gcreptile
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Posts posted by gcreptile
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Book has a potential unique DDP hit, now that Elisabeth Wiedemann is dead at 89:
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/medien/frau-von-ekel-alfred-schauspielerin-elisabeth-wiedemann-gestorben/11831978.html (link in german)
She played the wife of "Ekel Alfred" in the early german TV series (actually a sitcom long before they became a household name) "Ein Herz und Eine Seele" (A heart and a soul, meaning, sort of, beating as one heart). It was an iconic german TV-show of the 70s about a "typical" german family with "Alfred" as the always grumpy father. It was before my time, and it always seemed to me that this father was symbolic for the people who voted Hitler into office and the children had to life with these people. Elisabeth Wiedemann is the last of the core family to die since the actors of her two TV children died before her.
Wiedemann also had a couple of roles in some very prominent german TV movies, and the usual smaller roles in several series'.
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Hmm.. a more complicated case than the typical "Birthday problem":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem
Statistically, it's more likely than not that two people of the same group share the same birthday if the group contains more than 23 people. With three people, the required number is 88:
http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/485462/birthday-problem-for-3-people
One should actually expect that in a list with 50 people, at least two share the same birthday. Three people however is an unlikely but still not extraordinary event.
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Bob Dole on video at memorial service:
Looks ok, I guess.
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http://scifibulletin.com/2015/05/26/rip-tanith-lee/I hate to link to Wiki, but a guy in my DP is a columnist and critic for horror and Sci-Fi mags, and says his industry friends are saying that author Tanith Lee died May 24 (thus the link). He and I--and now YOU--can look for a confirming link.
http://www.tor.com/2015/05/26/tanith-lee-in-remembrance/
Or maybe this: http://heavy.com/entertainment/2015/05/tanith-lee-dead-dies-cause-of-death-funeral-esther-garber-husband-john-kaiine/
Thanks for simply deconstructing the Wiki link doofus. DL demands a news source. Does "heavy.com count ? Pfft
SC
Who is DL? Why does DL demand?
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I hate to link to Wiki, but a guy in my DP is a columnist and critic for horror and Sci-Fi mags, and says his industry friends are saying that author Tanith Lee died May 24 (thus the link). He and I--and now YOU--can look for a confirming link.
SC
http://scifibulletin.com/2015/05/26/rip-tanith-lee/
http://www.tor.com/2015/05/26/tanith-lee-in-remembrance/
Or maybe this: http://heavy.com/entertainment/2015/05/tanith-lee-dead-dies-cause-of-death-funeral-esther-garber-husband-john-kaiine/
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He's died. 51. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/former-cbc-comedy-writer-mike-o-brien-51-dies-of-cancer-1.3086979Canadian sitcom actor, radio showmaster and comedic writer Mike O'Brien has stage four cancer:
He's obviously going to die soon, but his fame is probably non-existent outside of Canada.
Tried to chase down any link to this guy's work to use his name as a trade off for my roster should he make it to June 15. Found a writer for SNL with same name but not him. Frankly, this guy seemed quite the nobody, eh?
SC
Well, getting an obituary in Canada's equivalent to the BBC didn't exactly mean he was a nobody. However, his focus was radio and that isn't quite the big cultural force it once was. A bit like Colin Bloomfield with a role in a sitcom and the odd writing credit.
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The Nash Crash didn't change my opinion, Bhumibol.
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Is that the first unnatural death in DL history? Kudos to the selection committee, regardless.
Yes, definitely the first unnatural causes death in DL history
A beautiful mind, but not quite calculating enough to work out the probability of dying in a car crash when going without a seatbelt...
I once heard this anecdote about him: his main claim to fame and Nobel Prize was his concept of the Nash Equilibrium. It describes mathematically the behaviour of people in anticipation of the reaction of their opponents/competitors. After he had developed the concept, he tested it with the help of his secretaries, but they didn't behave as his theory predicted it, so he scolded them "You're doing it all wrong!" or something like that. It's funny because it reflects the frequent criticism made against economists that they do not pay enough attention to reality (And that, if theory and reality are in conflict, they prefer theory). So yeah, it confirms this impression of economists not quite living in reality, though Mr. Nash also had his own troubles with it.
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@DDT:
Nash crash... kudos.... Remember the Flash Crash?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Flash_Crash
Also, from this link: http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/05/famed_a_beautiful_mind_mathematician_wife_killed_in_taxi_crash_police_say.html
it appears that neither he nor his wife wore seatbelts. Bad...
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Some news on 110-year old economist and linguist Zhou Youguang, the currently oldest living celebrity famous for something else than their age:
http://derstandard.at/2000015697344/Chinas-mutigstes-Reformmagazin-steht-vor-dem-Aus(link in german)
China's government is shutting down its only reformist political magazine. The annual conference meeting was cancelled, but Zhou Youguang wanted to attend and talk about his new book, so there's a 110-year old man (wikipedia says he's 109, though) writing a new book and attending a conference! Sounds more like a potential record breaker than a hit on a team.
The relevant excerpts are these:
Als weitere Schikane wurde der Zeitschrift erstmals seit ihrer Gründung 1981 ihr jährliches Frühlingstreffen zur Aussprache der Redaktion mit den Autoren verboten. 240 Personen waren eingeladen. In der April-Nummer beschrieb das Magazin, mit welchen Tricks die Behörden das Treffen strichen. (...) Die Mai-Ausgabe druckte dann demonstrativ eine Auswahl der Redebeiträge, die nicht zustande kamen. Der berühmte 110-jährige Universalgelehrte und Schöpfer der chinesischen Schriftreform, Zhou Youguang, wollte über sein neues Buch gegen die Unterdrückung des freien Wortes sprechen."
Sort of translation: To add another obstacle, for the first time since its inception in 1981, the magazine was prohibited from holding it's annual spring meeting where the editorial board and its authors met. 240 people were invited. In its April issue, the magazine described the tricks the administration used to cancel the meeting. The May issue provocatively released a selection of the prevented speeches. The famous 110-old polymath Zhou Youguang wanted to talk about his new book on the suppression of free speech."
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Breaking news: Killed in a taxi crash in New York, along with his wife.
Fucking OMG...
Edit: It is the first hit for my economics theme team, of which I was beginning to think that it will only have some impact if there is some plane crash before an economics conference... Now it's sort of becoming reality. I am indeed a bit shocked.
Edit 2: This leaves my deathrace team as my only team without a hit this year. Good... If it sucks, it shall suck in a grandiose way.
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First, pro-Russian rebel leader in the Ukraine Alexey Mozgovoy dies:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/ukraine-separatist-commander-leader-killed-in-car-bomb
And then Russia loses to Sweden, really a bad day for them....
I didn't quite get the popularity of the russian song. It was a solid ballad, nothing more? But my turkish neighbour thought it's either them or Italy. So I might be missing that particular musical sense. Though I was really pleased with the sixth place for Latvia, really impressive for such an experimental song, but then Belgium also made 4th place. The general level of the competition was relatively high, I thought.
Congratulations to Sweden. A worthy winner. If you hear it for the first time, and watch the presentation!, you are overwhelmed by it. A perfect song for the competition. The German result... eh, I didn't like the song anyway. Germany's musical taste is poor.
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German chef Gerd Käfer has died of lung cancer at 82:
http://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2015-05/gerd-kaefer-tot-feinkost-muenchen-oktoberfest
He became a member, and cook, for the high society of Munich and eventually, a major caterer at the Oktoberfest. Another article mentions that he invented party-catering (for germans). Among his customers were also Mikhail Gorbachov and Queen Elizabeth II.
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An article on, and interview with, Baby Peggy, or Diana Serra Cary, the last living silent movie actress wikipedia calls a "star":
(Also some smaller bits about other silent movie actors)
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The often overlooked fifth
Beatlediscoverer of the DNA, Prof. Raymond Gosling, is dead at 88:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11621568/Edward-Adeane-courtier-obituary.html
It was him who took the crucial X-ray photograph that "unlocked the secrets of the DNA", though they were sometimes credited to Rosalind Franklin at a later point.
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I think my personal favorite is Latvia this year.
I usually do bad at predicting the winner, though I got it right last time (wasn't that hard I thought). I think Sweden is a little overhyped. So, maybe Estonia?
Germany and the UK will indeed finish around 20th place, next to each other.
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Edward Adeane, courtier and private secretary of Prince Charles, has died at 75:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11621568/Edward-Adeane-courtier-obituary.html
Adeane is sort of an aristocrat himself, since his family appears to be a courtier dynasty. His father was already private secretary to the Queen.
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Her husband is apparantly doing a bit better;
Pretty mean (and funny) first comment there.
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read this death list community he us a slam dunk for 2016
Shit. He's my music idol, from my favorite band. Is no death sentence, but still. Stay well Chris.Chris Squire of Yes, diagnosed with leukemia.
SirC
[Edit: correct response -- NO!]
He's also the only ever-present member of the band and a major part of their stage presence to this day. He plays bass with more of a show than Steve Howe plays lead.
Aye, wouldn't take any pleasure in culling points from him.
It depends. There are several types of his type of cancer. I couldn't yet find out which type he has. There is a rare type with a very poor prognosis, but other types would have him likely survive beyond 2016.
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Michael Kandel, a trip hop/ambient producer also known as Tranquility Base, is dead at 47:
http://pitchfork.com/news/59644-michael-kandel-tranquility-bass-has-died/
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Jules Bianchi's condition is "stagnant" according to his father:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/21/jules-bianchi-f1-father-japanese-grand-prix
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April? I'm almost mad I put him on my list.
October 13, "it's 5:00 somewhere". With a mere 78 days left in 2015, DLers will breathe a sigh of relief.
SirC
Seeing that all but about 3 people picked an April date, this is beginning to look better.
I reiterate he is one I'd not have on my team at all with a do over.
SC
95% certain to be gone by September is one to always pick....
Though I do think he's next years shoe in.
I also think he only becomes a good candidate in the latter half of this year. I think it will be pretty close for 2015.
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Founding member of Konono No.1 Minigiedi Mawangu has died:
http://music.mxdwn.com/2015/04/18/news/konono-no-1-founder-minigiedi-mawangu-has-died/
As a huge Björk fan, I recognize this group from their collaboration on her single "Earth Intruders". They became favorites of the World Music scene and also worked with Herbie Hancock and Seal.
And now former Björk collaborator DJ State of Bengal is dead:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/entertainment/2015/may/21/state-bengal-aka-sam-zaman-dead-50
He died of cardiac arrest at age 50, becoming the second Björk collaborator to die within a month.
Herman Wouk
in DeathList Forum
Posted
Well, belated happy birthday then!
Well, as long as there is more than one person, there's always a chance.