Dead Pool 7th June 2015
Afternoon all, another fun packed edition of the Dead Pool Newsletter to keep you amused on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Alas no listed deaths this week, but plenty of news, in fact so much news I’ve had to leave out more than I put in.
Look Who You Could Have Had:
- Katherine Chappell, 29, American visual effects editor (Game of Thrones, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla), lioness attack.
- Charles Kennedy, 55, British politician, Leader of the Liberal Democrats (1999–2006), MP (1983–2015), internal haemorrhage.
- Tiffany Two, 27, American cat, world’s oldest living cat.
- Tariq Aziz, 79, Iraqi politician, Foreign Minister (1983–1991).
- Paolo Tullio, 65, Italian-born Irish Michelin Star-winning chef (Armstrong’s Barn) and resident food critic (The Restaurant).
- Jerry Collins, 34, Samoan-born New Zealand rugby union player (national team), traffic collision.
- Richard Johnson, 87, English actor (The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, Julius Caesar, The Haunting).
In Other News
The former snooker player Willie Thorne has announced he is suffering from prostate cancer. Thorne, 61, told the media that the cancer was discovered at an early stage and said he was hopeful of making a full recovery. Thorne, a former UK Championship runner-up who has forged a career as a snooker commentator with the BBC since retiring from playing, has been battling gambling problems. He said: “I feel numb with everything that has gone on. But I am determined to summon the strength and fight. “I’m scared because I’ve spent two years living a lie with the gambling, depression and debts – I do wonder if this has been brought on by the stress.” Sounds like a good bet for next year!
Nichelle Nichols, best known for her role as Lieutenant Uhura in TV’s Star Trek, has suffered a stroke. In an updated post on Facebook, her agent reported that Nichols was “awake, eating, in good spirits and able to have full conversations.” “Her right side has shown minor signs of mobility loss but she is not showing any signs of paralyses. The 82-year-old was handpicked by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to appear in the original 1960s TV series. Her casting as fourth in command of the USS Enterprise broke many racial barriers, with Nichols becoming the first black woman to share a kiss with a white man (William Shatner) on US television in 1966.
A BBC journalist is facing disciplinary action for killing off the Queen on Twitter after apparently mistaking a rehearsal of the announcement of her death for the real thing. The Corporation apologised after Ahmen Khawaja, a broadcast journalist, sent a tweet saying: “‘Queen Elizabrth has died [sic]’:@BBCWorld”. It was sent during one of the corporation’s regular rehearsals for royal deaths, but insiders said Ms Khawaja was not taking part in the exercise and appeared to have overheard the rehearsal and tweeted what she thought was breaking news. Ms Khawaja, 31,had previously sent a tweet saying: “BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @BBCWorld.” By sheer coincidence the Queen was, in fact, at the very same hospital for her annual check-up at the time, but sources said Ms Khawaja did not know that.
The former German chancellor Helmut Kohl is reported to be in a critical condition in the intensive-care unit of a German hospital. Kohl, 85, who served as chancellor between 1982 and 1998 and is known as the architect of German reunification, was admitted to the Heidelberg’s university hospital in south-west Germany following an operation on his intestines. Neither his office nor the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has responded to requests by German media for information about his condition. The hospital said his family might release a statement.
Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has gone back into hospital, only a few weeks after being discharged. A statement from the palace on Sunday said he was undergoing tests at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok but did not say when he was likely to return to his home in the coastal city of Hua Hin. As you know, the 87-year-old monarch has been in poor health for some years and is a good shout for next years lists.
Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias has been receiving treatment after two of his fingers were injured by a drone camera during a concert in Mexico. The singer had been attempting to grab the drone, apparently in an attempt to give fans a point-of-view shot from the stage. At the time the 40 year old singer was “semi-treated” at the side of the stage to stop the bleeding, and was advised to end the show. However, he performed for another 30 minutes before seeking further treatment where he found his mangled hand was worse than expected. Following reconstructive surgery on Monday, it was announced he would need several weeks to recover.
And finally, Stephen Hawking has said he would consider ending his own life if he became a burden to others or if he had “nothing more to contribute”. But the physicist and cosmologist told a forthcoming BBC programme he knows he has much more scientific work to do, despite his advanced motor neurone disease. “To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity,” Hawking, 73, told his interviewer, the comedian Dara O’Briain. “I would consider assisted suicide only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute but was just a burden to those around me.” Let’s see what he does!
On This Day
- 1692 – Port Royal, Jamaica, was hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people were killed and 3,000 were seriously injured.
- 1832 – Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.
- 1862 – The United States and the United Kingdom agree to suppress the slave trade.
- 1893 – Mohandas Gandhi commits his first act of civil disobedience.
- 1965 – The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
- 1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier was kept off-limits.
Deaths
- 1329 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (b. 1274)
- 1937 – Jean Harlow, American actress and singer (b. 1911)
- 1954 – Alan Turing, English mathematician, cryptanalyst, & computer scientist (b. 1912)
- 1970 – E. M. Forster, English author (b. 1879)
- 1980 – Henry Miller, American author (b. 1891)
Last Week’s Birthdays
Angelina Jolie (40), Clint Eastwood (85), Brooke Shields (50), Mark Wahlberg (44), Heidi Klum (42), Colin Farrell (39), Alanis Morissette (41), Morgan Freeman (78), Russell Brand (40), Dana Carvey (60), Lea Thompson (54), Ronnie Wood (58), Jonathan Pryce (68), Charlie Watts (74), Paul Giamatti (48), Robert Englund (68), Bruce Dern (79), Rafael Nadal (29), Justin Long (37), Zachary Quinto (38), Tom Berenger (66), Sandra Bernhard (60) and Jason Isaacs (52).
Next Week peeps!
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