Octopus of Odstock

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showb...icle1402471.ece An interesting picture that: - Dunny looks the best out of all of them. Pertwee looks ever so frail now, Williams looks slightly better than I thought, Lavender looks so very different & much fatter now, but Dunny still looks class. Whilst this one - which has another close up of Dunn (2nd link) has a picture of Eric Longworth - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...y-reunited.html - who I always half believed was dead, despite what it said on Wikipedia - but lo & behold - he's still alive & kissing females! So, where was Colin Bean, Private Sponge? Could he be the next for DL 2009? PS When was Jeffrey Holland in Dad's Army? Or did they get their Croft & Perry sitcoms mixed up? Suppose he hasn't seen much limelight lately...

Can I do a deal? Annex Portsmouth to Iran, but before you do, take all the snobbish, snottish, up-themselves tosspots who live in (P)Oxford & the entire inbred, dullard pikey bell-end supporters of Poxford United Football Club, dump them in Portsmouth and THEN annex them to Iran. Then, fly to Israel and "accidently" send a missile to Iran. If the above deal is fair, then I vote yes. If not, Portsmouth stays. Actually hold on a minute......... Those f***kers got us relegated by playing like nancy girls vs. Fulham No Deals........ DEATH TO PORTSMOUTH

I doubt it. If they get relegated, which is likely, and they are STILL in administration, they won't be allowed in the Conference - look at Boston United's situation. Luton would be relegated to Blue Square South, just two leagues above local rivals Dunstable Town (unless the Blues are promoted this year, then it's just one....). If the above did happen, it would far overshadow Gretna's amazing fall from grace. As someone who, for some years had Luton as their local team, it's a sad, but not surprising state of affairs. The club, the stadium, the whole infrastructure of the club is a complete shambles. I wouldn't be surprised to see them bust by July 2009.

Dreamt the other night that there were rumours Howard Marks had died. Because there was confusion, I had to go over to his house to see if rumours were true so I could award DDP points. Strange thing (if this was not already strange enough) was, we went to a house that is nothing like the house Howard Marks actually lives in. The people who answered it were Spanish & after a conversation in Spanish it was revealed, after all, that Marks was not muerte. Then, happy with this news, I bumped into Paul Gascoigne. He was clearly alive, but mumbling incoherently & clearly drunk. Two nights ago, I had Budweiser for the first time in some while. If the above is the after-effect, I'll give it a miss for a bit!

Funny thing is I went out partying last night for the first time in some while & immediately felt guilt the next morning....... Ahem... I meant for DDP neglection reasons, obviously...

Marzio Romano a Swiss-Italian racer, who raced in a number of formulae including Formula 3000 (The step down from Formula 1) & Can-Am has died after he suffered a heart-attack at the wheel of an Italian GT event in Valencia, Spain. He was just 53. Link (in Italian)

I remember a certain someone saying the same about Nurmi... I agree with DDT - as long as there is not a huge spate of "big name" deaths, I should imagine she'll get one. I know Aleksandr Abdulov didn't & he was just as famous in Russia as Mordyukova, but I think the timing (just after New Year) went against his favour.

MPFC, you missed off Ernie Cooksey & Manuel Marulanda. Both are

Ditto.

Man, how much did Crypt Kickers bribe the ref to keep allowing stoppage time to carry on until they scored?!?! Our time will come, yet.

I'm getting a little worried. I'm doing better (Helms is my 7th hit) than the organiser of the Dead Pool "ought" to be doing, according to the unwritten rules of DDP etiquette. Considering Plews is due to die this year, and Edwin Morgan & John Hermon are VERY ill, I'm almost embarassed to get too many more hits. Not this time, however. Helms was.. ahem.. not my most favourite person.

I just noticed this comment. I would argue that in some cases and say that Mel Blanc's death, a year earlier, was on the same level and so preceded Henson in loss factor- perhaps less of a shock, but, although I am some 5-6 years older than yourself, remember a heck of a lot of coverage in children's TV & tributes. I was about 11 & very saddened - I still have a lot of fondness for Blanc's genius today. But everyone's different. In the US, you won't know him. But the death many at work & at home in the UK is talking about? "Helms? Nah. Who's he? Wheeler, nah. Before my time. Jack Sugden's DEAD?!!?! "

Possibly. But although Donington would need a bit of "a lick of paint" to put it mildly - it is accessible, internationally more accessible, has much better vantage points for spectators, a great track & a real sense of history. It's also less windy there. Silverstone may have a brilliant VIP set-up, but it consistently has bog all for the spectators. And no, I'm not up there this weekend - which is ironic considering I'm out near Towcester tomorrow for a work & social related matter.

And here he is, having a field day!

Oh no, I am really sorry to hear this. A great shame. She was on my DDP longlist too, but that's not why I'm sorry to hear of her death. She was brilliant in Simon & The Witch and Martin Chuzzlewit, to name just two & I always enjoyed her guest appearances on the TV.

I'd be interested in OoO's view on the above. I've heard M-Sport mechanics speak in glowing terms of fun with DC and his talent being under-rated, though oddly he seems to polarise opinion amongst the females I know who've encoutered him where words like 'immature' and 'idiot,' have been uttered. He was, in his earlier racing days, a bit of an arrogant hothead both on & off the track. In recent years, however, he has been a delight. As I am not a lady, I could not possibly comment on his "manner", but overall, he's turned into a really decent chap these last few years. One hopes Hamilton & Button, arrogant immature idiot playboys both, will learn from DC & do the same, sooner rather than later.

He's not really a despot, but he is an African, and he's a political leader - Levy Mwanawasa is not a well chap..

The original suggestion was also mentioned, of course, in the I & P thread(s), but in the light of Godot's posting quota idea, I'll keep it to this thread & say Galley is dead.

In too much rush to post a link, but he is dead, just as DDT had forseen.

All over the world, former politicial leaders are dying. This is probably a good thing. The latest joining the great debating chamber in the sky are: Gerard Batliner, leader of Liechenstein between 1962-1970. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya, Congo President in 1979.

Labour MP David Marshall quits due to ill health.

Sam Manekshaw gets his UK obituary in broadsheets, Maryportfuncity. Although I'll fully admit to never hearing of Field Marshal Manekshaw before this year, he's turned out to be one of my favourite candidates on the DDP.

I'll have to consider whether, in 2009 onwards, whether the Guardian will remain a valid UK obit source for the DDP after someone writes an obituary about his dad who did nothing much at all of any note apart from work. If that's worth a broadsheet obit, then I'm going to post one to my cat. "Slept all day, caught a mouse once in 1992. Died." Thankfully, some other sources continue with some modicum of sensibility, including the Telegraph, who bring Bruce Lester's passing to light. I may be in a minority of one here who's heard of him, but he oft popped up in 1930's British movies.

Charlie Dempsey, the New Zealand football official who controversially denied South Africa the 2006 World Cup in favour of Germany, has died. When he made the news internationally, the main thing I remembered about him was his bizarre teeth. To mark his passing, here they are again:

I feel like the Rothmans Obituary page right now: Ron Stitfall, like Hill, a two-time capped player for Wales & a legend for Cardiff City is dead. Died of dementia, like Siddall. Not good, not good at all. Too many dead cos of it. So too is Brian Siddall, ex Bournemouth, Stoke, Ipswich player is dead. He t'was 78 Alex Simpson, ex Wolves, Soton & Shrewsbury wing-half is also dead. See here if you dare Cyril Ordish, who played for Reading & Sheffield Weds pre-WW2 is dead. He died last year, but has only just come through now. He also played for Ipswich who seem to have a lot dying... hmm.. Sir Bobby next? finally, Eddie Quinlan. Tottenham & Reading player is also dead. Alas RIP to all.