Vinegar Tits

According to my sister (who spent about 18 months in Vietnam though never met Glitter - she's too old for him anyway...) people in Vung Tau who often saw him in and around the bars there reckon he could possibly commit suicide if he goes down. However, with the pressure of a possible death sentence being lifted, this now seems unlikely.

Famous last words eh, OOO? Not Jack Wild's final words though he if couldn't speak mind you... Another hit for my team - yay!

Don't put his name through the anagram generator! Nurit Hirsh is a she... First ever female to conduct a winning song in the Eurovision (A Ba Ni Bi in 1978, which she also co-wrote with the late Ehud Manor), and would have been first female ESC conductor in 1973 had it not been for pesky Sweden. Do stop me, I can witter on about Eurovision forever... EDIT: flippin' cookies not bothering to set themselves...

She's not that flippin' old! I was surprised both Moira Shearer and Freddie Laker were alive, well, until they were dead. I thought both had died years ago. I was particularly surprised not knowing about Shearer as she has a Eurovision connection (hosted in 1972 when the UK came second yet-a-bloody-gain)

He was a great songwriter and wrote lots of wonderful songs for Ilanit, amongst others. Amd if you ask me 'Kan' was robbed in 1991 - a far better song than the Swedish and French efforts that beat it. That 10 months between June 2004 and April 2005 wasn't a very good time for Israeli singer-songwriters, what with Naomi Shemer, Ehud Manor and the aforementioned Hitman all dying. I know that if I was Nurit Hirsh I'd have been looking over my shoulder...

I didn't know she was ill either and it is sad news indeed. Anyone know if there's any reports of how long she had been suffering from cancer as diagnosis to death with ovarian cancer can happen very quickly.

Due to the nature of my job I speak to quite a lot of famous people every so often. These include: David Mellor, Roy Hattersley (chatted about ferrets with him), Vanessa Feltz, AA Gill, Melvyn Bragg, Nasser Hussain, Richard Hammond, William Rees-Mogg, Tam Dalyell, Menzies Campbell, Imran Khan (after a long and thoughtful article on Pakistan's madrasses I said: "Never mind all that, how do you think England will do in the Ashes?"), Eamon Holmes, Clement Freud, Lucien Freud, Dom Joly (twat), Jane Moore, Rosie Millard, Clive Everton, James Whale and probably a few more that I can't remember off hand. I used to work at a certain local TV company oop North and so saw and worked with people like Richard Whiteley, Carol Vorderman, Christa Ackroyd, Mike Morris, Gaynor Barnes, Vicky Locklin and Christine Talbot on a regular basis. Also used to bump into people there quite a lot like Tim Rice (lovely), Clive Mantle, Steve Harley, Anna Raeburn, Nicky Clarke, Trevor Sorbie, Little Jimmy Osmond and big brother Donny (the place went mad that day) and worked very closely with Anna Walker and Diane Modahl on webchats I organised. I also occasionally worked on Emmerdale and so knew most of the cast, particularly Anthony Lewis (Marc Reynolds) and Dominic Brunt (Paddy). Dom once gave me a ride on his motorbike - going 100mph on Burley Road hanging off the end of a bike was a bit scary to say the least! Oh, and I've met the Emmerdale Daz dogs and cuddled tragic Batley. In previous jobs I've spoken to David Batty about squeaky floorboards, Julianne Regan (All About Eve singer) and Ingrid Lacey (Helen from Drop The Dead Donkey) about mortgages and you know that QC who's been doing those massive divorce settlement cases recently (most notably the Ray Parlour one)? I did his mortgage for him.

Gawd I hope he doesn't read this but... How about William Rees-Mogg? Now, he's in fine fettle and still active, both physically and mentally, but I spoke to him yesterday and he didn't sound quite...right. I don't know whether he's got new teeth/old teeth giving him jip but his speech was quite slurred. When I've spoken to him in the past the clarity of his diction has been outstanding but yesterday was a very different matter. Anyone know if he's had a stroke or been ill recently? I would have asked but, well, you know, you don't like to...

To Karen Carpenter: "Any diet tips?"

Just got off the phone to a journalist in Israel. Latest news is: he's not dead yet, which is jolly good news as I could do with him hanging on another 324 days for obvious reasons.

The papers were going on about Diana's cellulite on her thighs just days before she died. So there. Oh, and have this for nothing

Doesn't that usually mean "gone home to die"? Hmm....

She was quite a looker back in the day (admittedly about 50-odd years ago). Despite the fags and agee not being on her side, she seems in fine fettle and I think most people wouldn't believe she was pushing 80. She'll be around for years yet.

There's a few of us around you know...

I think it was Betty White who said something to that extent a few months ago when the Golden Girls DVDs were launched in the States. It was either her or Bea Arthur anyway. While I will be sad when she passes away, she's the joker in my DDP so if she's going to die soon, please let it be in 2006

Someone of his age shouldn't wear a top like that. As for being a Jonathan King-type, Glitter is fully aware of the wrong he's done and isn't looking for pity. It seems he's one of these paedo types to whom it is like an illness.

And Eurovision presenter back in 1972. Guess where the UK finished that year? That's right. Second. AGAIN I actually thought she'd died years ago to be honest.

I didn't mind the purile comments but could have done without Hayley Mills' nips on full view whilst browsing at work...

She was a regular in the Sunday papers throughout the late 70s and 80s due to various problems, but hasn't appeared in them for a long time. Either she's cleaned up her act or, most likely, most people under 35 wouldn't have a clue who she was so there's no point covering her. As far as I'm aware she's in reasonable health. She's not that old either though getting into that area where heart attacks, strokes and other unforeseen, sudden ailments are commonplace.

Henry McGee, best known as Benny Hill's stooge, has died aged 77 according to the PA wires, and now the BBC. Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King, has also died aged 78.

It wouldn't be Jennifer Moss, who played Lucille Hewitt, by any chance? Lots of well-publicised problems with drink, drugs and men.

Highest number of journos with firsts out of all the media in the UK I think. Writing dumbed down copy is an artform in itself and shouldn't be dismissed. You may not like the editorial diktat but there's nothing wrong with the writing (apart from some of the twunt columnists that is).

I've spoken to Emily Cox (writer of said feature) a number of times due to my job. I don't recall ever mentioning this place to her before but certainly will next time I speak to her

Indeed, she has more pairs than Imelda Marcos. I don't know if it's still the case but she was going out with the woman who reads (read?) the Radio 4 shipping forecasts who used to go out with Sandi Toksvig. As for horse names, they are supposed to be unique - some of the names come from who they've been bred from (like greyhound names do), other times they are totally random. My favourite horse name is Sir Sidney RoughDiamond.

Ah, but the Pope never appeared in Man About The House - though he did once appear in an episode of Brookside... as did Bryan Murphy IIRC...