Twelvetrees

Oh yes, Godot. Harry Potter. And everyone responsible for turning this derivative drivel into a global phenomenon.

Perhaps the end is nigh. This could be read two ways - if he was at death's door, would they transfer him? Or maybe that's the idea; they're planning that a move might provoke the end. After all, the mortality rate for old and ill people moved from their nursing homes is incredibly high.

I think he may have got a mention in passing some years ago, but I am surprised to find that Sven Hassel is still alive at 90 - surely one of the greatest Nazi War-Porn writers that Denmark has ever produced.

Ben Fogle

Damn - wrong forum - Mods, step in and do your lovely thing! No, not that...the other...move me to The Dead! (Done- NAP)

The man whose music chased a thousand dolly birds on the Benny Hill Show has died aged 80. Yes, that's right, 'Boots' Randolph has left the building.

Brahim Deby, son of Chadian President Idriss Deby, has been found dead in France. He had a somewhat colourful life, and his evident appointment as heir apparent was controversial even within his own family.

A dinner party is no party without games! President Warren G. Harding Florence Foster Jenkins Eric Knowles Jose Primo de Rivera Bobby McFerrin Archbishop James Ussher Betty Stove Sir Henry Bessemer I'd sit in a separate room with a selection of Andy Williams LPs whilst the others played a swift and bloody game of Pass the Bengal Tiger.

Given the lack of corroborating evidence from reputable sources, how do we know this isn't another crackpot Wikipedia entry, such as the ones that have announced the deaths of Britney Spears, Neil Tennant and (most bizarrely) Mary Hopkin over recent months? Hmmmmmm....could be.

As has already been reported here. As for the subsequent two posts, does anyone recognise a familiar, yet sinister, Wikipedia-related trend?

Well let me tell you, the British have this fetish of their beer against the US. Completely mocking and disowning any of our alcoholic beverages (I find it very comedic). The majority is trash I admit, and tastes like bottom bottle. Although I think some brands of Samuel Adams aren't that bad, but getting off beer for a minute good Ol' JD is always a friend. Always. I agree about Samuel Adams ales, a very decent brew; malty almost to the point of being chewy. However, no other country seems to have developed anything that approaches a decent pint of best bitter or an 80/- ale. Foreign ales are either too sweet or too sour, or have some extraneous ingredient designed, as far as I can tell, to disguise the real taste. The recent explosion of Eastern European immigrants in London has widened my beer vocabulary and I have developed a tatse for Zubr beer from Poland (there is evdiently another Zubr from the Czech Republic). It seems superior to the more commonly available Zywiec, Okocim or Lech (never say I don't do my research thoroughly), and at 6% ABV, it doesn't waste time. Recommended. However, I can't concur with your opinion of JD - it's over-marketed and overrated. I'd much rather have a bourbon, and Bulleit hits the spot better than any I've yet tasted. Not that I intend to stop looking of course...

Who or what came first Pinocchio or the slang Finnocchio? My sincere apologies - the word 'finocchio' (as in fennel, whereas 'pinocchio' is a pine nut) is actually a pejorative slang term for a homosexual man. According to Wikipedia (okay) the original 'Pinocchio' story appeared in 1881, whereas this online resource suggests that the offensive use of 'finocchio' was recognised as early as 1863. Maybe the tale is really one of an old man's yearning for Greek love? If anyone has a spare life, there may well be something in a PhD thesis in Homosexual Subtexts in Disney Animation.

Hey, I was just thinking. Does anyone know where I can buy a new camera?

There is a dangerous fascination with Rod Hull on this site. He appears in no less than eight threads, for four reasons. I have been as guilty as anyone, but now feel we have to get on with our lives. 1 - He was a sh!t. There seems to be no contradictory evidence, so we can take this as read. I feel for Anubis here, having had a similar experience myself. These incidents make us who we are, or at least I refuse to blame myself. I have accepted my childhood traumas. 2 - He died when he fell off a roof trying to fix his TV aerial. This is, granted, an amusing way to die, but it was some time ago. Having died, he is unlikely to do so again. 3 - Suggestions that he may have enjoyed sexual congress with a puppet (see Olveres above). This kind of thing goes on. Why else did Gepetto make Pinocchio's nose grow? (Also note the similarity to 'Finocchio', Italian slang for 'penis'). If this is how people get their kicks, and as long as no-one innocent gets hurt, let's not pry. 4 - Someone claims to have him as their spirit guide. The new Mental Health Act will make sure that none of us are ever likely to meet this person. Please now people, can we not just deal and move on?

Horace Wass may have only played one first class match for Derbyshire, but he did turn out occasionally for Scotland, playing against the touring 1935 South African and the 1938 Australians (against whom he took two wickets). Wass' highest score was 129, made against Sir Julien Cahn's XI in 1937. Cahn's team had three Test players in the side, including the interesting figure of Bob Crisp, the only (so far) Test cricketer to have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro twice. However, Wass also played over 400 matches, mostly at right half, for Chesterfield United, and at the time of his retirement held the team's record for appearances. So maybe an obituary isn't out of the question, after all? Sadly, his subsequent record as a glue salesman is currently unavailable on the internet.

According to the BBC, Kevorkian will be appearing on CBS' 60 minutes this Sunday.

Quite. One of the prime pre-requisites for an African Despot is a gift for theatricality. I look forward to him collapsing in the dock in due course. As for him getting what he deserves, however, I cannot share your optimism. My guess is that Mwanawasa will eventually cut him a deal rather than be perceived as a puppet of Western imperialism.

Kurrisst! What happened to the name of this thread? And who the hell is Jacques Brel? Not merely a sweaty Bilingual Belgian, but the man who wrote (or co-wrote) the songs that became 'Seasons in the Sun' (Le moribond) and 'The Impossible Dream' (La quete).

Tea's a bit old school - Nelson Mandela's been branching out on this side of the pond recently.

Coming at his music more from the contemporary classical rather than the pop side of the equation, I belive that "The Drift" is a masterpiece and that Walker managed to raise the bar again just as everyone else was catching up with "Tilt". However, I had to disagree with the comments about his Jacques Brel covers; good though they were, Brel could never have been bettered in that repertoire.

Beg to differ there TT. I think the obvious question with him and Bernard Manning is why did men with a natural talent so embarrassingly obvious squander so much of it on the easy pay-day? Kinda like all the lame Elvis albums. RCB is genuinely a talented performer with a gift for acting a role. I'd say you can take him from Teeside and Jail but you can't take either from him. The all the more reason to make an example of him, pour encourager les autres. Is it not a far worse crime to squander a talent than to have none in the first place?

According to his wiki page (I know, I know), he has 'paralysed vocal cord' so no help there. As for Roy 'Chubby' Brown - the obvious question is why did they stop at one??

I don't know about 2008, but Percy Sonn, President of the International Cricket Council is evidently seriously ill in intensive care following a recent operation. Definitely a UK obit. somewhere, not least because of his ill-considered behaviour during the 2003 World Cup and the debacle of this year's effort.

I deleted the quotes because it was getting too long, but thanks for the music. Anyway, I've only just noticed that the fellow on the far left looks like Tim Brooke-Taylor, which is disturbing. Not that there's anywhere but the far right in this band...

I remember Opus. In the summer of 1985 I must have heard that stupid f*****g "Live is life" song, which made no sense, about a billion times. If it were "Life is Live" (as in alive) that would be ok, even "Life is Life", while redundant and inane, would at least have not been grammatically incorrect. But "Live is Life"? What the hell were they talking about? Nazis. Although oddly enough at no time in the lyric do they actually sing 'live is life' (preferring to remain redundant and inane), and neither does DJ Otzi in his own, no doubt inimitable, version. I need to get a live. Opus as Nazis, eh? Hardly, when you consider that their song was also covered by these lovely people Laibach - a Slovenian band whose name derives from that of their home town (Ljubljana) under Nazi occupation. Delightful chaps, really - and you ought to check out their interpretation of Status Quo's dismal "In the Army Now".