gcreptile

Star Trek / sci-fi author Dave Galanter dead of cancer at 51: https://www.dailystartreknews.com/read/star-trek-novelist-dave-galanter-has-passed-away-from-cancer-at-51

I think it makes sense if he actually has Parkinson's, i.e. he'll live on, but cannot govern through projecting his "strongman" image. Maybe he gets the shakes more often than he used to, and the regular medication is less and less able to hide it.

The virus has now reached Antarctica, by way of the Chilean research station (no wonder, based on that Lucia Hiriart birthday picture): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55410065

I have sent a team via email. I hope it's alright. Good luck everyone!

Flash Gordon's "Ming The Merciless" is not acceptable for modern audiences anymore: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55409194 Personally, I think Flash Gordon's blonde hair is much more insulting to my blondiness.

Actress Laura Dern talks about the friend she lost to Covid, and what Covid means for her parents, the very notable Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9076871/Laura-Dern-reveals-beautiful-male-friend-died-COVID-19.html Diane Ladd apparently has a "lung condition", so Covid is a big risk. And the article also says that Laura "takes care of her father", whatever that means.

This kind of thinking makes me sad, very sad. I think about it, and the tears just start flowing. It's like a deluge of sorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if Tom Smith drowned in this ocean of tears.

If there is one good thing to come out of 2020, it's me having the time to finally dive into the universe of RuPaul's drag race. I have been going through the seasons lately, and while 2021 is coming up too fast, I think I'll have a "Drag Race" theme team ready for 2022.

Recently, another Russian corona scientist "fell out of a window"... just the latest case of a mysterious series of corona-related falls out of windows in Russia: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9074747/Russian-scientist-falls-death-window-stabbed-latest-mysterious-death.html

English pastor-turned-head of US megachurch Stuart Briscoe, 90, has stage IV prostate cancer and had almost been put in hospice earlier this year after two cases of sepsis - but he recovered: https://eu.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/2020/12/16/look-elmbrook-pastor-author-and-speaker-stuart-briscoes-life/6180757002/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Briscoe

Here's a link: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/f1/sir-jackie-stewart-hospital-spoty-23198296 Time for a Jackie Stewart vs Frank Williams poll?

So I finally finished Stephen King's The Stand. I wanted to do it during lockdown, although, as I know now, the actual plague only makes up about a 3rd of the book, and the rest is, well, post-apocalyptic good vs evil. It's a good book. It has its King-isms, might just add lots of people here and there, fleshes them out too much, and so on, but it's entertaining, and actually easy to finish, which is not bad for a 1100+ pages novel. There's apparently a new mini-series out, on the CBS streaming service, reviews are so-so - but that might be because the internet boys really don't like that Amber Heard is in it, you know, the one who has separated from Johnny Depp and accuses him of having beaten her. She might be making it up, or not. It seems a lot of the criticism comes from the Harold Lauders of this world.

Nice late obituaries. They fulfill the quota of getting about 2 late obits per year. However, I could also imagine one or two more non-sport people, especially the Nobel prize winners.

Former Bundesliga coach and title-winning national youth coach Dietrich Weise, dead at 86: https://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/ehemaliger-bundesligatrainer-dietrich-weise-ist-tot-a-e46acded-c888-41cf-9534-04c285cb8ee0

DDP pick.

Croydon street entertainer Bernard is not dead, but has been in ill health lately: https://www.mylondon.news/news/croydon-legend-rumoured-dead-alive-19488590

Are they for real? I mean, Chile is not exactly dealing well with the virus..

Kerry Katona has the Corona, zzz... zzz.... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9067437/Kerry-Katona-reveals-fianc-Ryan-Mahoney-tested-positive-coronavirus.html

Former prime minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, 79, has laryngeal cancer: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/esm-goh-chok-tong-has-cancer-surgery-will-undergo-4-weeks-of-radiotherapy

Former A-List blogger Perez Hilton has been banned from TikTok and is not taking it well: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/perez-hilton-charli-damelio-confesses-he-is-very-unwell-post-tiktok-ban-and-is-going-to-seek-therapy.html/

Through my googling of every pick in this year's DDP, I was left with 2-3 more picks that I consider a possibility of still becoming a hit this year. Now, I did not research every single name, but with the cancer mums/dads/children, one does have to look a little harder, just to know who they are and what happened to them....

The older brother, Lawrence Meadows, is now dead: https://www.today.com/health/craig-melvin-remembers-his-brother-who-died-colon-cancer-t204040

I will let you know when I get it.

Yes, I am about to finish listening to this Christmas masterpiece (part of The Guardian's top 50 christmas songs):

Former national player for Malaysia, and player at the 1972 Olympics, Namat Abdullah, dead at, well, either 74 as the text says, or 76, as the link says: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/17/former-national-footballer-namat-abdullah-dies-aged-76