not for the quality of poetry or spelling or eccentricity of syntax or just being stoned whilst posting. A couple of substantiated complaints to the boss could do it. If the management doesn't respond, then a complaint to the host/server/local police might have some persuasive power. Deal with the real problem, if that can be proven to exist, and the other matter will vanish - or more likely, attention will shift to some other poor bugger instead!