Dead Pool 13th December 2020

With a great sense of loss we had to say goodbye to Barbara Windsor at the good old age of 83, but for the following who listed her, a fantastic 67 points! Lee, Laura, Iwan, Nickie, Rachel, Ceri, Louise, Doug, Ron,  and Abigail. Well done all of you! But Debbie trumps you all as she had Babs down as her Woman, so 167 points! A round of applause for Debbie! Almost everyone has scored this year, apart from Stu and myself! I think both of us need to go back to the drawing board. I don’t know about you lot, but I was super surprised to learn that Chuck Yeager was still alive! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Doug Scott, 79, English mountaineer and philanthropist, cerebral lymphoma.  
• Chuck Yeager, 97, American pilot, first person to exceed the speed of sound.  
• Tom Lister Jr., 62, American actor (Friday, The Fifth Element) and professional wrestler. 
• Dame Barbara Windsor, 83, English actress (EastEnders, Carry On, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), complications from Alzheimer’s disease.  
• Kim Ki-duk, 59, South Korean film director (The Isle, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, 3-Iron), complications from COVID-19.  
• Charley Pride, 86, American Hall of Fame singer (“Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’“, “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone“) and baseball player (Memphis Red Sox), complications from COVID-19.  

In Other News

England Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson has been diagnosed with dementia at the age of 42. The former Northampton Saints and England hooker is part of a group of players taking legal action against the RFU over brain injuries they say were brought on from playing the game, obviously not taking any responsibility themselves. Thompson was part of the 2003 team that won the William Webb Ellis trophy after Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal against Australia, but he says he no longer remembers anything about the tournament or the final itself. “I have no recollection of winning the World Cup in 2003, or of being in Australia for the tournament. Knowing what I know now, I wish that I had never turned professional,” he said. “It was not uncommon for me to be left dazed, seeing white spots and not knowing where I was for a few seconds, sometimes I would pass out completely. It was just an accepted part and parcel of training. I really wished that I had ended my career earlier, maybe my diagnosis might not be so bleak.” However, Matt Dawson, the 48 year old former England captain says he won’t be joining the negligence claim, even though he has been “worried for a while” about his cognitive functions. Speaking on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Dawson says it was his choice to play the game, and he “knew what he was getting into”. “No one forced me to do this,” he said. “In my era they acted with their best knowledge of the scenario. I don’t feel the game has let me down. The whole of my life is because I chose to play rugby, I’m a big boy, I made that decision. I picked my vocation and I will take the consequences, I’m owning up to them, I’m having them so I’ve got to deal with them.  

In another blatant disavowal of responsibility, Simon Cowell is reportedly considering legal action against the manufacturers of his electric bike after breaking his back in a terrifying accident back in August which was by no means his own fault. The TV mogul, 61, and his team are said to be ‘weighing up’ legal options and have been ‘pressing’ the manufacturers, Swindon Powertrain. One lawyer claimed that a successful lawsuit could see Simon get up to £10million for medical bills and loss of earnings!! It comes as a whistleblower from the manufacturers reportedly claimed the £20,000 electric bike an ‘accident waiting to happen’ due to Simon’s lack of training. The former employee claimed the Swind EB-01 bike, which can reach up to 60mph and is banned on public roads in the UK, should not be used without specialist training. Simon broke his back in August after falling from his electric bike, leaving him forced to undergo a six-hour surgery to try and fix the injuries. The accident occurred when the powerful machine ‘flew up in the air and did an accidental wheelie’ after he tired to change gears. The music boss is thought to have been ‘surprised by the power’ of the bike and knew immediately that he ‘was in trouble’ even though he knew he bought a 60mph super-electric bike! Following the accident, Simon tweeted: ‘Some good advice… If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.’ More or less admitting he’s a knob. Thankfully his recent injuries and ongoing recovery saw him sit out of the resumed 2020 series of Britain’s Got Talent after it returned following England’s first lockdown.

Linda Nolan, 61, has addressed her health concerns after being diagnosed with cancer during the coronavirus pandemic. The Nolans band member has been battling the disease at the same time as her sister Anne Nolan, 70. Linda and Anne were diagnosed within days of each other, with Anne suffering from breast cancer and Linda with secondary cancer. Linda opened up after receiving a warning from her doctors saying that if she contracts Covid or the flu this winter she “will die”, as her immune system is depleted from chemotherapy. “That’s what me and my sister Anne were told, we will die because we have nothing to fight it with, because chemotherapy depletes your immune system.” Linda then took the opportunity to encourage those who are in the same position as her to get the free flu jab this year to protect themselves. She added: “So it is vitally important that you get the jab and the thing is it’s so easy, it takes 10 minutes out of your day.” The star divulged: “I’ve finished my chemo and I’ve had some scans and I’m actually getting the results of them soon. So fingers crossed the chemo’s worked and we get good news. I feel okay, I get tired, and both Anne and I are suffering with neuropathic pain in our fingers and feet, my feet are really bad actually. It doesn’t even describe it because it’s 10 times worse than ordinary pins and needles. But apart from that we’re okay, we’re doing well.”

On This Day

• 1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage. 
• 1972 – Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final EVA or “Moonwalk” of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
• 2003 – Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.  

Deaths

• 1784 – Samuel Johnson, English poet and lexicographer (b. 1709)  
• 2007 – Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American actor and activist (b. 1936)  
• 2016 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor and composer (b. 1947)

Festive Murders

It is supposed to be a season of goodwill and celebrating, a time to relax with the family. However for some, Christmas can be a great time to murder a relative or two just like Justin Lee Klopp who hacked his wife to death on Christmas Day – hitting her repeatedly in the head with an axe and cutting her throat with the chopper after an argument. Klopp had been married to Stephanie Kilhefner, 34, for three years when he turned to murder. After the brutal slaughter he wrapped her body in a bag, put it in an outbuilding and took their two children to his parents to celebrate Christmas. The children, aged five and two, were marking the holiday with their grandparents when he phoned police to confess to the killing. He later hanged himself in prison. 

Bruce Pardo, 45, killed nine people including his ex wife after going on the rampage dressed as Santa Claus with four handguns and a flame-thrower at a Christmas Eve party. A recording of a woman caught in the conflict calling police, revealed her saying: “He’s shooting my whole family. My mum’s house is on fire.” She goes on: “We need someone immediately. My daughter’s been shot. She was shot in the face.” Former aerospace engineer Pardo had recently gone through a bitter divorce with ex-wife Sylvia, 43, who died alongside her parents and three of her four siblings. He later shot himself dead.  

It took more than two decades for the murder of Ed, 81, and 83-year-old Minnie Maurin to be solved. The couple’s dead bodies were found in woodland on Christmas Eve 1985 after they had been shot dead. Their surviving children had worked tirelessly to find their killers, and finally got justice for their parents in 2012. The  couple were reported missing on 19th December and found five days later. It transpired they had been kidnapped and driven to a cash point by Rick and his now dead brother, John Riffe, and forced to withdraw $8500 in cash. They were then forced to drive to a rural road, shot inside their car and dragged into woodland. It is believed many witnesses remained quiet after seeing the brothers for fear of retribution from the pair, who were known drug dealers. The Riffe brothers did not know the elderly couple but targeted them because they were wealthy. Two of the couple’s surviving children got to see the killers of their parents brought to justice.    

In 2011 Aziz Yazdanpanah is believed to have killed seven members of his own family while dressed in a Santa suit. He targeted his family, which included his children and his wife, just after they had opened their presents and then turned the gun on himself. It is believed Yazdanpanah turned up at the apartment in the morning because he hadn’t been invited to the party, after separating from his wife in March of that year. Ho Ho Ho! 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Steve Buscemi (63), Jamie Foxx (53), Christopher Plummer (91), Dick Van Dyke (95), Taylor Swift (31), Tony Curran (51), Robert Lindsay (71), Jennifer Connelly (50), Mädchen Amick (50), Bill Nighy (71), Sarah Douglas (68), Kenneth Cranham (76), Ben Browder (58), Kenneth Branagh (60), John Malkovich (67), Judi Dench (86), Beau Bridges (79), Michael Dorn (68), Donny Osmond (63), Kim Basinger (67), Teri Hatcher (56), Dominic Monaghan (44), Nicki Minaj (38), Jennifer Carpenter (41), Ellen Burstyn (88), C. Thomas Howell (54), Jeffrey Wright (55), and Kristofer Hivju (42).