msc

WE CAN'T SEE CLEARY NOW THE WRITERS GONE 8/50 25th March 2021 Children’s author Beverly Cleary has died aged 104. In her childhood she had struggled to read and viewed the books her schools lumped on her as not having any people she knew in real life in them. In the 1950s, she set about writing stories about the sorts of worlds 1950s kids would recognise as their own. She wrote about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and spun off into a successful series about his neighbour, Ramona. She published her last book in 1999. Clearly revolutionised children's novels in the US, turning them from the staid old Victoriana into the normal kid next door has adventures plots you can recognise all over American media nowadays. In this way she set the path for everything in her wake from Cubs at Play to Stranger Things. Modern greats like RL Stine and Judy Blume called Cleary their inspiration. So it is perhaps a bit ironic that the children's librarian once pointed to the Ramona books as a suitable friendly alternative to the Goosebumps series. If you live long enough, everything subversive and new becomes an accepted part of the old tradition. Look forward to Twilight being recommended instead of that new rubbish by school teachers in 50 years time. Beverly Cleary was the 8th success for the 2021 Crowdsourced list.

THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS PICK EXCEPT HE'S DEAD!!! 7/50 13th March 2021 The great sports commentator Murray Walker has sadly died at the great age of 97. A tank commander in World War Two, Walker took to a career in advertising before he was known as a broadcaster. The classic “Opal fruits made to make your mouth water” was one of his, after they turned down the other option of “Opal fruits, made to make you puke”. Enthusiastic for all things motorsport, Murray debuted on radio commentary for the BBC in 1949, but stuck to his day job until retirement age. In 1978 he became the full time voice of Formula One race on British TV. He was so enthusiastic for the sport that it rubbed off on the viewer, with his quips and one-liners becoming as legendary as the drivers themselves. Everyone has their favourite, but here’s a few of the best: “I’ll stop my startwatch!” “The car in front is absolutely unique except for the one behind which is identical!” “With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go!” “There’s nothing wrong with the car, except its on fire.” “His hopes, which were nil before, are absolutely zero now!” “The status quo could well be as it was before!” Murray Walker loved Formula One and Formula One loved Murray Walker. He was good friends with the late Graham Hill, and followed Hill’s son Damon’s career with great interest. In 1996, Damon Hill followed in his fathers footsteps, winning the Formula 1 Championship on the final day, and Walker’s emotional commentary became as part a moment of the iconic sporting moment: “He took the lead! He stayed there! And Damon Hill exits the chicane and WINS the Japanese Grand Prix, and I’ve got to stop, because I’ve got a lump in my throat…” It wasn’t just the great moments Walker was there for. In the aftermath of the Ayrton Senna tragedy, viewers and the BBC turned to Walker to find the right words to guide them through the horrific loss. He formed a popular double act on commentary with James Hunt. He followed Formula 1 from BBC to ITV to Sky. He won lifetime achievement awards from the RTS and BAFTA. In 2013, aged 90, he came down with cancer, and squashed it faster than Vader squashed Inoki in Japan. He continued to write his articles on the sport until the bitter end. It gives us no joy to accept the great Murray Walker as the 7th Crowdsourced hit of 2021.

RUSH IN LIMBO 6/50 17th February 2021 American loudmouth radio host Rush Limbaugh has died of lung cancer, on the same day that Mount Etna erupted. Experts warned of the toxic danger to human life, and also about the volcano. Limbaugh used his radio show to promote Republican concerns. He was a big believer in American exceptionalism, flag wrapped patriotism, and believed that the welfare state trained a person to hate America. He was not a fan of gays, and used to run segments mocking AIDS deaths by name. He felt the US was too lenient on drugs, and disagreed with the existence of climate change. He also didn’t like green energy, feminism, the existence of Barack Obama, or liberalism. He did however believe in George W Bush, torture, bombing Iraq, NAFTA, birtherism, tariffs, calling teenage girls sluts, and that gorillas could disprove the theory of evolution. We've reached out to gorillas for comment here. They can't be arsed with politics and would rather paint and goof about. Rush LImbaugh once said we should all thank him for being a chain smoker. Fair enough, cheers for the 6th hit, mate...

MENEM MENEM (DO DO DO DO) 5/50 14th February 2021 Former Argentine President Carlos Menem, has died aged 90 to give The Crowdsourced Deathlist another success. In recent years he had suffered heart problems, lung problems, liver problems, stroke problems, crocodile problems, and a co-ordinated suicide attack on his home by a passing asteroid. Former political prisoner Carlos Menem was elected as a centrist who promised little (much like Clinton), but who struggled with the financial realities of the job (also like Clinton). Like Bill Clinton, his enemies suggested even more nefarious wrong doing, and like Clinton, he had an affair with Linda Tri… I’ve taken this analogy too far. It is arguable that Menem is actually one of the better Argentine Presidents in living memory. But when that includes Videla and Galtieri, you have to think: poor fuckers. His time in office was known for Menemism politics (really not helping that Muppets meme, guys) in which privatisation was key in trying to save an economy unstable after the Falklands War. Menem increased the number of Supreme Court Judges (just an idea, Joe), re-established diplomatic ties with the US and UK, made peace with Chile, and instituted widespread welfare reforms. He was also a gun smuggler, covered up at least one journalist’s murder, and had his own personal zoo while President. Menem was charged with holding illegal funds in a Swiss bank account. However the courts agreed that the money was just resting in his account. He was still being chased up for the whole weapons/murder thing when he decided that death gave you immunity from jail time. He was the 5th success for the Crowdsourced Deathlist with Februarly only halfway done.

I'd like to thank Joey for running the Crowdsourced list for 3 years for everyone on the forum, and wish him well. I'll be updating the obits for the rest of the year and be the person getting all those random weather men on your lists in December. Anyhow, a bit of catching up (and I'll be recycling bits of the DDP obits for obvious reasons)... NO TIME FOR DAI 4/50 10th February 2021 Former Welsh international footballer Dai Davies has died in hospice care aged 72. The former Everton and Swansea goalkeeper played 52 times for his homeland between 1975 and 1982. At Wrexham, he helped win the third division title. His autobiography was translated as Never Say Dai in English. He commentated, taught PE, and owned a bookstore. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last summer, and his hospice status led to a debut on The Crowdsourced List in 2021. Attempts to say he had No Time To Dai proved fruitless, as it turns out, and he provides the Crowdsourced List with its 4th hit in 41 days of the year. Will this prove to be a bountiful year for the list? Time will tell! (Ahem)

(tbh my actual suspects were Bronski Beat or someone like that!)

Don't worry, yer secret fling with Rod Stewart is safe with us!

One of them was more my type but they had their eye on someone else. No, not Roger, you!

Ranking Roger one of the very few legit famous artists one of the DDP co-hosts has met in real life! I didn't know who he was at the time. Actually in 2005 I met TWO folk from highly regarded British bands and didn't twig at the time - and both of them are dead now.

One of the proper big historic names in tennis. Also a loss as I had him shortlisted for my Old Notables DDP side team, specifically as no one had picked him this year! Although surprised that Vic Seixas, who needed 24/7 care before covid started, has outlasted him here.

Oh I was just thinking about him the other day, and was surprised he was coming up to 85.

I make of it that he'll be a DL miss this decade - they seem to look at folk in their 90s, and Francis's health/robustness has never struck me as a nonagenarian in the making.

103rd actually, not counting Northern Irish seats. We have a lot of safe seats in the UK! (Still, about 100 places higher up the list for Tory majorities than C&A!)

It's a Tory safe seat with Labour the only vaguely credible challenger. Although a lot of that might have been the fact that Heath and Brokenshire were well liked locally, that gap is far too big to shift. It's bigger than Chesham and Amersham, in fact, Old Bexley and Sidcup is within the top 100 safest seats in Britain.

I genuinely can't be bothered going over 25 years and 8000 teams to check, but yeah, 8 or so must be up there, even if split between 3 Crumbles. Willz managed about 5 unique hits in 2020 iirc on one team.

I don't know if these records are kept (ie they aren't) but you must be in the running for most unique hits for a player in one year now.

Returning to Spain after corruption charges dropped: Juan Carlos eyes return to Spain as corruption cases close | World | The Times Also "planning own funeral" now, which sources claim is not ominous at all, honest: King Juan Carlos says he ”must now think” of his own funeral – Royal Central

In fact, Venables is still in jail - went in 2018 for child porn, denied parole a year ago, up for parole next year some time. Of course he could have been done in Swansea nick, but that's not the twitter rumour.

I thought he was still in jail for his last crime?

"But in the discussion above, the "keep" voters are given very short shrift. Nobody exactly laughs at them, but nobody above is taking them seriously at all. In context, I would understand those votes as expressions of distress, from people who feel their views are ignored and their work is casually obliterated. And they have a point: we as a community don't really care what they think, and we don't want this content. All we want is for it to be gone with the minimum of process and fuss. I've sometimes thought that the right solution might be for them to set up a separate gerontology wiki with their own rules." Given this quote on the chap's main Wiki page and the fact that there's now more than one of them doing this, it feels a bit like deliberately and intentional vandalism.

Bob Dole's had so many health issues that even Zsa Zsa Gabor's ghost thinks its overkill at this point.

Top marks for using the correct thread. Although I think she had more interviews for reaching 40 than even Captain Tom did!

Well, she was the Honourable Sophie Ankaret-Edwards (subsequently Sabbage) as named in the British Peerage Guide, due to her Tory Cabinet minister father (and well connected grandfather) - so an upper class version of the cancer book writer. Anyhow, the last sentence surely suggests a QO for Jellydead at some point, I'd assume.

Nah I think you're on to something there. Bill Hicks died far too young and a fair bunch of his comedy is dated due to that fact he never got to age - but his summary of US foreign policy being like the bad guy in Shane was funny and quite apt. "Pick up the gun.... you all saw him, he had a gun!" Jimmy Carter was once asked what he thought his finest achievement as President was and he said it was not sending American troops into a war., btw. The BBC is a fantastic TV making company but its been buggered at the top by Blair and then the current lot for political gain time and time again, and its been more and more evident in their news output as the years go on. Actually, round here Nicola is equivalent to a living God in some quarters, but I've never recalled the Nats being this unpopular round here before. A lot of the stickers have come down, and people are fucked off (rightly) by the poor council services like the bin pick ups and so on. Independence is grand and all that, but maybe show you can run the country first? (SNP, not you specifically, Willz!) Any local could have told them the Southern was a shite hospital and no gloss over could sort that out. The Western was a far better hospital and it got demolished for a quick saving. And aye, I was on the Devo Max train in 2014 and think if David Cameron had actually listened to Gordon Brown (ever?) things would be in a much better position now. Anyhow, it's no all bad. The Wings over Scotland chap has fucked off.

Well tbh if I could answer why world leaders seem addicted to permanent war I'd be in a far more lucrative job... As for drugs, however, I suspect the reason they were banned in the first place is still relevant. (No, not because they were harmful, but because a bunch of influential rich tobacco and booze manufacturers bribed the government about a century ago to change the law to outlaw some competition!) It makes sense to legalise them on crime, social, medical, and economic grounds. Also, while I'm making a rare political post, feel free to quote this mockingly in 2023, but as it stands, I think the Tories are in more danger than they think they are for the next election. If they are down 10 points in seats won in 2019 (latest YouGov, plus some of the locals in May - which were made up as it was still an increase on 2016-17 local Tory vote) and haemorrhaging voters in the Southern seats which have a Liberal in 2nd place (local elections again in those regions saw some surprising Lib gains off the Tories, the Chesham and Amersham byelection) then they are already in a spot where it could be a very small majority or hung parliament as it stands WITHOUT Labour having made much recovery from 2019 yet. 18 months is a long time to go, 2 Winters in between, and my gut feeling is we're currently at the best news is going to be for some time now. (Alas, as believe it or not, I'd like the government to improve the economy and do great - their failure is our problem after all.)