Octopus of Odstock

Penny Akam, one of the UK Travel industry's most high profile personalities has had to step down from her promotional duties due to "advanced cancer" reports Travel Weekly this week. Obit chances? Slim. Unlike the chap on the left of the picture. But you never know....

Mick Hill , ex Welsh international & ex Ipswich, Sheffield United & Crystal Palace forward, has died, aged 60 John Hulme, ex Reading & Bolton captain & stalwart has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 63.

Definitely keep Banshees. Firstly, whatever you may think of him, he does liven up proceedings. Secondly, he certainly adds a different dimension to the Deathlist. Personally, I've no great problems with him being here at all, and I think really, we should try & encourage people here instead of driving them away (Dave/Iain excepted). Surely, would it not be easier for those who don't like Banshees or his posting, to simply put him on the ignore list? Oh, keep Maryportfuncity too. But as for that TheManInBlack.......

Number 4 is Aliens Love Underpants. Number 10.. a guess only, but The Koran?

Nah. I've just, today, heard "good" news about one of the people I did pick. Besides, I can't do too well & win the DP I run - it would be too Mugabe-ish...

Nooooooooooooo I used to get the magazine as a kid. I loved the team tabs at the start of the year & had them up on my wall. I'd always put the league I wanted, rather than the actual league, so Reading would be top of the old division 1, ahead of Liverpool & Manchester United, rather than at the bottom of division 3 with Halifax! A shame, 'cos I know a lot of youngsters still read it, my younger cousins included. Guess the annuals will be more money now...

Cyd Charisse has danced her last. I wonder if ex-DL candidate Tony Martin, her husband for some 60 years or so, will die shortly as a result...

Sorry, WEP, I was very cranky this morning as I have a rotten cold & took it the wrong way. Looking back now, I was a bit rude (alright, very rude), which is not my way (bar Iain postings), so many apologies for that & thanks for your help. Hmmm... So Malden & Lom are listed on 2004 & 2005, but are not on the list on the main page.. Mysteries indeed... is there a black box of the DL where people go missing or is there an error somewhere? I think we should be told...

You haven't understood a lot right, no. I'll admit Johnson & the Queen, apologies. But Lom & Malden are not missing, because they weren't PICKED in 2004 & 2005!! ..and considering George Lineker (note spelling) was a baby when he was picked, I find it hard to understand how he might have had a son nominated? Unlike you, I do know the difference between Gary & George Lineker. So, next time you come in with pissy comments about my errors, make sure you've not made any of your own, son...

My money would be on 1998: Rooney & Sykes are fine now, but well in their 80's, whereas Solzhenitsyn & Jaruzelski are in poor health.

Time for another updated list, especially as Millwall32 brought back the healthy mularkey thread. 1987: Dunn, de Cesaris, Wing, Saville, Osbourne (5/31) 1988: ???????????? 1989: Bruno, Robson, Mandela, Ditka, Paisley, Kendall, Osbourne, Wilson, Dunn, Smith, Jenkins, Cole (12/32) 1990: Dunn, Noriega, Aznavour, Alliss, Ditka, Rex Williams, Winfrey, Smith, Aquino, Waite, Queen (11/42) 1991: Willis, Smith, Moore, Mandela, Dunn, Gabor, Beenhaaker (7/40) 1992: O'Brien, Cronkite, Finney, Ryder (4/37) 1993: Dunn, Bennett, Curtis, I Paisley, Demjanjuk, Kissinger, Ray Kennedy, Moore, Lineker, Sykes, Foot, Lewis (12/56) 1994: Castro, Demjanjuk, Kirkbride, White, Shamir, Dunn, Thorpe, Shilton, Johnson (8/50) 1995: Curtis, Demjanjuk, Castro, Moore, Forsyth, Connery, Johnson (7/50) 1996: Hagman, Demjanjuk, Mr T, Thorpe, Domino, Castro (6/50) 1997: Wisdom, Rooney, Domino, Douglas, Dunn (5/50) 1998: Rooney, Solzhenitsyn, Jaruzelski, Sykes (4/50) 1999: Havel, Leeson, Simon (3/50) 2000: Havel, Farrakan, Dunn, Foot, Jaruzelski, Biggs, Solzhenitsyn, Malden (8/50) 2001: Tutu, Minelli, Jones, Pincher, Wallach, Wouk, Rooney (7/50) 2002: Biggs, Brady, Foot, bin Laden, Malden, Higgins, Levi-Strauss, Douglas, Kendall, Niemeyer (10/50) 2003: Biggs, Jones, Foot, Malden, Morgan, Wisdom, Shamir, Cronkite, Rooney, Gabor, Sykes, Havel (12/50) 2004: Biggs, Foot, Levi-Strauss, Solzhenitsyn, Brady, Shamir, Musharraf, Wallach, Mintoff, Douglas, O'Brien, Michelmore, Rooney, Mugabe, Dunn (15/50) 2005: Biggs, Moore, Niemayer, Levi-Strauss, Wisdom, Taylor, Solzhenitsyn, Rayner, Karzai, Maradona, LaMotta, Foot, Martin, Wallach, Paul, de Havilland, Cronkite, O'Sullevan, Castro, Lewis, B Ford (21/50) 2006: di Stefano, Biggs, Niemayer, Levi-Stauss, Pinter, Moore, Foot, Wallach, Wisdom, Douglas, Mintoff, Lynn, Bouteflika, Solzhenitsyn, Graham, Thatcher, Ali, de Laurentiis, Salinger, Rayner, LaMotta, Rooney, Curtis, Mandela, Taylor, Dunn (26/50) 2007: 38 out of 50 survivors at present 2008: 41 out of 50 survivors at present It has to be said that some survivors of the DL are going on strong, despite their age. I suppose George Lineker will end up being the longest survivor on the list in years to come, but who knows? Clive Dunn IS immortal after all....

Andrea de Cesaris also recovered from having nothing wrong with him. He thrives on today. In fact, there's numerous people on this year's DL or previous year's DL that have nothing wrong with them. (Vera Lynn, Herbert Lom, Eli Wallach etc.) So, how can they possibly recover from something they haven't got?? Leo Beenhakker too... though the way his Poland side are defending right now, he might be a good entry for DL 2009.... I suppose George Lineker, Mike Ditka, Roddy Piper etc would be candidates who were ill but are now pretty much okay.

Well, that's if Hamilton doesn't nerf me off at the first chicance.... Great, great shame about Andersson, although I suppose as he lived & breathed rallying, it is fitting he should die the same way. A nice man, of whom many had genuine affection, but his problem at Toyota was he was too nice & laid back to really cut it in the two cut-throat worlds of car manufacturers & Formula 1. The rally world is a much tamer animal.

Although his dad is a bit of a tit & has pushed him into living a life that is not normal by any definition, he was quite withdrawn, shy almost & normally pleasant enough at lower level. I definitely think the "McLaren Experience" has made him into what irks so many people:- Arrogant, more concerned about his image & private life than his career (take note Lewis, and look at Jenson Button now), defensive, eager to attribute blame (Raikkonen), not willing to accept he might be wrong (Alonso alleged & false "braketest" at Bahrain) and dishonest (you didn't look back at the light, LH, the TV pics proved that). He needs to learn a bit of humility & a sense of right & wrong. Ron Dennis is not my most favourite person either (Hell, let's be honest, I can't stand the man), but that's something I have stated before. But to be fair to him, he did employ Gerhard Berger, the antithesis to Dennis' prototypes for a number of years. Stefan Johansson too. If dear Bruce McLaren could see what his team has become, if he wasn't already dead, he'd drop straight out because of shock.

I expect his obituary coverage to be a lesson to myself. I think in mid December we all go through some frenzy of unlimited possibilities and since I knew Wujcik wasn't going to be alive by the end of the year, I took a gamble. It's a shame I didn't spot Yo-Sam Choi instead. Considering Wujick hasn't got a full obituary full-stop in ANY press outlet, it's looking pretty slim already for a UK obit. Banshees, if I recall correctly, wasn't Wujick a last minute rethink by yourself?

Judging by how NAP has 152 votes in his favour, but only 60 votes have been cast, I'd say that's very Mugabe-esque type results!

Good stuff. Kubica wins his 1st GP - 3 years ago I said he would be a future World Champion. At this rate, it'll be this year! Lewis Hamilton looks even more an arrogant, stupid tit than ever before. In all my years involved on & off the sport, I cannot remember a driver I have despised as much as I do Hamilton. MPFC, trying to guess what Mosley will do next is like trying to decide who Lewis Hamilton will blame for his next act of stupidity - impossible. One for the sad stattos - first win by a German team for 46 years. First win by a Pole, full stop.

Set to go back to work in August

Former Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil has died

No real news but she is now 99 & her mind appears to be still working.... Again, make of what the above snippet you will... Personally, for the low point values she's worth, she's not worth the punt I don't think.

Given tentative all clear from cancer

Bobby Anderson, who played (and whose performance helps make the film) the young George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life has died of cancer. He appeared in many other movies as a youngster & then went on to go on the other side of the camera, but it's for IAWL he'll be best remembered. (on right, hopefully obviously...)

Yes. I am quite sure I have posted it here a vast number of times, but Lord Carrington lives, retired, a little frail, but in decent health, a very short distance from myself. He's even in the phonebook if you want to ask him yourself - although it's no secret where he lives He continues to attend local events - the most recent was just last week - May 31st. Occasionally he writes an irate letter to The Bucks Herald. I have no intention on putting him on any DP list as, unlike Francis Pym, who I knew was seriously ill 5 or 6 years ago, old Carrers seems to be doing decently for his age.*** **Which means he is doomed knowing my previous form....

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear of McKay's death. He did a lot of motor racing coverage, and whilst he was a true all-rounder (Brits think of a cross between Barry Davies & David Vine, I guess), he was extremely competent with his motor racing efforts. One death to add to the list, Reg Flewin, who captained Portsmouth to their last 1st division (ie Premiership now) title, and who won international honours with England, and also managed Bournemouth & Stockport, has died after years of poor health. Fittingly, the last football game he ever watched was Portsmouth's win in the FA Cup Final in May. Flewin was a member of the youth team at Fratton Park when they won for the first time, in 1939. I had considered if Flewin's role in their title win would earn a suitable obit. It might perhaps yet, in say the Independent, but surprisingly (I say that considering an obscure Oxford midfielder got a BBC obit & Flewin didn't) nothing has appeared yet. Gone are the days when ex-England internationals got an automatic obit...