msc

A couple in an older generation of the family were married a long time. One had dementia for years, the other was their carer but then the non-dementia one died suddenly from age related issues. Nobody told the surviving half about the death of their spouse but they could tell something important was missing and they just went downhill and died a fortnight later. Lovely couple, completely inseparable. This was twenty years ago now but I often think of them when we see frail old couples like the Carters or Prunella Scales and Timothy West.

Eleanor Rigby is a great song. But this game is not about the quality of the songs anymore.

"prolonged exposure to Osmonds records.! Top work as ever.

Worst drop ever. Weeks after I dropped him from the DDP he got stage IV cancer!

Yes. It's a joke, Di just had to restore the thread from accidental deletion...

Surprised nobody mentioned him turning ninety in here given his ongoing health issues and status as a DL pick. *Innocent face @Death Impends, innocent face!

Myself, Joey and DI were discussing this one during lockdown and the consensus on best "boomerang" DL success was, iirc, George Cole. Picked on one of the first 3 lists, then never again until 2015, when he randomly died in his sleep aged 90!

I wouldn't lose heart yet. The wards in that seat saw a big swing to the Lib Dems in the locals a few weeks ago, with the Lib Dems topping the poll in all bar two of them, with a circa 5000 vote lead. This was on a much smaller turnout than at a general election, but the fact there was such a substantial Tory to Lib Dem vote switch suggests there is potential for a Lib Dem bandwagon there. (This is based on the new boundaries for the seat, and not the 2019 boundaries.)

Except in seats where they can outright topple a Tory MP in which case I'd vote for them. Not an issue in Glasgow, mind you. I think this is aiming to be very much a "fuck off to this government" type election, with Starmer winning being secondary to anti-government rage. Especially if food prices remain ghastly.

Forum's like treacle but can only concur with all of the above. Sad news.

Top 5. *actually goes to look* A curious mix of obit risks and folk who seem a bit early. Still, a curious gamble in May often turns out an inspired pick by December. I genuinely never knew in December how insane behind the scenes on the equestrian showjumping circuit was!

Yeah, I only had time to glance at the top 5 as it were, but no one has really broken away from the pack yet. Pazuzu has David Linden too. (And Janey Godley, probably a duffer.) I like how its up for grabs though and not someone rushing ahead of the pack.

Nice to be at the top end of the table for now though Summer beckons. Looking at the current top 5's "differentials". SPADE Adrian Sutton, Chris Stone, Mark Stokes (obit), Bill Steel, Dikembe Mutombo, Jeanette Lee, Joe Doering I'm not ruling out a "This Christmas, I remember my best mate Mark Stokes who totally died" Guardian article till 2024 happens. Three of these names (Sutton, Mutombo, Lee) were ones I thought would last till 2024. Jeannette Lee is sicker than I thought, so she might wind up crucial, but Chris Stone is a strong 8 points if he dies and obits. (I suspect he will obit, but have been burned on LOTL picks in the past.) JOEY John Ashton, Toni Hilland, Scott Nisbet, Teresa Taylor Joey's kept faith with his musician Ashton though Stage IV prostate cancer is very much a slow burner. He went risky with Teresa Taylor (how is she still alive? but will she obit?) and picked Toni Hilland probably a year earlier, but if either of these gambles pay off, then he's in the drivers seat. I've no idea why Joey picked Nisbet, whose kidney cancer has been under control for over a year now! Maybe he knows something I don't? RAD CHAP Starmer-Smith, Larry Pressler, Linda Nolan, Randy Jackson. Rad's that guy I can't shake off. We have 15 picks in common (stop using telepathy, Rad!), and of the 4 living differentials, 2 are on their way out and one is ridded with pancreatic cancer. This is the main reason I rank my own chances of winning below 10%, as the window of opportunity for overtaking Rad is very small. Almost impossible if Linda Nolan snuffs it. Why do I always ignore the Nolan Sisters? Other than good taste, of course. DROL Rhod Gilbert, Toby Keith, Andy Taylor, Michael York Michael York's an interesting one, he's hung for so long with a rotten diagnosis but you feel he's fighting gravity. (Surely a DL pick next year?) The other three seem too healthy at the moment, and to challenge Spade, Drol needs Toby Keith or Rhod Gilbert to decline quickly. But you have to be in it to win it. DDT Aston Barrett, Faye Fantarrow, Dickie Guy, Ilia II, Randy Jackson, Dikembe Mutombo, Tom Oliver, Mark Stokes (obit), Adrian Sutton The Living End might not win the DDP for the 4th time but they've got the most interesting team in the top 5 places at the moment. Music, science, Neighbours, sports, religious figures, an obscure footballer! All the fun of fair here. Faye Fantarrow's 12 points, mostly snubbed by a DDP ambulance chasing horde who assumed she had twelve months in her, is one to watch. I suspect this is a top ten finishing side with a few successful gambles, rather than winners, though. ME Mutulu Shakur, Eric Lamaze, Graham Caveney, Ady Barkan, The Princess In order - prisoner exaggeration case; person alleged to be faking their ill health on niche forums; how is he still alive and damn that Reptile; ALS gamble; brain dead but not dead dead. The first two are probably bad picks. Caveney ought to be any week now but we've been saying that since Christmas. Barkan I picked solely because I've missed a few ALS names who die around the time he's had the disease for. The Princess is gone, but if the state don't make it official it counts for nothing. My best chances for an unlikely win go through the trio of Caveney/Barkan/Princess B, and relying on the power of positivity to keep Lee/Stone/Nolan/Pressler/etc alive. Ignoring me and my ego, Rad seems in a strong position in the top 5. Outside the top 5, I haven't had time to look though no doubt there are teams who can go on a good run.

Earlier this month, @Ulitzer95 and @YoungWillz! 99 now, still keeping an active lifestyle, still well connected in acting and fan circles. If he DOES get a Qualifying obit on death, it'll be down solely to 4 episodes of Dr Who and a few bit parts on Hancock. But we'll know pretty soon after the fact.

Should point out the conversation I thought I was referencing with Clorox doesn't appear to exist. I put it down to senility on my part, clearly...

This didn't work. Because he was already dead for a day when you posted it, and all of the "that's a sign he's dead" posts were actually right. For once!

Carter. Ros Carter.

Yeah. Well, now it was his turn to have a problem with a dodgy ticker and he didn't make it through the night.

Rolf Harris dead 6/50 23rd May 2023 Remember when Rolf Harris was a universally beloved kids TV entertainer? Clorox doesn't. This is partly because Clorox is bloody young. But mostly because Rolf torpedoed all that reputation a decade ago, when he was revealed to have been a serial abuser of young children. This is already more words than Ian Brady and Pope Benedict got, but less than Henry Kissinger will get when he goes...any day now. This is the first time Rolf Harris was picked for the Crowdsourced list, because its the first time anyone thought the old fucker was going to die. Which he has.

Personally, I for one am glad that a cool detached young American is writing the DDP obits now, and not someone like me likely to mention how he RUINED A GENERATIONS CHILDHOOD MEMORIES THE TRAITOROUS NONCE BASTARD FUCK HIM TO HELL.

Toby's only written 4 obits for the Guardian in the past year.

On the bright side, thanks for the reminder ahead of the Windy Pool deadline!

Byron! I had no idea this was him. Sad news.

Thanks. Both it and the Doctor Who list will be updated later in the year.

Well, he was. But of the bits of The Smiths I like (which do exist, but aren't a lot), Morrissey is relatively a non-factor and it's the musical stuff Marr wrote or Rourke manages which makes those songs work. Morrissey seemingly wanted to do Paul Weller style lyrics but lacked the maturity, the rest of the band were looking towards pop sensibilities of the time. Which is why Boy With the Thorn in His Side (Morrissey picked the title) has lasted better than, say, Bigmouth Strikes Again. Because tunes hold up better than teenage attempts at earnest lectures.* *Note this isn't a strict rule. Terry Hall was younger than Morrissey. More that Morrissey himself was dire at it, and has only regressed since.