Octopus of Odstock

Claude Levi-Strauss. Enough is Enough.

I supposed I should be pleased that a suggestion of mine was a success for the DL..... but for the life of me, I don't know why I dropped him from my 2007 DDP list. I also dropped him off my CPDP list. What's even more galling was he was on both teams the year before. Ah well, it's only a game & a laugh. Not for old Smithy, obviously. Now Mugabe has seen off his sworn rival, might he wilt away? I doubt it.

Thanks all for your feedback so far, and please continue to vent your spleen or air your thoughts - it's most useful. A quick update & and also an inkling of where I'm at at the moment:- Executions This one is still open - there's some very good points about either a lack of obits, or indeed, a lack of death - I think if pushed for a decision right now - a reduction of points or, as CP said, a ban on placing a joker on an executionee is more likely than a complete ban. But that's before I put the question to a wider scale. I think the one thing I am wary of is a repeat of the Barzan/Bandar problem if the "Al-Majid three" aren't executed by year's end. If they are killed, or reprieved, then it's a bit more of guesswork than assured points. Famous for being Famous Good points by everybody - I've decided there won't be any restrictions on the level of famousness - so relatives of famous people or obscure "In the news" type people like Ainscow - fine. No qualifying articles or likewise needed. Ultimately, they may not get an obit anyway. Godot, people picking WWI veterans are hampered anyway, either by a lack of obits, or a lack of points. Age Limits Again, still open. Still likely to stick to 16 at this time - again, this is probably going to go to the wider DDP audience. Amount of subs Because of restrictions beyond my control, this will have to stay at 1, I'm afraid. Ultimately, if more picks die, I'll e-mail the relevant parties. I think last year was a bit freakish anyway. Team Entry Limits I'm veering towards (and would like) one player - one team. But I do want to see Theme Teams - I think they provide a bit of colour into it. Hopefully we can still have both. TMIB, I think giving extra points for dead picks on theme teams starts to confuse me with scoring and there could be argument about what a "theme team" is, so I don't think that option is going to be taken up - but thanks for suggesting it, I hadn't considered that. Obituary Requirements The third one that will go to a wider audience. All of you have made good points. Personally, I think that the BBC in itself covers a huge amount of potential picks & the rest supplement the less populist but still famous (ie WW2 heroes, civil servants, politicians etc.), so the need for CNN is perhaps lessened, because of the BBC. I'm still ruminating on this one. Unique Picks I can confirm it will now be 3 points for a unique pick, instead of 1, after it was proved workable. So get unique-pick spotting now! Scoring System Good suggestions, TMIB, thanks again. But Bank Holidays are a bone of contention as Scotland, Ireland, and of course the USA, Canada, Australia etc all get different bank holidays off!! New Year's Day though... hmm.. maybe. One thing I can confirm though, is the current scoring brackets & current bonuses (unatural deaths, double points for joker) will remain. So I hope that clears at least three points up - further feedback on the other three is welcome & will continue & soon I'll confirm what, if any, rule changes will affect the 2008 (and onwards) DDP.

Paddon may've made the news more, but two other football notables have died - Ken Leek, a member of the Welsh 1958 World Cup squad, and former Birmingham & Leicester favourite has died, aged 72, whilst Joe Shaw of Sheffield United, who held their record for most appearances has also heard the final whistle.

Firstly, Paddon of Norwich. Great shame - most of the family are Norwich fans & this has been a miserable enough year with their current form to then have the great Johnny Gavin & now Graham Paddon die - Peter Mendham was jailed as well. Bad year for the Canaries. I'm very sorry to see Gregory go - what a tragic end & what a fight against the disease. But I curse it a little bit as 6 weeks longer would've been a DDP bounty. Never mind, Evel Knievel will just have to do it instead.

Claudio Abbado seems to be recovered and back at work. Oh. Although I'll keep an eye on him for a bit, that report looks like it means he's out of the Top 20 of my team. So back in the fold comes Rev. Billy Graham.

If someone can help with the graphics/webpage loading etc, I'm very interested - I'll send you an e-mail. In my favour for my application, I already have a large amount of the 2007 database on my computer & can do the e-mail mularkey/updates/write up etc. Just need someone who is a whizz with computers to tell me how it's done & load it all up on the site (I have a website like that at the moment - I do the hard work & someone just presses a button & hey presto it's up!) And as I have my 2008 team pretty much sorted already (ie I know who I'm going to name as long as they're still alive), I can confirm I won't cheat by reading names off people's lists & enter my team as early as allowed. and any new rules would be democratic - ie current players would choose & we go with the majority. So, that's my hat in the ring anyhow.

I'd argue Clement Atlee, although his reputation appears to have been enhanced more for the policies & things introduced during his premiership, retrospectively, rather than at the time, where he was thought out-of-touch and er... useless. Sir John Major is a thoroughly decent man, I always feel, but in terms of decent as in effective, it's hard to argue in his favour - though of course that wasn't so much down to him but the sh*ts he had in the Government at the time - a lot of them Thatcher's legacy. Douglas-Home was about the only PM that didn't do anything wrong. Trouble is.. he didn't do anything. Except Hunt, shoot, fish & drink champagne. Top PM

Re. Ebbsfleet first. I don't very often agree with David Sullivan, owner of Birmingham City, but he made some extremely valid points about the whole setup on the BBC. But to add to that, if things go wrong, are these "fans" culpable for failure? Or do they just switch off their computer? How long do these "fans" have to carry on in this scheme? It will be a disaster. Well, that's Ebbsfleet no longer a serious rival to the mighty Whites in the Blue Square Premier then... Disaster for Carlisle tonight - an embarrassing cup defeat to follow on from an equally embarassing cup draw. Maybe they should stick to the league. Not only them, but the "Mighty" Leeds United too... so now could it be the previously much derided (on this thread alone) Morecambe for the cup?

A couple of very varying deaths to report: Trisha Williamson, who used to be one of the main TV weather girls in the early 90's & whom I remember very well on Good Morning Britain has been killed in a car crash, aged 48. and Delbert Mann, a movie director whose moment of glory came in 1956, when he won the Best Director Oscar for his film of the previous year, Marty, has died, somewhat more peacefully, from pneumonia.

Abdullah Ocalan, PKK supremo is in "bad health" and very ill, apparently. Something tells me calls for his release will fall on death deaf ears somehow.

To Lard Bazaar and BHB (whose current plight I missed originally), my thoughts are genuially with you at the moment. As I can offer only somewhat trite or meaningless phrases when writing which would belie what I am thinking, I will say no more except that both of you take care of yourselves at this challenging time for you both.

No, 'cos she weren't in my team this year - she was number 5 in my 2008 team.

Oral Roberts in "excellent health" and goes walking every day. Good for him. Bad for Deathlist.

Profile & recent pic of Suharto. Doesn't go out much, but hasn't apparently worsened lately.

Just one Titanic survivor now - but will the extra publicity make Dean flourish a la Allingham or wilt a la that German lady who died after a day of being the oldest German?

One of the two remaining Titanic survivors, Barbara West Dainton is dead. In fact, she died on the 16th October, but only wanted information about her death released after her funeral. News report here. She would've been on many 2008 DDP lists, I guess - certainly was on mine. Don't think there's another obit for her yet for those who chose her in 2007.

Ah good-o. I hope it's in time for Christmas, a new album to listen to will be just the ticket. Thompson lasted.. what two days after I said dead by the end of the week? Shame. I wonder if Fidel Castro & Kenny Rogers are one & the same. They both have magnificent beards & they haven't been seen in public together EVER. It would also explain a lot of other "weird" things with both of them.

Keep Smith. Drop Wallach, de Havilland and Moore.

It's been a while since I posted a racing driver's death in this thread, but Don Freeland, one of the few surviving Indianapolis 500 stalwarts from the 1950's has reached the chequered flag, after a long period of ill-health. He follows another former Indy 500 racer, Ebb Rose, who died in late August, in passing away recently.

Probably because either:- a ) she didn't have it when she was acting b ) It was not as serious at the time and worsened later. c ) The cast & crew would've helped her with some lines or places to stand etc. By God, Iain, you really are an idiot Great shame. She was probably the funniest person in "Citizen Smith". Well done to those who picked her on the DDP, by the way.

Earl Butz has shaken off his cobwebs & appeared in a new documentary. He's in a nursing home, but his mental facilities seem intact. (or intact as they ever were). Until recently, he was going to work every day (circa 2005), so he's obviously slowing down a fair bit.

The undisclosed illness is lung cancer, and he's in a hospice, according to this. Excellent spot, DDT, but Thompson will be dead by the end of the month, if not the end of the week, I expect.

Only the one? I counted four worthy of mention. Um... to add to Godot's excellent list, it does have one of the greatest motor racing circuit in the world. It also makes excellent (if somewhat pricy) chocolate. It is also easy to get out of to somewhere better. It's Luxembourg I can't stand. What a complete waste of a country. It should be invaded by the Belgian Resistence.

A great shame - one of the greatest footballers of the 1950's full-stop. At least Kurt Hamrin is still with us, but not many of that great Swedish 50's team are now. I'm reading a biography of Billy Wright at the moment and it's very sad that of that era, maybe one or two of a whole team survive. Iain, your link, for Don Fellows, not for the first time, doesn't work. This, whilst not a link per se, at least gives a bit of insight, rather than your link that goes nowhere.