M.Lawrenson

Right. Old men you say. Would any baseball player go out to play looking like this?

I'd heard of her, and Corrie sacked her the year before I was born (though the Street and I are connected by the fact I was born on the day of it's 15th Anniversary episode. In fact, my mother squeezed me out at 7.20pm to make sure she didn't miss it). But that was only because she recorded for Joe Meek, and I have her tracks on some Meek compilation CDs.

Jennifer Moss, former Coronation Street star from 1960-74 has died. Raise your glasses, or more appropriately baby bottles full of gin, in her memory. (edit) Just found a previous posting about Moss in 'Not Exactly Famous'. I'd've thought being in the UK's highest rated show for 14 years would have elevated her slightly above that...

Chapman and Phillippe? Looks like the personnel at Lotus were even more prone to breakdown than the cars were. Or maybe Lotus just attracted unstable risk takers (I read Jackie Stewart was offered 3 times his Tyrrell salary by Chapman, but Mr. Money Conscious turned it down as not worth the risk). How many drivers died in Lotuses? I'm sure it was even more than average for the 50s/60s/70s

It was in July. I'd just been to a disciplinary hearing at work (I was sacked after all this, but that came much later), and there were these doselupin pills. Plus I was on SPAM due to the anxiety. I woke up 16 hours later - I presume I passed out before I could take enough. The cousin in question is about 10 years older than me, and she tried it sometime in the 1980s, so I heard.

Didn't mention that in his profile at grandprix.com. Mind you, that consists of one line saying he was an 'obscure South American' who drove a Maserati 250F. But who didn't drive a Maserati 250F in the 50s? No history of suicide in my family - the only ones to have even attempted it are a cousin and I. There's a history of mental illness in my father's mother's family, which is not talked about. The best known case being a distant relative, Billy Midwinter, who played cricket for Australia and England. But he died in an asylum at 39.

Yes, I bought a biography of Harold Gimblett last week. Sad stuff reading about him downing fistfuls of pills and going for ECT between demolishing county bowling attacks. 2 England captains, A.Shrewsbury and A.E.Stoddart blew their brains out, as did 'mystery spinner' Jack Iverson. The most recent ex-Test cricketer to top himself was David Bairstow, I think As far as football goes, I remember Justin Fashanu hanging himself. On my usual topic, the only F1 driver to commit suicide was 'Wild' Willy Mairesse (aged 40 and career in terminal decline) in 1969.

Not a Nobel Prize winner, but a daughter and sister of three Eve Curie will be 102 on December 6th.

Is it true they'll be putting Byron in a spherical coffin, and using a 50 foot putter to sink him in his grave? Maybe they've lined up the USA Ryder Cup Team to do it, if there's a week to spare...

Ex-footballers are sadly prone to Alzheimers - Danny Blanchflower, Bob Paisley, and John Charles to name just three. Something to do with frequent, minor brain jarring from heading the ball, I'd expect. One of Puskas's teammates from the famous 50s side (can't remember which one) was also a long term hospital case in his later years too. Though he was compos mentis enough to emerge from his bed and throw himself to a quick death via a window.

Guess he's not All Right Now, then. (oh, someone had to say it...)

'Brain damage' is the sort of injury that Phineas Gage received. If want to know about luck, he's the man...

From what I've read, Fitch is a top bloke. Well known for his inventions to increase motoring safety - probably inspired by being Pierre Levegh's co-driver at Le Mans 1955, and being a fighter/bomber pilot in WW2. If I remember the quote "I was involved in a few fatal events, and this is payback."

Yes, the most famous being Stirling Moss, who was in a coma for a month following his 'unexplained' accident in a Lotus (well, it's not as if Lotuses were prone to have bits fall off them) at Goodwood in 1962. No point asking Sir Stirling about it though, he can't remember a thing. I guess that's what happens when half your brain detatches itself from your skull...

It's not been a good time to test cars. Apparently, Paul Frere, former F1 driver and journalist has been seriously injured testing a car near the Nurburgring. Frere is 89. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2006/09...iously-injured/

Yes, definite shades of Gunnar Nilsson there,

Some people think Cricket is a game for wimps, what with all that padding and the helmet, plus the fact most cricketers are immobile through most of those (long) matches. Here's a couple of pages showing how people can be injured and, in one case killed, playing top level cricket : Dangerous Games More Dangerous Games

From what I've read Vettel is good. We'll be able to tell how good he is when BMW Sauber turn off their PR machine, and put him in a car that has more than 2 laps of fuel in the tank and tyres that are not fresh out the Michelin moulds.

Brake dust has always been there. Look at any post-race photo of drivers from the 1950s (Brooks, Moss, Phil Hill etc.) - their faces are filthy with brake dust. They were cast iron rather than carbon back then, but inhaling all those particles wouldn't have done their lungs any good. It's possible that iron is more easily eliminated from the body than carbon fibre, but you'd have to ask a physiologist about that. For a decent scientific test, you'd have to check quite a few drivers (though I can't see many queueing up for lung biopsies). I'd like to know the results from someone who drove for a long time in CF-braked cars, but has been retired for a long time - to see what shape the lungs are in and check for long term C damage. Fatty Nannini could be a candidate, but his lungs are ruined by smoking, and I'm not sure they'd be able to get a tissue sample through all the lard. Patrese and de Cesaris perhaps, as they didn't race for a long time following their F1 retirements.

I believe nothing until grandprix.com says so. There have been rumours about Schumi's retirement there for months, but today I feel safe in believing them. A lot of long time F1 fans will be happy, but I'm not. Schumacher's been there since I seriously started watching F1 in 1992, so with his departure I become a little older. Thankfully, Barrichello's still going (and has been since 1993), so it's a while yet until every F1 driver is younger than I am - Coulthard, Trulli, Fisichella long may you drive!

I read about Irwin's death on BBC news. I was expecting to see an outback-booted, green-socked and blood-soaked leg dangling from a tooth-grinning croc's mouth. But no, he was killed by a stingray. If there's an afterlife, Irwin will be bloody disappointed. bbc.co.uk have set up one of their dreaded forms for people's 'reactions' to the death of this reptile-annoyer. Can't anyone be allowed to die without having condolences from fawning strangers put on the web? There'll be one for Saddam, you see if there isn't : "I remember first seeing him on TV in 1990 smiling at those British guests of his in palace. Sure he gassed the Kurds in an unprovoked attack, but he grew a really great beard in his later years and that's what matters! Queztacoatl J. Montezuma, Houghton Conquest, Beds."

OoO is a pro motor racing journo. I'm just a fan who reads a lot, so I can't really compare. I bought 'Forza Amon' by Eoin Young about 2 years ago. I can't say it was the most thrilling read I've experienced. More text and less line spacing would have been good, especially as Young is an old mate of Amon's, so he must know more than what he wrote. Whether the stories of the 'Ditton Road Flyers' days with Mike Hailwood and Peter Revson would be printable is another matter entirely. If you're a big fan of F1's 'Mr Unlucky' (though Amon doesn't consider himself unlucky - he raced in F1 from 1963 to 1976 and he's still alive) , then you'd probably be happy with it. I'd've liked more substance, though. Anyway, a book called "The Lost Generation : The Tragically Short Lives of 1970s British F1 Drivers Roger Williamson, Tony Brise and Tom Pryce" is about to be released, so I'm waiting for that.

Dave Morgan? Wasn't he the driver who was most famous for being punched by James Hunt after collision during an F3 race in 1970? Who's one F1 race was driving a dodgy Surtees with an F2 rear wing (on Surtees's insistence)? If I recall he was also involved in another F1 team in the 1990s but I'm nearly on my second bottle of rose (shades of Hunt there!), so I can't remember which one. I'll be watching tomorrow to see how Kubica shapes up. HJ Stuck though, he's one of my cult racing heroes. A man who raced in teams run by Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone AND the (rather peculiar) Hans-Gunter Schmidt of ATS wheels. He must have had the patience of a whole cathedral of Saints. Is it true that he's not going to retire before he's driven the Le Mans 24 hours with both his sons?

I hear Gene Colan (Tomb Of Dracula, Howard The Duck etc.) is about to retire at the age of 80.

Wyngarde's getting on a bit (b.1933) , plus in famous TV roles he was renowned for smoking 50 fags and drinking 2 bottles of claret in every episode. Then again, he was born in Marseille, so there's the 'French Paradox' working.