Octopus of Odstock

Nah, it's nice for someone else to post. Chuck Weyant, now 86, becomes the oldest living Indy 500 starter still alive, but there's quite a few non-qualifiers older than Chuck - who, last I heard, was in okay health.

US WWI veteran claimee Robley Rex has died, aged 107 - Dead - but he was not, as the article starts, the last WWI veteran living in the US.

Yeah damn foreign speaking people Yeah t'was my error & Wikipedia tricked me *cough*

As I have family members who work in the police force risking their lives every day, I am just going to say this now & keep my piece in this thread:- There are a HUGE amount of people in the police force who do a superb job, many of whom risk their lives daily. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, situations which are inexcusable mistakes & there is a lot of room for improvement within the industry, but overall, I'd rather have the police around then any of the unwashed G20 protesters, none of whom likely have a "proper" job. So, ALL coppers are bastards. Not at all. Don't let the minority overshadow the sterling work of the majority. I don't think it would be fair for me to comment on the Tomlinson death as a result.

Only problem with the translation sites is they don't pick up everything.. I can read & speak it reasonably well, enough to understand it & make myself understood, but I'd be wary of doing it as a proof-reading check - but I'd be happy to help - only problem is I'm not home until Monday... But to be honest I'd be similiar to a translation site. DDLM would indeed be perfect, but unfortunately she's not here any more....

De Jong & Mulisch likewise. But I think Veghead started a thread for Dutch celebrities somewhere.....

The list of internationally famous Englishman dying continues - Ken Annakin, film director, and such a hero to George Lucas that Anakin Skywalker was named in his honour, has died, aged 94. This now equals a record for most consecutive deaths of the same nationality on the DDP - in these multi-national picks days nowadays, that's some achievement. Site to be updated tonight - hopefully for Annakin too if an obit comes in time.

That's a shame re. Kempster. His non-league website has been, in the past, an extremely useful site due to his dedication & diligence. I'd be surprised if he gets any obits to make it worth any DP'rs while though - a big fish in a very, very small pond.

Hans Klenk, one time Grand Prix starter, has died - no press report as yet, only a half-page obituary in the local paper Obituary He was 89 & one of the oldest living drivers until March 24th 2009, when he died.

Confirmation from the BBC

Bloody hell, despite not winning for 7,843 matches (or it seemed like it ), Reading are in the play-offs for certain. I'm now undecided whether I want us to go up as we are complete pants, or stay down for a better crack at it - I think, on balance, going back up, even for a year, might be the best thing.... In other news, Carlisle United are in the relegation zone... will they survive or will MPFC have to check the route map to Aldershot & the mighty Exeter (if they don't go up themselves, that is)??

Forget brake dust in lungs, being murdered is the latest fashion in motor racing... Franco Ambrosio, 77, was a sponsor for the late Tom Pryce at Shadow being becoming the financier who helped put Arrows together - hence becoming the A of the name put together by the surnames of the others who founded the team (Rees, Oliver, Wass & Southgate). On 15 April 2009, Franco Ambrosio and his wife died from severe injuries suffered when intruders broke into their house in Posillipo, near Naples, Italy. The story of this tragedy is pretty similar to Jackie Pretorius' death, which occurred in South Africa in March of 2009.

Much more shocking than I'm led to remember or when I read it in the books. Ironic about his act really that the girl just smiles & moves the microphone further away thinking "Oh he's just larking about". But although it disturbed me, I'm glad I've seen it. Maybe being worse than people remember - that's why it's been hidden for 25 years...

1923, I believe, and still alive.

oops Well, if themaninblack can post a 4 day old news article & then post it as breaking news , and BC Alum can post a rant against himself , then I can unwittingly post a fake death This will teach me not to learn German at school. And teach me not to even learn the smatterings of Dutch. Bah humbug! To be honest, when I saw the article for his "death" was posted in January, I did go hmmmm but I thought Gott was German/Dutch for gone.... Ah well, at least I don't have to update the DDP for anybody else just yet....

According to the Dutchies, he's dead. Heesters Is Gott I'd expect he get plenty of UK obits before long.

A real shame this - he was cheesy, but likeable. He, like Paton as a DDP pick & rather an inspired unique one - fingers crossed, this Easter long weekend (I'm working some of it, but am off the Tuesday after) will see mass DDP updating....

Cheers HCW for the tip - I think I've done it all okay & moved it all round fine - hope it's clear for everyone now which one is which. Anyway, latest tip for any DP starting soon is that Bob Christie, 5 time Indianapolis 500 starter & one of the few living drivers from the Indy 500's in the 1950's is gravely ill in hospital with pulmonary fibrosis. Christie was 85 earlier this week & has been in poor health for a while. He won't make 2010, that's for sure. From a DP point of view, that's now 4 drivers recently (1 dead, 3 very ill) who have suffered pulmonary fibrosis problems late in life. I wonder if all that brake dust in the lungs IS affecting old drivers, or is it coincidence. If any more go, it could be the racing version of football's dementia problem. Then again, brake dust has been around since the year dot for racing - so maybe it's just smoking that's made them like this? Worth keeping an eye on I think...

You can't pin this rant on Max and/or Bernie. You can pin it on a long-since-dead administrator from France. It's a rule that's been in place for over 35 years. It has also been used in other events when a fatal crash has meant the end of the race. Mind you, this is 1st time it's happened in F1 since 1991, and only the 5th time since the rule was brought in. (Spain 1975, Austria 1975, Monaco 1984, Australia 1991, Malaysia 2009 - all bar one due to rain - the other was a fatality). Surely you can't have preferred that they drive in those conditions?? Starting late.. yes, that was a farce, but awarded half-points & putting drivers safety first can hardly be called farcial.

A new thread for motor racing illness & death talk - I'm moving the other thread into the extra-curricular thread.... Bear with me..

Tony Gaze DFC Although he's pretty healthy at the moment for his age.

If this is the case, this is a shame. DDLM, you know my thinkings on both of the above, as I have discussed it with you, DL XX has been banned to all male mods anyway, and LFN.... well, let him stew. I know why you couldn't do it & that's a valid enough reason at the best of times. I hope you reconsider & stay here. Although I must admit if you have already left, this message is a bit of a waste of time really. Even though one or two members piss me off here, I'd still like to see them around - it's always a shame to lose individual voices with different thoughts.

Well if Lewis & McLaren didn't tell fibs & cheated, then they wouldn't have lost points. Bizarre. All they had to do was tell the truth, and at worst they would've lost 1 point - and if Brawn & Toyota are proved illegal (which I doubt), then they would've won. Now they've got nothing & look like cheats. To top this, they've sacked their team manager & Lewis has been grovelling today big style. Very, very strange behaviour. This is all I've got to say about it - I haven't got time for all the side issues above. Besides, is all this the correct thread? Surely, we should have an F1 extra-curricular thread for the discussion, a la football & leave the rest of the thread for illness & death related info (as per the football thread & the Final Whistle or whatever the death football one is) .... Is this possible?

James Corden has never been funny so it's hard to work out how this abysmal offering can be any worse than most of his other shows in his portfolio. And no, I don't find Gavin & Stacey funny. Seems that I might be in a minority, but I just don't enjoy it, sorry.

Sulim Yamadayev, an unique pick for No Noose Is Good Noose on the DDP, has died, aged c. 36. Yamadayev was shot in an attack in Dubai, of all places. If this is confirmed & he gets a UK obit, it's 16 points for NNIGN. Yamadayev, by the way, was a former Chechen warlord & not much liked - as proved by his shooting, no doubt.