Magere Hein

Bugger, was hoping that'd stay on the Bollywood gossip blogs and not make it to wider promenance. So was I. Not that I expect her to die in 2013, but it's one of those nice picks for lots of points, especially as a unique pick. regards, Hein

1987: de Cesaris, Wing, Osbourne (3/31) 1989: Bruno, Mandela, Ditka, Paisley, Kendall, Osbourne, Brian Wilson, Jenkins, Cole (9/32) 1990: Noriega, Aznavour, Queen, Alliss, Ditka, Rex Williams, Winfrey, Waite (9/42) 1991: Willis, Moore, Mandela, Gabor, Beenhakker (5/40) 1992: Finney, Ryder (2/37) 1993: Bennett, Ian Paisley, Kissinger, Ray Kennedy, Moore, Lineker, Jerry Lee Lewis (7/56) 1994: Castro, White, Kirkbride, Holly Johnson, Thorpe, Shilton (6/50) 1995: Castro, Holly Johnson, Moore, Forsyth, Connery (5/50) 1996: Mr T, Thorpe, Domino, Castro (4/50) 1997: Rooney, Domino, Kirk Douglas (3/50) 1998: Rooney, Jaruzelski (2/50) 1999: Leeson, Simon (2/50) 2000: Farrakan, Jaruzelski, Biggs (3/50) 2001: Tutu, Minelli, Pincher, Wallach, Wouk, Rooney (6/50) 2002: Biggs, Brady, Kirk Douglas, Kendall (4/50) 2003: Biggs, Rooney, Gabor (3/50) 2004: Biggs, Brady, Musharraf, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Michelmore, Rooney, Mugabe (8/50) 2005: Biggs, Moore, Karzai, Maradona, LaMotta, Wallach, de Havilland, O'Sullevan, Castro, Jerry Lewis (10/50) 2006: di Stefano, Biggs, Moore, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Lynn, Bouteflika, Graham, Ali, Magaret Thatcher, LaMotta, Rooney, Mandela (13/50) 2007: Castro, Sharon, Graham, Biggs, Tim Johnston, Piper, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, de Havilland, Lynn, LaMotta, Molinaro, Vigoda, Moore, Jerry Lewis, Farrakhan (16/50) 2008: Biggs, Castro, Pincher, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Domino, Gabor, Lynn, Sharon, Graham, Watson, Lamotta, Karzai, Klugman, Moore (15/50) 2009: Biggs, Havelange, Pincher, Wallach, Castro, Kirk Douglas, Graham, Mandela, Shankar, LaMotta, Rooney, Nancy Reagan, Christopher Lee, Klugman, Cardin, Moore, King, Margaret Thatcher, Sharon. (19/50) 2010: Biggs, Wing, Gabor, Pincher, Wallach, Castro, Kirk Douglas, Wouk, de Havilland, Priebke, Healey, Tork, Edrich, Graham, Mandela, Bough, O'Sullevan, Margaret Thatcher, Molinaro, LaMotta, Thornton, Klugman, Norden, Attenborough, King, Lansbury, Jerrt Lewis, Domino, Garner, Sharon. (30/50) 2011: Biggs, Gabor, Kirk Douglas, de Havilland, Healey, Edrich, Margaret Thatcher, LaMotta, Thorton, Khamenei, Klugman, Jerry Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Godfrey, Dole, Cheney, Wing, Pincher, Wallach, Ellison, Mandela, Shankar, Schmidt, Molinaro, Brady, Priebke, Andrews, Sharon, Cardin, Lynn, Michael Douglas, Nancy Reagan, Frederiksen (33/50) Updated for Niemeyer. regards, Hein

27 of 55 voters got it right, Niemeyer it was. Topic closed. regards, Hein

Oscar Niemeyer again... regards, Hein

Dutch animator Gerrit van Dijk died yesterday, one day before his 74th birthday. regards, Hein

Chalk up a hit for Windsor's theme team at DDP. Well done! regards, Hein

Beats my theme team, which managed to keep the score at a nice round zéro points. Of course, there's still some 2012 left. My main team just scored its 4th hit with Besse Cooper! Anyway, I've decided to change tactics with DDP and do some actual research, rather than choosing interesting picks. regards, Hein

Well, well, my 4th DDP hit and 3 lousy points. regards, Hein

Did he hit himself with bricks? regards, Hein

1987: de Cesaris, Wing, Osbourne (3/31) 1989: Bruno, Mandela, Ditka, Paisley, Kendall, Osbourne, Brian Wilson, Jenkins, Cole (9/32) 1990: Noriega, Aznavour, Queen, Alliss, Ditka, Rex Williams, Winfrey, Waite (9/42) 1991: Willis, Moore, Mandela, Gabor, Beenhakker (5/40) 1992: Finney, Ryder (2/37) 1993: Bennett, Ian Paisley, Kissinger, Ray Kennedy, Moore, Lineker, Jerry Lee Lewis (7/56) 1994: Castro, White, Kirkbride, Holly Johnson, Thorpe, Shilton (6/50) 1995: Castro, Holly Johnson, Moore, Forsyth, Connery (5/50) 1996: Mr T, Thorpe, Domino, Castro (4/50) 1997: Rooney, Domino, Kirk Douglas (3/50) 1998: Rooney, Jaruzelski (2/50) 1999: Leeson, Simon (2/50) 2000: Farrakan, Jaruzelski, Biggs (3/50) 2001: Tutu, Minelli, Pincher, Wallach, Wouk, Rooney (6/50) 2002: Biggs, Brady, Kirk Douglas, Kendall, Niemeyer (5/50) 2003: Biggs, Rooney, Gabor (3/50) 2004: Biggs, Brady, Musharraf, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Michelmore, Rooney, Mugabe (8/50) 2005: Biggs, Moore, Niemeyer, Karzai, Maradona, LaMotta, Wallach, de Havilland, O'Sullevan, Castro, Jerry Lewis (11/50) 2006: di Stefano, Biggs, Niemeyer, Moore, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Lynn, Bouteflika, Graham, Ali, Magaret Thatcher, LaMotta, Rooney, Mandela (14/50) 2007: Castro, Sharon, Niemeyer, Graham, Biggs, Tim Johnston, Piper, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, de Havilland, Lynn, LaMotta, Molinaro, Vigoda, Moore, Jerry Lewis, Farrakhan (17/50) 2008: Biggs, Niemeyer, Castro, Pincher, Wallach, Kirk Douglas, Domino, Gabor, Lynn, Sharon, Graham, Watson, Lamotta, Karzai, Klugman, Moore (16/50) 2009: Biggs, Niemeyer, Havelange, Pincher, Wallach, Castro, Kirk Douglas, Graham, Mandela, Shankar, LaMotta, Rooney, Nancy Reagan, Christopher Lee, Klugman, Cardin, Moore, King, Margaret Thatcher, Sharon. (20/50) 2010: Biggs, Wing, Gabor, Niemeyer, Pincher, Wallach, Castro, Kirk Douglas, Wouk, de Havilland, Priebke, Healey, Tork, Edrich, Graham, Mandela, Bough, O'Sullevan, Margaret Thatcher, Molinaro, LaMotta, Thornton, Klugman, Norden, Attenborough, King, Lansbury, Jerrt Lewis, Domino, Garner, Sharon. (31/50) 2011: Biggs, Gabor, Niemeyer, Kirk Douglas, de Havilland, Healey, Edrich, Margaret Thatcher, LaMotta, Thorton, Khamenei, Klugman, Jerry Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Godfrey, Dole, Cheney, Wing, Pincher, Wallach, Ellison, Mandela, Shankar, Schmidt, Molinaro, Brady, Priebke, Andrews, Sharon, Cardin, Lynn, Michael Douglas, Nancy Reagan, Frederiksen (34/50) Updated for Hagman. Omissions and dead candidates corrected, candidates disambiguated where needed, reordered to order in year's lists and recounted. yours geekily, Hein

Allow me to add a species to the list of Animals We Want To Get Rid Of: rose-ringed parakeets. These birds have gone feral in my city and do remarkably well: several thousands now infest the neighbourhood. Admittedly they're pretty, but also noisy and nasty and they compete with local wildlife very effectively. As far as I'm concerned the lot is shot. Does anybody know if they're good to eat? regards, Hein

I just learned that Dutch footballer and manager of, amongst others, Feyenoord Ab Fafié died November 28, aged 71. regards, Hein

Rock music is not dead, it is dying slowly, and by slowly i mean it could take up to a good 30 years to 'die'. The thing is i just don't see the charts moving from dance music and boy bands and all sorts of crap like that, which is a shame because i love rock music whilst i loathe dance music, It will be a shame when Chuck Berry dies because he is a great Rock 'N' Roll icon. In this respect I like to misquote Frank Zappa: "Rock is not dead, it just smells funny." It's difficult to predict musical fashion, in the '80s I thought that rap and hiphop would die in a few years. It's still here, much to my regret. I know enough young'uns who like rock, either to listen to or to play, or both. I guess rock'll be around for a while, at least as long as old farts as me are alive and well. regards, Hein

According to Ecuador's ambassador to the UK Assange is suffering from "a chronic lung ailment that could worsen at any time and is being checked regularly by doctors", so claims Reuters. regards, Hein

That first link is clinically dead now, but here's another one. For personal reasons I prefer to believe the rumours rather than the Crown Prince. regards, Hein

I've split these posts from the "Irate visitors post here" topic for obvious reasons. I'm wonder if a separate forum for the dead is a good suggestion, if only because it means that topics must be moved there after a candidate dies. Considering the flak moderators get when they forget to stick the label "dead" to the dead, I'm not too keen on this idea. The topic of guest posting is a sensitive one. I rather like the principle, but I appreciate that guests' posts rarely contribute positively to the discussion. That said: the same is true of many members' posts. regards, Hein

The answer to that question depends on your perspective. regards, Hein

It's a bit long; I gave up about halfway, but it's a wonderful mix of valid points, misrepresentations and lies. Quite a few valid point, actually. It's the best pieces of irony I've seen this year, a propaganda film about the evils of propaganda. Highly recommended. regards, Hein

Who would've guessed I'd announce a Luxembourger's death. Former FC Twente and Ajax manager Antoine "Spitz" Kohn died today, aged 79. regards, Hein

By the by, that bird, being 78, be bloody good basic DL business. regards, Hein

Valid points there. In Dutch newspapers proofreaders disappeared in the 1980s, with horrible results. Today not a single issue of any Dutch newspaper, tabloids as well as broadsheets, is sold that does not contain spelling or grammatical errors. I suppose nowadays journalist mail their copy directly to the typesetters, errors and all. regards, Hein

Yes, it does. Topics merged. Yer juzt gonna confooose peeps wiv all dis chopin n changin, aye. Of course I do, it's on purpose. My project to confuse the local failed miserably, so I try forum readers now. regards, Hein

Yes, it does. Topics merged. regards, Hein

Before we start a search for causes we should perhaps establish as fact that spelling and grammar are indeed deteriorating or have deteriorated. Of course we see lots of errors in that regard, especially in online media, but that may just as easily be explained by the fact that ordinary people's writing is much more visible today than before the arrival of webfora, tweets and blogs. Before the arrival of the internet most writing I read was done by professional writers. I have no indication that professionals' writing skills have deteriorated since. So the question is: did non-professional writers before the internet write better than today's? Did people spell their shopping lists, or letters to their relatives, better than they write online? I rather doubt it. The fact that there's a thing called "grocers' apostrophe" is evidence that crimes against orthography are of all times. BTW: I'm going to split these posts to a new topic in the extra-curricular forum. It's got nothing to do with the Comandante. regards, Hein

Russian Women[1] Grandmaster Yelena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya died November 18 from a "long and serious illness", aged 55. [1] Women can, for historical reasons, hold "women only" titles in the chess world. They're Micky Mouse titles[2] that, now that quite some women hold the titles of International Master and International Grandmaster, are bound to disappear. [2] Mickey Mouse titles in the sense that e.g. the lowest one, Woman Candidate Master, has a required rating of 2000, a rating I don't have, but that is easily in reach for any reasonably talented amateur who's able and willing to do a few hours of homework every week. Several players in my club have such a rating. regards, Hein