Bibliogryphon

Reports the Daily Mail.

There doesn't seem to have been much discussion of Joanne Woodward but I think she should be featuring more prominantly. I don't think this is too significant because of the source but one for the 2016 list maybe.

I would go with "Cover Her Face"

OK. Here it as now that we have moved into December. Sam Simon Billy Graham Zsa Zsa Gabor B B King Joao Havelange Luise Rainer Olivia de Havilland Peter Sallis Kirk Douglas Muhammad Ali Mary Tyler Moore George Bush Snr Tony Booth Leonard Nimoy Paul Gascoigne Leslie Philips Denis Healey Liz Dawn Herman Wouk Richard Adams Vera Lynn Jean Alexander Glenn Campbell Fats Domino Fidel Castro Bhumibol Adulyadej Jake Lamotta Robert Mugabe Lord Carrington Peter O’Sullevan Abdelaziz Bouteflika Helmut Schmidt Joost van der Westhuizen Phil Spector Rob Ford Bill Maynard Denis Norden Abe Vigoda Rodney Bewes Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Manuel Noriega Douglas Hurd Clive James Kim Jong-Un Ali Carter Nancy Reagan Ronnie Corbett Cliff Mitchelmore Christopher Lee Ian Brady

Look at the Chaos P D James has caused. I had to find a replacement for her for my theme team so I just checked on Pauline Clarke to find she died last summer (2013) and it passed by unnoticed. Shows how risky some of these picks are.

I think the tag lines gives sufficient clarity

Lord Carrington springs to mind (though not neccessarily to his feet).

This might be an excuse for the low deathrate this year but if you believe the labelling of the axis on the graph then almost a third of the UK population should have died.

Surprised Brian Aldiss hasn't popped up to remind everyone that his book Greybeard was much better than Children of Men. I had dropped Phyllis from my DDP theme team this year but had pencilled her in for next year. Bloody typical.

I still think we have time for one more. I have gone British as there was a flurry of US deaths from the list at the beginning of the year and the rest of the world needs to play catch up. Peter Sallis

That list is near perfect. Just take off Queen Elizabeth and Bill Clinton and add John Nash and Josef Fritzl and you have a perfect list for 2015! This list is a little too US Centric for my liking.

P D James has died

If we had managed the same rate as the DDP Drop 40 then we would be on 14 hits right now but it is intersting to note that none of the top ten picks have gone this year. Will 2014 go down as the year of the liars?

I wish Steven Moffatt would hurry up and die after that last season. That was absolutely atrocious. I know he had his critics in his first few seasons but I liked some of his early work but that season just gone has completely alienated me from the show. It felt like he was undermining everything good about Dr Who and committing mass character assassination. Unwatchable dreck. The last series was the first for a few years that I've watched every episode; there were a couple of duff episodes but overall I didn't think it too bad - certainly better than some of the crap Russell T Davies served up. I think part of the problem is trying to get a complete story into 45-50 minutes. This is what I have been saying quite a lot. The format does very little for the storytelling that Doctor Who used to do so well. However as someone who gave up during the Tennant/RTD era I have to say that I find it hard to understand the vitriol aimed at Moffatt. Admittedly his writing has faults but he has cut through RTD crap and his Doctor, in persona, is more aligned to those from the Classic era. I think he may be spread to thin but I don't want to oust him and we need to have a quality replacement lined up. Also we die hard fans (not to be confused with fans of Die Hard) are only a minority of the audience the programme has to appeal to the casual viewer who has just finished watching Strictly Come Dancing or has turned off X-Factor.

I was once professionally employed to write entries for a rock reference book and her birthdate - as in the year of her birth - proved somewhat elusive. One school of thought suggests she's two years older than she says. Maybe we should cut her in half and count the rings.

I think Kohl could be a good pick but the rest of the names are DDP fodder, not instantly recognisable, unless of course you are an economist.

I read the other day on Twitter that there are plans afoot to remake Highlander with Tom Cruise being considered for the role that Sean Connery played in the original. Firstly Highlander does not need remaking the sequels were bad enough but infintely ignorable. Secondly when has any film been improved by the casting of Tom Cruise. Aaaaaarrrrggghhhhh

Tina Turner clocks up her 3/4 Century today.

I have a full shadow list but I have decided to wait until December to share it. However I will say two things: Luise Rainer is on it and Christopher Lee should keep the No. 50 slot as a Deathlist Hero.

I have just posted my 2000th post.

Most of the animal shelters operate purely on donations, so they need to recoup the money they spend on housing these animals until someone purchases them, and also for any vet fees when they take the animal in. Although to buy a cat or dog from a pet store (especially here in the US) is a bit more expensive. Although I have to admit sometimes the owners of the shelters are super picky as to whom they allow to buy the animals. Obviously they want it to go to a good home, but they can often be unreasonable. I'm not complaining about paying. I only mentioned the cost to make the point that we are not freeloaders, and deserve to be treated with some respect. True, no one is really going to go out of their way to spend £100+ on a dog if they're going to neglect it. But then again I've known some people who had more money than sense and didn't have a clue on how to house train the critter. But then again it doesn't really matter how much you're spending, you should still be treated with respect. The money is irrelevant. I'm talking about the type who starts off by deciding in advance that the applicant will not be a fit person to adopt a dog. On the phone, so appearances are not a factor here. I suspect that they only want people they already know to take the dogs, or friends of friends. Suffice it to say that the woman I have just dealt with was so obnoxious and obstructive that I have sent a letter of complaint to the chief executive of the national charity she represents. A slight defence of these people (or perhaps a little understanding) they are frequently volunteer but they are animal people not people people and they often struggle in personal interactions. In their POV they are doing their best to protect the animals in their charge.

DDP points for me. This happened almost a fortnight ago Looks like I have been lucky again. Might need to be careful with some of the more obscure picks.

DDP points for me.

I think the point here is that his current status is that he is a convicted rapist and to go straight back to his old job as though nothing had happened and having shown no contrition does not send out a the right message. For good or ill football players are heroes to a portion of the children growing up in this country. If one of your colleagues had been convicted of rape would you expect to see them back in work as if nothing had happened the day after they left prison (early)?

David Prowse returns as Green Cross Man Cam he look and listen far enough to allow him time to get to the other side.