Octopus of Odstock

My cousin Bob died yesterday. He had a heart-attack mid-December which left him in a vegetative state & eventually they weaned off the respirator. It looked like a hospice at some point to let nature do its course but his lungs filled up with fluid & he died in his sleep. A good guy, very kind & very welcoming to people but I'm glad he's gone as he wasn't the sort of person who would've chosen to carry on the way he was after the heart-attack. Kinda of Ariel Sharon type situation. Last I heard Sharon was also being weaned off the respirator... If I had been really Crafty in December, I could've gone to Guardian newspaper, put it under Other Lives & get points for DDP as a "British Newspaper Obit" but I think my team is strong enough. Bob now becomes the 6th family member to die in a year & a half!! and a couple of other names.. Bert Godwin, rugby player, 70 Napoleon Ortigoza, Paraguyan Rebel (often called the Paraguyan "Mandela"), 73

I've only just noticed this - Eli Wallach on Deathlist?? The Man may be in years, but not health wise & physically - I, too see him going for some while yet - I think he'll be determined to outlive Robert Vaughan & then he's dusted off the Magnificent Seven. 6 gone, 1 to go Puzzling choice, but who knows, eh?

Think, but not sure, I see?

I didn't pick Lou Rawls so I can hardly boast. In fact, I'm just relieved I've got off the mark... Let's hope it's not my only hit

Then again, he might not be US Disagree

and sure enough, the BBC covered the execution, so DDP has a new leader...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4530622.stm On the BBC site today. It appears that apart from the sticks, she is relatively healthy & lost weight. It's certainly pushed her back in my list for 2007 possibilities.

That looks to be a real consideration in 2006. Keizo Miura never got an obit, did he? It will be, yes. With Clarence Ray Allen, it's playing on the rule on the DDP Rules Page: "Obituary" simply means an article which mentions the fact that the person has died. It doesn't have to be the conventional biographical write-up. So if any newspaper or BBC say he was executed, ergo, he's in. But for others, yes, it will be a test. The last two years have seen some I'd thought would never get even an article on a UK site, but as Torres last year & almost certainly Miura this year prove, it's a risk you have to weigh up. Miura didn't get a mention in any US Paper either - the only two english language papers that mentioned his death were both English Editions of Japanese Papers, so unless he pops up in "Lives In Brief" in the next week or so, then it doesn't look like he's going to get a obit.

I thought one of the most interesting things about this year's DDP, is, considering two big factors; 1) the rise of teams 2) the loss of so many "Big guns" in 2005 that Tomlinson's total (ie percentage of people who chose her/entries) went down. 2006: 30/233 = 12.8% 2005: 16/124 = 12.9% Yes, Yes... I know it's only 0.1% but almost every other surviving choice has gone up dramatically - Biggs, Thatcher, Ford, Douglas, Pinochet, Foot, Astor, Pinter - even Lou Rawls got more, and was argubly a "niche" choice. The last time I saw her was on BBC1's "Review of the Year 2005" talking about her terminal illness, 2006 & other stuff. She looked quite healthy, had plenty of plans for 06 & said "that being alive was a double-edged sword"

Worst limerick I ever heard. How does coffin & splinters rhyme? Plus your two middle lines are too long Better (and keeping with the DL theme) would've been: There was an actress named Winters and stuck in her arse were splinters when she was asked why just before she did die she replied "don't know, they're Harold Pinter's". Well done on your success though. I look forward to a limerick each time you get a hit from now on.

He was 79. Why the BBC are going "late 70's" is very odd - very sloppy as he was one of the few Arab leaders who has a fixed birthdate. Not a good year for Middle Eastern rulers eh? I believe the successor is his brother. Either that, or he fathered a son aged 4.

Go on then. How? When a certain Mr. Allen gets executed. (BBC & The Guardian should cover it, considering the past few days) The Doffin' Codgers already have 10 points from Lou Rawls, so by my calculations that will put them on 15, one ahead of Pussycat Dolls Tempus Fugit, I had taken Shelley Winter's death into consideration here & wasn't talking about myself.

very, very sad indeed.

That's all set to change in 3 days.....

Wasn't he in "Judge John Deed" last week? Certainly was and tonight too. His son died early though - Jeremy? Doing quite well. Just to show, like I say, for British entertainment (TV), IMDB is too US-centred, so a blank gap of some years doesn't necessarily mean they're ill/dead/retired etc. Just a word to the wise for future picks.

Couldn't agree more.

Lloyd Ruby, 78, who is a legend of US open-wheel motorsport, especially the Indy 500, is sadly in very poor health at present, with cancer, I believe. Whether he would get an obituary in the UK is debatable, but it's one for consideration.

Still hideously fat & hideously crap. Went out in the 1st round this year. Probably because his fingers are too fat. No coincidence, likewise, that one of the semi-finallists is a thin (THIN darts player!?!?!) young Dutchman.

Along with Brian Blessed & Clive Dunn, I've always had the feeling that Windsor Davies is immortal.

Hmmm.... This is the trouble with Iraqi politicians. You don't know whether to take this with a pinch of salt or not. The same lawyer said one of those two women "Dr Germ or Mrs Anthrax" whatever was "dying", plus let us not forget Barzan Al-Tikriti "has cancer" yet seems remarkably active, Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri is doing remarkably well for a "dead" man (so too Chemical Ali) & I distinctly remember Saddam Hussein being "close to death" in 2000. One other report says Aziz is suffering from no worse than toothache - quite different to a "brain stroke" This from a government who had "comical ali" as their official spokeman. I'll believe it when I see it, to be honest - the American quote on Aziz seems far more realistic. Can't afford to choose a DDP pick on a lawyer's hysteria, a la Ronnie Biggs

Bad day for long-named playboys of nobility: Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifa, aged a mere 15. http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Bahrain/193475 What this site doesn't mention that one other one does: It was not known how the prince came to be driving on a public road. Under Bahraini law, one has to be 18 years of age to apply for a driving license Ah well.. S**t happens

Well done! Or.. should that be comiserations?

and Stephen Hawking & Abdelaziz Bouteflika go together.. how?

King? Hardly. From the description of him, he seems to be some kind of rich German playboy who was a soldier, mainly through family links, would've competed in the 1940 Winter Olympics if it hadn't been cancelled, then became one of those anomoyous big-wigs on the International Olympic Committee.

Same here. I watch it for fun! I think it's about the 5th or 6th series now.