Imelda

Death sells. Bowie got his first US no.1 album after croaking. A strange phenomena.

Someone who went for Plowright was DDT. Which means, if Louise gets a qualifying obit, she has the honour of being his 100th hit. She does: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/former-eastenders-actress-louise-plowright-7471449 Ohh, missed this yesterday. My first hit of 2016.

One word. Wizbit

not happening bud. Gabor is dying and she will die this year. And where have we heard that one before?

From last weeks Popbitch Is everything OK with the Queen? The only reason we ask is that the Arts Council have just sent out a document entitled "Advice And Guidance: Category A Death" which lets organisations know how they should conduct their affairs in the event of the death of a senior member of the Royal Family. Although they do try to broaden the advice out for other "notable persons", they return to the theme of QE2 carking it regularly. The most interesting part? We learned that while Charles, Camilla, Wills and Kate all classify as a Category A member of the Royal Family, Harry doesn't. Learn how to conductyourself, citizen:http://bit.ly/1SiHmk1

The 94 World Cup was pretty terrible, but that game will live on. Cheerio Wolfman. Anyone know the cause? All the articles I read have the same cut and paste press wire. Enjoy again... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT299bOCy3c

First year I've left ZZG off my list - pretty much everyone else at the Nags has her. I will be mercilessly mocked if she goes before Jan 1st 2017. So expect her to depart on the 31st of December...

THAT'S TWENTY-TAE GOALS IN FIVE FUCKING GAMES!! - he's great...a classic angry Scotsman, the sort you see shouting incoherently at passers-by from a bus stop whilst clutching a can of Tennants Super.

Bowie takes the piss - http://pitchfork.com/news/63059-hear-david-bowie-impersonate-bruce-springsteen-neil-young-iggy-pop-lou-reed-tom-waits-in-newly-unearthed-recording/ Back in 1985, when Bowie was recording the theme to Julian Temple's British rock musical Absolute Beginners at London's Westside Studios, he took a break, fired up a backing track, and reeled off an impressive string of musical impersonations. Among them are Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and Anthony Newley.

Well well well, I Google a list of old comedy programmes on Channel 4 and some saddo (my kind of saddo) has made a comprehensive list http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/network/c4/ Ted is a good shout for best-ever, though a quick glance of the list shows some excellent competition: Adam & Joe Show Armstrong And Miller Bad Sugar Black Mirror Brass Eye Drop The Dead Donkey Inbetweeners IT Crowd Jack Dee Show Nathan Barley Peep Show Phoenix Nights Star Stories Teachers (well, series 1&2) Whose Line Is It Anyway? A tidy collection of boxsets there for most people.

Have just watched A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman and Tim Spall looks bloody terrible for a man of 58, very gaunt and just generally looking ten years older. He's had cancer previously (myelogenous leukaemia). Found this report that says it's a general weight-loss health kick thing (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/550774/Timothy-Spall-weight-loss) but I reckon he's one to keep half an eye on.

James Randi - for all the tales about debunking charlatans and hocus pocus peddlars, a genuinely interesting fella. Kissinger would have a thousand stories but won't tell you anything not already declassified!

June Whitfield sounding good for a 90 year old http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sfrks

If you'd be willing to accept my 50 as posted here on Dec 31st then that'd be great - http://www.deathlist.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8628&p=246448 I'll fly by the seat of my pants in terms of how well they fit in with the rules Cheers 1. Helmut Kohl 2. Jenny Diski 3. Howard Marks 4. Clive James 5. Martin Crowe 6. Peter Esterhazy 7. Stephen Hawking 8. Ian St John 9. Louise Plowright 10. King Bhumibol Adulyadej 11. Rob Ford 12. Mikhail Gorbachev 13. João Havelange 14. Rev Billy Graham 15. Johan Cruyff 16. George Bush Snr 17. Tommy Chong 18. Peter Sallis 19. Lord Peter Carrington 20. Daisy Berkowitz 21. Tony Booth 22. Douglas Slocombe 23. Fidel Castro 25. Liam Neeson 26. Sinead O'Connor 27. Jimmy Carter 28. Dick Cheney 29. Robbie Coltrane 30. Vivean Gray 31. Bob Dole 32. John Glenn 33. Burt Reynolds 34. Valerie Harper 35. Liz Dawn 36. Harper Lee 37. Rodney Bewes 38. George Shultz 39. Clarke Carlisle 40. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 41. Nancy Reagan 42. Gaston Glock 43. Cliff Michelmore 44. Leslie Phillips 45. Hosni Mubarak 46. Zsa Zsa Gabor 47.David Rockefeller 48.Denis Norden 49. Mary Tyler Moore 50. Caroline Aherne

Ones that were on and then off (and then on and off again) my DP list in the last 72 hours of December João Havelange Rev Billy Graham Lord Peter Carrington Daisy Berkowitz Douglas Slocombe Fidel Castro Gaston Glock Plus Zsa Zsa, who I finally dropped for being a wasted pick once too often.

Bhumibol Adulyadej

One for 2017 I think.

Utter brilliance. I await the next 14 with baited breath.

As I'm just off to the Nags to sub my teams for their DP, here's my 50 for here: 1. Helmut Kohl 2. Jenny Diski 3. Howard Marks 4. Clive James 5. Martin Crowe 6. Peter Esterhazy 7. Stephen Hawking 8. Ian St John 9. Louise Plowright 10. King Bhumibol Adulyadej 11. Rob Ford 12. Mikhail Gorbachev 13. João Havelange 14. Rev Billy Graham 15. Johan Cruyff 16. George Bush Snr 17. Tommy Chong 18. Peter Sallis 19. Lord Peter Carrington 20. Daisy Berkowitz 21. Tony Booth 22. Douglas Slocombe 23. Fidel Castro 25. Liam Neeson 26. Sinead O'Connor 27. Jimmy Carter 28. Dick Cheney 29. Robbie Coltrane 30. Vivean Gray 31. Bob Dole 32. John Glenn 33. Burt Reynolds 34. Valerie Harper 35. Liz Dawn 36. Harper Lee 37. Rodney Bewes 38. George Shultz 39. Clarke Carlisle 40. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 41. Nancy Reagan 42. Gaston Glock 43. Cliff Michelmore 44. Leslie Phillips 45. Hosni Mubarak 46. Zsa Zsa Gabor 47.David Rockefeller 48.Denis Norden 49. Mary Tyler Moore 50. Caroline Aherne

You knew the punks were going to be a big thing because they told you they were. Rat Scabies came up behind me in Dingwalls, this terrible urchin with awful red hair, spots all over him. He said, “Oi, you’re Lemmy aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘You think you’re a rock star or something?’ I said, ‘Well if there’s going to be one, it might as well be me.’ He said, ‘Fair enough, I’ll buy you a drink.’ We’ve been friends ever since. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/dec/29/lemmy-a-life-in-quotes

Very decent of him to let us all know in good time for our respective DP's!

Mickey Dolenz has the look of someone who'll be gurning zanily about the Monkees legacy for another 20 years...he'll probably outlast the remaining Beatles as well.

Johann Cruyff, who has hardly been the model of health, has lung cancer

I recall that one of the old Championship Manager series (may have been 97/98) had a bug whereby Bobby Gould was sacked as Wales manager in the first week, and Howard Kendall would always be appointed. The game then seemed to completely forget about this as the seasons passed, with Howard always toiling away regardless of results, or finishing bottom of a qualifying group. In an epic game my mate played, HK's finest hour came when he led them to World Cup glory. In the same game Man United were relegated to the Conference under the leadership of Gary Neville, whilst Hull and Carlisle became European superpowers. Maybe one day...

You and me both, I was pretty hopeful I'd have two hits straight off the bat for January with them two. RIP Brian, you leave many memorable quotes and were an inspiration for pseudo-intellectual curmudgeons everywhere.