DevonDeathTrip

Peter Townsend. Not the Who guitarist, but the renowned professor of sociology and founder of Child Povery Action. Fondly remembered by me, as I plagiarised a bit of one of his papers for my A level coursework. I got a really good mark as well, but the guilt still lingers on.

Rescued by a lifeboat after floundering somewhere between Fishguard and Milton Haven.

Her parole hearing has been delayed until September, by which time nature might have taken it's course and relieved the authorities of this particular problem. Latest update on her Wiki page is that she is "paralyzed over 85% of her body, unable to sit up or be transferred to a wheelchair". Do you have a working link to support that, she's facing parole and could be facking it for that reason, so I'd like to double check on what is true about her health and what is not She started painting a while back didn't she, geuss the world has to miss out on her ''artistic talent''. http://www.susanatkins.org/2-2009Parole.html - But the website is run by her husband, the one who said she had three months to live...eighteen months ago.

Her parole hearing has been delayed until September, by which time nature might have taken it's course and relieved the authorities of this particular problem. Latest update on her Wiki page is that she is "paralyzed over 85% of her body, unable to sit up or be transferred to a wheelchair".

Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper has hopped off. Mentioned last year by MPFC on the ideas thread, nobody took the plunge and picked him for the DDP.

David Blunkett has been injured after he was attacked by a cow.

I was certain she was already dead, died about five years ago from cancer. Was there another Lucy? Fear not, H, your mind does not play tricks on you. You're sort of right. Lucy Richardson died in 2005 and articles at the time (here's one) credited her for being the inspiration for the song. This provoked much debate and it is now generally assumed that the story was mistaken. The comments under this entry on the Blog Of Death site go some way to clarifying matters.

Lucy Vodden, formerly Lucy O'Donnell, 46, is suffering from the chronic auto-immune disease and, according to Julian Lennon, she is seriously ill. She was the inspiration for John Lennon to write "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

The army are taking control in Guinea Bissau. Months after President Viera was hacked to death by some angry soldiers, Baciro Dabo, a close ally of the deceased President and a candidate in the upcoming elections, has been shot dead by the army, who suspected him of plotting a coup. Also suspected to have come to a sticky end is the former Prime Minister Faustino Fudut Imbali who was "taken away" by soldiers this morning. I doubt he'll be home for tea.

Dastardly should have signed up Saffer cricketer Jacques Rudolph, seen here in fine pigeon-obliterating form for Yorkshire last week. Enjoy, Ocky. There's a rumour going around that the pigeons are planning a revenge attack. I read it on Twitter.

Record producer Jonny Dollar, who produced Massive Attack's 1991 album 'Blue Lines', has died of cancer aged 45.

The late Emporor's grandson Prince Pedro Luís Maria José Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga de Orléans-Bragança e Ligne is one of those suspected to have died on the Air France jet which vanished somewhere in the Atlantic yesterday.

Brazilian Vice President Jose Alencar's cancer has come back.

Michael Foot. Of swine flu, a roller coaster accident or botulism.

Prominent American abortionist Dr George Tiller has been shot dead. He survived a previous attempt on his life in 1993.

The pleasingly named Janet Banana, widow of Zimbabwe's former President Canaan Banana, sought political asylum in the UK in 2000. She seems to have gone to ground a bit since then. This article from 2002 says she was living on £10 a week and her Wiki page says she became a UK citizen in 2006.

Fear not, O Devonian One. I wouldn't call The Association obscure, at least not to Americans - they had two #1 hits there in the mid-60s. They were a kind of Mamas and the Papas without any Mamas, one might say. Since you ask, west coast/sunshine pop/bubblegum-psych is, along with powerpop, one of my favourite sub-genres (and one of Anubis's pet hates). I'm not a huge Association fan, but they're of interest for being originally produced by similarly underrated, chubby (and dead) Brian Wilson-alike Curt Boettcher, later of the fab n groovy The Millennium. I suppose Windy is their best-known song, obviously named after one of our beloved DL regulars. Good stuff Harry, I hadn't realised they were so unobscure. This is a bit odd, but according to this rather fascinating thread on the oldies.com message board, he isn't dead at all. It looks as if the deceased person had told people he used to be the drummer for The Association and whoever paid for his obit to go in the NY Times believed him enough to include that information. All very strange.

Agreed, it's quiet but it hadn't struck me as terminal. We could have an 'introduce a friend' scheme, seriously. Or leave business cards in London phone boxes......on second thoughts, that sucks. Or cook up some 'event' in which one of us posts something outrageous and one of us anonymously complains to the papers, always good for a bit of traffic that one. Aye but there seems no shortage of new members, it's just that most turn out to be shite posters and few of those who aren't, bother to stick around. The one by Madcow the other day was quite provocative, having a go at Brussels sprouts and all that, but will she return? We've had a few mad cows in the past who have been quite entertaining for a while but they never stay the course. It's the existing members (including me) who are not tuning in as much as they used to do. I mean I don't miss the scream, not one bit (well maybe a tiny little bit). But where are the slaves? Where's Lady Die and Boudicca? What happened to TLC? Why did Tempus Fugit work so hard to wipe away his presence? Is he standing for Parliament or something (summat)? Maybe generating a bit of adverse publicity wouldn't be a bad idea. Facebook has a lot to answer for.

Sorry to go all obscure (yet again ), but I cannot let the passing of Ted Bluechel Jr go unmentioned. He was drummer and vocalist with Californian sixties band The Association. I'm a fan of their work and happen to think they were a bit under rated. Ted hasn't even got a proper obituary, but his death was announced in the New York Times paid death notices section. I'm hoping a learned DL music fan like HMBWA, ATJ or MPFC might know who The Association were. I'm suffering from obscure death posting anxiety.

Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his bladder.

Former President and Prime Minister of Lithuania Algirdas Brazauskas is suffering from lymphatic cancer. Vincent Siew, the Vice President of Taiwan, is suffering from lung cancer.

The subject of the death threat, Queen Fabiola, has made a return to public life after recovering from serious health problems at the start of the year. More info on the threat to her life here:

Dolores Hope is 100 tomorrow. Is this the first time both halves of a famous married couple have reached that age?

You beat me to that link. The usually well-balanced, demure and caring Mrs MPFC laughed heartily at that story as I read it out of the Daily Telegraph over our morning coffee and scones. Coffee and scones? Good grief, that would never happen in Devon. I hope you used clotted cream. Here's a video of the event: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6f2_1243139794

Wig wearing Labour MP Ian McCartney has announced he will not be contesting the next election because of "health problems"...