Dead Pool 9th January 2022
It’s not every year we can start off with awarding points. Lee correctly guessed that Igor Bogdanoff would almost instantly follow his twin brother; well done Lee, so he gets the ‘First Death of the Year’ bonus points too, but a few of you also had movie legend Sidney Poitier. Well done to Scott, Gwenan, Shân and Fiona, 56 points each. We’ve certainly started the year with a bang!
As not to annoy everyone with hundreds of alerts, I have created a splinter group of email poolers who have not signed up to the Telegram Group, those few are the only ones who will get an email from now on as I don’t want them to feel left out. If any of you would rather get an email, please let me know and I’ll add you to that group.
And a big thank you to all of you who donated towards the cause, I certainly couldn’t run the dead pool without your support.
Look Who You Could Have Had:
- Richard Leakey, 77, Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist, and politician, co-founder of Safina and WildlifeDirect.
- Igor Bogdanoff, 72, French television presenter and academic fraudster (Bogdanov affair), COVID-19.
- Valentine Ligny, 115, French supercentenarian, world’s sixth oldest person.
- Joan Copeland, 99, American actress (Search for Tomorrow, Brother Bear, The Peacemaker).
- George Rossi, 60, Scottish actor (The Bill, Roughnecks, The Singing Detective).
- Sidney Poitier, 94, Bahamian-American actor (Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), film director, and activist, Oscar winner (1963).
- Peter Bogdanovich, 82, American film director (The Last Picture Show, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon), actor and writer, complications from Parkinson’s disease.
- Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside, 90, British politician, MP (1970–1997) and chair of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (1976–1995).
- Marilyn Bergman, 93, American songwriter (“The Way We Were“, “The Windmills of Your Mind“, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers“), multiple Oscar winner, respiratory failure.
- Dee Booher, 73, American professional wrestler and actress (Brainsmasher… A Love Story, Spaceballs).
- Mark Forest, 89, American bodybuilder and actor (Goliath and the Dragon).
In Other News
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to the hospital on Monday with abdominal pain, his doctor Antonio Luiz Macedo told the Flying Monkeys from the Bahamas. He was taken to the Vila Nova Star hospital in the south of Sao Paulo. Dr Macedo said that the president was under the tutelage of his team so far and that he is flying to Sao Paulo in the afternoon. The Flying Monkeys quoted Dr Macedo as saying that the president shall undergo more tests “to find out what is in the abdomen. We still don’t know, but it could be caused, for example, by poorly chewed food, among other factors.” He also said that the suspicion, for now, is of a new intestinal obstruction — technically called “intestinal subocclusion.” In July last year, Mr Bolsonaro spent four days at the Vila Nova Star hospital for treatment of intestinal obstruction. However, surgery was ruled out at the time. The president was travelling, off duty, to Santa Catarina even as 25 people have died in the recent heavy rains in the state of Bahia in Brazil. About 116 cities in the country’s northeastern state of Bahia are in a state of emergency. The president arrived in a Brazilian Air Force plane from Santa Catarina on Monday morning and was taken by the presidential delegation to the hospital. Dr Macedo also operated on the president after he was stabbed in the stomach at a campaign rally in September 2018. Since then, the president has been admitted to hospitals on several occasions.
BBC newsreader George Alagiah has said he thinks the cancer he has had since 2014 will “probably get me in the end”, but that he still feels “very lucky”. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to get rid of this thing. I’ve got the cancer still. It’s growing very slowly.” Alagiah was first diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April 2014. But he said he was able to look back at the “great good fortune” in his life. Speaking with the Flying Monkeys, Alagiah said that when his cancer was first diagnosed, it took a while for him to understand what he “needed to do”. “I had to stop and say, ‘Hang on a minute. If the full stop came now, would my life have been a failure?’ And actually, when I look back and I looked at my journey… the family I had, the opportunities my family had, the great good fortune to bump into (Frances Robathan), who’s now been my wife and lover for all these years, the kids that we brought up… it didn’t feel like a failure.” He also spoke about his treatment, saying: “My doctor’s very good at every now and again hitting me with a big red bus full of drugs, because the whole point about cancer is it finds a way through and it gets you in the end. Probably… it will get me in the end. I’m hoping it’s a long time from now, but I’m very lucky.” Alagiah has also worked as a BBC News foreign correspondent and specialist on Africa and the developing world, covering events including the Rwandan genocide and interviewing Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In October, the journalist said he was taking a break from TV to have treatment after “a further spread of cancer” was discovered. He said in June 2020 that the cancer had spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes. When asked what piece of wisdom he would give, he spoke about the need for people to think more collectively. “I think it would be to constantly ask the question, ‘What is it we can do together?'” he said. “I spent a lot of my time in Africa, and in South Africa they have a word: Ubuntu. It’s the idea that I’m only human if I recognise the humanity in you. “There’s this collective notion of life which I think we have lost.”
Scots comedian Janey Godley is out of surgery after her hysterectomy operation. Janey’s daughter Ashley Storrie took to her mother’s Twitter page to give an update to fans. Just before Christmas, the 60-year-old revealed that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and would need to undergo a full hysterectomy. The major operation was delayed due to Covid but Janey is now out of surgery and in recovery. Taking to Twitter, Ashley wrote: “It’s @Ashleystorrie here. Mum is out of surgery and is in recovery. Her time in the operating theatre went relatively well, and a full hysterectomy was achieved. Bunty has left the building. Thank you so much for all your kind words, positive thoughts and prayers.” Last night she joked she was having a hen style party for her tumour. She shared on Twitter: “My last night with my womb, we are having a pre op “hen party” I have been drawing Fallopian tubes on cards and pin the tumour on the ovary, we’re having cocktails of flat water and tomorrow at 7am I am off – thank you Scottish NHS and everyone here for lifting me up.” Prior to her major surgery, Janey revealed that she even wrote her ‘ final joke’ with her comedian daughter Ashley Storrie. As a coping mechanism Janey and her talented daughter Ashley have been trying to see the humour in the situation. She recently said she didn’t want ‘rubbish songs’ played at her funeral, and Ashley has now admitted they have both made up her final joke in case she doesn’t survive surgery. Ashley tweeted: “This is going to sound really weird, but if mum dies in surgery… well we’ve written her final joke. “It’s going to kill. Also there will be a Hashtag in her wee funeral pamphlet for funeral selfies (which I encourage). Morbid. But talking about it made me feel better.” She added: “I’m going to call it her funeral Programme like at a theatre, and just have a page with her previous shows listed and an advert for a local restaurant. “Get some buzz going for the show… Is it illegal to charge admission for a purvey? Get a wee table up the back with Janey Godley’s Funeral commemorative mugs.” Janey agreed that the two have been busy making the plans and added: “The laugh we had today organising what might be my last “theatre” performance made me laugh so hard, we have plans, hopefully not for years but if I go, my last hurrah is going to be a belter – a great production.”
On This Day
- 1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul’s Cathedral.
- 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
- 1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
- 2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.
- 2015 – A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involving beer that was contaminated with Burkholderia gladioli leaves 75 dead and over 230 people ill.
Deaths
- 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750).
- 1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808).
- 2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914).
Bizarre Deaths From History
Garry Hoy worked for a law firm in Toronto, Ontario. The 38-year-old corporate and securities lawyer had a bizarre party trick that he enjoyed demonstrating for visitors to his office on the 24th floor. To demonstrate the strength of the unbreakable office windows, Hoy would launch his body at them and bounce off. On July 9, 1993, Hoy was giving a tour of the firm to young law students when he decided to showcase his trick. Unfortunately, while the glass did not break, the entire window popped out of its frame, and Hoy fell to his demise.
Born in San Francisco in 1877, Isadora Duncan achieved renown as a dancer when she moved to Europe in her 20s. She was painted by the press as living a bohemian, eccentric life, and her performances celebrated independence and self-expression. On September 14, 1927, Duncan was in the passenger seat of the brand-new convertible sports car she was learning to drive when her enormous red scarf blew into the well of the rear wheel on the passenger side. It tightened around her neck and dragged her from the car and onto the cobblestone street.
In June 2016, 23-year-old Colin Scott and his sister were visiting Yellowstone National Park when he decided to try and soak in a thermal pool. The pair left the defined boardwalk area and entered into dangerous territory. This area was forbidden from guest access due to the danger of its geothermal activity. When they reached a pool, Scott attempted to dip a toe in to test the water, but slipped and fell in completely. Search and rescue was called off after several hours when it was determined that, due to the water’s acidity and heat, any remains were most likely dissolved.
Franz Reichelt was an Austrian-born tailor living in France, and was known as an inventor and parachuting pioneer. Reichelt earned the nickname “The Flying Tailor” for developing his wearable parachute suit. In 1911, Colonel Lalance of the Aéro-Club de France offered a prize of 10,000 francs to anyone who could create a safety parachute, and Reichelt was keen to put his interests and knack for invention to use. He developed his suit and successfully tested it on several dummies, dropping them from the fifth floor of a building. He finally received permission to perform his test at the Eiffel Tower, but when he got there, he made it clear that it would be him in the suit and not the dummy. On February 4, 1912, Franz Reichelt jumped from the Eiffel Tower. His parachute wrapped around him and he plummeted 187 feet to his demise. The event was captured and shown on newsreels.
In 2011, a terrorist in Russia had her plans thwarted by a spam text. The woman, dubbed “The Black Widow,” was preparing an explosive device for an attack and had a cell phone attached as its detonation device. A spam message from her mobile carrier (wishing her a happy new year) set the device off early, taking her life in the process.
Sweden’s King Adolf Frederick reigned from 1751 to 1771, and had quite a large appetite. During his reign, Swedish civil rights increased, as did the freedom of the press, and the country witnessed an extended period of peace. But no matter what was accomplished, the king will always be remembered for eating himself to death. February 12, 1771, was Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday in some countries. It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, where Christians forgo certain indulgences and refrain from eating some kinds of food for 40 days. So traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is a day of indulgence. Adolf Frederick indulged in lobster, caviar, kippers, sauerkraut, boiled meats, turnips, and champagne. Then for dessert, he had 14 semlas (small buns made from white flour), each served in a bowl of hot milk flavoured with cinnamon and raisins. Later that day, he died of digestive problems.
Hans Steininger was the beloved mayor of Braunau am Inn, Austria. Steininger had an impressive beard that measured 4-and-a-half feet long. He would keep it rolled up and neatly tucked into a pocket so as not to get in the way. On September 28, 1567, a fire broke out in the town. Steininger tripped over his beard and fell down a flight of stairs, killing himself. To honour him, the town built a statue of their mayor, cut off his magnificent beard before he was buried, and put it on display. The town still showcases the statue and beard – which they probably prefer to be remembered for, rather than as the birthplace of Adolph Hitler.
The Sentinelese, hunter-gatherers who inhabit North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal, are considered one of the Earth’s last uncontacted peoples. They have made it more than apparent that they do not wish to interact with the outside world, as every attempt to come close has been met with aggression. In 2004, when a helicopter from the Indian Coast Guard flew overhead, it was met with bows and arrows. Twenty-six-year-old American adventure blogger John Allen Chau was aware of this when he went to the tribe in 2018 as a missionary to teach them about Christianity. After Chau was helped to the island by fishermen, he was attacked but managed to escape. He returned the next day and was killed.
Thomas Midgley Jr. was responsible for popularising the use of two of the most dangerous substances of the 20th century. He helped popularise the use of lead in gasoline (and contracted lead poisoning while working on the project), led the team that discovered freon, and helped popularise the use of chlorofluorocarbon in refrigeration. Both lead and chlorofluorocarbon have been cited as particularly harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. When Midgley was 51, he was left disabled from illness, and devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of bed. Midgley became entangled in his invention and was strangled to death.
During a battle in Spotsylvania, VA, on May 9, 1864, a Union Army general named John Sedgwick laughed as his men attempted to escape musket fire. He proclaimed: “What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? Why are you dodging like this? They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” Moments later, he was put down by a Rebel shooter.
In July 1184, a bizarre, tragic, and, to some, comic event known as the Erfurt Latrine Disaster took place. A mix of nobles and high-ranking officials met at St. Peter’s Church in the German city of Erfurt at the behest of King Heinrich VI to settle a dispute. As the group gathered in one of the church’s rooms, the floor gave way and collapsed. Underneath the floor was the church’s latrine – basically, its personal sewer system where all of its waste was collected. It’s estimated that somewhere between 60 and 100 people drowned in the disaster.
Milo of Croton was an ancient Greek athlete from the sixth-century BCE and the most renowned wrestler of the time. Milo is credited with having led the Crotoniate army to victory over the Sybarites around 510 BCE and was a six-time Olympic victor. According to the traditional account of his demise, the elderly Milo decided to try and tear apart a tree with his bare hands. His hands got stuck in the tree and Milo was devoured by wolves.
Last Week’s Birthdays
J.K. Simmons (67), Imelda Staunton (66), Joely Richardson (57), James Acaster (37), Michelle Forbes (57), Amber Benson (45), Nicolas Cage (58), Jeremy Renner (51), Linda Kozlowski (64), Erin Gray (72), Lewis Hamilton (37), Eddie Redmayne (40), Kate McKinnon (38), Norman Reedus (53), Rowan Atkinson (67), Clancy Brown (63), Bradley Cooper (47), January Jones (44), Diane Keaton (76), Robert Duvall (91), Hayao Miyazaki (81), Vinnie Jones (57), Marilyn Manson (53), Graham McTavish (61), Emma Mackey (26), Julia Ormond (57), Matt Frewer (64), Julian Sands (64), Mel Gibson (66), and Victoria Principal (72).
Leave a Reply