gcreptile

Cancels performance due to ill health: http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Russell-Watson-cancels-performance-Yeovil-ill/story-28100797-detail/story.html Edit: Apparently, it's 'only' a virus, though.

Ahmed Chalabi, who, for a second, was at the centre of world politics, trying to bring order to the Iraq clusterfuck after the Bush invasion (which he himself pushed for), has died of a heart attack at 70: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/03/us-iraq-chalabi-idUSKCN0SS0MW20151103

Reinhold Hanning fit for trial: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/02/former-auschwitz-ss-guard-93-declared-fit-trial-germany

My condolences...

As one wit said, her dress, like Chelsea, had no coverage at the back and little support up front. Hehe, that actually sums it up.

I wonder if he's headed for some kind of nervous breakdown... Edit: Apart from Chelsea's crisis and his father's health, I remember I had wanted ot post some gossipy article about his daughter here a couple of weeks ago. She looked like a future Lindsay Lohan to me.

AARRRGGGHH 'Twas on my short list. Not even short---my definite 2016 theme team. Dammitall SC Was it your theme team of people with the first name "Ants"?

Turkish president Erdogan had two 'major intestinal operations' but denies having cancer: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2015/10/31/Erdogan-Turkeys-abrasive-Sultan

Ha! Let's see if my theory was right:

It's somewhat satisfactory to see some of these longtime members of the Deathlist make room for new names... It gives more space for new suggestions. I'd like to suggest Fenella Fielding and Nicolas Roeg. Personally, I'm also hoping not to see Liz Smith and Javier Perez De Cuellar in there next year. Yes, they might die, but come on, I can't even research Mrs. (?) Smith because she's such a low profile personality and the american gossip lady with the same name occupies all her internet search function space. And De Cuellar - there's nothing exciting or interesting about him. He might be a hit, but so might hundreds of others be. Even Boutros Boutros-Ghali is a better suggestion, because people actually remember the name. I wonder who the token wrestler is going to be. Maybe even someone like Lord Littlebrook.

Ok, I'll do it... Zsa Zsa Gabor... I got Sam Simon right, probably the lowest of all hanging fruits.

Oh wow, impressive hit rate for the Death List. I seem to recall that I read about Al visiting some baseball game a couple of weeks ago. So I thought he'd be fine for a while - but I might have confused him with Jake Lamotta.

Russian plane crash above Sinai with probably 200+ deaths: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/31/russian-plane-crashes-in-sinai-egyptian-pm-says Let a thousand conspiracy theories bloom....

Well, Malala Yousafzai turned DDP eligible this year. Or something with Cliff Richard.

German gangsta rapper Dennis Cuspert, aka Deso Dogg, aka Abu Talha al-Almani after converting to Islam and joining ISIS died in Syria two weeks ago, which is now being confirmed: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/29/politics/german-isis-rapper-killed-denis-cuspert/

Joni Mitchell to die of leukemia because of inhaling too much toxic paint dust.

oh aye, what route is he on? The young 'uns and yanks hereabouts are scratching their heads at this one, right? For their edification we have: https://youtu.be/gQBOepTtiM8?t=55 Lol, I still have no idea what's going on, but ah yes, André Previn is a name for my excel file (As you can see, I'm looking at classical music at the moment. I'm trying to look for people that would probably get an obit in the Telegraph, people of the high arts, like Peter Brook, Peter Blake, Richard Rogers, or Bridget Riley.). Ah, and Fenella Fielding...

"The oldest conductor on the circuit": Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, 92: http://slippedisc.com/2015/10/the-oldest-conductor-on-the-circuit/ Returns to London this week and was musical director in Manchester, so likely obitable. Another idea: Since this conductor is still in good shape, and I basically only wanted to bring his name into the public discussion, even knowing that he might have a bit of time left, maybe an "Ideas and Possibilities for the next couple of years" thread is a good idea?

John Adie, who founded the classical Two Moors Festival to help english farmers in despair after the foot-and-mouth epidemic, has died at 69: http://slippedisc.com/2015/10/sad-death-of-festival-founder-two-days-after-it-ends/ I wonder if he died of a twomoor.... (yeah, that joke is why I posted it)

First, let's wait and see what that little "bump" was. If it's a recurrence of the cancer, that's bad enough, but if it's not resected within the next few weeks/months, it's likely terminal. As SC said above, he has a "bad" type of liposarcoma (pleomorphic l.), with relatively high recurrence rates and aggressive behaviour, so definitely one to keep an eye on in 2016, regardless of the optimistic statements issued by those close to him. (Even if it's operated on again, he might end up like Hugo Chavez, with the cancer coming back after each surgery. His cancer type was never revealed, but suspected to be a soft-tissue sarcoma, like Rob's.) The 5-year survival rate of this type of cancer is 54%, as I have read on a website today. Now, one has to adjust that average value for Rob Ford's specifics. He's young, but also has a drug history and is overweight. Plus, there is a minor risk of an infection with lethal complications. My guess that Ford has a 5-year survival probability of 40%. But we're interested in the next 14 months, and that probability of survival is much higher. I can only guess... about 60-66%? And then you have to decide if Rob Ford's good 10 points are worth betting on a 33-40% chance, and this chance grows or declines with whatever problem Ford has right now.

For me, he's such an obvious candidate that it doesn't even need to be mentioned, like Howard Marks or Jimmy Carter.

The road to recovery has a "bump": http://www.torontosun.com/2015/10/27/rob-ford-has-hit-bump-in-the-road-in-cancer-fight He also still has a hole in his abdomen because of an operation and had a serious infection there recently.

Deon "Big D The Impossible" Evans, mainly famous for his longtime collaboration with 2PAC (or Tupac?), has died at 45: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legendary-tupac-shakur-producer-deon-big-d-the-impossible-evans-passes-away-at-age-45-300167207.html He produced most of Tupac's hit records, and also collaborated with Digital Underground and the artist later known as Ne-Yo.

Scott Marshall, winner of Ink Master, a tattoo competition with host Dave Navarro, has died at 41: http://wwntradio.com/2015/10/28/ink-master-winner-victor-passes-away-in-his-sleep-at-age-41.html

I think the gender gap needs to be closed somewhat, there need to be more women on the list (especially since the mortality rate for women is just as high as for men - 100%). And I believe that an appropriate criterion for "Death List eligibility" should be a BBC obit in most cases. But putting those two together is hard. Eva Marie Saint is an obvious possibility. Joni Mitchell, probably not, if the reports about her recovery are correct. Maybe Imelda Marcos, or Gina Lollobrigida. Outside chances for Vanessa Redgrave or Honor Blackman. I like how this year saw a certain decline in the names that were solely on the list because of their age - for one, we can replace them with other names prominent and old enough, especially Hugh Hefner. Maybe also Sir Neville Marriner, Obligatory random names to increase diversity: Sir Jeremy Morse, Judith Kerr, Boutros-Boutros Ghali, Jihadi John, Lord Carrington, Albert Uderzo