themaninblack

And indeed the US confirmed he died at the time! We all missed that one.

I've been waiting ages for this.... No Jackett Required!

Perhaps I was a little premature writing off your chances...

I've always thought that England's all-time wicket taker Jimmy Anderson looks a bit like the late actor James Garner. They even have the same first name!

It's that time of year again when I remind you all of the death of Peter Sellers today in 1980...

Thing is that we're at the point where the top 2 have just a handful of potential hits and we can speculate on what the possibilities are for an outright win. Rather like election night when the politicos work out what swing is needed and what seats can be won to get an overall majority. So without further ado... David Quanticks' Showbiz Pals: Hits 16, Points 145 Mother Angelica René Angélil Hassan Asif (J) G. Monty Brinson Errol Christie Martin Crowe Michel Delpech* Jenny Diski Abdul Sattar Edhi Bob Ellis Péter Esterházy Joey Feek Thomas Fekete Kate Granger Dan Haggerty Luke Halpin (UP) Pat Harrington Jr Rowena Kincaid Howard Marks Kris Travis *Making a big assumption here that Delpech will not get his obit, which leaves just three potential hits left for the champion. Halpin (69) Christie (53) Kincaid (40) Barring any 13th or Birthday/Xmas bonuses, the most DQSP can get is 175pts. No change: 145 + Halpin only: 156 +Christie only: 154 + Kincaid only: 155 + Halpin/Christie: 165 +Halpin/Kincaid: 166 +Christie/Kincaid: 164 The Living End: Hits 15, points 141 Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi René Angélil Bonnie Brown Vera Cáslavská Errol Christie Martin Crowe Peter Maxwell Davies Jenny Diski Péter Esterházy Joey Feek (J) Thomas Fekete Rob Ford Phil Gartside Gary Haggarty Aden Hailu (UP) Eric Lubbock M@ry Luc@5 Ronald Mulkearns Louise Plowright Kris Travis Has a couple more hits to play with: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (45) Vera Cáslavská (74) Errol Christie (53) Gary Haggarty (45) M@ry Luc@5 (53) The most TLE can get barring bonuses is 186 I'm not going to go through all the implications, however should DQSP fail to get another hit (or they both get Errol Christie, the top 2's only shared pick remaining), any other hit will bring TLE the title as there's only a 4 point gap. To definitely win, TLE needs 25 points, which can be achieved with the Cáslavská/Christie/Luc@5 combination, but that would be 18 hits for the year! Big ask... Of the rest, Heading Nowhere has the best chance. A combination of "the Saint" and Vera could win the title by one point...

Congratulations to Spade for the breaking the all-time record of hits in a year: 16...

A BBC obit... but a local one, so no points yet...

Gold: Great Britain Silver: Great Britain Bronze: United States of America

Latest update...

5-1 at Paddy Power for England not to qualify for the next World Cup. Ah well, it's only in Russia... Sunderland will be alright, they'll just hit the boost button again. And again and again and again....

I think it is what they call "putting a brave face on."

Tell you what though, the Labour Party coffers have been boosted by the £25 vote levy (which is what it is) - £4m+ in 48 hours!

I knew he came from Leicester but I didn't know he was buried there! You learn something new every day...

So that's Mike Yarwood's career revival down the toilet then...

As I said the big offices being held just prior to being PM. Callaghan and Churchill were Home Secretaries/ Chancellors but some time before becoming PM. So in normal circumstances the choice would be between Osbourne & Hammond not May and Leadsom. Still as MSC has worked out, Leadsom becoming PM without holding any of the big jobs is highly unusual...

Incidentally, whoever is elected Tory leader will become the first PM since Churchill in 1940 not to have either been Leader of the Opposition, Chancellor of the Exchequer or Foreign Secretary just prior to becoming PM...

Latest update...

So it's France vs Portugal in the Euros final! I thought that win over Italy would take it out of the Germans. The French always do well at home!

Bad luck, Wales. I blame ITV...

That's why left. He's no fool, he knew what was coming... So why not trigger it then Basically... let those who demand you press the button, press it themselves.

Don't think he'll be buying the Wilko's budget Xmas card batch this year...

Worrying signs that the Germans are getting back into old habits: Huffing and puffing and generally being a bit uninspired but usually getting through to the latter stages through sheer willpower. It was telling that last night was the first time Germany had won a penalty shoot-out whilst Jogi Loew was in charge. They'll be getting Horst Hrubesch back in the side next!

Germany nick it on penalties. Deserved I think...