Toast

Martin Peters scores for Sean and me.

I'm not so sure; there's a whiny wifey in the picture now.

For the 4,170,569th time, this is the general thread for the year and all deaths may/should be posted here.

If I was any good at memes I would make one for this

He's 98 and not very well, so why subject him to a three-hour car journey if there's a helicopter at their disposal?

No need for the exclamation mark - she died in a plane crash. Anyway he was the youngest by some distance, so their years of death don't mean anything. His mother and one of his sisters lived well into their eighties. So did his grandmother Princess Victoria, so it might be a gene that's come down from Queen Victoria.

That sums it up rather well, I fancy.

And he was sentenced to death in 1981? What a farce these US death sentences are. What's the point?

I think you folks call it a porta-potty. Brits only use the noun 'potty' in reference to the plastic receptacles used when toilet training babies and small children. 'Potty' as an adjective is a slang term for mad, so when we talk about someone "going potty", we don't mean what Americans mean.

I was looking forward to seeing the fabulous Rufus Sewell playing the lead in a murder mystery until I got to the last line of the article. "The story has been adapted by BAFTA-nominated writer Sarah Phelps."

Was just thinking that "young people of today" simply wouldn't understand what Morrissey was on about in Every Day Is Like Sunday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0LeL9BUPtA

Ah, those were the covers when I began reading Agatha Christie. They were brilliant.

Almost the right order. The Flower Pot Men were on Wednesdays, and Friday was The Woodentops (with the biggest spotty dog you ever did see).

My feeling is that people shouldn't be on the list if they're not notable, but picking notable people simply because they are very very old is just lazy.

My remarks are general, not personal. Your point about long-standing DL names is what I'm talking about. I doubt I would ever have put her on the list, because she has no known health issues. And as I already mentioned, I don't subscribe to the notion that anyone is "too big to miss", or to drop. No, I don't agree with that. Not if the goal is to select people who are likely to die in the course of the next year. Picking 50 people who are famous and 90+ is just not very interesting. But then perhaps the Committee isn't aiming to be interesting.

But how many years would it have taken? My point exactly.

Oh, come on! Who could forget Boutros Boutros-Ghali? https://youtu.be/tWkmYraB3Rs?t=164

Well, I am baffled that the Labour, Lib Dem and Green parties didn't get together and present a united front. That was the best strategy for ousting Boris & co.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-50667393 Sensitive subject, but I don't understand this. Including the names of stillborn babies in Christmas cards. I don't include the names of dead relatives in cards I send, nor do I expect people to keep mentioning them in cards they send me. Where do you stop? I get that it might be nice to mention them the first Christmas after they've died eg "Happy memories of your Mum at this festive time" style of thing but I'd only do it the first year. But why would you keep behaving as if a child was alive?

My 2 cents. The only case for including Sheila Mercier on the DL would have been her age. I don't think that's enough, not if they are looking for people who are likely to die during the next year. There needs to be specific evidence of ill-health, and I don't think there was in her case. Sure, anybody over 90 is going to be in their last years but there are plenty of other people with known diseases or life-limiting conditions. And including anyone on the basis that they are "too big to miss" is missing the point IMO. I wouldn't include anyone purely because they are old. I wouldn't put the Queen on the list, although I might include the D of E now as his health seems to be in steady decline. OTOH he is a stubborn old bugger and I wouldn't put it past him to hang on for the ton.

Hmmm, worth keeping an eye on.

You are a very naughty cat.

Definitely. I don't follow boxing, but I know who he is.

She retired from acting over 25 years ago and began a political career as an MP. So it doesn't surprise me that, as an American, you're unfamiliar with her. But she is a household name in the UK among those old enough to remember her acting career, and it looks as though she has lost none of her brilliance.

Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted is a phrase that comes to mind.