msc

Esther Rantzen, thanks. Was tempted with a French name just for you but on second thoughts I might keep them for the DDP just now!

It's easy to mix them up, so a refresher. Lord Carrington was a politician who, despite some flaws, was a WW2 hero, a solid public servant, the man who implemented free elections in Zimbabwe after sorting out peace there when everyone thought it was impossible, a vastly respected diplomat, and the man who tried to prevent the Falklands War before it was a thing, in vain as Maggie wasn't listening. Lord Cameron... is a cunt. Hope that helps.

David fucking Cameron, FUCKING HELL. A good way to renew after those thirty years of failure Sunak was whinging about a few weeks ago.

Been on a slow decline for a few years but had to cut his workload massively 2 years ago. But then, as a regular drinking buddy of Jeffrey Bernard at one point, he's done well to get this old. He also said that death is the ultimate cliffhanger because no one tells you what happens afterwards!

Even a burial was a three week wait last year. And its much worse if the person dies during Christmas or Easter, considerable backlog. We had a five week wait between death and cremation when a family member died during Easter week as there were too many deaths in that fortnight for the system to deal with. (And I mean fully booked, no ability to jump the queue, every time slot taken.)

There are some, absolutely, in collector hands, but there's a lot of Chinese whispers* going on, including in that Observer piece. Still, the restoration team know specifically who has a few, so there remains the hope we'll get to see them again one day. (But not this month!) *That article pretty much suggests one of the missing Dalek Master Plan episodes (4 or 12, likely) but apparently that's someone putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5! And assumption, as Master Plan episode 4 was never junked, it just disappeared one day. See also Tenth Planet episode 4, the first regeneration. Went to Blue Peter to show the footage of the regeneration, never went back to the archives!

Gordon's been looking sadly ghastly for a while. He's also got extremely limited sight in his remaining eye.

Why does this never work when we mention Kissinger or Putin?

I agree, they should have an election ASAP. Brilliant idea.

I also like Yoko, though this story is not one of her finest moments. (Though the news seems to give Saint John Lennon a pass for his own behaviour as if he was a rowdy teen...) Maryport's book on The Beatles had a fine chapter defending Yoko's legacy and business acumen. I'd recommend it if I could remember the name but the author literally posts on this forum.

Six years in a row now I've got 100+ points in the DDP. Wouldn't have seen that coming a decade ago when I finished in 188th place.

My trust in Sunak is such that if he said there were no zombies I'd get survivalist tips from the engineer for safety...

She's done well to get this far, and recover from long covid, but she does still have COPD, and as this album is to raise money for her health care in Britain, I suspect she's staying at Denville Hall for her health for good.

It was literally one of the main stories on The Guardian and BBC earlier.

The artist Sir Frank Bowling is a few months off ninety despite being in frail health for years. Looking grim on BBC Four this week and that's a few years old now, can't have much longer left.

Official list will go here 1. Jimmy Carter 1704 (9th, 1st) 2. Joanne Woodward 1333 (7th, 6th) 3. Glynis Johns 1230 (8th, 7th) 4. Esther Rantzen 1155 (NEW) 5. Noam Chomsky 1051 (3rd, 37th) 6. Roberta Flack 951 (2nd, 8th) 7. Shannen Doherty 864 (4th, 32nd) 8. Linda Nolan 846 (5th, 16th) 9. Frank Field 846 (3rd, 10th) 10. Jonnie Irwin 816 (2nd, 15th) 11. Eva Marie Saint 799 (4th, 17th) 12. James Whale 763 (4th, 9th) 13. June Spencer 703 (3rd, 18th) 14. Jean Marie Le Pen 673 (2nd, 30th) 15. Dick van Dyke 655 (3rd, 19th) 16. Nigel Starmer Smith 651 (2nd, 21st) 17. David Attenborough 651 (2nd, 36th) 18. Imelda Marcos 611 (2nd, -) 19. Rob Burrow 598 (2nd, 31st) 20. Alan Greenspan 546 (NEW) 21. David Graham 522 (3rd, 50th) 22. Yoko Ono 520 (5th, 27th) 23. Sonny Rollins 508 (2nd, 40th) 24. Mel Brooks 500 (2nd, 23rd) 25. Franz Beckenbauer 499 (NEW) 26. Bruce Willis 494 (NEW) 27. Steve McMichael 490 (NEW) 28. Toby Keith 485 (NEW) 29. Pope Francis 480 (NEW) 30. Dennis Skinner 479 (NEW) 31. Stanley Baxter 475 (2nd, 41st) 32. Norman Tebbit 472 (3rd, 34th) 33. Ethel Kennedy 464 (NEW) 34. Bob Newhart 452 (2nd, -) 35. Francoise Hardy 431 (3rd, 46th) 36. Violeta Chamorro 428 (2nd, -) 37. William Russell 422 (NEW) 38. Cleo Laine 385 (NEW) 39. Patrick Murray 371 (NEW) 40. Vanessa Redgrave 361 (NEW) 41. Douglas Hurd 355 (2nd, -) 42. Isabel Peron 353 (NEW) 43. Vera Miles 354 (2nd, 48th) 44. Jim Lovell 344 (NEW) 45. Denis Law 336 (NEW) 46. Patricia Routledge 327 (NEW) 47. Tom Baker 311 (NEW) 48. Michael Tilson Thomas 310 (NEW) 49. Julie Goodyear 304 (NEW) 50. Tom Lehrer 296 (NEW) Surely oor Jimmy's not making it on yet another Crowdsourced list?

I'm aware of that (otherwise if she wasn't I'll I might as well suggest Clarkson though I prefer him tbh). More a case of the severity and prognosis timeline. And tbf I was being a git too.

I think Law will return though I only really like 5-7 returnees and Attenborough, Hurd, Osbourne, Whale, Akihito (we all know they'll pick him again) seem like front runners, then there's Raul Castro, Liza Minelli, Louis Farrakhan, Vanessa Redgrave, Shannen Doherty, Noam Chomsky etc. Currently only 9 vacant spots for the DP40 imo (10 dead from the 43 this year, plus I expect Randy Jackson and the better Rhod Gilbert to tumble down the list). Clint Eastwood and Michael Tilson Thomas (was already on 20 teams so not far off it) if he survives seem good Drop 40 bets. If you want my "they're nowhere near it right now" outsider tip for Drop 40, Pope Francis. Only on 5 teams in 2023, think he could easily be on 40-50 at least next year from casuals alone. Also wondering about Beckenbauer, but there's no real groundswell of support behind him yet... Esther might because of wishful thinking (hehehe) and Chickadee might because we're all ambulance chasing ghouls...

He was also an IRA man in Taggart. He looked more like an Irish terrorist than half the actual IRA...

At the same time the point of the Cmme is that no one should be irreplaceable, and that no one should be stuck on it for years and years. Look at TMIB. On both counts. Personally speaking I'm still worn out from my tenure running the front page, to the point even researching DDP teams is a struggle, let alone competing or hosting another game. And Reptiles done far more than I ever did. I would implore someone who knows Excel and doesn't have kids to take over, while the man can teach any quirks of the system. We all owe Reptile his demob status, and the game requires his replacement.

Proper legend. Still, a fine age, and a DDP pick for my old folks team.

Ah the Dean Martin celebrity roasts, I mentioned them a few years ago but folks interest died when they realised it was a TV show and not something else. Of that episode, singer Tony Orlando, poker player Gabe Kaplan and DDP cult pick comic Ruth Buzzi still alive also. I think my favourite line in those shows was by the late great Phyllis Diller speaking of Billy Graham: "he made me what I am today: alcoholic!"

Patrick Murray, Roberta Flack and Sam Neill should make DL24 imo. I've no truck for "he's not famous enough" arguments over a famous face from Britain's most loved sitcom. The Cmme picked Genesis Porridge and Bill Gates dad, there is no fame bar, just who the Cmme feel like picking. Esther Rantzen should probably make it too, just because you'd want to have her when she goes. (This message is from the non-fans of Esther Rantzen.)

TV chefs: Delia feels DLy and is surprisingly in her 80s now but it is far too earlier for her. Graham Kerr in a few years maybe? The rest I feel we are talking well over a decade for inclusion at earliest.

Picked Barkan because I missed out on the Ice Bucket chap and Barkan reached the same period of time with ALS this year.