Bibliogryphon

Inspired by a conversation I had in the PMs with another poster I was thinking about who those deaths were that were important to me from a cultural perspective. Those people whose work has shaped me into the person I am today. I wanted to keep this separate from the National Treasures posts because that is more about a cultural collective consciousness whereas these will be individual. I have kept it to 20 as my first list contained almost double the number and I have kept it to the living but there are many people who have gone already who could have gone on the list in particular Terry Pratchett and Terrance Dicks Please post your own lists I have added mini explanations as to why they are there. 1. Rowen Atkinson (First comedy gig) 2. Tom Baker (You know why) 3. Johnny Ball (Stimulated my interest in science and maths) 4. Floella Benjamin (Televisual Joy) 5. Kate Bush (My favourite music artist) 6. Phil Collins (Genesis was the first concert I attended) 7. John Craven (Important part of growing up) 8. Harrison Ford (Brilliant actor whose popular status is deserved) 9. Stephen Fry (Comedian and actor who is brilliant) 10. Derek Griffiths (Children’s TV later saw at the RSC) 11. Bernard Hill (Macbeth on my first Theatre date with my now wife) 12. Michael Keating (B7 is almost as important to me as DW) 13. Stephen Lawhead (The living author I have read most book by) 14. Hazel O’Connor (First single I bought) 15. B A Robertson (First album I owned) 16. Michael Rodd (Made me pay attention to TV) 17. Patricia Routledge (Was in the first RSC production I saw) 18. J Michael Strazynski (B5 sits with DW & B7) 19. David Thacker (Theatre director who stunned with several RSC productions) 20. Julie Walters (Lady Macbeth on my first theatre date)

First one off my list to go

He played Macbeth opposite Julia Walters at Leicester Haymarket in 1986(?). This was my first theatre date with my future wife. Very sad news.

Being interviewed on The World This Weeked on R4 today.

The loss of the West Midlands mayoral election should also see off those people who believe Boris Johnson is the answer to all the Tory woes. He campaigned for Andy Street and tried to distance the contest from the actual Government but voters did not buy it

5/May/2024 66 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 22 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie -6 22 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight +4

I was thinking of you watching those goals go in across the league.

04.05.2024 64 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 32 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight +2 26 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie -3 13 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. +2 05 Coldplay — In My Place -3

John Curtice on Radio 4 just now says that it will be an enormous shock if Sadiq Khan does not win London

Labour has just won the PCC in Northamptonshire where at the last election all the constituencies elected a Conservative MP

We are about two weeks away from the average day for the 5th hit The latest third hit (in the last 10 years) is day 166 (14th June) but the latest day for the fourth hit is only 10 days later (2014) At this point in 2020 we were one week away from the ninth hit

03.05.2024 53 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 47 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight +4 37 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie 24 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. 11 Coldplay — In My Place -3 06 Manic Street Preachers — Your Love Alone Is Not Enough -3

David Moyes is out of contract at West Ham at the end of the season and contract negotiations will not take place until the end of the season but the owner is speculatively looking for a potential replacement (two players may get this as bonus)

Yeah it is really good Dare was new to me when we did No.1s as well

Paul Goldsmith is a popular pick in Scavenger Hunt Bingo - not a game ending hit but could shake up the scores a bit This could be important

I was mostly listening to Radio 4 at the time. It wasn't until I had to take my daughter to secondary school in the car and she put Radio 1 on that I began to hear modern stuff. I have a huge gap between about 92 and 07

Feel Good Inc has been my biggest discovery of these polls. I had not heard it before but it is very enjoyable

May 2nd at 1212am 63 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 39 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie 38 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight +4 34 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. 28 Manic Street Preachers — Your Love Alone Is Not Enough -3 16 Coldplay — In My Place -3

He is PNG with the current Tory party because he is considered a pro-European and I think he has enough dignity not to offer a running commentary on the demise of the party he has represented It will be interesting if he gets any punditry during the GE He was giving interviews at the beginning of March

West Brom have also had a run of poor form as they were sat in fifth place for months and now there is a possibility they may not make the playoffs Norwich are the only in form team in those places

Now that I can breathe easy can we just look at how exciting the last day of the Championship is going to be on Saturday Ipswich need a point at home to relegated Huddersfield to secure second Leeds need to beat fourth place Southampton and Ipswich lose to get the automatic promotion (Which could also be the play off final) There are three teams vying for the other two playoff spots. Norwich need a point against Birmingham but can only lose out on a spot if WBA pick up points against Preston and Hull smash Plymouth by 4+ goals and Birmingham do the same to Norwich However at the other end of the table it is even scrappier four teams are still in danger of ending up in the last relegation spot. Sheffield Wednesday have a terrible goal difference and if both Birmingham and Plymouth win and they lose it is they that make the drop. However if Birmingham and Plymouth win and Sheffield get a draw (at Sunderland) then Blackburn face the unfortunate prospect of League 1 next season if they lose at Mighty Champions Leicester who could reach 100 points with a win. A draw for Birmingham is only good enough if Plymouth are smashed around by Hull Which means 7 of the 12 matches has something riding on it Rotherham vs Cardiff is just going to be a swan song but there is the possibility of three Yorkshire teams dropping out of the Championship depriving Sheffield of derby days next season but United will still get a Derby (County) day

1/5/24 70 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 43 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. 35 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie 34 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight 29 Wheatus — Teenage Dirtbag +4 27 Manic Street Preachers — Your Love Alone Is Not Enough -2  16 Adele — Chasing Pavements -2 04 Coldplay — In My Place -2

30/4/2024 72 Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor 42 Kylie Minogue — Love At First Sight 37 Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse — Valerie 37 Gorillaz — Feel Good Inc. 29 Manic Street Preachers — Your Love Alone Is Not Enough -2 25 Wheatus — Teenage Dirtbag +4 23 Coldplay — In My Place -2 20 Adele — Chasing Pavements 05 Razorlight — Somewhere Else -2

Well as we are Champions now Blackburn need the points more than we do but there is going to be a party atmosphere at King Power on Saturday. Even if Blackburn lose they will still be very unlucky to be relegated. All three teams below will have to take points and some of their opponents still have unfinished business with the playoffs