Octopus of Odstock

The impression I get Banshees, is that the rule (that being soon-to-be executees) will be dropped, or amended. The problem, if there is one, has only really come about this year with so many high-profile Iraqi executions and even more mass media outlets covering the American deaths. I'm as guilty as anyone - I picked Clarence Ray Allen as my joker in 2006 & put Al-Tikriti & Al-Bandar on in 2007. To be fair to those who have picked the likes of Al-Majid, or DDT's Bali 3, these can go either way in that the sentence is commuted, or in the case of the American's, they don't get obits. No Noose is not going to win, so I don't see that it matters too much. And I still find that people who chose J. Grove on their DDP rather than Iraqi executees to be more wrong.. One rule I would like to see, and agree with previous posters is making the unique pick bonus higher - maybe 3 points instead of 1.

You do realise there is a search function, Doug? If you used it, you would find Sir Bobby has been mentioned in numerous threads, including a dedicated Bobby Robson thread. Search is at the top, you type in the name & voila! Do try & use it, at least once, if you could, good man.

It was Johnny McRae. Jimmy McRae is Johnny's grandfather, Colin's father. At least get the poor boy's name right.

For me, 3. Denard, Lady Bird Johnson and King Zahir Shah were all in the top 20 at some point in December, when I dropped them for Hermon, Yitzhak Shamir & Billy Graham respectively.. all of whom are still alive.

Bob Denard, the mercenary involved in so many missions in Africa, has died. More on him here, death announced here. This, for me, is the biggest miss of the year, DDP wise, because I eventually whittled it down to choosing between John Hermon & Bob Denard for the dementia hit 70 year old slot. Looks like (thus far) I chose wrong.

Bwa Ha Ha! Another victim!

1 Gazza 2 Diego Maradona 3 Britney Spears 4 Pete Doherty 5 Amy Winehouse 6 Jocky Wilson (Darts player) 7 Alex Higgins 8 Tony Blair 9 Pervez Musharraf 10 Jacques Villeneuve 11 Anton Ferdinand (Colossally stupid & drives fast cars.. look at QPR's Ray Jones..) 12 George Michael 13 Eddie Van Halen 14 Doku Umarov 15 Caroline Aherne 16 Ian Huntley 17 Princess Anne 18 Morgan Tsivingarai 19 Whitney Houston 20 Charlie Sheen 21 Michelle Rodriguez 22 Tom Sizemore 23 Sir Salman Rushdie 24 Shane McGowan 25 Iggy Pop 26 Mike Gregory 27 Barack Obama 28 Ashley & Mary Kate Olsen 29 Ozzy Osbourne 30 Ronnie O'Sullivan 31 Norman Whiteside 32 Kate McCann 33 Niki Lauda 34 Tommy Lee 35 Jeremy Kyle 36 Lindsey Lohan 37 Courtney Love 38 Ray Kennedy 39 Billy Joel 40 Prince Harry 41 Janez Drnovsek 42 Jeremy Clarkson 43 Robbie Coltrane 44 David Boon 45 Bobby Brown 46 Keith Allen 47 Nouri Al- Maliki 48 Leslie Ash 49 Gil Scott-Heron 50 Clive Dunn Please send the cheque in the post...

Rudolf Arnheim has, finally, got a UK obit.

Well, that's why it's always nice to respond. Funicello has had MS for years.

Pollack's in, provided he makes it to 2008. Funicello.... I doubt it, unless I come across anything that says she's getting any worse. Looking at my current potential 2008 team, there's a lot of sports-stars on there, nearly 8 of them - more accident, than design. I can confirm that I'm not adding Biggs, Foot, Jack Jones, Fordham, Bevilacqua or Margaret Thatcher as things stand now as I feel they are all healthy enough to make 2010.

A little while back I posted about how Widmark's old friend Karl Malden was out & about getting coffee. I am now going to top this rather auspicious posting by revealing that Widmark is still active, if only in the art of ordering & eating fudge, if nothing else. All that fudge can't be good for the arteries can it?

Hmm.. thought this was the thread about Hillary & his recent fall etc but it's about masturbation instead. Ah well, fair enough. Anyway, "Pretty frail" Hillary attends event in Christchurch. He looks a lot older than when I last saw him, but he has lost a lot of weight recently - I remember him being quite a chubby chap in recent years. Least he's out & about again after his fall.

That's why he's on NONE of my deadpools, so I am rather chuffed with this news. In relation to this, note what a recovery the seemingly "near death" "Dr. Jack Kevorkian is making - talks scheduled well into 2008. Of course, before I get too pious about jailbird illnesses & their lawyers, for every Kevorkian, there is a Milosevic... Biggs will see his 80th birthday, of that I am pretty confident.

Out & about, not once, but twice, the latter celebrating Ian's birthday. I really don't think this chap is going to go just yet - I'll reckon, barring a fall, he should make 2009.

If you look at my above ruminating, it was clear that Phil Hill had taken a downturn of health recently, but I was unable to pin-point precisely what the illness was. Well, it's been confirmed as Parkinson's Disease. So, maybe it won't kill him just yet, especially as he is still making the odd festival, but the man is 80 after all & can't go on forever. Still a decent candidate, I think, for a DL or DDP place.

Obiang flew to the US for more treatment recently. However, he still seems as busy & globetrotting as ever...

Game Postponed so Maradona goes home and gets arrested.

He's lost 7 stone, given up drinking & is back playing darts Good to see, and I for one, have removed him from my DDP list for 2008.

Japanese motorbike racer Norick Abe (or Norifumi Abe in his homeland) has been killed in a traffic accident, aged only 32. Seems like he was the luckless victim of a bit of spectaculary bad driving by the sounds of the report. A great shame.

What with footballers Moncur, Kelly, Robson, Maradona & Gazza all in varying forms of ill-health, it might well be possible to name a whole team & bench of 9 for the DDP of footballers. If anyone does so, one name worth thinking about is Ndaye Mulamba. Striker for Zaire's World Cup team, his lot is not at all good right now. But surely a Zairean player won't get a UK obit? Well... on the BBC there is a strong African football section, with far more news on there than usual. To prove my point, the BBC featured his plight, which was pretty bad then, back in 2002. Just a suggestion, anyhow.

Kirky & pals attend AFI's 40th anniversary The whole group are pictured here. Quite a few look quite old.. Billy Crystal isn't aging brilliantly, I must admit.

Chemical Ali execution delayed... for now. Crucially for those lamenting no points on the DDP yet for the condemmed one or three... the last day of Ramadan is October 12th. Which means the first day of execution possible is October..... 13th. Double points all round, perhaps?

So who told you that? His boyfriend? Yes, Ron Dennis was quite.... oops.

A great shame. I especially liked the dramatic sweeping scores like Yes, Minister & to The Manor Born & nowadays, the theme tune to Last of the Summer Wine is the best thing about it. His music will live on long after he does, which is a good legacy to have. Anyway, keeping on topic, former Northern Ireland international footballer & Doncaster Rovers legend, Len Graham has died, aged 82.

Make that a quartet. Stelling, all by himself, made a relatively household name of an obscure Scottish lower division striker in Kenny Deuchar. I also watched Soccer Saturday to see if we'd be promoted to the Championship vs Leicester in 2005. I well remember Stelling's introduction... "There's been a crucial goal at the Walkers Stadium..." Ray Stubbs, on the other hand, should be banished to the hell that is Room 101's dungeon for inept, fat, incompetent smug w**nkers.