time

Another excuse to post this...

Its 74 years since the death of Muhammed Ali Jinnah/Mahomedali Jinnahbhai, founder of Pakistan. A Muslim, he advocated for a Muslim state to avoid marginalisation of Muslim in a larger Hindu-dominant independent India, and was the new state of Pakistan's first Governor-General. He lead the country for little over a year before dying of Tuberculosis, at the age of 71.

There are those of us* who have selected her for 2022 DDP who wouldn't mind if she checked out a little early. *just me

Well played, Sheffield International FC

Darius' death determined to be accidental, from accidental inhalation of chlororethane, - medical examiner's office.

That doesn't appear to have sparked the outrage maybe they were expecting/hoping for.

Obit for BBC arts bod Leslie Megahey, who's died aged 77. Was producer & director for both Arena & Omnibus.

Its 35 years since the death of Olivier-award winning actor Bill Fraser. Born in Scotland, he briefly worked in a bank before taking up acting. Moving to London, he was often penniless and slept rough. Prior to the war, he ran Worthing's Connaught Theatre, serving in the RAF when called up. During this time he met Eric Sykes, later giving him his first comedy writing job. He's also said to have given Peter Cushing his first acting job. He became a regular on Hancock's Half Hour, and joined The Army Game, playing Sergeant Snudge, later appearing in its sequel Bootsie & Snudge with Alfie Bass. Other comedic roles in TV and cinema followed. He frequently played belligerent characters, appearing memorably in a recurring role as Judge Bullingham - The Mad Bull - in Rumpole of the Bailey Other dramatic roles included Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield and General Grugger in the Doctor Who story 'Meglos'. His last role was as Mr Casby in 1987s Little Dorrit. He died aged 79, from emphysema, leaving a widow, Pamela Cundell, of Dads' Army fame.

As I was saying... Irrefutably Wright @kingswing72 Replying to @LeighButcher It’s a sign of times that I saw the official Royal Family announcement a good 50 seconds or so on Twitter before the BBC announced the news. Was weird watching them still talking about her in present tense when the news had already broken. (within this thread if you want to see it in situ...https://twitter.com/kingswing72/status/1568150272706240513 9:12 AM · Sep 9, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

If I see that mawkish poem on social media any more I may not be responsible for my actions (same goes for pictures of Phil waiting halfway up the stairs).

Went for Baxter again, as he’s basically unemployed now.

Make of this what you will, but of the two pubs that I passed between the bus stop and home, The Kings Arms is open, while The Queens Arms is closed.

Object away, it'll make no difference to anything. Why do you think she might be called 'King Mother'? The title queen mother (lower-case) is generally given to widows of Kings who are the mothers of successor monarchs, which doesn't apply in Camilla's case, so they'll either have to create a title for her (so maybe queen step-mother), but Queen Mother (Upper Case) was formally adopted as a title by George VIs widow as she was still young and playing an active role in state duties (don't quote me, I might be wrong). You never know, it could be moot as Charles abolishes the monarchy, then they do away with each other in a sort of Squid Games murder-suicide ceremony.

Dani Cooperman, wife of South African singer/songwriter Jesse Clegg and hence daughter-in-law of DL alumnus Johnny Clegg, has died from cancer, diagnosed last year. She also gave birth to the couple's daughter in March of last year.

In the event that it transpires the Queen is the next, this still counts, right?

Given how things work these days I reckon it'll be on Twitter before the BBC. (Or Insta or TikTok, I can't keep up)

I blame Truss.

It's twenty-five years since Derek Taylor succumbed to The Beatles death curse. Working with The Beatles for two periods during the 60s, he was one of those known as the fifth Beatle. Hied by Brian Epstein he worked as the Beatles media relations man for their first US tour, but resigned at the end after the two fell out. Epstein insisted he work his three-month notice period, after which he left to work for The Daily Mirror before relocating to California in 1965 where he established his own PR company, representing the likes of The Byrds & The Beach Boys. He also helped organise 1967's Monteray Pop Festival. His second stint working with The Beatles was at George Harrison's request, as press officer for their newly-formed Apple Corp. Following the break-up of The Beatles, he worked in a variety of roles in the music industry, including VP of Marketing for Warner Bros Records, where he played a part in obtaining The Rutles project, supervising the worldwide marketing of the album & TV show. The character Eric Manchester (played by Michael Palin) is "Taylor-esque". He co-authored a number of books, and in the early-90s was re-employed by Apple to work on mutiple projects planned for that decade. He was assisting compiling the Beatles Anthology book when he died of throat cancer, aged 65.

Its 41 years since the death of Edwin A. Link. Ed Link is best remembered as the inventor of the Link Trainer, an early device for training pilots, which spawned the multi-billion dollar industry of flight simulation. He was the owner of the first ever Cessna and earned a living barnstorming and giving flying lessons. In the mid 1920'2 he developed the Link 'Blue Box', which utilised pneumatic technology from the family Piano & Organ company to control the flying motion. The Link Aeronautical company was established in 1929, with the first customers being amusement parks, the US Army Air Corps eventually buying six for flight training in 1934. Production was centred on Binghamton, New York (where the family had moved to). Broome County Airfield was named in his honour in the early 80s (it's now Greater Binghamton Airport). After selling the company, he turned his attention to matters nautical, designing both manned & unmanned submersibles. He died aged 77, in his sleep, while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Roger Law, half of the Luck & Flaw team behind Spitting Image, is 81 today.

Its 30 years since the death of actor Mervyn Johns. After a career in the theatre and a few minor roles he became an established film actor during wartime and was a regular Ealing Studios player post-war. His last film role was in 1976's House of Mortal Sin, but he continued on the small screen with his final appearance in a 1979 episode of Shoestring. Other film appearances included Went The Day Well, Moby Dick & Scrooge, while on television he appeared in many popular programmes of the 60s & 70s, including The Saint, Dixon of Dock Green, Danger Man and The Avengers (original and New!). He was the father of Glynis Johns, and died aged 93.

Its 30 years since the death of Christopher Trace. After a stint in the Army, he had a brief and unremarkable acting career (unremarkable except for being Charlton Heston's body double in Ben-Hur) before becoming Blue Peter's first male presenter, alongside Leila Williams, in 1958, staying for 9 years. He's credited with coining the phrase "Here's one I made earlier", and also "And now for something completely different", as adopted by Monty Python. After retiring from TV he became general manager of an engineering factory; the factory closed for the day when he appeared on the 20th Anniversary celebration of Blue Peter, so that the workforce could watch. He died of cancer of the oesophagus aged 59.

Cyrus Mistry, backseat driver.

Its 35 years since the death of TV & film director Richard Marquand. He directed several documentaries for the BBC, including a couple of episodes of The Sky at Night, before moving into film directing. His first major feature was 1981's Eye of the Needle based on the Ken Follett novel and starring Donald Sutherland in the 1981. On the strength of this, he was hired to direct episode VI of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi. Further films included 1986's courtroom drama Jagged Edge, starring Glenn Close & Jeff Bridges. He was driving his children home when he suffered a stroke; he managed to reach the destination before collapsing, but died in hospital. He was 49.

I've only ever known it as 'toerag'; one word, with an 'e', which is the only spelling my Concise Oxford has. I accept there may be alternatives (e.g. archaic or American forms) but in the absence of a Full OED, I can only go with sources at my disposal. I don't suppose Susie Dent is a lurker on here? Anyway, it seems we're now in agreement Toast wasn't wrong.