Toast

Toast's 25 To Stay Alive Dick Van Dyke Henry Kissinger Paul Gascoigne Rolf Harris Jerry Lewis Doris Day Jake LaMotta Stephen Hawking Val Kilmer Chuck Berry Denis Norden Muhammad Ali Hosni Mubarak George H.W. Bush Rob Ford Bruce Forsyth Peter Sallis Abe Vigoda Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Prince Philip Clive James Caroline Aherne Helen Fawkes Robert Mugabe Liz Dawn

It's unthinkable that this should go unposted here, so let's get it over with.

Why not try the Rotten Dead Pool, you can start that any day, and change your mind as much as you like for the first month of play.

Like a number of others here, I'd never heard of him, nor was his face familiar to me.

Almost like a female Clive Dunn then. Well, yes! Here she is in an episode of Ripping Yarns from 1977. https://youtu.be/yVk0QFd3ul0?t=346

I'm also pleased to see that TMIB hasn't been included in the "Black" theme team.

Amazing! Well done, sir, and thank you.

.............so I wont mention that his classic 'Nothing Rhymed' is one of my faves then Toastie..... That may be so, but you must surely agree that song is the most depressing dirge ever. So is How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths and I love them too. Oh, I find that one quite cheerful.

.............so I wont mention that his classic 'Nothing Rhymed' is one of my faves then Toastie..... That may be so, but you must surely agree that song is the most depressing dirge ever.

Ironically there will be a whole team of "Blacks" but no Robert... A whole team of Blacks? You can't be Sirius. I'm so sorry. I hope each and every one of them has had a Wonderful Life

That Dean Friedman song may be the worst ever, I can't disagree with that, but it's not my most hated song. That distinction goes to 'Alone Again Naturally' by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Just fucking top yourself now, man, and stop droning on.

Thanks, Handy, I'd missed that one

How on earth is it any different from Lardy's joke a few posts above about the guy boning his dog and his wife tasting the evidence? What is it about sheep that got you so riled? because he had to show me images of the sheep fucking. But the sheep aren't fucking. Mind you, I can see that from the bottom of my garden if I wanted to.

I like your rant, mate, but I disagree re Gace Jones. I don't expect people to love her or her work, but I own several of her albums, which I occasionally play and I've seen her play live. She's a good, versatile and very entertaining musician. Her composing skills are so-so at best, I admit. +1. Grace is fabulous. Are you sure she's not a "national treasure" ? National treasure, maybe? National fucking looney, definitely. I was thinking that as she's from a relatively small country, it's probably easier to achieve both those statuses

No! It had better not. What next, a late December article 'People we lost in (insert year)' oh look there's his/her name!!! Gimmee my points! SC Yes, that would count according to the rules. And so it should. A letter, on the other hand, is a bit dodgy. I can see deadpool contestants everywhere putting metaphorical pen to paper. Of course, there's no guarantee one's letter would get published.

I like your rant, mate, but I disagree re Gace Jones. I don't expect people to love her or her work, but I own several of her albums, which I occasionally play and I've seen her play live. She's a good, versatile and very entertaining musician. Her composing skills are so-so at best, I admit. +1. Grace is fabulous. Are you sure she's not a "national treasure" ?

Yes, I was just going to check back on that. I think after due consideration it was allowed as being close enough.

Rules and scoring for the Hartlepool Deadlypool Points are scored according to the following highly complex scoring system: Competitors are awarded points according to the order in which their candidates die. The starting positions are as follows: Candidate 1: 50 points Candidate 2: 45 points Candidate 3: 40 points Candidate 4: 35 points Candidate 5: 30 points Candidate 6: 25 points Candidate 7: 20 points Candidate 8: 15 points Candidate 9: 10 points Candidate 10: 5 points When the first candidate dies, points will be awarded as above, and the remaining potential scores will slide up or down one position. If candidate 1 dies first, the team gets 50 points and the points below all increase by 5, so candidate 2 will get 50 points if he or she is the next to go. If a celebrity departs further down the list before the ones above are gone, the scores above are reduced by 5, causing the highest remaining score on the list to disappear. Those below will increase by 5 as before. This will often cause two celebrities to have the same number of points next to their names, but the order in which they die will still influence subsequent scores. The Bonus System: Candidate not picked by any other competitor +2 Candidate under 18 years old -2 25th or less in line to the throne of Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden or Denmark +2 Been on Celebrity Squares (or Hollywood Squares)+3 Death of candidate in spite of extremely high improbability or unlikeliness of same. +5 US Baseball or Basketball player -3 Former or present UK Prime Minister +3 Drummer +2 Incumbent or recent US president +3 Guilty (in Notapotato's opinion) of crimes against humanity +3 Both of the above +6 Has played in a pantomime+2 Has performed Morris dancing +3 Found dead in a Swimming Pool +3 Died in a farming or gardening accident +2 Death worthy of a Darwin Award +2 Murder, Suicide, Lightning +2 Dies on Notapotato's birthday (16th of May) +2 Death by Fire +2 Death by Water +2 Death by Bongo +6 The bonus is calculated according to the following simple formula: bonus x (score gained from death divided by 5) Multiple bonuses multiply so a bonus of 3 and a bonus of 2 give together a bonus of 6. This makes negative bonuses extremely unattractive. This is also the reason why some bonuses have been increased this year, because 2*2 is the same as 2+2. So a bonus of 2 on a score of 40 gives you 2*(40/5)=16 Additionally there will be a bonus of 50 points for coming in in 13th place in the Hartlepool Deadlypool. Unless there are only 13 or fewer entries. then there won't be. Nothing could be simpler. Oh yes, and there's an extra bonus of unspecified size payable on the first hit of the team which has the most interesting and unusual selection of celebrities. 1. Dead means dead. No longer living: A bit like William Holden who having just been fished out of Gloria Swanson's swimming pool, died drunk and impoverished a mere 31 years later. Eligible for a death certificate. (A Munchkin is optional but may get a bonus) 2. For the purpose of the game a "celebrity" is someone well-enough known to get their death mentioned in the UK national press or on the BBC news website. Or anywhere else Notapotato's heavily-prejudiced mind considers a reliable, respectable source of international news. In the event of disagreement as to the celebrity of any individual or the validity of an obituary, Notapotato's word is final. 3. Only human beings may be submitted as candidates. Animals may take part in the deathpool, but may be ridiculed for doing so, and may not get any points. Unless they are cats with a long history of doing deathpools. Team names which sound like an animal such as "Donkey from Hell" or "Dead as a Parrot" are allowed, I suppose, but may be ridiculed. 3a. Strictly only one team per participant. The submission of teams in the name of domestic animals in an attempt to circumvent this rule is doomed to failure. And ridicule. 4. If a participant dies during the competition, unlike in some deadpools he doesn't win the competition automatically. He may, however get awarded a few extra points by way of consolation. And next year a bonus will be named after you, perhaps. If you do die during the course of the year, do drop us a line and let us know where you went wrong so others can avoid making the same mistake. 4a. For legal reasons we are unable to actively encourage participants to murder or otherwise accelerate the deaths of their chosen celebrities. There is however no penalty in the Hartlepool Deadlypool for doing so. Your Procurator Fiscal or local alternative may see this differently though, so we reccommend asking beforehand. 5. Anyone selecting tender-aged sufferers of terminal diseases or anyone under sentence of death or highly likely to be sentenced to death at the start of the year will be summarily ridiculed and very likely penalised in an arbitrary and unpleasant way should their candidates actually die or be killed. 5a. And you won't be getting the extra bonus points for original and unusual picks if you don't come up with something a bit more original or unusual. All the above subject to corrections and addenda from Notapotato and Rotten Ali.

I quite liked that album, but it wasn't as good as Achtung Baby.

Endeavour, the prequels to Morse set in the 1960s. They're very well made and acted, with lots of attention to detail ( and the odd mistake so that we can feel smug if we spot it). Only let down by the plots, which tend to be highly convoluted and only unravelled right at the end at high speed, presumably in the hope that we will miss the plot holes. Enjoyable nonetheless.

Will this do? http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35326988 11) The Best Of 1969 / 1974 59) The Best Of - 1980 / 1987 Don't know where the middle one is? My old vinyl and cassette tapes having long since fallen by the wayside, I picked these up a few years ago in HMV as a three-disc set called The Platinum Collection for about a fiver. What a bargain. It's an excellent compilation with about 60 tracks.

They could have called it Lemsip.

Here are my copy/paste notes on the intricacies of the HPDP - subject to any corrections by Rotten Ali. Hope it helps. Points are scored according to the following highly complex scoring system: Competitors are awarded points according to the order in which their candidates die. The starting positions are as follows: Candidate 1: 50 points Candidate 2: 45 points Candidate 3: 40 points Candidate 4: 35 points Candidate 5: 30 points Candidate 6: 25 points Candidate 7: 20 points Candidate 8: 15 points Candidate 9: 10 points Candidate 10: 5 points When the first candidate dies, points will be awarded as above, and the remaining potential scores will slide up or down one position. If candidate 1 dies first, the team gets 50 points and the points below all increase by 5, so candidate 2 will get 50 points if he or she is the next to go. If a celebrity departs further down the list before the ones above are gone, the scores above are reduced by 5, causing the highest remaining score on the list to disappear. Those below will increase by 5 as before. This will often cause two celebrities to have the same number of points next to their names, but the order in which they die will still influence subsequent scores. The Bonus System: Candidate not picked by any other competitor +2 Candidate under 18 years old -2 25th or less in line to the throne of Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden or Denmark +2 Been on Celebrity Squares (or Hollywood Squares)+3 Death of candidate in spite of extremely high improbability or unlikeliness of same. +5 US Baseball or Basketball player -3 Former or present UK Prime Minister +3 Drummer +2 Incumbent or recent US president +3 Guilty (in Notapotato's opinion) of crimes against humanity +3 Both of the above +6 Has played in a pantomime+2 Has performed Morris dancing +3 Found dead in a Swimming Pool +3 Died in a farming or gardening accident +2 Death worthy of a Darwin Award +2 Murder, Suicide, Lightning +2 Dies on Notapotato's birthday (16th of May) +2 Death by Fire +2 Death by Water +2 Death by Bongo +6 The bonus is calculated according to the following simple formula: bonus x (score gained from death divided by 5) Multiple bonuses multiply so a bonus of 3 and a bonus of 2 give together a bonus of 6. This makes negative bonuses extremely unattractive. This is also the reason why some bonuses have been increased this year, because 2*2 is the same as 2+2. So a bonus of 2 on a score of 40 gives you 2*(40/5)=16 Additionally there will be a bonus of 50 points for coming in in 13th place in the Hartlepool Deadlypool. Unless there are only 13 or fewer entries. then there won't be. Nothing could be simpler. Oh yes, and there's an extra bonus of unspecified size payable on the first hit of the team which has the most interesting and unusual selection of celebrities. 1. Dead means dead. No longer living: A bit like William Holden who having just been fished out of Gloria Swanson's swimming pool, died drunk and impoverished a mere 31 years later. Eligible for a death certificate. (A Munchkin is optional but may get a bonus) 2. For the purpose of the game a "celebrity" is someone well-enough known to get their death mentioned in the UK national press or on the BBC news website. Or anywhere else Notapotato's heavily-prejudiced mind considers a reliable, respectable source of international news. In the event of disagreement as to the celebrity of any individual or the validity of an obituary, Notapotato's word is final. 3. Only human beings may be submitted as candidates. Animals may take part in the deathpool, but may be ridiculed for doing so, and may not get any points. Unless they are cats with a long history of doing deathpools. Team names which sound like an animal such as "Donkey from Hell" or "Dead as a Parrot" are allowed, I suppose, but may be ridiculed. 3a. Strictly only one team per participant. The submission of teams in the name of domestic animals in an attempt to circumvent this rule is doomed to failure. And ridicule. 4. If a participant dies during the competition, unlike in some deadpools he doesn't win the competition automatically. He may, however get awarded a few extra points by way of consolation. And next year a bonus will be named after you, perhaps. If you do die during the course of the year, do drop us a line and let us know where you went wrong so others can avoid making the same mistake. 4a. For legal reasons we are unable to actively encourage participants to murder or otherwise accelerate the deaths of their chosen celebrities. There is however no penalty in the Hartlepool Deadlypool for doing so. Your Procurator Fiscal or local alternative may see this differently though, so we reccommend asking beforehand. 5. Anyone selecting tender-aged sufferers of terminal diseases or anyone under sentence of death or highly likely to be sentenced to death at the start of the year will be summarily ridiculed and very likely penalised in an arbitrary and unpleasant way should their candidates actually die or be killed. 5a. And you won't be getting the extra bonus points for original and unusual picks if you don't come up with something a bit more original or unusual.

It's not the rules exactly, it's the scoring system - which is, shall we say, unconventional. It's all laid out somewhere in this thread, I'll have a looksee where it is.