msc

Missed toast and tqr due to phone gremlins but I concur!

Aww Jesus....

Ann Haydon Jones just appeared in the crowd at Wimbledon looking old but well.

I liked the chap who wrote the book which claimed the conspiracy had bumped off a Pope, Mafia dons and a President, yet somehow the same murderous conspiracy kept that author alive for 50 odd years to tell the tale! I mean, it was probably Oswald (with added help of some panicked friendly fire in the chaos which has been covered up). Yet for me, the Who Killed Kennedy conspiracy theory misses out on the whole far more interesting conspiracy for me. Why did Lee Harvey Oswald do it? Who put him up to it? We'll never know because a guy connected to the Mob silenced him soon after. Mafia? Deep state? Bobby Kennedy? A Marilyn Monroe fan with money? Castro doing the old Tito on Stalin revenge? That's where the fascinating conspiracy is, and we'll probably never know the truth.

Current apparently. So you want a male BBC presenter who was working in May but now isn't on TV. Or presumably radio to be fair.

For 1974 they faced an inspired Polish keeper. Poland went on to the World Cup semifinals. In 1978 they were in the same group as Italy and only one of them could qualify. Victims of the sixteen teams only World Cup format at the time. Both their vanquishers did very well at those world cups. Italy were about ten minutes away from the final iirc. They finished second to Hungary in 1982 qualifying but by then it was twenty four teams at the cup so England made it through.

Colin Baker made it to 80 last month, which for a chap on the bulky side is quite an achievement.

Hah. I'm aware of the mood music from Selby (Labour activists in shock at the doorstep returns, Tories miserable) but I'm always wary of anecdotal evidence, and doubly so of constituency specific polling, which can be dodgy. I'm just naturally cautious, and can't quite believe Labour would take a seat in a by-election which isn't even in their top 200 targets. To go from their Hartlepool woes to winning Blair level by-election gains within 2 years is a bit of whiplash effect tbh! Tamworth was Labour under Blair, but its since become one of the safest Tory seats in the UK, and is currently outside of the Labour party's top 400 likeliest target seats. It's even safer than the likes of Theresa May and Esther McVey's safe seats. Demographics haven't been Labour friendly here, with the seat swinging to the Tories in each election since 1997. The locals were unfriendly for the Tories, but still less unfriendly than others, as the Tory vote itself held up fairly well, and the Labour gains came from a massive UKIP to Labour vote switch. It's very much a growing middle class home owning, high house prices, high earning sort of seat. If the Tories have lost home owners (I am aware of the mortgage situation) to that extent... I'm open to being a doubting Thomas about the obvious shift in Selby, but if Tamworth switched, I'd be beyond shocked. Selby confirms the general polling that the Tories are fucked. Tamworth would suggest existential crisis. But then, the last year or so, every time I mentally place what I assume is a cautiously low bar for the Tories electorally, they always manage to do worse. So what do I know? Nothing!

Usual Tory hype so when they do slightly less absymally it can be painted as a great success. 1. Uxbridge - should go Labour though wary about the anti LEZ campaign. The odd local nimby-ish campaign has worked here and there despite the vast anti-Tory vote in the country. Cautiously Labour. 2. Selby - if the Tories lose Selby they're losing everything, Canadian Tories in the 1990s style. Surely the Tories must hold this one. 3. Somerton - Lib Dem gain. So much the Lib Dem heartland its practically haunted by Paddy Ashdown's ghost. 4. Mid Bed - whenever Dorries quits, if she does quit. I suspect she'll linger now she's not getting into the Lords. And the Lib Dems/Labour will cancel each other out. 5. Tamworth - Even safer than Selby above. Gut is they hold 3 at least, and then sleepwalk into an election talking about how the public actually like them...

My plan is for my team to all drop dead in the last week of December, giving me the win here, and causing meltdowns for the DDP and DL cmmes.

35 Kylie Minogue- Can’t Get You Out Of My Head 34 Manic Street Preachers- The Masses Against the Classes 33 Spiller- Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) 32 All Saints- Pure Shores 32 Fragma- Toca’s Miracle 30 Melanie C- I Turn to You 30 Roger Sanchez- Another Chance 28 Sonique- It Feels So Good 28 Eminem ft. Dido- Stan 26 Daniel Bedingfield- Gotta Get Thru This 25 Shaggy/RikRok - It Wasn't Me +1 25 LeAnn Rimes - Can't Fight the Moonlight +3 25 Britney Spears- Oops!... I Did It Again 24 Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & Pink- Lady Marmalade 24 Rui da Silva ft. Cassandra- Touch Me 24 Madison Avenue- Don’t Call Me Baby 24 Melanie C ft. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes- Never Be The Same Again 23 So Solid Crew- 21 Seconds 23 DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies- Do You Really Like It? 23 S Club 7- Don’t Stop Movin’ 22 Eminem- The Real Slim Shady 22 Afroman- Because I Got High 22 Oxide & Neutrino- Bound 4 da Reload (Casualty) 22 Modjo- Lady (Hear Me Tonight) 22 S Club 7- Have You Ever 22 Chicane ft. Bryan Adams- Don’t Give Up 22 All Saints- Black Coffee 21 - Shaggy- Angel 20 Gabrielle- Rise 20 Geri Halliwell- Bag It Up 20 Craig David- Fill Me In 20 Billie Piper- Day & Night 20 Kylie Minogue- Spinning Around 20 The Corrs- Breathless 20 Craig David- 7 Days 20 A1- Take On Me 20 Steps- Stomp 20 Spice Girls- Holler/Let Love Lead The Way 20 A1- Same Old Brand New You 20 Destiny’s Child- Independent Women Part 1 20 Jennifer Lopez- Love Don’t Cost A Thing 20 Atomic Kitten- Whole Again 20 Hear’Say- Pure and Simple 20 Emma Bunton- What Took You So Long? 20 Destiny’s Child- Survivor 20 Atomic Kitten- Eternal Flame 20 Five- Let’s Dance 20 Blue- Too Close 20 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman- Somethin’ Stupid 18 Robbie Williams- Rock DJ 17 Hear’Say- The Way to Your Love 17 Mariah Carey ft. Westlife- Against All Odds 17 Ronan Keating- Life Is A Rollercoaster 17 Five + Queen- We Will Rock You 17 Westlife - My Love -3 14 Britney Spears- Born To Make You Happy 14 S Club 7- Never Had A Dream Come True 14 Westlife- Fool Again 14 Robbie Williams- Eternity/The Road to Mandalay 7 Blue- If You Come Back -3 3 Madonna- Music Readded Shaggy's Angel.

40 Elvis Presley — Suspicious Minds 37 The Moody Blues — Question 33 T. Rex — Jeepster 31 T. Rex — Ride A White Swan 31 Deep Purple — Black Night 30 R Dean Taylor — Indiana Wants Me 30 Canned Heat — Let’s Work Together 29 The Kinks - Lola +4 27 The Jackson 5 — I Want You Back 26 Paul McCartney — Another Day 25 Redbone — The Witch Queen Of New Orleans 25 Free — All Right Now 22 Sweet — Co-Co 14 Peter, Paul & Mary — Leavin’ On A Jet Plane -6 12 Clarence Carter — Patches

34 Manic Street Preachers- The Masses Against the Classes 32 Melanie C- I Turn to You 30 Eminem ft. Dido - Stan 29 Kylie Minogue - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head 29 Spiller- Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) 28 All Saints- Pure Shores 28 Fragma- Toca’s Miracle 28 Roger Sanchez- Another Chance 26 Sonique- It Feels So Good 25 Britney Spears- Oops!... I Did It Again 24 Daniel Bedingfield- Gotta Get Thru This 24 Rui da Silva ft. Cassandra- Touch Me 24 Madison Avenue- Don’t Call Me Baby 24 Melanie C ft. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes- Never Be The Same Again 23 So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds 23 DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies- Do You Really Like It? 23 S Club 7- Don’t Stop Movin’ 22 Shaggy/RikRok - It Wasn't Me +2 22 LeAnn Rimes - Cant Fight the Moonlight +2 22 Afroman- Because I Got High 22 Oxide & Neutrino- Bound 4 da Reload (Casualty) 22 Modjo- Lady (Hear Me Tonight) 22 S Club 7- Have You Ever 21 Shaggy ft. Rayvon- Angel 20 Eminem- The Real Slim Shady 20 Gabrielle- Rise 20 Chicane ft. Bryan Adams- Don’t Give Up 20 Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up 20 Craig David- Fill Me In 20 Billie Piper- Day & Night 20 Kylie Minogue- Spinning Around 20 The Corrs- Breathless 20 Craig David- 7 Days 20 Robbie Williams- Rock DJ 20 A1- Take On Me 20 All Saints- Black Coffee 20 Steps- Stomp  20 Spice Girls- Holler/Let Love Lead The Way 20 Westlife- My Love 20 A1- Same Old Brand New You 20 Destiny’s Child- Independent Women Part 1 20 S Club 7- Never Had A Dream Come True 20 Jennifer Lopez- Love Don’t Cost A Thing 20 Atomic Kitten- Whole Again 20 Hear’Say- Pure and Simple 20 Emma Bunton- What Took You So Long? 20 Destiny’s Child- Survivor 20 Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & Pink- Lady Marmalade 20 Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame 20 Five - Let’s Dance 20 Blue - Too Close 20 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman - Somethin’ Stupid 18 Blue - If You Come Back 17 Hear’Say - The Way to Your Love 17 Mariah Carey ft. Westlife- Against All Odds 17 Ronan Keating- Life Is A Rollercoaster16 Westlife - Queen of My Heart 16 Robbie Williams- Eternity/The Road to Mandalay 14 Britney Spears - Born To Make You Happy 14 Five + Queen- We Will Rock You 14 Madonna - Music 14 Westlife - Fool Again -6 10 Madonna- American Pie 09 U2- Beautiful Day  01 DJ Ötzi- Hey Baby  If you get rid of the Westlife/Five dross there's some decent stuff here.

@Octopus of Odstock the tl/dr version, no. Btw, thanks for reminding me of Jim Dobbin, who died on a foreign jaunt with John Prescott, when he chocked on his dinner after overdosing on Polish absinthe. Up there with Rod Hull falling off his roof and the Segway guy driving his Segway off a cliff for deaths once heard I'll never forget. Allowing for MPs falling down the back of the sofa, the overall point is still: Year - number of MPs who died* 2023 – 19 2022 – 15 2021 – 26 2020 – 33 2019 – 20 2018 – 31 2017 – 36 2016 – 25 2015 – 27 2014 – 32 2013 – 28 2012 – 31 2011 - 17 *again, "at least" before someone finds the forgotten backbencher for Plodding North was missed... So far from 2023 being an outlier so far, the last decade plus makes it look like 2022 was in fact the outlier. 2012 was high (though 2019 wasn't particularly) and I should have thought of 2017 - Daylell, Teddy Taylor, Rhodri Morgan, etc etc. Working below in the spoiler tags

An Alt Obits pick for me, based on a forum tip by Reptile last year.

At a quick glance, 2020 had 33. A year by year comparison was started, then I realised it'll take a while to finish. From memory, 2019 and 2012 were also quite high, but I'll need to look up the individual year stats.

She could just go on the DL for wishful thinking anyway.

He's still in Corrie as of this week as a regular so if it were true, you'd expect it to be major news pretty immediately.

I had a dream the other night someone started a Fergie (duchess) v Fergie (Sir Alex) v Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) poll on here. This is NOT a request.

Treatments failed, cancer has spread to brain, given up on treatment. Weeks left imo.

Well, I missed Prescott making a Lords speech last November. It's only summarised on Hansard but he thanked people for their wishes. Allegedly he keeps active but I do note he hasn't voted in the Lords since February. He managed to keep up the regular votes when recovering from the stroke.

Hmm about the January 2025 election idea. The Tories are very into self-preservation yeah? And a large chunk of their vote is OAP postal vote. Can't see them calling an election during the worst post service of the year! Imo October 2024.

She stopped responding to fan mail last year on health grounds but given her age I'd assumed mental health issues.

The qualifying obits aren't some mystical knowledge. They're promoted on site, by email and on this forum regularly. It's not the committee fault if a player can't be bothered checking them out.

I know Adam Kaye (better known for This is Going to Hurt nowadays) can't sing but their cover of Yellow still cracks me up. You're yellow like the desert in Damascus is You're yellow because your liver has metastasis Pure poetry. Gateway drug to Lehrer, Feeney etc for me. The only one I remember now is bitch off a Simpsons gag. The rest are all part of the Glaswegian vocabulary.