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gcreptile

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Posts posted by gcreptile

  4. Posted

     

    I like how the Telegraph writes lovingly detailed obituaries for fringe people and, generally, for people who do not fit into any category on this forum.

     

    Here for example, Laura Lushington, whose claim to fame is introducing the Turkish "swimming cat" to Britain. So here's a national obit for a crazy cat lady, sorry, "cat enthusiast". I like how they speak of Mrs. Sonia Halliday as "her lifelong friend".

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11638637/Laura-Lushington-cat-enthusiast-obituary.html

     

    Or here, Barbara Mackintosh, the chatelaine of Inverailort Castle. Her claim to fame is her great hospitality:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11635946/Barbara-Mackintosh-chatelaine-obituary.html

     

    Again, there is a Mrs. Lucretia Cameron-Head, "her friend and companion", "for more than half a century".

    Ms. Mackintosh already died in April.

     

    Perhaps they're chums?

     

    Possibly, I let my mind be guided by stereotypes though. I thought the cat gave it away. In the second obit, it's the dog, though it's not quite as clear.

  7. Posted

     

    So with Helmut Kohl's troubles, I decided to check on some other members of my team. The Liliane Bettencourt case is now over and she was in fact being exploited (another case of elder abuse, like BB King and Harper Lee):

     

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32923006

     

    She suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's (Is there a difference? I honestly don't know.). But then I guess people can survive biologically like that for years.

    Alzheimer's deals with forgetfulness whereas dimentia deals with figments of one's imagination, a false reality. My mother recently passed and suffered from both. Forgetting to bathe oneself for a week is Alzheimer's, talking to me when I visit thinking I'm her dead brother, that's dimentia.

     

    What elder abuse did BB King suffer? That's news to me.

    SC

     

    Thanks for the explanation. Well, BB's daughter suspected elder abuse by his manager:

     

    http://www.spin.com/2015/05/bb-king-hospitalized-daughter-elder-abuse/

  9. Posted

    So with Helmut Kohl's troubles, I decided to check on some other members of my team. The Liliane Bettencourt case is now over and she was in fact being exploited (another case of elder abuse, like BB King and Harper Lee):

     

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32923006

     

    She suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's (Is there a difference? I honestly don't know.). But then I guess people can survive biologically like that for years.

  10. Posted

    Update... "Der Spiegel" has learned that Kohl has been in intensive care for three weeks already and his state is "critical" (kritisch):

     

    http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/helmut-kohl-liegt-seit-drei-wochen-auf-intensivstation-a-1036754.html(link in german)

     

    Edit: An english article with the same information: http://www.thelocal.de/20150602/helmut-kohl-in-intensive-care-for-3-weeks

     

    Apparently, there's going to be a statement later on.

  11. Posted

     

    Has Danny Cipriani ever actually done anything on a rugby pitch? He's famous for getting dropped from the England squad before he made his international debut because he was at a nightclub at midnight two days before a match, and now b/c he's reportedly knobing Kelly Brook. Oh, and according to Wiki he once dated a Cheeky Girl. With that track record I'm not surprised Josh Lewsey clocked him.

     

    Danny Cipriani now in danger of being kicked off the team for a second time after a drink-driving-crash incident:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3106660/England-rugby-star-Danny-Cipriani-held-suspicion-drink-driving-5am-collision-involving-Mercedes.html

     

    A risky bet for people who also pick Paul Gascoigne or Charlie Sheen.

  12. Posted

    There is sometimes a nice warm feeling that can be obtained by finding a defunct thread and bringing it back to life.

    Exactly. I still remember the joy discovering that there already was a thread for Sir Ranulph Fiennes when I reported his intention to run the Sahara marathon.

    And I always try to find the most specific thread. Heads of state is a category with only about 1000 (if at all) living member whereas "political frailty" could cover 10000s of people. Maybe I should have posted the news of the Sultan of Oman in the Sheikh Down thread, but is the Sultan of Oman a sheikh? He definitely wasn't down.

  17. Posted

     

    Beau Biden, son of US vice-president Joe Biden hospitalised for unspecified reasons, but it's 'serious':

     

    http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/05/19/usa-biden-son-idINKBN0O42ON20150519

     

    He already had a stroke in 2010.

     

    Dead Age 46 from Brain Cancer

     

    Wow, shocking. I should have picked him when I had the chance. It couldn't be good that they didn't say anything for a while.

    Edit: By the way, I believe they'd known it for quite a while. Yet, he apparently prepared a run for governor. That goes to show how ruthless one must be to make it in that world.

  19. Posted

     

    I like how the Telegraph writes lovingly detailed obituaries for fringe people and, generally, for people who do not fit into any category on this forum.

     

    Here for example, Laura Lushington, whose claim to fame is introducing the Turkish "swimming cat" to Britain. So here's a national obit for a crazy cat lady, sorry, "cat enthusiast". I like how they speak of Mrs. Sonia Halliday as "her lifelong friend".

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11638637/Laura-Lushington-cat-enthusiast-obituary.html

     

    Or here, Barbara Mackintosh, the chatelaine of Inverailort Castle. Her claim to fame is her great hospitality:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11635946/Barbara-Mackintosh-chatelaine-obituary.html

     

    Again, there is a Mrs. Lucretia Cameron-Head, "her friend and companion", "for more than half a century".

    Ms. Mackintosh already died in April.

     

    The Telegraph's obituaries are usually pretty respectful in their tone and follow a general policy of not referring to the subject's sexuality, if that person hadn't talked about it publicly while alive. At the same time they make it pretty obvious by acknowledging the "companion", "personal mainstay", "close friend", etc of the deceased individual.

     

    One notable instance of a complete lack of respect came from Nigel Short, the chess player, who wrote an obituary for Britain's first grandmaster, Tony Miles in 2001 and thought it appropriate to mention that:

     

    I obtained a measure of revenge not only by eclipsing Tony in terms of chess performance but also by sleeping with his girlfriend, which was definitely satisfying but perhaps not entirely gentlemanly.

     

     

    Classy guy.

     

    I have an on-again-off-again relationship with chess. I remember Mr. Miles was a bit eccentric. He once defeated Karpov with an irregular opening, generally considered an insult ("He's not taking the game seriously"). And Short is one of those autistic half-man/half-robot minds that top-level chess seems to attract or breed. So the obit is extremely honest, yet completely unaware of any social norms. It's indeed glorious since Short basically says that it was Miles' own fault he died, which, however might actually have been the case. The Wikipedia picture of Tony Miles shows what he looked like at the end.

    Generally though, the Telegraph obits are full of class, and I like their old-fashioned style.

  20. Posted

    No idea he had his own thread. Hasn't been active in 6 years, anyway.

     

    Carl Reiner is on my list and he doesn't seem like a very good choice, which makes me laugh since there are posts from 10 years ago about how he's old and frail and bound to go soon :P

    Yes, it's funny, but also somewhat insightful. Like a life in fast-forward.

  21. Posted

    I like how the Telegraph writes lovingly detailed obituaries for fringe people and, generally, for people who do not fit into any category on this forum.

     

    Here for example, Laura Lushington, whose claim to fame is introducing the Turkish "swimming cat" to Britain. So here's a national obit for a crazy cat lady, sorry, "cat enthusiast". I like how they speak of Mrs. Sonia Halliday as "her lifelong friend".

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11638637/Laura-Lushington-cat-enthusiast-obituary.html

     

    Or here, Barbara Mackintosh, the chatelaine of Inverailort Castle. Her claim to fame is her great hospitality:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11635946/Barbara-Mackintosh-chatelaine-obituary.html

     

    Again, there is a Mrs. Lucretia Cameron-Head, "her friend and companion", "for more than half a century".

    Ms. Mackintosh already died in April.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

     

     

     

     

    Movie producer Russell Wolfe (God's Not Dead) has rather advanced ALS, this is a SLAM DUNK for 2016, YOU LISTENING COMMITTEE?!?

    SChttp://www.christiantoday.com/article/gods.not.dead.producer.asks.for.prayers.donations.in.als.battle/50214.htm

    There's a report here of his death. I'd rather await something more substantial to confirm. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/05/29/hollywood-filmmaker-who-made-a-positive-impact-in-our-culture-for-christ-dies-his-legacy-will-continue-to-influence-the-world/
    Looks like his death is confirmed. Pure Flix Home Page: http://pureflix.com/

     

    Christian Examiner: http://www.christianexaminer.com/article/gods.not.dead.producer.loses.battle.with.als.dies.at.50/49014.htm

    Yes, some more sources:

     

    http://variety.com/2015/film/news/russell-wolfe-dead-dies-gods-not-dead-1201508419/

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/russell-wolfe-gods-not-dead-798956

    Darn it. I wanted to include him for 2016. Didn't expect him to go so fast.

     

    Interesting development, now that he's dead, the screenwriters of 'God's Not Dead' are getting sued by other producers who claim to have written a similar movie:

     

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dinesh-dsouzas-film-partner-sues-798948

     

    These other producers are collaborators of Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative celebrity/activist/TV voice/director who is currently in jail for illegal campaign financing (I think he's in jail, but he was definitely convicted for it). The D'souza team created cheap, crappy "documentaries" catered to political conservatives and I think this suit is now meant to settle who is going to be the sole major producer of Conservative movies. God's not Dead showed that there is good money to be made from it.

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