The Dead Of 2009

[VSBfromH 74]

Actress Susanna Foster dead at 84.

 

She starred alongside Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy in the 1943 version of "Phantom of the Opera". Probably would have been a much biiger star "but quit Hollywood in 1945 to raise her two younger sisters and take them away from their alcoholic mother". She certainly had the looks!

[themaninblack 2,112]

Bert Hazell

 

Former crow-scarer, North Norfolk MP and union leader has died aged 101. Contrary to some reports, He didn't quite live long enough to beat Theodore Cooke Taylor's record as the longest-lived former member of the British Parliament, although he "overtook" Manny Shinwell into second place. Michael Foot's got some way to go yet!

 

That's a hit for Grobler...

[grobler 35]

Bert Hazell

 

Former crow-scarer, North Norfolk MP and union leader has died aged 101. Contrary to some reports, He didn't quite live long enough to beat Theodore Cooke Taylor's record as the longest-lived former member of the British Parliament, although he "overtook" Manny Shinwell into second place. Michael Foot's got some way to go yet!

 

That's a hit for Grobler...

I'm on a role.......just need Corin Redgrave to take a turn for the worst and we're laughing

[Applecool Downunder 10]

24 hours and no new death to report. Is this the effect of Barack Obama? Has he conquered death? (In which case I predict the death of deathlist. What a pity.

[BCAlum2000 42]

Honestly, and I'm probably gonna take some heat for this...

 

But I have a gut feeling that 2009 is going to be a very slow year for celebrity deaths. 2008 was downright brutal, but many there was a reason for that. Maybe death decided to run its course in 2008 so that 2009 would be a slow year.

 

I mean seriously, the only real notable deaths so far this year were Pat Hingle, Patrick McGoohan, and Ricaldo Montalban. By this time last year, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Bobby Fischer, Allan Melvin, and Edmund Hillary were all dead.

 

As an American, I can tell you that so far, I have never seen this much optimism about this country.

 

And speaking of the "Obama Effect," I'd say it's already taking effect...

 

1.) The Israel-Palestine conflict abruptly ended and Israel suddenly decides to stop the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

 

2.) The US Airways plane crash in the NYC Hudson River. No deaths. Everybody survived.

 

3.) Patrick Swayze is still alive despite having Stage 4 pancreatic cancer (the most lethal kind).

 

Something is going on here. Seriously, this past month, it has been nothing but great news. I really think it has to do with the Obama Effect.

[Canadian Paul 97]

Honestly, and I'm probably gonna take some heat for this...

 

But I have a gut feeling that 2009 is going to be a very slow year for celebrity deaths. 2008 was downright brutal, but many there was a reason for that. Maybe death decided to run its course in 2008 so that 2009 would be a slow year.

 

I mean seriously, the only real notable deaths so far this year were Pat Hingle, Patrick McGoohan, and Ricaldo Montalban. By this time last year, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Bobby Fischer, Allan Melvin, and Edmund Hillary were all dead.

 

As an American, I can tell you that so far, I have never seen this much optimism about this country.

 

And speaking of the "Obama Effect," I'd say it's already taking effect...

 

1.) The Israel-Palestine conflict abruptly ended and Israel suddenly decides to stop the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

 

2.) The US Airways plane crash in the NYC Hudson River. No deaths. Everybody survived.

 

3.) Patrick Swayze is still alive despite having Stage 4 pancreatic cancer (the most lethal kind).

 

Something is going on here. Seriously, this past month, it has been nothing but great news. I really think it has to do with the Obama Effect.

 

First of all, nobody outside of the celebrity-obsessed Americans gives a sh*t about Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro or Allan Melvin, none of whom made any lasting, global contributions to their field. They were good in whatever particular niche they had, a larger niche albeit, but insignificant to the majority of the planet. Pleshette is borderline, but at least she was a damn fine entertainer.

 

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

As for Obama, you can read my thoughts about him in his thread. As to your point #1, where was the "Obama effect" when hundreds of innocent women and children were killed in the conflict operation? I'm glad that the killing 1,500 Palestinians at a ratio of one militant or policeman for every two civilians is "great news" for you. I'm glad that Hamas retaliation killing innocent Israelis is "great news" for you. Some of them, mostly militants, definitely deserved it. Most of them, however, did not. If the "Obama effect" gives the big middle finger to Arab women and children and Israeli innocents, then it's just as overrated as he is. Again, I'm not here to argue the merits of the war, just pointing out that it did very little to save almost 1000 innocent people (combining the Israeli and Palestinian totals). But I guess since it saved 150 or so American lives, that's what's really important.

 

The economy is in a downturn, thousands are losing their jobs and their homes, but it's nothing but "great news" for you.

 

And certainly Patrick Swayze's being alive has nothing to do with the top-of-the-line medical care he receives because of his wealth. I guess the "Obama effect" doesn't give a sh*t about Fathead Newman, Griffin Bell, Gautam Goswami or any of the thousands of people who have died from the disease that don't even get a mention on a Wikipedia.

 

And on a personal note, the founder of the place that I used to work at and the father-in-law of my cousin died on January 1 at the age of 62. He had his problems, but I respected him a lot because he was a poor guy who worked his ass off to become a rich guy and never forgot where he came from. He always treated people with fewer means than him as equals and did what he could to help out. He was no saint, but he was a damn good guy. So here's a personal f**k you from him to your "this year is a slow year for death" bullshit. Maybe you meant just celebrities, but it was a stupid comment either way.

 

I'm so pissed (American pissed), I can't even finish. What a crock of sh*t this all is. This is even worse than your "not enough people have died today" phase.

[To die for 3]

Honestly, and I'm probably gonna take some heat for this...

 

But I have a gut feeling that 2009 is going to be a very slow year for celebrity deaths. 2008 was downright brutal, but many there was a reason for that. Maybe death decided to run its course in 2008 so that 2009 would be a slow year.

 

I mean seriously, the only real notable deaths so far this year were Pat Hingle, Patrick McGoohan, and Ricaldo Montalban. By this time last year, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Bobby Fischer, Allan Melvin, and Edmund Hillary were all dead.

 

As an American, I can tell you that so far, I have never seen this much optimism about this country.

 

And speaking of the "Obama Effect," I'd say it's already taking effect...

 

1.) The Israel-Palestine conflict abruptly ended and Israel suddenly decides to stop the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

 

2.) The US Airways plane crash in the NYC Hudson River. No deaths. Everybody survived.

 

3.) Patrick Swayze is still alive despite having Stage 4 pancreatic cancer (the most lethal kind).

 

Something is going on here. Seriously, this past month, it has been nothing but great news. I really think it has to do with the Obama Effect.

 

First of all, nobody outside of the celebrity-obsessed Americans gives a sh*t about Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro or Allan Melvin, none of whom made any lasting, global contributions to their field. They were good in whatever particular niche they had, a larger niche albeit, but insignificant to the majority of the planet. Pleshette is borderline, but at least she was a damn fine entertainer.

 

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

As for Obama, you can read my thoughts about him in his thread. As to your point #1, where was the "Obama effect" when hundreds of innocent women and children were killed in the conflict operation? I'm glad that the killing 1,500 Palestinians at a ratio of one militant or policeman for every two civilians is "great news" for you. I'm glad that Hamas retaliation killing innocent Israelis is "great news" for you. Some of them, mostly militants, definitely deserved it. Most of them, however, did not. If the "Obama effect" gives the big middle finger to Arab women and children and Israeli innocents, then it's just as overrated as he is. Again, I'm not here to argue the merits of the war, just pointing out that it did very little to save almost 1000 innocent people (combining the Israeli and Palestinian totals). But I guess since it saved 150 or so American lives, that's what's really important.

 

The economy is in a downturn, thousands are losing their jobs and their homes, but it's nothing but "great news" for you.

 

And certainly Patrick Swayze's being alive has nothing to do with the top-of-the-line medical care he receives because of his wealth. I guess the "Obama effect" doesn't give a sh*t about Fathead Newman, Griffin Bell, Gautam Goswami or any of the thousands of people who have died from the disease that don't even get a mention on a Wikipedia.

 

And on a personal note, the founder of the place that I used to work at and the father-in-law of my cousin died on January 1 at the age of 62. He had his problems, but I respected him a lot because he was a poor guy who worked his ass off to become a rich guy and never forgot where he came from. He always treated people with fewer means than him as equals and did what he could to help out. He was no saint, but he was a damn good guy. So here's a personal f**k you from him to your "this year is a slow year for death" bullshit. Maybe you meant just celebrities, but it was a stupid comment either way.

 

I'm so pissed (American pissed), I can't even finish. What a crock of sh*t this all is. This is even worse than your "not enough people have died today" phase.

Hey CP,

Well said, I'm not American so the "Obama Effect" just seems like another excuse for meaningless statistics put together by a prick someone with the intellect of BCAlum2000 et al to try and prove something that they likely suggested in the first place.

In who's world is war a good thing? Not mine.

 

Are the forums being infected by another bout of the Dave/iAiN syndrome now that they have made it through play-skool? (I'm only suggesting that they have learned to type!)

[Windsor 2,233]

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

And lets not forget that brave girl, Joanne Evans. She appeared in a national British newspaper - more than twice!

 

(So is everybody picking on BCAlum now?)

[To die for 3]

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

And lets not forget that brave girl, Joanne Evans. She appeared in a national British newspaper - more than twice!

 

(So is everybody picking on BCAlum now?)

 

I was just remembering that Stalin once said "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic"

[BCAlum2000 42]

To Canadian Paul:

 

It's nice to know that it's okay to make jokes about whether Obama will be done in by the KKK, yet it's not okay for me to comment that it "might" be a slow year for celebrity deaths. I think I also made it clear that I meant celebrity, as in famous, deaths.

 

First of, my deepest condolences for your personal loss. I imagine that the founder of your former place of employment (your cousin's father in law) meant a lot to you. And that at age 62, he was taken from this world far too soon.

 

Second, I believe that my comments about Obama "creating" positive news was meant more in jest. But, although the Israel-Palestine fighting was absolutely horrific, bear in mind that Israel did admit that they decided to end the war as a "favor" for Obama. You don't think Obama's presidency at least had some effect on Israel's decision to end the war? If that monkey Bush were still President, there'd be even more killing and slaughtering. So yes, to some degree, I think Obama did have a positive effect on it, however minimal it may be.

 

Third, the other comments I made were more facetious. Yet ... there might be some air of truth to it. Overall, Americans are feeling great. Even though in reality, the economy is still in s*it and hundreds of thousands are losing jobs monthly, Americans are all feeling great. Obama is that good. Maybe when reality sinks in in a few months, people will start feeling negative, but I've never felt this much optimism being attributed to one man ... OBAMA.

 

BTW, people gave me s*it b/c I wanted Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-il to die, but it seems like it's okay to mock Obama and him being the target of the KKK. Seriously, why the double standard? At least we know that Fidel and Jong-il were brutal dictators who did kill people. Obama was nothing but a shining beacon of light.

[BCAlum2000 42]

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

And lets not forget that brave girl, Joanne Evans. She appeared in a national British newspaper - more than twice!

 

(So is everybody picking on BCAlum now?)

 

I hope not. Though I don't blame Canadian Paul and I believe in his right to speak his mind.

 

I also acknowledge that the definition of celebrity is different for everybody. I consider John Phillip Law a major celebrity for sentimental reasons (he's one of my favorite B-movie actors), but almost everybody I know thinks, "Who the f*ck is John Phillip Law?"

 

A lot of my friends were mourning the loss of Albert Hoffman, the dude who invented LSD. I was completely flabbergasted and was thinking "Who the f*ck cares? This guy created a drug that ruined the lives of millions!" I mean, these my friends were talking about him non-stop and even considered him a more significant person than Heath Ledger and Paul Newman!

 

My co-worker (the same guy who spent the day mourning Albert Hoffman's loss -- I'm guessing he was a former LSD user) pointed out to me when I was mourning Paul Newman's death that "nobody under the age of 30 really gives a s*it about Paul Newman, or even really knows who he is. And the people in their 30s only know Paul Newman b/c of The Color of Money." Of course, you could flip it around with Heath Ledger: everybody under 30 mourned Heath Ledger's death, but nobody over the age of 30 really gives a damn. Hell, Anna Nicole Smith was more established than Heath Ledger to many people in their 30s!

[Windsor 2,233]

But, although the Israel-Palestine fighting was absolutely horrific, bear in mind that Israel did admit that they decided to end the war as a "favor" for Obama.

 

Na. They ended it because they knew they would get away with it under Bush, but were uncertain over what Obama's policy would be. They got their timing just right for the conflict. Start it in the last month of an outgoing president's term, and end it before the new presidency begins.

 

 

Anyway - Scotland's most infamous football fan has died.

[BCAlum2000 42]

But, although the Israel-Palestine fighting was absolutely horrific, bear in mind that Israel did admit that they decided to end the war as a "favor" for Obama.

 

Na. They ended it because they knew they would get away with it under Bush, but were uncertain over what Obama's policy would be. They got their timing just right for the conflict. Start it in the last month of an outgoing president's term, and end it before the new presidency begins.

 

 

Anyway - Scotland's most infamous football fan has died.

 

I'd say that's probably the real story.

 

But the media's spin is that Israel decided to end the conflict b/c of the "Obama Effect."

[Applecool Downunder 10]

24 hours and no new death to report. Is this the effect of Barack Obama? Has he conquered death? (In which case I predict the death of deathlist. What a pity.

 

Wow, and I was only joking. Seems like I almost started WW3. (Apologies for the missing bracket at end of my earlier post. Unforgivable, I know.)

[The Miser 18]

Second, there's a world outside of Hollywood entertainment. I don't call it non-notable when one the Arab world's foremost composers, Norway's most prominent philosopher, one of India's finest filmmakers and an almost legendary British artist die. Even from an Americentric view your argument fails: what about a former attorney general or the man who invented the Pell Grant that has helped so many get through college? I may not have known about all these people beforehand, but I can at least acknowledge their notability now that I do.

 

And lets not forget that brave girl, Joanne Evans. She appeared in a national British newspaper - more than twice!

 

(So is everybody picking on BCAlum now?)

 

I hope not. Though I don't blame Canadian Paul and I believe in his right to speak his mind.

 

I also acknowledge that the definition of celebrity is different for everybody. I consider John Phillip Law a major celebrity for sentimental reasons (he's one of my favorite B-movie actors), but almost everybody I know thinks, "Who the f*ck is John Phillip Law?"

 

A lot of my friends were mourning the loss of Albert Hoffman, the dude who invented LSD. I was completely flabbergasted and was thinking "Who the f*ck cares? This guy created a drug that ruined the lives of millions!" I mean, these my friends were talking about him non-stop and even considered him a more significant person than Heath Ledger and Paul Newman!

 

My co-worker (the same guy who spent the day mourning Albert Hoffman's loss -- I'm guessing he was a former LSD user) pointed out to me when I was mourning Paul Newman's death that "nobody under the age of 30 really gives a s*it about Paul Newman, or even really knows who he is. And the people in their 30s only know Paul Newman b/c of The Color of Money." Of course, you could flip it around with Heath Ledger: everybody under 30 mourned Heath Ledger's death, but nobody over the age of 30 really gives a damn. Hell, Anna Nicole Smith was more established than Heath Ledger to many people in their 30s!

 

 

Please remember that us celebrity obsessed Americans have short attention spans; this 3 and 4 paragraph posts lose me after a sentence or two. Please return to making plays on the word coptic.

[CarolAnn 926]

But, although the Israel-Palestine fighting was absolutely horrific, bear in mind that Israel did admit that they decided to end the war as a "favor" for Obama.

 

Na. They ended it because they knew they would get away with it under Bush, but were uncertain over what Obama's policy would be. They got their timing just right for the conflict. Start it in the last month of an outgoing president's term, and end it before the new presidency begins.

 

 

Anyway - Scotland's most infamous football fan has died.

 

I'd say that's probably the real story.

 

But the media's spin is that Israel decided to end the conflict b/c of the "Obama Effect."

 

Right, and the official story is that the Iranians released the embassy hostages because Reagan came into office with no mention of Carter negotiating their release for weeks straight.

 

BC, I don't know how old you are or how much attention you paid in school, but I can remember times when Americans have reacted this way to a president, both from personal experience and historical perspective. Reagan is a notable within my own lifetime. Obama isn't that unique, with the exception of his race.

[Demented Glaswegian 1]

Anyway - Scotland's most infamous football fan has died.

 

I knew that'd be Fergie without having to look - he was a right laugh, and passionate as hell about his team. And, though foul mouthed, essentially harmless.

 

 

 

And so far we've lost 3 good actors, 2 childhood icons, all the people CP mentioned, an infamous socialite (who made the list), several politicians and sportspeople too. And my uncle had four strokes on Christmas Day, and he's deteriorated to the point where had he been famous enough, he'd have been in the dead certs spots on the DL. So really, I don't think you can complain about there not being enough death so far. Unless you're moaning about not enough DL spots deaths yet, in which case I point the year is 365 days, and we are barely 22 days into that. Give it time.

[Cowboy Ronnie 78]

Edmund de Rothschild has died at the age of 93. As his surname suggests, he was a banker, but he is almost as well known for his achievements as a horticulturalist.

 

His lifelong dream was apparently to disprove the age old adage that money doesn't grow on trees.

[Paul Bearer 6,102]

Anyway - Scotland's most infamous football fan has died.

 

Damn! I met him once just after my team (well, the one I supported at the time) beat the Accies a number of years ago. Got a mouthful of abuse from him and the traditional 2 fingered 'goodbye my friend until the next time' parting wave as we got on the bus.

 

A true character!

 

So long Fergie

[Guest Death Leg-her]

I predict by the laws of entropy that as the world population increases annually and the reach of the media is proportional to both the number of reality programmes on TV and Heat magazines sold, that the number of "celebrity" deaths will increase year upon year until nuclear fallout is achieved.

 

As it is a truth universally acknowledged that the Obama effect follows the inverse square law, I also predict that Bollocks Codswallop Alum will eventually forget what point he was trying to make and will swiftly return to stringing out his posts with a list of B-movie actors such as Heath Ledger, Patrick Swayze and Carlton Palmer.

 

If you are of a religious persuasion, of the Christian variety, may I now suggest giving up eating bollocks for lent BCA, they seem to regurgitate on you.

[Cowboy Ronnie 78]

 

First of all, nobody outside of the celebrity-obsessed Americans gives a sh*t about Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro or Allan Melvin,

 

Heath Ledger was Australian, so I would imagine news of him dying was pretty big there, as it was here in the UK. Also, because people around the world would have seen the latest Batman movie, that elevates the significance of his death to celebrity-obsessed non-Americans too. He's just been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and I would imagine the Academy Awards has a fairly broad following in many countries around the world.

[Windsor 2,233]

 

First of all, nobody outside of the celebrity-obsessed Americans gives a sh*t about Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro or Allan Melvin,

 

Heath Ledger was Australian, so I would imagine news of him dying was pretty big there, as it was here in the UK. Also, because people around the world would have seen the latest Batman movie, that elevates the significance of his death to celebrity-obsessed non-Americans too. He's just been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and I would imagine the Academy Awards has a fairly broad following in many countries around the world.

 

I didn't know who he was until he was dead. I wouldn't have recognised him if he passed me on the street.

[Handrejka 1,904]

Honestly, and I'm probably gonna take some heat for this...

 

But I have a gut feeling that 2009 is going to be a very slow year for celebrity deaths. 2008 was downright brutal, but many there was a reason for that. Maybe death decided to run its course in 2008 so that 2009 would be a slow year.

 

I mean seriously, the only real notable deaths so far this year were Pat Hingle, Patrick McGoohan, and Ricaldo Montalban. By this time last year, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Bobby Fischer, Allan Melvin, and Edmund Hillary were all dead.

 

As an American, I can tell you that so far, I have never seen this much optimism about this country.

 

And speaking of the "Obama Effect," I'd say it's already taking effect...

 

1.) The Israel-Palestine conflict abruptly ended and Israel suddenly decides to stop the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

 

2.) The US Airways plane crash in the NYC Hudson River. No deaths. Everybody survived.

 

3.) Patrick Swayze is still alive despite having Stage 4 pancreatic cancer (the most lethal kind).

 

Something is going on here. Seriously, this past month, it has been nothing but great news. I really think it has to do with the Obama Effect.

 

I seem to recall you spent quite a lot of time last year informing us of how Sir Edmund's death was not particularly noteworthy as most young Americans had not heard of him. Now that you have a new little theory, which we'll probably hear about all year, he's suddenly significant. The least you can do is be consistant.

 

Re the optimism - I've seen it before with Blair in 97 (only time I've ever voted) and look how many celebrity deaths there that summer.

[Monoclinic 39]

Drivel.

 

I seem to recall you spent quite a lot of time last year informing us of how Sir Edmund's death was not particularly noteworthy as most young Americans had not heard of him. Now that you have a new little theory, which we'll probably hear about all year, he's suddenly significant. The least you can do is be consistant.

 

Re the optimism - I've seen it before with Blair in 97 (only time I've ever voted) and look how many celebrity deaths there that summer.

 

Oh God Han, you put a finger on something there. I must go out to purchase some earplugs just in case Elton John has another one in him.

[Handrejka 1,904]

Drivel.

 

I seem to recall you spent quite a lot of time last year informing us of how Sir Edmund's death was not particularly noteworthy as most young Americans had not heard of him. Now that you have a new little theory, which we'll probably hear about all year, he's suddenly significant. The least you can do is be consistant.

 

Re the optimism - I've seen it before with Blair in 97 (only time I've ever voted) and look how many celebrity deaths there that summer.

 

Oh God Han, you put a finger on something there. I must go out to purchase some earplugs just in case Elton John has another one in him.

 

He only sings songs for dead blondes though. Do you think Jade Goody would count? I can just imagine it.